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County hears workforce, childcare, environmental and conservation reports
Summary
County staff and local partners updated supervisors on workforce retraining and internships, a Story County childcare feasibility study (478 parent/caregiver survey responses), environmental health activities including radon‑kit sales and ordinance updates, and conservation projects including a prospective ~250‑acre Cambridge tract acquisition.
Supervisors received multiple agency updates May 19 on workforce, childcare, environmental health and conservation efforts.
Shannon Thiele of the AIMS Regional Economic Alliance reported quarter‑one workforce activity: retraining courses (CNA, IT help desk, phlebotomy, sterile processing, dog grooming) served 18 participants across Ames, Boone and Nevada; AIMS recorded 738 job postings in Q1 and noted over 26,000 Facebook views for outreach. Thiele said AIMS’ Story County childcare feasibility study is complete and that the final report and presentation will be shared with investors; the survey yielded 478 parent/caregiver responses and 708 responses from the Iowa State University needs survey.
Environmental health director Matt Corey told the board the department will bring ordinance updates later this summer to align with the Iowa Administrative Code; he described changing private‑well grant levels (roughly $45,000 this year then a FY27 allocation just over $30,000), described the ramping seasonal septic and pool inspection workload and noted the department has sold over 150 radon kits since January. Corey also summarized mitigation work at Hickory Grove Park and other water‑quality activities, including a planning grant to update the Ioway Creek Watershed Assessment.
Mike Cox (conservation) reported on completed prescribed burns (about 350 acres), ongoing construction contracts for Tedesco Environment Learning Corridor and the Daken Slake cabin, pending bids on two water/land legacy projects and active fundraising to acquire and restore roughly 250 acres of riparian property north of Cambridge currently held by the Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation.
Supervisors thanked presenters and asked follow‑up questions; staff identified upcoming milestones and meetings for joint work sessions and project bidding timelines.
