Save our dam

To the Editor,

     Should the Jones County Conservation Board vote to remove most of our dam, the Mon Maq Dam at Monticello, we need to know what options are on the table to do with what’s left. There WILL NOT be a whitewater park, as was the thought years ago. There WILL NOT be walking/biking trails along the river, cost and other factors eliminating that option. There WILL BE an irreversible hole in our dam that we don’t want or need.

     A grassroots group of local citizens and the Jones County Historical Preservation Commission presented the Conservation Board with a recent survey, completed on July 14, 2017, indicating a vast majority, 93 percent, of people want to save our Mon Maq Dam. Out of 436 folks surveyed, just 1 percent was in favor of removing our dam.

     RESULTS OF THE MON-MAQ DAM SURVEY:

• 93 percent – Option A: Preserve Dam 
•1 percent – Option B: Restore Natural

Channel (remove our dam)

     • 6 percent – Option C: Compromise (minor alteration for fish passage)

     The board should only vote for actions that have the support of the majority of Jones County residents, before moving forward with roughly $2 million of taxpayer-funded grants to remove our dam.

     We can SAVE OUR DAM by calling the Conservation Board members and sharing your reasons for keeping our dam intact:

Larry Pisarik at 563-853-7229

Russ VonBehren at 319-540-3969

Dean Zimmerman at 319-465-3764

Dave Tabor at 563-357-1075

Ron Roman at 319-462-4107

Sincerely, and with regard and respect

to the Conservation Board members,

Tom Osborne

Monticello, Iowa