Kalona council hears from House candidate Rosien, discusses trails, parks

By Molly Roberts
Posted 4/20/22

Washington Mayor Jaron Rosien, who has held the elected office since 2014, spoke during the public forum at the Kalona City Council meeting on Monday, April 18 to inform the council of his bid for …

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Kalona council hears from House candidate Rosien, discusses trails, parks

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Washington Mayor Jaron Rosien, who has held the elected office since 2014, spoke during the public forum at the Kalona City Council meeting on Monday, April 18 to inform the council of his bid for Iowa House District 92.

Iowa House District 92 represents all of Washington County and parts of southern Johnson County. When state representative Jarad Klein announced in January that he would not be seeking reelection, the newly drawn House District 92 became an open seat. Heather Hora has also announced her run for the District 92 position.

Rosien told the council that he grew up close to Kalona on Prairie Fire road and has run the restaurant JP’s 207 in Washington since 2012.

“I think my record shows my approach. I’m calm, objective and solution-oriented in the work that I do,” Rosien said. “Just like you, I’m very familiar with the plight that we have with local control. I think well-intended decisions in Des Moines often have unintended consequences for decisions that we [as local elected officials] have to make. In the regard of local control, I will be an advocate.”

Rosien asked the council for their vote in the June 7 primary, adding, “I want the job and I’m up for it.”

In other business, City Administrator Ryan Schlabaugh said work is beginning with MSA, the firm council approved a contract with at the April 6 meeting. The MSA contract for $41,600 will cover phases 1-3 of park and trail design and will engineer design ideas for trailheads, the dog park, nature scape parks and other ideas.

Schlabaugh said he and city staff are meeting with MSA on Friday, April 22 to discuss stakeholder groups for a community survey about the needs and wants for the Southtown area.

Schlabaugh also shared that the state has announced Destination Iowa, a $100 million investment to bolster the quality of life in Iowa’s communities and attract visitors and new residents to the state. Destination Iowa includes funding programs for outdoor recreation and tourism attraction.

“It’s 40/60 in the process, so the state would bring federal funds in the amount of 40% and you have to have 60% of the project funded,” Schlabaugh said. “So, it’s going to be a little bit difficult in that respect to be able to move the pieces quickly on that.”

Schlabaugh said his goal is to put multiple new projects in front of the council in the near future for approval.