Lake Delhi task force will have first meeting this week

A task force charged with helping to develop strategies for the recovery and rebuilding of the Lake Delhi dam will have its organizational meeting in Cedar Rapids Aug. 27.

Gov. Chet Culver's Lake Delhi Recover and Rebuild Task Force, which includes members of city, county and state government as well as the Lake Delhi Recreation Association, which owns and operates the dam, will meet at 10 a.m. Friday at Kirkwood Community College. Bret Mills, director of the Iowa Department of Economic Development, will chair the task force.

At the meeting, which is open to the public, the task force will attempt to establish a timeline, meeting schedule, committee members, etc., and will not allow for public input.

Public input will not be taken at the Aug. 27 meeting, but four meetings are planned in the Lake Delhi area between September and the end of November that will allow for public involvement and input. These meeting dates will be shared as soon as the schedule is finalized.

In addition to Mills, the members of the commission are: Jeff Madlom, Andy McKean and Steve Flynn, chairmen of the Delaware, Jones and Jackson County boards of supervisors, respectively; Doug Herman, Monticello city administrator; D.J. Hucker, Hopkinton mayor pro tem; Amy Ries, Hopkinton city clerk; Milt Kramer, Manchester mayor; Jim Willey, recreation association president; James “Buzz” Graham, trustee, combined Lake Delhi Recreation and Water Quality District; Pat Boddy, acting Department of Natural Resources director; Bill Ehm, DNR water policy coordinator; David Miller, Iowa Homeland Security Emergency Management Division administrator; Nancy Richardson, Department of Transportation director; Rob Bernsten, Iowa Utilities Board chairman; Dick Oshlo, Department of Management director; Joe O'Hern, Iowa Finance Authority director; Lori Beary, Iowa Finance Authority; Roya Stanley, Office of Energy Independence director; Jim Larew, governor's counsel; Teresa McMahon, Department of Economic Development deputy director.