Bergquist speaks at Kiwanis meeting

Bob Welsh introduced Jerry Bergquist, Stutsman County emergency manager, to speak at the Feb. 8 noon Kiwanis meeting in the Lantern Room. Bergquist said all records were broken last year in the elevation of water at both the Pipestem and Jamestown dams. The water from the dams ran at 3,200 cubic feet per second for four months for a total of 600,000-acre feet of water. In 1997 the water was at 1,800 cubic feet per second.

In 2010 the potential for a flood is there, Bergquist said. Jamestown has 25 inches of snow compared to last year’s 87 inches. It depends on the amount of rainfall in February and March. It was March 23 last year when the Ann Carlsen Center was evacuated.

The water into the Pipestem begins in Wells County up north. The Army Corps of Engineers has measured the snow depth and when it releases its figures a decision will be made about doing some advance diking. People in Jamestown can purchase flood insurance. Stutsman County has its application in to Washington, D.C., so that everyone in the county can be eligible to buy flood insurance.

Bergquist also spoke about the 911 system. Every 12 years it has to be put on the ballot. It was done in 1988 and again in 1998 to raise the fee from 50 cent to $1 per cell phone and phone line. It will be on the ballot again in June 2010. The dispatch center received 107,804 calls last year. Sixty-three percent are by cell phone and they can tell by latitude and longitude within a few feet of where you are. One county and one police officer are on duty for 24 hours a day except from 3-11 p.m. three people are on duty. They do the dispatch for the entire county.

President Galen Rasmussen called the meeting to order, Tim Burchill and Chuck Axtman led the singing and “Happy Dollars” were collected for the Kiwanis Pediatric Trauma Center in Fargo. Key Club guests were Troy Borowicz, Kory Kleinknecht and Bobby Kesler.

Kiwanis members and the Salvation Army served hot beverages Saturday to the Polar Plunge participants and workers in support of Special Olympics.

Kiwanis will have a membership drive emphasis at its Feb. 22 noon luncheon meeting at the Lantern Room. Guests are welcome.

Tags: community, clubs, kiwanis, bergquist