To All Hiawatha Residents…………
The City of Hiawatha has placed a dumpster in the southeast corner of the Hiawatha City Hall parking lot for any Hiawatha resident needing to dispose of perished food starting today, Monday, August 17. This dumpster is to be used strictly for perished food as a result of recent power outages, not for yard waste or general trash.
As a reminder, customers with a downed electrical connection on their house will need to contract with an electrician to have equipment repaired. The pole to the meter on customer homes is considered customer owned. It can and should be fixed as you await power restoration as your utility customer cannot reconnect power to any damaged equipment due to safety concerns.
Please keep in mind that when power is restored you may not have cable, internet, wi-fi, etc. It’s tough for these businesses to give a time estimate as to when they should be available but they are working to identify repairs and get them fixed in a reasonable amount of time.
Hiawatha Community Center is to be used as a charging and cooling station Monday through Friday 7:30am – 6:00pm. Boxes of food will be available from HACAP during those times as well starting Tuesday, August 18. Footprint Project is no longer available outside Hiawatha City Hall as a charging station. Feel free to come during designated hours to charge your devices when in need.
Effective immediately, the burning or incineration of any yard waste, tree stumps, tree limbs, or any storm debris is hereby prohibited. This prohibition shall not apply to outdoor cooking using charcoal, dry firewood, natural or propane gas as a fuel.
Citizens can still use dried firewood in a fire pit to cook food for the period of time necessary to prepare the food, but then should extinguish it. Charcoal and propane grills may still be used by single-family homeowners. Charcoal and propane grills larger than a one-pound cylinder have always been prohibited above ground level in multi-family dwellings and will continue to be prohibited. To obtain current air quality standings, visit https://monitoring.linncleanair.org/
In our efforts to qualify for FEMA assistance, the City of Hiawatha has completed an initial Emergency Management Agency Preliminary Damage Assessment to verify building damage caused by the derecho event on August 10, 2020. We need your assistance to verify damage not visible from the exterior or overlooked in the preliminary survey.
We found the majority of the damage is classified as “affected” or “minor”. We would appreciate your completion of the survey to determine the overall need for assistance in our County. You can find paperwork to complete this assessment at Hiawatha Community Center between 7:30am and 6:00pm through this week. Deadline August 21, 2020.
City of Hiawatha continues to remind and share COVID-19 prevention guidelines:
- First and foremost, please stay home if you are exhibiting flu-like symptoms such as fever, cough, or shortness of breath. It is recommended that people with these symptoms stay home from school, work, public spaces, and social gatherings to prevent others from getting ill.
- Cover your nose and mouth with a tissue when coughing or sneezing and throw the tissue away immediately after you use it. If a tissue is not available, cough or sneeze into your inside elbow area.
- Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds, especially after you cough or sneeze. If you are not near water, use hand sanitizer that contains at least 60% alcohol.
- Avoid shaking hands or exchanging business cards. If you do, wash your hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds.
- Avoid close contact with people who are sick.
Refer to the Storm Response Resources document at https://www.hiawatha-iowa.com/news/storm-response-resources/ or pick up a copy in the Hiawatha Community Center between 7:30am and 6:00pm Monday through Friday for additional resources.
If you have questions please contact Hiawatha City Hall at 319-393-1515.