Q. Has the city looked into using the two brick houses on North Maryland as shelter houses? That land won’t be used for anything because it floods.
A. City Planner Tricia Sandahl said, “What a great question! Both of these houses were identified as being eligible for the National Register of Historic Places. That’s why they weren’t demolished with the other houses on the street last winter.
“Unfortunately, FEMA rules prevent us from keeping the houses on the lot. FEMA requires the city to remove all structures that could be insured through the National Flood Insurance Program from the flood plain.”
She said both houses suffered severe damage and the foundation of one has failed so it isn’t feasible to move them.
“We’ll salvage as much of the brick as possible from the houses to be used either by the city or given to Habitat for Humanity. The rest of the brick will be used by the contractor to backfill the foundation.”
Q. Is the Cerro Gordo County treasurer an elected office?
A. Yes. Treasurers in all 99 Iowa counties are elected. Treasurer Patricia Wright is serving her first term.
Q. Why don’t they put the Meredith Willson statue in front of The Music Man Square where everyone coming in from the south can see it? Also, how much would it cost to repair the hand on the Willson statue that was vandalized?
A. The Willson statue is in front of a well-traveled entrance on Pennsylvania Avenue and near Willson’s boyhood home. It is a convenient place for hundreds of people to see it and have their pictures taken next to it every year, said David Vikturek, chief executive officer of the Mason City Foundation, which owns the property. As for the Willson hand, Vikturek didn’t put a price tag on repairs but said it would be very expensive to fix it. Vandals damaged it three years ago.
Q: When you go to the grocery store and buy a bag of fertilizer that is 10-10-10 and there are 20 pounds of material in the bag, did you buy 10, 20 or 2 pounds of nitrogen?
A: A 20-pound bag of a 10-10-10 fertilizer contains 10 percent nitrogen, 10 percent phosphorus and 10 percent potassium, or two pounds of each of those nutrients, said Gary Hall, regional director of the Iowa State University Extension.
The other 14 pounds is carrier, a material used to give bulk to a fertilizer so it can be spread easily.
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