Alan Armstrong

Alan Armstrong

(Shenandoah) -- KMA News continues its "Meet the Candidates" series, featuring the candidates running in key countywide, congressional and legislative races in the June Iowa Primary. Today, we turn our attention to the race for the Page County 2nd district supervisor's Republican nomination, with a report on the incumbent, Alan Armstrong.

A Unionville, Missouri native, Armstrong came to Shenandoah in 1980 to work for Hy-Vee. For the last 25 years, Armstrong and wife Lu Anne have owned Lu and Al's Nishna Valley Cafe in downtown Shenandoah. The Armstrongs have two grown children. Armstrong has served as county supervisor since 2017, when he was appointed to the post upon Jim Richardson's resignation. Elected to his first full term in November, 2018, he now seeks another four-year stint in the county board room. Speaking on KMA's "Morning Line" program, Armstrong says he's running for reelection because of present and pending projects.

"One, of course, is the Shenandoah Hills wind project--that's a very active issue in the county right now," said Armstrong. "Then, probably the next item that's on the burner right now, and we're trying to get the ball rolling, is the jail project--whether or not we need a new jail, whether or not we're going to build a new jail, and all of those things. I feel that it's important to have a lot of background on these items, and I want to continue to be involved in that. And, that's probably the biggest reason I wanted to stay on for another four years."

Armstrong recently voted in favor of a moratorium for up to 180 days on the filing of any permits for wind energy conversion systems. He says the move allowed for an investigation into new technology used in the industry. However, Armstrong believes the existing ordinance is fair for all involved, and that wind projects are viable.

"Just to give a little history," he said, "over the next 40 years, the average value that's coming to Page County is proposed to be a $2.2 million per year average for our communities, our schools, our county, a couple or three of the townships. It's just very important for these dollars to come into our county. And, that doesn't count the economy that we're going to gain from the farmers that are receiving income off of this project. It's going to be a very big boon for Page County."

Armstrong, however, questions whether the supervisors are ready to implement a solar energy ordinance. While saying the infrastucture for solar project development is in place in the county, he says both the supervisors and area farmers are still studying the issue.

"I believe that the farmers have to be involved," said Armstrong. "It's their land. They need to make good decisions on what they want to do. It's not my job as a supervisor to tell them what to do, but I do want to be involved in making sure we protect as many people as we can in the county."

As the supervisors continue to explore proposals for a new jail, Armstrong expresses concerns over the costs of such a project.

"When we talk about spending between $12 million and $17 million," he said, "is the jail the right answer? We're gathering information on whether or not maybe it's less expensive to move our prisoners to other locations, and bring them back for court dates. We're getting closer to situations such as doing video online-type trials, or as far as hearings, and so forth. It's such an expensive project."

You can hear the full interview with Alan Armstrong here:

Alan Armstrong, incumbent in the race for Page County's 2nd district supervisor's Republican nomination, is interviewed as part of a "Meet the Candidates" edition of "The Morning Line."

Next on "Meet the Candidates," we'll hear from Armstrong's opponent for the Page County 2nd supervisor's district's Republican nomination, Todd Maher.

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