Sheldon, Iowa — Due to new government regulations, many city waste water facilities will need substantial renovation or replacement. Sheldon is among several northwest Iowa communities facing that challenge.
In order to plan for financing this project which will cost an estimated $11.5-million, the Sheldon City Council hired DGR Engineering to conduct a wastewater rate study. At Wednesday’s meeting council members received a copy of the study and heard a summary of the results from a DGR representative. The study points out that the revenue required to finance the wastewater system in fiscal year 2015-16 was $990,000. The budget for the next two fiscal years was $900,000 per year. Based on the proposed capital improvements and new facility the projected costs for the next four years are considerably higher, ranging from 1.4 million to 1.7 million dollars per year.
One of the comments by DGR refers to the rate systems used for the three different classes of service. They are residential, commercial and multi-family dwellings, and major industrial. The council will need to decide on what rate structure or other arrangements they need to make in order to cover the projected costs of the new construction as well as the system operation over the next few years. This topic will be back on the council agenda when they meet September 6th.
In other business, the council approved a grant agreement with the Federal Aviation Administration to help fund the purchase of snow removal equipment for the Sheldon Regional Airport. The grant will pay 90-percent of the cost of the equipment with the city funding the remaining ten percent.
The council also approved a RISE grant application. If approved the grant would pay fifty percent of the road extension in the Crossroads Industrial Park.
During the public comments section of the meeting, Daryl Mouw who lives at 2000 East 6th Street spoke to the Council concerning the speed of vehicles on that street. He pointed out that much of 6th Street borders school grounds, and speeders endanger the children. Mouw spoke highly of Sheldon’s Police Department but indicated he thought there could be more speeding enforcement. The mayor said she would discuss the matter with the police department.
In other comments, Mayor Katricia Meendering asked the public to drive with care because there will be more children on the streets as school activities begin.
Police Chief Lyle Bolkema reported that, once again, the “Shop with a Cop” program was a big success. He said 55 families benefited from the program, which was made possible by many volunteers and donations. Bolkema noted that the donations ranged from twenty dollars to fifteen hundred dollars.
