Sheldon, Iowa — When the Sheldon City Council conducted a goal-setting session recently, one of the top priorities listed was finding ways to finance capital improvements. A utility franchise fee was one of the possibilities that had been mentioned. During the public comments section of Wednesday’s council meeting, Robert Engel said that some years ago he had brought up the idea of the City building wind towers and selling the electricity to Mid-American Energy, but never heard anything more about it.
Also, with regard to the idea of a utility franchise fee, Council member Greg Geels noted for the record that the decision to not certify the Runger addition in this year’s TIF certification would free up approximately $68,000 to come into the city’s general fund, not eliminate that money, which was mentioned in an editorial recently published in the Sheldon newspaper that dealt with the idea.
It should be noted that no discussion or action on the topic has been conducted at City Council sessions.
At their meeting, the Council passed on to the third reading, an amendment of the zoning ordinance related to the minimum size of single-family resident units. They also set March 7th as the dated for a public hearing on construction of the new wastewater teatment facility and the bid letting. They also heard reports from SCAT, the Police Department, Public Works Director, and SCDC.
Mayor Meendering reported to the Council that this year she was splitting the Annual Budget Workshop into two meetings. The first will be January 31st at 7 a.m., and the second will be February 7th following the Council meeting. She said this would give anyone interested in the budget more opportunities to attend.
