Sibley and Calumet, Iowa — Along with the municipal candidates on the ballot on Tuesday were ballot questions in two northwest Iowa towns. And both questions passed easily.
Sibley voters approved the city to issue general obligation loan notes in the amount of 1.6 million dollars for improving the city pool. The vote was 447 yes to 78 no.
Earlier this year, donors gave a half million dollars toward the project.
Members of the Osceola County Aquatic Center Committee say that the plan is to re-use some of the pool items, but have an almost entirely new pool.
A little further south in Calumet, there was also a ballot question. According to Norma Rath, Calumet City Clerk, the question asked if 67 and a half cents per thousand of property tax valuation should be levied to go to a capital improvement fund for capital improvements in the city. Rath says that citizens of Calumet have been paying the tax already but it had been going toward the new fire station. The vote was 30 yes to 6 no.
She says initially the City plans on using the money to upgrade their water system infrastructure. She says they buy rural water from Osceola Rural Water, but they own the distribution system, which she says is old and is developing several leaks. She says they just got notice recently that the city was approved for a USDA loan and grant to continue with the project.
