Sheldon, Iowa — Sheldon’s new Top Cop was sworn in during Wednesday’s regular meeting of the Sheldon City Council. Scott Burtch officially became Sheldon’s newest Chief of Police when he took the oath of office at Wednesday’s meeting. He has been on the job in Sheldon since April 6th.
During that meeting, the council passed a resolution authorizing the Sheldon Regional Airport to apply for a funding grant to help pay for airport improvements. In addition, City Manager Sam Kooiker announced that he had just received word that the airport will also be getting thirty thousand dollars from the COVID-19 emergency fund. The City will need to choose from several options that qualify for this grant money.
In other business, after a public hearing, the council waived the second and third readings of three rezoning items and approved them on the first reading. The fourth item concerning the former Sunset Motel property will be continued. After another public hearing the council approved a resolution dealing with changes to the Urban Renewal Plan and passed it on to a second reading May 6th. The changes will help make it possible to use Tax Increment Financing for the proposed street improvement projects.
The council also heard the first reading of an ordinance amending water rates. Kooiker pointed out that the change was in line with a water rate study that was presented at the budget workshop in January. He said the increase in rates is much lower for residential users than the increase for large volume users. The new rates will be effective July 1st.
O’Brien County Emergency Management Coordinator Jared Johnson reported that the number of O’Brien County residents who tested positive for COVID-19 remains at three, and all three have recovered. He said that a total of 77 residents in the county had been tested for the virus.
