Sheldon, Iowa — After nine years in the position as Mayor of Sheldon, Katricia Meendering has left that position to become the Manager of Crossroads Pavilion. After opening Wednesday’s City Council meeting she turned the chair over to Mayor Pro-Tem Brad Hindt.
One of the major items on the agenda was adoption of the budget for the coming fiscal year. Several people commented about the budget including Bob Engel who said his property taxes have increased by 90 percent, but commented he knew that the council has a “tough job ahead”. Kerwin Sterler complained that he had an 8-percent rise on valuation and it’s getting expensive for families in Sheldon. Marv Van Riesen told the council that he had not looked at the budget closely, but he was concerned about spending $30 thousand a year for each employee’s health insurance. He was also highly critical of other city spending, particularly for such items as police cars. He also was critical of the city for having a debt within 94 percent of the debt limit. However, it was explained that when the new budget goes into effect payments will be made that will bring the debt down to 64 percent of the limit.
Even though the council has spent many hours working on the budget, Councilmember Greg Geels suggested that they take a week to see if there was anything more to do. Councilman Shawn Broesder commented that everything in the budget “has to be there”, and questioned if it could be better in a week. At the suggestion of City Manager Sam Kooiker, the council voted to approve the budget as it is, and then after July 1st review some aspects and amend the budget as necessary. Kooiker also noted that the Council had already cut $230,000 from the budget.
In other business, the council approved the 28E agreement for ambulance service to the Archer area, approved the plat of the McCabe addition after a spirited discussion about street or driveway access to adjoining roads, and approved the rezoning of the property at 1202 South Third Avenue. They also addressed three requests for permits to use fireworks displays during wedding receptions at the event center. It was noted that these would not be as large or long as the Village Fourth of July fireworks, but there were several concerns. Public Works Director Todd Uhl expressed concerns about the grass around the pond that could catch on fire. Brad Hindt talked about safety issues and asked who would be responsible for cleaning up the mess after the fireworks. Council member Tom Eggers added that a lot of questions had to be answered before the council could approve the fireworks. City Manager Kooiker then said that when the Pavilion Board meets next week he would ask them to approve an application form to be filled out by those requesting the fireworks permit. That form would then be presented at the next council meeting.
After the regular agenda, the council held a workshop on the projected needs of the emergency services departments and the proposed franchise agreement with MidAmerican Energy. An informational letter will be sent out to Sheldon residents soon.
