Sheldon, Iowa — The proposed events center was the main topic of discussion at Wednesday’s Sheldon City Council meeting. Mike Bell who has been working with the City on the design of the project gave an overall review of the center’s final design. Entrance to the area through the current roundabout just south of the Holiday Inn Express would lead to a large parking lot and the events center which would be located on the north side of the pond. The facility would seat about four hundred people and could be divided into three separate rooms. The council was also shown detailed examples of the interior décor. Earlier, in the time for public comments, Marv Van Riessen had asked the City to hold off on the project for at least sixty days to get more input from the public. Later in the meeting Mike Bell mentioned that he had been working with the City on this project since 2012 and he felt it was going to be a “wonderful facility”. He said his company was now working on ways to make it attractive to contractors and he expected to be able to bring more up-to-date cost projections to the next council meeting which will be March 15th.
Council members Zach Sawyer and Brad Hindt, who were among those who worked with Bell on the design, both praised the project. Sawyer said it would be very attractive and also functional. He added that other facilities in the area are not as functional. Hindt said this was a “well-thought-through” plan.
In other business, the council held a public hearing on the 2016-17 fiscal year budget which drew comments from both Van Riessen and Bob Engel. Engel had questions about the fact that there has been a considerable increase in the City’s property valuations. He wanted to know if this was because of increased assessments or additional buildings in the City. City Manager Scott Wynja pointed out that the City had no control over determining the assessed property valuations. He said that development in the City also helped increase the overall valuation.
Van Riessen said he wants the City to stop funding benefits for the development director to reduce budget spending.
The council also heard from SCAT Director Cindy Freeman who asked that they consider adding RN’s to the ambulance staff scheduling, paying them $22.00 per hour. She said they would be used only on transfers, and this would help with the scheduling problems that SCAT is experiencing. The council voted their approval of this plan.
The council also approved the sale of a lot in the Trilogy Addition to Paul Van Roekel of Van Roekel Rentals, and they approved a payment of $2500.92 to the Northwest Iowa Regional Trust Fund. City Manager Scott Wynja reported that in the past repairs to five homes have been helped with this fund and another one is under consideration. About $38,000 is left in the program for O’Brien County and in July about $37,000 more will be added to that fund.
In other action, the council agreed to change the next council meeting to Tuesday, March 15th at 5 PM.
Below are the planner’s images of the proposed Event Center
