Sheldon, Iowa — For the second time in just a few months, the Sheldon City Council had to decide how to respond to a request for permission to keep livestock within the Sheldon city limits. The family of eight-year-old Bailey Van Engen is moving from an acreage into the city of Sheldon. Van Engen told the council she has been caring for chickens since she was three-years-old and now would like to keep them at their new home as a 4-H project. At their Wednesday meeting, she told the Council she personally talked to four of their new neighbors and three of them had presented letters of support. The Council was assured that the chickens would be kept in a coop at all times. The Council voted to allow the three chickens to reside in the city limits for one year, with Councilman Brad Hindt dissenting. Hindt said this just opens the door for more and more of these requests. City Manager Sam Kooiker is hoping that in the future there can be more clarity on this subject and that a better process for such requests is created.
The Council also gave their approval to using the leftover wastewater treatment plant money to build and improve both the Thorman and NCC wastewater lift stations. Public Works director Todd Uhl told the council that the engineering plans will be completed, and then must be approved by the Department of Natural Resources and should be ready for the bid process in January. Uhl also informed the council that the Community Services Center boiler has sprung a leak. The boiler, which was installed in 1987, will need to be replaced at a cost slightly more than fifty thousand dollars. Uhl said there appears to be enough excess in the budget for the roof of the building to pay for a new boiler.
In other business, the council agreed to limit the rentals of the Community Services Center until the present proclamation from Governor Reynolds expires on July 25th. If the governor issues a new proclamation that is still restrictive of group gatherings, the council will re-consider the City’s policy. There have been few requests for rentals recently. The City has recommended use of the Crossroads Pavilion event center for groups because the facility includes ample room for social distancing.
In the City Manager’s report, Sam Kooiker brought up concerns about the former Rec Bowl property. After the building burned down, the City cleaned up the mess at a considerable cost. Since that time a considerable amount of tax debt has also piled up. At this point it would cost over fifty-eight thousand dollars to pay everything. According to Kooiker the deed holders are Terry and Arlene Budden. At the time of the fire they had a contract to sell the property to White City Holdings, LLC. The main principal in that corporation passed away in January. City Attorney Micah Schreurs explained that the situation all gets very complicated and did his best to answer some of the questions about the City’s options.
