Sheldon, Iowa — The Sheldon City Council met on Wednesday afternoon. During the public forum portion of the meeting, Harvey Bauman came to the podium, Canada thistle in hand, to tell the council about the issues he’s been having with weeds in his yard. Bauman stated that the weed problem comes from his neighbor’s weeds.
The council approved the consent agenda.
As a requirement of the federal Community Development Block Grant funds that the Upper Story Conversion Project is receiving, the council is required to hold a public hearing, updating the public on the status of the project, which they did at the meeting. There were no comments received.
The council held public hearings about the sales of the vacated 13th Avenue right-of-way. No comments were received. They then proceeded to make the sales final.
There were some ordinances that needed to be changed due to legislative and local changes.
The first one has to do with liquor and beer permits, the second with public hearing requirements. The third and fourth had to do with city council compensation and mayoral compensation.
City Manager Sam Kooiker:
The council passed all of the ordinances onto their second reading, and then went into closed session to discuss the purchase of real estate.
When they came back, they had a couple of motions to vote on. City Attorney Micah Schreurs reads the first one.
The motion was approved. Schreurs reads the second motion.
That motion was also approved.
The council also approved an engagement letter with Ahlers Cooney Attorneys in regard to work on Amendment Nine to the Amended and Restated Sheldon Urban Renewal Plan and Development Agreement.
They also set a consultation meeting on that amendment with the school district and the counties for September 11th at 10:00 a.m., and a public hearing on October 1st at 4:30 p.m.
In the reports and comments section of the meeting, City Manager Sam Kooiker and Mayor Greg Geels did address the weeds issue brought up by Harvey Bauman at the beginning of the meeting. Kooiker says it’s a difficult issue, with some people accusing the city of not doing enough and some saying they’re doing too much. Geels agreed, saying they could use the public’s help with this. He suggested talking to your neighbor first before taking it to the City.
