Sheldon, Iowa — Once again, the annual audit of the City of Sheldon has resulted in a “clean opinion”. That’s the report presented to the Sheldon City Council Wednesday by Tom Henrichs of Winther, Stave and Company who has been conducting the audits of the City for several years. He told the council that his company found no material weaknesses in internal control and no instances of non-compliance. He did note that the City has a larger than usual amount of cash at this time, but this will be used to pay for projects that are in progress.
In other business the council heard a proposal from the Library to build a structure that would cover the South entrance to the library building. This would help prevent the accumulation of water in this area that has at times flooded inside the building. Since this is a fire exit for the library, council member Greg Geels recommended that the Fire Marshall’s office be contacted before they proceeded further. Other concerns included the feeling that the building as proposed would not match the brick structure of the main library building. The council will wait with action on this project until more information is available.
O’Brien County Emergency Management Coordinator, Jared Johnson reported on the Archer Ambulance situation. The Archer Ambulance has had only about twenty calls per year, and now is ceasing their service because of the lack of volunteers. Calls from the Archer area will now be covered by Sanborn, Primghar and Sheldon. Johnson said the Archer ambulance and some other equipment will be sold. Council member Brad Hindt said he thinks the Council should have more information before agreeing to have SCAT be responsible for one-third of the Archer Ambulance District on a permanent basis.
The Council also approved the selection of McClure Engineering as the On-Call Engineering firm for the airport. This was necessary to ensure the participation of federal funding for Airport Improvements. And the council approved a policy that has to be in place in order to get FEMA funding for City of Sheldon expenses during the June disaster. This includes expenses of pumping water, loss of use of some wells, overtime payments, and other items.
Public Works Director Todd Uhl reported that a water pump that can handle two thousand gallons of water per minute has been placed in the City of Sheldon through Homeland Security. On another subject, Uhl warned residents that it is illegal to blow snow onto the street or to push it across the street. It was also noted that the City Code requires property owners to clear their sidewalks within twelve hours of a snowfall.
