Indianola Council Goes Over 1-6 Year Plan
The Indianola City Council held their regular meeting on December 20th at 5:30 p.m. Minutes of December 6th were approved as well as claims and the treasurer's report. There was discussion of reorganization of Council duties and all will retain their current positions.
Resolution No. 2021-12- 04 was passed for year-end certification of the City Street Superintendent. The Council then went over the 1-6 year street plan, as they took one year off last year. The Council previously discussed including the road to the Indianola Cemetery that is in need of serious repair, but that was not legal.
Health Insurance was discussed, however all city employees are happy with the current policy and the City Clerk pointed out that it is still $200 less than what was paid in 2019. Therefore, it was voted to keep the current plan.
Property at 506 D Street has successfully been purchased by the City for $1, but has approximately $19,000 invested in the total clean-up process. Discussion was held about building a City Shop on the site or using it for other City purposes.
The Council had a conversation with Sheriff Kotschwar about possibility of issuing citations to BN/SF as they are blocking street traffic for days at a time. If side roads are blocked for a few hours, that is understandable, but blocking those streets for days on end is not acceptable. Kotschwar stated that if citations won't be prosecuted, then he was reluctant to issue them. This will be discussed further before final judgment is made about possible solutions to the problem.
The condition of the Community Building floor was discussed at length as it is in a poor state of affairs and needs attention. It was noted that possible hard use by the Bloodmobile may be some of the distress, as it always looks worse following their stay.
In personnel reports, Mitchell Nelms noted that he is waiting for water meter bids. The Council discussed hiring outside assistance to complete the water meter project, as opposed to City staff completing the work. Other discussion was held on ball field lights, with an amended bid, but that was not yet available either.
It was noted that Mayor Travis Van Pelt, as well as councilmen Harry Marks and Travis Herrmann are up for re-election this year and will need to register at the courthouse before the deadline.
City Clerk Stephanie Blau noted that the City Offices will be closing at noon on Thursday, December 23rd and closed all day Friday, December 24th.
