Atlantic Mayor Dave Jones announced during Wednesday evening’s Council meeting that 5th Ward Councilperson Lori Stuart will be stepping down.

5ht Ward Councilperson Lori Stuart

Stuart, whose term expires in January 2018, will be moving to Cedar Rapids. Her last City Council meeting will be in June. Therefore, Jones said there will be an opening in the 5th Ward, and anyone who is interested in the seat should let him know.

Jones said the options for filling her seat include: By Mayoral appointment with the Council’s approval, or a citizen from the ward can file a petition with the required number of signatures, to be followed by a special election if there is more than one candidate. Jones said also there is an opening on the City of Atlantic’s Library Board. Because of gender balancing, the position needs to be filled by a male. Anyone interested is again asked to get in contact with the Mayor.

In other business, the Council appointed Jamie Arnold as City Attorney, and set March 18th as the date for bid letting on the 2015 Street Improvement Projects, which according to Snyder and Associates’ Engineer Dave Sturm, will include 19th Street. The Council also set the 18th as the date for Public hearings on the approval of a Development Agreement with Sonntag Development, LLC, and a proposal to enter into General Obligation Loan Agreements.

Current, Interim City Administrator John Lund explained there are three bonds. The first, a general obligation essential corporate purpose, includes all the street work and a fire truck. The second is a G-O non-essential corporate purpose bond includes an elevator for City Hall and a feasibility study for the building. The third is an economic development TIF bond for the Southern Heights View Development Project. Lund says the bonds have been “Bundled together, but they are legally classified as different.” By bundling the trio of bonds, the City saves its taxpayers about $4,000.

And, the Council officially appointed John Lund as City Administrator, the title of which becomes effective March 29th.