(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Atlantic City Council, Wednesday evening, made an official change of command in the Police Department. The Council paid special recognition to Police Chief Dave Erickson, who is retiring at the end of the month, after more than 25-years of service to the City. Mayor Grace Garrett gave a brief biography of the Chief, and his long career not only with the City, but serving our Country in the U-S Marines.

Once his stint with the Corps was over, Erickson worked for the Atlantic Coca-Cola Bottling Company, and a member of the Atlantic Police Reserves from 1996-to 1997.

Atlantic Mayor Grace Garrett congratulates Chief Dave Erickson for his service to the City & the Country.

With his departure on March 31^st, the Council moved ahead with appointing the Mayor’s choice to succeed him, Devin Hogue, and Lt. Paul Wood as the first ever Assistant Police Chief. Lt. Hogue has served the force in Atlantic since August, 2011. He also spent several years and a substitute teachers with the Atlantic Community School District, and has been very involved in school emergency preparedness and many community programs. The Mayor explained why the Assistant Police Chief’s position was created.

Left to right: Chief Dave Erickson; Lt. Paul Wood; Lt. Devon Hogue.

Lt. Wood has been with the department since Nov. 2004. He’s also served as member of the Atlantic Fire Dept. since 2007. Both men bring extensive experience and knowledge to their respective proposed positions. In other business, the Council appointed of Bev Moffatt to the Beautification Committee. They Adopted the Final, FY 2023 Budget for the City of Atlantic, along with the FY 2023 10-year Capital Improvement Plan (CIP).

Both actions followed public hearings, during which there were no comments. The Atlantic City Council also Amended Seasonal Wages for the Atlantic Parks & Recreation Dept. for 2022, and have passed a resolution “Setting salaries for appointed officers and employees of the City of Atlantic,” for the Fiscal Year July 1, 2022 through June 30, 2023.

One of their final items of business, was to adopt a resolution for the Plans, Specifications and Form of Contract for the Bull Creek Improvement Projects, and, the awarding of a contract for the improvements to Caliber Construction out of Adair, in the amount of $369, 039.03. City Engineer Dave Sturm said they received four bids for the project, all of which came in under the Engineer’s Cost Estimate.

Prior to adjourning the meeting, Mayor Garrett asked business and residential property owners to get into the spring cleaning spirit.