(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Atlantic City Council breezed through most of their agenda during the first half of their meeting, this (Wednesday) evening at City Hall. The Council passed a Resolution “Designating distribution of Sales Tax Revenue to various funds for specific purposes,” followed by a Resolution Adjusting the Budgeted amounts in the LOST Progress Fund for FY 2024. (For more info. on this and other matters, see our April 30th Council Preview).

The Council also passed a Resolution “Approving the Updated Cass County Public Safety Commission Articles of Agreement.” City Administrator John Lund explained it is a “Governing document, a 28-E (cost sharing agreement)” between the City and County. The City has a representative on the Board that oversees the Communications Center, and “We are on the hook for a certain amount of that funding, and so is the County. The Board itself can’t just make any changes to their Articles of Agreement, without having both bodies accept it as well.”

The latest changes to the agreement makes it clear that this is not a County Law Enforcement consolidation, and that “The 911 Services Coordinator” will prepare the budget, due to some minor restructuring within the Communications Center. In other business, the Atlantic City Council, Wednesday, passed on the Second Reading, an Ordinance amending the provisions pertaining to the Sewer Service Charges. The first reading passed April 19, 2023. The current charges for the wastewater utility in Atlantic have not changed in nearly 10-years, according to John Lund, and “to  ensure the stability of the Wastewater Utility Fund, the City needs to adjust the rates, as population loss has reduced overall customers, and inflation has made sustaining the plant’s labor and equipment needs unsustainable in the 10-year horizon, without a rate adjustment.

If the amended Ordinance passes on the third and final reading, the new, scheduled rate changes will be phased-in over a period of two-years, beginning with July 1, 2024 and again on July 1, 2025. The Council held the first reading of an amendment to downtown “Special Parking permits.” That Ordinance, if approved after three readings, would change allowed parking hours reduced by two-hours, to 7-p.m., in order to reflect current business hours. It also deletes a subsection of the Ordinance referring to parking downtown being prohibited on the first Wednesday of the month from 5-p.m. until the next day at 8-a.m., for the purpose of street sweeping. Since the City does not have a street sweeping schedule, the Ordinance becomes a moot point.

Atlantic City Council meeting, 5-3-2023

The Council’s final order of regular business was setting the date for a Public Hearing on Amending the FY2023 Budget, as their next meeting on May 17, 2023. In his report to the Council, John Lund said recruitment of Lifeguards at the Sunnyside Pool, “Is going okay,” but “We’re not hitting the target for where we want to be at for staffing, and the clock is ticking toward Memorial Day (and the opening of the pool).”

He mentioned the Nishna Valley YMCA is doing a $1,000 sign-on bonus for their Lifeguards. After speaking with YMCA Director Dan Haynes, they agreed the City should pursue its own incentives to attract Lifeguards. He said if the Council has no objection (which they didn’t), he will take last year’s Resolution and bring it back with an increase of a $500 as a sign-on bonus, making it $1,000. “We need to make sure we have a full staff this Summer,” he said. The bonus would be divided-up, with the first $500 to be paid after the first 80-hours are worked, with the second $500 paid at the end of the season.The matter will be place on the Council’s agenda for approval during their next scheduled meeting.