(Atlantic, Iowa) – A public hearing on a proposal to discontinue the Parks and Recreation Board in Atlantic, will be held Wednesday, August 2nd, during a regular meeting of the Atlantic City Council. The hearing begins shortly after the meeting starts, at 5:30-p.m. in the Council’s Chambers, at City Hall.

As previously reported, the City’s Personnel and Finance Committee submitted a recommendation to the Council, saying “with all respect due to the Board and the service of its members,” the Parks Board should be dissolved. Their recommendation followed the Committee’s meeting on July 10th, when they reviewed the situation of losing yet another Director for the Parks & Rec Dept, with regard to last month’s resignation of Wyatt Adderton.

Since then, the City Council passed a Resolution that creates the position of Parks and Recreation Coordinator, including the job description and compensation for 2024, The Parks Director’s position will be divided between Public Works Director Kirk Knudsen and the new Parks Coordinator position, with the stipulation the Coordinator reports directly to the Public Works Director. Once the public hearing is completed, the Council must wait 30-days before acting on the first-reading to repeal Chapter 24 of the City’s Code of Ordinances, and discontinue the Board.

In other business, Wednesday, the Atlantic City Council will act on an Order to close selected streets for August 12th’s AtlanticFest, beginning at 5-p.m. on that date. They will also act on Orders to approve Economic Development Agreements with CADCO (The Cass-Atlantic Development Corporation), and Atlantic Area Chamber of Commerce. Other action items include a Resolution to “Adjust [the] Season 2023 benefits for Sunnyside Pool Employees,” and a Resolution “Consenting to the issuance of Solid Waste Revenue Capital Loan Notes, with regard to the the 28-E Agreement the City has with the Cass County Environmental Control Agency (Landfill).

The Council will hold the second reading of an Ordinance repealing “Truck Parking Permitted,” and, a Memorandum Of Understanding (MOU) between the Iowa Department of Revenue and the City of Atlantic,” regarding the State Offset Program, which City Administrator John Lund says “…is another piece of bureaucratic red tape” the Council will need to approve to utilize a useful State Program. “Basically,” he says, “if the City has a legitimate financial claim against an individual and they refuse payment, the City may file with the offset program and have the payment taken from any source of income the individual of business may have with the State.”

Examples of payments subject to the program include income tax refunds and contractor payments.