The Harlan City Council, Tuesday, approved the forgiveness of an administrative fee by the Shelby County Chamber of Commerce. In the final Harlan City Council meeting of 2012, the council approved the motion on a vote of 5 to 1, with the nay vote coming from Council member Kate Kohorst. The 20% fee is part of the Hotel/Motel Tax.

The City Council also passed a motion to place all Hotel/Motel new monies on hold until a new ordinance has been created and adopted by the city of Harlan. Both motions were made at the previous Personnel and Finance Committee meeting last Thursday. City Administrator Terry Cox said the ordinance committee will meet on Thursday, December 27th. The deadline for the new ordinance is January 29th. However Cox said it could be brought to the first City Council meeting in January if it is finished.

In other business, the Harlan City Council approved the purchase of a ¾ ton Ford F-150 pickup from Keast Auto Center in Harlan for the city’s parks department. The truck cost the city $26,270 but Cox said they hope to sell 2 of the city’s vehicles to save the city $1,500. The Council also approved Harlan City Clerk Debra Sawyer to the Iowa League of Cities Education Committee and changed the 2nd council meeting in January from the 22nd to the 29th.

(Joel McCall/KNOD)

The Shelby County Supervisors held their final meeting of 2012 Tuesday. The Board of Supervisors began their meeting with the land auction of cash rental property. The landfill ground sold for $395 per acre. Following the sale, the Shelby County Supervisors introduced Chris Nelson of Gronewold & Company to discuss the preliminary results of the county’s annual audit.

Nelson said last year, the Supervisors wanted more documentation attached to or provided with the preparation of expenditures for early childhood Iowa expenditures where the county is the fiscal agent. He said those have been approved. Nelson said there was also a mention of reconciliation of county taxes to the revenue reports of the county.

He said last Thursday, they tested past revenues and reviewed the daily reconciliations.  He said the tax receipts are reconciled on a daily and month basis. And, the Treasurer’s proportionate reports are being proportioned and those do balance. Nelson said they took the monthly summaries and compared those to the county revenue reports that are actual reports which come from the Treasurer’s office, and determined there was a small discrepancy less than $500 for the year, but he but didn’t go into further details. He recommended taking a step further to make sure everything balances out, including reconciling the account, and making sure the information is posted properly in county revenue reports.

The Shelby County Board of Supervisors will see the final audit report in February. Supervisor Roger Schmitz reported to the Board that he had recently attended the Personnel and Finance Committee meeting, along with officials from the city of Harlan. The Supervisors approved the forgiveness of a 20% administrative fee by the Shelby County Chamber of Commerce from the Hotel/Motel Tax, per legal advice. The motion was made at the Committee meeting but needed to be approved by the Supervisors and Harlan City Council.

(Joel McCall/KNOD)

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) – Eight of 69 cats taken in October from a Sioux City house are ready for adoption. The Sioux City Journal reports that the cats, all males, are being made available after they tested negative for feline leukemia. Cindy Rarrat with Sioux City Animal Control says another of the cats was adopted last week.

Rarrat says the nine cats were the lone survivors of 69 caught and trapped at a Sioux City house in October. Most were euthanized because they were too ill or unsocial for adoption. Officials say the house was covered with feces and extremely unsanitary. About 20 dead cats were removed from the property.

Homeowner Mark Lanning has been charged with 14 counts of animal neglect, all misdemeanors. His case is still pending.

NELIGH, Neb. (AP) – A northeast Nebraska man accused of killing his ex-girlfriend from western Iowa, and her new husband, has waived his preliminary hearing.  Sioux City, Iowa television station KTIV reports 33-year-old Matthew Hinrichsen was in Antelope County, NE., Court on Tuesday, where he waived the hearing and faced the families of those killed. Hinrichsen has been charged with arson and two counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of 25-year old Victoria Lee and her husband, 30-year-old Alex Vargas, of Missouri Valley.

Investigators found the bodies of the newlywed couple in a burned-out mobile home, near Ewing. Authorities say the couple were shot before the mobile home was set on fire.  Hinrichsen’s arraignment has been set for Jan. 30.  Court documents say Hinrichsen had been having problems recently with Lee, who was his ex-girlfriend.