(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Atlantic City Council has a lot of ground to cover during their meeting Wednesday evening, at City Hall. According to their 16 page agenda, the Council will act on recognizing the Atlantic High School and Middle School Archery Teams for the performance at the National Archery in Schools (NASP) Iowa State Archery Tournament, and wish them the best of luck for the April 28th-30th Western Nationals in Sandy, Utah. The Council will also recognize Clint Roland for achieving his Grade 3 Wastewater Operator’s Certification, and Travis Hansen, for passing the testing needed to achieve his Grade 2 Certification.

In other business, the Atlantic City Council will act on an Order to approve an agreement with the City of Fontanelle, for Wastewater Management Services. It’s the same type of agreement Atlantic has with the City of Marne, and is in effect until their staff is Grade 2 Certified. A similar agreement may be needed with the City of Anita, depending upon whether or not their person passes the Grade 2 Certification test.

The Mayor will administer the Oath Of Office to Devin Hogue, Atlantic’s new Chief of Police, and Paul Wood, Assistant Police Chief. Both men were appointed during the Council’s meeting on March 16th. Wood is the first Assistant Police Chief the City has had. The Council will then act on approving an Order to accept the assignment of an Option Agreement – with proposed purchase agreement – from Bob Camblin, and to reimburse him for the $10,000 option fee. The agreement is with regard to the development of new, single-family housing in Atlantic, which has been discussed for more than a decade, but for which only 26 building permits have been issued since 2012, along with one new housing addition. Camblin secured an option from Jim Comes to sell the City 41.54-acres of land located northeast of 22nd and Olive Streets, for $20-thousand dollars per acre ($830,000 total). Camblin used $10,000 of his own money to lock-in the option, which must be exercised by May 16, 2022 or it will expire. Purchase by the City will be financed through General Obligation Debt.

The Council will follow-up action on approving the Order, by moving forward with approving an Order to authorize the City Attorney to deliver a written notice to Mr. Comes, of the City’s decision to purchase the land under the option agreement. The Atlantic City Council will also hear a presentation from Code Enforcement Officer Kris Erickson, on proposed changes to the Nuisance Abatement Process. Action will follow on an Order to close-off E. 4th Street and parking in the vicinity, for food truck parking on Saturday, April 23rd, from 9-a.m. until 2-p.m., for SHIFT ATL’s Pop-Up (fundraising) event. A similar closure was approved last year for the same event.

The Council will act on:

• an Order to approve the first amendment to an Ambulance Services Agreement with Midwest Medical Transport Company, LLC.
• holding a Public Hearing on a proposal to enter into a General Obligation Solid Waste Management Loan Agreement associated with a 28-E agreement for the Cass County Landfill.
• a Resolution adjusting Season 2022 compensation and benefits for Sunnyside Pool Lifeguards.
• They will hold a Public Hearing on an Ordinance Amending the City Code, by dividing the City into five wards and five precincts, as required by the recent census.
• and finally, the Atlantic City Council will act on an Order authorizing the Mayor and/or City Administrator to sign agreements necessary to execute a joint County-City 6th Street bridge repair project, with regard to the bridge on the airport road.

The Atlantic City Council meeting begins at 5:30-p.m., Wednesday, in the Council’s Chambers at City Hall.

(Radio Iowa) – April is national “Donate Life” month — which is meant to inspire people to become organ donors. Unity Point St. Luke’s Hospital of Sioux City recently joined the Iowa Donor Network in a “Donate Life” flag raising ceremony to celebrate donor families and transplant recipients. John Jorgensen is the donation services coordinator of the Iowa Donor Network. “We often think about organ donation as being something for the recipient only. But it is also for the family to help families in their grief,” Jorgensen says, “help families to know that their legacy will live on in the lives of others through organ, tissue, and eye donation.” he says.

Jorgensen says organ donors helped save many lives in Iowa this past year, despite the pandemic. “There were 128 organ donors who generously gave 365 organs for transplant. Thousands more were healed by the gifts of 984 tissue donors in Iowa But yet still there are more than 107-thousand people on a transplant list in the United States. And in Iowa, that number is over 600,” according to Jorgensen.

Jorgenson says every donor makes an impact on many lives. “Through organ donation, up to eight lives might be saved through an organ donor’s gift of life. One tissue donor has the ability to enhance the lives of up to 300. It is a selfless act for this gift of life,” he says. You can sign up to be an organ donor when you renew or obtain your driver’s license. More than 70 percent of adults in Iowa are registered organ donors. You may also register online at iowadonornetwork.org.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa’s popular Bottle Bill appears to be headed for major changes — or it may wind up on the trash heap. Key negotiators for House and Senate Republicans say the bottle and can redemption system has nearly collapsed and without adjustments this year, reform will likely shift to repeal in 2023. Under a plan that could be debated in the House this week, grocery stores would be able to opt out of the redemption process and Susan Collin, president of the national Container Recycling Institute, says that would make it harder for consumers to find places to take their empty containers to get their nickel deposits back.

“In short, this bill would turn what was a deposit into a fee for consumers who would be increasingly inconvenienced and de-incentivized from returning their containers and receive their rightful deposit back,” Collins says. “Meanwhile, distributors would get to keep additional unclaimed deposits as a windfall.” The wholesale distributors that deliver cases of beer, pop and alcohol to Iowa stores will keep an estimated 44 million dollars in deposits that aren’t claimed this year. Collins says the state should make it as easy as possible for consumers to get back the deposit they pay on each container.

“Consumers are just the ones left in the lurch here,” Collins says. All but one Republican in the Iowa Senate passed a bill to increase the fees paid to redemption centers and let retailers out of participating in the bottle and can redemption system. Senate Republican Leader Jack Whitver says it’s the first time in more than four decades a bill to make changes in the Bottle Bill has made it this far.

“We understand that there are some people that don’t like the Bottle Bill, but there are a lot of Iowans that do,” Whitver says, “and if it’s going to survive long term, we have to make some tweaks to it.” House Speaker Pat Grassley says there are ways to make the program work long term that are included in the plans being discussed by lawmakers.

“I think we’ve made as much progress in the legislature this year than we have in my time that I can remember in my time in the legislature and probably before that, so we want to make sure we do this right,” Grassley says. “We want to be able to negotiate with the Senate, find some common ground.” Democrats say the G-O-P plans under consideration this year will kill the Bottle Bill and reward grocery and convenience stores that have failed to follow current law and pay deposits on empty containers.

(Radio Iowa) – State tax collections are soaring — up nearly eight-and-a-half percent in the past nine months compared to the same period in the previous fiscal year. Jeff Robinson of the Legislative Services Agency says there have been increases in each of the main sources of revenue for the state.

“Individual income tax up 6.3%, sales and use tax up 9.7%,” he says, “and corporate income tax up 7.7%.” The state paid out 30 million dollars MORE in income tax refunds so far THIS year compared to the first three months of 2021.

“But it still very early in the tax filing season for any trend to be evident,” Robinson says. Iowa income taxes are due by April 30th. The tax cuts Governor Reynolds signed into law March 1st will start going into effect for the NEXT tax year. The immediate repeal of state taxes on retirement income and the first stage of reducing the income tax for individuals are projected to contribute to a nearly 15 million dollar in reduction in total tax payments to the state.