(Atlantic, Iowa) – The latest addition to the Atlantic Police force was sworn-in Wednesday evening, by Mayor Grace Garrett. Garrett administered the Oath of Office to Officer Jimmy James.

Atlantic Mayor Grace Garrett congratulates Office James after he is sworn-in. (3/2/22)

He replaces Officer Dustin Gelner, who left to serve with the Iowa State Patrol. City Administrator John Lund says this was the second of four openings for the Atlantic Police Department, a full third of the department. Officer James previously served as a Cass County Sheriff’s Deputy, and is returning to Atlantic from Polk County.

In other business, the Atlantic City Council passed a Resolution on setting the Maximum Property Tax Dollars for those levies. John Lund says “The City’s proposed debt service levy of $4 is completely hidden from [the published] notice. On the property tax statements of properties where no changes in assessed or taxable value have occurred, the City will show an increase of 2.92%, not the 3.86% shown on the notice.” Lund says also, “While 2.92% is the increase in dollars generated, it is not going to be reflective of the impact on the property taxes levied against individual properties. There is no way to know, what the impact will be in the year-to-year impact on individual taxpayers.”

The Council also passed a Resolution “Adopting the Preliminary FY 2023 Budget,” and setting the date of March 16th for Adopt the FY 2023 Budget. John Lund says “A few non-substantive changes were made to correct unbalanced transfers,” resulting in an updated budget for FY23 that totals a little more $14.7-million, which is a decrease from FY 2022 of 1.78%, or $266,800. The bottom line, according to Administrator Lund, is the “The City’s combined property tax levy shall remain at the level set in the FY 2021 and FY 2022 Budget.”

In the final order of business, the Council passed a Resolution setting March 16, 2022, as the date for a public hearing on adopting the FY 2023 10-year Capital Improvement Plan (CIP).

(Radio Iowa) – The Sioux City metro area ranks as the nation’s top spot for economic development for populations under 200-thousand, according to Site Selection magazine’s annual rankings. Chris McGowan, of the Siouxland Chamber of Commerce, says it’s the third straight year and the tenth time overall Siouxland has ranked first in the nation since 2007. “This is a manifestation of the commitment that business has to the tri-state region of Iowa, Nebraska and South Dakota,” McGowan says. “Clearly, these results speak to local companies who have options to go anywhere in the country but they make the determination to grow right here in Siouxland.”

McGowan says Siouxland hopes to keep that streak going in 2022. Multiple companies have recently pledged to spend tens of millions of dollars on opening new facilities or expanding existing ones, bringing hundreds of jobs. McGowan says, “If we can maintain the momentum that we’ve had in the past, it’s certainly possible that we could repeat.”

Adam Bruns, managing editor of Site Selection magazine, says Siouxland continues to attract new development. “I’ve had the pleasure of coming here, it must be half a dozen times by now,” Bruns says. “It’s just an amazingly consistent track record of facility investment by your employers.”

The announcement followed an event on the riverfront in South Sioux City which was keynoted by Nebraska Governor Pete Ricketts.

Police in Glenwood report the arrest on Tuesday, of 28-year-old Joshua Humphrey, of Glenwood. He was taken into custody for OWI/1st offense. Bond was set at $1,000.

(Lewis, Iowa) – As a reminder to local beef producers, the Iowa Beef Center and Iowa State University Extension and Outreach are hosting a “Beef Feedlot Marketing and Economics” meeting this afternoon, Wednesday, March 2. The meeting is free to attend and walk-in registrations are welcome. The meeting will be held at the Wallace Learning Center on the ISU Armstrong Research Farm located at 53020 Hitchcock Ave, Lewis.

Dr. Lee Schulz, ISU Extension livestock economist, will discuss market outlook and risk management, beef pricing from the producer to the consumer, competitive and transparent market proposals, and new USDA price reports.  Tim Christensen, ISU Extension farm management specialist, will address options for managing risk in the cattle industry, and Dr. Dan Loy, director of the Iowa Beef Center, will review Iowa feedlot performance and benchmarking data.

The meeting will begin at 1:30 PM and conclude at 4:00 PM and is free to attend.  Walk-In registrations are welcome. With questions, contact the Cass County Extension Office at 712-243-1132 or the East Pottawattamie County Extension Office at 712-482-6449.  For more information, please visit www.iowabeefcenter.org or email Dan Loy at dloy@iastate.edu.

Information about the program is also available on the Cass County Extension website at www.extension.iastate.edu/cass or by stopping into the Extension office at 805 West 10th Street in Atlantic.