When the Atlantic City Council gathers at 5:30-p.m. Wednesday, they’ll start the meeting by paying special recognition to the Trojan varsity Girls Softball Team. The girls finished in 4th Place at the State Tournament. Prior to their strip to State the Trojans beat Anamosa in a memorable 11-inning game. They ended their season at State 34-7, setting a record for the program. The Mayor and City Council have made it point to recognize the positive achievements of Atlantic’s students.

Afterward, the Council will receive a presentation from SWIPCO Community Development Director Alexsis Fleener, with regard to an Upper Story Housing Grant Conversion Program offered by the Iowa Economic Development Authority (IEDA), through the CDBG program. During the Council’s last meeting, Fleener said they’re looking to obtain grant funds for a project at 509 Chestnut Street, which would see the upper floors converted into two new residential units.

A public hearing will be held after the presentation, as part of the application process to IEDA, for the aforementioned CDBG program. If the Council approves SWIPCO proceeding with the application, and the funds are approved in the next round of grants, the City would simply act as a “Flow through” agency for those monies, and otherwise will not have a financial stake in the matter.

The Council will also act on approving an agreement with The Retail Coach, for retail recruitment and related services, at a total cost of $32,500, which is less than their original proposal of $35,000, and includes reimbursibles for some services. City Administrator John Lund says he has completed re-working the Local Option Sales Tax (LOST) Progress Budget to accommodate the proposal, if the Council approves the agreement. He says to recover the cost of the investment, new retailer(s) in Atlantic will need to generate over $7.1-million in net taxable sales over a period of several years. New sales taxes generated would be distributed to all the taxing authorities in Cass County, according to Lund, and new commercial property value will benefit all the taxing authorities within the City limits, thereby creating downward pressure on the tax levies.

As part of the agreement with The Retail Coach, the City will receive the following services:

• A market analysis of competing communities, a customized retail trade area map with demographic and psychographic profiles, based on current cellular geolocation data.
• A determination of retail opportunities, including gap analysis and consumer propensity report.
• A development and redevelopment strategy, including 310 development sites and 20 retail site profiles.
• A list of 35 retailers and 20 developers, with their contact information.
• Development of a custom marketing and branding package for retailers, developer opportunity package, online retail dashboard and interactive site mapping, to track progress and response to proposals.
• Recruitment of retailers and developers by The Retail Coach, with status updates on the dashboard and monthly recruitment updates.
• Attention to the downtown retail trade area, with its own custom retail map, workshops with business owners, and more.
• And, ongoing coaching and support from The Retail Coach team, as well as representation of Atlantic at regional and national retail industry events (including the International Council of Shopping Centers [ICSC] recon, in Las Vegas.

Two men were arrested on Sunday on theft charges in Red Oak. The Red Oak PD reports the first arrest took place at 1:15 p.m. at 907 East Hammond Street in Red Oak. Officers arrested 28-year-old Ozzy Ray Hunter of Red Oak for Theft 4th Degree and Possession of a Controlled Substance 4th Offense. Hunter was taken to the Montgomery County Jail and held on $2,000 bond.

The second arrest took place at 1:50 p.m. on Sunday at 106 W Coolbaugh Street in Red Oak. Officers arrested 41-year-old Michael Shane Webster of Red Oak for Theft 4th Degree. He was taken to the Montgomery County Jail and held on $1,000 bond.

The Cass County Board of Supervisors will once again discuss and take possible action on filling open positions on various County boards or commission. The Supervisors are set to meet at 9-a.m. Tuesday in their Boardroom at the Cass County Courthouse, in Atlantic.

First-up on their agenda, is a regular, Secondary Roads Dept. update from County Engineer Trent Wolken. That will be followed by action on appointing one person as the Board’s representative to serve on the Cass County elected officials Compensation Board. (Compensation Board recommends annual compensation of elected county officials: the auditor, treasurer, recorder, sheriff, county attorney, and supervisors.  This is a seven-member board with two members appointed by the Board of Supervisors and one member appointed by each of the five other elected officials.) Last week, the Supervisors moved to re-appoint Kipp Harris as member on the Cass County compensation board, for a 4 year term beginning 7/1/21.

Discussion, and possible action includes:

• Filling a vacancy position of one Trustee and one Clerk for the Franklin Township
• Filling a vacancy position on a list of persons eligible to serve on the Condemnation in Eminent Domain proceedings Board. The person must be a city/town property owner.
• Possible action on appointing one person to the Cass County Conservation Board, to fill a vacancy for the term ending Dec. 31, 2022.
• and, possible action on the use of funds from the American Rescue Plan [ARP] (Pandemic relief), as related to proposals received to-date.  (Last week, the Supervisors discussed an e-mail from a Food Policy Council member, inquiring whether ARP funds could be used to enhance our local/community food system to enhance our self-sufficiency, i.e. lower dependence on external resources such as industrial meat processing. The board also discussed the possible use of ARP funds for courthouse climate control/HVAC improvements. )

The Red Oak Police Department reports the arrest of an Omaha man following a high speed pursuit of a motorcycle on Sunday night. At around 9:00 p.m. on Sunday a Red Oak Police Officer was following a motorcycle as it popped a wheelie and passed a car at the bridge construction site west of Red Oak on Highway 34. The Officer activated his lights and sirens and the motorcycle took off, reaching speeds up to 110mph. The Officer was able to catch up to the bike near Evergreen Street and the driver eventually pulled over.

The driver was identified as 24-year-old Matthew Jacob Tortorilla of Omaha, NE. He was arrested on charges of Eluding and Reckless Driving. He also received a citation for traveling 110mph in a 55mph zone and another for No Valid Driver’s License.

Tortorilla was taken to the Montgomery County Jail and held on $2,000 bond.