The City of Atalissa made council appointments and took all kinds of action Monday, Jan. 10, at their first meeting of the new year and the first meeting for newly elected mayor Angie Dickey.
Dickey told the council, which included new members Karen Rock and Scott Skubal, that one of her goals is to complete some of the projects the city has had but not completed the past several years, nearly extending back to her years as mayor four years ago.
“We have all these projects. I want everyone to work hard to complete them,” she said, noting the city has been working at locating water shut off valves on properties as well as septic tanks to make it easier on the water and sewer departments.
She said it’s no fault of the past administration the work wasn’t done, noting it just takes a lot of time and told the council she’d like to pursue completing the projects as the weather turns better this spring. “Let’s knock them out,” Dickey said, noting there are other goals she’s got in mind as well.
Dickey made a number of appointments at the meeting including giving the job of mayor pro-tem to Evan Smock, reappointing Matt Bowers at the Chief of Police, appointing Tim DeVore to the street committee and assigning Karen Rock as the fire board delegate. Dickey also appointed Scott Skubal and Brian VanDusen to the water and sewer committee.
The mayor also appointed Samantha Parry to the city clerk position and Jamie Bosten as the city attorney through 2024.
The city also approved Ottumwa State Bank, dba West Liberty State Bank, as the official city bank depository and named the West Liberty Index as the official newspaper of the city for legal documentation.
In other business, the city asked DeVore to provide snowplowing lessons for new council member Scott Skubal. It was noted the brine ice covering/melting system would continue to be used while the salt spreader is being studied for possible repair.
Dickey also reported an upcoming meeting of officials concerning the Lower Cedar River Watershed to “learn what needs to be done.” She will report back at the February meeting of the council.
The council also approved a partial release of an easement on a long-time residential property at 524 Oak Street, pointing out the city had an easement for a large portion of the property.
Hoping to get an agent from Alliant Energy to attend the meeting, the council failed to learn more about the local franchise by the electrical company and planned to set up a virtual meeting with the company to learn more about the franchise.
The city also set a public hearing for a budget amendment for Monday Feb. 14, at their next regular meeting, beginning at 7 p.m.
The council also got an update from fire chief Mike Smock on 2021 calls by his first responders. He also updated the council on the progress of the warming/cooling station being put together at the Atalissa Fire Department home.
The council also learned the chief of police has hired two new part-time officers for the city including an officer from Muscatine and another who also works for Muscatine County. He said the city had one nuisance complaint in December. Bowers also unveiled that the department was provided an AED defibrillator unit that will be placed in the city squad car in case it’s needed. The unit was obtained through the County of Muscatine.