City sells lot for housing expansion
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By Jeff Snyder
Mount Ayr, Iowa — The city council of Mount Ayr held it’s regularly scheduled meeting Monday December 8.
The council had a relatively quiet agenda mostly related to issues that had been tabled from the last meeting on November 24.
Among the issues presented, was the sale of the city owned property at 104 North Webster street.
The lot was opened to public bidding and only received one bid. The council reviewed the bid and the intended use statement provider by the bidder, Amanda Jackson.
While the bid offer was considered under the market rate for a lot in the city, the council considered the ongoing legal and administrative expenses related to the clearing and maintenance of the land.
The winning bidder presented plans for a three bedroom home that would be constructed on the cleared lot and put up for sale in the $175,000-$200,000 range.
Once debated, the council agreed to accept the bid and the planned new housing project. The council along with City Manager Brent Wise roughed out the potential for tax revenue from the sale of the new home and agreed the long term outcome would outweigh the lower bid price.
Next up was the cities consideration of a change in the health insurance contract offered to city employees.
The planned approximately 10.4 percent rate increase was deemed the state of the insurance industry currently and was accepted by the council. As was previously proposed, the plan will be expanded to two different plan options and will continue to provide for 100 percent premium coverage for the employee and a shared cost for family coverage.
Rick Farrell was in attendance to field questions regarding his previously proposed plan to harvest a variety of trees that were deemed “over growth” on city property. The plan gave a breakdown of the number of trees targeted for harvest and the potential revenue they would generate. The proposal would allow the revenue to be shared on a 50/50 basis with the city. Most of the harvested trees were walnut trees that have significant market value. The shared revenue would then be used by the city to help offset the cost for removing diseased and dying trees throughout the city landscape. The proposal was accepted unanimously by council.
The council moved on to consider a donation request made by Mount Ayr Community Schools related to the current CTE Academy being constructed on the school grounds.
The fund raising campaign kicked off in October and has offered tax deductible contributions ranging from Bronze-$500 up to Diamond- $25,000 or more.
The council discussed the need to continue to support the school district and agreed to make a gold level contribution of $5,000 to be levied against the next fiscal budget.
Several housekeeping items were also covered during the meeting, including the approval of a one time pay adjustment of $200 for city employees. Once approved the city can release the adjustment at its discretion.
The last item addressed was the approval of board resolutions related to appointments for the Library Commission and the Airport Commission. The council again unanimously accepted these resolutions.
The final council item discussed was the approval for Jesse Ruby to effect repairs on one of the city trucks to be performed at his residential property. The city does not own the needed welding equipment in order to conduct the repair.
