Published in the Citizen Herald July 28, 2010

By Deb Holt

Jesup City Council meetings will now be held on the first Tuesday of each month. Council persons approved the change at the regular Jesup City Council meeting held July 12 in council chambers.

The meeting dates were changed to accommodate the new city attorney. John Pieters retired as city attorney after 30 years of service to Jesup. The council hired Roberts, Stevens and Pendergrast as new attorney for Jesup.

The August City Council meeting will be held on Tuesday, August 10.

Water, sewer rate changes
The Council passed an ordinance changing water and sewer rates for the city.

A flat fee of $10 will be charged to water customers, with a $3 charge per 1,000 gallons prorated to the nearest 100 gallons. Bulk water (other than standard residential or commercial metered services) will be charged at $5 per 1,000 gallons prorated to the nearest 100 gallons.

Also, sewer rates will be 100% of the bill for water and water service. Thirty dollars will be charged to those who do not receive city water service. According to City Clerk LeAnn Even, there are a couple instances in Jesup where this is the case.

Contributions to School Recreation
The council agreed they will continue to contribute money to the school’s summer recreation programs, but decided not to make any donations to the swimming pool for 2009-10 and 2010-11.

The pool was closed during the summer last year due to renovations, and closed to the public this year because an adequate number of lifeguards cannot be hired.

Relocating the police department
The Jesup Police Department must be relocated once again, before construction of the new city hall is to begin.
Previous owner of the building where the Police Department is now located, Brett Butler, must be given 60 days notice before it’s torn down, to reclaim materials.

The most economical solution seemed to be moving the Police Department into the temporary City Hall at the Jesup Community School; they would use the Building Department offices. A storage pod would also be needed to store the department’s effects. Police Dept. Committee Chairman Dave Bishop will check with the school to see if a pod would be allowed on school grounds.

When the downtown City Hall was razed in February of 2009, the police department was temporarily located in the Thompson Building on Sixth Street, west of the Jesup Public Library. It then moved its current location, the former Sassy Styles building.

The council also discussed the number of police officers in the Beer Garden during Farmers Day.

Some of the Farmers Day organizers felt there were too many officers in the Beer Tent, which kept people from entering, and made the patrons feel uncomfortable.

Sgt. Boos explained that the number of officers was justified in the event of an incident and because of the large crowds at Farmers Day.

There were seven officers in the Beer Tent at one time.
In other business, the council …

• changed the wording from “Home and Community Environment” to “Public Safety” in a resolution transferring funds for EMT training. The wording was changed to be in compliance with the State.

• approved payment of $5,993 to Jesup Land Improvement for the Douglas Street Storm Sewer Improvement project.

• approved payment of $55,114.22 to Dolan Excavating for the South Street Phase II Water main/Sanitary Sewer Project.
• passed a resolution rescinding a water service agreement with Catherene C. Friedly-Pollock and Melvin R. Pollock.

• passed a resolution authorizing efforts to acquire the necessary property interests by negotiation and, if unsuccessful, to begin procedures consistent with Iowa Eminent Domain law.

• passed a resolution transfering money for budgetary provisions.

• learned that the owner of the property behind the police station is interested in selling the property to the City for space for the new City Hall. blog comments powered by Disqus