WELLMAN

The City of Wellman looks to update three ordinances on the books pertaining to beekeeping, utility deposits, and to comply with new Iowa laws. The city council set public hearings for all three of them for Monday, March 4 during their regular meeting on Feb. 20.

The city’s livestock ordinance would be amended to allow beekeeping within city limits with some restrictions. The ordinance regarding utility deposits would increase the required gas and water deposits to $250 each for renters, bringing that total to $500, an increase of $200 over current requirements. Deposits for homeowners would remain unchanged.

The council set an additional public hearing for the proposed property tax levy for FY24-25 for Monday, April 1. The max levy would increase from $8.10 to $8.37, with a total tax rate of $10.81, about 9¢ higher than the previous fiscal year.

After approving a change order of $3,740 to put in a drop ceiling in a storage area of the expanded library building that was not in the original bid, the council approved an agreement with Wapello Rural Water. Although rural water is less expensive than the city’s own water supply, the plan for the moment is to use rural water “as a backup.” Switching over to rural water completely in the future is a possibility.

In March 2023, a destructive tornado tore through farmland on the outskirts of Wellman, and the city “found out what it’s like not to have a siren in town,” as the city’s siren failed to sound.

“It could have been disastrous,” City Administrator Kelly Litwiller noted.

In response to this failure, Washington County Emergency Management conducted a study of the sirens in the county and would like to replace them. Each siren costs $30,000; the county plans to apply for a Riverboat grant that would fund half of that cost. The council approved funding the remaining $15,000 for the city’s siren from local option sales tax.

The city’s siren is currently being tested monthly.

A work session followed the business meeting, and the council discussed state-funded speed signs that will soon be placed on Hwy 22. The electronic, solar-powered signs would display a vehicle’s speed beneath the posted speed limit on each side of town, “exactly [like] what Riverside has.” Signs would signal declining speed limits of 45, 35, and 25 starting near Wellman Produce as one enters town from the west, and near Mid-Prairie High School as one enters town from the east.

Council members noted that although the city gets many complaints about drivers speeding through town, a 2017 speed study indicated that is perception, not reality. It is hoped that the new speed signs will reduce complaints.

The Wellman City Council will next meet on Monday, March 4 at 5:30 p.m. at City Hall.