WELLMAN

If there were such a thing as a ‘typical’ city council meeting, the meeting Tuesday night in Wellman would probably qualify.

An update from Mary Audia of the Washington Economic Development Group (WEDG) topped the agenda on Feb. 19; she led with praise for The News’s Progress issue on Jan. 30, in which interviews with leadership from four cities, including Wellman, featured prominently. She also held up the Feb. 16 issue of The Gazette, where Freeman Foods featured in the Business section.

“I was pretty excited to see this because Kelly and I had worked with these guys on it,” Audia said, alluding to the $25,000 Rural Innovation Grant the store received from the state in January to enhance online ordering. Freeman Foods is now on Instacart, she noted, adding, “Hopefully we can get more grants as they come up, so we’ll keep our eyes peeled to help them out. Shopping local is one of the big things that I’ve been up to this past year.”

Protecting the Riverside Casino from competition has also been a focus for Audia this year; however, a new casino in Cedar Rapids was granted a license earlier this month.

“They’re expecting 26 to 30% is what we’re going to lose [in revenue],” she said, noting that the Riverboat Foundation is already notifying cities and nonprofits that less grant money is likely to be available in the future.

Wellman has received over $1.5 million in quarterly municipal grants from the foundation since 2006.

At the conclusion of her review of last year’s activity, Audia thanked the city for their continued investment and collaboration with WEDG.

Council Action

There were two action items for the council Tuesday, one of which was the setting of a public hearing for the proposed property tax levy for FY25-26. City Administrator Kelly Litwiller noted that the proposed levy increased from the previous fiscal year due to added debt service for Ginkgo Avenue/9th Avenue bridge reconstruction (from $10.81 to $11.70 per $1,000 valuation) and that a letter will go out on March 20 to every taxpayer providing details. The council set the public hearing for Monday, April 7.

The council also approved a $15,261 quote for a flow control valve and SCADA system for the water plant, which is required for the city to connect to Wapello Rural Water.

Community Notes

At the conclusion of the meeting, Litwiller noted that the city is looking into alternative locations for shooting fireworks in the event of rain and will be doing some testing.

Council member Nathan Klosterman asked if progress was being made in getting more businesses into the downtown’s vacant storefronts. Litwiller said she had talked with the owners of two buildings recently, and that the city could do more to push owners to sell or lease their space.

Mayor Ryan Miller thanked the public works crew for clearing snow last week.

“There’s a lot of hours put into moving snow, and it’s never easy, especially when it continues to snow,” he said. “We appreciate all the hard work.”

The Wellman City Council will next meet on Monday, March 3 at 5:30 p.m. at City Hall.