At their meeting on Tuesday, March 22, the Clarion City Council held their annual budget public hearing. No comments had been received before the meeting and no one present at the meeting had comments or questions. The council went on to approve next fiscal year’s budget. The city tax levy will increase to $18.95542 per $1000 of taxable property value from last year’s rate of $17.75758.
In other council business, they set two public hearing dates. The first was to enter into a loan for the new White Fox road, called Aspen Drive, that is planned to be built. The other hearing is for Iowa Specialty Hospital to enter into a loan not to exceed $2.36 million to expand their labor and delivery rooms. Middleton reminded everyone that ISH pays the loans back themselves and that they do not go on the city’s debt schedule.
During the open forum section of the meeting, Pastor Dana Wendel asked the council about the possibility of helping provide gravel to residents who do not have driveways. He spoke to councilman Dan Hennigar after the meeting about costs.
Eric Koerner and Keerthi Kalivarapu spoke before the council about downtown parking for people who live in apartments. They live in the Cornerstone Apartments and said they have been receiving parking tickets lately for overnight parking. They also expressed that they feel that the cost of permitted parking in the city lots ($12 per month) is overly expensive. They asked the council to allow overnight parking on the street (with the exception of snow events) or free parking in the city lots. Public Works Director Jon Devries explained that outside of winter, they still need the streets clear overnight for sweepers and other work. City Administrator Clint Middleton said he would be willing to continue the parking discussion outside of the meeting but he didn’t think the overnight parking ban or the fee for permit parking will change.
In the reports section of the meeting, DeVries noted that the city will be receiving a $2,000 Trees Please grant from Mid-American Energy to plant trees in town. He also noted that pothole patching will be starting soon and encouraged people to contact city hall to make them aware of trouble areas.
