The Guthrie Center City Council met Monday night.

Councilor Patrick Halsey submitted his letter of resignation, effective September 13th. Halsey says he is moving out of the city limits to Adel. The Council intends to appoint a replacement at their September 26th regular meeting to serve until the next scheduled city election in November 2017.

Additionally, the Council voted to hire Jerry’s Cemetery Restoration and Repair to reset and repair 100 gravestones in the City cemetery at a cost of just over $40/stone.

Plus, the Council voted to enter into a lease agreement with New Opportunities at the future City Hall, located at 400 State Street. New Opportunities will pay $1,000/month and use three offices on the west side of the building, and one office on the east side, plus they may be able to use the former bank vault as a food pantry. The City will pay for all utilities in the building, though New Opportunities will be responsible for furnishing their own phone and internet services. Both City officials and New Opportunities CEO Chad Jensen say the agreement is beneficial to both parties in helping the City offset some of the cost of moving to the bigger, more expensive City Hall, and allowing New Opportunities to consolidate all of their local services under one roof in more effectively serving area residents.

The Council also received an update from Midwest Partnership Executive Director Sarah Gomez about their organization’s continual efforts to attract new businesses to the area.