The Adel City Council convened Tuesday evening in regular session.

The meeting began with a public hearing on the proposed fiscal year 2020 City budget, which includes estimated revenues of $28,338,909, estimated expenditures of $27,722,544, and a tax levy rate of $14.26 per $1,000 of assessed value. No one from the public commented on the budget, so in new businesses the Council approved it as presented. However, they did stipulate that they would not allocate the $10,000 requested by the Adel Partners Chamber of Commerce until there is a more firm plan on how they will spend it.

During open forum, the Council listened to presentations from Jim Cobb on purchasing an aerial photo of the City, and from Brooke Ramsey on the Heart of Iowa Regional Transit Authority (HIRTA) organization now providing direct service to Dallas County. No action was taken following each presentation. The next action item was regarding the purchase of two acres of land from Stephen McCalley for $150,000. The purchase was initially explored at a previous meeting, and includes land adjacent to Evans Park. The Council then set two public hearings for April 9th, the first regarding a rezone request from Cramer & Associates, and the second regarding an amendment to the Southbridge Planned Urban Development.

The Council then tabled action on designating the low bidder and awarding the contract for the stormwater utility improvement project on North 15th Street until the March 25th meeting. Other items approved during the meeting included: accepting the completion of three sections of the stormwater utility improvement project; the soil boring bid from Terracon Consultants for the waste water treatment plant project; three pay estimates and a change order for various water projects; updating the Street Superintendent job description; a budget transfer for City Attorney Services; the dissolution of the Adel-Dallas County Public Corporation; a farm lease of City land; and the first amendment to the site lease agreement with New Cingular Wireless.

Finally, the Council approved special event applications for the 2019 Market to Market event, as well as the dates for the Chamber’s Rock’N Friday events.