The Stuart City Council met in regular session Monday night.
The Council held a public hearing pertaining to the 2024-25 proposed City budget, and hearing no comments quickly approved of the budget. They then approved a resolution to add stop signs to the intersection of North 5th Street and North Fremont Streets, making it a four-way stop, along with designating the first 100 feet from the intersection of White Pole Road on the east sides of Foley Street and All Saints Drive as no parking zones for traffic safety reasons.
The Council also approved the 2024 Stuart Fire Department Officers, heard that the new fire truck should be delivered in the first part of June, and to allow use of the walking path for the Menlo American Legion Auxiliary during their fundraiser for Iowa Service Dogs. They tabled a decision on closing part of the street in front of Johnnie’s Tap to allow the owner to come up with a new plan of action for their event, then declined a request to vacate an alley, and to vacate North Harrison and North Gaines Streets between North 8th and North 9th Streets.
The Council then approved the proposed lease for the Coon Valley Telephone fiber optic project, amended the Stuart Public Library’s budget as they have received some grant money recently pay applications for Wambold Third Addition street lighting ($32,348.45), the Safe Routes to School Project ($20,212.91), Wambold Phase Three housing project ($183,695.26) and the manhole rehabilitation project. They heard from Rescue Director Sean Bovinett that Stuart Rescue had recently met with Audubon County Hospital about possibly providing transport services, but that it had just been an introductory meeting, and that no decision has been made yet.
The Council then discussed with Stuart Police Chief Dave Reha and Sergeant Katie Guisinger about the proposal for a full time school resource officer agreement with the West Central Valley School District, and the Council decided to have City Administrator Ashraf Ashour have a meeting with the School Business Official for the school district to discuss how the transfer of moneys would work. They then tabled a decision on the 2024 City Marketing proposal and for doing a site development study for a section of land.