City of Wayland purchases property

By TRISHA PHELPS

Mt. Pleasant News

WAYLAND ? The Wayland City Council made the decision in closed session on Wednesday night to purchase three separate pieces of real estate. According to Iowa law, closed session minutes will not be published until after the transaction has been completed. The completion date for the transaction and the location of the properties have not been made public.

During the clerk?s report, City Clerk Bev Conrad noted that the gas budget hasn?t gone as expected.

?Gas has been a real mystery this year on how much we are using,? said Conrad. ?We are using more than we usually do so that is something for us to figure out. And the price keeps changing. Everything else is working fairly well, so once we figure out the other it will all be taken care of.?

In the utility report, gas Superintendent Barry Leichty informed the council of a need for some summer help again this year.

?People have been inquiring about if we want summer help,? said Leichty. ?There are pretty good guys asking, and we have plenty of stuff to get done. We would open it up to anyone, but it would be nice to have some help.?

?We can figure that out next meeting,? responded Mayor Brad Roth, noting that the sooner the council can decide on the matter the better.

Police Chief Ron Roth informed the council of some concern from Wayland residents about speeding vehicles on Front Street.

?They said when I?m not there they can tell because vehicles seem to speed a little bit more down there on the west end of Front Street,? said Ron Roth. ?They residents said that if the city is thinking about taking any of the speed bumps out the would like consideration in that area.?

During the fire department update Fire Chief Mat Leichty informed the council that the department is hoping to purchase a new truck soon.

?I?m talking to dealers about the prices of a new front-line pumper for some time in the next year or whenever it works out,? said Mat Leichty. ?I?m trying to jump through all the hoops and figure out how to finance and fund this thing. I haven?t figure all that out yet. We are in the process of trying to fill out some grants for that.?

The council also:

Approved a quote for a brine pump replacement from Cedar Rapids Winpump at a price of $1,475.

Approved sending Barry Leichty and Randy Morrow to IAMU workshop on May 6 and 7 in Ankeny.

Approved a building permit in the 200 block of South Brooks Street to replace windows.