Mt. Union officials mull the sale of two city lots

BY BROOKS TAYLOR

Mt. Pleasant News

MT. UNION ? Mt. Union is considering selling two city-owned lots ? one is the lot in which the ball field is located and the other is termed the ?tree? lot ? to help pay city debt.

That?s what Mayor John Marek told The News Thursday. ?The city council will consider a resolution at its September meeting to sell the lots,? he said.

If the resolution passes, which Marek said is a virtual certainty because council members favor the sale, the city will attempt to sell the lots possibly in October by auction. Marek said it is likely the Steffes Group, of Mt. Pleasant, would be handling the auction.

Marek said that since the cost of the auction won?t meet the dollar threshold where competitive bidding is required, Steffes is the likely choice because of its geographical proximity to Mt. Union.

Mt. Union owes approximately $6,000 in legal fees from its most recent litigation with the Regional Utility Service Systems (RUSS) over an injunction to prevent shut-off valves from being installed on properties of residents with delinquent sewer bills. A Henry County District Court judge ruled in favor of RUSS in the case and assessed all attorney fees to the City of Mt. Union.

RUSS is also owed money by the city, but Marek did not know the amount of the debt. ?They (RUSS) bill us quarterly, so we probably won?t know the amount until next month (September).?

Bruce Hudson, RUSS executive director, said today that the City of Mt. Union and Mt. Union residents owe $37,694.31. The amount includes money awarded to RUSS in district court judgments as well as delinquent customer balances.

Another asset ? the community building where city council meetings are held ? will be either given back to Iowa State Bank which has the loan on the building or auctioned off, Marek said. The loan was taken out in 2013, and the city owes slightly less than $15,000 on the note, Marek said.

Asked why the city received a bank loan instead of bonding for the building, Marek said that by acquiring a loan, the city did not have to increase property taxes whereas bonding would have increased the tax levy.

Earlier this summer, the Mt. Union City Council approved a resolution to unincorporate. Citizens later filed a petition to have the matter put to a vote, which is scheduled to be on the November general election ballot.

Henry County Auditor Shelly Barber said Thursday that she had a phone conversation with a Mt. Union resident indicating the petition may be rescinded. If that should happen, the council?s resolution to unincorporate would stand. It also would mean the process to unincorporate may be quicker because the notice could be filed earlier with the State of Iowa City Development Board.

The state board has the final word on unincorporation requests and generally acts on the request at its next monthly board meeting after the notice is received. The city development board meets on the second Wednesday of each month in Des Moines.