NL City Council Deals with Sidewalks, Parking, and Tax Rates

The New London City Council met in regular session on Feb. 12, 2024. Scott Campbell was absent, and Travis Benz joined the meeting by phone. They approved the agenda and the consent agenda. No one addressed the Council in open forum.

In old business, the Council approved the 28E agreement for combined law enforcement operations between the city of New London and Henry County. They then approved a second 28E agreement for supplemental law enforcement services with the Henry County Sheriff’s Office.

In other old business, they approved selling the 1994 International 4900 dump truck through BIC Auctions at the end of February.

They then turned their attention to new business. They took the following actions:

They then turned their attention to several discussion items. The first item was a price for the commercial lot north of Dollar General. They agreed to sell the commercial lot (approximately 2.25 acres) for $50,000 and the half lot (approximately 1.13 acres) for $25,000. The Council agreed there may be additional items required before a sale could take place that would include a business plan, timeline, entrance/exit requirement, etc.

The next item up for discussion was extending the No Parking zone on South Walnut Street by the school. They felt the no parking zones in the city code were adequate. They would like to install a few more signs to make it clear to citizens where they cannot park on South Walnut Street.

Next up was the sidewalk issue on Madison Street. For a little background: Alliant Energy and their subcontractor, KS Energy, have been replacing gas service lines on Madison for the past year. They have torn out several sections of sidewalk. The mayor would like to see Alliant, the city, and the property owners work together to replace the sidewalk instead of it being patched back. The Council gave the Mayor the go-ahead to work with Alliant on a plan to replace the sidewalk at the current requirement of four feet wide with potential sidewalk cost sharing among Alliant, the City, and the property owners.

In keeping with sidewalks, the council discussed building a new sidewalk on South Pine Street from the new residential subdivision north. In agreement that a new sidewalk is needed, the council has concerns about funding. They will continue to search for grant opportunities to help with construction costs.

The next item up for discussion was the sanitation rate increase that will be necessary when on July 1, 2024 Waste Management takes over garbage pickup. They discussed their options and will adopt one next month. Other items in this discussion include cart size options, keeping the senior citizen discount, and dumpster rates.

The budget for FY 2024-2025 was the next topic of discussion. The budget balanced and looks good. The Council had a lengthy discussion about the tax rate for FY ’24-’25 and how the employee health insurance premiums affects it. The Council would like to have a joint meeting with the Utility Trustees and insurance agent Dennis Krehbiel to see what options they might have to help with the expense of health insurance premiums.

The final item was the Council’s review of the audit for FY 2022-2023. The Council was concerned with the comment regarding “questionable donations.” The donations were made to other nonprofit organizations for community events. They directed the city clerk to check with the city attorney to see if there is a way to continue their support of local events and groups while being in compliance with state regulations.

The council meeting adjourned at 7:35 p.m. The next regular City Council meeting will be March 11, 2024 at 6 p.m. at the City Office.