Mason City City Council Regular Meeting - November 19, 2024
Mason City City Council Regular Meeting - November 19, 2024
The Mason City City Council held its regular meeting on November 19, 2024, at 1:00 PM UTC (local evening time), with Mayor Bill Schickle presiding and all council members present. The meeting covered neighborhood improvements, outdoor recreation projects, new housing developments, and administrative actions.
Consent Calendar
- The council approved the consent agenda (items 1–13, 13A, 15–17, 23) with one exception: item 14 was removed for separate discussion. Items included approval of minutes, claims, permits, the October financial report, hiring of two police officers and a water distribution worker, submission of the state TIF report, appropriation of urban renewal funds, adoption of the 2025–26 policy agenda, acceptance of work on downtown pedestrian ramp compliance, authorization of bidding for the Prairie Land Trail connector, approval of property owner applications for the Downtown West Neighborhood Improvement Program (three properties, the 27th slated for improvement), change order for bike park signage, internal advance for housing stock rehab, and a connection agreement for Tractor Supply. The motion passed unanimously.
Public Comments & Testimony
- No public comments were made during the public forum or the public hearings for items 18, 19, and 20.
Discussion Items
- City Administrator's Report (Aaron Burnett): Highlights included the Highland Golf Course having its longest recorded season in 99 years; a power purchase agreement for solar installation at Southbridge Mall with roof replacement to follow; resolution of parking lot light outage at Southbridge Mall (west lights on, east lights to be fixed by Thursday); progress on Destination Iowa projects (bike park ahead of schedule, Murphy Park bridge progressing, Prairie Land connector to bid soon, riverwalk ahead of schedule); the North Bridge Horizon development (age‑restricted senior housing with underground parking) made possible by the state's Thrive community designation; and introduction of job shadow student Brant Hakenstad and new Public Works Director Jim Collins.
- Council follow‑up on Destination Iowa projects: Councilman Adams inquired about timelines. Burnett noted the bike park grading is largely complete with a summer opening; Murphy Park bridge abutments being poured with an early summer completion; and the riverwalk should open in late spring, weather permitting. All projects are ahead of schedule.
- Horizon Development (Item 19): The council held a public hearing for the proposed Harmony Park development in the North Bridge area—a $13 million, 45‑unit age‑restricted senior housing project with underground parking. Mayor described it as made possible by the Thrive designation. Councilman Latham expressed strong support, noting it would improve the area and provide underground parking. Councilman Lee questioned the 10‑year, 100% city tax abatement with no cap; City Administrator clarified that Section 42 properties are assessed differently and that the school levy is excluded, so only about 60% of taxes are abated. The motion passed unanimously.
- Termination of EBCO Holdings Agreement (Item 14): The council separately considered terminating the real estate development agreement due to lack of development. City Administrator confirmed the property owner (Pritchard Companies) is already exploring new development options; the conditional rezoning restrictions remain. Councilman Adams asked about future use, likely light industrial or assembly. The motion passed unanimously.
- Habitat for Humanity Agreement (Item 20): The council approved a development agreement with Habitat for Humanity to build 13 homes in the Madison Heights neighborhood, with a $35,000 city loan. Councilwoman Simmons noted her role on the Habitat board but voted in favor. The motion passed unanimously.
Key Outcomes
- Consent Agenda (Items 1–13, 13A, 15–17, 23): Approved unanimously.
- Item 14 (Termination of EBCO Holdings Agreement): Approved unanimously.
- Item 18 (Downtown West Neighborhood Improvement – A, B, and C): Approved unanimously.
- Item 19 (Harmony Park Development): Approved unanimously.
- Item 20 (Habitat for Humanity Development Agreement): Approved unanimously.
Meeting Transcript
And good evening, everyone. Welcome to the regular meeting of the Mason City City Council. This is the meeting for November 19th of 2024. I'm Mayor Bill Schickle. We're delighted to have you with us this evening. The first item of business is the roll call. Diana, would you call the roll? Latham. Here. Adams. Present. Lee. Present. Yeski. Here. Simmons. Present. Ms. Let the record reflect that all members are present. We've got a packed agenda tonight with neighborhood improvement, outdoor recreation, and goals for the new year all up. But the first item of business is the adoption of the agenda. Is there a motion to adopt the agenda? So move. Second motion by Councilman Yushewski, second by Councilman Mason. Uh discussion. All those in favor signify by saying aye. Aye. Aye. All those opposed, same sign. The motion carries. We'll go now to the public forum. This is your chance to comment on any item on the agenda. If there is an agenda item you would like to comment on, you can uh step forward, use the podium and state the number of the item that you would like to make your remarks. Hearing no public comment at this time, we'll close the public hearing and we'll move to our regular monthly city administrator report. Aaron Burnett, go ahead. Excellent. Thank you, Mayor. Well, just a few things to touch on and actually have uh two individuals to introduce to the council uh tonight. But first the report. Um one of the things that was in the packet that I think is uh uh interesting note is that this year was actually the longest season that the uh Highland Golf course has had on record in 99 years. So uh the staff did a fantastic job of maintaining the course through extremely wet weather at the beginning of the year, uh very dry weather at the end of the year, and uh a lot of rounds played, you know, serving the community in that uh aspect, and and I think you know, with the the extra season, it can be a long toll, but uh the staff did a great job out there. Um the other things to highlight is uh the if you remember we had the solar installation at the Southbridge Mall that uh had some action on it. We will have a power purchase agreement coming back before the council that was uh received well. We've got uh company that we're working with that has uh visited the site and is finalizing their proposal uh or finalizing the power purchase agreement to uh come back before the council, and that'll be a great improvement with the solar installation there, and then also the uh roof improvements that'll be a uh or the roof replacement that'll be part of that. Uh one thing that's received a lot of attention I want to make the council aware on is uh the riverwalk project had a unfortunate hiccup with the parking lot lights at the Southbridge Mall. As we were doing some replacement of the panels in that parking lot, uh one of the conduits was actually in one of the panels. It was up in in the concrete and so on with uh when it was removed, it actually uh turned off all the lights uh in that parking lot, which is you know been met with a lot of frustration from several individuals, uh you know, several organizations, businesses, and we're working as quickly as we can to get that resolved. We do have the west lights on. The east lights should be fixed, hopefully tomorrow uh or sorry, Thursday. And uh and we'll get those up and running.
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