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Record of Proceedings

Mason City Council Meeting: June 17, 2025 – Consent Agenda, EMS Agreement, Hotel Development

City Council — Tuesday, June 17, 2025

BodyMason City, Iowa

SessionCity Council

DateTuesday, June 17, 2025

StatusFILED

Video Record

0:00 / 20:14

Transcript — VerbatimClick a timed line to jump · ⧉ to share it

0:40

Good evening, everyone.

0:42

Welcome to the regular meeting of the Mason City City Council.

0:45

This is a meeting for June 17th of 2025.

0:48

I'm Mayor Bill Schickle, and we're delighted to have you with us this evening.

0:53

The first order of business is the roll call.

0:55

Pam, would you call the roll?

0:57

Lee.

0:58

Present.

0:59

Adams.

0:59

Present.

1:00

Simmons.

1:01

Present.

1:02

Latham.

1:03

President.

1:04

Masan.

1:05

Here.

1:06

Yeski.

1:07

Here.

1:08

Let the record reflect that all members are present.

1:11

Next item of business is the adoption of the agenda.

1:15

Do we have a motion to adopt the agenda?

1:17

So move.

1:18

Second.

1:19

Motion by Councilman Yusheski, a second by Councilman Lee.

1:23

Discussion.

1:25

All those in favor signify by saying aye.

1:28

Aye.

1:28

Aye.

1:29

All those opposed, same sign.

1:32

The agenda is adopted.

1:33

We'll move to the public forum.

1:34

Now this is your chance to comment on any item on the agenda.

1:38

If there's an agenda item that you would like to comment on, you can step forward, use the podium and the floor is yours for five minutes.

1:49

Hearing none, I'll close the public forum and we'll move to the monthly city administrators' report.

1:56

Aaron Burnett, you're up.

1:58

Thank you, Mayor.

1:59

Thank you, Council.

2:00

Just a few items to brief the council on, and then I'll uh uh be happy to answer any questions the council may have.

2:06

Uh first off, I I need to mention we've got the Riverwalk ribbon coving ribbon cutting coming up uh this Thursday.

2:13

We're very excited about that.

2:16

Uh had a chance to tour the river walk and uh inspect things before we got to the ribbon cutting and looks fantastic.

2:24

I think it'll be a really exciting day, and I encourage people to come out uh 10 o'clock on Thursday and uh celebrate the riverwalk.

2:32

And we'll have some folks around to answer questions and kind of explain some of the features of the the riverwalk.

2:39

So uh it'll be more than just listening to people speak, it'll also be a chance to interact with some of the people who are uh intimately involved in the design and construction of the riverwalk.

2:50

So I think that'll be a great event.

2:52

Um last Friday I had the uh the opportunity to uh witness the promotions and hiring of quite a few folks over at the fire department.

3:02

Uh I think the biggest group we've we've ever had, I th I believe.

3:06

Um it was uh a great day to celebrate just so many, you know, people moving into higher leadership positions within the fire department.

3:15

Um I think the the department's doing a great job of of putting people in positions to be able to advance within their careers and be ready for those uh promotional opportunities.

3:26

And then also uh, you know, big kudos on the hiring process, going out and and uh recruiting individuals to the process to make sure that we are uh bringing good people in at the bottom of that uh organization, folks that can uh can be the future of that department.

3:42

So it was a great celebration uh last Friday.

3:48

One of the things that'll be uh uh focus of the next legislative session is uh property tax again.

3:55

Uh working with the Iowa City Managers Association and the Iowa League of Cities.

4:02

Uh I'm working with both those organizations on um efforts to educate legislators and to work on proposals to try and offer solutions as we come into the next legislative session.

4:16

If you remember, we had uh property tax proposals out there.

4:18

There were quite a few that were pretty damaging to cities and and really hard to operate under, would have really put constraints on the ability to city for the city to continue to invest in uh placemaking, housing, culture and recreation, so many different things that are just critical to creating a a livable place for people to live and uh call home.

4:40

And so working hard to try and uh be part of that solution to propose to lawmakers in the upcoming session, uh solutions from the League of Cities and City Managers Association.

4:51

So uh stay tuned on that and uh hopefully we'll we'll find some receptive ears uh in the General Assembly uh for some of those uh proposals.

5:02

Wanted to mention code enforcement.

5:04

I think this is uh kind of a quiet work that happens within the the city.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting

Procedural██████████████████████████████████34%

Economic Development███████████████████████████27%

Public Engagement██████████████14%

Affordable Housing███████████11%

Personnel Matters████████8%

Public Safety██████6%

Summary of Proceedings

Mason City Council Regular Meeting – June 17, 2025

The Mason City City Council met on June 17, 2025, at 7:00 PM in the Mason City Public Library. Mayor Bill Schickle presided with all council members present: Lee, Adams, Simmons, Latham, Masan (also spelled Massan in transcript), and Yeski (Yusheski). The agenda was adopted unanimously. No public comments were made during the public forum. Key actions included approval of the consent agenda (with item 9 pulled for separate discussion), unanimous approval of a 28E agreement with the Worth County EMS District, and unanimous approval of a development agreement with Mason City Hotel Associates for an 80-room extended-stay hotel in the Riverwalk District.

Consent Calendar

Approved the consent agenda as a whole, except item 9 (28E agreement) which was pulled for separate discussion. Items included: minutes of June 3, 2025; claims dated June 5 and 12, 2025; permits; April financial report; appointment of Ella Phillips as City Planner (Grade L, Step 1, $74,651/yr.); appointment of Carl Galliart as Utility Account Clerk (Grade G, Step 2, $23.48/hr.); resolution levying assessments for charges on certain properties; resolution authorizing a 28E agreement with Worth County EMS Districts (discussed separately); resolution adopting a Master Schedule of Fees; and reappointment of Scott Borcherding and Dennis Renner to the MacNider Museum Board.

Public Comments & Testimony

No public comments were made.

Discussion Items

City Administrator’s Monthly Report: Aaron Burnett reported on the upcoming Riverwalk ribbon cutting (Thursday, June 19 at 10:00 AM), fire department promotions and hiring, property tax advocacy efforts with the Iowa League of Cities and Iowa City Managers Association, code enforcement successes, the Big Dill bike ride, Travel Iowa’s promotion of the Prairie Rock Trail System, and introduced Ella Phillips, who will join the planning department as City Planner.
Item 9 – 28E Agreement with Worth County EMS District: The agreement formalizes the existing service area (southeast corner of Worth County, including Grafton and Manley) and allows the newly formed EMS district to levy a tax (85 cents per $1,000 valuation) to pay for service. The city previously billed the county directly; the new tax revenue is estimated at $78,000 annually. The service will continue as before; the person transported still receives a bill. This is the first such agreement; Floyd County opted for AMR service instead. The resolution was approved unanimously.
Item 12 – Development Agreement with Mason City Hotel Associates (Resolutions A & B): The council considered two resolutions: (A) setting a July 1, 2025 date to approve the development agreement for the Waterfront Plaza Hotel, and (B) setting a public hearing date for urban renewal tax increment financing. The project is an 80-room extended-stay hotel with a pool, part of the Riverwalk District. Key incentives: a 100% tax rebate for 5 years and 50% for the next 5; a $2 million loan at 4% interest with interest-only payments for 3 years, 25-year amortization, balloon at year 10; and a $2 million loan guarantee backed by TIF. The developer also received a brownfield grant of approximately $1.2 million from the Iowa Economic Development Authority. Construction is targeted for mid-August 2025 to avoid winter. The convention center will be located separately in the old Yonkers mall space. The council discussed the use of local contractors (not contractually required but likely). Both resolutions were approved unanimously.

Key Outcomes

Consent Agenda: Approved as presented (all items except item 9).
Item 9 – 28E Agreement: Approved unanimously (6-0).
Item 12 – Resolutions A and B: Approved unanimously (6-0). The public hearing on the urban renewal plan is set for July 1, 2025.
Next Steps: The Riverwalk ribbon cutting is scheduled for Thursday, June 19, 2025, at 10:00 AM. The hotel development is expected to begin construction in mid-August 2025, with an 18-month build timeline.

Meeting Transcript

Good evening, everyone. Welcome to the regular meeting of the Mason City City Council. This is a meeting for June 17th of 2025. I'm Mayor Bill Schickle, and we're delighted to have you with us this evening. The first order of business is the roll call. Pam, would you call the roll? Lee. Present. Adams. Present. Simmons. Present. Latham. President. Masan. Here. Yeski. Here. Let the record reflect that all members are present. Next item of business is the adoption of the agenda. Do we have a motion to adopt the agenda? So move. Second. Motion by Councilman Yusheski, a second by Councilman Lee. Discussion. All those in favor signify by saying aye. Aye. Aye. All those opposed, same sign. The agenda is adopted. We'll move to the public forum. Now this is your chance to comment on any item on the agenda. If there's an agenda item that you would like to comment on, you can step forward, use the podium and the floor is yours for five minutes. Hearing none, I'll close the public forum and we'll move to the monthly city administrators' report. Aaron Burnett, you're up. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you, Council. Just a few items to brief the council on, and then I'll uh uh be happy to answer any questions the council may have. Uh first off, I I need to mention we've got the Riverwalk ribbon coving ribbon cutting coming up uh this Thursday. We're very excited about that. Uh had a chance to tour the river walk and uh inspect things before we got to the ribbon cutting and looks fantastic. I think it'll be a really exciting day, and I encourage people to come out uh 10 o'clock on Thursday and uh celebrate the riverwalk. And we'll have some folks around to answer questions and kind of explain some of the features of the the riverwalk. So uh it'll be more than just listening to people speak, it'll also be a chance to interact with some of the people who are uh intimately involved in the design and construction of the riverwalk. So I think that'll be a great event. Um last Friday I had the uh the opportunity to uh witness the promotions and hiring of quite a few folks over at the fire department. Uh I think the biggest group we've we've ever had, I th I believe. Um it was uh a great day to celebrate just so many, you know, people moving into higher leadership positions within the fire department. Um I think the the department's doing a great job of of putting people in positions to be able to advance within their careers and be ready for those uh promotional opportunities. And then also uh, you know, big kudos on the hiring process, going out and and uh recruiting individuals to the process to make sure that we are uh bringing good people in at the bottom of that uh organization, folks that can uh can be the future of that department.

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