OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

Mason City Council Meeting – June 16, 2026

City Council — Tuesday, June 16, 2026
BodyMason City, Iowa
SessionCity Council
DateTuesday, June 16, 2026
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 1:08:36

Transcript — Verbatim
1:08

I'll call the meeting of the Mason City City Council to order.

1:11

Clerk, please call the roll.

1:12

Adams.

1:13

Present.

1:13

Hines.

1:14

President.

1:15

Latham.

1:15

President.

1:16

Simmons.

1:16

Present.

1:17

Here.

1:18

Yes.

1:19

Here.

1:21

The record all everyone's uh in the meeting here.

1:25

I got what do we got here?

1:26

Adopt the gender.

1:27

I'm kind of looking at city administrator here.

1:29

First off, we got to adopt the agenda.

1:31

Do we got a motion?

1:32

So move.

1:33

Second.

1:36

Clerk, please call the roll.

1:37

Yesky.

1:38

Yes.

1:38

Adams.

1:39

Yes.

1:39

Simmons.

1:40

Yes.

1:40

Hines.

1:41

Yes.

1:41

Latham.

1:42

Yes.

1:43

Yes.

1:44

We got a public forum here.

1:46

The mayor and the city council welcome comments from the public only on agenda items during the public forum.

1:50

You are asked to give your name, address, and agenda item number or topic you are referring to on the agenda.

1:55

Please keep your comments concise, limited to three minutes.

1:58

If you have anything anybody in the audience has three minutes.

2:16

Yes, thank you, Mayor Council.

2:19

Just a few items.

2:20

I want to give uh an update on the automated sanitation.

2:24

I'll have uh Jim Collins do that in just a second here.

2:28

Sorry.

2:29

Um, but first I need to acknowledge uh one of the unfortunate things that's gonna happen here is this is Brent's last meeting.

2:39

So um just want to say over the last uh you know quite a few years, you know, Brent has really done a fantastic job of taking on the finance department.

2:52

Uh he's filled many many roles from uh being public works director for a short period of time, being uh city engineer for a longer, well, acting engineer department head uh for a long time, um just being an amazing asset to the city in so many different ways.

3:10

Uh it's very tough to to see him leave, but uh definitely want to give him uh uh huge amount of thanks for for all the work he's put in for the city.

3:20

So thank you, Brent.

3:28

With that, you know, I have to announce I'm leaving now.

3:31

No.

3:31

Um should say that on the record, right?

3:39

Um so no, it's uh it is gonna be a tough to fill, but we're very happy as as we had on the last council meeting.

3:46

We had Cole coming in.

3:48

Uh there's gonna be just a short gap between the two, and obviously Brent has done a fantastic job of getting everything ready for handoff.

3:56

So I have uh every bit of confidence that we will be in a great position in that department.

4:01

Obviously, finance is uh is an incredibly important part of what we do here.

4:05

So um great to have no drop off there.

4:08

And then also as you look on the agenda, you can see that we've uh we've got the geo bonding on this meeting.

4:15

Uh a lot of those things have been put into place a little earlier than we normally do them, just to really set the table for uh for coal to be able to sit down and and have uh success in that position.

4:26

Uh beyond that fun note, uh just wanted to mention obviously we have construction going on all over town.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Water And Wastewater Management███████████████████████████████████████39%
Fiscal Sustainability████████████████████████████28%
Economic Development██████████████14%
Procedural██████6%
Parks and Recreation█████5%
Personnel Matters████4%
Engineering And Infrastructure██2%
Community Engagement██2%
Summary of Proceedings

Mason City Council Meeting – June 16, 2026

The Mason City Council met on June 16, 2026, at 7:00 PM in the Mason City Public Library. The meeting covered a wide range of topics including the adoption of the consent agenda, approval of bond sales, purchase of arena equipment, final passage of nuisance and lead service line ordinances, and establishment of the Private Lead Service Line Program. All votes were unanimous.

Consent Calendar

  • Approved minutes of June 2, 2026; claims dated June 4 and 11, 2026; permits (with denial of glass and metal smoking device permits for River City Vape Company, Mason Smoke Shop, and Sweet Fire Tobacco 65); appointment of Jeremy Hitzhusen as Tree Maintenance Foreman at $34.89/hour; appointment of Ethan Malek as Engineering Aide at $26.89/hour; resolutions levying assessments for property charges and tree removal; 28E agreement with IDOT; submission of FY25 Assistance to Firefighters Grant; bid process and public hearing for sale of portion of Block 15 in West Haven Subdivision; change order #2 with Staab Construction for Water Reclamation Facility Improvements; and contract with WHKS & Co for 12th Street NW Improvements.
  • Items 11 (bond resolutions) and 14 (arena equipment purchase) were pulled for separate discussion.

Discussion Items

  • City Administrator’s Report: Aaron reported on automated sanitation (trucks on site, carts arriving in two days, delivery starting next Monday, go‑live July 6, set‑out time changed to 6 AM) and construction projects (Mercy corridor, US 65 South, TAF water main loop, 12th Street roundabout). Councilman Adams asked about South Industrial Park development; Aaron noted continued interest (including data centers) but no project ready to announce. Councilman Simmons clarified that many inquiries do not result in projects.
  • Bond Sales (Item 11): Maggie presented three bond series. (1) Series 2026A (tax‑exempt GO, $10M+? not exact) awarded to TD Financial Products, true interest rate 3.318%, callable after June 1, 2033. Moody’s reaffirmed AA3 rating. (2) Series 2026B (taxable GO, $4,850,000) awarded to UMB Bank at 4.5734%, with a small discount of ~$12,000. (3) Series 2026C (local option sales tax GO, $1,370,000) awarded to Robert W. Baird at 3.3859%. All bonds approved.
  • Arena Equipment Purchase (Item 14): Councilman Latham moved approval. The bill of sale from Mason City Youth Hockey includes a Zamboni, nets, skate sharpener, etc., saving taxpayers significant cost (new Zamboni $140–$200k). The city is taking over full arena operations; plan to add a third hockey tenant and increase public skate time.
  • Nuisance Ordinance (Item 17): Final passage of ordinance repealing and replacing definitions in Title 4, Chapter 1. No public comments received.
  • Lead Service Line Ordinance (Item 18): Final passage amending Title 4, Chapter 1 and Title 6, Chapter 1 to add Lead Service Line Replacement section. Discussion on financing: property owners can assess the city’s share over 10 years at 7% interest. City has low utility rates; lead abatement is a federal mandate.
  • Private Lead Service Line Program (Item 19): Resolution adopting the program. Details: in three eligible census tracts (low‑moderate income preponderant), state covers 49%, city adds 21% for owner‑occupied homes, so homeowner pays 30% of cost. Outside those tracts, owner‑occupied homeowners pay 65% (city covers 35%), rental/business pays 80% (city covers 20%). All customers can assess their share over 10 years. Program is voluntary, but city will conduct replacements over 10 years. Records are good but some unknowns remain.
  • Lead Service Line Replacement Contract (Item 20): Resolution awarding contract to Short Elliott Hendrickson, Inc. for professional services. Approved.

Key Outcomes

  • Consent agenda approved (excluding items 11 and 14).
  • Item 11 (three bond resolutions) approved unanimously.
  • Item 14 (arena equipment purchase from Mason City Youth Hockey) approved unanimously.
  • Items 17, 18, 19, and 20 all approved unanimously.
  • City Administrator Brent’s last meeting; council thanked him for his service, especially in finance and engineering.

Meeting Transcript

I'll call the meeting of the Mason City City Council to order. Clerk, please call the roll. Adams. Present. Hines. President. Latham. President. Simmons. Present. Here. Yes. Here. The record all everyone's uh in the meeting here. I got what do we got here? Adopt the gender. I'm kind of looking at city administrator here. First off, we got to adopt the agenda. Do we got a motion? So move. Second. Clerk, please call the roll. Yesky. Yes. Adams. Yes. Simmons. Yes. Hines. Yes. Latham. Yes. Yes. We got a public forum here. The mayor and the city council welcome comments from the public only on agenda items during the public forum. You are asked to give your name, address, and agenda item number or topic you are referring to on the agenda. Please keep your comments concise, limited to three minutes. If you have anything anybody in the audience has three minutes. Yes, thank you, Mayor Council. Just a few items. I want to give uh an update on the automated sanitation. I'll have uh Jim Collins do that in just a second here. Sorry. Um, but first I need to acknowledge uh one of the unfortunate things that's gonna happen here is this is Brent's last meeting. So um just want to say over the last uh you know quite a few years, you know, Brent has really done a fantastic job of taking on the finance department. Uh he's filled many many roles from uh being public works director for a short period of time, being uh city engineer for a longer, well, acting engineer department head uh for a long time, um just being an amazing asset to the city in so many different ways. Uh it's very tough to to see him leave, but uh definitely want to give him uh uh huge amount of thanks for for all the work he's put in for the city. So thank you, Brent. With that, you know, I have to announce I'm leaving now. No.

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