Sioux City Council Meeting - October 27, 2025
Sioux City City Council Meeting - October 27, 2025
The Sioux City City Council convened on October 27, 2025, to review routine administrative items, approve housing partnerships, and address critical zoning and public safety ordinances. The meeting featured a detailed presentation from the Warms Shelter regarding new tiered operational changes and a contentious public hearing on a proposed industrial rezoning in the Leeds community.
Consent Calendar
- Minutes: Reading and approval of October 15th, 16th, and 20th City Council minutes passed unanimously.
- Appointments: Nominated and appointed Nick Davison to the Fiscal and Public Policy Committee.
- Donations: Accepted a donation from the Siouxland Pickleball Association for the resurfacing of Riverside Tennis Courts; Council members expressed appreciation for the partnership and the association's maintenance efforts.
- Infrastructure & Utilities: Adopted construction documents for the rehabilitation of the old Bacon Creek Sanitary Sewer Project and the Sixth Street Bridge Reconstruction (Deck Replacement).
- Agreements: Approved a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Sioux City Community School District for the Main Overlook Project. Approved consulting agreements with DGR Engineering for Nebraska Street Water Main Replacement and South Cornelia Street Emergency Repair. Approved change orders with Knife River Midwest for asphalt overlay and Mark Albanicius for South Westcott Street Water Main Replacement.
- Personnel: Authorized negotiations with Mariflex for health savings/flexible spending accounts (subject to a one-week deferral due to timing concerns raised by a council member). Suspended Iowa Code hiring requirements for water treatment and underground utilities employees for one year.
- Payments: Authorized payments to Journey Construction, Thompson Solutions, and Municipal Pipe Tool for wastewater and sewer projects. Aborted conflict of interest for Councilor Moore regarding Thompson Solutions payment.
- Property & Purchasing: Invited proposals for land transfer in the Donner Park Urban Renewal Area (moved for Councilor Scott's recusal). Awarded furniture purchase orders to Iowa Office Supply and authorized property insurance from Mills Shellhammer Pitts & Associates.
- Licensing: Approved alcohol license applications and board/committee minutes.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Siouxland Pickleball Association: Angel Wallace, Parks and Recreation Supervisor, confirmed the partnership is successful, vibrant, and heavily utilized with daily regulars.
- Jill Wunderschide & City Staff: Presented the Main Overlook Project, noting the purchase of eight school-district-built homes to be placed on city-owned land for affordable housing, utilizing federal grant funds without local dollars. Staff confirmed homes are plumbed for future accessibility (ADA) but not currently zero-entry, subject to topography.
- Public Testimony (Rezoning 3700 Jefferson St): Multiple residents, including Matthew Baker (President of Leeds Community Club) and Pearl Kilzer, expressed strong opposition to the proposed industrial rezoning. They argued that placing industrial uses next to schools, parks, and the Leeds community bike trail is inappropriate, citing safety concerns, noise, visual blight, and the potential for community decline. They noted that 80% of neighborhood residents opposed the change, though a formal petition met only 3.5% of the property owners within the 200-foot statutory zone.
- Councilor Comments: Gordon Fair City Engineer and Tom Lindblum discussed the need to enforce ordinances regarding unpermitted dumpsters, noting a failure in enforcement mechanisms since the retirement of a specific contact person.
- Citizen Concern (Catherine Meyer): Expressing anger and distress, Meyer alleged gross neglect by Animal Control, claiming six puppies died in the pound (two found in a freezer) and that her service-dog-mothering dogs were wrongly seized following a false report by a known individual. She requested the city release a police report she claimed would exonerate her dogs.
- Citizen Concern (Chris Pitts): Addressed a 35-year delay in resolving property line issues for his subdivision, urging staff to expedite the replatting process.
- Citizen Concern (Julie): Clarified that constituent rumors regarding "defunding" the Police and Fire Departments are false; the Council is not planning to reduce funding, noting these departments consume nearly 70% of the general fund budget.
Discussion Items
- Affordable Housing (Main Overlook): Chaired by Mayor Waters, the council discussed the partnership with the School District to move manufactured homes to create affordable housing. Councilor Waters asked if units could be zero-entry; Staff confirmed the project can be graded for accessibility and that funding sources require homes to be easily renovatable to be accessible, with laundry already on the main floor.
- Health Care Administration (Mariflex vs. IBC): Council moved to defer the negotiation authorization with Mariflex for one week. Stuart Lee (IBC) testified that the proposed cheaper bid from Mariflex excluded $4,000 in "run-out claims" administration and suggested a claim period extending into 2026 that may not align with IRS standards. The delay allows time for the City to clarify these costs and verify legal compliance with the proposed benefit structure.
- Zoning Hearing (3700 Jefferson St): The council debated the rezoning petition from Dolph Einers. Despite community opposition and a motion to defer, the council noted the petitioner requested a week to allow a colleague (Matthew) to attend. Due to the petitioner's request for a deferral, the council deferred the item for one week to ensure full forum and proper voting participation, noting that state law allows repeat applications annually if denied.
- Motor Vehicle Ordinance: The council adopted an ordinance amending Chapter 10.54 regarding personal transport vehicles (PTVs). The changes were drafted by Assistant City Attorney Caleb Christopherson in response to safety incidents involving off-road motorcycles, pocket bikes, and trail bikes. The new ordinance clarifies definitions to catch unlicensed, unsafe vehicles (e.g., trail bikes running at 5 a.m. in Morningside) while explicitly protecting rights for disabled persons using motor scooters and electric bicycles, which remain subject to existing speed and right-of-way laws.
- Warming Shelter Presentation: Executive Director Shayla Moore and Jill Wunderschide presented the shelter's new "tiered" system implemented in February. The program aims to provide year-round shelter, reduce first responder calls by 50-65%, and offer trauma-informed care. Tier One serves high-risk/inactive clients; Tier Two requires sobriety and coordinated entry intake for overnight shelter; Tier Three offers incentives like bunk selection for clients with 30 days of safety and sobriety. The council commended the shift toward proactive engagement.
Key Outcomes
- Passed Unanimously: Consent Calendar items (excluding the deferred health care negotiation).
- Deferred: Authorization to negotiate health care contract with Mariflex (deferred 1 week for cost verification and legal review).
- Deferred: Rezoning of 3700 Jefferson Street (deferred 1 week upon petitioner's request to allow full council participation).
- Passed: Ordinance adopting site plan for 3601 Country Club Boulevard (Verizon Wireless) (Mayor Moore abstained for conflict).
- Passed: Ordinance approving the amended Central Sioux City CBD Urban Renewal Plan and property acquisitions downtown.
- Passed: First reading of Ordinance amending Chapter 10.54 regarding Personal Transport Vehicles (Motorized scooters, bikes, and off-road bikes) to improve public safety enforcement.
- Passed: Resolution acknowledging the Board of Adjustment actions on October 14th.
- Resolved: Council agreed to enforce the dumpster ordinance and review mail delays for zoning notifications.
Meeting Transcript
Scott Waters. Please stand for a moment. Silent Burr followed by the Pledge of Allegiance. Pledge of allegiance. Under that individual with university and justice role. Just so everybody understands Mr. O'Cain is not here today, and Alyx is traveling, so he is on and able to vote. But speak as clearly into the microphone as you can so that he can hear it through the computer system if you would. Interview for the Kosovo sister city committee, Marty Hogan. Marty, come on up and tell us why you want to serve. Good afternoon. Why I want to do this. I I served in Kosovo quite a bit in the military. Um my job there was more of an ambassador, but I worked a KSF uh Kosovo Security Forces. I helped them get their medical certification for NATO for roll one. Um I did that from 2016 to about 2022. Uh one of the other efforts we were into is loading in logistics uh finance, a little bit of everything within their military system and kind of coming in line with what we could do with the National Guard at the time. Obviously, I'm not in the National Guard anymore. So were you with the 185th? I was, yes. Okay. I thought so by your rec the references, but I wanted to make sure. Okay. I'm glad you applied for this. I I think it's great that you're going to be serving us. We traveled the country quite a bit when we were over there, so we did um, you know, when you go over there, they they respect Iowa and the Iowa Guard quite a bit, and we got a lot of tours. I did a lot of stuff with uh civil uh authorities and stuff like that because we had to do exercises there. We did them up in the mountains in the middle of cow pastures and stuff. So we had to do quite a bit with the you know with a lot of medical responses. So good. Excellent. Thank you. Thank you. Anything else? Okay, no, thank you. All right, thank you very much. Today the consent agenda is items three three through fourteen C. You can consider them to pass unanimously. Well, we're not gonna do the consent agenda, we're gonna call the rolls. So we don't have to read that. Speak if you want to speak on an item, please come up as I read it. If you want to speak on an item not on the agenda, please come up under citizen concerns. I'll move the consent agenda. Second. Three is a reading of the October 15th, 16th, and 20th City Council minutes. Four is a motion appointing Nick Davison to the effective fiscal and public policy committee. Five is a resolution accepting a donation from Siouxland Pickleball Association for the Riverside Tennis Court's pickleball resurfacing project. Anyone here to speak on that? I just want to say that one. That's a great partnership and up, Angel.
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