City Council - Regular Meeting

[music] I'd like to call this meeting to order. Now is the time for the open forum. This is the time for any resident of Jefferson to speak to the council on any item that is not on the agenda. Seeing none, we'll move over to the consent items. Move to approve. Second holds. I Jackson. I Sloan. I Wait. Hi, Somalik. Hi.

Under new business, item A is a resolution obligating funds from the clinic sub fund of the city of Jefferson urban regional tax revenue fund for appropriation to payment of annual appropriation tax increment obligation scheduled to be paid in the next succeeding fiscal year. So, as the council has done every year where there is a tiff agreement with particular uh property owners where there's going to be some sort of rebate, the council's obligated to then set the ceiling on what those tiff funds can then be uh paid back. Um any amounts that are coming in would determine the actual amount going out the door. It can't be more than what the ceiling is. So, this is just what the council setting is the ceiling. So tonight you have four of those for the four uh tip agreements that are still in place for which this action is required. Um we can take them in succeeding order. Uh the clinic sub fund is the veterinary clinic that's out on the north side of town. Uh Tri County would be Brierwood housing development. U Mark Bower sub fund is the Mark Bower Development Corp. that's out at Lincoln Ridge. And then the Jefferson Hotel Group that is the hotel out by the casino. So, I guess the first item up for you folks is uh item A for the clinic subund uh that can't go above 15,500. And this has been working in conjunction with Henry and Sarah. And then also Pam Olic has been a great help over at the auditor's office giving us the numbers that we need to set the top line here. So that's what you got first.

Move to approve. Second, Somali. Hi Waitri. Hi Sloan. Hi Jackson. Hi Aaron Holt.

Hi. Item B is a resolution obligating funds from the Tri County Cash Lumber Mart sub Fund of the City of Jefferson urban renewal tax revenue fund for appropriations to the payment of annual appropriation tax increment obligations scheduled to be paid the next succeeding fiscal year. Uh this is the Brierwood portion of this action. There's only one house that's currently in this particular tiff development and I believe it does fall off after next year. So, this one's set at $7,000. Approve. Second. We Sloan I Jackson I

Aaron holds I Somalik. Hi. Item C is a resolution obligating fund from the Mark Bower sub fund of the city of Jefferson urban renewal tax revenue fund for appropriation to the payment of the annual appropriation tax increment obligation scheduled to be paid in the next succeeding fiscal year. Very similar to Brierwood Lincoln Ridge though does have a several of the houses that are in this particular tax uh tiff development. Uh ceiling on this would be $27,000. Move to approve. Second Aaron Holds. Hi. Jackson. I Sloan. I Wait. Hi.

Zomalik. Hi. Item D is resolution obligating funds from the city of Jefferson Hotel Group sub fund of the city of Jefferson urban renewal tax refund revenue refund for the appropriations the payment of the annual appropriation tax increment obligations scheduled to be paid the next succeeding fiscal year and this will be your final action tonight for these tiff rebates. This is on the cobblestone set at 101 uh $11,200 for your ceiling. Second Jackson I Sloan I Waitri

I Aaron Hold I Solic Hi. Item B is a resolution approving Green County Developer Corporation application for a plat of survey. So this is a platus survey comes from GCDC but what's happening is that the sanctuary church is purchasing 76 acres of land from GCDC. So this is east of then the new church building which is at 1603 North Elm Street. So they're basically squaring off some of their property in the back and it'll be some uh additional property for the church. So the plat is uh is in order and it's recommended for approval. Move to approve. Second Aaron Holtz. Hi Jackson.

Hi Somalik. Hi Waitri. Hi Sloan. I uh F is you hire Lizzie Wal as the assistant rec director. Thank [clears throat] you. [clears throat]

Yes. So, we were looking for an assistant park and rec director as the former is now working here at city hall. So, uh got that education process out there and uh we ended up interviewing four candidates, decided on Lindsay here. Lindsay is uh she lives in Jefferson. Um she's been a big part of the community. She's helped with the bell tower festival. Um coached at the uh high school for volleyball. She's taught a few classes at the rec center before. Um, so yeah, she can tell you a little bit more about herself.

Yeah. Uh, I've lived in Jefferson since 2018. I've been involved in Bell Tower Festival since 2020. Worked for Philip Fister Camp at his office for 3 years. Um, I know a lot of you most of you recognize me at least a little bit, but uh, yeah, very excited about the opportunity. We need vote. Yep. I move to approve. Second. Aaron Hulk. Hi. Say hol. Hi. Zamalik. Hi. Wait. Hi. Sloan. Hi. Jackson. Hi. Welcome Lindsay. [clears throat]

Item. Item G is to hire Luke Shipley as a sanitation/ streets worker. Is proposed to hire Luke Shipley as a uh sanit sanitation street worker. Uh Luke's actually been on the job for a little bit doing actually a really really nice job for us. Rate of pay is 2550 per hour and he's recommended for hire. Second Sloan. I Jackson. I Aaron Holtz. I Waitri. Hi, Zamalik. Hi. Item H, proposed sidewalk to the high school.

Yeah. Couple of things here we'll ask the the council for. There's two items for consideration on the agenda tonight. One would be to apply for a grant and the other one would be to approve an engineering agreement. So, uh the the idea here would would be to uh extend a shared use path from uh Central Avenue North to the high school area, but also has a leg that that goes off to the east to the animal shelter and dog park area. Okay. So it if you uh we'd look at this as a shared project then between the city and the school with a large large portion of this being funded by a grant. So uh there's a regional transportation grant that that we would apply for applications would go in in January. Um so just as we look at this project, it is really through the eyes of being able to get that grant and um the school's on board with this notion of proceeding with it if we get that grant and and if we would not get that grant, we don't see this u this uh project proceeding forward. So, uh, for the costs in addition to what the the grant would fund, this grant funds 80% of construction cost, uh, up to $250,000. So, figuring on $250,000 grant and that what that leaves is it is roughly $150,000 or so. And that would then be shared between the the city and the school. So it is it'll be proposed then that basically the city's share of that project is this engineering part. Okay. As this as we work into getting this grant, these are federal dollars and they have a little bit of additional uh administration and and engineering expense that go along with it. But there's the the proposal from Bolton and Mink in there. So uh again in rough

terms if there's additional cost split about half and half between the city and the school and uh again so there's been some questions raised about this and and the city's involvement I think really is just having the city be be a good partner in a project out there that does serve the city also not only general recreation use of the city but specifically has access out to the to the animal shelter and dog park areas provides that connectivity. So, I'd ask for two actions from the uh from the council tonight. One would be a motion to approve that grant application and then after that, maybe we can have Jim talk through the the engineering a little bit.

I'd move to approve the grant application. So, I I did receive uh some text from a citizen that um I guess his contention and concern was that this is mostly on school property and that the this should be a school responsibility. Um the main thing that would benefit the city is that people would have more reasonable access to the dog park. Is that the idea?

That that is the idea. It's also general recreation that it's the path of course is open for for walking for the for the general public, but the one specific area um of specific benefit to to the city is accessing out there to the animal shelter and dog park area. Um, but the fact of the matter is that this project has been out there and talked about for a long time and nothing's happened on it. And here we have an opportunity with with a little bit of city involvement to work towards this grant. And again, the whole thing's contingent upon upon receiving some grant funding, but there is this opportunity and the city can be uh just a good partner in that.

And the overall cost to the city wouldn't exceed potentially 150,000. Is that the idea?

The the idea would be to to fund about half of that. You know, we I I wouldn't commit to what a maximum would be. It depends on construction cost, but it's anticipated we would take care of engineering fees. The school would take care of of the remainder. Now, again, that's uh somewhat up in the air, not knowing what the actual construction cost would be, but um you know, that that is the idea and and the commitment that we'd ask for tonight would would deal with engineering fees. [clears throat] Need a second. Did we get a first? Yeah. Harry. Harry.

Harry. You did hear second. Okay. Jackson. Hi. Erin Holds. Hi. Waitri. Hi. Sloan. Hi. Somali. Hi. And talk through that engineering proposal a little bit. Jim.

Yeah. So as far as the engineering agreement goes, uh it would be for all the services uh included through uh the grant portion. Uh there might be a little bit of involvement with uh cost estimates or uh drawings [clears throat] for layout and stuff that they might need for submitt of the uh grant application. Um other than that it would be for the actual uh uh project uh going through uh the topographic survey the design documents uh bidding and construction phase services. Um basically uh with Scott saying that it was dependent on the grant um if that doesn't come through then none of those other items would would occur. This is only if the grant does come through and then we move into an actual design phase on it. So, um we would do full topo and design of the PL of the the uh shared use path. Um taking off from where we left off in uh on Central Avenue. uh going up north alongside the west side of the cemetery and then back around to the school and then east to the uh access the uh animal shelter. Um would provide uh construction documents and opinion of probable cost at at the time and then move into uh bidding and uh construction. um timing is dependent on the grant and uh when that comes when that comes back with uh their determination. So I think [clears throat] that's um looking at roughly right now um total fees of 71,500

um that is up a little bit from our original estimate that we had provided uh which is basically uh the additional effort for the uh funding grant portion of that and being a uh having some having some additional requirements due to the grant. So, um any questions? Go ahead. Jim, did you say the grant the the study is necessary for the grant application?

No, the the engineering agreement is for the design and bidding and construction of the project. There is some elements in there that are uh for the grant administration if they do get the grant, but the agreement is not necessary for the grant application.

Why? Okay. Why is the why is the engineering study going to happen if we don't get the grant? My answer is it won't. What what we're doing before the grant is the design and cost estimating. So [snorts] it is you you want the pretty pictures to go along with the grant application and and the estimate of cost and that's the work that would be done up front. If we happen not to get the uh to get the grant, there'd be no additional work after that. So you have to have the study in order as part of the application the for the preliminary layout. That's true.

Yeah. It's not necessarily a study. It's just some graphics and opinion of probable cost for the grant application is all we're estimating or assuming we'll need for the grant application. So if I can follow up then how much money are we going to spend before we know if we have the grant? Is that the 715 or will it be less than that? It would be less than that. The 715 is all the way through construction. So, how much are we committing for sure then just to get the grant application out there? Uh there is no uh set amount because we don't know exactly all the things we'll need. But an estimate

I would say conservatively less than 10,000 probably for the Okay. Thank you.

Need a motion for the uh I move to approve. Sorry. Hi Jackson. Hi Sloans. Hi Peter. Hi Somali. Hi.

Item I is drainage district 57 engineering study. We uh had some discussion with the water sewer streets committee. This deals with drainage district number 57 and this is the area the drainage area then on the east side of town. So as we discussed through the the needs of that of that drainage area it's uh just really if you follow the a good process on this the first step of the process would be to analyze what the problem is and to really do a thorough study of that. So this is is what the proposal is is for a preliminary engineering report on drainage district number 57. And I let Jim explain that then too.

Yes. So um with the uh drainage district um when uh a significant portion of the area is within city limits. Uh a lot of times the the counties will give the trusteeship to the uh cities which is the case on this one. And so, um, we're being asked to provide a preliminary engineer engineering report on this, uh, drainage district to to, uh, determine what the potential problems are, what we're seeing for, uh, issues. Um, this would include, uh, some project management and uh, some limited topographic survey. Most of this is done uh via desktop uh with maps, existing uh drainage district maps and profiles. Uh but we do use LAR and so we do like to go out and get some actual uh field locations on some critical points just so that we can verify everything is is lining up. And then the preliminary report would uh provide uh analysis and history of the district and uh a better understanding of what was what is in the district and what is responsible for and then some problem spots uh from a a capacity standpoint. Um and then develop some conceptual plans for three to four high priority areas which would be areas where we determine there's issues or significant issues and then uh those develop the conceptual plans would be able to direct the city um to decide you know where where to prioritize and where to focus further investigation and and either repairs or improvements. So, um we do have in here some additional tasks for annexation and reclassification. Um but those are not part of this

consideration tonight. Uh those are just some other options or some other uh tasks that can be done on a drainage district project. Uh but for this one, it is just the uh preliminary engineering report and some survey uh for a total not to exceed fee of 25,000. [clears throat]

So, as far as the study goes, you know, I think there's there's been a lot of positive comments made about about making the study and maybe the biggest question that's that's come out of this is how we would look at financing and you know, so the area is in a drainage district. There's opportunity to use drainage district assessments. You know, we do not need to make that decision right now about how we would proceed with any of these things. In the short term, we would anticipate this to be funded out of the sewer count. Okay. And then as we work into any potential projects, you know, it it could potentially be reimbursed through through assessments or make that decision to have it financed as a as a city project, but that decision could come later on. So, um was presented to the uh uh to the water sewer uh streets committee with a recommendation to proceed. Move to approve.

Second. Somalik. Hi. Waitri. Hi. Sloan. Hi. Jackson. Hi. Aaron Holtz. Hi. Item J is consideration of purchase of a generator for wells number seven and number eight. [clears throat and cough]

Yeah. Another issue that was brought before the uh the water sewer streets committee was a generator on wells seven and 8. And these are the two rural wells on the highway out by the concrete plant. Okay. So there there's a generator out there. has been for years, but it's a 1979 model generator and it is to the point where it needs significant repair and and instead of having significant repair on that, the proposal was to replace that with another used generator. So, there's a used generator that would be purchased from the from the city of of Oola and it's a 2002 or something something in the 2000. So we about another 20 25 years. Um cost on this is all in 21,000 including transportation and installation. Um matter of fact the uh the generators here and and can be ready to be installed here shortly. Um I I just offer my thanks really to to Dave Morland about being uh being efficient with the dollars as as far as looking at this as far as a used opportunity. And I don't we certainly couldn't find anything that that would be be less expensive or or more cost effective than what's proposed. So it's it is recommended for approval.

Scott. Yep. So our current generator is about 45 years old plus and the new one will be 25 years plus. Um, did our 45year-old generator way outlive its its time? I mean, how long do these things last?

I don't know that I that I know the answer. You know, I would do years and this particular generator, as I recall, and Chad, correct me if I'm wrong, but it's a low hour generator. It had to right around 600 hours on it, which uh is is low hours. So, I would say there's much much life left in this unit, even though the the age of it is actually 20 years old. What was a brand new one of these this particular size. It's It's interesting that for budgetary purposes he had he had obtained Dave had obtained another estimate. It was a little over $100,000 about [clears throat] 130

that but we got another estimate to from that that arrived late after the meeting from Caterpillar. It was 53 for the unit plus additional cost for for installation. Move to approve. Second. Sloan. Hi. Erin Hol. Hi. Wait. Hi. Demolic. Hi. Jackson. Hi. Item K is a Jefferson's matters update. [clears throat]

[clears throat] [laughter]

Um well, good evening. Um I'm the president of of Jefferson Matters. My name is Amy Milligan. I've talked with you many times before. And so we're here just to give you um kind of a bianual update of of what we've been doing this year. And 2025 has been a very exciting year for Jefferson Matters. Um, winning the Great American Main Street Award gave national validation to all of the hard work of our volunteers, our board members, our staff, and our partners. Um, and what we put into Jefferson. It showed the nation that each small step we take to achieve our big goal matter with us. Um, in fact, we keep track of our volunteer hours. Since 2012 when the program began, we have conservatively logged just over 65,000 hours. The state of Iowa utilizes a report from the independent sector called the value of volunteers time report and it quantifies um the value of a volunteer hour. The average over the 13 years has been about $25 an hour. So, if you take $25 times the 65,000 hours, um, that means that our volunteers have donated about a million and a half dollars to Jefferson. That is a pretty impressive number. Um, one that we're very proud of. And, um, that doesn't even count all of the hours that the city and the county employees and and any paid staff puts into it. So, um, this year, GAMSA, the acronym for the Great American Main Street Award, and our great storytelling is putting Jefferson on the map. We've been on all the major area television networks. We've been in um newspapers across um our local newspapers across Iowa. Um, we're going to be on TV in in Nebraska. Um, we've been on radio stations for our

award-winning um, award and for multiple highlighting stories of just Jefferson and the example that we are to other Iowa communities. You're going to get a chance tonight to hear from a few of our team members um, up here. They're going to tell you a few of the projects that they've done and what they've got in store for the year to come. So, with that, I'll introduce Kristen Russell. Good evening everyone. Um I'm going to report on the tower view team. So the updates that I have are from Deb McInn. She's a chairperson of our team. She's a very busy busy lady. She keeps the downtown very beautiful for us. So um we've had a very successful Ephraasis um just a couple weekends ago with 10 local poets and 10 local residents. Our guest speaker was poet Kelsey Bigalow and we had 92 people in attendance this year. It's nice to see the event growing in popularity and we thank the courtyard for um letting us host there. Three new murals have been created downtown that a lot of you probably have seen. Two are on the Green County Museum by artist, local artist Chad Elliot. Um celebrates a gas station attendant in a time gone by that we are calling Filler Up. Um and the other we're referring to as road trip on the other side of the museum. um celebrating a family and their dog setting out on a road trip on the iconic Lincoln Highway. The other mural is on the back of Fields of Karma and was created by artist Marissa Hernandez, represents a Latino family so everyone can see themselves in our downtown. We used our grant money from Gro Green County Gaming to create these new works of art. Um, we will be choosing the sculptures for the 11th Ring Out for Art 2026 event um by December 15th with installation again the first week of May. We've been receiving many

applications again this year to choose from. Um, Hildy De Bruyne sculpture was the public choice award winner for this last year. Uh, shifting gears was the name of that one and it'll remain on the plaza until next May. Our longtime sponsor for that event is Home State Bank. So, thank you to Homestate Bank. Um, we thank them for their continued faith in the Tower View team to bring great sculptures to downtown. We received a $23,000 creative community accelerator grant from the IEDA through the Iowa Arts Council and are working on this for the next couple of years, which will end up bringing new public art to downtown. The work will be completed by 2027. At this time, we don't know what the new art will be. We're just throwing some ideas around. Um, only five other communities across Iowa were awarded this grant. So, we're very proud of that. Looking forward into 2026, we have Porchfest all lined up again for July 12th, which will bring four music artists and four different por on onto four different porches and then a wrap-up band in the Thomas Jefferson Gardens. And we'll be bringing a new 3D rooftop art installation, which should be interesting for residents and visitors to experience. Our mission is to bring new public art into surprising places and we have accomplished that mission by continuing to add a lot of color and vibrancy to our downtown. Thank you for your support of the Jefferson Matters Tower View team and your continuing support of the arts. So that was from Deb. So design team handing it over to Sandy. Hello, I'm Sandy Drury and I'm a member of the design team. I am going to give the report from Mike [clears throat] Palmer who is the chairperson of the design team. I hope you noticed today that the downtown planters were switched from the fall foliage to the winter greenery. And I hope you also noticed that those volunteers were working in the rain and the nasty weather. They're

very dedicated. So, thank you to all the adopt a planter volunteers. Many of the people who do the planters are members of the design team also, but there are several um community people who are volunteering in this area. Plans are in place to purchase artificial greens for next year, hoping that they'll last at least three years to save some funds. The design team is entering a tree for the winter festival. and great idea. We're going to celebrate the Great American Main Street Award with our festival tree. Our team has continued to help a few downtown businesses keep their storefront window displays fresh and welcoming. Um, one of the ones that I'm involved with is the Mason's window, which I'm sure you'll notice changes from time to time seasonally, and we have a lot of fun actually putting that window together. and we've helped several other businesses or empty storefronts. Um, through the design team grant program, we have awarded facade grants to the Sierra Community Theater and the Elliot Art Studio, and we've awarded signage grants to Green County Pharmacy and Prime Performance Chiropractic and Therapies. Shelby.

I'm Shelby on behalf of the events committee for Jefferson Matters. Um for the 2025 like events update, we had Bragg this year um held on Memorial Day weekend with over 100 riders participating in the 37 mile route through the northeast portion of the county. Thank you to the county and the city for your help with roads and safety assistance. Bell Tower Festival continues to be well attended. Over 8,000 visitors just in 2025 according to Placer II AI data. Thank you to the city and county again for your help with the carnival infrastructure setup and street closures. Planning for Bell Tower Festival 2026 is underway as we celebrate the 250th birthday of the US. The theme will be Americano. Americana. The dates are June 11th, 12th, and 13th. Uh Jefferson Matters Golf Tournament in June had 22 teams this year and continues to grow in interest and fundraising efforts. Cruising to the square in August saw over 250 participants, most of which were out of town, out of county residents. This event is another great example of tourism money being brought into Jefferson. We tried a new event this fall, our variation of when RVTV came to town a few years ago. Um, it was a SIHO tailgate and Rams pep rally event. We're really happy with the participation from the community and the school on this event and look forward to making it an annual event. Again, thank you to the county and the city for helping make this happen. Uh, and the winter festival is happening next weekend at Clover Hall December 5th and 6th with a ladies night event on December 4th. Uh, this free family-friendly event continues to grow each year. Last year, the event had around 900 people attend to see 46 trees and we're hoping that all of those

numbers grow this year. Hand it over to Bob.

Hi, I'm Bob Cisneros. I'm the chair for um the organization team uh whose purpose is to establish a strong organization that utilizes a um a growing number of participants in the implementation and funding of Jefferson Matters. That's a a very complicated way of saying we're sort of the backbone organization part of the organization where we feed and nourish and cultivate the volunteer staff as well as um provide funding resources for the organization. And in doing that this year we are formalizing um those processes by establishing a um an organization of volunteer recruitment recognition and um recruitment recogni recognition and retention. um as well as focusing on some fundraising efforts. Um looking at the um Giving Tuesday as an example, as well as a bowling fundraiser event coming up in 2026, early 2026 um that you guys will be hearing about um at some point. We've also looked at um organizational culture um by developing a broad survey to our volunteers as well as the um leadership staff using Peter Ducker's um process of looking at um the um fundamental use of volunteers management and um in doing so We've been able to look at what the organizational culture is as well as determine if there

what type of alignment we have. Those results of the surveys which we had a about a 35% participation from our volunteers and almost 100% participation from our um leadership. Those survey results will then accumulate into a another process where select members of the volunteer staff as well as our board of directors will sit down and look at the self assessment process that Ducker has laid down and come up with some action plan smart goals leading forward to our transformation strategies for Jefferson matters. So, we're a work in progress. Um, but um we're uh very excited about what 2026 looks like. Thank you.

Me again. Um I am going to speak on behalf of the promotions team now. So, I've got some notes from Bonnie Silva. She's a chairperson of that team. Uh Spook the Loop was very well attended and our promotions team looks forward to assisting to make that even better next year. I know personally that's one of my favorites because I love Halloween. Um there's an excellent holiday gift guide both in the paper and in online version that highlights Jefferson shopping. So make sure and check that out. Um elves have been giving out surprise Jefferson Matters money for open houses. So we did one um oh shoot it was a couple weekends ago right? Um, if we did that, uh, we did Pink Friday and then, uh, coming up we are going to have Plaid Friday this Friday and Small Business Saturday. So, it's hard to keep them all straight. All all kinds of shopping opportunities, though. Um, and Bonnie would be here tonight, but she has an event going on. So, please make sure you support those events that she puts on in some of our other retailers within the community, too. Um, let's see here. Upcoming nighttime shopping event will be Thursday, December 11th. Um, as businesses change ownership and new businesses get ready to open, we look forward to 2026. So, like I said, please do your best to um visit our retailers, support our retailers. The more business that they get, the more it brings in more retail. So, please do your part. Thank you.

And I'm going to end up um the evening. I am first um before I close I'm going to talk about economic vitality which Peg Rainey is the chair of and she gave me um a really great list of things to talk about. So she said the economic vitality meets monthly with an average of a dozen in attendance grant updates for 2025 um all awarded are all awarded through an interview process. Those grants um are the Jefferson wants you incentive fund which gives up to 5,000 for new businesses in Jefferson. In 2025, grants awarded were to the courtyard, Prime Performance Chiropractic, Highland Medical, and the Public House. We have a remote remote worker one-year grant to Gravitate. This is worth $100 a month for flexible seating. Um and we've awarded that to two recipients um to use that space this year. We also have a business grant, a business growth grant, which is up to $5,000 match for adding a new product line or services. [clears throat] Grants awarded to that where Greater Life Chiropractic, Fudges, Flowers, Green Goods, and Art of Aries. All applications are online and a brochure describing each is available. These are all funded through the Grow Green County Gaming Corporation funds. Um there's been a number of outreach product projects. Um those include business visits conducted by um the executive director Matt Wetrich and Sarah Huddle Huddleston to all businesses on the square and they are going to be moving out into all of Jefferson. Java and Juice is Friday mornings. Um they were held at over 30 locations this calendar year. After hours insiders, this is the second year of that. Um this is an exclusive back of the house events with a limit of 30 to 40 participants. um held at Wild Rose Casino and Powerlift in 2025.

They have had Ambassador Ribbon cutings which have been held at the Pickle Ball Courts, Art of Aries New Location, Farmers Market, Pickaway Americana, Caring Hearts, Bolton and Mink, Prime Performance Chiropractic and Therapies, Jefferson Sewer Plant, Journey Financial, Greater Life Chiropractic, and the Children's Center. All in 2025, newcomer bags and information folders are coordinated through the office with the city and the county. Halloween candy was provided to 12 local businesses um involved in the promotions team that um Kristen just talked about. The reunion rendevous is held annually at the bell tower festival and is sponsored by the school foundation. Entrepreneurial exchange quarterly meetings for all businesses in Green County is being planned for 2026. Building updates available on experience. There are building updates that are available on experienceffersonia.com. There's monthly updates on the status of buildings for lease, for sale, and businesses that are for sale. There's community information updated for financial institutions, realtors, and contractors. Um, Booms Tracker is a program that is being introduced and we will um be working with this year. for education and resource partnerships. We've got representatives that participate in the economic vitality team from Iowa Central Community College, from the Small Business Development Center, from hub 712 um out of Carol from Greek County Development Corporation, from the multicultural family re resource center, Iowa State Extension in the city of Jefferson. And that is the economic vitality report from Peg. So, um, with that, I just cannot thank the city of Jefferson enough for the partnership that we have, um, in in everything that we do. You

know, we we want to um support Jefferson and to make it better and and we feel like our goals align really well um with the cities and um appreciate all of the hard work um and efforts that you provide to us. Any questions to me or to any of my team? Okay. Thank you. Thank you. Under reports, Jim,

uh for Westwood sidewalk project, uh we got some survey data along the Westwood area uh between those southside streets. So, we're reviewing that to see how things are fitting in there. Um, and then we'll probably report at the next sewer street committee. And then, uh, Greenwood, we got the revisions completed on that. And we'll have a short presentation at the first council meeting in December. And that's all, no report, Dave. No report. Scott, [clears throat]

just a follow up from our from our city council planning session last week. So, we met here a week ago with Pat Callahan and went through that goal setting and as the council would remember there there were many many items that that uh [snorts] received several dots for for prioritizing and but it also meant had many items that received about the same amount of dots. So, we were going to follow up with an additional survey and ask the council to rank those those items. So, I think everybody's received their their survey. Okay. But if you can get that survey completed and get it back to me ASAP, I'd ask you to do it yet tonight, but if we could have it tomorrow, that'd be fantastic. If you would fill it out and and uh email that back to me, we can continue to finish up our uh our goal setting and and priorities. Uh other than that, just a note that I'll be on on vacation here over the holiday through next Tuesday. Probably take off tomorrow afternoon and uh again, be gone through next Tuesday. part of the time going down to Oklahoma to Stillwater, Oklahoma to go watch Iowa State play football. Looking forward to it.

Okay. Um I see Greg is not here. So sick kids actually. So yeah. Okay. Uh Mark, anything? Chad's not here. Harry, no report. Matt, [clears throat] I know from park and wreck that the dock park bathrooms are all done. [clears throat and snorts] So I should be ready to go next spring. That's right. Great. Good. Chad, no report that nothing. And I have nothing. So we are done.

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