Author: Theresa Rose

Each year, the first full week of April is recognized as National Public Health Week. The National Public Health Conference is being held virtually all week with the theme of “Building Bridges to Better Health”. The Public Health Conference of Iowa is also taking place this week and offers the opportunity for public health professionals from across the state to connect on issues facing Iowans.

Both conferences will highlight the incredible contribution of public health workers over the past year, honor their work on the front lines and the importance of investing in this critically essential work force. As a lead agency for the state’s COVID-19 response, the Iowa Department of Public Health (IDPH) has focused significant portion of the agency’s staff and resources toward ensuring testing capacity, supporting contact tracing, data accuracy and transparency, and vaccine deployment.

The work of responding to the pandemic has not been an isolated endeavor. IDPH is incredibly grateful for new and existing partnerships at the federal, state and county level as well as the business community throughout the state.

“What we will carry forward from this experience are partnerships we’ve forged and our commitment to addressing gaps in health and human service delivery. These gaps underscore the need for strategic investment in our systems that better ensures Iowans have equitable access to resources. I want to sincerely thank the public health workforce throughout the state who have worked tirelessly this past year to keep Iowans safe,” said Kelly Garcia, IDPH interim director.

In addition to a sustained focus on COVID-19 pandemic response, IDPH serves Iowans through programs for infectious disease investigation and mitigation as well as oversight for a wide variety of public health activities in Iowa, including substance use disorder prevention and treatment, emergency medical services, maternal and child health, health promotion and chronic disease prevention, tobacco use prevention and control and environmental health.

Beginning today, all Iowans over the age of 16 are eligible to receive vaccine and over 600,000 Iowans are fully vaccinated. Still, it remains important for Iowans to continue practicing the mitigation measures that can slow the spread of the COVID-19 virus.

Those who have not been vaccinated should continue to:

• Wear a mask or face covering
• Practice social distancing with those outside your household
• Clean your hands frequently with soap and water
• Stay home if you feel sick
• Get tested if you are exposed to, or have symptoms of COVID-19
• Get a COVID-19 vaccine when it’s available to you

APRIL 6TH, 2021 – TUESDAY EVENING – 6:00 P.M.
CITY OFFICE – 112 W. MAIN ST.
1. CALL TO ORDER REGULAR MEETING: Mayor Kirk Miller
2. ROLL CALL: Travis Benz, Brad Helmerson, Dan Berner, Scott Campbell and January Benjamin
3. APPROVAL OF AGENDA
4. INVOCATION: Kirk Miller
5. REPORTS:
a. Police Dept.
b. Fire Department (Handout)
c. Public Works (1-2)
d. Parks & Recreation
e. Utilities (3-6)
f. Child Care
g. Mayor
6. OPEN FORUM:
7. CONSENT AGENDA:
a. Approve minutes of previous meetings (7-14)
b. Accept Clerk’s Financial Reports (15-17)
c. Approve Payment of Claims (Handout)
d. Zoning Permits: Chase Wagner, 101 E. Codner St., Garage (18-20)
Mark Pothitakis, 507 W. Main St., Dental Office Addition (21-28)
Jerry & Deb Crouch, 311 N. Maple St., Home Addition (29-39)
e. Tax Abatements: Dr. Mark Pothitakis, 507 W. Main St., Dental Office Addition (40)
Jerry & Deb Crouch, 311 N. Maple St., Home Addition (41)
f. Excavation Permits: Colby Hummell, 314 N. Pine St., Replace Broken Sewer Line (42)
Windstream, 200 block of W. Washington St., 200 block of N.
Walnut St. and 100 block of W. Lincoln St., Boring Fiber Optic (43)
8. OLD BUSINESS:
a. Discuss amending section 69.11 Snow Removal of the City Code (44-51)
b. Discuss limiting parking on Main St. in the business district to a certain amount of time
(52)
9. NEW BUSINESS:
a. Approve Resolution #334 Authorizing Temporary Closing of a Public Way (53)
b. Update on Liability Insurance Quote (54)
c. Discuss and take action on 2021 Summer Movies in the Park
d. Discuss amending the golf cart and UTV ordinances (55, 57-63)
e. Discuss amending the Vehicle Policy in the Employee Handbook for On-Call Police
Officers (56, 64)
f. Discuss purchasing a new Chevy Tahoe for the Police Department from Karl’s Chevrolet
(56)
g. Discuss the Restrictive Covenants for the South Pine Street Subdivision – Phase 1 (65-68)
h. Approve going into closed session per Iowa Code 21.5j to discuss the purchase or sale
of particular real estate only where premature disclosure could reasonably expected to increase the price the governmental body would have to pay for the property or reduce
the price the governmental body would receive for that property
10. MEETINGS:
a. Public Works Committee, April 21st
, 2021 at 6:30 a.m., Shop at WWTP
b. Public Safety Committee, April 21st, 2021 at 6:30 p.m., City Office
c. Council & Township Work Session, April ______, 2021 at ______ P.M., Fire Station
d. Regular City Council Meeting, May 4th, 2021 at 6:00 p.m., City Office
11. ADJOURNMENT
NEW LONDON CITY COUNCIL – OPEN FORUM NOTICE
The Open Forum portion of the New London City Council meeting is a time where the public is allowed to speak.
This is a courtesy that is extended to you. During this portion of the meeting the following guideline will be in
effect:
1. Upon being recognized by the Mayor, please stand if possible, and state you name and address for the record.
2. Unless you are a scheduled, approved organization making a presentation, you will have 3 minutes to
respectfully express your thoughts. Guest organizations will be under the discretion and management of the
Mayor as the presiding officer.
3. Understand that no formal motions or actions will be taken on items during this time. Your concerns may be
forwarded to the appropriate committee for further considerations and/or discussion.
4. All comments and discussion will remain respectful in nature to all parties.
5. Similar topics will be acknowledged, and forwarded to the appropriate department. However, repetition of
topics will be limited.
6. Any deviation from these guidelines will end you allotted time and you will be asked to be seated. Failure to
abide by these guidelines may lead to removal from the meeting at the order of the Mayor and possibly
charges of disorderly conduct if so warranted.
7. Your involvement on agenda items will be limited to the presentation of factual material as determined by the
Mayor. This the Council’s time for dealing with matters and will not include public opinions or question and
answer time; this is done during Public Hearings.

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources has closed the gate valve on the Lake Geode Dam. The lake was drawn down in October 2017 as a first step in a large-scale renovation project to improve water quality and enhance accessibility and recreational opportunities at Geode State Park. Lake restoration construction work started in January 2018 to stabilize the eroded shoreline, build fishing jetties, add fish habitat structures, regrade slopes around the beach for better drainage and upgrade the beach with new sand. About 200,000 cubic yards of sediment has been removed from the lake. The D.N.R. will restock the lake with bluegills, sunfish, largemouth bass, channel catfish and black croppie after it has refilled. Final efforts to stabilize the shoreline will be done by barge after the lake refills. The boat ramp/turnaround area adjacent to the beach will be replaced this summer and disturbed areas will be seeded.