Mt. Pleasant City Council Meeting Agenda 2/14

By Yorke Prough · Tuesday, February 13th, 2024 at 2:36 pm CDT

The Mount Pleasant City Council will meet in Regular Session on Wednesday, February 14, 2024, at City Hall, 307 E. Monroe Street, second-floor meeting room at 5:30 p.m.

AGENDA

  1. Roll Call.
  2. Consent Agenda: To the Public — All items with an asterisk (*) are routine by the City Council and will be enacted by one motion and a roll call of the Councilmembers. There will be no separate discussion of items unless the Mayor, a Councilmember or citizen so request, in which event the item will be removed from the Consent Agenda and will be considered in its normal sequence on the Agenda.
  3. Receive & file communications.
  4. Approve agenda.

*5. Approve minutes of previous meetings.

*6. Approve payment of bills.

*7. Receive report of Officers including Resolution No. 2024-10 approving January 2024 transfers.

  1. Old Business-
    1. 2nd reading of Ordinance amending Chapter 69 (parking regulations) of the City Code of Ordinances.
    2. Renewal of a Class B Retail Alcohol License for Dollar General #2010 at 710 Grand Avenue.
  2. New Business-
    1. Resolution approving 2023 Tax Abatement applications and authorizing the filing with the Henry County Assessor.
    2. Resolution to approve plans & specs on file for Pearl Street and set a date for Public Hearing and bid letting.
    3. Approve the purchase of a new City Hall Server.
    4. Approve revision of Mount Pleasant Fire and Rescue Standard Operating Guidelines.
    5. Resolution accepting NE Lagoon Schedule 1 Conversion (Lift Station) Project.
  1. Resolution accepting NE Lagoon Conversion Schedule 2 Force Main Project.
  2. Resolution approving the application(s) for the purpose of receiving benefits from the Washington County Riverboat Foundation to preserve Second Baptist Church.
  3. Resolution approving hire of part-time Public Works/Parks employee.
  4. 1 st reading of Ordinance amending Chapter 25 Municipal Fees and Charges, Section 25-18 Cemetery Rates and Charges, of the City Code of Ordinances.
  1. Public Forum.
  2. Adjourn to meet in regular session on Wednesday, February 28, 2024, at 5:30 p.m.

Rosy Seniva

By Yorke Prough · Tuesday, February 13th, 2024 at 11:02 am CDT

Rosy Seniva, 82, of River Hills Village in Keokuk, passed away at 12:11 a.m. Sunday, February 12, 2024, at River Hills Village.

She was born on April 5, 1941, the daughter of Allie and Edna Palmer. On August 20, 1964, she married Nolan Seniva. He preceded her in death.

She is survived by her children: Arthur (Beth) of North Pole, Alaska, Loren (Wendy) of Montrose, Iowa, Brent (Shawna) of Des Moines, Iowa, Ruby (Adrian) of Phoenix, Arizona, Gary (Sonya) of North Pole, Alaska, Sandy (Anthony) of Oceanside, California; twenty grandchildren and three great grandchildren.

She was preceded in death by her parents; husband: Nolan; sister: Mitzy; sons: Clifford, Robert and grandson: Eric.

A graveside service will be held at 9:00 a.m. Saturday, February 17, 2024, at Liberty Center Cemetery, Liberty Center, Iowa with family friend Pastor Gary Majavec officiating.

A memorial has been established in her memory.

Schmitz Funeral Home of Donnellson is assisting the family with arrangements. Online condolences may be made to the family at www.schmitzfuneralhomes.com.

Public Meeting in Wayland for “Wind Farm” Project This Evening

By Yorke Prough · Tuesday, February 13th, 2024 at 10:47 am CDT

There is a meeting tonight in Wayland for those of you interested in the potential “wind farm project” in Northern Henry County. The Henry County Supervisors are hosting RWE Representatives, the company behind the idea. As a reminder, this is a potential project, with nothing official right now. If you have any questions or contributions to the discussion, this would be a great place to voice those.

This meeting will take place at the Wayland Community Building at 6:30pm tonight. This is open to the public.

Merri Hainline

By Yorke Prough · Tuesday, February 13th, 2024 at 8:29 am CDT

Merri C. Hainline, 64, a resident of Fairfield, passed away Sunday, February 11, 2024 at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics in Iowa City.

There will be no services held at this time. Memorials may be made to the family. Behner Funeral Home in Fairfield is assisting the family.

Merri was born December 24, 1959 in Keosauqua, the daughter of Bruce and Marie (Overlander) Hainline.

Merri worked in manufacturing, and as a nurse’s aid. She enjoyed watching movies with her family.

Those left to honor her memory include her children, Brandon (Josie) Hainline, Amber Timmons, Drew Timmons-Hainline, Jaiden Hainline, and Emily Hainline; grandchildren, Bailey and Paxten; two great-grandchildren; her mother, Marie Hainline; sisters, Linda (Carl) Sweatman and Melody Unkrich; and brother, Steve (Sandy) Hainline.

She was preceded in death by her father.

Online condolences may be made to Merri’s family by viewing her obituary at www.behnerfh.com.

May 30th, Last Day for Mount Pleasant Schools

By Yorke Prough · Tuesday, February 13th, 2024 at 7:45 am CDT

At Monday night’s board meeting, the Mount Pleasant Community School Board listened to Superintendent John Henriksen’s proposal of pushing the last day of school a little closer. With the winter weather causing cancellations and delays this year, schools in the district would not end until June 5th. That was until last night. The board voted to approve Henriksen’s request to end classes on Thursday, May 30th.

May 29th will now be a full day of school, instead of half, and May 30th will also be full. Students need to spend at least 1080 hours of instructional learning in the classroom. Mount Pleasant has it built so that the students spend around 30 hours more than that, however, with 5 delays and 5 cancelations, a solution was needed. Mr. Henriksen and the board agreed to use 20 hours of parent-teacher conferences as instructional hours, which is allowed in the Iowa code.

Teachers will still work until June 6th, which has not changed.

Sports, February 13th

By Slaten Swords · Tuesday, February 13th, 2024 at 6:36 am CDT

Girls’ Regional Basketball

In Class 1A Region 7, Danville will travel to Lone Tree tonight at 7 pm. KILJ AM 1130, 98.5 FM, and kilj.com will be on the call.

In Class 1A Region 8, WACO will travel to Montezuma tonight at 7 pm. KILJ 105.5 FM, kilj.com, will be on the call with the pregame show at 6:45 pm. 

#15 Holy Trinity Catholic will host English Valleys tonight at 7 pm. 

For Class 2A Region 6, Van Buren County will remain on the road to take on Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont tonight at 7 pm.

Columbus will host West Burlington tonight at 7 pm.

In Class 3A Region 1, Mediapolis will host Tipton tomorrow, February 14th, at 7 pm. 

In Class 4A Region 1, Mt. Pleasant will hit the road to take on Oskaloosa for the second time this season as Oskaloosa won that matchup 55-17. KILJ 105.5 FM, kilj.com, will be on the call with the pregame show at 6:45 pm.

The winner of this game will take on #1 Clear Creek-Amana.

On the bottom half of the bracket, it will be a Southeast Conference matchup between Fort Madison and Burlington. The winner will be tasked with a road matchup against Keokuk. 

The first-round for Class 4A is scheduled to begin tomorrow at 7 pm.

Boys’ District Basketball

Starting in Substate 5 District 9, Winfield-Mt. Union powered past New London 70-37, outscoring the Tigers 35 to 19 in the second half. New London ended the season with a 5-17 record. 

Danville was tested by Sigourney at home last night but escaped with a 62-52 victory. The Bears will travel to take on Winfield-Mt. Union on Thursday, February 15th, at 7 pm. KILJ AM 1130, 98.5 FM, and kilj.com will be on the call.

In the bottom half of the bracket, Burlington Notre Dame dominated Wapello to the tune of a 78-49 victory, while WACO defeated Pekin 57-42. Colton Leichty led the way with 26 points for the Warriors followed by Chase Waterhouse’s 16 points. The Nikes will host WACO on Thursday at 7 pm. KILJ 105.5 FM, kilj.com, will be on the call with the pregame show at 6:45 pm.

In Substate 5 District 10, Holy Trinity Catholic was unstoppable last night as the Crusaders drubbed Tri-County 103-19. Luke Hellige led the scoring with 33 points as Connor Gehling tallied 19 points and six blocks in the win. The Crusaders will face off against Moravia on Thursday at 7 pm at home. Head Coach John Hellige’s recipe for success is rebounding and no turnovers.

Class 2A, Substate 4 District 7 saw Central Lee take down Louisa-Muscatine last night 72-65. The Hawks will compete against #6 West Burlington on Thursday at 7 pm.

In the bottom half of the bracket, Mediapolis breezed past Van Buren County 75-38. The Bulldogs will travel to West Branch on Thursday at 7 pm.

The brackets for Class 3A and 4A were released yesterday and in Class 3A Substate 5, Mt. Pleasant will hit the road to take on Keokuk, while Washington will face off against Clear Creek-Amana and Fort Madison faces off against Williamsburg. 

In Class 3A Substate 4, Fairfield will take on Marion on the road.

In Class 4A Substate 3, Burlington snatched the sixth seed and will travel to Davenport, West for their first-round matchup. 

The first round for classes 3A and 4A will begin on Monday, February 19th, at 7 pm.

High School Basketball

The Mt. Pleasant boys’ team will end the regular season facing off against Pella tonight at 7 pm. 

High School Wrestling

The state tournament will begin tomorrow, February 14th, at 9 am. KILJ will be focusing on 28 wrestlers at the tournament. For a full list of the state qualifiers follow this link: 2024 State Qualifiers

The Iowa High School Athletic Association (IHSAA) announced the 2024 honorees for the IHSAA Wrestling Hall of Fame and IHSAA Officials Hall of Fame and there’s a familiar face on the roster of inductees in New London’s longtime head coach Mark Chiri. Across an incredible 37 seasons, Chiri accumulated 468 dual meet wins, 111 state qualifiers, seven top 10 team finishes, four state dual qualifications, and 10 individual champions.

Additionally, Chiri coached Marcel Lopez, who notched four state championships as a Tiger, and Dom Lopez, who is the winningest wrestler in state history with 221 career wins. The honorees will be introduced before the championship matches on Saturday, February 17th.

High School Bowling

The Mt. Pleasant girls’ team participated in their state qualifying meet yesterday and three Panthers clinched their spot at the state meet as individuals, while Keokuk and Oskaloosa qualified as a team. 

The Chiefs were led by Jaelynn Ketterer and Sophia Rule as they tallied the top two individual scores of 732 and 631, respectively. Natalie Alberts nabbed the last spot with a score of 554.

Mt. Pleasant had two bowlers finish in the top five as Addie McGehearty totaled 587 pins and Bethany Drury grabbed 581 pins for the fourth and fifth highest scores of the meet. Kya Goodrich was the last Panther to clinch a spot with a score of 555, which ranked 7th amongst the field. The state tournament will begin on February 19th.

The boys’ team will travel to Oskaloosa to compete in their state qualifying meet today. Burlington and Keokuk will also be making the trip.

College Basketball

The #4 Iowa women’s team will host Michigan on Thursday, February 15th, at 7 pm. 

The Iowa State women’s team will face off against #7 Kansas State tomorrow, February 14th, at 6:30 pm. 

The #10 Iowa State men’s team will travel to Cincinnati tonight to compete against the Bearcats at 6 pm. 

The Iowa men’s team will take on Maryland tomorrow at 7:30 pm on the road. 

This Day in Sports History

1923 – The first fully all-Black and Black-owned professional basketball team, The Renaissance, was organized. Commonly called The Rens, the team was founded by Robert L. Douglas, who was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as a contributor in 1972.

1932 – A 2-2 final round tie with the US is good enough for Canada to clinch its fourth consecutive Olympic ice hockey gold medal at Lake Placid; Canadian center Walter Monson is tournament top scorer with 11 points.

1971 – US Vice President Spiro Agnew hits two tee shots into a crowd while golfing, injuring two.

New London Opting for New Garbage Collection Providers

By Yorke Prough · Tuesday, February 13th, 2024 at 5:57 am CDT

Starting July 1st, 2024, the City of New London, Iowa will be switching garbage collection providers from WEMIGA to Waste Management. Along with this change the City will start providing its customers with garbage cans as part of the service. The garbage cans will be delivered the last week in June.

More information will be available as the date approaches.

Driver Avoids Damage to Self, Not to Fence

By Yorke Prough · Tuesday, February 13th, 2024 at 5:53 am CDT

On February 11th, 2024, at approximately 11:25 AM, Henry County Dispatch received multiple reports of a single vehicle crash in the 3300-grid of New London Road. An investigation into the collision determined a 2021 Chevrolet Trailblazer, driven by, Kaity Bench, 36, of New London, was traveling southbound on New London Road, when the vehicle left the roadway. The vehicle travelled approximately 600 feet along the ditch and collided with fencing, before coming to rest. The driver of the vehicle left the scene and was later located at their residence.

No injuries were reported. The damage to the vehicle was estimated to be $15,000. Kaity was cited for Failure to Maintain Control.