The Mount Pleasant City Council met in regular session on Wednesday, August 23^rd. All members of the council were present, and they approved a resolution of selling the west portion of 1300 W Courtland st to the Iowa Communication Network, who has been in search of a new place to operate since the closing of IW. The City Council must hold a public hearing anytime they are selling public property, and they followed that last night.

Another issue brought up was some road reconstruction on Henry and Main Street, what the council calls “The H.” The mayor was authorized to sign an Engineering Service Agreement with Warner Engineering for repaving and drainage infrastructure, and Saunders Street was noted as “top priority.”

During the public forum, I asked about trash pickup in the city. There have been discussions about getting rid of the usual trash pickup in favor of a new system that could be cheaper in many ways. Council members mentioned that there is “more to come” at a later date but they had nothing further at this moment, other than that they are currently looking at costs and trying to weigh up the options.

Chief of Police, Lyle Murray, provided a quick update on the Christamore House, mentioning how citizens “ruffled politicians feathers” and he believes the entire situation should be resolved here rapidly. This is in reference to the police chief’s asking of the public to call their elected officials about the Christamore House wasting the Police Department resources and costing Henry County residents tax dollars.

The price of regular unleaded gasoline fell 13 cents, averaging $3.64 across Iowa according to AAA.

Crude Oil Summary

• The price of global crude oil fell this week on the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) by $3.40 per barrel over last week, currently priced at $77.85.
• Brent crude oil fell $2.91 and is currently priced at $82.23.
• One year ago, WTI crude sold for $93.74 and Brent crude was at $99.49.

Motor Fuels

• As of Wednesday, the price of regular unleaded gasoline averaged $3.64 across Iowa according to AAA.
  • Prices fell 13 cents from last week’s price and are up 8 cents from a year ago.
  • The national average on Wednesday was $3.85, down 1 cent from last week’s price.
• Retail diesel prices in Iowa fell 2 cents this week with a statewide average of $4.11.
  • One year ago, diesel prices averaged $4.70 in Iowa.
  • The current Iowa diesel price is 25 cents less than the national average of $4.36.
• Wholesale ethanol held steady and is currently priced at $2.16.
• The current Des Moines Terminal/Rack Prices are $2.53 for U87-E10, $2.96 for Unleaded 87 (clear), $3.25 for ULSD#2, $3.77 for ULSD#1, and $2.38 per gallon for E-70 prices.

Heating Fuels

• Natural gas prices fell 16 cents at the Henry Hub reporting site and are currently priced at $2.53/MMbtu
• We will continue reporting retail heating oil and propane prices in Iowa in September.

Tips for saving energy on the road or at home are available at energy.gov and fueleconomy.gov.

The Mount Pleasant Sanitation Committee will meet Thursday, August 24, 2023, at

9 am at City Hall in the City Administrators’ Conference Room.

AGENDA

Call to order

Discuss Sewer Credit 413 N Adams

Update on SSES Project

Update on SBR Plant

Continue Discussion on Solid Waste Collection

Open forum

Adjourn

The Mt. Pleasant Community School Board will host a special election on September 12^th, 2023. After speaking with the Henry County Auditor’s office, we do know that they do not currently have the ballots needed. However, early voting is still an option for those that need to utilize this.

If you need to vote early, the office will let you fill out a paper ballot on Wednesday and Thursday and the absentee workers will set these ballots aside. Once the electronic ballot is running, those workers will open that separate stack and fill out an electronic ballot based on those votes. If you can wait until Friday or next week to fill out a ballot, that would be easiest for both parties involved.

Voters will have the chance to decide on the Revenue Purpose Statement (RPS) which governs how the school district can spend the statewide penny sales tax for school infrastructure. This money is typically used for building renovations, school bus purchases, and more.

Currently, the school district has broad flexibility on how they spend this money, and they would prefer to keep it that way. The district benefits from about 2 million dollars a year from this penny tax.

The Iowa Credit Union Industry is continuing to warn Iowans of online scams and text message “smishing” attempts aimed at stealing personal and financial information. Facebook Marketplace has seen scams increase on their platform.

Thousands of fraudulent domains tied to MMS/SMS/text scams have been reported in the past year, and in recent months these smishing attempts have increased exponentially, according to recent reports from the Internal Revenue Service.

There are many red flags on Facebook Marketplace, that may seem harmless, but turn out to be a scam. Here we have listed just a few of the popular scams:

• An overpayment. If you receive an overpayment, decline the charge or check and ask the buyer to send you the correct amount.
• Moving the dialogue off Facebook to your phone. Often in these instances, the other party will ask for your phone number and say that they want to text you a code to “prove you are real.”
• The Zelle “Business Account” scam. This is a scam the Better Business Bureau (BBB) has warned consumers about in the past. If you are asked to upgrade your Zelle account or another digital wallet app to accept money from a buyer, it’s likely a scam.
• Shipping mishaps. Always track the item to ensure it arrives at its destination. Some buyers will demand refunds claiming they never received their item. Keep the proof that your package arrived at its destination.
• Fake vacation homes or apartment listings.  Google the address to make sure the location exists and if it looks representative to what is being shown online. Verify the validity of the rental by contacting the property listing manager directly.

“Phishing attempts and online scams are continuing to put Iowans’ financial data at risk,” said Jaimie Miller, Vice President of the Iowa Credit Union League. “Consumers need to remain vigilant when interacting online and receiving suspicious text messages. If you are uncertain about who is contacting you or been scammed, get in touch with your credit union or bank immediately.”

Financial institutions will never ask for personal information, including social security numbers and full account numbers.

“The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has a helpful guide on how to spot text message scams here.”

“Report any Facebook scams online.”