The Oskaloosa City Council met for their regularly scheduled meeting in City Hall Monday evening.

The agenda was short, but there were still some interesting discussions. First, the council considered approval for a site plan for the Crystal Heights Care Center expansion project, located at 1514 High Avenue West. The council’s main sticking point was whether or not to fully force the property owners to build sidewalks. Council member Aaron Ver Steeg said this is a perfect opportunity to connect that entire street with the sidewalks, even though some of the sidewalks on that street are old and could be out of date with the current code. The property owner said they had no issue in putting in the sidewalks, as long as they did connect somewhere.

This would require the city to eventually plug in sidewalks at three other pieces of land on the street to complete the sidewalk, but when completed, would give sidewalks for a large portion of that particular street.

The next item was a review and discussion of the proposed 28E agreement between Mahaska County Emergency Management Commission and Mahaska County E-911 Service Board. This was done so the Mahaska County EMC Director will oversee both of the boards. The vote will be officially done by both boards, and will not come back to council. This was set on the agenda, so that council knew what was happening with the boards. This agreement will not change the boards or their function, just the leadership positions. State regulations specify that two separate boards need to be in operation.
Finally, the council considered a resolution directing the mayor to execute a 28E Agreement between the city of Oskaloosa and the Oskaloosa Municipal Water Board of Trustees. This lines up the sewer system with the Oskaloosa Municipal Water Department.

Council member Jason Van Zetten opposed the move, saying the city has had a lot of trouble with that department and the citizens should have had a chance to vote on the matter before the service gets monopolized in town.

Council member Doug Yates said he felt it was a positive deal for the city. Council member Scottie Moore added that people had plenty of opportunities to speak on the matter during the study sessions that occurred in the drafting of the agreement. Council member Tom Walling said they didn’t want to have a third party doing the duty, so they came to an agreement with an entity within Oskaloosa.

The agreement passed on a 6-1 vote with Van Zetten the lone vote against.

The next scheduled meeting of the Oskaloosa City Council is set for Monday, October 5th at 6 PM in the Council Chambers of City Hall in Oskaloosa.