At its recent meeting, the Stanhope City Council reviewed two bids for the pickup of refuse in the community. They were submitted from American Sanitation and The Trash Man. After a discussion of strategies, Stanhope City Council member Beau Jensen made the motion to stay with The Trash Man. The vote was approved by a vote of 4 to 1. Stanhope council member Jill Haman casted the lone no vote. Brad Schmidt with American Sanitation wanted to let Stanhope residents know that years ago when he started into business, he found that the city of Stanhope as being charged $42.00 per household by the Trashman. Schmidt feels he saved the City of Stanhope a lot of money. Chris Kehoe with The Trashman explained that is when The Trashman was paying for landfill fees. They no longer pay this. The city pays the landfill fee directly.
Stanhope Fire Chief Brad Anderson gave an update on the gear that has been ordered. The quote given will be a little cheaper due to only ordering 7 helmets and not 10. Brett Ahrens was at a recent fire department meeting and has taken all old supplies. Ahrens sends them to third world countries that have nothing. The Stanhope Fire and EMS thought this was a great way to dispose of the old equipment. Anderson also informed the council that the brush pile has been burned. The Fire Department also help open and flush drains around town at their last meeting.
Justin Malloy of the Town and Country Insurance agency of Fort Dodge met with the Stanhope City Council on insurance for the 2025-26 year. Stanhope had a 4.87 percent increase from the year before.
The city of Stanhope is in need of a utility rate study per the Iowa Utilities Commission. One quote was presented to the council, The issue was tabled to a later date.
There was discussion on the idea of bat houses in Stanhope to help with mosquito control. The Stanhope City Council seemed to think there need to be more community input for such a project. City council member Beau Jensen will bring some house designs to the June council meeting. He will be contacting the Hamilton County Conservation and Iowa DNR on this proposal for bat houses.
A request was presented to the City Council to approve Friday,July 18th as Envision Stanhope’s Block Party from 5:00 p.m. until 12:00 midnight. There will be food, drinks and music provided for the event. ID’s will be check and wrist bands put on for those 21 and older. The street will be fenced off with the City’s snow fence. The council approved the request for the celebration.