Andrew Holden was appointed Tuesday evening to serve on the Ellsworth City Council. Holden was one of the five candidates seeking the seat that was held by Jeremy Laube who resigned from the council this spring. The other candidates interviewed by the Ellsworth City Council included Barry Anksorus, Irene Postma, Curtis Jensen and Brian Zimmerman. The recommendation for Holden was approved 3 to 1 by the council with council member Brian Phipps voting no. Holden will serve on the Ellsworth City Council through December 31,2027.
The Ellsworth City Council was updated on improvements to the city park, including a quote for resurfacing the tennis court and converting the court into two pickleball courts. The restrooms at the City Park will also be renovated in the coming months, including having automatic times locks so that they can be accessed by the public during the day during the park’s open hours. Ellsworth City Clerk Heidi Eckers recently met with Conservation Creations director DeDe Henderson, Hamilton County Conservation director Brian Lammers and Ellsworth Library Director Karlie Hunter to discuss a story walk being installed along the JewellEllsworth trail as well as plans for a conservation-themed mural. Eckers also is pursuing updating the city’s tree inventory with Iowa DNR arborists. A full inventory will be done on July 7th. She informed the council that a least one DNR grant to help with the expense of trees to replace the ash tree mitigation that has been ongoing city property for the past several years.
There was a call made to UMB Bank financial advisor Nate Summers via conference line. The Ellsworth City Council discussed an updated pro forma prepared by Summers for the repayment of the new water tower and the necessary water rate increase as a part of the repayment plan. The council asked if a new proposed change to the current Water/Sewer rate Ordinance, the size of the connection could be a factor for a proposed rate. Summers will work with Ellsworth City Clerk Hedi Eckers to draft a potential change to the water/sewer rate Ordinance by the next city council meeting on July 14th. Proposed rate increases could also be affected by the final bid accepted for the probable cost of the new water tower project in Ellsworth.
The Ellsworth City Council approved to pay Midland Electric for the new transformer in the amount of $13,711.39 for the expansion to the Ellsworth Truck Wash. Work on this project is scheduled to begin soon.