The Jewell City Council at their meeting last Monday evening, July 14th looked into the issue of water and sewer rates for the community. The council will begin working on a 15 percent increase in water rates with further discussion at the next meeting.
Jewell public works director Terry Anderson expressed his concern about the town’s water tower offline for upwards to 45 days. Anderson recommends proceeding forward with servicing the maintenance issues, which would only take the water tower offline for around 7 days, but holding off on the repainting this year. Conversations with Maguire Iron, ISG engineers of Des Moines and the city of Jewell will be occurring shortly and possible courses of action will be discussed.
The Jewell City Council approved a mosquito spraying contract with Martin Pest Control of Clare. The work will include fogging the streets and alleys for $280 per treatment. Anderson informed the council that Martin Pest to give a 24-hour notice before spraying occurred. The first spraying will occur on Saturday evening, July 19th at 7:30 p.m.
Jewell fire chief Duane Hendrickson prepared the EMS annual report for the 2024-25 fiscal year at this week’s council meeting. The revenue for the EMS department for the past year amounted to $88,632.84. The expenditures totaled $67,419.60. The EMS financial summary was accepted by the Jewell city council by a vote of 4 to 1.
There was a discussion on rock and snow removal for Parkview Street in Jewell. The city does not maintain Parkview Street currently because it is not an actual street but a private drive.
The pros and cons of having crosswalks on Main Street in Jewell were discussed. Business owner Grant Fairchild was present before the council and in favor of establishing the crosswalks. Jewell City Council member Aaron Boor informed Fairchild that he plans to get additional information from the Iowa DOT on this matter and report back at a future city council meeting.