The Walnut City Council spent a good deal of time Thursday evening discussing ways to keep the community a viable tourist attraction, by means of the Streetscape Program. City Clerk Terry Abell, says the goal is to have an attractive downtown for visitors and residents alike. She says they’re talking about having the merchants get together with the City to determine what is best for the future of the downtown area, which she says “Is a positive thing.”

Terry says there a “Lots of ideas,” and that’s it will be something that’s “A work in progress for a while.” She says “Everybody wants to maintain the antique ambiance of the community, and not jeopardize the integrity of what they’ve worked so hard to accomplish. The goal of course, is to have “A nice looking downtown.” Walnut bills itself as “Iowa’s Antique City.”

In other business, the Walnut City Council approved the Fire Department’s recommendation to reappoint Justen Tooley as Fire Chief, for a third, consecutive two-year term. Following a public hearing, the Council also adopted a resolution approving a loan agreement and bond purchase for $1.06-million in General Obligation Refunding Bonds, Series 2013, and authorized early redemption of outstanding bonds. Along with that, Terry Abell says they approved a motion to amend the Fiscal Year 2012-2013 budget by $217,000.

She says most of that had to do with the refunding of the State Revolving Fund – SRF – loan, that has to be paid-off, but was not in the original budget. She says they weren’t extending the budget in any specific area to compensate for the refunding of the loan.