Atlantic Mayor Dave Jones, Wednesday, is expected to officially appoint Police Lt. David Erickson as Chief of Police, effective January 1st, 2017. The action will be taken during the City Council’s regular meeting, which begins at 5:30-p.m.  Erickson will succeed Chief Steve Green, who formally submitted his letter indicating he will retire at the end of the year after serving the community for more than 30-years. He recommended Erickson as his replacement. Green will move into the elected role as member of the Cass County Board of Supervisors, in January.

Erickson joined the Atlantic Police Department in January, 1997. He was promoted to Lieutenant in 2008. Previously, he’s served as a Sergeant in the U-S Marine Corps’ Military Intelligence Division, attached to the Corps’ Sniper “Surveillance and Target Acquisition” (STA) Platoon. While in the Marines, he served in Central America and Kuwait during the Persian Gulf War, and after leaving the service worked for Atlantic Coca Cola Bottling company as a salesman/territory supervisor, and with the Atlantic Police Department’s Reserve Unit. Erickson is a graduate of the Iowa Law Enforcement Academy and is a certified firearms instructor, field training officer and has been in charge of numerous children’s programs associated with the Police Department.

The Mayor is also expected to act on the re-appointment of Dr. Carol Trewett to the Atlantic Airport Commission, subject to Council approval. In other business, the Atlantic City Council will hold the second reading of an Ordinance “Providing for the Division of Taxes Levied on Taxable Property in the 2016 Atlantic Hotel Whitney Urban Renewal Area,” as specified in the Code of Iowa. The Ordinance is another legal step in establishing a TIF (Tax Increment Financing) for Old Whitney Hotel project area, which is expected to have an estimated property valuation of $1.5-million dollars, once the building is remodeled into affordable senior housing and commercial space.

The Council is also expected to act on approving the first reading of an Ordinance requested by the City’s Code Enforcement Officer, Kris Erickson, dealing with the improper disposal of human waste. City Administrator John Lund has stated that “We unfortunately have properties in Atlantic that are nothing more than shelters from the elements and do not have working sewers or water systems.” He says “At the moment, the City has a property where the residents are using a litter box to defecate and then dumping the litter box into their backyard.”

Lund says “This may be acceptable behavior in a third-world country, but not in Atlantic, Iowa.” He said also, that while there is nothing on local, State or Federal books to stop such actions, after speaking with and receiving the unanimous support of the Community Development Committee, the City Attorney decided that refining City Code 41.12 would be the most effective way to resolve the problem. The amendment to the Ordinance adds “To be dumped or deposited,” as part of the existing ordinance on urinating and defecating in public.