Members of the Atlantic City Council, Wednesday evening, agreed to sign a letter of support for keeping the Iowa Department of Transportation’s District 4 Construction Office in Atlantic, instead of moving it to Council Bluffs. The letter will be sent to numerous State officials and legislative representatives. Cass-Atlantic Development Executive Director Russell Joyce spoke to the Council before asking for their signatures.

Joyce said he learned this past January from a retired DOT employee, that the District Engineer and Director of the IA DOT plans to transition the office to Council Bluffs over a period of time. The move would mean all new hires at the Omni-Center in Council Bluffs, and a request from the legislature to appropriate millions of dollars for the structure. Joyce said several area legislators, the Governor’s Office and DOT Commissioners were unaware of the plan. He said he eventually heard from the Director of the DOT, Mark Lowe, who said in a lengthy e-mail, that the change was an administrative decision made in Ames. The Director said he felt “There was a greater depth of talent in the metropolitan area than there was out here in rural Iowa.”

Joyce said “I take a little bit of offense by that because the last number of years, a number of young professionals have moved to the Atlantic area, regarding career opportunities, and [while] they might make a little more money somewhere else, the fact of the matter is they enjoy the lifestyle here and want to be part of the community here.” Joyce said the Director’s reasoning is not legitimate enough to warrant the move. He said most of the District Engineers, and area governmental organizations, including County Boards of Supervisors, Regional Council of Governments and others have written similar letters of support, requesting the offices be kept in Atlantic because of its centralized location to the 13-county district served by the District 4 Office.

In other business, the Council approved, by a vote of 6-0 (with Councilman Dick Casady absent), the third and final reading of an ordinance pertaining to zoning regulations, with regard to fencing in Light Industrial and Commercial Zones, and by a vote of 5-to1, approved the first reading of an amended ordinance with regard to Speed Regulations on Sunnyside Lane, from 10th to 22nd Streets. The current version stipulates a speed limit of 25-miles per hour on Sunnyside from 10th Street south, two-thousand feet, before it becomes 35-mph for the remaining 1,650-feet to 22nd Street. Councilperson Hayes was opposed to the amendment as written.

The Council approved the first reading of an amended ordinance that repeals and replaces a Chapter pertaining to trees and responsibilities within the Right-of-Way, and the approved the first reading of an amended ordinance with regard to Urban Deer Population control. The change reflects the Police Chief’s sole authority to determine the limits on the number of deer harvested within the City Limits of Atlantic, and the number of hunters authorized to hunt, during specified dates and times. The Council waived both the second and third readings and passed the Ordinance as written.