The Atlantic City Council acted on a number of matters during their regular meeting, Wednesday evening:

• They approved an Order to refer a proposal to vacate an obsolete Right-Of-Way (ROW) on E. 9th Street, to the Planning and Zoning Commission. The Commission on Oct. 13th will review the proposal and forward its recommendation to back to the City Council. The Council will hold a public hearing and three readings of the ordinance before it becomes official.
• The Council approved an Amended City Attorney Retainer Agreement with Otto, Lorence & Wiederstein, P.L.L.C, for the services of Blake Miller, who works with a law firm out of Harlan. He replaces Audubon County Attorney Sarah Jennings, who represented Atlantic during matters that caused a conflict of interest with our City Attorney Dave Wiederstein.
• The Council held and passed the second reading of an Ordinance Vacating a City ROW between Hemlock & Sycamore Streets, south of E. 18th Street, to include “Phantom” alley.
• And, the Atlantic City Council passed, by a vote of 5-to 1, the first reading of an ordinance that amends the Code of Ordinances, with regard to “Stop Required” at the intersection of 22nd & Olive Streets. The nay vote came from Councilman Dick Casady. Councilperson Kathy Somers was absent from the proceedings.

The City’s Community Protection Committee (CPC) had unanimously recommended the current two-way stop at the intersection be expanded to four-way, and they recommend making the intersection of 32nd Street and Chestnut be converted to a three-way stop, to slow down the traffic flow in that area. During the Public Comment portion of the Atlantic City Council meeting, resident  Dale Retallic said he and most of the residents in the area of 22nd and Olive oppose the four-way stop for a number of reasons.

Among them is the speed limit, which is 35-mph. He says motorists are speeding, the City needs to hand out tickets, which will get the point across for traffic to slow down.

In other business, a Resolution adopting a policy on limiting street closures for certain events failed by a vote of 5-to-1. The CPC recommended approval of the Resolution, which says street closure request shall be granted no more than twice per year, per individual or business, and that such closures be made for “a good cause,” but Events sponsored directly by the City or through the Atlantic Chamber of Commerce, would be exempt from the requirement.

A majority of the Council felt is was not in the best interests of the City to prevent bringing business and visitors to town through the use of limited street or alley closures. Councilmen Pat McCurdy and Gerald Brink expressed their opposing views….

Police Chief Dave Erickson said there have been no problems associated with the temporary closure of certain streets or alleys associated with special events. The Council agreed it would be best to continue each request on a case-by-case basis.  And finally, the Council, Wednesday, accepted the Tax Sale Certificate for 301 Maple and 101 Cedar Streets. They also approved a Change Order for the Downtown Revitalization Project.