(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Atlantic City Council will meet in a regular session beginning at 5:30-p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 22nd in their chambers at City Hall. Among the items on their agenda, is a presentation from Retail Coach, updating the Council on their retail recruitment activities over the past several months. The Council last heard from Retail Coach Project Director Kyle Cofer, on April 30th, 2024. The City hired the company in 2021, to help provide necessary data to help officials better understand Atlantic’s retail market and needs.

The Atlantic City Council will hold the Second Reading of an Ordinance that calls for the vacating of Palm Street, between 3009 and 3101 Palm. The First Reading of the Ordinance was held January 8th. In other business, a Public Hearing will be held during Wednesday’s meeting, with regard to a proposed Amended Ordinance pertaining to Zoning Regulations, specifically affecting front/rear yard setback changes in the R-4 District. The Ordinance would change the front-yard setback from 30-feet to 25-feet, similar to what is found in the R-2 (Low Density) & R-3 (High Density) Districts, and the rear-yard requirement to 20% of the lot depth, with a maximum requirement of 25-feet. The hearing will be  followed by action on passing the First Reading of the Ordinance.

The Council will act also, on re-appointing Brad Henningsen to the Atlantic Airport Commission, and Emily Krengel to the Board of Adjustment. They will act on passing a Resolution “Obligating Funds from the Hotel Whitney Urban Renewal Area Revenue Fund,” for appropriation to the payment of an annual appropriation TIF (Tax Increment Financed) obligations which will come due in Dec., 2025. This will be the 7th year the City has been eligible to capture the taxes paid by the Whitney Group, using TIF, and it will be an annual occurrence until the City either pay’s-off the $750k maximum payment, or 20-years, whichever comes first.

The Atlantic City Council is expected to act on an Order approving an amendment to the Midwest Medical Services Contract, which ends July 1, 2025. The amendment makes some wording changes (including making Cass County the payer of the contract [through the newly passed EMS Levy], while keeping all the coalition partners in the document], and its limits the shortfall allowance amounts as compared to the original Midwest Contract.

The Council’s final order of business, Wednesday evening, is to enter into a Closed Session (as allowed in the Code of Iowa), for the purpose of strategy meetings for Collective Bargaining.