(Atlantic, IA) – The City Council in Atlantic, Wednesday evening (June 17), held a public hearing on an amendment to the FY2026 Budget, during which there were no comments received. Afterward, they voted to pass a Resolution Amending the FY2026 Budget as presented, along with a Resolution Approving the Transfer of Funds for Fiscal Year 2025-26.
The Council also approved an Order to Close selected streets on July 4th, 2026, for the “Freedom Festival” from 8-a.m. until 10-p.m. They also approved closing selected streets on Saturday, August 8th, from 5-a.m. until 6-p.m., for the annual AtlanticFest Celebration and events.
The Atlantic City Council voted 6-to 1, with Councilperson Kennedy opposed, to approve a pay application amounting to $43,857.50, to TK Concrete for the West 22nd Street Improvement Project. City Engineer Dave Sturm said the City is withholding the full amount paid to the company until liquidated damages are satisfied.
In other business, the Council passed Orders to: Reappoint Melissa Ihnen and Jon Martens to the Planning and Zoning Commission, an Order to Appoint Jill Dodson and Jason McCormick to the Atlantic Library Board of Trustees, as well and an order to Appoint Stephanie Steffens, Lynn Kleuver, Nick Harris, Kesley Beschorner and Danette Cook, to the City’s Beautification Committee.
City Administrator John Lund presented his regular report to the Council, and during Mayor Rob Clausen’s report, he thanked the Public Works Department for their efforts to cleanup the damage and recover from two rounds of recent storms.
Public Works Department Director Kirk Knudsen told the Mayor the amount of tree debris from the storms is the most he’s seen at the City’s Compost/Burn pile since the 1991 ice storm. The Mayor reminded residents of Atlantic about the June 22nd through 26th “Dumpster Days,” for City-wide cleanup of unwanted junk.
As previously mentioned, all dumpsters are “self-serve,” with no City personnel on-hand to help with off-loading of your junk from vehicles and trailers. And, there are restrictions on what is and is not allowed. See the City’s website or Facebook page for details. This marks the first-year the City is trying this approach to save money, by having the public transport their junk to the roll-offs, as opposed to previous street-side pickup by City crews.
