WELLMAN

Downtown improvements were the focus of the agenda at the Wellman City Council’s regular meeting on Oct. 16, the most significant of which is a $1.3 million downtown streetscape plan that would see new lighting, signage, and an asphalt overlay on 8th Avenue, as well as other upgrades. The plan comes at the recommendation of the Iowa Economic Development Authority, which evaluated the downtown earlier this year.
Alerting people driving through town on Hwy 22 that there are businesses downtown is one of the goals of the project. Without adequate signage, as things are now, people are generally unaware, the IEDA pointed out.
The council agreed that the city administrator should research funding for the project, which could come from TIF, Washington County Riverboat Foundation municipal grant, and local option sales tax funds.
“When I think about some of the new businesses that are coming in, somebody can be driving two blocks and not even know for sure, where is this at? I think [the streetscape project] is key in validating our downtown,” council member Fern Bontrager said.
New sidewalks and curbs are part of the vision for downtown, and to that end the council approved $16,082 for sidewalks to be completed by Kevin Christiansen Concrete in front of the Cady building, as the business would like the work completed this fall so that it has ADA access for the building.
“This would be part of what we were envisioning for the downtown streetscape that would be done eventually anyway,” city administrator Kelly Litwiller said.

Other council action
The council also approved $1,810 for the purchase and installation of security cameras on the far east side of North Park by the concession stand, to be provided by Finish Line Technology. The cameras are expected to be installed by next spring.
Two change orders were required for the construction taking place at the Wellman-Scofield Public Library: one in the amount of $8,709 for exterior painting of the building, and another in the amount of $2,957 for ductwork and plumbing. Even with the additional expenditures, the library project remains under budget; the council approved both.
Finally, before entering closed session to discuss candidates for the skating rink manager position, the council approved the FY23 financial report. Litwiller noted that overall the city’s expenditures were under budget, and revenues were higher than expected.