This week’s City of Tama Council meeting had a rather light agenda that kept them moving right along. The meeting started with public comments of which they had a few, questioning once again the traffic cameras, amongst other topics.

Katherine Ollendieck then stood up and gave an Economic Development update. She touched briefly on multiple subjects, including the Tama County Brochure, which has been completed, and the Tama County Tourism website which is set to be updated. Ollendieck also spoke about working on the housing assessment.

Working quickly, the council had the first reading of, suspended the second reading of, and adopted an ordinance to rezone 1109 E 5th St. from residential to business.

The water department was approved for the purchase of a $2,500 Husqvarna FS 400 concrete saw after the old saw went toes up.

A resolution for some end-of-year money transfers was approved. The water department reported to still be moving forward with the pilot test. The wastewater department is working on the calls for some grants.

The Fire Department had a good weekend, with the annual pancake breakfast having gone great. EMS reported that the festival was a big success having doubled the revenue from last year’s dunk tank.

T-shirt sales are also on the upswing. Call volume is averaging at 100 a month, the volunteers are working hard, and a new contract was signed with Grinnell Hospital for the transports that will be non-ending.

The new Tama library director will start on July 1. Also, on June 2, is the retirement party for Julie Shook. The Tama Police Department between April 15 and May 20 had 445 calls to service. These calls include seven suicide attempts, 28 suspicious persons or vehicles, 12 thefts, and one car deer accident.