The Monday Toledo City Council meeting started off with approving the renewal of the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) agreement regarding fires.

Next on the agenda was what everyone showed up for, the discussion about the safe routes to school grant application and funding. The council heard a presentation about the proposed route system, two parts of which would run through Toledo.

Part A would extend the bike trail that runs along South Broadway, from Summit Street where it now ends, down to 16th Street in Tama. Part B of the plan would be fully in Tama. Part C is a system of sidewalks that would pick up at the South Broadway Highway 30 crosswalk and lead to the middle school. The council will have the group return at the next council meeting with a resolution.

A public hearing for the FY25 budget amendment was set for Aug. 26. A resolution to transfer funds for projects that include the pool, and street repair was approved.

The council heard an update from Police Chief Dan Quigley and City Attorney Mike Marquess about ongoing nuisance abatements. Several properties have been handled, while a handful remain in negotiations and in court.

The city has had 124 nuisance calls this year. Quigley brought up the Iowa Code’s vague and debatable definition of a noxious weed, asking the council how they want him to deal with the issue of said noxious weeds in Toledo. As they discussed the definition of noxious and what plants should and should not be considered a weed, Quigley weighed in.

“We enforce the Iowa Code, and City Ordinance, not Webster’s Dictionary,” he said.

“If it looks like s***, mow it down,” Toledo City Council member Joe Boll replied.

Public Works reported mowing grass and starting to patch streets. Items will be installed at the park, and the pool will be closing for the year.

The Fire Department reported receiving approximately 105 calls so far this year. The Toledo Fire Department helped with a fatal house fire in Tama last week as about 37 firemen were on hand to help with the problem.

Quigley reported that between July 22 and Aug. 11, the department received 192 calls to service and affected seven arrests. The masked man going around Toledo with a machete was identified and charged with harassment and trespass.

Stopsticks were used in two separate pursuits after just having had training on them. The department and the Clothes Closet sponsored a well attended back to school pool party at the local aquatic center. National Night Out and Cruise with the Blues were attended as well.

The department is working to get more in-house instructors, and they’ve also set up a monthly training meeting. New ballistic shields that can withstand a rifle just arrived, having been purchased with a grant. Shield training will be undertaken, and there will be one per car.