The West Liberty City Council met Tuesday, Jan. 16, where it discussed recent winter weather and an attorney RFQ after a mayoral proclamation against human trafficking.
Mayor Mark Smith made a proclamation against slavery and human trafficking. January is Human Trafficking Prevention Month, a presidentially designated observance.
It’s designed to educate the public about human trafficking and the role they can play in preventing and responding to human trafficking.
“It shows our support towards efforts across the state to end these horrible practices,” said the mayor.
The proclamation states that slavery within the United Sates is found in the form of forced labor and sex trafficking. It weakens our social fabric, increases violence and debases our humanity.
It also states: “This heinous crime could be found within our own community,” and that “Human trafficking continues to go unreported due to its isolating nature.”
The Iowa Network Against Human Trafficking and Slavery (NAHT) states that in Iowa in 2022 around 616 victims were served by Iowa Victim Service Programs, and of 244 slavery allegations, 152 were accepted for investigation.
Meanwhile, the United Nations has reported that there is mounting evidence that human traffickers are taking advantage of an increasing number of displaced people as a result of climate-related disasters.
The winter weather
Nearly two feet of snow fell in West Liberty Jan. 9-13, followed by severe wind chill resulting in temperatures ranging from 30 to 45 below zero during the week.
“I would like to thank the different departments for crossing over into other departments and helping, especially during the recent weather events that happened,” said Councilmember Josh Schiltz.
“I thought they did a tremendous job with what we’ve gone through this past week,” added Mayor Smith.
The council thanked the city crew for all its hard work clearing roads, maintaining city utilities and keeping the community safe.
“The good thing about this is that we don’t see significant snowfall or weather like this very often,” said City Manager Lee Geertz, stating the city faced a lot of unknowns going into it.
However, there were no power outages, no major accidents and, for the most part, all garbage routes were maintained during the week.
“What’s special about West Liberty, and other rural communities across Iowa, is its patience, grace and understanding,” she said. “We don’t like to see these events happen, but it’s always good to know we have a supportive community.”
Attorney RFQ
The council approved putting out a request for letters of interest and qualifications (RFQ) for attorney representation for the City of West Liberty regarding legal matters in 2024.
Steven Havercamp of Stanley, Lande and Hunter currently serves as the City of West Liberty's appointed attorney.
“Steve Havercamp and the attorneys of Stanley, Lande and Hunter have served the City of West Liberty very well, very professional,” said City Manager Lee Geertz.
However, she noted that it’s the city’s due diligence to make sure that the taxpayers are always receiving the best care, which means looking at options from time to time. The council approved the RFQ.
In other news…
- The recent cold snap delayed closing out reconstruction of Well 2, as well as meetings to discuss the city’s existing capital improvement plan, talk about annexation, and the wastewater treatment plant.
- The council approved a native wine license for Flower Yard LLC, and retail alcohol licenses for the Muscatine County Fair and Flamas Night Club LLC. They also approved a vendor voucher claims list totaling $539,459.72.
- Paul Reed put in a request regarding a previous matter. He asked that future communication between him and the city no longer go through the city manager, claiming her to be a potential witness.
- Craig Ash has requested an audience with the council regarding parking in the commercial district of West Liberty.
- We Lead Director Ken Brooks was presented with a community service award by the West Liberty Police Department for his work with Shop with a Cop.
- City Inspector Terry Goerdt was presented the "Building Official of the Year" award through the Iowa Association of Building Officials in West Des Moines.
- Amber McFarland was awarded around $500 due to an error regarding a nuisance violation issued by the city not being properly filed with the courthouse in Muscatine.
- The council amended the Iowa Economic Development Nuisance Property & Abandoned Building Remediation Program Contract, aligning new dates and times for loan payments.
- The council approved writing off $1,415 in parking tickets that have been deemed uncollectible from 2017 - 2023.