The City Council Finance Committee voted unanimously Aug. 18, 2025, to approve multiple travel requests for city staff, including attendance at the Iowa League of Cities conference in Des Moines and several training and plant-tour visits, according to the committee record.
The approvals authorize travel for city employees across departments for conferences and training that city staff said support operations and certifications.
The committee approved travel for the city clerk to attend the Iowa League of Cities conference in Des Moines Sept. 17–19; the street department director and the interim street department director to attend the APWA Iowa Fall Conference in Des Moines (October, $1,336 noted); and the mayor to attend the Iowa League of Cities conference in Des Moines Sept. 17–19. The committee also approved apparatus plant tours for fire personnel in Clinton, Wisconsin, and Worthenbauer in Wyoming, Minnesota; training for law-enforcement staff including the ILEA Basic Academy in Johnson, Iowa; an ArcGIS Pro course for a GIS specialist; and an APWA conference for the assistant city engineer. Specific requests as read into the record included a line for Chief Rob Duncan to attend an FBI meeting and training in Omaha, Nebraska, and travel for multiple fire and public-safety personnel to meet training and equipment-qualification needs.
Committee members asked one clarifying question about the street-department entries after the travel requests were read: a council member noted the listed titles included both a street department director and an interim street department director, and asked whether two positions were intended. A staff speaker clarified that two individuals currently share leadership in the street department and that there is intent to move the interim position into full-time status; that explanation was part of the discussion before the vote.
The motion to approve the travel requests was moved and seconded on the floor and carried with an “Aye” recorded for all present members. No dollar-total summary was provided on the record; individual requests included the dollar amounts read aloud for each item.