Indianola council adopts Emerald Bay urban renewal plan, appoints interim mayor and pauses council pay increase amid budget briefing

The Indianola City Council voted to adopt the Emerald Bay Urban Renewal Plan, advanced an ordinance governing division of revenues for that plan and approved a process to negotiate the related development agreement; the council also voted to fill the city’s mayoral vacancy by appointment rather than a special election and approved a one-year pause on a recently enacted council pay increase as staff presented updated budget and Vision 2030 finance analyses.

The Emerald Bay action came after a public hearing and staff presentation describing a tax increment financing rebate schedule beginning Dec. 1, 2028, with a not-to-exceed rebate total described by staff as $3,383,219. Planning and development staff and a developer present answered council questions about the plan’s intended projects — including turn-lane and water-main work, park funding, and easement acquisitions tied to a vet clinic site — and confirmed the plan will include both commercial and residential components and a residential low- and moderate-income (LMI) requirement that staff said will be set in the development agreement.

Michael Moloney, a finance advisor engaged for Vision 2030 work, gave a multiyear briefing on city revenue streams and debt capacity that framed the council’s budget choices. Moloney presented 25-year projections showing the city’s existing local-option sales tax, road-use taxes, stormwater fees and debt-service levy together produce material capital capacity over time — but he emphasized that TIF (tax-increment financing) revenues are project‑specific and cannot be treated as an…