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DeWitt council reviews sanitation, cemetery and parks projects as five-year budget priorities
Summary
At a Jan. 16 goal-setting session, the DeWitt City Council reviewed a staff presentation of candidate projects for the 2024–25 five-year budget — including a sanitary sewer extension, cemetery changes (a possible columbarium), playground upgrades and park priorities — and directed staff to use the priorities to guide budget preparation.
Mayor Susan J. Leeming called the DeWitt City Council’s goal-setting session to order at 6:12 p.m. on Jan. 16 and led the Pledge of Allegiance.
The council reviewed a staff PowerPoint outlining current and prospective city projects and discussed priorities for the upcoming five-year budget. The presentation highlighted a sanitary sewer extension, proposed cemetery changes including consideration of a columbarium, playground equipment installations, planned capital outlay equipment purchases and the possibility of pedestrian bridge upgrades. Administrator Daniel Coss was identified as the staff member who would receive direction from the council on budget priorities; no formal budget decisions were made at the meeting.
Council members also proposed several additional priorities and ideas for inclusion in budgeting and planning: continued pursuit of grant dollars; prioritizing the police department’s position in the five-year budget; dedicating resources to parks and playgrounds; exploring a public-address system and speakers for the downtown district; restoring historical signage; and improvements to the Department of Public Works building. The meeting record does not attribute these suggestions to individual members in the transcript; they were presented as council ideas.
The review was explicitly recorded as discussion only; the council did not adopt or fund any specific projects at the session. Several items named in the presentation (for example, the sanitary sewer extension and the columbarium option for cemetery changes) will require subsequent staff analysis and formal budgeting decisions before any commitments are made. Funding sources and cost estimates for the projects were not specified during the session.
Votes at a glance: The council approved the meeting agenda by a unanimous vote on a motion by Council member Trevor VanDyke, seconded by Council member Jennifer Whitman. The meeting was later adjourned by a unanimous motion also moved by Council member Trevor VanDyke and seconded by Council member Jennifer Whitman. Donohue was recorded as excused from the meeting.
The meeting minutes were respectfully submitted by Sarah A. Stoltzfus, City Clerk-Treasurer, and signed by Mayor Susan J. Leeming. Next steps recorded in the minutes indicate council direction will be provided to Administrator Daniel Coss for incorporation into budget planning and priority-setting; no timetable for subsequent meetings or formal budget hearings was specified in the transcript.
