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Palo council adopts beautification-committee changes, approves contracts and routine items
Summary
At its March 16 meeting, the council adopted Ordinance 88-2026 updating the Beautification Committee rules, introduced Ordinance 89-2026 for further debate, and approved multiple administrative items including an IT contract, long-term baseball-field lease, LL Pelling sealcoat work, a Touch-a-Truck road closure, and a sewer-bill adjustment for a homeowner.
The Palo City Council wrapped several administrative and routine items at its March 16, 2026 meeting, including final passage of an ordinance altering Beautification Committee membership rules, approval of contracts, and scheduling hearings.
Ordinance 88-2026: After discussion, the council approved the third reading and final passage of Ordinance 88-2026 amending Chapter 26 of the city code (Beautification Committee) to allow residents outside city limits to serve on the committee with added language restricting eligible members to within a two-mile radius of Palo city limits in unincorporated Linn County. The ordinance passed on a recorded roll-call vote (motion Van Kerckhove/second Hanover; roll call carried 5-0).
Ordinance 89-2026: Council introduced and approved the second reading of Ordinance 89-2026 to amend Chapter 50 (Nuisance Abatement Procedure) to permit display of disabled vehicles under certain circumstances and to change the vehicle-age threshold to 50 years. The roll-call recorded mixed votes (Van Kerckhove, Welton, Burgin recorded as 'aye'; Hanover and Stoltenberg recorded as 'nay'); the meeting transcript also records 'Motion carried (3-0)' for the second reading — an inconsistency in the minutes that the clerk should clarify before the third reading.
Contracts and approvals: Council approved a three-year IT services contract with Iowa Solutions Inc. (Resolution 031626J), a $72,005 LL Pelling sealcoat proposal, a long-term baseball-field lease with the Junior Cougars (Resolution 031626G), and set a public hearing for the FY27 budget tax statement on April 6, 2026. The council also approved changing council meeting dates to the 1st and 3rd Mondays and approved plats of survey for Prairie Vista Phase I lot combinations.
Events and other actions: The council approved a road closure for the Touch-a-Truck event on July 26 and approved reducing a homeowner’s sewer bill to an average of three months after a pipe break diverted thousands of gallons to a sump pump and did not flow through the sanitary sewer. A pest-control quote was tabled for later consideration.
The council heard audience comments about the baseball lease, the disabled-vehicle ordinance, and the First Street rezoning before adjourning at 7:34 p.m.
Sources: March 16 council meeting transcript and recorded motions and resolutions.
