Sutherland Council Fine Tunes Fire Truck Acquisition

Discussion was held about residential development on land bequeathed to the City of Sutherland known as “the Williams Property”. Four residential lots are platted on the land. Discussion to purchase the remainder of the land by an interested individual came up. City Attorney Thor Klinker advises against take that action. He quotes the will saying, “I desire that the City of Sutherland have this property so that it can use this land for the future development of the City.” Council will meet with Economic Development board and, perhaps, Klinker to sort out the pros and cons of any action that could be taken.
JTV is interested in purchasing Sutherland Industrial Park property. The transaction will begin after harvest. The ground is currently removed from TIF but will be put back into TIF after transfer of the property.
Firemen for the Sutherland department have been working on getting a ladder truck for over a year. The first opportunity fell through after many issues with the truck. A second opportunity is still in play. A2004 Smeal 105’ Aerial truck is approved for purchase and all finances are in place. The truck, currently in Canada, is awaiting a few repairs to pass inspection and enter the United States. The signed purchased agreement requires the truck to pass U.S. and Iowa inspections also in order to finalize the transaction and transfer title.
Ordinance 2022-001 and 2022-002 both remove city licensing fees from ATVs, snowmobiles and golf carts to the City of Sutherland. The removal of licensing fees is a result of changes to state law, which is still unclear. These small, motorized vehicles driven in town maintain other requirements of road worthy vehicles such as brake lights and blinkers.