Members of the Tama City Council enjoy a lighter moment during their regular meeting on Jan. 17. Pictured are Mayor Doug Ray, Larry Thomas, Aaron Haughey, Brian Hanus, City Clerk Alyssa Devig and City Attorney Dan Rathjen. – Photo by Darvin Graham

1. The Tama City Council has begun the process to investigate the possibility of hiring a city administrator. During the council’s Jan. 17 regular meeting the group approved a proposal from Callahan Municipal Consultants LLC for up to $4,750 to conduct a study that would review the various types of organization structures the city might consider going forward.

The council hopes the study will help them determine if pursuing a city administrator would be the best course of action for where the organization hopes to be in the future.

The move comes after the 2019 resignation of former Public Works Director John Lloyd, who left Tama for a similar position in Prairie City. The position has never been filled, leaving somewhat of a hierarchical gap among the city staff over the past two years.

Currently the Public Works Department is maintained by a group of superintendents that oversee specific areas such as streets, water and sewer.

In Toledo, Public Works Superintendent Kendall Jordan was recently named City Administrator and will begin a slow transition into administrative duties like human resources while also remaining in place as the department head of the Toledo Public Works Department.

In the approved proposal, Callahan Consultants said their work would culminate with a written report and recommendation presented to the council at a future date yet to be determined.

2. Tama Community Visioning Project Committee representative Karen Mixdorf was before the council Monday to discuss how the volunteer Community Visioning group might interact with the city as they have now completed their year-long transportation improvement study with Iowa Living Roadways and are preparing to pursue a project that has come forward from the study.

Mixdorf said both the Community Visioning groups in Tama and Toledo had decided to pursue a joint project that would install sidewalks down U.S. Highway 63 through the most high-traffic areas by the STC school campus and further north to the retail hub near the 63/30 intersection.

The first step the volunteer groups must undertake is to obtain project cost estimates from an engineering firm before working to locate funding.

Mixdorf asked the council if they would act on the group’s behalf to obtain those estimates from city engineering firm Snyder & Associates.

As part of the Community Visioning program, cities receive up to $2,500 to put toward initial engineering costs.

The council directed City Clerk Alyssa Chyma to work with Snyder & Associates to obtain a ballpark price to find out if the $2,500 received from the program would be enough to cover the engineering fees to have the project fully estimated.

3. The council accepted the resignation of full-time police officer Daniel Sutfin who had served with the department since the summer of 2018. With Sutfin’s resignation, the Tama Police Department is back down to five full-time officers and two part-time officers. Sutfin began his policing career with the Tama PD as he was put through the Iowa Law Enforcement Academy in January following his hiring.

In September the department experienced another resignation, from Officer Sam Lovan. His position was filled by STC alum Aaron Adams who is scheduled to attend the Iowa Law Enforcement Academy later this year. Adams is a 2020 graduate of South Tama County and is a member of the Army National Guard.

In other business…

The council set a public hearing for Feb. 7 at 5:30 p.m. regarding a proposed change to city code that would set guidelines and allow for residents to utilize solar energy systems within city limits. The proposed ordinance can be reviewed in full at the city clerk’s office during business hours leading up to the public hearing.