Mayor Brian Hanus swears in newest Tama Council member Kristy Eisentrager. PHOTO BY MR. AWESOME

TAMA – The biggest announcement at this week’s Tama City Council meeting was on the subject of Cherry Lake. Due to water issues and the DNR’s plan to get it nice and clean, the lake will dry up.

This will only be temporary. The city of Tama has absolutely no plans to abandon Cherry Lake. Although the lake will dry up in the short term, after some time and effort, it will be back to its wondrous beauty.

The meeting started a little different than usual, with the swearing in of the newest council member, Kristy Eisentrager.

Courtney Ingle, director of Kid’s Corner Daycare, stood up in front of the council to ask for donations for the daycare facility. Ingle said that it had been 17 years since any serious repairs had been made. The major points of repair are the windows that leak and the siding that has started to bust. A quote the daycare received has the cost of repairs coming in at a whopping $80,000. The council decided to look at their finances and see if they had any money to donate. They tabled any decisions on the matter until their next meeting.

A total of $31,000 was approved for the repair and maintenance of sewer mains.

A $650 a month bid for a custodian for the Tama Civic Center was approved.

The council was brought to the attention of an increase in water consumption. Iowa Premium Beef’s water usage is a possible factor for the increase, so a meeting has been set up with Iowa Premium to discuss the matter.

Block 8 Appleton’s public alley was vacated at a public hearing held during the meeting.

A public hearing for the sale of Block 8 Appleton’s Alley was approved for September 18th.

A public hearing for the zoning change of 110 S. 1st St. was set for Sept. 18.

A public hearing to approve the fireman’s knock boxes was set for Sept. 18.

The council also approved moving forward with a haunted hayride in October.