Lansing City Council reviews infrastructure payouts, discusses possible relocation of City Hall to former Lansing Middle School
by Joshua Sharpe
The Lansing City Council convened Monday evening, June 16 to address a wide range of municipal concerns, from infrastructure payments and staffing to fund transfers and a proposed relocation of City Hall operations. Throughout the evening, council members weighed financial responsibilities, addressed matters involved in official agreements, and held discussions about the long-term future of city facilities.
Following consideration of the consent agenda, the council reviewed and approved the first partial payout for the Platt, North, and 4th Streets infrastructure project. Mayor Mike Verdon conveyed his satisfaction with the project’s progress, remarking, “I think they’re making pretty good progress… they’ve got a bigger crew here now… They’re still thinking that by the end of June we can hopefully be pretty close to done with phase one of the project.”
The payout request amounted to $64,634.01. However, it was noted that the State Revolving Fund (SRF) loan had not yet closed, delaying the funds’ disbursement until the following month. City Clerk Teresa Severson clarified, “They unfortunately won’t get paid for the first meeting in July because I didn’t close on our loan yet… I didn’t want the interest to start ticking.” Despite this delay, the council members expressed unanimous support for the motion.
Mayor Verdon concluded the discussion with the affirmation, “I have to tell you, I think that so far everybody’s doing a good job on this project.” A motion was made and seconded to approve the full payout.
Two budget resolutions were approved following a brief discussion. Resolution 1056 authorized the transfer of $24,134 from the Marina Fund to the Debt Service account to facilitate a scheduled loan payment. Mayor Verdon elaborated, “All these resolutions go back to last year’s audit from the State of Iowa.” City Clerk Severson confirmed the funding source and its purpose, stating, “We’re taking money out of the Marina account and we’re putting it into our debt service account because that’s what we pay the loan out of.”
Resolution 1057 addressed the annual departmental savings contributions; however, this year, only the Police Department received a transfer due to a lack of available funds in other accounts. “The only one that’s getting money transferred this year is the Police Department,” noted Severson. “Because, truthfully, they’re the only ones that have any money left.”
She explained that other departments, including the pool and library, faced internal adjustments that affected their financial allocations. For instance, the pool’s intended transfer was redirected to cover urgent repairs. Severson explained, “The pool didn’t get $5,000 transferred either… it was budgeted that $10,000 out of that account would come back into the general account to pay for the electrical work.”
The library’s situation involved income from donations and the redemption of recyclable cans, which had been mistakenly deposited into the general fund instead of the designated library account. “We didn’t realize that… so we’ve been putting it into the general account,” Severson stated. “Now we’ve got to go back and transfer that into that account.” The council acknowledged these matters and affirmed that future resolutions would aim to correct fund placement practices to ensure transparent, policy-aligned budgeting.
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