By Sam Parsons
The Oskaloosa City Council held a regular meeting last night and officially made an appointment for their vacant council seat. The council received a total of 5 applications to fill the vacancy, with Wyndell Campbell, Manny Garcia, Andy Holmberg, Nicholas Ryan, and Cheryl Benson tossing their hats in the ring. Of those 5, Garcia, Holmberg, and Ryan were present at last night’s meeting. After brief discussion with those three candidates, the council appointed Andy Holmberg to fill the vacancy on a 4-2 vote.
Council members Lisa Ossian and Ronda Almond were the ones to vote “no.”
The vacancy in the council was left behind by former council member Charlie Comfort, who announced his resignation effective May 14. The appointment fills the vacancy for the remainder of the term, which lasts through the end of 2025.
The council also discussed the future of the public pool at Edmundson Park. According to city staff, the pool is continuing to age and has had some larger maintenance issues which need to be addressed, including the pool shell, which the city says has experienced leaks for several years, and the pool house building, which is in need of repairs, primarily for the roof.
City staff said that the council has a few options for how the city can proceed with the pool, including minimum repairs to the pool house roof, which would cost roughly $90,000; pool shell rehabilitation, which would cost an estimated $140,000; repairs to the pool piping, which would cost approximately $50,000; or a full-scale reconstruction of the pool, which could cost the city upwards of $2 million, depending on the scope of the project. The water slides could also be handled independently from the rest of the project; if the city decides to replace the slides, that could cost somewhere between $200,000-500,000. No official action was taken last night, but the council expressed a desire to address the pool house roof, the pool shell, and the pool piping.
The next Oskaloosa City Council regular meeting will be held on June 16.
