MOUNT UNION, Iowa (AP) - The City Council in Mount Union voted Tuesday night to dissolve the tiny southeast Iowa city, giving residents a month to seek a special election to reverse the decision or watch as the community officially disappears.
Mayor John Marek said he thinks most of Mount Union’s 100 residents favor disincorporation, but speakers at a public hearing before the 4-1 vote offered contrasting views, according to the Burlington Hawk Eye (https://bit.ly/28PymSA ).
Darla Frakes had a neighbor read her statement because she couldn’t speak due to health problems. Frakes, who has lived in Mount Union since 1995, said without street-side garbage pickup and regular snow removal, she feared she wouldn’t be able to remain in her home.
“No, do not remove my 112yearold town,” Frakes said in her statement. “I require the stability and safety that is Mount Union.”
But Kim Fenton, who collected the 12 signatures on the petition that led to the disincorporation vote, said the community would have more success without a city government that she thinks gets in the way of progress.
“Not one of us really wants to unincorporate,” she said. “There are things that are going to happen that are not positive, but positive things are going to happen. The government needs to get out of this so we can be a community again.”
The decision to disincorporate follows failed lawsuits filed by the city against Regional Utility Service Systems, which built and operates the city’s sewer system.
Former Mayor Dan Johnson said that if the city dissolves, he’s hopeful money will no longer be spent on lawsuits backed by current council members.
“We, these people, we have gone through the worst of things,” Johnson told the council. “We have gone through you.”
The council’s vote for disincorporation triggers a 30-day period in which residents can sign a petition calling for a special election that could reverse the council’s action and allow Mount Union to remain a city. If residents don’t collect enough signatures, the state will work with Henry County to eliminate Mount Union’s debts and sell its assets.
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Information from: The Hawk Eye, https://www.thehawkeye.com
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