Mount Sterling, Iowa will try again when it comes to un-incorporating itself.
Mayor Tom Allen says Mount Sterling has been operating for years under the assumption that its city council has just three members. The current roster is Tonya Putnam, DiAnna Allen, & Judy Ash.
That is why no one questioned it when Putnam and Allen voted to discontinue the town of roughly 40 people in rural Van Buren County on April 11.
Tom Allen says it turns out, Mount Sterling never filed the paperwork required to reduce the size of its city council from five to three members. He says County Auditor Jon Finney noticed the area during a meeting of the County Board of Supervisors on April 23.
Allen says a five-member board requires three yes votes to pass a resolution, which means the discontinuation vote did not receive enough support. Tonya Putnam and DiAnna Allen voted for it while Judy Ash was absent.
Tom Allen says Mount Sterling will start the process over so that everything is legal. He says that is the best option, compared to fighting it in court or just ignoring the state code.
Allen says that begins with a meeting Thursday night to schedule a required public hearing. He says if all three members attend the public hearing, the discontinuation vote could occur that night.
Allen expects the public hearing to be held within the next two-to-three weeks.
Auditor Jon Finney says the delay will allow the county and the city to continue to work out some final details over a sewer system and several pieces of city owned property.
Mayor Tom Allen says he has not heard anything from Mount Sterling residents about their opposition to the discontinuation. His community would be the first to do so since 2005.
