NICHOLS, Iowa–Following the passage of a countywide ATV and UTV ordinance, the City of Nichols decided the time had come to update their own code at their June 9 meeting. In the months ahead, they plan to draft and approve a new ordinance spelling out what safe ATV and UTV use looks like in the city.
To identify what their ordinance should reasonably cover, the council plans to look at both the state and county ATV and UTV codes as well as those in nearby cities such as Fruitland and Wilton. However because both of these cities have larger populations than Nichols, the council plans to take a slightly different approach to suit their more rural needs. As Mayor Linsey Reimers put it: “Should we clear up the gray areas? Yes. We are a small town and I don’t want to ruin the small town experience.” At their July meeting, the council plans to discuss more specific changes they could make to their code and to begin seeking public input.
Along with contemplating changes to the ATV and UTV code, the council also discussed raising the cost of garbage collection. An increase in fees from their disposal company led the council to unanimously vote to raise the price of garbage collection as they could no longer fully cover its cost at the current rate. The cost for trash pickup in Nichols will rise only $3 per billing cycle.
The council also shared that the West Liberty Public Library will begin sending a bookmobile to Nichols and Atalissa later in the summer with the program initially funded through the end of the year. Though the library has not determined the bookmobile’s final schedule, they tentatively expect it to visit Nichols one Sunday each month and to stay for an hour or more, depending on local interest.
The Nichols Volunteer Fire Department completed warranty work on their 2019 pumper tanker, with the original manufacturer, Alexis, replacing several valves. Police Chief Jeff Jirak has started investigating purchasing an updated body camera.
