This week the Jewell City Council discussed the budget for the city for the 2025-26 fiscal year. Jewell Fire Chief Duane Hendrickson presenteed the budget for the Fire and Rescue Department set at $99,300. The EJS (Ellsworth Jewell Stanhope) Police budget will be discussed at the February 24th council meeting. A budget work session will be set for either February 17th or 18th. The date will be determined after speaking with two council members who were not in attendance at this week’s council meeting. The Jewell City Council approved the invoice from Snyder and Associates for the Main Street Project at $12,455.95. The vote was 2 to 1 with council members Steve Butler and Aaron Boor voting in favor with council member Stacy Alsager voting no. Council members Scott Rohloff and Loyal Winborn were absent from the council meeting.After further discussion the council made a motion to issue the check to Snyder and Associates but withhold it until a conversation over the discrepancy of the lighting could occur and come to some sort of satisfactory resolution.
Jewell’s participation in the Hamilton County’s Growth Partnership will be discussed at the next meeting of the Jewell City Council.
The Jewell City Council announced plans for a sidewalk repair program. Residents who have a sidewalk in need of replacement, the city of Jewell removes the sidewalk at no cost. A resident may also finance the cost of the cement onto their city water bill for up to two years to make the payment more manageable. In addition, an anonymous resident in Jewell has offered a sidewalk scholarship program for the first five residents to replace their sidewalk,they wil each receive $200. The scholarship program was approved by a vote of 3 to 0.
Jackie Reiter and Allyson Walter of the Jewell JADE (Jewell Area Development Enterprise) presented a recap of the year. JADE had a total income in 2024 of $72,553.18 and had expenditures of $78,953.47. JADE is requesting $30,000 from the city of Jewell for the 2025-26 fiscal year.