Six goals have been selected by the Newton City Council to achieve between now and the end of fiscal year 2027. The formal adoption of city goals occurred at Monday night’s city council meeting. The number one goal, with an estimated cost of $150,000, is the installation of a sidewalk on North 15th Avenue West from Union Drive to 1st Street North. Repairing streets in Union Cemetery is expected to cost about $180,000, while making improvements to Cardinal Pond has a $50,000 estimated price tag. The three remaining goals are creating a new $1 million skate park at Aurora Park, using about $300,000 to add inclusive playground equipment to city parks, and spending approximately $100,000 on completing phase two of the joint Fire/Police Training & Storage Facility. City Administrator Matt Muckler says both departments have a significant amount of equipment to store.

“We always have a fourth ambulance in reserve. It might be a place to store that. Any kind of evidence that is large that the police department needs to store could go there. It would be a secure facility. The fire department has extra vehicles and gear they use from time to time for grain bin rescues or for hazardous material situations. We need space to store that type of equipment.”

Muckler says the City Council will now work towards fulfilling these six goals by June 30th, 2027.