{"id":323137,"date":"2026-11-07T14:06:25","date_gmt":"2026-11-07T14:06:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/323137\/"},"modified":"2026-11-07T14:06:25","modified_gmt":"2026-11-07T14:06:25","slug":"mitchell-city-council-dips-into-lake-fund-again-during-first-reading-of-2027-budget-ordinance-mitchell-republic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/323137\/","title":{"rendered":"Mitchell City Council dips into Lake Fund again during first reading of 2027 budget ordinance – Mitchell Republic"},"content":{"rendered":"

MITCHELL \u2014 The Mitchell City Council has dipped into the Lake Mitchell loan repayment plan fund for the second time this year before finalizing its annual budget.<\/p>\n

The Mitchell City Council, during its regular meeting on Monday, Nov. 2, earmarked $133,595 from a $1.2 million debt payment planned for 2027, leaving a total of $600,000 toward the payment. The council previously used the 2027 lake debt payment at its Oct. 13 budget work session to balance the city\u2019s proposed 2027 budget. The council also designated $114,407 from future capital project reserves. <\/p>\n

Monday\u2019s budget changes add $242,002 in planned 2027 expenditures and reduce 2027 revenue by $6,000, including $107,000 toward the Parks and Recreation Department, $100,000 in police and fire building improvements, $35,000 for storm sirens and $2 toward the acquisition of downtown parking lots.<\/p>\n

City Administrator Stephanie Ellwein noted that the full lake loan debt payment was put in the budget to cover the interest should it be needed. The city has a $16.8 million loan for the Lake Mitchell drawdown and dredge project, and is paying Barr Engineering directly for the design for of the project.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were going to fund the drawdown out of cash,\u201d Ellwein said. \u201cHowever, we have been also fronting the cost of the design that was going to be part of the SRF loan that the city would get. The hope is that we wouldn’t have a payment until 2028.\u201d<\/p>\n

Public Works Director Joe Schroeder is hopeful for the drawdown project to be bid in the spring for a late spring or early summer drawdown. A permit is still pending with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers before a drawdown project could be put to bid.<\/p>\n

The city’s loan is financed through the state’s revolving fund (SRF) program rather than through a traditional bank loan subject to current lending rates. State officials have indicated they will honor the city’s existing State Revolving Fund loan terms, despite delays in its timeline, Schroeder said.<\/p>\n

Ellwein shared concerns that sales tax collections have been relatively flat compared with previous annual increases, while the city has already committed much of this year\u2019s contingency funding.<\/p>\n

The Mitchell City Council earmarked $35,000 in 2027 toward replacing the city’s aging storm sirens, the first of three annual payments totaling approximately $105,000. Davison County Emergency Management Director Jeff Bathke requested the funding, with the county covering the remaining two-thirds of total replacement costs.<\/p>\n

The council earmarked repairs to the Mitchell Public Safety building on First Avenue, including $30,000 for windows, $15,000 for flooring and $5,000 for exterior lighting, and a $50,000 bathroom remodel in the Fire Department dorms. The improvements will be funded through future capital project reserves.<\/p>\n

\"IMG_1567<\/p>\n

The Mitchell Public Safety Building, home of the police and fire departments, on Friday, Nov. 11, 2026, in Mitchell. <\/p>\n

Marshall Mitchell \/ Mitchell Republic <\/p>\n

Lake Mitchell shoreline clean up<\/p>\n

Councilman Marty Barington proposed $7,000 to remove piles of branches and debris left behind by volunteers cleaning up the Lake Mitchell shoreline, which can remain there for extended periods. Limited staff and equipment can delay debris removal, according to Ellwein and Parks and Recreation Director Kevin Nelson.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’d be a good way to show those volunteers out there that \u2018Hey, we’re here for you,\u2019\u201d Barington said.<\/p>\n

Council Vice President Tim Goldammer proposed setting aside $2 to acquire two gravel parking lots downtown for future public parking at a price of $1 each.<\/p>\n

One lot is a small parking area between First and Second avenues at 117 N. Main St. owned by Austin McPeek and the other lot is the large corner parking lot owned by John Adamo on Main Street at Third Avenue. The proposed changes would reduce the city’s 2027 revenue by $6,000 and require a reduction in proposed spending, according to Ellwein.<\/p>\n

\"IMG_1571<\/p>\n

The parking lot at 117 N. Main St. on Friday, Nov. 11, 2026, in Mitchell. <\/p>\n

Marshall Mitchell \/ Mitchell Republic <\/p>\n

Goldammer proposed paving the parking lots in the future. The Adamo parking lot currently serves as tenant parking for the Adamo properties on either side of Third Avenue. Both parking areas were once buildings that were demolished.<\/p>\n

Cadwell Sports Complex maintenance shop<\/p>\n

Barington proposed adding another $100,000 to the proposed maintenance building at Cadwell Sports Complex, bringing the total allocation to $275,000.<\/p>\n

\u201cLet’s build it for not just for 2027 coming up, let’s build it for down the road in the future,\u201d Barington said.<\/p>\n

\"IMG_1557<\/p>\n

The Cadwell Sports Complex maintenance shop on Friday, Nov. 11, 2026, in Mitchell. <\/p>\n

Marshall Mitchell \/ Mitchell Republic <\/p>\n

\"IMG_1556<\/p>\n

The Cadwell Sports Complex maintenance shop on Friday, Nov. 11, 2026, in Mitchell. <\/p>\n

Marshall Mitchell \/ Mitchell Republic <\/p>\n

According to Ellwein, the proposed building would accommodate the Cadwell Sports Complex’s immediate needs but would not provide sufficient space if the city later consolidated maintenance operations of Cadwell and Hitchcock parks.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a start,\u201d Council President Kevin McCardle said.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Marshall<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

\n Marshall Mitchell is a reporter with the Mitchell Republic covering local news and politics. He has over 15 years of experience working with leaders, authors, non-profits, and small businesses in publishing, marketing, and content creation. He moved to Mitchell in December 2024, and can’t wait to hear from you. Reach out to him at mmitchell@mitchellrepublic.com.\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MITCHELL \u2014 The Mitchell City Council has dipped into the Lake Mitchell loan repayment plan fund for the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":323138,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[10870,130963,51687,91413,128,130,129,5800],"class_list":["post-323137","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-reading","tag-government-and-politics","tag-lake-mitchell","tag-mitchell","tag-mitchell-city-council","tag-reading-city","tag-reading-city-headlines","tag-reading-city-news","tag-taxes"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/323137","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=323137"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/323137\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/323138"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=323137"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=323137"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=323137"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}