Also approved is a public hearing on the proposed levy to be held Monday, April 20, at 6:05 p.m. The new levy takes effect only following approval at that hearing.

Iowa law prohibits a new property tax levy from taking effect before March 20 in any calendar year to allow for action in the legislature, and a property tax hearing, “separate from any other city business,” must be held before certifying a city’s annual budget. Council’s actions meet all these requirements.

Council also passed a third reading of a proposal to increase rates for all customers of Webster City’s electric utility by 5% April 1, 2026; by 4% January 1, 2027, and by 2% July 1, 2027. The rate hikes are necessary to cover greatly increased costs from the city’s wholesale suppliers of electricity, principally Corn Belt Power Co-Op of Humboldt.

In an effort to provide more day care service in Webster City and Hamilton County, the council approved two related actions. The first to buy and retire the mortgage on the former Webster City Day Care — WCDC facility, located at 1317 Beach St., and the second, to forgive a loan the city previously extended to WCDC.

This effectively clears the way for Riverview Early Childhood Center to step in, enlarge and renovate the Beach Street facility, and manage a day care business there.

The city stipulated several conditions in forgiving the $137,000 loan balance, including a permanent seat on the day care board, monthly financial and annual operations reports, and an agreement to work together with Riverview to sell the present-day care facility at 705 Odell St. within a year of moving into the 1317 Beach St. property. City Manager John Harrenstein called expanded day care “vital to all our economic development work.”

Ottie Maxey, director of economic development for the Ames Regional Economic Alliance, and de facto point man on Webster City’s and Hamilton County’s economic development work, addressed the council on what was, without a doubt, the biggest news of the night: the potential start-up of a high-volume factory producing dairy-based protein drinks in the former Natural Shrimp factory building at 401 Des Moines St.

“Our first contact for this project came on Feb. 9, 2026. Every week since we’ve held multiple conversations with both Edible Gardens and their site selection representative. This is a transformational project, not just locally, but for the entire state of Iowa, and we’ll know the outcome very soon,” Maxey said.

He did confirm Edible Gardens has signed a lease on the 401 Des Moines St. building, but cautioned “this is just the first step.”

Edible Gardens, which claims to have a contract to produce 100 million protein drink units per year, “is motivated to move very fast to have its facilities in place,” according to Maxey. “I feel we’ve truly put our best foot forward on this project.”