Before Tuesday's meeting, Oskaloosa city council members met to discuss several studies City Manager Michael Shrock is proposing for the city.

A Water Recycling Study would look into the possibility of recycling waste water in Oskaloosa.  Currently, sanitary and storm sewer water is treated and then returned to a local creek.  The study would find out how much it would cost in order for that treated water to be sent to local businesses like golf courses to use for watering.

The council then discussed the recommendations of a previous Solid Waste Study.  The study suggested making sanitation services, i.e. a trash collector, mandatory for every residence in the city.  The council talked about getting bids from current trash haulers, with the winning bid getting to be the lone hauler in Oskaloosa.  The issue will next be taken up by the Public Project Committee to look further into the possibility of adopting a single hauler policy.

The discussion of a possible $10,000 Sidewalk Study brought up a lot of debate among council members about creating a sidewalk along Avenue A West heading to Wal-mart.  No consensus was reached on the Sidewalk Study - $6,000 of which would be paid for by a state grant and $4,000 would have to be provided by the city.

Oskaloosa will have a Housing Needs Assessment performed to find out which areas of housing need improvements.  The study will be paid for entirely by donations to the Oskaloosa Housing Trust.

As time for the meeting ran out, the council tabled discussions on the Public Safety Study, an Economic Development Plan until they hear more from the Mahaska Community Development Group, the City Strategic Plan to give time for council members to think about their own goals for Oskaloosa and a longer term Comprehensive Plan, for which $100,000 was budgeted for in 2013.