When it came down to decision time, the Marshalltown City Council leaned towards not borrowing over eight million dollars in general obligation bonds, taking some projects off the front burner.

By the end of the two and a half hour Council meetings,  four million dollars for the extension of Merle Hibbs road was removed from the list of projects. Part of the reason At Large Councilor Leon Lamer wanted to do that was to leave some options open yet this year.

The Council passed not only that amendment to reduce the projects on the list by a 4-3 margin, the Council also voted 4 to 3 to hold off funding for $300,000 to assist Marshalltown Schools to refurbish the high school tennis courts, it also backed away from funding $600,000 for a “Quiet Zone” for trains rolling through the central part of town. The Council will take up funding for the renovation of the Veteran’s Memorial Coliseum, at a special session tonight at five o’clock.