Wood River City Council Meeting
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WOOD RIVER – Wood River Mayor Tom Stalcup and Councilmembers Jeremy Plank and Scott Tweedy took their oaths of office on Monday night after securing uncontested re-election bids in the April 2025 elections.
All three men briefly stepped down to conclude their terms of office before each being sworn in by City Clerk Danielle Sneed, then being re-seated as the new Wood River City Council.
Plank reflected on the council’s accomplishments over the past four years, adding that he’s looking forward to the next four years. He pointed to advancements in transparency such as posting meeting agendas online instead of the door of City Hall, and livestreaming meetings for greater public accessibility.
“There are so many things we do differently now and a lot of good things ahead,” Plank said. “I’m just really looking forward to a lot of economic development, and I think we’re well-positioned for growth that we haven’t seen in a long time.”
Echoing his fellow council members’ excitement for his next term, Tweedy said another highlight from the past four years has been the city’s new Rec Center. Since opening over a year ago, Tweedy said the facility has not only financially broken even, but is actively making money for the city.
City Manager Steve Palen said the mayor and City Council have plenty to be proud of, given the city’s most recent Equalized Assessed Value (EAV). Wood River’s latest EAV, representing the sum of the city’s assessed property values, totaled $185 million for 2025 – an increase of $12 million from last year’s EAV of $173 million.
Palen said this high EAV has given the city its lowest property tax rate in approximately 40 years at 1.1227%. Plank added this could be a potential selling point for Wood River over other local municipalities.
Mayor Stalcup thanked the City Manager and department heads for doing an “excellent job” keeping the city’s costs down while ensuring their technology is up-to-date.
A full recording of the May 5, 2025 Wood River City Council meeting is available at the top of this story or on Riverbender.com/video.
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