The Pella City Council approved the first readings of zoning ordinances at their meeting Tuesday evening. One establishes permitted zoning districts for commercial event land uses, and the other is a rezoning application for property located near 2110 Idaho Drive into a Planned Unit Development. Council also approved a preliminary plat for the South Main Subdivision and housing development at the old Webster Elementary site, as well as a three year hotel-motel tax revenue agreement with the Pella Convention and Visitors Bureau. A second reading of an ordinance increasing compensation paid to the mayor and council was also passed; a third reading will be held on April 2nd. If approved after three readings, it would go into effect in January 2020. The current compensation of $7,200 annually for the mayor and $2,400 for councilmembers would be increased to $13,500 and $6,000 respectively, and then incrementally raised for the next four years eventually to $18,000 and $9,000 by 2023. Starting in 2024, an annual increase would be determined by the average increase in prices for the Midwest region, as established by the federal government’s consumer price index for the prior 12 months.