Two Lone Tree council members are resigning. Here's what happened and how the city will move forward.

Two Lone Tree City Council members are resigning from their seats at the same time to move to new homes outside of city limits, leaving the Johnson County community with 40% of its council seats vacant for now.

Dave Wageman and Brad Pearson told the Press-Citizen they sent separate letters to Lone Tree stating they intended to resign their positions effective after next week's city council meeting. Both plan to move soon and are leaving the council at a time when the city is preparing for its sesquicentennial celebration in August.

"I like to be involved in my community. Unfortunately, state law says if you're not in city limits you can't be in City Council," Pearson said

Pearson, who works for Quaker Oats in Cedar Rapids and is a youth leader at his church, said if he knew he planned on moving he wouldn't have run for office last November. He said he plans to sell his house to get money to build a new home outside of town.

"It's not like contentious or we don't agree what's going on. I love the job. I enjoyed doing it. I just can't continue to do it outside of city limits," he said.

Wageman said he has already purchased a house outside of town so he could be closer to where he works in Hiawatha at Hometown Restyling.

"I think it's a complete coincidence," he said.

Wageman said he didn't know anything about Pearson resigning until the last council meeting, when Pearson told his fellow council members he had a desire to move to another property. Wageman said it is unfortunate the moves are happening at the same time.

Pearson was elected in November. Wageman was first appointed to his seat and later elected in 2019.

The next council meeting is at 5:30 p.m. Monday, June 6, at City Hall. The City Council will likely decide whether to appoint two new members or hold a special election for the seats. If the city decides to appoint, there is still a chance that residents can circulate a petition calling for a special election and overrule the city's choice.

Wageman said, if he had a choice, he would opt for an appointment because he thinks voter turnout would be low and appointing would save the city money the county would charge to hold a special election.

The petition to request a special election is available on the Iowa Secretary of State's website at https://sos.iowa.gov/elections/pdf/specialelecpetition.pdf.

Lone Tree is a city of 1,357 people located in southeast Johnson County. The city has a five-member city council and recently elected Josh Spilman as its new mayor.

Spilman could not be reached for comment on the resignations.

Coralville City Council member Jill Dodds recently resigned, leaving that city of 22,318 with the same choice. That council indicated it will move forward with appointing a new member and will hold a vote on Tuesday asking residents for applications.

George Shillcock is the Press-Citizen's local government and development reporter covering Iowa City and Johnson County. He can be reached at (515) 350-6307, GShillcock@press-citizen.com and on Twitter @ShillcockGeorge