Waukon City Council approves debt refinancing, hears update from Aveka

by Bob Beach

During its regular meeting Monday, October 5, the Waukon City Council signed a resolution giving final approval to enter into a loan agreement with Luana Savings Bank to refinance a portion of the City’s debt and fund some upcoming projects. The $2,485,000 10-year loan will save the City $217,000 on its previous debt obligation and provide $250,000 for new projects.
A representative from Aveka Nutraprocessing addressed the Council, saying that Aveka had done as it had agreed by installing a baghouse filtration system at the Waukon facility to reduce odor, and citizen complaints since that time have been reduced to just two or three. “This was not an easy thing to do,” the Aveka representative said, “but we did something right here.” The Council nodded their assent when the representative asked, “Is everything okay for now?”
City Attorney Jim Garrett told the Council that a simpler way to implement a three percent franchise fee on energy providers, including Alliant Energy and Black Hills Energy, had been brought to his attention. He said that the passage of an ordinance to that effect would simplify and shorten the process so that the City could start collecting franchise fees possibly by the end of this year. The Council set a public hearing for Monday, October 19 on the proposed ordinance.
The Council also agreed to send a letter to DuWayne Snitker to formally terminate the City’s contract with him for dog pound services. Councilman Trent Mitchell said that sending the dogs directly to the Northeast Iowa Humane Society’s adoption center in Decorah would save the City money.
In other business, the Council approved a request from Iron Ridge Church to close a portion of West Street for “Trunk or Treat” Saturday, October 31. The Council also approved advertising for a full-time position in the Street Department and to renew efforts to sell the C-Mart property.