Waukon City Council updated on variety of items, including return of Aveka odor, purchase of speed monitoring trailer
by Joe Moses
The Waukon City Council met in regular session at City Hall Monday, May 16 to discuss a full agenda of items including storm sewer improvements, property zoning changes and downtown trash receptacles.
Public hearings for three different items were held without any public comments. These included the fiscal year 2016 budget amendment, rezoning a portion of the former Iowa Department of Transportation (DOT) property on the north edge of Waukon from “M-1” to “B-2” for David Clark at 878 Allamakee Street and rezoning a portion of the former DOT property from “M-1” to “B-2” for Justin Johnson at 866 Allamakee Street. These changes in zoning will allow the former Department of Transportation property to now be used for retail or general business for both Clark Tire and Sportsmen’s Unlimited. Later in the City Council meeting, the ordinance changing the zoning of the former DOT property from “M-1” to “B-2” was approved, with the second and third readings being waived.
DEPARTMENTAL REPORTS
There were no comments from the public in attendance and the Council moved into the Departmental Reports. Bob Campbell, Water/Sewer Superintendent, reported that the inspection of the sewer lines along Third Avenue SW had been recently completed. He also reported that there are some issues within the Northgate addition that will need to be addressed, with re-lining of the lines as an option.
Waukon Police Chief Phil Young stated that he would comment later as much of his report is also listed as agenda items to be discussed later in the meeting. Street Superintendent Keith Burrett discussed that a couple more street core-out projects have been completed and a new hire for the Street Department will be starting this week.
Jeremy Strub, Waukon Park, Recreation and Wellness Director, mentioned that his department is finishing up with soccer and the summer recreation program will be starting, with the swimming pool opening soon as well. Strub also reported that the FEMA project will be starting with improvements and repairs to the Valley Trail in the Waukon City Park. This will involve moving the trail following some previous flood damage.
REGULAR BUSINESS
The meeting moved on to regular business items. Representatives from Northeast Iowa Community College’s Waukon Center were present to speak with the City Council about NICC’s 50th Anniversary. Wendy Mihm-Herold, Vice President of Business and Community Solutions, discussed the positive impact NICC and the Waukon Center have had in serving the education needs of this and surrounding communities. Erica Nosbisch, Center Director, and Kathy Gunderson, Board of Trustees member, were also present. Mayor Duane DeWalle signed a proclamation honoring NICC’s 50 years of serving the Waukon community and a photo was taken with the NICC representatives.
ATV ORDINANCE
Tom Kerndt with the Allamakee County ATV Club addressed the Council concerning the adoption of the ATV Ordinance for use of gravel roads for a trail system in Allamakee County. He expressed that the City Council should consider developing an ordinance to complement the ATV use elsewhere in the county, as it is felt that this would benefit Waukon businesses and ATV owners in purchasing gas and traveling within town for a variety of reasons, including business related needs.
Police Chief Young mentioned that there are issues with enforcement of this type of ordinance, stating that ATVs lack license plates and identifying offenders would be difficult, and that ATVs would only be able to cross State highways and not travel down them to remain compliant with State law. Noise may be a concern but probably less of a concern than with snowmobile use in the winter.
Allamakee County Sheriff Clark Mellick was also present and addressed a few items with the ATV Ordinance. He mentioned that the County ordinance goes into effect Wednesday with the publication of the ordinance in the newspaper. He also advised that there will be zero tolerance regarding alcohol use.
AVEKA ODOR
The Aveka facility was the next item on the agenda. Councilman Dewey Jones mentioned that he has been able to detect a unique odor on his property that is coming from the Aveka facility. There have been complaints at different times during the past year about the odor coming from the facility. Bob Hendricks, General Manager at Aveka, was present at the meeting. He stated that the bag house section of the facility was improperly installed initially and contributed to the strong odor that was present. There are materials present to make improvements and that will be happening in the near future. One product that created a strong odor has not been produced here since April 2015, which has decreased the problem. He plans to attend a City Council meeting again in September to hear further concerns and provide feedback.
DOWNTOWN
The Allamakee County Dairy Producers have requested to use a city sidewalk Monday, May 23 from 4-7 p.m. to serve malts. Their location will be next to the Allamakee County Cattlemen’s Association location, where the Cattlemen will be grilling and serving steak sandwiches in front of KNEI Radio on Main Street to help promote May as “Beef Month”. The Allamakee County Dairy Producers’ request was approved by the Council.
Downtown trash receptacles were the next agenda item to be discussed. Councilman Ben Rausch mentioned that Elkader’s trash receptacles and the style of mounting bracket that the City of Elkader had crafted on its own would be a good option. Street Superintendent Burrett discussed that these 10-gallon receptacles would need to be emptied three times a week, likely Friday, Monday and Wednesday with the increased weekend usage. Garbage bags were discussed as being necessary with this type of receptacle in the downtown area. It was decided to coordinate with the Chamber of Commerce, order the receptacles without brackets and take photos of the brackets used in Elkader to use as a template in fabricating something similar.
Resolutions relating to the Corn Days parade and festivities in August were discussed. Portions of several streets will be closed for the parade route. These resolutions were approved by the Council.
PROJECT UPDATES
A resolution approving the contract, performance and payment bonds with Rusty Berger Masonry for $294,850 for work on the Northwest Detention Basin was approved. A change order was also approved relating to the Five Bridges Trail contract with Skyline Construction and the partial payment estimate of $30,435.60.
Lyle TeKippe, Senior Project Manager with Fehr-Graham Engineering, discussed the Rossville Road/Seventh Avenue SE storm and sanitary sewer repairs that are needed, with replacing the piping as an option. Re-lining was discussed as another possibility using a spun substance that re-lines or coats existing pipes.
OTHER BUSINESS
The Street Department vacancy was briefly discussed. With the recent promotion of Keith Burrett to Superintendent of the Street Department, his previous position in the department is still open. The Council was also advised that there has not been any update regarding the Alliant Energy franchise agreement.
Police Chief Young discussed purchasing a speed trailer for use around the community. There is a $4,200 grant that would cover much of the cost, with the Waukon Police Department covering approximately $1,600 to fully fund the purchase. The speed trailer or sign would be solar powered and help remind drivers of their speed. The sign would be periodically moved around Waukon to different locations. The purchase was approved by the Council.
Young also addressed the Council with a request to hire three reserve officers who would be available for special events on an on-call, part-time basis. The motion was approved by the Council.
Nuisance abatement was the next item on the agenda. Property clean-up and lawn mowing were discussed. The process of notifying offenders by certified letter and following up were addressed. A $200 per hour charge for mowing lawns and property clean-up was approved by the Council.
A resolution was approved to transfer $1,459.25 from the Hotel/Motel (Park Improvements) Fund to the 2013 Flood Fund. A resolution was also approved agreeing to the internal loan transfer of $5,973.25 from the Street Improvement Fund to the Storm Sewer Improvement Fund for engineering costs, with the understanding that when loan proceeds are received, this amount will be paid back by transfer to the Street Improvement Fund.
