Bresnahan property and Third Street NE among items discussed by City Council

by Dwight Jones

The Waukon City Council met in regular session the evening of Monday, May 7 with the full council in attendance.
Under Public Comments, Maynard Johnson had some questions for the Council regarding the plat for the former Innovative Ag property, specifically regarding a plotted driveway within the property. However, the driveway would be on private property and the Council informed Johnson that there were no rules or restrictions regarding driveway width, etc.
Patty Fosaaen then gave the Council some information on a “Big Bikes for Little Tikes” fundraising event scheduled to travel to Waukon May 19. According to Fosaaen, if weather cooperates it could bring as many as 800 motorcycles to town. Chief of Police Clark Bollman said that he had previously been notified of the event but with much lower anticipated numbers of approximately 200 bikes. Fosaaen explained that this will be the first visit for many of these people to the city and wanted to “have a nice welcome so they will want to come back.” Parking will obviously be an issue and discussions will undoubtedly continue.
Under Departmental Reports, Bollman notified the Council that his department recently joined in the annual National Prescription Drug “Take-Back” Day, organized by the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Office of National Drug Control Policy. Locally, roughly 15 pounds of medications were collected, providing a grand total of over 100 pounds of medications secured locally since the program began.
Moving on to Regular Business, Jared Nielsen of Northeast Iowa Resource Conservation & Development gave a presentation regarding the Driftless Area Scenic Byway, a 100-mile route that travels through the communities of Postville, Harpers Ferry, Waukon, Churchtown, Lansing and New Albin. The route was designated in 2001 and last year new signs were placed to better identify the route. According to literature handed out during the presentation, the byway “exhibits the highest scenic rating of any state byway in Iowa.”
Rick Meyer, director of Robey Memorial Library in Waukon, along with Brian Stark, who is serving as architect on the library's proposed expansion project, then spoke. Meyer explained that parking has always been an issue around the current library site and the library board had recently been discussing the possible purchase of a property next door with plans to tear down the existing home and create a parking lot. When asked if the lot would be better suited to provide for more expansion, Stark explained that the lay of the land didn’t lend itself well for this concept and suggested keeping the parking lot concept intact. The library was proposing to purchase the lot with trust fund dollars but would need to add home demolition, grading and paving costs to the overall project costs. The Council then approved the purchase, with Councilman Joe Cunningham referring to it as a “no brainer.”
The Council then appointed Upper Explorerland Regional Planning Commission to  provide technical service for the grant request submissions regarding the City’s proposed occupied housing project.
Jason Fish, owner of Good Fella’s on Main Street in Waukon, was in attendance and asked for permission to hold his annual fund raising “street dance” event Saturday, June 23. This year’s entertainment will be provided by country music band "The Back Home Boys" with funds raised being donated to the Knights of Columbus. The Council approved the request pending Fish providing proper documentation showing that the required insurance coverage was in place.
City Attorney Jim Garrett then gave the Council the recommendation of hiring Amy Beattie, a Des Moines area attorney, to provide “expert assistance” regarding the Council’s assessment plans for the Third Street NE Street Improvement Project. The Council approved the “hire” to have Beattie review and evaluate the project. Certain parts of the project have grown somewhat controversial and a group of property owners from within the area have hired an attorney and, according to Garrett, if the City proceeds as-is, legal action is likely.
Waukon Park and Recreation Director Jeff Snitker was in attendance to update the Council on some ongoing projects his department is involved with. The first was regarding two separate playground equipment installations that are currently on order, one of which involves equipment that is being installed in the City Park in conjunction with a fundraising campaign by the Veterans Memorial Hospital Nurse’s Council and the Healing Hearts Infant Loss Support Group. That total project will cost just under $18,000 with almost $10,000 coming from donations and the balance coming from the Park Trust Fund. The other project, which will provide much-needed playground equipment near the softball complex, will cost a total of $9,746, with $6,246 coming from donations and the balance from the Park Trust Fund. Snitker then gave an update on the soccer field project near the Wellness Center. If all goes as planned, the fields should be ready for use next spring.
Dick Sullivan was in attendance asking for the reduction of a water bill for property located at 708 Second Avenue NW. Sullivan is not the owner of the property but was asking for the reduction to assist the owner, who is currently trying to sell the property. Water service has been shut-off to the property for some time but a minimum charge (garbage, etc.) has continued to accumulate to an amount in excess of $800. The Council listened to Sullivan’s concerns but stated that the only policy currently in place to reduce such bills requires a leak or other malfunction to create the bill, which was not the case here, and the request was subsequently denied.
The Council then finally approved and adopted the ordinance that would have the City take over all commercial water meters within city limits. The change goes into effect July 1.
The Council then approved an updated request to share costs for a portion of the alley behind Hartig Drug. The Council had approved a similar request last year but costs have changed. The City’s portion of the expense is now expected to be $2,200.
Next, the Council agreed to withdraw its request for grant dollars for flood mitigation after learning that the FEMA grant dollars they were requesting were no longer available. The Council then approved some additional expense to “address the minimal needs” to get the landscaping at the Bev Needham property on Second Avenue NW replaced to something similar to what had been in place prior to the work that was done there by the City to repair a collapsed storm sewer.
Garrett then shared a response that had been received from Attorney Dan Bresnahan, a family member representing his family regarding the City’s request to acquire a sanitary sewer currently owned by the Bresnahans. The letter stated an amount of $1.3 million that the Bresnahans would be willing to sell the property for, which would include the storm sewer. The City’s previous request to purchase did not include the property but rather just the acquisition of the sewer along with a small portion of land for a storm water retention basin. Following further discussion, Garrett was instructed to move forward with condemnation of the storm sewer, to respond to Bresnahan informing him of such, to find a party to perform an appraisal (necessary for condemnation to occur) and to have TeKippe Engineering identify and provide a thorough description of what exactly the City is looking to acquire.