City Council approves testing of warning sirens this Thursday among numerous other items of discussion

by Dwight Jones

The Waukon City Council met in regular session the evening of Monday, April 18. Councilman Trent Mitchell was absent for the entire meeting, while fellow member Steve Wiedner arrived late.
Under Departmental Reports, Chief of Police Clark Bollman was pleased to announce that, with the recent academy graduation of Officer Stuart Bloxham, he has a fully-staffed department “for the first time in a long time.” Water and Sewer Superintendent Bob Campbell told the Council of concerns citizens had shared with him regarding the sidewalk that runs along Second Street SW, which has become uneven due to the settling of the storm sewer beneath. The Council encouraged Campbell to schedule repairs to that segment of the walk.
Moving on to Regular Business, the first agenda item involved the Northgate Lift Station project. City Engineer Lyle TeKippe explained that five bids had been received for the project, which his firm had estimated to cost $228,960. The bids had been opened, and the low bidder was Winona Mechanical of Winona, MN with a bid of $175,850. The Council then approved and awarded the bid accordingly.
The Council then approved and adopted an ordinance vacating a portion of Industrial Park Court SW. This minor action on a 500-square foot parcel of otherwise unusable property will allow an adjoining property owner, Dick Sullivan, to construct a building.
Next, Matt Teslow was in attendance to discuss a high water bill (in excess of $800) he had received on a rental property he owns at 105 First Avenue SW.  The water meter at the residence had been sent in for testing and Campbell reported that the test showed no problems with the meter itself. Though Teslow was never able to absolutely identify the problem, it was his belief that a malfunctioning water softener was to blame. The Council agreed and awarded a reduction, per a policy already in-place to address such issues, in the amount of $148.60.
The Council then approved the first reading of the proposed ordinance that would put stipulations on those that have swimming pools in their yards, including the recently popular (normally blue) portable models. The ordinance had previously also included decorative/landscaping pools of water, but those have since been removed.  The first reading was approved with two additional approvals needed to pass the ordinance.
An additional $3,000 of assistance under the Retail Incentive Program (to match $3,000 paid last year) was then approved for payment to Gil and Sherrie Hunstad toward their retail greenhouse business in downtown Waukon. The program itself was then reviewed with agreement by the Council that it should be revamped before additional assistance is offered to others.
The recent rash of tornadoes throughout the Midwest made the next discussion, warning sirens, timely and obviously important. First, the Council discussed a testing program for the two sirens currently in place within Waukon. It was agreed (again) that they would be tested the first Thursday of each month at 10 a.m., but if bad weather is not in the area, they will likely perform a test this coming Thursday, April 21 at 10 a.m. as well.
Other discussions included who was responsible for initiating the sirens in the event of an emergency, reporting test findings, etc. Councilman Joe Cunningham then asked the rest of the Council to reconsider a quote that was received some time ago to make upgrades to the existing sirens in addition to adding a third atop Well #5 on Third Avenue. The cost estimate was in the $25,000 range, and the Council agreed that such public safety expenditures are at the top of the list as far as what they do, and the spend was approved.
At the request of the Waukon Trees Forever committee, Mayor Loren Beneke then proclaimed April 29, 2011 as Arbor Day in the City of Waukon. In addition, Cunningham explained that the annual spring planting date was set for May 7 (volunteers are needed), and the Council approved the $2,000 annual funding request from the Trees Forever committee.
City Clerk Diane Sweeney then gave the Council two suggested dates from the city’s garbage collector for its annual spring clean-up day, and the Council selected Saturday, May 14. As usual, there will be a list of items that will not be picked-up, including appliances. Watch for an additional ad in this newspaper in the coming weeks for more information regarding this issue.
The Council then addressed three openings on the Waukon Park and Recreation Board. Councilman Dave Sanderson started the discussion by stating that he had received a phone call from Park and Recreation Director Jeff Snitker asking to delay the vote because the Park Board wanted to discuss the openings with the mayor, who actually makes the appointments. Councilman John Ellingson then stated that the appointments, already once delayed, needed to be made to keep a functioning board in-place. Park Board President Cory Shelton was in attendance and said that he had talked with board member Sheila Mellick, who was scheduled to go off the board, about a temporary re-appointment until someone else could be found.
Cunningham then asked the mayor if he did not already have three names in mind, which he did, explaining that he was proposing that Ann Blocker, current board member, be re-appointed to a one-year term (at the Park Board’s request to further stagger terms), current member Chris Dahlstrom be re-appointed to a three-year term, and Dwight Jones be the new three-year term board member to replace Mellick. Sanderson then explained that he had “talked to a couple of current board members that did not feel that Jones was a good fit for the board” and asked that he not be appointed.
Councilman John Ellingson then stated, “As far as I’m concerned, these are the mayor’s appointments - we’re simply voting on his recommendations”.  A motion was then made and seconded to follow Beneke’s direction, with the vote being approved three to one, Sanderson as the lone “no” vote.
The issue of air conditioner noise at the Waukon Wellness Center was again addressed.  The Council appears close to making a decision on an attempted “fix”, but Sanderson was waiting on a quote from another contractor and the issue will be re-visited at the next meeting.
The ongoing sports field project near Waukon High School was then discussed. Cunningham explained that work was ready to begin, weather permitting. Talk of also including some storm sewer for drainage and water lines for watering the fields was then reviewed. The Council agreed to have TeKippe prepare cost estimates for this additional work for review at the next council meeting.
A collapsing storm sewer at the property of Bev Needham at 207 Second Avenue NW was then re-addressed. TeKippe explained the work that was needed to begin to correct the problem, though the whole scope of the work wouldn’t be known until digging started. A minimum of 100-150 feet of the current structure, some of which runs directly under Needham’s driveway, will need to be replaced. The Council will await more information before deciding exactly how much work is needed to fix the problem.
In the final agenda item of the night, the Council reviewed commercial water meters with Campbell. At an earlier meeting, the Council had discussed the possibility of having the City take over ownership of the approximately 40 “commercial” (larger than one inch) water meters, but Campbell had some concerns that he had addressed and was still in agreement that there should be details worked out before moving forward. No action was taken.