Despite strong objections, City Council unanimously passes resolution for Third Avenue NW assessments

by Dwight Jones

The Waukon City Council met in special session the evening of Thursday, April 7, with the full council in attendance. The first part of the meeting involved a discussion between the council members on how to best develop a long range street improvements plan. No decision was made and discussions will continue.
At 7 p.m., discussion turned to the proposed assessments to property owners for the Third Avenue NW street improvement project. Unlike the previous packed house when the public hearing was held the previous Monday, the council room was approximately half-filled this time around. Councilman Joe Cunningham stated that 40 handwritten objections had been presented at the previous meeting and had since been reviewed. He then read verbatim the proposed “resolution of necessity” that was being addressed. Cunningham then made a motion to approve the resolution, which was seconded by Councilman Trent Mitchell.
The resolution would require property owners along the street to share the improvement costs at a 60/40 rate, with the City including an additional $100,000 upfront, buying down the property owners' portion to roughly 35%. Some discussion then took place prior to the vote. Councilman Steve Wiedner questioned if there was any way the proposed 40% assessment to property owners could be lowered, but then said the Council was “trying to make a good start for the good of the city”, and the Council unanimously approved the vote.
Discussion was continuing on the additional details regarding the assessments that still needed to be addressed when Third Avenue NW property owner Lorna Kerndt, who along with her husband, John, is looking at a sizeable assessment, stood up and said, “When are we going to have a chance to talk? You are not listening to the people that voted you in to those seats!”
Due to the fact that the resolution had already been passed, it seemed a bit out of protocol that the public was getting involved somewhat after-the-fact, but the room soon filled with a large amount of discussion, most of it loud and directed toward the Council from those in attendance. Tom Kerndt questioned how long the new street could possibly last, with a three-inch asphalt overlay in the middle of the street that would taper out to a much thinner depth at the outside edges. City Engineer Lyle TeKippe had given an estimate that the proposed project should last 15-20 years, but no one from the public seemed to believe that estimate, and were questioning “who pays for it next time?”
TeKippe explained that the proposed plan, consisting of leaving much of the current concrete street in place as a base with the asphalt overlay, was not a new concept and has been used other places with good results.
However, the property owners weren’t finding much consolation in anything the Council or TeKippe were presenting and the discussions, which bordered on arguments, continued. The recurring theme was that the Council should be looking more at repairs and only doing what the City could “afford” versus making the project much larger and requiring the adjacent property owners to help pay the bill. Some were upset that they were being “punished” due to the high amount of traffic on that particular street because of the schools and Wellness Center.
There were lots of opinions and the two sides of the room appeared divided and getting no closer to any sort of agreement or understanding. Cunningham apparently recognized this as well and abruptly made a motion to adjourn, which was seconded, and the meeting ended at 7:50 p.m.