Waukon City Council further discusses Third Street NE project, other issues in regular session

by Dwight Jones

The Waukon City Council met in regular session the evening of Monday, March 19 at 7:30 p.m. with the full council in attendance.
Under Departmental Reports, Chief of Police Clark Bollman explained that, all-in-all, things went well with the St Patrick’s Day celebration in Waukon Sunday, March 18 but suggested that a policy be put in place prior to next year’s event that floats that want to distribute candy or other items should be asked to have “walkers” to hand things out to decrease the chance of injury to children or other bystanders.
Moving to Regular Business, Lyle TeKippe with TeKippe Engineering gave an update on the proposed NE Sanitary Sewer Improvement Project.  According to TeKippe, it is difficult to determine where exactly the existing sewer “snakes” through the area and suggested some additional work be done, including drilling at least three exploratory holes to find its exact route. The Council agreed with moving forward with that concept.
Next, the Council discussed the storm sewer that runs near the Subway Restaurant.  TeKippe was proposing that a tracer wire be used to learn more about the existing sewer.  The Council agreed, but suggested that adjoining property owners should be met with first to determine the feasibility of acquiring the easements that would be necessary to move forward with the project.
The Council and TeKippe then discussed the proposed 2012 Street Improvement Project and issues that were addressed at the Special Informational Meeting held earlier that evening. They reviewed a plan to make visits with property owners that requested them.  Next, they discussed if there was any possibility of moving forward with the project but without widening the street and disrupting the trees that run along it.
According to TeKippe, keeping the street narrow but still adding curb and gutter “makes for real challenges from the design standpoint”, and explained that today’s slip-form paving machines require a wider area to operate. Using other equipment would, in TeKippe’s opinion, leave a surface of far lesser quality than the slip paving system would provide.
The Council then discussed the possibility of one-sided parking or making it a one-way street. All was simply food for thought and discussions will undoubtedly continue. Anyone with questions or concerns on the project are encouraged to contact any of the current City Council members. Contact informoation for each can be found on the City website, www.cityofwaukon.com.
Next, the Council approved a ground cover “burn” at the City Park. The burn, which will be done by licensed professionals, was originally scheduled for last year but was postponed. Park personnel will also be involved.
City Attorney Jim Garrett then updated the Council on a lease with Verizon for cell tower use, but no action was taken. Bollman then gave the Council an update on costs associated with updating the City’s emergency sirens to make them compatible with a narrow band mandate, effective January 1, 2013. Some of the sirens need more work than others to become compatible and Bollman suggested, and the Council agreed, that investigation into options should continue.
The Council then approved three resolutions involving transfers to/from various funds and the meeting was adjourned following just over one hour of discussion.