Letter to the Editor: Submitted by Herb Larkin

To the Editor:

As I read the report of the Waukon City Council in the November 6 edition of The Standard on page seven, I realized that the city is getting an opinion on the cost of a 4th Avenue NW Addition, as well as a 7th Street NW Extension. This is all related to the development in the Bresnahan Property.

For as long as the city has owned it, there has been no development except for the flood control. It seems that the council approves whatever the planner suggests. True, it may be the time to develop that property.

A few years ago, there were ads in The Standard indicating that three lots had been sold and three more were available. What happened? Now there is talk again about concrete streets with curb and gutter. How many other streets and alleys in this town need upkeep with concrete curb and gutter?

When Third Avenue NW was done a few years ago, we paid for our street, as did the folks on Third Street NE. While the east end of Third Ave NW got concrete, we on the west ten blocks got asphalt over our old busted concrete, which very soon cracked, and then was covered with tar and gravel, a lot of which washed down the sewer. The east end needed no repair.

I am not against development, but we all need to be watching money being spent. A planner’s plan needs to be questioned before being rubber stamped.

I am old enough to remember the construction of a bunch of bulb-outs in this town recommended by a planner, which had to be removed a year or two years later - an expensive investment for the city with damaged snow plows, and the eventual removal of all that concrete.

Now after putting in all new water meters, which were likely not needed, and billing bi-monthly, instead of quarterly, all of a sudden, we need an eight dollar charge bimonthly (meaning six times a year) for infrastructure repair and replacement. Oh well, the economy is good, and each of us can easily afford $48 dollars per year.

Also, in the same edition of the paper, the city manager was involved in a meeting in Waverly regarding sidewalk safety. (By the way, Waverly has beautiful sidewalks replaced about the same time as ours.) Remember the discussion of city-owned sloping sidewalks in this town a few years ago. The Americans with Disabilities Act was discussed by the council for six weeks, at that time.

Respectfully,
Herb Larkin
Waukon