Waukon City Council advised of violations revealed during EPA inspection of wastewater treatment facility in pair of recent Council sessions

by Jason Meyer

The Waukon City Council met in a pair of sessions within the past week, including a special work session Monday, November 9 and its regular session Monday, November 16. Coverage of both meetings appears below.

SPECIAL MEETING
The Waukon City Council met in special session last Monday, November 9 at 5:30 p.m. to discuss a number of items facing the City, the main point being to set a Public Hearing for a resolution at its November 16 meeting to borrow up to $500,000 for property acquisition and post-flood rehabilitation projects.
Prior to that resolution discussion, however, Dean Hilgerson, current City Manager of Marquette, spoke before the Council on his duties and experiences as a manager to help fill the Waukon City Council members in on what they should be looking for and asking in any potential search for such a position being considered by the Council. Hilgerson was thanked by the Mayor and Council for his presentation.
Moving along, it was revealed that within the week since the November 2 regular meeting, Mayor Loren Beneke had been contacted regarding an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) inspection that took place this past October of the City’s wastewater treatment facility. The Agency asserted information reviewed from the inspection revealed violations of the Clean Water Act, as well as violations of the City’s National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit, two issues that face cities with aging wastewater systems, and as the State and Federal policies change over time.
“Let’s take a look at the overall picture,” noted Lyle TeKippe, Senior Project Manager with the Fehr Graham Engineering and Environmental firm, the engineering firm retained by the City of Waukon, in regard to addressing the EPA-assessed violations. “Not just what they’re looking for now, but what changes might be coming in the future.”
While there was no action to be taken, the City was requested to make contact with the EPA within 10 days.
Finally, in closing the special meeting, the Council set Monday, November 16 as a Public Hearing date for a General Obligation Loan Agreement for an amount not to exceed $500,000. With no further business, the Council adjourned at 7 p.m.

REGULAR SESSION
Reconvening at 7 p.m. Monday night, November 16, the Waukon City Council first handled the routine business of approving minutes, reports and claims before opening the aforementioned Public Hearing.
The City, in borrowing the funds not to exceed $500,000, will finalize the acquisition of the Bresnahan property in the northwest corner of Waukon for the primary purpose of constructing a storm water retention facility, and to cover the City’s obligation of FEMA-approved projects for reconstruction of areas within the Waukon City Park impacted by the 2013 flooding.
Hearing no comments from the public, nor receiving any in writing, the Mayor closed the Public Hearing. Later in the evening, the resolution approving and authorizing the loan agreement was passed unanimously.
Lyle TeKippe, of the Fehr Graham firm, presented the Council with preliminary plans for the 2016 Street Project on Third Avenue SW. On the outset, the plan is to cut the existing concrete between the gutter and roadway, and then "rubblize" the roadway with micro-cracking. Over top of the rubblized base a three-inch layer of blacktop will be laid. Through the process of micro-cracking, the propensity of ‘block cracking’ or ‘shrinkage cracking’ that would normally propagate through the asphalt layer will be greatly reduced, according to TeKippe. Currently, the proposed plan runs the length of Third Avenue SW from Iowa Highway 9/Rossville Road to Ninth Street SW.
In following up with the EPA’s request for contact regarding shortcomings in the City’s compliance with the Clean Water Act and NPDES permit, a conference call was held earlier in the day between the Mayor’s office, the Fehr Graham office in West Union, and the EPA office in Kansas City, KS. From the call, the City is tentatively in a four-year framework to come in to compliance. That compliance includes receiving a new NPDES permit from the Iowa Department of Natural Resources - a process taking upwards of nine months - and then working with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR), the EPA, and Fehr Graham in updating the City’s treatment facilities as necessary. At this time, however, there were no actionable items for the Council.
In other business, the Council:

  • approved a request by Police Chief Phil Young to place his department’s Dodge Durango up for bids.
  • approved the third reading, as well as adopted, the Natural Gas Franchise Fee Ordinance.
  • entered in to an Agreement for Professional Services with the Fehr Graham firm for engineering on the Northwest Detention Basin project within the aforementioned Bresnahan property acquisition.
  • approved two partial pay estimates from the Blazek Corp. totaling $2,923.28 for work on the Second Street SE Water Main Project.
  • passed a resolution authorizing the City Clerk to pay claims prior to Council approval in instances where doing so would mitigate late fees, penalties and interest.
  • reviewed and approved the City’s Urban Renewal Report for Fiscal Year 2014-15; followed up by a resolution establishing the amount of TIF Increment Tax to be requested from the Southeast Urban Renewal Area for Fiscal Year 2016-17 at an amount of $650,000, a $50,000 increase over the previous year.
  • approved a resolution authorizing the transfer of up to $25 from the SE Tax Increment Fund to the Sub Fund for the payment of additional Administrative Costs from October 2015.
  • approved a resolution authorizing the transfer of $5,499.50 from the Hotel/Motel (Park Improvements) Fund to the 2013 Flood Fund.

Having no other actionable business, the Council adjourned at 8:15 p.m. The Council’s next regularly scheduled meeting is set for Monday, December 7 at 7 p.m. in the Waukon City Hall.