Waukon City Council discusses proposed new fire station Monday night

by Bob Beach

During the regular meeting of the Waukon City Council Monday, January 20, Mayor Loren Beneke opened discussions about the need for a new fire station by saying, "To say that the open house (held last week) at the fire station was not well attended would be an understatement," reporting that only one person attended the event. He said that the only explanations he could think of for the lack of attendance were either a lack of interest or a high level of ignorance, which he called "almost embarrassing." However, he noted that people still have two more chances to attend open house events, scheduled for this Saturday, January 25 and Tuesday, January 28. "You really have to see it to understand the need," Beneke said, adding that "only good things can come from people learning."
Discussions then turned to funding options for the new fire station, a project with a cost now estimated at $1.5 million, with the City's share at $750,000. Councilman Don Steffens said that he sees the need for the new facility, noting that an expansion of the existing facility would be impractical. "The question is, how do you finance it?" he asked.
Mayor Beneke said that using TIF funding would be "the surest route" and a referendum would be "a less sure thing," pointing out that if TIF funding were used, there would be no need to increase tax levies within the city. He added that the issue of funding "needs more conversation."
City Attorney Jim Garrett advised the Council that a formal agreement should be made with the rural fire districts to address questions regarding what happens to the old fire station once the new station has been built, who is going to do what and who is going to pay for what. The Council directed Garrett to investigate combining the City's share of the cost of the fire truck to be delivered in April (approximately $186,000) with the note to pay the City's share of the new fire station and to work on the terms of an agreement with the Fire Board.
The Council also discussed the City's current ownership of the former C-Mart property on West Main Street and a large portion (2.8 acres) of the former Town and Country Trailer Court on West Main Street. City Attorney Garrett reported that he has found an appraiser willing to appraise the C-Mart property, noting that "fair market value" needs to be determined in order to sell the property. With regard to the former trailer court property, Garrett said that an appraisal should be obtained if it is the City's intention to sell that property. The Council voted to authorize Mayor Beneke to find an appraiser for the former trailer court property.
The Council also met with Richard Kittleson of Northeast Iowa RC&D, who updated the Council on efforts to eradicate Japanese Knotweed from the Paint Creek Watershed. Kittleson said that a test project that the Council authorized along the creek behind Hardee's in Waukon was highly successful, with "a good first kill of 80 to 90 percent." He said that the process is very labor intensive, as each stem must be individually injected with herbicide, and that the project to eradicate the invasive plant in the Paint Creek Watershed would take a few years to complete. He said that RC&D would like to place a sign near the test site by Hardee's to explain the project, adding that he would like to find more stands of the plants in town in order to demonstrate the efficacy of the process. Kittleson also asked the Council to begin considering what would be done with the 178 publicly owned ash trees in Waukon, adding that RC&D is looking into ways to use the trees for lumber and firewood.
In other business, the Council authorized the purchase of a $9,000 four wheeler for the Park and Recreation Department and the expenditure of $571 to repair the Police Department's Dodge Durango. The Council also passed a resolution to accept the work on the completed Northgate storm sewer repairs and approved various payments and change orders for several ongoing projects.