Waukon City Council hears concerns from pair of downtown property owners

by Brianne Eilers

The Waukon City Council met Monday evening, February 3 for its regular meeting. The Council was addressed by attorney Erik Fern, who was representing Kelly Wille, owner of the Inside Story building located in downtown Waukon. Fern updated the Council on issues with the joint building sewer between the Inside Story and S&D Café buildings on Main Street.
Fern noted that there appeared to have been a sort of informal shared sewer between the buildings for a number of years, but there is no signed agreement, which could potentially put both property owners in violation of compliance with City ordinance. “Lots of deals were done a long time ago on a handshake,” pointed out council member Steve Weidner, “and you just can’t do that anymore. We don’t hear about them until there are problems.”
Fern stated that if the issue came to litigation, he hoped the City would help them with reaching an agreement in order to be in compliance. Ultimately, the Council decided that the best course of action would be for both property owners and their counsel to try and come to some kind of agreement on their own, without the City’s intervention at this time.

The Council then heard from Christine Enyart regarding the impact of meth lab clean-up on landlords. Enyart presented information to the Council to illustrate the financial impact of cleaning up a property that has been used as a meth lab. As an example, she explained to the Council that cleaning up a small one-bedroom apartment cost almost $5,000.
As an owner of rental property, Enyart has had first-hand experience in dealing with this type of situation, and she said that as a landlord, she wasn’t asking for anything from the City Council, but only wanted to provide information to them so they could keep in mind the costs and expenses that landlords would already be looking at with a meth lab clean-up, and she asked that if the City were to put anything in place regarding meth lab clean-up, to not penalize landlords.
Enyart also explained that she had spoken with two different insurance agents regarding whether or not insurance would pay any expenses and said she was told they would not. “I was also told that in the event that a landlord could file a claim, and in the event that claim was paid, their insurance policy would be dropped, and they would be considered high-risk insured, if you could even find another company to insure you,” she explained.
The Council asked Waukon Chief of Police Phil Young if there were any cities in Iowa that had any protocols in place for something like this, and he said he was not aware of any. He noted that the State of Iowa does not have any protocols, but many other states do. Enyart also presented the Council with guidelines and recommendations for landlords that need to clean up a meth lab, but she stressed that they are just recommendations and guidelines.
Young noted that while the number of meth labs seems to be on a downward trend, the way they can go about manufacturing the drug is becoming less conspicuous. He gave the example of using pop bottles. “It might just look like a pop bottle sitting in the corner, but that’s the cooker,” he explained. Mayor Loren Beneke thanked Enyart for her information, and the Council said they would keep the figures and information she presented them in mind for any future action.

The Council then moved on to matters relating to the new fire station and fire truck. A resolution adopting and approving Tax Compliance Procedures relating to tax-exempt bonds was approved. City Attorney Jim Garrett explained that this was a new procedure required because of changes in the Internal Revenue Service. A resolution to fix a date for a public hearing on a loan agreement in a principal amount not to exceed $200,000 related to the acquisition of a fire truck was also approved. The public hearing is set for Tuesday, February 18, which is the next City Council meeting due to the President’s Day holiday February 17.
The Council also approved the Capital Contributions Agreement and the donation of a lot in the Industrial Park by Waukon Economic Development Corporation (WEDC) for the new fire station. It was noted that the reason this had to be approved by the City is because WEDC was donating the lot, and that any lots in the Industrial Park that are sold for less than $25,000 per lot have to be approved by the City Council. A public hearing on a Southeast Urban Renewal Plan Amendment was set for Monday, March 3.
The Council also approved a recommendation to rezone the West Side Development property from “R-5” to “R-3”. The Council also discussed, but took no action, on the sale of the C-Mart property and West Side Development property. Mayor Beneke noted that the West Side Development property has not been appraised, but he has been contacting appraisers.
The C-Mart property has been appraised, and Council member Don Steffens noted that he felt the appraisal bill was high and questioned that. City Attorney Garrett explained that because the former gas station property was considered a contaminated site, it was hard to find someone willing to appraise it, and when they did find someone the City was told the charge for the appraisal services wouldn’t be over $1,500, which it wasn’t. The Council then discussed what might be the best way to sell the property and would re-visit that issue at another meeting.
The Council also approved an extension of permission for the Helping Services for Northeast Iowa Mentoring Program to display signs on public property, near the NICC/Waukon Wellness Center, for another month, provided the signs will be removed by the end of March. A resolution was also approved authorizing an internal advance to the tax increment subfund, that amount not to exceed $1,500. Resolutions transferring $1,103.50 from the Park Trust Fund to the 2013 Flood Fund and transferring $6,375.00 from the 2011 Capital Improvements Fund to the 2013 Flood Fund were also approved.