City Council hears of local volunteer efforts, talks about upcoming projects

by Dwight Jones

The Waukon City Council met in regular session the evening of Monday, August 17 with a full Council in attendance.
To start the meeting, Andi Goltz spoke under Public Comments to address concerns she had of people driving too fast in her neighborhood, in the vicinity of Fifth Street and Third Avenue SE. Goltz was questioning whether or not yield signs could be installed, and was looking for clarification on who has the right-of-way at the intersection, as it is currently unmarked.
Councilman Steve Wiedner explained that he had done a door-to-door walk-through in the area to determine concerns and look for suggestions for slowing down traffic, but admitted that at least some property owners were not home at the time that he was in the neighborhood. It was agreed that Wiedner, along with Goltz’s assistance, would do another round of investigations with assistance from homeowners in the area to determine the best way to slow people down and hopefully avoid an accident or injury.
Rachelle Howe with Allamakee Economic Development then addressed the Council, explaining that as part of a betterment initiative, her office would be contacting 600 homes within the city with door-to-door contact to complete surveys with homeowners, and was asking for assistance in doing so. The more volunteers that are available, the less work each volunteer will have to do, and with that many homes to be visited, there is a lot of work to do. There is a meeting planned for noon August 25 at Gus and Tony’s for anyone that would be interested in working with the group. Also, anyone with questions is urged to contact Howe’s office at 563-568-2624.
Dr. Steve Perkins spoke next, addressing two items. First, he explained that he and his wife Stephanie have started a “Keep Waukon Beautiful” initiative, and their first project will be a weed and garbage clean-up through select areas of town the morning of Saturday, August 22. Perkins explained that volunteers can meet in front of the Allamakee County Courthouse, and will disperse from there. Weeds and other “yard waste” will be taken to the City compost site at the fairgrounds, and the group will be allowed to use a City dumpster for trash collected. Anyone interested in helping with this worthy project is encouraged to show up that morning and/or contact the Perkins’ for more information.
Perkins next brought up a concern he has regarding the high number of ankle and foot injuries he sees that are caused from potholes in the streets, poor sidewalks, etc. Mayor Keith Schroeder explained that there is a sidewalk study being completed soon that should allow the City to address some of those issues, and as always, more streets will be scheduled for repair in the spring.
Moving on to the Regular Business portion of the meeting, item number one involved additional action needed for the Wellness Center parking lot expansion project. After some discussion reviewing what was and was not included in the bid, along with placement of the sidewalk, Councilman Joe Cunningham made the motion to award the bid to Skyline Construction in the amount of $105,607 to complete the work, and the motion was passed.
Next, City Planning and Zoning Administrator Jim Hager explained that all three adjoining property owners were interested in purchasing a portion of the recently vacated street in the area of Eighth Street SW. City Attorney Jim Garrett explained that cost information had not been received to have the property surveyed and platted. Garrett stated that he would contact Roger Mohn to receive an estimate on what it would cost to perform the work, and would try to develop a list of costs associated with the project so that a per parcel cost could be determined.  The Council will be handling the sale of these parcels as has been done in the past by asking the adjoining owners to pay an amount that will cover costs but nothing actually billed for the land itself.
The Council next approved a business incentive “grant” in the amount of $6,000 to K&S Plumbing and Heating for work they are doing to start their business at the former Town and Country Hardware property.  However, Garrett suggested that if the Council was going to continue to award such funds that it review its current policy, as it reads that one stipulation states that jobs would need to be created to qualify for the funds, which would not be happening in this instance. The Council asked Howe to review and re-write the policy to read that jobs would need to be “retained or created” vs. “created” as it currently reads.
Several projects were discussed next, starting with a proposed expansion of First Avenue SE between Veterans Memorial Hospital and the Waukon Golf and Country Club. Councilman Dave Sanderson explained that he had met with Hospital Administrator Mike Myers, and Myers was in support of the expansion if it was feasible to do so.  Dennis Lyons, a hospital board member, then spoke up, explaining that his Board had never discussed the issue, nor did he personally feel that the street width within the area being discussed was a problem. After further discussion, the Council asked City Engineer Lyle TeKippe to move forward with determining if there is enough land available to even consider the expansion, which he will do and report back at a future meeting.
Next, the Council discussed the need for asphalt work within the Waukon City Park. Several of the roads through the park have deteriorated and are in need of repair. Cunningham explained that he would also like to see some of the existing parking aprons paved as well. The City currently has an estimate for $16,000 to do the initial repair, and asked TeKippe to review the project and provide an updated estimate with the additional work added.
To wrap up the discussion regarding projects, the Council agreed to do some manhole work in the amount of $7,738 on Fifth Avenue NW. A crew will be in the area doing other work and it seemed a good time to do the repairs.
TeKippe then explained the need for additional utility easements along Second Street SW to allow for more infrastructure work to be completed, including water and sewer lines. TeKippe explained that an additional 15’ of easement would be helpful, but should not interfere with any development that may occur down the road. The Council agreed with TeKippe’s recommendation.
Schroeder then explained that prior to the meeting there had been a work session with representatives from Innovative Ag regarding a possible annexation of their property into the city.  He explained that there would be another meeting next week to review what each party would be expecting from the agreement.
Garrett then explained the need for the City, per FEMA, to adopt a flood plain management ordinance to make it eligible for disaster funds in the event something flood related should happen in the future.  Garrett explained that there are currently three areas within the city that are deemed flood risks, with the only “inhabited” area being along Hayden Creek near the City Street Department garage, Redi-Mix, etc. The Council scheduled a public hearing for the next council meeting September 8 to move forward with the adoption of the ordinance to stay within the government regulations.
Tamie Onsager addressed the Council next, explaining that noise from the Waukon Wellness Center (mainly generated from the cooling system) was a nuisance to neighbors, including her parents who live nearby. Onsager explained that there are others in the area who do not wish to go public but also share the same concerns. There is currently a fence constructed that was installed with hopes that it would help with such noise issues, but it appears that more may need to be done. Cunningham asked TeKippe to review what other options are available to help with such problems, with a report expected at the next meeting.
Under the final item listed as “mayor’s report”, Schroeder updated the Council on a number of items, starting with the former C-Mart property, which has had the building removed, and the large tree that stands on the property is expected to be removed this week. He also explained that the Ninth Street project is scheduled to begin within the next week, and will last roughly 90 days, with some detours being expected during that time within the work area. In the final item discussed, Water and Sewer Superintendent Robert Campbell explained that 50+ fire hydrants within the city will be repaired at no cost to the City due to possible internal corrosion problems discovered by the manufacturer that could lead to problems down the road if not addressed.