Insurance and zoning among the many issues addressed at regular Waukon City Council meeting

by Dwight Jones
 
The Waukon City Council met in regular session the evening of Monday, February 1. Mayor Loren Beneke was absent, so Mayor Pro-tem Trent Mitchell filled in. Councilman Joe Cunningham was also absent.
Under the Departmental Reports, Water and Sewer Superintendent Robert Campbell explained that his department had dealt with two broken water mains in the past week, but repairs had been made. Such breaks seem to be common during stretches of colder than normal winter weather.
Moving on to the Regular Business portion of the meeting, the Council approved the first reading of the ordinance changing the zoning classification from B-1 to B-2 for property owned by Jamie and Tonja Dougherty at 22 Second Street NW.
Next, Planning and Zoning (P&Z) Board member Dave Duncklee was in attendance, requesting the Council give his Board an opportunity to be more involved in projects that come up within the city. According to Duncklee, the Board “feels there has been an unnecessary delay” in bringing his Board into discussions involving certain projects, and he followed that up with “We have a good Board, and a little more lead time and a little more involvement would be appreciated." The Council agreed and offered a couple of upcoming projects where it felt the P&Z Board would be helpful.
Jane Regan with Leschensky Insurance was in attendance to inform the Council that it had received a dividend check in the amount of $10,549 from its insurance carrier. That amount was slightly less than was received last year, but still substantial. Regan explained the formula wherein the rebate is tabulated, which includes three year averages of revenues and losses for the carrier throughout the state of Iowa.
Regan continued to be involved with discussions for the next item as well, this time involving the ongoing review of the possible need for those renting hangar spaces at the airport to have liability insurance in the amount of $1 million. Regan had expressed at a previous meeting that she had done some checking and these sorts of coverage requirements are common at other airports across the state.
However, Frank Byrnes, who is both on the airport board and uses the facilities explained that he had done some checking of his own and was getting answers that were different than those that Regan had explained earlier. City Attorney Jim Garrett, who had drafted a sample agreement between the City and those renting hangers, explained that the City was clearly getting “conflicting information” and suggested more research be done before a decision is made. The Council agreed and tabled the issue without action.
Next, the Council moved on to discussions regarding the search for determining who is available to place and remove three portable stop signs that are used within the city to help with pedestrian traffic both before and after school. The City has been having discussions with staff from the Allamakee Community School system with a possible agreement between the two parties being considered. Due to concerns regarding insurance, etc…, the person will most likely be a school employee with the amount paid by them and reimbursed by the City. The Council had suggested $20 per day in a draft agreement sent to the school, but the school had come back with a suggestion of $25. The Council agreed to split the difference to $22.50 and will return the proposal to the school for further consideration.
The Council then approved a professional services agreement with TeKippe Engineering for work involving the 2010 Storm Sewer Improvements Project which will target infrastructure repair needs near RW Pladsen.
The Council then moved on to discussions involving water and sewer rates. Councilman John Ellingson spoke, explaining that a substantial loss in revenue from the closing of Northern Engraving and the possible loss of sewer revenue from Foremost Farms have brought a need for rates to be reviewed. Ellingson was proposing an eight-percent increase within the next year, with subsequent two-percent increases each year following.
Loss in revenue from changes to the above listed businesses is expected to be to be substantial, from approximately 15% less in water to close to a 38% reduction in sewer revenue. City Attorney Jim Garrett was instructed by the Council to proceed with drafting the paperwork needed to implement the change.
The Council then reviewed a “job description” that had been put together by Garrett for the Development Officer position that the City is currently looking to fill. The Council approved Garrett’s work.
Moving forward, the Council then discussed an inquiry from Kwik Star to purchase the city parking lot that sits adjacent to its property on Spring Avenue.  No action was taken.
A water bill reduction was then approved for D.C. Witt in the amount of $169.55. A renter of Witt’s had a toilet malfunction that caused a bill substantially higher than normal. The Council has a formula it has been using the past few years to determine eligibility for a refund.
In the final item, a property tax exemption application was approved for Gil and Sherrie Hustad for their brand new retail floral business that sits at the former IOCO location.