Library discussion tops Waukon City Council meeting

by Dwight Jones

The Waukon City Council met in regular session the evening of Monday, December 2. Councilman John Ellingson was absent.

Under Public Comments, Rick Meyer, Director of Robey Memorial Library in Waukon, spoke regarding the possibility of adding solar panels at the library in an effort to save money on electricity. A property neighboring the library had previously been purchased with plans of constructing a parking lot, but according to Meyer, costs to surface it and ongoing expenses (snow removal, etc.) had sparked conversations of possibly using the lot for something else, including possibly holding the aforementioned solar panels.

Should the lot not be constructed, 14-16 possible additional parking spots had been identified. Much discussion ensued, including identification of a sizable rebate that may be available through Alliant Energy. If the rebate could be secured, estimated costs for the solar panels would be similar to what was projected to finish the parking lot ($55,000-$75,000). The Council and Meyer agreed to move forward with investigating the idea, though no action was (or could have been) taken due to the fact that it was not an agenda item.

Moving on to Regular Business, Meyer again spoke, stating that the recent library expansion had created a large increase in the amount of sidewalks, ramps, etc. that would require snow removal and he was asking if there was any assistance available from the City. A verbal agreement was made between the Council and Meyer that, whenever possible, manpower and/or equipment would be shared from other City departments, but the library would be asked to do its best to support the additional costs within its existing budget and the issue can be revisited next year when more information is available.

The Council then agreed to pay Dixon Concrete for repairs made to downtown sidewalks in the Video Connection area on Main Street for flood-related damages. Unless notified otherwise, the Council agreed to move forward with assessing the property owners for their portion of the cost of the repair. The assessment concept had been discussed and agreed to at a previous meeting.

City Attorney Jim Garrett then explained that he and Zoning Administrator Al Lyon had discussed subdivision plat approval procedures with officials from Allamakee County and were looking for direction on whether or not they should continue those discussions. The Council agreed and encouraged the discussions to continue.

Mayor Loren Beneke then explained that he anticipated an opening on the Board of Adjustment and was hopeful to find someone interested in becoming a board member.  Meetings are normally held the fourth Tuesday of each month at 5:30 pm. The Board of Adjustment is an interesting board to be involved with, normally addressing issues such as variance requests, zoning issues, etc. Any interested party is encouraged to contact the mayor or a council member.

For the final agenda item of the night, the Council discussed the issue of unused vacation time within the Police Department. The union contract reads that an officer can carry over more than two weeks of vacation from one year to the next if approved by the Chief of Police. Officers accumulate compensation time as well and oftentimes use it in lieu of vacation time, which allows vacation time to accumulate.

In an effort to avoid having to pay a large cash pay-out (should someone decide to "cash out" their unused vacation), and believing that vacation exists to allow an employee to get away from their job responsibilities from time to time, the Council agreed to work with Chief Phil Young to develop a plan that would be fair to all parties involved. No action was taken.