Waukon City Council addresses short agenda Monday

by Bob Beach

The Waukon City Council made quick work of a short agenda Monday evening, November 4, starting with the approval of a request from Director Danielle Bucknell to seek bids for snow removal at the Waukon Wellness Center. Street Superintendent Randy Murphy reminded the Council that the City takes care of snow removal in the parking lots at the Center, so the bids would be for removal of snow only from the sidewalks.
The Council next approved the low bid from Skyline Construction of $37,381.19 for the extension of the water main on Third Avenue SE. Baker Enterprises of Waverly was the only other bidder for the project with a bid of $48,725.00.
The Council then approved a lease subordination agreement for Jennifer Moose, putting the City's interest in the mortgage second to a more recent mortgage held by Central State Bank.
Waukon Police Chief Phil Young made a recommendation to the Council to offer a pay raise to Reserve Officer Glen Jevne, who has served the City in that capacity for six years. Councilman Trent Mitchell expressed some concerns about the budget and suggested that the proposed raise be postponed for a couple of months until the budget picture is more clear, but Councilman John Ellingson noted that Jevne has been with the City for a long time and the raise is long overdue. The Council approved raising Jevne's wage from $11.00 per hour to $14.00 per hour.
The Council also approved Chief Young's request for expenditures from the Police Capital Equipment Fund for the purchase of two new computers, two new assault rifles, two shotguns and replacement magazines for officer sidearms for a total cost of approximately $6,500.
In other business, the Council approved variance requests from Wayne and Gail Verthein, William and Roberta Palmer and Gary and Colleen Schellhammer, all on the recommendation of the Planning and Zoning Board and with no opposition from any members of the public. The Council also approved two minor change orders for the library expansion project and passed a resolution setting the TIF increment tax to be requested for the Southeast Urban Renewal Area for fiscal year 2014-2015 at $600,000.