Waukon City Council continues to hear citizen complaints in regard to smells emitted from Aveka processing facility

by Bob Beach

The Waukon City Council heard more complaints during its Monday, May 19 meeting about the smell emanating from the Aveka facility on the north side of town. Luke Mount, who lives in the Northgate subdivision, told the Council that he had spoken with Aveka CEO Willie Hendrickson by telephone and was told that the company has no plans to mitigate the smell by installing filters. Mount said that he was told that the company in fact plans to increase production and that the smell could only be expected to get worse.
Former Waukon City Councilman John Ellingson, who also lives within a few blocks of the Aveka plant, told the Council that he is aware that plants run by Hendrickson in other towns have drawn the attention of environmental watchdog groups amid concerns about heavy metal pollutants, such as zinc, as well as other pollutants. Ellingson said that he has noticed odd corrosion on exposed steel on his house as well as a light brown residue on surfaces. He said that the smell from the plant is disturbing and affects the quality of life of residents, but that he also recognizes that the plant is a source of jobs and revenue for the City. He encouraged the Council to work with Aveka to find a solution.
Ellingson added that if the Council intends to move forward with a storm water utility fee, the amount of water discharged into the storm sewers by the Aveka plant (roughly equivalent to the discharge from 400 homes) should be kept in mind when setting the fee.
Cheryl Livingston, who also lives within a couple blocks of the Aveka plant, told the Council that the smell from the plant is tremendously strong and, as a result, she does not want to go outside or open her windows.
Mayor Loren Beneke said that he would invite a representative from Aveka to attend the Council's next meeting to work toward a resolution to the problem.
During the Council's regular business, City Attorney Jim Garrett told the Council that the public hearing regarding a loan of up to $800,000 to fund the City's half of the new fire station in Waukon would have to be rescheduled because the notice of the hearing was not published as planned in the La Crosse Tribune as planned. He asked the Council to schedule a public hearing for June 2, anticipating that the La Crosse Tribune would publish the notice of that hearing for free due to the newspaper's error in not publishing the previous notice. The Council scheduled the public hearing for June 2 as recommended and planned to meet in special session Tuesday, May 20 to arrange for an internal loan of $70,000 to pay current expenses for the fire station project.
Garrett also presented the Council with an agreement with DuWayne Snitker for use of his dog pound facilities. Under the terms of the agreement, the City will pay Snitker a minimum of $210 per month. Garrett also recommended that the Council increase the administrative fee charged to dog owners when they pick up their dogs at the pound. The Council agreed to sign the agreement, increasing the administrative fee from $40 to $60.
Garrett also asked the Council to set a public hearing regarding the voluntary annexation of land recently purchased by Innovative Ag for a planned expansion of the facility. The Council set June 16 as the date for that hearing.
Councilman Dave Sanderson reported that he has been in contact with two parties who are interested in purchasing the former C-Mart property on West Main Street. He recommended selling the property by sealed bid with a minimum bid of $20,000 and that the top four bidders be given a chance to rebid. The Council agreed to Sanderson's suggestion and scheduled a bid opening for June 16. Notice of the sale will be published in The Standard June 4 and 11 and a sign will be posted on the property.
The Mayor updated the Council on the planned installation of an electronic sign board at the intersection of Main Street and Spring Avenue. He said the sign will be easily programmable from the Waukon Chamber of Commerce office and will be used to post notices of events in Waukon. He said that the City had agreed to install the necessary electrical hook-up and pay for the electricity to run the sign, which should be installed soon.
In other business, the Council set June 16 as the date for a public hearing on a request for rezoning of the property located at 100 Sixth Avenue SW. The Council also approved several payment requests and internal fund transfers.

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