Waukon City Council votes to delay paving of Third Street NE

by Bob Beach

During its regular meeting Monday, September 16, the Waukon City Council met with a number of residents of Third Street NE to discuss the possibility of putting off paving the street until next spring. Councilman Joe Cunningham explained that the contractor for the project, Skyline Construction, had requested an extension of two to three weeks on the originally contracted completion date because of a late start date due to weather conditions along with numerous and extensive change orders.
Cunningham further explained that at that point he had asked both Lyle TeKippe, the project engineer, and Jesse Delaney, the project manager, if there would be advantages to putting off the paving of the street until spring, and both had responded that there would be benefits to allowing the ground to settle through a freeze-thaw cycle prior to paving. The Council at that point asked for input from property owners on the street.
Mary Jane White, representing the owners of one property, gave a laundry list of concerns about delaying the completion of the project. She described the situation as "an ongoing nuisance in front of peoples' homes." She said, "You need to get 'r done," citing the continuing inconvenience the project has caused the area's residents, adding that a wet spring without curbs and gutters on the street could result in storm water in people's homes.
She encouraged the Council to use the contractual penalty for late completion as leverage to compel Skyline Construction to complete the project and to "represent the interest of the people on the road, not the interest of the contractor." She stressed that it should be possible to complete the project as scheduled. On behalf of her clients, she urged the Council to "get it done right, and get it done now."
Project manager Jesse Delaney responded to White's comments by pointing out that it was a councilman, not Skyline Construction, that had suggested putting off the project's completion until spring. He added that even with the late start because of wet weather conditions, he could justify every day of the three-week extension on completion he had requested based on the many change orders and extensive excavation to ensure that water and sewer lines were connected properly.
Councilman Cunningham at that point suggested that in the interest of avoiding litigation, the project should be completed this year. He made a motion to grant Skyline Construction's request for a three-week extension on the project's contracted completion but to otherwise have the project completed as scheduled. Steve Wiedner seconded that motion, but Councilman John Ellingson said he would like to hear from more property owners prior to a vote.
The other property owners in attendance, while informing the Council of various inconveniences the ongoing project has caused them personally, overwhelmingly expressed the opinion that they would like to see the project done right and encouraged the Council not to rush the job.
After Cunningham's motion failed to pass a vote, Councilam Trent Mitchell made a motion to delay paving the street until spring and that motion carried unanimously.
The Council then turned its attention to a request by the Herman family to extend the City's water main onto private property at the end of Third Avenue SE. With regard to a cost-sharing agreement on the extension, Councilman Mitchell said that he remained concerned about setting a precedent by funding the project. Councilman Cunningham said that he didn't see a cost-share agreement as precedent setting since the project would have "overlapping benefits" for the property owners and the City. The Council then agreed to a 50/50 cost share agreement for the project, with the Herman's share not to exceed 50% of the engineer's estimated project cost.
In other business, the Council addressed several questions from Zoning Administrator Al Lyon regarding reimbursement of moving expenses for residents of Town and Country Trailer Court. The Council agreed to several expenses that exceeded what it had previously approved. The Council further agreed to make the trailers the City had purchased available at no charge to anyone willing to move them outside of the city limits and approved a bid from Beneke Roofing and Construction to remove the remaining trailers at a cost of $1,500 per trailer.
Following its regular business, the Council went into closed session to discuss the recent ruling of the County Compensation Board regarding the condemnation of the Bresnahan property. Upon returning to open session, the Council authorized City Attorney Jim Garrett to file a notice of appeal of the ruling. The Council also directed the City Clerk to submit a check to Mary Bresnahan for $100,000, which will be held by the Sheriff pending the appeal.