February 15, 2016 Special Mtg

City of Walcott February 15, 2016

A special meeting of the City Council of the City of Walcott, Iowa was held on Monday, February 15, 2016, with Mayor John Kostichek calling the meeting to order at 5:15 p.m. Council members present were: Tim Koehler, Virgil Wayne Latimer, Jackie Puck, and Jacob Puck. Absent: Lisa Mengler. City employees present were: Jeff Blake, Tom Schirman, Linda Rivers, and Jackie Huston.

Latimer moved and Jacob Puck seconded to approve the agenda. Motion carried.

Janice Dawson requested hearing regarding a nuisance abatement notice. Rivers gave the following reasons for the notice:
• Several junk vehicles on property, not operable
• Vehicles with flat tires, broken windows, weeds, and sunk in mud
• Unsafe semi trailers that are leaning
• Three trailers are encroaching on the Lincoln Street right-of-way
Rivers stated that she sent the notice and Ms. Dawson had requested a hearing.

Brian Dawson (Janice’s son) spoke for his mother regarding the notice. He stated that the property had always been zoned Heavy Industrial and has operated in a similar manner for several decades. He indicated that he has been trying for the last year, since his father passed away, to clean up the older vehicles. He stated: he had disposed of 10 cars last summer, got all the other vehicles running, the trailers are used for storage, and they are trying to improve the property, not be a nuisance. He also said that he doesn’t consider the vehicles to be junk when they are operable and he moves them around the property. He indicated that his goal is to consolidate the equipment that is in the trailers and dispose of the oldest ones and the broken window is a result of consistent vandalism that he reports to the police.

Latimer stated that the property looks better than it ever has and several on the Council and in the audience agreed. Following a lengthy discussion, Mr. Dawson stated that he would move the three trailers off of the right-of-way and continue to make improvements to the property by disposing of the older trailers. Jackie Puck moved and Latimer seconded to have the Dawsons return to the first meeting in September 2016, to discuss the status of the property. Motion carried.

Koehler moved and Jacob Puck seconded to adjourn at 5:48 p.m. Ayes: All. Motion carried.