February 17, 2014

City of Walcott February 17, 2014

The semi-monthly meeting of the City Council of Walcott, Iowa, was held on Monday, the 17th day of February, 2014, at Walcott City Hall. Mayor John Kostichek called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. Council members present were: Tim Koehler, Virgil Wayne Latimer, Lisa Mengler, Jackie Puck, and Jacob Puck. Absent: None. City employees present: Jeff Blake, John Brockmann, Jackie Huston, Linda Rivers, and Tom Schirman.

Jake Puck moved and Mengler seconded to approve the agenda. Motion carried.

Consent Agenda. Mengler moved and Koehler seconded to approve the consent agenda including the invoices, minutes from 2/3/14, January 2014 Financial Reports, Resolution 2014-6, Approving Wage increase for Building Official, and Resolution 2014-7, Adopting the 2013 Supplement to the Walcott Code of Ordinances. Motion carried with unanimous roll call vote.

Audience. Joe & Jessie Latsch and Joe Hahn.

Contract approval for Sanitary Sewer Inflow & Infiltration Study. Brockmann recommended waiting to approve the contract due to the concerns Attorney Schirman has with the contract. Koehler moved and Mengler seconded to table the contract until the next meeting. Motion carried.

Iowa U.S. Route 6 Renewal. Following discussion on the renewal, Koehler moved and Jake Puck seconded to approve the 2 year renewal for $150.00. Motion carried.

Ordinance 469-14, Amending Chapter 125, Pertaining to Mobile Home Park Regulations. Koehler moved and Jackie Puck seconded to approve the second reading of Ordinance 469-14. Motion carried with a unanimous roll call vote.

Splash Pad Advisory Committee. Mayor Kostichek requested approval to appoint the following committee members: Bridget Geigle, Danielle Blake, Lisa Holdorf, Leah Patton, Jackie Geigle, Heidi Wulf, and Amy Leuenhagen. Jackie Puck moved and Mengler seconded to approve the appointments. Motion carried.

Potential Parking Code Changes. The following parking restrictions were discussed for possible code changes-

√ò Right-of-way parking. Parking is currently prohibited on the street ROW that lies between the curb and the property line that is not covered by driveway. The recommendation would be to change it to curbline for areas that do not have a actual curb. Some areas may need to be exempted. Council consensus was to make the change.

√ò Front yard parking. This change would be to prohibit parking in front yards except on driveways. Corner lots have two front yards. Council consensus was to make this change.

√ò Side & rear yard parking. Possible restrictions could include: limiting the number of motor vehicles and/or towables to 2 or 3 in the rear yard or allowing a certain percentage of the rear yard to be hard-surfaced for parking. Due to the complicated nature of this issue and a lack of Council consensus, this topic will be put on a future agenda for discussion.

√ò Motor vehicles on jacks. The Council consensus was to limit vehicles being allowed outside on jacks. Approved jack stands versus other more dangerous materials was discussed. Length of time allowed for jack stand use was reviewed. Schirman and Rivers will return to a future meeting with recommendations.

Planning & Zoning Commission Concerns. Huston presented the following issues that were discussed at the P&Z meeting and are being brought to the Council for direction-

√ò Accessory buildings on larger lots. Current code allows lots that are larger than 20,000 sq. ft. to construct a second accessory building up to 3,000 sq. ft. Huston questioned if the accessory building would be considered too large if the house was only 800-900 sq. ft. P&Z did not have a recommendation to lower the square footage, so Koehler recommended leaving it as is and the rest of the Council did not disagree.

√ò Special Uses Permitted. Attorney Schirman recommended allowing residential use in conjunction with commercial use in C-1 and C-2 zoning. P&Z also would recommend this change. Council consensus was to proceed with the change.

√ò Car Ports. P&Z is recommending language that would consider approved car ports as part of the allowed square footage of an attached or detached garage and that the car port must be attached to the garage or primary structure. Council consensus was to add the language.

√ò Snow fences. P&Z had a request to allow snow fences to be placed in front yards as that is where they are likely needed. Currently, snow fences are not allowed in front yards. Following discussion, the Council determined that front yard snow fences could allow snow to drift on neighboring properties and did not consider them appropriate for front yards.

The recommended code changes will be prepared for a P&Z meeting.
Building Department : Resolution Awarding Contract for Demolition of Building. Rivers reported that the bids had been opened and some had been very reasonable. Tom has approved the contract and lawful disposal of the material is included. Following discussion, Koehler moved and Jake Puck seconded to approve Resolution 2014-8, awarding the contract for demolition to Holst Trucking in the amount of $3,488.00. Motion carried with unanimous roll call vote.

Police Department Report. Chief Blake gave the January 2014 call reports to the Council. He also reported on staffing in his department and that the damaged squad is still not repaired.

Public Works Department Report. Brockmann reported on winter related difficulties including another water main break and snow removal. He is still attempting to get an asbestos removal estimate for the recently purchased building on Main Street. Delays on the Bryant Street project were discussed. Council requested that Schirman contact the City Engineer to attempt to get the engineering on the project completed.

Mayor's Report. Mayor Kostichek reported that the Municipal Building Committee had been meeting and was making progress. The next meeting is February 18th.

Jackie Puck moved and Koehler seconded to adjourn at 7:32 p.m. Motion carried. All votes on motions were unanimous, unless noted.

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