Special City Council Meeting
City Hall, Cherokee, Iowa
May 29, 2007 – 7:00 P.M.
A special meeting was called to order on this date by
Mayor Henrich. Present:
Councilman Varce, Mallory,
Stieneke, Leach, Peck, City Attorney Miller, Clerk-Treasurer Taylor.
Members of the volunteer ABC
committee spoke regarding a controversy at Spring Lake Park where the
wrong trees were cut down in error last week.
Bob Schroder, 309 Centennial, said that although Duane
Mummert was contacted there was apparently a lack of communication and he
apologized for the mistake.
Jim Adamson, 200 N. 6th, also apologized and agreed they need
better communication. Sheree
Hausmann,
1485 N. Ridge Dr., said someone should have picked up the phone and talked to
one of the committee
members. The letter to the editor
written by Councilman Mallory insulted many of the members.
Mayor
Henrich thanked the ABC members for the work they do throughout the community
and said the council
does appreciate their work. Sheree
invited the council to join their group. They
meet on Monday evenings.
Councilman Mallory said he wrote the letter because he wasn’t sure who had cut
down the trees, but thought
that person should come forward. Everyone
makes mistakes, but it should be explained.
He understood
that the trees were planted by Dr. Koser many years ago and were flowering at
the time they were cut down.
He didn’t mean to upset the whole committee, but he didn’t want to
accuse the wrong people. Councilman
Varce told Mick that he offended a lot of people and said Mick should have
talked to him knowing he has
been involved in the ABC committee. Councilman
Stieneke is concerned that the next time the council asks
for volunteers, people won’t come forward for fear of doing something wrong.
We don’t want to lose people
because of this type of situation.
City Attorney Miller reported
that he had contacted the president of Partners Management Group and has
forwarded a forfeiture and rescission of contract to him for signing.
Wally also reported that the contract had
not been recorded so the title of the lots remains with the Cherokee Community
Foundation. Marlene Eickholt,
939 Amber Dr., doesn’t feel the city is enforcing the present covenants.
There is a house that has been there
2 years and is still missing siding and garage doors.
Also, there has been a trailer parked on the street since
last Friday. She loves the area,
but asked the city to please enforce the covenants.
She doesn’t care what
price is set on the lots, but if someone can’t afford a $5,000 lot, how can
they afford to build a $150,000 house,
which is probably the cost of a basic house.
Marty Zauhar, 313 Poplar, said the city needs to go out and trim
around the signs and hydrants, as it hasn’t been done in a while.
Councilman Leach suggested charging
$1,000 per lot, or $500 for the half lots, and give the buyer 2 years to start
construction. Mrs. Eickholt
commented that the covenants state that the exterior must be completed within 1
year of the purchase.
On a motion by Councilman Leach, seconded by Stieneke, the council
authorized charging $1,000 per full
lot and $500 for existing half lots (no new half lots will be created).
Construction must begin one year after
purchase and must be completed within 2 years, as the current building permit
states. Motion carried.
Mr. Zauhar asked whether Sequoia
Dr. would be seal coated this spring and asked whether there was anything
that could be done about a number of houses in the Park View Addition in need of
repair. Mayor Henrich indicated
that unless they become nuisances, there is very little the city could do.
Councilman Leach said that 2 of the houses
were recently sold and hopefully the new owners will fix them up.
Sheila Zauhar said that everyone pays high taxes
so doesn’t feel it should be acceptable to allow people to simply put boards
on their windows rather than repair
them. Councilman Leach said our ordinances don’t address those
things and it is unfortunate that some people
don’t take pride in their property. City
Attorney Miller commented that if it becomes a nuisance our ordinances
cover it, but we can’t dictate what people do or don’t do.
Mark Buschkamp, CAEDC, was
present to update the council on a prospective company looking at locating in
Cherokee. The company is
considering a $20 million investment that would initially employ 30-40 people.
They
would like to be operating by the second quarter of 2008.
The effluent that this company would discharge to the
city’s wastewater plant would far exceed what can currently be handled at the
plant because of the high BOD’s
(biochemical oxygen demand). In
order to handle the effluent, the plant may need an additional aerator and
clarifier,
which could cost $1 million. Another
option would be to pipe the discharge to the Tyson wastewater plant, but that
plant would most likely need extensive upgrades to handle the effluent.
Mark commented that the company could
generate as much as $100,000/yr. in property taxes, $40,000/yr. in water charges
and $70,000 in sewer charges.
The city could impose a surcharge on the company’s utility bill to pay for any
improvements needed to the wastewater
plant. The company may also agree
to put in a pre-treatment facility at their site, which would help some with the
effluent. The Mayor reported that
Wastewater Supt., Steve Casey, has been talking with Dave Fox, Fox Engineering,
on ballpark costs, but to get firm figures, the city will most likely have to
enter into some type of agreement with Fox
Engineering. Mayor Henrich will
contact Steve and Dave about the next step.
Mark also reported that he has had
interest in the former Zylstra building, which may need to be rezoned to allow
warehousing and distribution.
A motion by Councilman Stieneke,
seconded by Leach, adjourned the meeting at 7:45 p.m. Motion carried.
News media – Greg Slotsky, KCHE; Ken Ross, Chronicle Times.
ATTEST:
Debra Taylor, CMC
City Clerk-Treasurer