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HBK plans meeting with PV families; Also: Water rate hike delayed; 4th Street work problem; business incentives
by Rick DeClue · News · October 20, 2016
HBK Engineering plans to hold another meeting in the coming days with homeowners affected by the proposed Lion’s Field creek restoration project.
The engineers want to finalize maintenance issues and locations of several residential service sheds located between the planned 30-foot-wide creek buffer and back yard property lines of some of the 15 homes on Scott Drive, south of Orange Street.
The City Council heard Monday that, along with work on the stream bank, a buffer of prairie-like vegetation will be designed to slow water flow from the north and increase retention along this section of the creek.
With the city’s knowledge, five sheds were constructed years ago beyond the residential lot lines on city property. Some, but not all, of the homeowners mow and maintain ground to the creek’s edge to effectively extend their back yards. The city wishes to establish the buffer and clarify property lines along the creek in an area that is also affected by Federal Emergency Management Agency flood plain regulations.
HBK hopes to come to an agreement with the homeowners on a way to design the restoration work so the creek work can begin.
On the other side of Lion’s Field, the city plans to install restrooms, which City Administrator Matt Muckler said have been ordered, with delivery expected by Nov. 15. Muckler said he hopes the restrooms are ready before winter.
In other city council business Monday:
• West Branch Police Chief Mike Horihan presented the council with a proposed new department policy. Upon approval, the 195-page document will replace the current 600-page version in order to improve efficiency and ensure the policies meet current law.
• The council postponed the second reading of Ordinance 743 increasing the city’s water rates for the next five years. The absence of council member Jordan Ellyson created the possibility of a tie vote, which would have required restarting the process on this issue. The council preferred to wait for a full council vote to decide the issue and move forward. It should be noted that, due to a reporter’s error, a story on water rates in the Oct. 12 issue cited Ellyson and council member Colton Miller as voting “no” on the proposed increase. Ellyson voted “yes,” with council member Brian Pierce supplying the second “no” vote.
• A discussion of financial incentives for Cotton Creek Mill, a quilting store owned by Tami Urmie and Tara Langley, was formally tabled when Urmie was unable to attend the meeting. Mayor Roger Laughlin’s contracting company was hired by Cotton Creek to complete approximately $150,000 in improvements for the company’s new location. City attorney Kevin Olson and Muckler briefly discussed possibilities, including future tax relief on the incremental increase in the property value. The issue will be considered further at the next council meeting, and comes after Muckler’s request during the most recent council goal-setting session that financial incentives for commercial prospects in the city be considered on a case-by-case basis, instead of the programmed incentives currently available to residential builders.
• Possible work on a water main under a sidewalk adjacent to the city’s Fourth Street project will likely be postponed for several years after Cornerstone Excavating, Inc. withdrew its bid of approximately $49,000 for the required change order, then resubmitted a bid for the change at closer to $100,000. The company cited several factors, including the need to winterize the concrete pour for the walk after the utility work could be completed. Rather than pay Cornerstone’s increased figure or complete the utility work then leave the sidewalk undone until next spring, the council decided to complete the sidewalk within the original contract and delay the water main work. Director of Public Works Matt Goodale stated his usual preference to complete utility work when street and sidewalk work is in progress, but said the water main work could be delayed as much as several years, although they would then have to dig through the subject sidewalk. Council member Miller was upset by the contractor’s action of bidding-withdrawing-rebidding at twice the price. He asked his fellow council members to “put an ‘X’ in the box” next to Cornerstone to remember this night when it comes to future city projects.
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