The Owen City Council held their regular meeting on Tuesday, August 4. The meeting date was moved because of the election.
Under Public Comment, a few items were brought up. Alderperson Bob Wilczek said he wanted the public to know that the city council and the O-W Police Department are aware of the issues on the 2nd Street property that recently went through an abatement process. It is being dealt with. Owen Clerk Tracy Rau said that residents were asking that the dirt road by River Country Coop get some dust control. River Country has said they will do something but nothing has been done yet.
In regard to feral cats, Tim Swiggum said his brother Tom and he were going to work on the issue before Tom passed away. He has $700 from Tom’s Celebration of Life to put toward doing something. He also has other people interested in helping. Tom had purchased a live trap. Tim asked about using the backroom of the upstairs at the Community Center to store any cats caught until they could be spayed or neutered and released. He felt any kittens caught could be tamed and homes found for them. Wilczek said that ideally removing them is only half the battle, that fix and release does work but not immediately. The Humane Society will help if the city has a place for them to go but won’t do catch and release. Mayor Scott Jalling asked who would spearhead the project. Alderperson Ken Martine suggested reaching out to the farm community to find homes. Alderperson Pam Jaffke suggested putting up a notice at Hene Supply. Wilczek said maybe they could look at a Foster Program for any kittens caught. Jalling suggested creating an ad hoc committee of Pam Jaffke, Bob Wilczek and Tim Swiggum to work together toward a solution. Alderperson Jason Thornton asked if the city would have any liability if they did catch and release and one of the cats bites someone. Formation of an ad hoc committee was approved.
The Community Center apartment was discussed next. Tim Swiggum said they are almost done cleaning his brother’s stuff out. Kennedy, the person doing the cleaning for him has been staying there and Swiggum suggested the city let her rent the apartment. The rent is paid through the end of July. It was proposed that rent be paid for part of August and the city take control of the property on August 15. At that time public works could look at it and see what remodeling needs to be done. DPW Smith said it would probably need to be gutted. The bathroom is done. He would like to add a hallway, do some work on the kitchen, and electrical work is needed. Kennedy said there are some random supplies, such as paint that were left by Tom Swiggum. Alderperson Jason Thornton said he sees the need but winter would be a good time for public works to work on it. Martine asked about funding for the project. Smith said they need to look at it more as he hasn’t been through the entire apartment. He also thought about leaving some of the extra space for storage for the city. Wilczek said that the $15,000 in the account wouldn’t go very far toward a remodel. He suggested picking a couple of projects, rent for a time, and doing a contract with the renter saying work would be done. Thornton suggested that once they get the apartment back on August 15, public works could walk through it and have a plan for the September meeting. Kennedy said there was still a lot of stuff in the backroom and she isn’t sure who it belongs to. Wilczek agreed they should have a plan to look at for the September meeting. Kennedy said maybe the backroom could be turned into a space to house abused women. DPW Smith said they will get in, see what they have, and bring it back to council. Thornton said there is currently no rental agreement in place, maybe they could set a plan and rent it through the winter. Wilczek suggested letting Tom Swiggum’s estate rent it through the end of August, with public works being allowed to enter the building during that time so they can make a plan. Tim Swiggum said the city could probably rent it for $1,000 if it was one really nice apartment. The council voted to allow the apartment to be rented through the end of August with public works entering the building to look at the apartment and make a plan. Thornton voted no.
City Hall will be closed August 18-20 so Clerk Rau and Deputy Clerk Booth can attend clerk training. During that time public works will be doing the next section of the driveway/parking lot.
Clerk Rau applied for a $1,000 election grant. She had planned to use it to purchase a generator for city hall, but it will cost too much. The council approved for her to use the grant funds where needed.
The insurance through the League of Wisconsin Municipalities was renewed at a cost of $28,794. The cost went up about $500. The depot was added and Lift Station #1 was on there twice, so one was deleted.
Mayor Jalling asked that the building permit procedure be put on the agenda to clarify the process. Alderperson Ray Kilty said the city will still be doing its own permit and that it should really be a zoning permit. Three C’s will issue permits except for small things like decks, etc. Martine suggested they set a dollar limit and Thornton suggested they just have everyone go on Three C’s website and let him decide if the city needs to do the permit. Kilty will check with Three C’s to see how he wants to do it.
The council approved a train safety proclamation for Train Safety Week.
DPW Smith got quotes for black top patching. He is not going to chip seal this year. He will do patching on 4th Avenue, 5th Avenue, South Avenue, Meadowview Court, 7th Street, and Altenburg. It will be a two-year project. He will patch some spots and do rut wedging this year. He will do the chip seal next year. The cost to patch is $17,537 and for rut wedging $18,600. The quote from Jensen was approved. Smith said he will use all polymer when the chip sealing is done.
The council approved the purchase of a new Gravely lawn mower from Lube Suppliers in Stanley. With the trade-in, the cost will be $4,300. Smith said he did check locally, but it would have cost a lot more.
Under the DPW Report, Smith reported that they had to replace a stuck water valve in Meadowview Court, The lead and copper sampling all came back good. He did water samples at the Booster Station for 55 different tests and at Well #3 for 95 different tests. Everything came back good. For sewer, he got a cost to rebuild the $250,000 pump that had a seal failure. The cost is $29,448 and will come from the sewer replacement fund. The DNR asked for more information on the Phosphorus Optimization Report. The SCADA computer got a virus and was taken to Yellowstone Computing to have the virus removed. A pressure sensor in the backwash tank had to be replaced. For streets, he said the bike trail plan is 30% done. Smith said only a couple of people attended the Community Involvement Meeting. He is talking to Cedar Corp more about the price as he has concerns. The person that had been working on it retired and the new person is bringing up items he hadn’t previously been told about. They still have a day’s worth of crack sealing to do. They have been mowing brush and ditches. He is removing curb by Master Package on Madsen Street and replacing it with grass. There was a hole in one of the storm drains on South Avenue that has been sealed. They also found a storm drain that was buried and will add a grate to it. They sprayed weeds in the streets. The dam inspection is complete and there is some work needed. He said they need higher security on the email as someone tried to send a virus but he didn’t open it. Smith also is talking to the attorney about the requested closing of an alley. For parks, he spoke to Yellowstone Computing about adding more cameras to Mill Pond Park. He was told they can’t do a jump from the library. They could put Wi-Fi in the park, but it would have a monthly cost. He was told to get a price. Public works removed the horseshoe pits as they weren’t being used. He hasn’t talked to Yellowstone Computing about cameras for the dog park yet.
Under the Mayor’s Report, Jalling extended condolences to the family of Virgie Miller who had served the city as deputy clerk. Sheila Nyberg was the guest speaker at the United Communities meeting. She spoke about the Spencer to Medford rail system. He attended the library meeting and they accepted a bid for $19,000 to replace the roof with asphalt shingles. He said that Kerry Ingredients still has concerns about their water bill and he will be meeting with them to discuss it.
Under Other Reports, Thornton said the Fire District had met. They were not approved for congressional spending. The Fire District is reaching out to USDA about funding. The new ambulance is here. Kilty said they had a planning meeting about a garage for Larry Herington and couldn’t see any reason that he couldn’t build as planned. It will be on the next council agenda for approval. Martine asked about the concrete plant but they have signed their contract and paid for the land. Clerk Rau said that the Fair Board did apply for their beer license for the fair and it can be approved at the next meeting.