The Owen Common Council held their regular meeting on Tuesday, August 26. There was no public comment. The minutes were approved with a couple of spelling corrections.
There was nothing new from the city attorney on the Police Agreement. Alderperson Ray Kilty suggested that since the main issue seems to be in regard to the garage that the $90,000 in savings should be returned to Owen at 65 percent and Withee at 35 percent. That would give Owen the money needed for the garage for the police cars. Alderperson Bob Wilczek said he felt that many of the members of the Police Committee don’t understand the purpose of the committee and that they haven’t read the entire agreement. Kilty said if the money was refunded, they could do something before winter. Wilczek pointed out this would leave nothing to fall back on if there was a catastrophic failure of one of the squad cars. This will be put on the next Police Committee meeting for discussion and possible action.
There also was no update from the city attorney in regard to the nuisance property on 2nd Street. Police Chief Patrick Fehlman said he has sent all his information to the attorney. He felt the attorney might be waiting on the disposition of the citations that have been written.
Kilty reported on the discussion at the Planning Meeting. He said they talked about the map of the Eastside Commercial Park that had been found. It has a nice setup for the road. The Fire District could use Lot #3 and the stormwater detention pond will provide plenty of drainage for the area. A dry hydrant could be put in the pond for fire department use. Wilczek said they could probably hold a joint meeting with the Fire District next month. The appraisals of the building and the property should be done in early September. The president and vice-president of the Fire District board are aware of the change in what the city is proposing. It was felt that the offer to them could be left as is for now and the new proposal could be discussed at the joint meeting. It was also felt that the new plan they have will benefit the city as long as the DNR approves the plan.
Kilty also reported on the Parks meeting. He said they met at the park and looked at the equipment in need of repair. They measured it out for the new equipment and talked about the grant. There could be costs to removing the current equipment. There also needs to be discussion of how much site prep the grant will cover. The grant will cover the rubber chip base under the equipment. Kilty planned to meet with city clerk Tracy Rau and send the questions they have to GameTime. It was also noted that Jerry Ocanas did pressure wash the equipment that is in the park. Kilty said the rock wall should probably be removed as it is a safety issue. They can make a final decision about the plan at the next council meeting and still meet the grant deadline.
A temporary license was approved for the Fire & EMS Foundation for the Owen Jr. Fair.
Under Other Reports, DPW Chad Smith said that the Clark County Land Conservation Department will be planting pheasants on Clark County property near the Eastside Commercial Park. They had asked if it was okay to park cars on city property for people to access the walking trails to hunt pheasants. Smith wanted to check with the city’s insurance and ask the council before telling them yes. They want to do a permanent parking spot and will look at another plan if the city lot they want to use sells.
Clerk Tracy Rau reported on the training she and deputy clerk Booth attended. She said it was very informative. She took a class on Emergency Management.