The Owen Common Council held their regular meeting on Tuesday, February 11. Julie and Kevin Baker spoke under Public Comment. They are requesting a variance from the city’s fence ordinance. They want to fence in their yard so their dogs can run. They are proposing a five foot chain link fence in their front yard. City ordinance only allows fences in back and side yards. Julie said it would keep their dogs in, but it would also keep other dogs out. The variance would require a zoning meeting. DPW Chad Smith was not at the meeting, but had expressed a concern with the line of sight for drivers approaching that intersection. The council agreed to have the Zoning Board of Appeals meet to discuss the fence.
Operator’s licenses were approved for Marcella Hanson and Steven Ditsch. Hanson will be working at Dollar General and Ditsch at the Tap Room.
Council members were given a copy of the proposed Hemp-Derived Cannabinoid Ordinance. Chief of Police Fehlman still has to look at the ordinance and assign it an ordinance number. A lot of the information is already contained in other city ordinances. Approval was postponed until the next meeting.
The council approved the purchase of three 4x8 foot signs for the Business Park. They will be yellow with black lettering and advertise the lots for sale. The cost is $125 per sign and the city will have to install the posts. They will vote at the next meeting to add a similar sign to Countryside Estates.
Ray Kilty has made an offer to purchase two lots in Countryside Estates. The offer to purchase two lots by Forward Bank can’t be moved forward at this time as there is no way to get out of the covenants. The attorney told Kilty that anyone who didn’t abide by the covenants would be at risk. He has one more call out to try to come up with something. There are a couple of other privately owned lots in the city that might work for Forward Bank. The city will provide Forward Bank with the information and they can contact the property owners if they wish. The sale of the two lots to Kilty was approved at a price of $3,000 per lot, with Kilty abstaining.
Alderperson Ray Kilty reported on the Planning meeting and their recommendation to set timelines for starting and completion of projects. Kilty said they also need to start planning for how to extend the streets to make more lots available in Countryside Estates. There is land behind what is currently lotted out that would not have the covenants on it, but it would require two blocks of new street to get there. He said they also talked about doing a curb and gutter/street improvement assessment. That would make it fair for everyone in the city. That money would be put in a restricted account. It will be put on the next agenda for approval.
Under the Treasurer’s Report, they got an update on the TIF and how much tax money is being collected. Clerk Tracy Rau said she didn’t feel that the city accounts were structured correctly in regard to the TIF. A phone call with the city’s auditor was scheduled to get answers to everyone’s questions.