The Owen Common Council held their regular meeting on Tuesday, May 12. A block party permit was approved for RedDaisyGirl for June 9 for a street dance and cruise-in. She plans to have one per month. A permit for the Woodland Hotel was approved for July 4 for fireworks and a street dance.
The Finance Committee had met to discuss the Police Rental Agreement. Alderperson Pam Jaffke said they looked at square footage in the city hall building and the garage behind it. It costs about $6,000 per year for the utilities, which with both the city and police paying half would be $250 per month. They are currently paying $400 in rent toward the mortgage payment. Beginning January 1, 2027, the Police Department will be asked to pay $650 per month. There will be a door to the loft in the garage separating the two areas. It was suggested that a written rental agreement be drafted to avoid confusion in the future. Rent could also increase annually dependent upon utility costs.
Bauernfeind had submitted a proposal for the city to purchase a new copier. They said the one public works is using is obsolete and parts are hard to find. The garage got the old copier from city hall when they replaced it last time. It was tabled for now as both copiers are working.
In regard to the 2nd Street Nuisance Property that is set for abatement, Alderperson Ray Kilty said the quote from Haul Away does include dumpsters and he does have insurance. Police Chief Fehlman will send new information to the attorney to see if anything else is needed before abatement begins. The city will ask Haul Away to get them on the schedule.
A number of items from Planning were on the agenda. The first was an offer to purchase 34.52 acres of land on Heartland Drive from Cole Szpara and Slobodnik Gravel and Excavating in the amount of $51,780. He plans to put in a concrete plant. The city would like to keep water rights to the back part of the lot. He will put in sewer, water, and a road. He will also pay taxes on a building of $1 million minimum value if his building isn’t completed in two years. The property will need to be re-zoned industrial.
The second item was apartments on Central Avenue in the old bowling alley. Jim Bohl would like to purchase the building and convert it to apartments. There was a concern about whether there would be enough parking. There are also issues with having apartments on the ground floor of main street buildings. It was felt that if the front of the building held a business that apartments might be put in the back. Bohl will have to present a plan to zoning and then it can come back to the council with their recommendations.
The third item was an offer to purchase the lot on Central Avenue next to Wild Hearts Daycare so she can add on to her building. She made an offer of $500. The council approved the sale at $500 if she will leave the horse shed on the lot.
The final item was in the trailer court. The council approved the Planning recommendation to allow the owner to replace the trailer he removed with a new one. He will not be required to put it on a concrete pad as long as it is tied down. He would also like to build a garage which would store his stuff and could also store some of the resident’s stuff making the trailer court look nicer.
In regard to the Prevail sign in Mill Pond Park, the signs Prevail would like were approved with Prevail paying $1,300 toward the cost and the city paying $500. Clerk Tracy Rau is worried that the new playground equipment won’t fit where the old equipment is. She asked about moving it to the parking lot area behind the bathrooms, but that space is used by the fair. DPW Smith and Kilty will measure it out and have Parks look at it.
A proposal was brought to change to 3C’s for building inspection. They are certified and will do both residential and commercial, with 10% of the fee they charge coming back to the city. It was postponed until the next meeting so Pat Kilty could come and answer questions.
People are still seeing feral cats in the downtown area. It was suggested that residents be notified that live-trapping might begin and any untagged cat assumed to be feral. Clerk Rau had checked with other municipalities and quite a few do license cats. The city would have to purchase tags. They also need a place to take any cats that are live-trapped. Jaffke said ideally they would re-home them. Chief Fehlman said they would need to create a list of farms willing to take them. Then the Humane Society would be willing to spay and neuter them. Alderperson John Mauel suggested that they could trap cats as they have a place for them to go. It will be on the next agenda.
Under the Public Works Report, DPW Chad Smith said they had been flushing water mains and one fire hydrant on Central isn’t working. For Sanitary Sewer, he had kids at the Wastewater Treatment Plant for Community Service Day. They spent part of their time working and then got a tour of the plant. They have been exercising valves, installing UV lights, and working on the Compliance Maintenance Annual Report. For Streets, they are working on the city hall garage, sweeping streets, picking up brush, and fixing lawns that were damaged by plowing. The Clean Sweep was successful, bring in a lot of stuff. For Parks, the Mill Pond bathrooms are open and they are dealing with the goose eggs.
Under the Mayor’s Report, Mayor Scott Jalling said the brat fry was successful in raising funds for the playground equipment. They plan to do another one at city hall on May 29 to raise money for the bike trail.
Under Other Reports, Cindy Cardinal reported that she and Ken Martine would be picking up the plants for the hanging baskets and the horticulture class from school would be helping plant them. Martine asked about the city doing fireworks for the 4th of July.