The Owen Common Council held their regular meeting on Tuesday, June 10. Under Public Comment, Rick Nelson asked about the proposed Chicken Ordinance. He questioned how many people already have chickens and how many chickens they have. He said they were proposing a limit of four, but his neighbor has 12. He asked if this is a perceived problem or an actual problem. He also wanted to express his concerns about the police agreement. He said they talk about it as Owen and Withee being one municipality, but also say that Owen pays more so they should have more. He mentioned the Fire District and how they work together. He also feels that the water and sewer departments could do more to work together. He felt the current discussion on the agreement was slamming the door on future joint ventures.
Alderperson Ray Kilty talked to Jim Bohl about what he wants to do on trading lots. Bohl is going to refigure his square footage as Kilty feels he is only about 125 square feet off from what the covenants require. He will get back to the city. Kilty also talked to Bohl about the cluster box units the post office wants put in. Bohl is totally against it. Mayor Scott Jalling talked to the post office and was told that if someone buys a house, they can put a mailbox in front of it. He said the problem is between the post office and Bohl.
The council decided to wait on getting a new printer for the office for now based on the recommendation of Clerk Tracy Rau. Their contract on the current printer is paid off. The printer at the shop is obsolete and parts are no longer available. Rau said there had been a few issues with the current printer but feels they are corrected. She hadn’t been thinking about a new printer. Bauernfeind just sent a quote. It was suggested that when the time comes to get a new printer that they shop around.
A special event permit for the Woodland Hotel was approved for July 4. They plan to close a block of 4th Street and the frontage for the Woodland. Red Higgins will be on the porch from 4-11 p.m. and there will be fireworks on the 4th Street lot owned by the Woodland.
An operator license was approved for Noah Zarins. Beer/liquor licenses were approved for El Pinal, CreekSide Convenience, Red Daisy Girl, Meadowview Golf Course, Woodland Hotel, O-W Sports & Liquor, Dollar General, One Shot, and L.A.S.T. Ace. CreekSide has to pay their property taxes before their license will be issued. There are no other Combination Class B licenses available in the city.
Under the Public Works Report, DPW Chad Smith reported on a class that he and Clerk Rau had attended on water audits and PSC rate case applications. The last full rate case in the city of Owen was in 2018. Smith and Rau were given permission to proceed with the rate case, which will be given official approval at the next meeting. Smith estimated that their application would be done by October. They did some work on the water hammer piping to the relief valve at the booster station. The ground reservoir is due for an inspection. Smith said he will probably have to move money in the budget to have Lane Tank do the inspection at a cost of $1,950. For Sewer, he met with the DNR and Cedar Corporation on the standpipe. It was to be allowed as an emergency maintenance item, but the cost to rebuild and paint it would be $280,000. They could maybe rebuild the entire standpipe in stainless steel for $215,000. The DNR felt it might now have to be run through their planning department with engineering plans attached. Cedar Corporation said they could maybe just cobble things together until next year and then build completely new at a cost of $240,000, including $25,000 in engineering fees. They would switch the pipe and tear the other one down. This would also give them time to apply for grant funding. Staab Construction also looked at it and will provide a bid. They will also work on a fix to make it last a little longer. Colby hired Owen public works to do some sewer jetting work, which was billed hourly. Smith held two Sewer Commission meetings, one to talk about the standpipe and one so the members could tour the Wastewater Treatment Plant. The hauler program should bring in about $20,000 in income. Under Streets, the students painted the Band Pavilion on Community Service Day. Public works has been working on repairing areas damaged during snow plowing. They fixed the lawn where they had a water main break over the winter. They added gravel to the Mill Pond parking lots. They are working on the depot roof, painting curbs, and made and installed the signs for the Centennial trees. The railroad police want RR painted at the Willow Road crossing and a stop line added. The cost will be $1,050. They also replaced the railroad signs and moved the stop signs. The speed signs are up as are street signs for 9th and 10th streets. Lot lines in the business park have been staked out. An agreement has been signed for Green Grove Supply to build in the Business Park. They sell greenhouse supplies and plan to have a retail store along with their wholesale sales. They are going to start with a 50,000 square foot building and will add two more sections later. Cedar Corporation is doing the engineering work. They purchased 15.4 acres.
Under the Mayor’s Report, Mayor Jalling said that Sheila Nyberg is working with a housing developer and asked if the city would like to do something with Countryside Estates. The developer would want the land for $1. The council is only interested if the developer pays the asking price per lot.
The council went into closed session for about half an hour to discuss Employee Reviews. No recommendations were announced in open, but the Personnel Committee is having another meeting on this topic.