The Jefferson Public Works Committees met on Tuesday for their regular monthly meeting.
The Water Committee had an update from Water Superintendent Kyle DeMoss about the lead service line inventory. He said there were a total of eight lead lines, 191 galvanized lines that would need to be replaced, and 228 customer service lines left to identify. The deadline to submit that information to the Iowa Department of Natural Resources and the Environmental Protection Agency is this October.
The Water Committee also discussed annual water rate increases. City Administrator Scott Peterson requested a five percent increase for next year to cover the cost that is being used from Local Option Sales and Services Tax of about $70,000, which is not what LOSST funds are intended for. Council member Chad Stevens serves on the committee and proposed a three percent increase, because lots of people are having financial hardships. Code Enforcer Chad Stevens mentioned that if the city doesn’t continue to make these needed increases, then they will have to play catch up at some point with a larger increase. The issue will be tabled until next month before being brought to the City Council.
The Sewer Committee recommended to the City Council for sewer forgiveness of three separate properties at the Meadow Trailer Park. There was an underground water line that had broken and the water was running out of it. It was mentioned that the total amounts of $487, $454 and $354 that were proposed to be forgiven were over three months. The committee decided to make a change in the sewer forgiveness policy that it would be for a maximum of two months.
The Street Committee heard an update about a project to make a repair for drainage in a ravine. Public Works Director Dave Morlan said he was going to have the city attorney draft an easement agreement for the landowner before they could do the repairs. Next, the committee recommended for the next Council meeting to approve the capital improvement plan. They were also reminded that the public informational meeting with the Iowa Department of Transportation’s proposal of a three lane road on Highway 4 is going to be September 23rd at 5pm at the Greene County Community Center.
The Street Committee also had a discussion about the sidewalk program. Stevens presented a plan for future curb cuts and to have crews identify sidewalks that would need to be addressed when those projects are happening. They also recommended for the Council to approve a process for property owners to remove dead or dying trees on private property. Following a report by Stevens that identified 417 trees, Peterson said the process would begin with a notice letter to the property owner about the dead or dying trees. He mentioned that in the notice it would be stated that if the trees are not removed, it could be deemed a public nuisance and then the property owner would be forced to remove it.
If the trees are not removed before March, then a nuisance letter is sent and a period of 60 days is allowed to remove the tree. Peterson noted that property owners that would need financing to pay for a contractor to remove the trees, could do so with the city. The city would then hire a contractor to remove the nuisance trees and the property owners would reimburse the city over several months as part of a special bond revenue.
Finally, the Recycling and Sanitation Committee heard a single-stream recycling update. Morlan said the last two recycle pick-ups from July 30th through August 13th, on Mondays were the same at 296 stops, Tuesdays were 257 and 235, and Wednesdays were 326 and 368. He noted that overall recycling has had an increase in usage.