The Jefferson City Council met last night in regular session.

During open forum, Jefferson Matters: Main Street Board President Jamie Daubendiek invited the Council members to the statewide Main Street awards ceremony on May 1st in Des Moines.  Carroll Fisher then addressed the Council on several concerns.  She requested that the City hold an appreciation ceremony for City employees and the work that they do.  She asked if there could be a water source at the Memorial Park on Lincoln Way for the Garden Club to water their plants.  She also asked if the City could clean up the property next to her house at 705 West Harrison Street.  The Council took no formal action on any of Fisher’s concerns, but took them all under advisement.

Majority of the rest of the meeting was spent on the proposal of amending an ordinance to establish no parking zones around portions of Hy-Vee.  The issue was brought to the Streets/Sewer/Sanitation/Water Committee meeting last week.  It was brought up due to roads being blocked by parked vehicles and hurting traffic flow.  Police Chief Dave Morlan proposed putting no parking on the south side of Reed Street from Elm Street to Wilson Avenue, the north side of Adams Street from Washington to Reed streets, both sides of Vine Street from Washington to Reed streets and both sides of Wilson from Washington to Reed streets.

Kurt Hastings of Hastings Funeral Home was concerned about taking away parking on Adams Street, but there was a recommendation to allow parking during funeral services where there wouldn’t be parking allowed.  Bill Monroe stated that the City should wait before there is an ordinance change because he believed Hy-Vee will lose some employees after a few more months and the no parking zones might not be needed.  Some Hy-Vee employees parked on the streets to smoke because it’s Hy-Vee’s policy to not allow their employees to smoke on their property.

The Council approved the first reading to change the ordinance.  The issue will have to go through two more readings before the change becomes law.

The Council approved a resolution for the plans and estimate of cost for the 2015 Grimmell Road Lift Station Access Improvements.  Due to not receiving any bids on the project, City Engineer John Milligan recommended scheduling April 14th’s meeting to see if a contractor will turn in a bid by that time.  The Council also approved a resolution and a notice to proceed for HydroClean for the Sanitary Sewer and Manhole Rehabilitation Project.

Other agenda items the Council approved were lease renewals for gardens at 607 and 709 West Lincoln Way and purchasing a mower for $17,500 from a shop in Des Moines for the golf course to use.

It was also mentioned that Angie Pedersen resigned her position at the Greene County Middle School to be a paid contractor with the Greene County Chamber to solely work on coordinating the Bell Tower Festival.