Painting of Corporate Drive Water Tower discussed at council workshop

By Kelly Terpstra, kterpstra@charlescitypress.com

The new city logo could be used on the 15-year-old Corporate Drive water tower in Charles City if city leaders choose to do so.

Water Superintendent Cory Spieker spoke to the City Council at a planning session Monday evening about Dixon Engineering inspecting the water tower that was built in 2004 and has a million-gallon capacity.

Spieker said the design team’s cost in working on an RFP (request for proposal) that would include on-site observation, project administration and final inspection would be approximately $26,000.

“As we look to do this, now is our opportunity if we want to match the font and put the logo up there. Now is our time to do that,” said City Administrator Steve Diers.

The water tower would be pressure washed and painted with an epoxy coating. Spieker estimated that cost at $200,000 and he had hoped that work could begin sometime next spring.

Diers said that two new welcome signs that have the new city logo were installed as of Monday at Highway 14 west of town and Highway 18 as motorists drive into Charles City from the east.

“We have been throwing around this idea of having a city-wide, school-wide, chamber-wide coordination of logos and maybe this a good impetus to get that group back together again, too,” said Mayor Dean Andrews.

Several members of the community attended the council workshop and spoke out against the city’s policy of bow hunting that would select licensed hunters to kill six deer at the Wildwood Golf Course in November and January.

The hunters would have to pass a background check and proficiency test and would be chosen via a lottery system.

The council passed the policy last week at a regular council meeting with a 5-0 vote.

“This policy has been voted on by the council and approved. To get it back on the agenda, a council person would have to request this to be on the agenda again,” said Andrews. “If any of you have further comments to a council person to see if they would be willing to do that, that’s how it will get back on the agenda.”

Jerry Hegtvedt, owner of Cedar Valley Realty and Auction Co., discussed the gravel parking lot area on his property. The city has asked in recent years that all vehicles be removed from that lot adjacent to the building located at 1206 Gilbert St. The city would also like the parking lot paved and for no public parking to be allowed in the lot.

Hegtvedt said he uses the lot for a storage area and also suggested a privacy fence could be built to alleviate the situation.

“I’ll be the first to admit, it’s not a perfect solution,” said Hegtvedt. “We’ve used that for private use only. Folks, it’s a storage lot. It’s what it is. I need a storage lot for us to be able to operate.”

The council said Hegtvedt could request a waiver to the Planning and Zoning Commission regarding the city’s amended ordinance – which was changed in June – on such parking restrictions.

The council also discussed the possibility of hiring a safety coordinator to oversee safety training procedures for the city. Charles City has recently joined a regional consortium, sponsored through the Iowa Association of Municipal Utilities, to better train employees about safety in the workplace.

Diers said there were several communities or entities in the consortium that would share the cost of the coordinator’s position. The estimated cost of the position is $130,000 a year and Charles City’s share of that cost would be roughly $25,000.

The design and engineering team of Calhoun and Burns will come back with its cost estimate on the $1.2 million Charley Western Trail Bridge Project next month. Check plans were submitted to the Iowa Department of Transportation on Sept. 17 and final plans must be given to the DOT on or before October 22.

Charles City has already received $329,000 in federal TAP funding.

City Engineer John Fallis said the city will have a resolution at the October 7 council meeting to set a public hearing for the project on October 18.