Charles City Council weighs pros, cons of riverside property offer

By Travis Fischer, tkfischer@charlescitypress.com

The Charles City Council considered a property acquisition proposal during its workshop meeting on Wednesday, Aug. 28.

The council held a lengthy discussion about a proposal for the city to acquire and demolish two dilapidated structures.

The owners of the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed house located at 1107 Court Street also own neighboring buildings at 1105 and 1101, which have been degrading since the 2008 flood. Both properties sit within the 100-year flood plain and have long been on the city’s list of dilapidated homes to be removed.

The owners of the property have asked if the city is interested in taking possession of one-and-a-half of the lots in exchange for demolishing the two houses, installing a fence, and removing the sidewalk.

“It would be a good way to get rid of two nuisance houses down there,” said City Administrator Steve Diers.

However, while in favor of the opportunity to take down nuisance property and potentially utilize the riverside lots as a new public boat ramp, the council had reservations about the responsibility and cost of demolition, particularly when the owners want to keep a quarter of the property.

“We usually push people pretty hard to get people to take care of properties on their own,” said council member DeLaine Freeseman.

The request to remove the sidewalk was also thoroughly discussed. Though the existing sidewalk doesn’t currently go anywhere notable and is functionally useless, rather than being removed it could be extended across the Frank Lloyd Wright property, which would connect it to the park on the opposite side.

“I’m not a huge fan of getting rid of sidewalk anywhere,” said council member Phoebe Pittman. “We need to make sure our neighborhoods are walkable.”

In addition, it’s not known if the property would be suitable for a boat dock, which would help the city decide if it is worth acquiring

“I don’t know that we want to acquire it just to have another lot to mow,” said Mayor Dean Andrews.

While the council is interested in getting rid of two nuisance properties and in the potential of those lots for city purposes, the conditions of the agreement have caused a pause.

Moving on to the city’s own property, the council met with Kristy King from Bergland & Cram to discuss a proposal to provide design service for planned City Hall/Police Department renovations.

The city has already worked with Bergland & Cram on a generalized idea of how the building could be renovated, taking in feedback from staff to identify the needs of the building to prioritize. The design service agreement would have them work that generalized idea into an actionable design.

It was noted that the project is operating on a timetable, as part of the project is planned to be funded with American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) money, which must be under contract by December.

“We need to get that moving,” said Diers.

For current projects, the council received an update on the Main Street Rehabilitation Project and a rundown of change orders to be approved.

The concrete work for the project is almost entirely complete and laying asphalt will take place through September as planned.

“All in all, I would say everything is still ahead of schedule,” said Jason Petersburg of Veenstra and Kimm.

Seven change orders for the project were reviewed, accounting for unplanned work and changes to the scope of the project. Changes include an additional $7,420.25 in expenses due to unexpected underground complications, including in one case where the construction crew found a previously unknown basement.

The recent closure of the Main Street Bridge to heavy vehicles has also resulted in an additional expense, costing $5,500 for trucks to reroute during the project.

While some change orders increase the cost of the project, others have brought expenses down through either finding cost saving measures or scaling back the scope of the project.

In total, seven change orders for the Main Street project have reduced its cost by $160,470.65.

In other business, the council continued with a review of a franchise agreement regarding the SOO Green Line, a direct current transmission line planned to cross through Charles City along existing railroad right of way as it runs from Mason City to near Chicago.

The city has been working with SOO Green on details of the agreement, requesting that the line stay on the north side of the right of way, avoiding a couple instances of the line coming close to housing, and keeping the line 5 feet below existing infrastructure on the route.

SOO Green has been agreeable to these conditions and a public hearing for the franchise agreement is planned to be scheduled for Sept. 16.

Water Superintendent Cory Spieker presented the council with a trio of water projects for the council to consider, starting with a request to upgrade the city’s SCADA system to a cloud-based service.

Currently utilizing a completely offline system, the SCADA system monitors the water plant’s monitoring and control process.

“It’s basically the brains, besides the operators, of the plant,” said Spieker.

Noting that the current aging system has become increasingly unreliable, Spieker recommended upgrading to a cloud-based platform, prompting a discussion about the pros and cons of using online or offline systems, from security to technology lifespan to expense.

Spieker also asked the council to approve the final colors and logo placement for the upcoming repainting of the Charles Street water tower and informed the council of an issue with the city’s #7 water well.

Testing of the well has confirmed the presence of iron bacteria, a common issue that while not harmful to humans, has been feasting on the chlorine in the water. It’s recommended that the well be disinfected and flushed, which will need to be coordinated to not conflict with other well projects, as both well #8 and well #5 are also in need of maintenance and testing.

Finally, the council reviewed the proposal from Jendro for the annual rate increase request. For the last three years the city has approved a 3.3% total rate increase, skewed toward the heavier garbage users, and that same policy has been calculated for this year.