City plans to follow state code on fireworks

By Brooks Taylor, Mt. Pleasant News

Mt. Pleasant, at least for now, will follow the state code on the sale and use of fireworks.

City council members during Wednesday?s regular meeting, passed the first reading of an ordinance to that effect. The ordinance reads as follows: ?It shall be unlawful for any person or entity, to possess, store, offer for sale, sell or explode any fireworks, except as allowed by state law. It shall be unlawful for any person, or entity, to possess or explode any fireworks on any city-owned or leased property, including but not limited to, city parks and trails, without a permit approved by the city council.?

Mayor Steve Brimhall said the ordinance is not written in stone ? yet. ?If we want to be more restrictive, we still have two more readings. There is always the problem instituting a law we can?t enforce, so we started out by going with the state law.?

At least one resident wasn?t happy with the ordinance. The resident, a newcomer to Mt. Pleasant from Olathe, Kan., urged the council to ?really think about this.?

He said he had a grandson lose a finger in a fireworks accident ?and sees nothing that is a winner with fireworks. You are going to ruin your town. The only thing you get from fireworks is money.?

Another item receiving input from the public was one that wasn?t on the agenda. Mike Sawyer of Des Moines, who handles labor negotiations for employees of the Mt. Pleasant Municipal Utilities, urged the council to consider passing a resolution in support of bargaining rights of public employees in Mt. Pleasant.

?The new collective bargaining law severely restricts the rights of public employees,? Sawyer noted. ?I feel it would send a good message if the city council would approve a resolution.?

State Sen. Rich Taylor, D-Mt. Pleasant, also spoke in favor of such a resolution.

?In context to the censure of public workers in Iowa with the Iowa Legislature?s irresponsible recent assault on Iowa Code Chapter 20, I hope you all would concur that our city employees are the most valuable asset in the City of Mt. Pleasant.

?I further encourage you, with the signing of this resolution to both welcome and honor these employees and their chosen representatives to share their ideas and concerns at the bargaining table as companions in the operations of the City of Mt. Pleasant with the city managers as a team for the betterment of all,? Taylor said.

Concluding, Taylor said that he thinks it is very important that ?we work on issues together because it is a team effort. I think your public employees work very hard for you every day with limited resources.?

Sawyer asked the council for a timeline on when they might consider such a resolution. Brimhall said that as of now there is not a timeline, but the city would keep him informed if it considers such a resolution.

In other agenda items, council members approved a contract with LL Pelling Co. of North Liberty to refurbish the chip-and-seal covering on East McKinley, South Harrison and Langdon streets. The cost for the project is approximately $35,000.

Council members were to hear an appeal of a nuisance order from Maria Mellado, who lives on the 600 block of East Harrison Street. However, Mellado was a no-show.

City Attorney Pat Brau said it was his understanding that Mellado was not appealing the order but wanted more time to clean up her property. The city had given her 10 days in the order. However, Mellado?s appeal letter was dated April 9.

Councilman Steve Engberg asked if Mellado had cleaned up her property. ?Very little,? answered Brimhall.

Brau noted that Mellado did not state how much more time she would need. Following short discussion, the council gave her until Thursday (today) at 4 p.m. to have the premises cleaned.

?If she doesn?t have it cleaned up, we will file a nuisance violation,? Brau said. ?We will just enforce the order that the police department gave her.?

Residential and commercial solid waste fees are rising. The council passed the first reading of an ordinance to increase the administrative fee that the Des Moines Regional Solid Waste Commission is charging the city. As of July 1, the fee will go from $3.55 to $3.75 monthly. The city?s base fee will increase from $2.75 to $3 per month. City Administrator Brent Schleisman said the landfill?s tonnage fees are increasing by $1 and the city is just passing its increased costs to users.

In other agenda items, the council:

? Passed the third reading and approved an ordinance establishing a fine for false alarm fire calls. The fine is $500 on the second and each subsequent false alarm call by an individual.

? Approved Brimhall?s appointment of Tom Young to serve the remaining term of Shelly Walderbach on the planning and zoning commission. Walderbach has relocated from the city.

? Approved a change order on the air piping project at the wastewater plant. The change order will increase the cost of the work by $46,685.

? Approved a change order on the Baker Street reconstruction project. The change order is for replacing two manhole covers and paving a right-of-way. The change order will increase the project cost by $11,250.

? Awarded a contract to Jones Contracting of West Point for the 200 block of the North Jay Street reconstruction project. Jones bid $62,777. Three other bids were received, ranging upward to $77,000. The engineer?s estimate for the project was $77,262.

Council members meet again in regular session Wednesday, May 24, at 5:30 p.m., in City Hall.