Riverside council debates possible shelter on south side

RIVERSIDE?The Riverside City Council discussed what to do with a concrete pillars on the south edge of town just off W61 that used to hold a tar tank. Councilor Ralph Schnoebelen objected to what the city had done with the pillars the prior month. Public works director Brad Herrig drilled holes in the concrete pillars in August to test their strength. Schnoebelen asked why the city had drilled test holes in the concrete without first discussing it during a council meeting.

Councilor Christine Kirkwood said residents have approached her about putting a shelter in at the site of the concrete slab because it?s near the walking trail. She said the city could put up signs about the railroad that once ran through town.

?I can?t see putting a shelter down there next to grain bins,? Schnoebelen said. ?It?s going to be a site that will be hard to maintain. We have a park a block down the road where people can stop.?

?I don?t see anything wrong with utilizing something we have and taking a possible environmental hazard and turning it into something useful,? councilor Rodney Waldschmidt said.

Schnoebelen said that the council decided in April that if no one wanted the concrete, the issue would appear before the council again.

?That?s what we?re doing right now,? Waldschmidt said.

Riverside resident Larry Simon said the discussion should have occurred before the holes were drilled.

?I?ve got pictures of every hole that?s in there,? Simon said, who later remarked that there were five holes drilled into the concrete. ?These are not test holes. They?re drilled in the sides and on the top. It looks like they?re getting ready for anchors to set a roof up.?

?Are there anchors in there?? Waldschmidt asked.

?Not yet, but there shouldn?t have been any holes drilled unless the council sitting up there decided it,? Simon said.

?How do you know whether to proceed on a project unless you do some investigation?? Waldschmidt asked.

?Do you know where that 3-inch pipe in the ground between the tanks goes, Rodney?? Simon asked.

?I have no idea,? Waldschmidt said.

?Then why are we spending money drilling holes when we haven?t found out if the ground is contaminated?? Simon asked. ?Has the soil been tested? Did they just scrape it out and skim it? This hasn?t been cleaned up. You guys are getting the cart ahead of the horse.?

Simon asked the council how projects could be initiated without the approval of the full council. Yahnke said public works director Brad Herrig has the authority to do those sorts of projects without needing the council?s approval.

?Not if you told him not to,? said Riverside resident Bob Schneider.

?I didn?t say I told him not to,? Yahnke said.

?The council did,? Schneider said.

?A couple of members of the council don?t remember it that way,? Yahnke said.

?Don?t you read your minutes after they?re approved?? Schneider said.

Kirkwood then said that everyone needed to maintain a respectful atmosphere in the council chambers.

Kiene said his understanding was that the council wanted to see if anyone would take the concrete and, if not, to then fix the concrete.

?I know that?s not in the minutes, and excuse me, I screwed up,? he said.

?Why don?t we find out if it?s a health hazard first?? Schneider asked.

Yahnke said that he heard from the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) that there wasn?t a problem at the site of the tar tank but that he had no documentation of that. He suggested the council obtain something in writing from the DNR about the condition of the site.

Kiene motioned to look into the cost of bids to remove the concrete and dispose of it off-site, and to investigate whether the land is contaminated.

?It may be cheaper to fix the thing than to tear it down,? Kiene said.

Schneider suggested that the order of operations be reversed in the motion so that the evaluation of the ground is done first.

?We?re just getting bids. We?re not doing anything,? Kiene said.

?I just want to make sure I understand your motion,? Schneider said.

?Well, you don?t really have to,? Kiene said.

?Chris, what was that comment you made to me, when he sits up there and makes comments like that?? Schneider said. ?He?s one of our councilmen and he doesn?t respect the people out here.?

Kiene apologized to Schneider and Schneider accepted his apology.

The motion passed 4-1. Kiene, Yahnke, Kirkwood and Waldschmidt voted in favor of it and Schnoebelen voted against it.

In other news, the council voted 4-1 to hire a new utility billing clerk, Jessica Van Auken of Columbus Junction. Schnoebelen remarked that Columbus Junction is 29 miles from Riverside, which is outside the 20-mile limit for ?critical need? employees. Schnoebelen voted against the motion to hire Van Auken while Kirkwood, Kiene, Yahnke and Waldschmidt voted for it.

In an interview Wednesday, Riverside City Clerk Missy Carter said the city does not consider the utility billing clerk?s position ?critical need.?

Schnoebelen also spoke about an upcoming hearing he will have about the alleged nuisances on his property. In a court appearance in May, Magistrate Judge Daniel Kitchen said Ralph and Jan Schnoebelen had until Aug. 15 to clean up the pallets, barrels and scrap iron on their property.

?I can?t afford to hire lawyers all the time to go to court. Maybe you people can, but I sure can?t,? Schnoebelen said. ?The magistrate said this never should have come to his court, that it should have been resolved with the city.?

Yahnke said he was not going to discuss items that are under litigation.

?We have removed almost 50 tons of steel,? Schnoebelen said. ?We have done a hell of a lot of work and we?re not done because it rained for five weeks and because it was so rough I injured my knee.?

Schnoebelen later remarked, ?The only thing I know to answer this is to sell the damn place out and quit paying taxes into the city of Riverside and do like the rest of them and go to town to go to work.?

Yahnke reiterated his earlier opposition to discussing items under litigation.