Salem leaders table street work again

By BROOKS TAYLOR

Mt. Pleasant News

SALEM ? An intersection in Salem will have to wait at least another month before repair is authorized.

A motion by Councilman Bill Wixom Jr. to repair the Liberty/Main streets intersection died for a lack of second and the matter was later tabled. It was same song, second verse for the matter as a similar motion in June, also by Wixom, died for the lack of a second.

Council members have been discussing the repair work for approximately nine months, terming the intersection dangerous.

Since the intersection also includes county land, Henry County has offered to pay 40 percent of the project cost. The county did receive a proposal from Wesley Martin Construction this spring for $9,842 to do the work, meaning the city would have to pay around $7,000.

?We still have to get it done, we have about $30,000 in road use tax,? Wixom said in making the motion. ?I don?t know why we can?t start it. You have to come out of the intersection at a crawl.?

Wixom also noted that the city will owe about $17,000 to Northway Well for city well repairs, ?but that (and the intersection repair) won?t come anywhere close to it (balance in the road use tax account).?

No one on the council voiced opposition to the repair. It was more of a ?show me the money? scenario.

?I don?t want to spend any more money until we know we have it,? sized-up Chuck Kramer.

The matter will be on the council?s August agenda.

Mayor Dan Patterson told the council that he has received several complaints about inhabited campers parked along city streets.

?That is a violation of our (city) ordinance,? Patterson said. ?You can?t stay in a camper (parked on a city street) for longer than 30 days.?

City staff will notify the camper inhabitants of the ordinance by letter.

Council members also learned that a sewer pump needs repair. Patterson said it would cost $3,875 to repair the pump or $7,975 to replace it. Several council members and former Mayor Jim Onorato said the city has had a spare pump in the past. Patterson said he will check on the spare, and the council gave him permission to either use the spare or repair the pump if a spare cannot be located.

In a personnel matter, Kramer said he wants the part-time city maintenance employee ?to learn everything Dick (Myers, city maintenance worker) does.? Patterson said he will see to it that the part-time worker is properly trained.

The city will also begin nuisance procedures against the owner of a house at 210 N. Main St. that has been partially destroyed by fire. The procedures calls for the city attorney to send a letter to the owner, informing him/her that they have 90 days to abate the ordinance or further action will follow.

?We have to start paperwork on what we have to do and then move to the next one,? Kramer said. ?We have to start somewhere,? Wixom agreed.

In two other minor matters, the council approved the placement of a 20x14 square-foot building at 110 W. Cherry St. The building is portable and on a skid.

Finally, council members discussed the repair of a drainage ditch on property owned by Earnestine Harvey. ?The ditch needs to be filled in, and I will check with the county on what is needed for repairs,? offered Patterson. The matter was tabled until the August meeting so the city could receive an estimate of repair costs.

Council members also approved a $475 expenditure for the city?s periodic examination fee. A recent change in state law allows smaller Iowa communities to conduct a periodic examination fee instead of a full-fledged audit, which saves the town considerable expense. A full audit is needed every eight years, according to the council.

The council will meet again in regular session Tuesday, Aug. 5, at 5:30 p.m. in the Community Building.