Thomas declines seat on council

The Washington City Council learned that Tina Thomas, who won the election for the Ward 3 seat on the council, will not accept the position as councilor. Thomas received 24 write-in votes at the Nov. 8 election. Mike Roth, the current representative of Ward 3, received 18 write-in votes even though he said earlier in the year that he would not seek re-election. Roth was given the opportunity to assume the position again since Thomas declined it but he, too, declined it.

Washington County Auditor Bill Fredrick said the seat is considered vacant after the top two vote-getters decline the office. The third place finisher, who in this case was Ted Thornton with three votes, is not offered the seat. One person received two votes and eight people received one vote each.

The council will vote at its Dec. 21 meeting whether it will fill the position through appointment or through a special election. If the council does appoint, it must do so within 40 days after the vacancy, which would start Jan. 2. Fredrick has received correspondence from the Secretary of State?s office which would suggest that the city?s appointee would have to stand for election in November 2012.

The residents in Ward 3 have the right to petition the council for a special election. They must file the petition with the city clerk within 14 days of the notice of appointment or 14 days after the appointment, whichever is later.

Fredrick said the number of signatures necessary on the petition can be determined in one of two ways. For cities with populations of 10,000 or less, the petition must contain 200 signatures or 15 percent of the number of votes cast, whichever number is lower. Fifty-five votes were cast for the Ward 3 election, which means that nine people need to sign the petition in order to force a recount.

The council voted to approve a sidewalk project on South Iowa Avenue which would begin on the east side where the sidewalk now stops at 1140 S. Iowa Ave. and go by the LDS Church all the way to the southern driveway at Mercy Medical Clinic. Hinson said the cost of the project is about $24,000 and that the cost will be split 50-50 between the city and the property owners. How much each property owner pays will be a function of the square footage of new sidewalk laid on their property.

Hinson said that he and other city officials considered three options for the sidewalk project. The first was to pave from 1140 S. Iowa Ave. to Mercy?s north driveway, the second was to pave to Mercy?s south driveway and the third was to pave to the southern edge of Mercy?s property. Hinson said he thought the second option was the most reasonable. He said Mercy should understand that it might have to pay for a sidewalk to its southern property line if the property to the south is later developed.

The council also discussed engineering services. Hinson said the city has had a good relationship with Fox Engineering of Ames, which has done the engineering for the city?s new sewer plant. Hinson recommended continuing to use Fox Engineering for the city?s water and wastewater engineering needs. He suggested that the city employ the engineering firm Veenstra and Kimm of Coralville to perform the city?s civil engineering. Hinson said he worked with Veenstra and Kimm when he lived in Garner and that he was pleased the company offered to attend city meetings at no extra charge.

The councilors all agreed with Hinson?s suggestions, although they will have to wait until the next meeting to hire Veenstra and Kimm.

The council voted to move the position of cemetery sexton into the Maintenance and Construction Department. Rick Wagenknecht was the city?s sexton until he retired earlier this year. Prior to the change, the sexton was the head of the cemetery department and reported directly to the council. Now the sexton will report to the supervisor of the maintenance and construction department, who is J.J. Bell.

Hinson informed the council that there will be a change order relating to the demolition of the former Tienda La Cruz buildings on South Marion Avenue. He said that the contractor, Cornerstone Excavating of Washington, will need more time to weatherproof the southern wall of the dentist?s office that was once an interior wall but which is now exposed to the elements.

Hinson said the contractor was initially going to put steel siding on the dentist?s office southern wall but city officials have since recommended not doing that since the city is encouraging downtown businesses to move away from steel siding. Hinson said the contractor will instead use fiber cement board on the southern wall.

In other news, councilor Merle Hagie said that the system for reporting and replacing burnt out streetlights does not work. He said the lights are often out for months before they are replaced. Hagie volunteered to be the contact person for any broken streetlights in the city and to relay that information to Alliant Energy. Hagie asked if he could use a city vehicle to drive around town to check for burnt out streetlights.

?You mean, like a bike?? asked councilor Bob Shepherd.