Lafayette parking restrictions pass 1st reading

MARENGO — The first reading of an ordinance to limit parking on Lafayette Avenue passed in a 3-2 vote during the July 24 Marengo City Council meeting.

The council approved the third readings of three other ordinances.

The City of Marengo reintroduced a proposal to prohibit parking on Lafayette Avenue on the west side from Main Street to May Street and on the east side from May Street south for 160 feet.

The proposed restriction failed 2-2 in early June, Councilman John Hinshaw and Councilwoman Jenni Olson voting for it and Councilmen Travis Schlabach and Bill Kreis against it.

Councilwoman Karen Wayson-Kisling was absent.

During the June 24 meeting, city officials again recommended parking restrictions for safety reasons. Wayson-Kisling moved not to allow parking on the west side of Lafayette or on the east side north of the alley.

Schlabach asked if anyone from the city had informed residents on Lafayette that parking restrictions were being reconsidered. City Administrator Karla Marck said that was not legally required of the city.

Residents on Lafayette thought the issue was laid to rest, said Schlabach. He asked that the city, “out of common courtesy,” inform the residents before the next meeting that parking restrictions are being reconsidered.

Wayson-Kisling, Olson and Hinshaw approved the first reading of the ordinance during the July 24 meeting. Schlabach and Kreis voted no.

Other resolutions

The council conducted public hearings and approved the third readings of three other ordinances, which now pass into law.

On a 4-1 vote, with Schlabach dissenting, the city approved the sale and ownership of certain snakes inside the city limits of Marengo.

Dylan Pritchard, owner of Corn Fed Frags on Eastern Avenue, asked the city this year to change its ordinance regulating exotic pets so he can sell boa constrictors in his shop.

Pritchard told the council during several meetings that the snakes aren’t large enough or strong enough to be a danger to humans and that they can’t live in Iowa’s cool nights if they escape captivity.

Schlabach has consistently opposed the ordinance change and voted against it.

Schlabach also voted against an ordinance to change the intersection of Franklyn Avenue and Marion Street to a four-way stop. Visibility at the intersection has decreased because of the construction of the new county engineer’s office building and the way the parking lot was designed, city officials said.

The third reading of the ordinance passed 4-1.

The third reading of an ordinance that makes May Street in front of Iowa Valley Elementary School a one-way street passed unanimously. The city council agreed to the traffic change in May to provide more parking for the new pool across the street from the school.