Marengo Council considers price tag for RAGBRAI stop in July

The March 22 meeting of the Marengo City Council opened with Sara Williams speaking on behalf of Bee City USA during the open forum. She requested the council consider granting an override of the grass cutting ordinance for month of May to create early spring habitat that will help the bee population.

Laura Sauser with Iowa County Community Development provided overview of ICCD’s purpose and recent accomplishments. Introduced board members in attendance.

City Administrator Karla Marck reported Marengo has been selected to be a RAGBRAI meeting town on July 28 and council gave consideration to street repairs, public works and public safety expenditures. This could potentially cost $62,500. She will work to finalize numbers. No immediate action was taken.

A public hearing was held regarding Ordinance #513: Amendment to Chapter 40-Public Peace; by Revising Section 40.03 and Adding Section 40.07 Disorderly House. Discussion occurred among public members, council and Marengo Police Chief Ben Gray as to how the ordinance would be applied in specific circumstances. Tony Hocamp requested property owners to be notified as soon as possible. Chief Gray indicated police activity reports are available upon request. Council approved.

Council reviewed specs for the public works building and approved releasing a request for bid for the new facility on Lot 2 of the industrial park and submitting to planning and zoning for the sale of the lot. Marck provided project updates on building specs and pricing activities. She requested approval to move forward to obtain contracted pricing and take plans to Planning and Zoning (per Industrial Park policy) for review and approval of plans prior to council splitting lot and transferring deed.

Councilmember Sue Peterson requested to rescind a previous motion to sell the southern section of lot #2 to Travis Schlabach and Miller. No action was taken by the council. Discussion occurred regarding location of building and whether 2” or 6” water services should be installed. Doug Kinzenbaw expressed concerns regarding additional projects costs for placing the building on the north end of lot.

Marck reiterated the need to release requests for building and site preparation bids to enable council to make a final design decisions. Council approved to release request for bids for the facility and site preparation, with a Plan A locating building on north side of lot with 6” water service and Plan B locating the building on south side of lot with 2” water service.

Marck stated she had received property and liability quotes from Iowa Communities Assurance Pool (ICAP), the only agency to submit a bid to Marengo Insurance Group. Marck indicated city also contacted The Accel Group but no quote was provided.

Public Works Director Lonnie Altenhofen reported his department will be starting to replace water filter media. The lagoon is back to working as normal, as 810 South Street/retention pond cleanup is done. He is contacting vendors regarding sealing streets for summer repairs. Sidewalk repair bids are due April 7. Cemetery cleanup is completed.

City attorney Gage Kensler reported he has the easements ready for the lagoon project.

Councilmember Travis Schlabach, on behalf of the drainage district, reported the state is done with water conditioning/cleanup of the retention pond and will begin testing soil. Chief Gray reported exterior of 810 South Street property cleanup efforts are also in process.