June 6 Council meeting

Nice to have all council members and mayor in attendance at the same meeting. Haven't had that in awhile.

We opened with a public hearing (which nobody spoke for or against) regarding the city selling property. It is our intent, and we approved the sale of the city's lot north of the car wash. The builder who had built the duplexes on South Main Street, and on Cottonwood is interested in putting duplexes up on that lot. We didn't have any potential use for that lot, so hopefully we will get some properties built on it, and generating more property tax revenue. The lot was sold for its assessed value of $4100.

We heard from the Sheriff's Department, as they usually stop by every, or every other meeting. Nice to report no major issues in town per usual--just the usual comments about speeding and such.

We approved a RAGBRAI ordinance. It set the fees and rules regarding sales stands being set up in the city during RAGBRAI. The fees are laid out depending on the type and home location of the vendor. For more details in getting a stand in Roland, please contact City Hall. I believe there is going to be another RAGBRAI meeting on June 25.

The council discussed the lease of land to I Source Wireless for the construction of a cell tower in Roland. They are a company that puts up towers and leases them to wireless companies for cell antennas. It is much like a developer who might build a mall, and then lease space to retailers. Anyway, they would like a spot for what would likely be about a 150 foot monopole tower, somewhere on city land. The 3 likely spots where the city has available land are near the sewer plant, in Britson Park, or north of the city sheds. I think the general consensus of the council was that north of the sheds would be an appropriate place. We are doing some more investigating and pondering that, and will take it up at the next council meeting.

On June 30, many appointments to the city boards and commissions expire. The following people have agreed to re-up on these generally thankless jobs. I appreciate the time they put in. Some of them don't require much time, as they rarely meet--like Planning and Zoning and Board of Adjustment. But still, somebody has to do it, so I appreciate it. Here they are:

Library Board, Jerry Handsaker and Steve Olson. Park Board, Tony Greene and Josh Greenfield. P&Z, Denny Posegate. Pool Board, Jeremy Heaberlin and Val Gregori. Board of Adjustment, Keith Lyman. Arthur Drive Rocks! 5 of the 8 are from Arthur Drive, and 2 more are just around the corner. If you have any interest in being on a board, I am always looking for interested people when openings pop up. Let me know, or drop your name at City Hall.

We had a discussion with the council and some citizens regarding the proposed sewer trunk line that would go along Bear Creek and behind the homes on Samson. Tricia Anderson spoke for several citizens in that general vicinity, and presented a list of questions and concerns the folks in that area have about the project. The council and city engineer will be working to provide answers to that list, and hopefully a good dialogue on this project continues.

The council approved MSA Engineering to be the contractor who will be doing sump inspections in all homes in the city. They will be charging $30 per inspection to the city. Details on how to arrange an inspection will be forthcoming. As a reminder, all homes in the city will need this inspection, per our recently passed city ordinance. The purpose is to ensure that all sump pumps are drained to the outside of the home in rigid piping for the purpose of keeping ground water out of our sanitary sewer system.