GRUNDY CENTER- During a lengthy meeting on Monday night, the Grundy Center city council voted unanimously to raise its water and sanitary sewer rates by two percent despite the concerns of a resident who has long battled rusty water at his home.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Leonard Stephens addressed the council and provided a sample of brown water as he has several times in the past, noting that he was at his “wit’s end” and could not support an increase in rates while he continues to receive substandard water. He said that the ice pigging process was a solid first step, but it hasn’t completely fixed the problem yet.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
“I hate to be a thorn in your side. I think I’ve been reasonably patient for 22 years, but this is still unacceptable,” Stephens said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Stephens told the council he was petitioning that his rates should not be increased, and he should be compensated with a stipend for all of the filters he has been forced to purchase. He added that he felt the state of his water amounted to unequal treatment under the constitutions of Iowa and the United States.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Councilman Butch Kuester responded that while he was sympathetic to Stephens’s situation, he did not know how any exemption or refund would work without parameters to establish who should qualify. Fellow Councilman Rick Smith added that the city needed to be “methodical” about fixing the issue and make the best of limited resources.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
“I’m going to be in a nursing home (someday). I’m going to want to sell my house, and this doesn’t sell a house good,” Stephens said. “I understand that resources are limited, but so is patience and so are lives… I’m still against the rate increase (because) it’s personal until I get it fixed.”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Fellow resident Rich Ahlberg also commented that the Bethany Presbyterian Church sometimes gets yellow water, and Kuester added that he gets it in his own home. After about 20 minutes, the public hearing was closed, and the water increase came up for a vote.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Councilman and Mayor Pro Tem Dave Stefl argued that a rate increase was necessary because of the increase in cost for the water that the city buys, but he felt some consideration should be added for residents who have received substandard water.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Kuester and Smith then raised the same concerns about a lack of criteria for who should receive exemptions from the increase, and Stefl promised that fixing Stephens’s problem would remain one of the city’s highest priorities.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
“We are going to continue to diligently look at your problem. We will and we have been. It’s our obligation to make it a better situation than it is,” Stefl said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The council ultimately passed the first reading of the water increase by a 4-0 vote (Chad Hamann was absent), and also passed the first reading of the two percent sanitary sewer rate increase by a 4-0 vote. Both will go into effect on July 1.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Another item on the packed agenda was the first reading of an ordinance to install a stop sign at the intersection of Indigo Street and L Avenue, which is currently uncontrolled. Kuester reported that citizens had approached him about drivers cutting the corner to the point that a child was almost hit, and with the housing addition on the horizon, it made sense to be proactive on installing a stop sign. Police Chief Doug Frost commented that he sees people cutting corners “every now and then” and would probably see it more if he spent every hour of the day at the intersection. Ultimately, a motion to approve the first reading carried by a 4-0 vote.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
EMS Director Dwight Gliem came before the council to discuss a pair of matters, one of which, advertising for a new full-time paramedic 24-hour shift to replace Colby Medinger, received a quick approval. Medinger, it was reported, has found a position closer to his hometown of Bellevue.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Gliem also discussed the possibility of conducting a needs assessment that could lead to a public vote on a new joint EMS-police station, which he hopes would last the city at least 20 years. Stefl said it would be unlikely to get the assessment finished in time for an election in 2021, and it was estimated that the dual-purpose building would require a levy of between $1.25 million and $1.5 million. No official action was taken.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
New police officer Chad Luck was sworn in by Stefl as Mayor Al Kiewiet was absent.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
During the public comment period, Ahlberg addressed a variety of issues including rumors of a shouting match at the ball diamonds, parking, staffing for the police department, ordinance enforcement and who was responsible for upholding it and a building on G Avenue that could be a hazard. He added, however, that he was impressed with the police department for having a patrol car out at night. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
During committee reports, City Clerk Kristy Sawyer reported that she had received her first peddler’s permit request from a fireworks company, FreedomWorks LLC out of Dunkerton.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The next council meeting will be held on Tuesday, July 6, to<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
IN OTHER BUSINESS, <\/strong>the board:<\/p>\n · Approved hiring Pam Mackie as the Community Center Co-Director\/Head Bartender.<\/p>\n · Approved the fiscal year 2021 annual cash transfers.<\/p>\n · Approved a resolution setting the fiscal year 2022 city staff wages.<\/p>\n · Approved a quote from T&T Computers for a new city hall server.<\/p>\n · Approved the mayor’s appointments of Jill Krausman to the Historic Preservation Commission, Curt Mauer to the Board of Adjustments, and Emily Hendricks to the Municipal Utilities Board.<\/p>\n · Approved Mayor Kiewiet signing the Form of Grant Disbursement Request #1 for the Grundy Center Development Corporation and clerk to proceed with payment.<\/p>\n · Approved allowing Kiewiet to sign the US Department of the Treasury document for Coronavirus relief funds.<\/p>\n · Approved the consent agenda as listed.<\/p>\n · Approved re-advertising for cleaning services at city hall.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" GRUNDY CENTER- During a lengthy meeting on Monday night, the Grundy Center city council voted unanimously to raise its water and sanitary sewer rates by two percent despite the concerns of a resident who has long battled rusty water at his home. Leonard Stephens addressed the council and provided<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3349,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5972,1],"tags":[5036,436,4746,3591,3872,4454,4693,4248],"class_list":["post-3351","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-2","category-uncategorized","tag-butchkuester","tag-citycouncil","tag-davestefl","tag-grundycenter","tag-leonardstephens","tag-richahlberg","tag-ricksmith","tag-waterrates",""],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/midamerica.news\/grundyregister\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3351","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/midamerica.news\/grundyregister\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/midamerica.news\/grundyregister\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/midamerica.news\/grundyregister\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/midamerica.news\/grundyregister\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3351"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/midamerica.news\/grundyregister\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3351\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/midamerica.news\/grundyregister\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3349"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/midamerica.news\/grundyregister\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3351"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/midamerica.news\/grundyregister\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3351"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/midamerica.news\/grundyregister\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3351"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}