As they discussed at the last meeting, the Clarion City Council formally approved a resolution to hire a code enforcement officer at their meeting on Tuesday, September 21. The job will go to Lisa Kist, who has held a similar position in Eagle Grove. Kist will start out part-time as a city employee with a six-month probation period.
In order to lay the groundwork for Kist, the council also approved the addition of a property maintenance code chapter and amendment to the rental housing code to the city ordinances. City Attorney Zach Chizek noted that the property maintenance code covers all buildings in the city, from commercial to residential. It is modeled on what Eagle Grove and other Iowa city’s use in their code. “The standards here a pretty basic and are meant to guarantee safety,” said Chizek. This code covers things like exterior and interiors of buildings, lights, ventilation and fire protection.
The rental housing code lays out what operators and tenants of those properties must do and will be the basis of Kist’s inspections. The first reading of both ordinances were approved, though Chizek noted that they can still change based on direction from Kist. The full ordinances are available at city hall and on their website.
In the open forum part of the meeting, members of the Clarion Pride Good Neighbor Association reminded everyone that the Clarion Clean-Up will be Friday and Saturday, Oct. 1 and 2nd. Friday times are 8:30 am-3pm and Saturday 8-11 am. Look for flyers around town or on the city’s Facebook page for more information. Carolyn Bowman also announced that the AAUW will be holding a candidates’ forum for those running for Clarion mayor and city council on Monday, October 18 at the public library starting at 7 pm.
A public hearing for the submission of a Community Development Block Grant for the water treatment plant was held. This was the same hearing that was held a month ago. It needed to be repeated since the city’s low- and moderate-income status (LMI) had expired. The city’s LMI rating was found to be at 64.21% after the most recent survey, an increase from the previous survey. The required hearing announcements that were read noted that the city is requesting $600,000 in CDBG funds for the project that is estimated to cost a total of $7.3 million. No public comments were made during the hearing and none had been received previously. In other related measures, two resolutions were passed committing matching funds for the water treatment project and endorsing the submission of the CDBG grant application.
In his report, City Administrator Clint Middleton noted that the Spec Building will soon have a new owner and that this action is 100% moving forward. The new owners will make an announcement in October.
In other council business, the group approved the appoint of Isis Salas to the Clarion Public Library Board. They discussed problems at Swimming Pool Park, especially during home football games with litter and bathroom conditions. Chief of Police Steve Terhark added that they will be conducting more walk-throughs during games.
