P & Z advises Kalona to seek 28E agreement with county regarding Urban Reserve Area

By Mary Zielinski
Kalona’s Planning & Zoning Commission wants Kalona to consider a 28E agreement with the county, not extend city services into the city’s two-mile jurisdiction, Wes Rich, P & Z vice-chairman told the council Monday.
Rich explained that the 28E agreement would guard the city’s interest in a designated Urban Reserve Area shown in the recently approved city Comprehensive Plan. The agreement would maintain the city’s interest in the area, he said, especially regarding future development contiguous to the city.
P & Z, with four members (Rich, Sylvan Schlabach, Larry Pickard and Ronald C. Slechta) present, actually had a quorum at the council meeting.
Rich explained that the city needed to “refine a 28E Agreement) rather than spend funds with its consulting engineers. Garden & Associates, to see how to extend its water and sewer infrastructure.
Council member Ken Herington, noting that the city “could service anything. It comes down to what you want to spend,” agreed that “we don’t need to spend money for what we already know.”
Herington was referring to the Urban Reserve Area outline in the Comprehensive Plan and the fact that improvements in developments are the responsibility of the developer.
As far as going any further with a plan for extending water and sewer lines, Herington said, “We don’t need to go any further at this point.”
Rich said, “We’ve already paid for the Comprehensive Plan. All you need is a refinement for a 28E agreement”
Rich noted that there are parts of the two-mile radius that Kalona would not want to extend any services into, such as Richmond and Schlabach noted that there are “grey areas” and the Urban Reserve Area could be narrowed.
Council member Claudine Miller-Zahradnek stressed that spending $3,000 to $5,000 (for Garden & Associates’ work) would not be a bad investment for the future of Kalona. Council members previously have indicated that some nearby developments may later be annexed by Kalona.
The council agreed that the 28E agreement should be pursued and City Clerk Karen Christner asked them to consider “Who will create it?”
She then said that the county attorney should be contacted since the county has already at least one 28E agreement with a city, specifically Wellman. The council agreed.
In other business, the council:
•officially approved salary increases for the library staff;
•agreed to a two-hour minimum pay for a city employee called in to work evenings or weekends. Overtime is paid in compensation hours which means the hours would be at time and a half. However, there is a limit of 240 comp hours per employee;
•approved new fees for the Sharon Hill Cemetery raising a grave opening from $300 to $350, inurnment from $74 to $100 and employee fee for a grave closing at a weekend from $25 to $50. The council also discussed the recent occurrence of someone using the cemetery as a golf driving range. Council member Steve Lafaurie asked that the council consider rules for the cemetery and enforcement. He and other council members expressed concerns about possible damage to monuments;
•agreed with City Administrator Doug Morgan that rust repairs to the new truck should be done at a cost of $623’
•learned that the city’s new building code and procedures are very similar to those in Iowa City and Coralville;
•learned that the drain in the baby pool area at the Kalona Municipal Pool will need to be changed since it will not be compliant with state law;
•were asked by Dave Finley of the Kalona General Store to add a handicapped parking space near the store on 5th street. Morgan was asked to see about it;
•approved closing D Avenue between 7th and 9th Streets for the two-day Kalona Fall Festival September 26-27. Handicapped parking will be provided on 9th Street. A formal resolution permitting the closing will be enacted at the September 2 meeting;
•learned that the 24-hour inspection time frame is not uncommon in other cities. Mayor Jerry Kauffman said the building inspector has been “very accommodating” in doing inspections on Saturdays and Sundays. However, the council agreed it would contact the building inspector in Washington to see about being on-call especially if the Kalona inspector is on vacation or is ill;
•received some names from Rich for possible appointees to the Zoning Code Board of Appeals. It will be a five member board and Morgan said there is no restriction for individuals to serve on more than one board concurrently; and
•approved closing a segment of 5th Street and B Avenue for a car show August 23.