Wellman OKs loan agreement for golf course sewer work

By Mary Zielinski
Work on the Wellman Golf Course’s $75,000 sewer relining project likely will start in September after the order to proceed is approved at the September 7 council meeting. The key step for the project, a resolution for a $75,00 loan agreement, was approved by the council Monday, following a brief public hearing for the agreement. An equally brief public hearing regarding the plans and specifications also was held.
However, the second reading of the ordinance to amend city zoning along Madison Avenue, between 14th and 15th Streets from R-1 (low density, single family residential) to C1-B (peripheral business district commercial was tabled to the August 23 meeting. The tabling was to allow the reading to go before the full council; there were only three present Monday.
The rezoning has raised a few objections from some residents, although the commercial aspect, at present, is only the construction of a rental storage facility.
In other business, the council:

• held the third reading and passage of an ordinance to enter into a franchise agreement with Interstate Power and Light Company (Alliant Energy) for electrical utility services;
• approved a resolution for an agreement with American National Insurance Company to offer a 457 deferred compensation plan for city employees;
• approved a resolution to apply for a Washington County Riverboat Foundation (WCRF) mini grant on behalf of WATV, the local cable television service;
• set 7 p.m., Monday, August 23 for a public hearing on the plans, specifications and contract for Wellman’s citywide approximate $3 million reverse osmosis project;
• approved two city grants for Jonas Zimmerman who is remodeling the former Sunrise Child Care building into The Well, a bar;
• approved the re-appointment of George MIller Jr. to the city’s Board of Adjustment; and
• set 7 p.m. Tuesday, September 7 for the first September meeting. The change is to accommodate the Labor Day holiday, September 6.

Prior to the regular meeting, the council meet in a work session to discuss special assessments (if any) to property owners for infrastructure improvements, having no parking in the alley near 3rd Street and 7th Avenue and the Cox Sanitation contract. The city is looking at some long range projects, possibly over ten years, that could be financed by a combination of revenue and general obligation bonds. Legal assessment to property owners can be up to 25 percent of property value; however, the council also has considered aspects in which the city would cover 100 percent of costs.
The total project cost for all work is estimated at $8.8 million; however, the council has noted that given the length of time it would take, that figure would change.