(Arnolds Park)– A public hearing on whether or not a property owner should be allowed to rebuild a deck that extends over a portion of city right-of-way drew a lot of discussion at Wednesday’s Arnolds Park city council meeting.
Fred Davenport made the request. David Stein, Junior, a Milford attorney, represented Davenport. He said Davenport purchased the house years ago not knowing a portion of the deck extended onto city property. He says they were just recently made aware of that as plans were being drawn up to replace the deck. Davenport requested the city allow him to rebuild the deck on its present footprint, with a portion of it still extending over city right-of-way.
After lengthy discussion, a motion was made by council member Susan Munsen to deny Davenport’s request. It failed on a two-two tie vote with Munsen and Mike Koppert voting in favor and Mitch Watters and Jason Christensen voting no. Councilman Jim Jensen abstained, siting a possible conflict of interest. Watters said he wants to see detailed plans before taking any further action. A motion to table the matter was approved unanimously.
In other business, a public hearing was held on plans to re-do Forest Park Road. The special assessment project includes the installation of curb and gutter and asphalt resurfacing, along with a sidewalk on the north side of the street. A bidletting on the project is set for the council’s next regular meeting. The project has a completion date of this coming June 1st.
The council approved Chris Youngbluth as the new Arnolds Park/Okoboji Fire Chief. Youngbluth was recently elected to the position by department members, succeeding Steve Dulin. The Okoboji city council has also approved Youngbluth as Chief.
The council approved a construction contract and bond for utility and street improvements for Linden Drive; city staff was directed to write a letter of acceptance for a one million dollar federal grant that will help pay for the Sawmill Bridge replacement project; and they expressed concerns over a 28E agreement proposed by the Dickinson County Trails Association. The concerns are similar to those already expressed by a number of other cities that have been approached on the issue. Spokesman Dave Murphy told the council they’ll revamp the proposal and come back to a future meeting.
The council approved the appointment of Garnette Anderson as the city’s representative on the Iowa Great Lakes Maritime Museum Board of Directors, replacing Jim Jensen. Citing a conflict of interest clause in its bylaws prohibiting employees of the Maritime Museum from serving on the board, Jensen was given the option of either resigning from the board or quitting his job as Queen Two captain. He opted to get off the board.
The council approved the final plat for phase three of Pelican Ridge consisting of an additional 43 residential lots;
They took no action on a proposal to install two street lights at the end of Dam Road siting concern over the 5,577-dollar cost;
Approved a policy and procedure manual for the Police Department’s Reserves Unit;
And they authorized city staff to write a letter of commitment stating the city would be willing to offer an economic development loan to the Maritime Museum to help it pay for blacktopping the amusement park parking lot. The loan would not exceed 250-thousand dollars over five years at an interest rate of seven and-a-half percent, with the Maritime Museum responsible for any legal fees. The loan would be tied to the minimum valuation of the Maritime Museum’s property taxes. Under terms of an agreement made with the city through the “Save The Park” campaign several years ago, the non-profit group is still paying city property taxes.
