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Around
Maquoketa As Of June 6, 2002 by Judy Carr
The Maquoketa City Council has been studying
several issues. At the May 20th Council meeting, Council
members voted unanimously to start enforcing the unsafe building
section of the nuisance ordinance. There are several buildings
around the City that look like they might be ready to fall down.
Under this ordinance, the City can look at these buildings and send
a notice to the property owner to have them take care of the
problem. One Council member mentioned that he would like to find out
if there are any community service groups that would be willing to
help some of the people who might not be able to afford to demolish
or fix a building.
Council passed the third reading of an ordinance
that adopts the State Code regarding collection of delinquent water
bills. This ordinance will hold the landlord responsible if a tenant
does not pay a water/sewer bill. However, the landlord has the
option of submitting a notification to the City stating they will
not be responsible for the water portion of the bill.
The City Council passed the third reading of an
ordinance similar to the City of DeWitt’s that requires property
owners or a contractor to pay the City $500 before a street can be
cut for any reason. This $500 should cover the cost of all repairs
and if there is any money left over it would be paid back to the
payee.
The Maquoketa police department has been
authorized to purchase a pepper spray pellet gun and the accessories
that go with it. This gun will be used as a tool to help officers
involved in a situation where a suspect would need to be subdued.
The gun is similar to a paint ball gun and is not meant to cause
injury, but to slow a suspect down.
The Council has directed the Planning & Zoning
Commission to review a proposed amendment to the zoning ordinance
that would allow race tracks as a special use in I-3 Heavy
Industrial Districts. There is currently a person who is interested
in purchasing land from the City that is on Birch Drive. He would
like to use this land as a racetrack for motorbikes. Planning
& Zoning will meet on this on June 13.
The Municipal Enterprise Committee has had several
meetings regarding the enforcement of the building code. The
Committee is recommending that the Council adopt a fee schedule that
is similar to the structure that the City of DeWitt uses. Members
are also recommending that the City hire John Miller part time and
appoint him and Terry Bronson as building inspectors. It is possible
that the City will be creating a building code commission and will
soon be looking for citizens to volunteer for this commission.
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