Amateur boxing and ultimate fighting programs have been banned in the City of Belle Plaine. Monday night, the Belle Plaine City Council passed the second of three readings on an ordinance banning such programs. The vote was 4-1, with Harold Ealy opposing it. The council then voted on the same 4-1 roll call vote to waive the third reading, which will make the ordinance law.
The move came after a recent show at the Belle Plaine American Legion, where fights broke out in the crowd and law enforcement officers from several departments were dispatched to the scene. Officials for the Legion had asked the council not to ban the programs and offered to beef up security. But the council opted to implement the ban.
In other action, rates for water and sewer service and garbage collection will increase 3.8 percent as of July 1, 2009. Several years ago, the city council enacted a policy of raising rates to reflect the federal consumer price index on an annual basis. Rates for residential water use will increase 16 cents per 1,000 gallons to $4.27. Non-residents receiving the water service will pay $5.70 per 1,000, up from the current $5.49. The same rates apply for sewer service.
The new rates for garbage collection will be $18.48 per household per month, compared to the current rate of $17.80. The landfill charge for businesses will increase 50 cents per month to $5.50 and the collection charge for apartments will increase $2 per month to $22.
The council approved two applications for interior upgrades for two downtown businesses. Acting on recommendations of the Interior Design Committee, the council approved the applications of Matthew Clark, doing business as Paper Cuts and Other Stuff at 817 12th Street and for Jerilyn and John DeRaad, doing business as Double Take Design, Inc., 823 12th Street.
In their applications, Clark explained his business will be a retail store with a soda fountain. The DeRaads are opening a furniture/design store with an internet/coffee area and two hotel rooms upstairs.
Each of the businesses will now be in line for grants not to exceed $7,500 each. City Administrator Bill Daily told the council that neither is guaranteed that amount, but it depends on the scope and cost of their individual projects.
The council appointed Dick Wells to fill an unexpired term on the city’s community center board. The term will expire on June 30, 2010.
The council accepted the low bid of $28,575 from John Grieder Motors for a fire department personnel carrier. The vehicle will be a 2009 Chevrolet Silverado 4-wheel drive crew cab pick-up truck. The other bid submitted came from Johnson Motors on a 2009 Dodge Ram 2500 Mega Cab SXT/SLT 4×4 pick-up truck. That bid was $29,995.
Police Chief Kris Hudson and Jon Dayton, Belle Plaine Community Development (BPCDC) executive director, offered their monthly reports. Hudson indicated that his department is in the midst of a special traffic enforcement program and may draw on the resources of the county sheriff’s department and the Iowa State Patrol in the enforcement effort.
Dayton reported on several conferences he and other representatives of the BPCDC have attended in the past month.
In his report to the council, Daily indicated that the downtown streetscape project is on hold pending the receipt of several grants. An initial presentation was made to the state’s Vision Iowa board for a $561,000 grant last week and an application for a Community Development Block Grant is still in the works. Although city officials have heard that Belle Plaine may be on the fast track for that grant, no final determination has yet been made and Daily said it could be next year before any work on the downtown is started.
He also told the council that there will be a meeting concerning the city’s potential application for the Iowa Great Places program will be held on Wednesday, May 27, at the Community Center beginning at 5:15 p.m.
Committee of the whole
Prior to its regular meeting, council members discussed the possible construction of a sewer line to serve the residents along 13th Avenue. At an earlier meeting several residents had appeared to request the service, indicating that they had been asking for the service for several years.
Ealy said the residents have every right to expect the service and postponing the construction would only increase the cost. Daily said when the council last considered sewer construction in the area four or five years ago, the price tag was approximately $160,000. Officials estimate current costs could top $200,000.
Residents in the area are now served with individual septic systems. But at least one resident, Ed Landuyt, told the council that his system is in need of major repairs or replacement and he would like to forgo that cost if the city plans on extending the sewer line to his neighborhood.
He volunteered to ask some of his neighbors whether they would be willing to hook on to a city line or if they are satisfied with their current service. He will report back to city officials.
Councilmen also discussed a recent water main break in the northwest part of the city. The break may have been caused by a fire department training exercise and the use of fire hydrants in the area. Fire Chief Russ Spading told the council that his department will be discussing alternate training procedures which should alleviate the problem. But he told the council that breaks could still occur from time to time in the event of a major fire in a neighborhood.
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