Discussion of urban chickens on the horizon
The city of Jefferson will soon be out of the real estate business.
The city council at its regular meeting April 26 set public hearings proposing the sale of vacant lots at 206 S. Maple St, 500 N. Oak St, and 507 S. Locust St. The public hearings will be held at the council’s May 10 meeting.
According to Chad Stevens, Jefferson building/zoning officer, Thielen Home Construction is the potential purchaser of the Maple and Oak St lots at a price of $500 each. Rowland Real Estate would be the buyer of the lot on Locust St at a cost of $550. Single family homes would be built on each of the lots, with construction starting within 12 months and completion within 24 months.
Those are the last city-owned vacant lots, Stevens said. In March the council approved the sale of the former Air-Temp building on the east side of the downtown square. That was the last downtown building the city had purchased for the purpose of redevelopment.
The council took the next step in expanding and improving the city wastewater treatment facility – approving a contract with Bolton and Menk to complete the final design and handle the bid process.
Jim Leiding of Bolton & Menk said the company hopes to be able to submit permit applications in late June with construction to begin at the end of the year. Construction would be completed in June of 2024.
Leiding also alerted the council that the estimated cost has increased since the first bid estimate provided a year ago. That estimate was $10 million. The new estimate is $13.5 million. Leiding said the increase was due to an increase in materials and equipment, and increasing the contingency budget from 20 to 30 percent to cover costs should they continue to increase. “That’s the boat we’re in with the rest of the economy right now,” Leiding said.
The council approved providing single memberships at the Jefferson Community Golf Course for all members of the Jefferson fire department who would like one. The council previously approved single memberships at Greene County Community Center for firefighters. Golf memberships are $360 for persons older than 36 and $260 for persons 35 and younger.
The council approved a change in the policy dealing with sewer bill adjustments. The revised policy sets $500 as the minimum bill the sewer committee would consider adjusting due to extenuating circumstances.
During the Reports portion of the meeting, council member Dave Sloan encouraged fellow council members to attend one of the town hall meetings about the Diversity Project. He said he got much more detailed information than he had before, and that people should attend one of the meetings “rather than make stuff up and tell people what you think it is.”
He also suggested the council discuss how the city should proceed with the project. Council member Harry Ahrenholtz, who attends Greene County Development Corporation board meetings ex officio, said GCDC has not yet set an amount it would like to see committed by the city, waiting to learn what industry and employers will contribute.
Council member Darren Jackson, an ex officio member of the Jefferson library board and a member of the feasibility study committee, said the committee held its last meeting with Franks Design Group and received three possible plans to achieve more library space. Jackson said the committee has consensus on a preferred design but will present all three to the library trustees.
At the suggestion of mayor Matt Gordon, the council agreed to look again into ordinances allowing backyard chickens. The topic was last discussed in 2014.
Gordon said the idea of backyard chickens is “coming up quite frequently now,” and that he was confident the city could find an ordinance that would be workable. According to his research, several towns allow backyard chickens – residents in Cedar Rapids can have up to six hens and residents in Cedar Falls can have up to 10 hens.
City administrator Mike Palmer said the first step would be to ask the planning and zoning board to consider the matter.
