KALONA

“We’d like to make a substantial change to this year, and that is to add curbside bag pickup,” City Administrator Ryan Schlabaugh told the Kalona City Council Monday night.  “For those that put the city bags out to the curb on Tuesdays, we will come around and we will pick those up.”

The city has experimented with different methods of dealing with yard waste in recent years, including hiring a service to vacuum leaves at the curb and providing a receptacle for residents to drop bagged leaves off.  Beginning March 12, the city will begin collecting bagged yard waste at no charge.

“We would like to do curbside pickup and see what that volume is, see how the public embraces it.  Then we’ll evaluate in the fall,” Schlabaugh said. “I’d like to see if this meets the expectation of the community first before we go to that next step.”

The next step would be the purchase of a leaf vacuum truck.

For now, the council approved the lease purchase of three other pieces of equipment at their regular meeting on March 4: a backhoe, a ¾ -ton truck, and a skid loader.  Both the backhoe and truck would replace existing city vehicles, which will be traded in for 2024 versions.  The skid loader will be a new piece for the city.

The city will use Farmers & Merchants Savings Bank’s 5-year equipment leasing plan and will make the annual payments using road use and local option sales tax funds.

Siren Replacement

Washington County EMS is working on a $654,000 project to replace all the county’s emergency sirens, which would include two in Kalona, one on the north side and one on the south.  The project has been in the works for over two years, and the county hopes to receive some grant funding.  The council approved a letter of support for the project and grant application and agreed to commit $15,000 as well.

The city’s “noon whistle” will continue to be controlled by the city as it is now.  The new omni-directional sirens would be county operated.

Council Action

The council approved the second and final reading of the amended building codes ordinance. 

The council set a public hearing for property taxes for April 1.  The proposed property tax rate for FY24-25 is $10.36 per $1,000 of value.

The council passed a resolution waiving the right to review a conditional use permit for Kalona Community Church, which is located in Johnson County within a two-mile radius of city limits.  The church plans to build an addition, and the Kalona Planning and Zoning Commission has no concerns.

As the city moves forward on its Comprehensive Plan, two council members and the mayor are needed to attend directional meetings.  Jenelle Bender and Hank Beisheim agreed to participate in the meetings, which are expected to begin in March. The city hopes to adopt the new plan by November.

The Kalona City Council will next meet on Monday, March 18 at 7 p.m. at City Hall.