City vacates ROW on Cherry Street to property owner

City Council
By: 
Kim Brooks
Express Editor

   A public hearing was held during the March 6 Monticello City Council meeting concerning a request of the city to vacate a portion of right-of-way on Cherry Street.

   Terry Waugh, the owner of 303 E. Second St., made the request of the city. A large portion of the north end of Waugh’s property is platted as public right-of-way, owned by the city, on Cherry Street. His request to vacate also included deeding the property to him, adding it to his lot.

   The total amount of property is just over 2,200 square feet, or .05 acre.

   Waugh and the previous property owner used and maintained the right-of-way as part of their property for years.

   This .05 acre does not contain any utilities. Vacating the property does not negatively access to neighboring properties. With the other lots on this street extending to the curb, this would prohibit any future sidewalks or utility extensions in this neighborhood.

   On Feb. 28, the Monticello Planning and Zoning Board met and unanimously recommended the council approve Waugh’s request.

   No one was present during the council meeting to offer comments for or against the vacation.

   State law states that the city cannot just give land to anyone. Transferring the land and adding it onto the city’s tax rolls, a fee of $100 to $1,000 for the transfer is recommended by city staff.

   “We can’t grant the land at no cost,” explained City Administrator Russ Farnum. “It’s a non-buildable parcel under $1 per square foot, worth about $1,800. It’s more valuable to put it back on the tax rolls.”

   Council member Scott Brighton felt that because Waugh has been maintaining the property all this time, he felt that $100 was reasonable.

   Council member Brenda Hanken asked if the city needed to offer the land to other interested parties before just vacating it to Waugh.

   “No; it’s not big enough to build on,” offered Mayor Dave Goedken. “It’s an unusable piece of property; no one else can buy it. It adds value to the adjacent property owner.”

   The council approved the vacation at $100.

In other city business:

   • Farnum shared that the AWOS (automated weather observing system) at the Monticello airport was hit by lightning during the overnight storm on Monday, causing the system to go down. The system was insured and the airport is exploring getting it fixed.

   • The council approved a revised agreement for communication services between the city and the Jones County Sheriff’s Office, noting a contract reduction of $1,004.36 (from $28,278.36 to $27,274).

   • The council approved authorizing the Parks and Recreation director to make immediate expense payments prior to council approval.

   That department will be tasked with paying umpires for the spring and summer baseball and softball tournaments as part of taking over MYBSA.

   Brighton explained that umpires will not assist at games if they are not paid the day of a game.

   “You cannot wait a month and a half until the next council meeting (to pay them),” he said. “It has to happen immediately for those programs to continue to run.”

   The registration fees for the tournaments will be put in a checking account and used to pay game officials.

   • The council approved amending the city code, per the request of Parks and Rec, to add a new section referencing the P&R checking account used for payment of tournament officials.

   • The council approved amending the petty cash limits for various city departments: Aquatic Center, $300; library, $200; Berndes Center, $100; youth and adult tournaments, $1,800; and City Hall, $750.

   The changes include an increase of $200 for the Aquatic Center and a new line item for youth and adult tournaments. The $1,800 and $300 will be used as start-up petty cash for concession stands, as well as petty cash at the pool.

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