Monticello Police officer returns after 2017 accident

City Council
By: 
Kim Brooks
Express Editor

     Monticello Police Officer Bob Urbain is back on the job.

     In the middle of the night in mid-October, Officer Urbain was involved in a serious rollover accident near Welter Storage on Business Highway 151 South. Urbain was responding to a call when he swerved to avoid hitting a deer. He entered the ditch and rolled several times.

     Urbain sustained non-life threatening injuries, but was transported to the University of Iowa Hospital in Iowa City for his injuries.

     Police Chief Britt Smith informed the Monticello City Council during the Feb. 19 meeting that Officer Urbain was back on part-time, light duty.

     “He’ll work about four hours a day, five days a week,” said Smith.

     Urbain is still on a weight-lifting restriction, but Smith said he had a list of projects and tasks Urbain could take on to ease him back into the job as he keeps busy. Those tasks include: nuisance investigations, evidence and property inventory, destruction orders, investigations, and clerical work.

     “His hip has fully healed at this point and he has begun physical therapy, however is still dealing with significant nerve pain in his leg and foot that will continue to take time to heal,” Smith said in a report to the council.

     Smith also presented a report of calls/incidents involving the MPD for the month of January 2018:

     • 238 call for service

     • 37 traffic stops

     • 22 citations

     • 41 parking citations

     Those citations included mostly emergency snow/winter parking violations. Smith said despite the publication of the city’s winter parking rules in the paper, on TV, on the radio, and on social media, the department still routinely deals with violators of the winter parking rules.

     “The Grand Street parking lot has several routine violators for the two-hour parking/lot storage regulations,” he said. “Citations have been issued, but tenants in the (downtown) apartments continue to complain they have nowhere to park.”

     • 12 arrests for domestic assault, OWI, public intoxication, violation of no-contact order, and a warrant served.

     • 15 accident investigations

     • 37 EMS assists

     • 11 nuisance warnings ranging from snow removal on sidewalks to inoperable vehicles.

     • 0 use of force

     • 0 public complaints against officers

In other city business

     • The council approved a funding request in Jones County Senior Dining for $4,500 for FY 2019.

     During the city’s Feb. 5 council meeting, the council voted to table a request in the amount of $4,500. That was an increase from the previous year of $3,900.

     The city has appropriated funds to the senior dining program for several years. The amount funded is based on a percentage of meals served at the Monticello Senior Center and delivered to homebound senior citizens.

     At the previous council meeting, the council questioned the increase, wanting more information. City Administrator Doug Herman reached out to Senior Dining Director Lisa Tallman for those details.

     Tallman said home-delivered meals in Monticello have increased 25 percent from last year. The same is true in Anamosa.

     “Our congregate meals stay steady,” she said, “but it seems more and more that the home-delivered meals are rising.”

     Herman noted that one of those home-delivered meals is delivered into the county line near the Hollywood area/Business Highway 151 North.

     As far as meal donations/client contributions, Tallman said all of those stay within the county.

     • Herman said he was contacted by a city resident/local business owner with concerns regarding heavy semi/truck and ag traffic traveling along S. Cedar Street. The resident suggested that type of traffic utilize E. First Street/Highway 38 versus a city street, “an embargo of sorts on S. Cedar Street,” said Herman.

     He said the resident was looking out for the safety of local traffic as well as abuse of S. Cedar, which is not covered by the DOT.

     Council member Dave Goedken recalled that S. Cedar was rebuilt with the intent to withstand heavy truck traffic.

Category:

Subscriber Login