City to require beverage server training

A new ordinance in Monticello will require anyone selling alcohol to undergo free beverage server training. 

The council last week approved the first reading for the new ordinance. Two more readings must take place before it becomes law. 

The ordinance states that all retail establishments within the city that serve or sell alcohol must subject their employees to responsible beverage server training. 

“The purpose of such an ordinance was to address concerns and issues that alcohol sales to individuals who are or about to become intoxicated pose a significant risk of serious injury or death to the motoring public and financial liability to the business serving the alcohol,” said Monticello City Administrator Russ Farnum. 

He added that those who receive the training should be less likely to sell alcohol to underage people or to people who have consumed too much alcohol. 

Anyone who serves alcohol at a restaurant or bar, as well as those working in a grocery setting, will be required to take the training, which is free and offered online. The training must take place within 90 days of the ordinance becoming law or 90 days from the day employment begins. 

The law does not pertain to those serving alcohol at special events, like fundraisers or festivals.  

Both Jones County and the city of Anamosa began requiring the training in 2015 after a proposal by the Jones County Safe and Healthy Youth Coalition requested they do so. At the time, Monticello declined due to the inaccessibility to the training. 

“The council did not with to place such a burden on owners and servers to seek out such training,” Farnum said. 

However, the training has gotten much more accessible, Farnum said and is now online through the Iowa Alcoholic Beverages Division. Farnum said the goal is to eventually offer the training through the Monticello Police Department. 

Accessory dwellings near

The Fonz would be right at home in Monticello thanks to a new ordinance set to become law soon in town. 

The “Happy Days” star was often seen inside his apartment above the Cunningham’s garage. Farnum said this fictional living situation will soon be possible in Monticello thanks to a new law rule that will soon become law. 

In the 2025 Iowa legislative session, lawmakers mandated that all cities permit for one accessory dwelling unit on residential property. 

“These are sometimes called granny flats,” Farnum said.

An accessory dwelling law developed by the city mimics the state’s. The council last week conducted the first of three readings of the ordinance, after which it can becomes law. 

A dwelling can be no more than 1,000 square feet and can either be within the primary structure on a property or in a detached structure. 

Farnum said there is little wiggle room in the city’s formation of the code. He said state law trumps city code. 

“The city can choose not to amend the zoning ordinance but would still have to allow an accessory unit if someone wanted to build or add one to their property,” he explained. “This can be frustrating since neighbors or members of the public may not see it as an allowed use in our local code and wonder how it got approved.”

Farnum said it’s best practice to update the city’s code to match that of the state to avoid any confusion. 

Mobile homes used as accessory dwellings must be placed on a permanent foundation, the city’s code reads. 

Other business

• The council approved the first reading of a change to Monticello’s fence ordinance. The current ordinance allows fences to be constructed right up to the property’s boundary line. In a recent issue between two neighbors, one Monticello resident wished to build a fence along the property line, but the neighbor’s driveway was paved right up to the property line, and that neighbor argued that the fence would prevent them from opening their car door, according to Farnum. The city’s planning and zoning board approved a change that says no fences can be constructed “within or upon a shared driveway in a manner that would divide the driveway.”

• The council approved a payment to Bruce Builders In. for the Wastewater Treatment Plant improvement project for $803,115.29. 

• Approved an agreement with Dubuque Hardwoods to manage the maintenance of the city’s compost and landscape waste site. Dubuque Hardwoods’s bid of $32,000 was $2,000 higher than the other bidder, T&W Grinding. However, the council sided with Dubuque Hardwoods due to its slightly cheaper bid of $600 per hour for log grinding and for the fact that Dubuque Hardwoods said it would haul away all material, such as wood chips, that the city does not want. 

• The Council approved a change order for the sewer project currently underway along South Main Street to service the Stephen addition. The change order was a rare $56,126 decrease to the project’s cost. The council also approved the first payment request, totaling $315,593, for the project.

• The Council approved the appointment of Chris Kurt to the Monticello Regional Airport Board. 

• Approved the installation of two discus circles to the t-ball fields on Panther Valley Drive.