Familiar topics were the centerpiece of last night's December Cawker City Council meeting. The council once again found themselve discussing where semi-trucks could park within the city limits. The discussion last night took place during the public comment section of the agenda when city resident Fausto Aramendi questioned the city ordinance that makes it illegal to park a semi in the parking areas on Wisconsin Street which is also U.S. Highway 24.
Aramendi argued that he only parks his vehicle at a time when Wisconsin Street businesses are closed - after 6:00-PM and not after 6:00-AM the following day. He told the council the reason he parks his semi in front of his residence is for security reasons and to be able to "plug it" when the weather turns cold. He said he has had fuel stolen twice so he wants to keep a close eye on it. At one point in the conversation Aramendi said, "Where am I supposed to park it, my living room?"
Council Member Doug Strathman pointed out that a complaint about the vehicle started the truck parking discussion saying, "This all started about 6-months ago when there was a complaint about your vehicle when it was parked on the other side of the street." Strathman also tried to find some middle ground saying, "What we as a council need to do is look at your situation and see if we can do something about it."
Also at last night's meeting, the council formally closed the books on a request from City Police and Code Enforcement Officer Ken Moore. Four months ago Moore asked the council to allow him to put together a small reserve force. At the time Moore said he could assemble a reserve squad that would essentially cost the city nothing. He got his answer following a 20-minute closed session that included City Attorney Katie Cheney. The answer was no. When the council returned to open session, Council Member Doug Bader addressed the issue saying, "We chose not to move forward. None of us are comfortable with this at this time so we're just going to drop it for now."
Shortly after the council returned to open session, there was a request for another closed session for 10-minutes, this one included Moore. When the council came back into session, Mayor Wayne Musgrove announced no decision had been made.
The council also discussed mobile homes. City resident Bill Brummer, broached the topic. He asked the council about sewer capacity if a 3-to-4-acre trailer park were to go in. Brummer said an out of state investor was interested in bringing in as many as 20-mobile homes. The council's response - the system in place could probably handle that kind of load. The council also told Brummer that they would need to know where the trailer park would be located. The discussion ended with the Mayor telling Brummer to work with City Superintendent Dave Reling to get the specific information he was interested in.
And finally two new ordinances on last night's agenda... the council OK'd Ordinance 1129 adopting the city's revised code book. A short time later the council agreed to scrap Ordinance 1130 which would have regulated fire pits in town.