Oskaloosa Appoints New Police Officer

Calvin Kock being sworn in by Mayor Dave Krutzfeldt as Oskaloosa's newest police officer

Oskaloosa, Iowa – Oskaloosa city councilors had a number of items on their agenda, but completed their work in just over one hour Monday. Among the actions was the swearing in ceremony of a new police officer.

Calvin Kock joined the police force recently and Oskaloosa Mayor David Krutzfeldt conducted the swearing as councilors, city staff and a handful of residents looked on. The brief ceremony opened up an action-packed agenda.

Two public hearings regarding zoning requests were held. The first dealt with the rezoning of properties in the 300 blocks of North First and North Second from R-2, Urban Family Residential District to UC, Urban Corridor District. Ken Seamann owns the property and had requested the change so that he could utilize one of the townhouses as a living space and office.

Councilor Jason Van Zetten voiced concern if the property should change ownership in the future would this change allow another retail interest such as a Walgreens or automotive company from locating on the property. City Manager Michael Schrock and city attorney David Dixon said it would depend if the business entity met criteria for UC consideration. Van Zetten was the lone dissenting vote.

The second hearing was for no parking on E Avenue East between North Third and North Fourth. The street is narrow and parking is an issue due to an in-home day care center and North Third residents who park on E Avenue East. Planning and Zoning had requested no parking on the south side of the street. Council passed the first reading unanimously.

Councilors approved a contract and bonding to Cornerstone Excavating for the amount of $979,960.40 for work on North Green Street. The project is projected to begin the first of July and weather permitting be completed by mid-September.

Since July 1979 Oskaloosa and the Low Rent Housing Agency have had a contract with the Oskaloosa Housing Department handling the management. Changes in staffing at city housing made it more difficult to manage the program. To that end the two organizations mutually decided to terminate the contract. Services will now be handled by an outside agency, but located at city hall.

A grant acceptance request brought plenty of discussion. The funds came to the city on behalf of the city and other entities from Iowa Department of Public Health’s Healthy Iowans Program. Part of the $10,000 allocated was $6,000 for a sidewalk study. Other funding is directed to programs by the Ruritans ($1,370 for promoting health options at the Farmer’s Market); $2,000 for the school district to analyze health and physical needs of students, and $630 to the Mahaska Wellness Coalition for events promotions.

The discussion centered on the city’s portion. It is estimated the sidewalk study would cost approximately $10,000, which means the city would need to add another $4,000. The contention

was whether the city could afford this amount. Questions arose whether the city must accept the money. Schrock said the city has already accepted and cashed the check. The council had the option to reject the agreement, but that would mean the other entities would not receive their funding. After the discussion the council passed the resolution with councilors Tom Jimenez and Van Zetten voting no.

In other business:

Received a report from Sherry Vavra of Mahaska Recreation Foundation on activities. She mentioned that approximately 600 people attended the opening of the skate park on Sunday.

Mayor Krutzfeldt announced vacancies on four boards and commissions. Building Code Board of Appeals, Enterprise Zone Commission, and Housing Trust Fund each has one vacancy. Planning and Zoning is seeking two persons to fill seats.

Krutzfeldt, with council approval, named Josh Buckingham to a term on the Oskaloosa Library Board, and Jim Hansen and Pam Blomgren to the newly created South Central Airport Agency board.

Approved agreements with Mahaska County Community Foundation for grant management for The Barking Lot Dog Park project grant, and a Police Internship grant. The dog park grant is for building costs of $5,000. The grant for the internship program will provide two interns for the police department next year. Police chief John R. “Jake” McGee stated they would have one intern each semester for 250 hours each.

Approved a payment to Synergy Contracting LLC in the amount of $128,578.70 for work on the sanitary sewer improvement project on North Seventh and J Avenue East.

Approved a design agreement Trolley Place storm water project and Penn Central Mall parking lot improvements with Garden and Associates of Oskaloosa.