City purchases security cameras for parks after vandalism

The Tea City Council met Sept. 18 and purchased security cameras for the parks.

Councilman Aaron Otten said the park has had the slides beaten with baseball bats. They were vandalized and repaired and then vandalized again to the point where they need to be replaced. City staff had clean up feces that were smeared across the bathroom at the athletic complex for six days in a row.

The council approved purchasing security cameras for the athletic complex and city park not to exceed $27,000.

Councilman Lynn DeYoung proposed repealing the resolution that established a special tax classification in 2021.

“We don’t have a vacancy problem in rental real estate here and we don’t have a vacancy problem in commercial here,” DeYoung said. “There’s a lot of reasons to repeal the ordinance. It’s not the same climate as it was two years ago.”

Developer Woody Houser spoke out against the repeal. He thinks the city should expand the discretionary formula and make it bigger.

Otten said they could always come back and re-establish the formula if needed.

The council approved repealing the resolution.

Arlyn Olsen spoke to the council about changing his plan for property along Heritage Parkway. The floodplains is bigger than what he anticipated. He is looking at putting in 28 apartment units and 30 townhomes. He has no interest in building anymore roads.

He currently has an engineer working on a new preliminary plan, which he did not want to do at first but realized he had no choice if he wanted to try to build something on his property.

No action was taken.

Resident Ganeene Dumbei spoke to the council about the $100 ticket she received for a noise complaint about her dog. She had two warnings last year when her new puppy at the time was kennel training. She took care of those complaints by keeping that dog in the house. In this case, school had just started and she had no idea that her older dog was barking.

It was the first time that dog had been barking. The council reduced the ticket to $50.

They held the first reading of ordinance 309, the 2024 appropriations ordinance. The proposed budget included estimating sales tax revenue at $2 million, adding cameras at intersections, adding $300,000 for park development of the east side park and/or a dog park, updating the comprehensive plan, rehabbing the pool slides, $91,000 to the chamber and adding $1 million for the 85th Street project.

Councilman Jim Erck asked about what Lemme is doing at the subdivision by the airport. HDR engineer Ben Scholtz said doing any work in that area was not in their subdivision plan and they have not been able to check all the boxes on engineering. It has been brought up again when he called them. Planning and zoning administrator Kevin Nissen issued a stop work order and work has not stopped. Scholtz was going to resend the stop work order again.

The council adjourned at 8:36 p.m.