North English Council Discusses Oak Street Parking

NORTH ENGLISH – During the June 5 meeting of the North English City Council, Mayor Dan Strohman opened the meeting up for public comment about plans to ban parking on the south side of Oak Street, due to the difficulties cars have getting through when vehicles are parked on both sides of the street. One attendee said he was fine with parking being banned on the south side, because there are more houses on the north side of the street.

Another attendee said that people don’t park in their alleys because the alleys are filled with potholes and smell bad. Strohman stated that the city does not maintain alleys and that the attendee was allowed to put rock down himself, but would not be reimbursed. The attendee said he couldn’t afford hundreds of dollars of rock and didn’t want to “kill himself” while spreading it out.

A third attendee asked if the city owned the alleyways. Strohman stated he believed it did. The attendee asked if they were used by firefighters or paramedics. Strohman said yes. The attendee stated the alleyways should be maintained for medical and fire reasons. Strohman said alleys could be a separate discussion at a later meeting.

One attendee said parking should be allowed on both sides of the street, because it slows cars down. Another attendee said the city should focus on more important problems, like teens playing loud music as they drive by his house late at night. An attendee living on the south side of the street asked why the city couldn’t ban parking on the north side instead. Strohman stated it was because the post office and mailboxes were on the north side. An attendee complained that postal workers were too lazy to cross the street. The mayor asked the attendees what they wanted to see happen. All of them said they were fine with things being left as is. The city council decided against banning parking on Oak Street.

Strohman stated that the upcoming work on Washington Street has been scheduled for the last week in July, the same week as North English Fun Days. Strohman stated he didn’t want to change the date and people would have to go around. Public Works employee Knipfer said the workers would probably start late.

Strohman stated that, after the May 21 tornado that destroyed Greenfield, he and City Clerk Tara Heyne met with the Iowa County emergency management department. He said he was confident in the resources and shelters North English had prepared.

Councilwoman Beth Carter stated she had spoken to the board of Knoll Ridge Pool and that they were struggling and wanted to know if the city could give additional help. Strohman said the city could waive the pool’s sewer bill, as they had done in the past. He stated he didn’t believe the pool would be open very much this summer. The council approved waiving the sewer bill.

An attendee stated that, earlier that day, Alliant Energy had left a tree on his sidewalk and alley while repairing a power line. Strohman stated that Alliant is normally good at cleaning up after themselves. Knipfer recommended sending a bill to Alliant.