Iolas ordinances regulating lawn maintenance has drawn the ire of local resident Shirley Blomquist.
Blomquist complained Monday to City Council members about a notice she received on a rental property she owns, including:
Being given a 10-day notice to mow that was sent out on the first day of the month, but not delivered to her until five days had passed;
That the city mandates grass be no taller than 12 inches. Blomquist said she measured the grass prior to its cutting, and it was only 10 inches tall.
The lawn in the 600 block of North Oak Street is bordered by a privacy fence, Blomquist said, adding that she spotted a city employee peeking through the fence in order to get a better look at her yard.
What business is it of the city that they have to peek through a fence to see my yard? she asked, calling the incident an invasion of her privacy.
Mayor Jon Wells promised Blomquist that city officials would look into her complaints.
THE ALLEN County Fair Rodeo will allow alcohol sales this year.
Council members voted, 5-0, to allow a pair of beer tents at the Lyle Dreher Roughriders Arena July 26-28, as requested by the Allen County Fair Board. The rodeo runs July 26-27. The Terry Ellis Memorial Draft Horse Pull is scheduled for July 28 in the arena.
In other fair-related matters, Council members approved a series of requests from the Iola Rotary Club to accommodate Rotary Day in the Park July 27, including allowing overnight camping for barbecue cookoff teams; providing 100 pool passes to family members of the cookoff participants; increased police patrols at the park during the event; adding electric service for the event; and placing several dumpsters in the park.
LARRY Walden, mayoral candidate, thanked Council members about their decision in June to increase the speed limit along Miller Road and North Cottonwood Street to 35 mph, now that Cedarbrook Golf Course is closed, and golf carts no longer need to use either street.
Walden said the city also should consider removing a stoplight at the intersection of Madison Avenue and Buckeye Street. Iola High School students no longer cross the street en masse to attend classes at the Bowlus Fine Arts Center, Walden noted, making the stoplight obsolete.
Walden complained about the cost to the city of printing out biweekly administrators reports to Council members and others in the community.
Walden said the cost of the printouts total more than $12,000 by the end of the year, a figure disputed by City Administrator Sid Fleming and City Clerk Roxanne Hutton.
FLEMING told Council members he hopes to schedule a pair of budget workshops later this month, but has yet to pin down the dates.
The Councils July 22 meeting will be at the Creitz Recital Hall in the Bowlus Fine Arts Center because of Allen County Fair activities that week at Riverside Park.
