Maintenance and Utilities Supervisor Dave Ubel brought forward a variety of issues to the Courtland City Council at their Thursday meeting.

The new park equipment has been delivered to Courtland and work will begin soon to install it.

Ubel has been removing the old playground equipment and questioned what should be done with the teeter totter that has a memorial plate on it. After discussion, Council Member Pam Rodewald suggested that he wait until the new equipment is installed to find a new spot for the teeter totter.

Rodewald presented a sample of wood chips for the park. Discussion followed on what would be the best kind of ground cover for the park. Rodewald explained that wood chips are better for safety reasons than pea rock if anyone falls from the equipment. Rodewald and Ubel agreed to check out prices and various wood chips in parks in the area.

Council Member Justin Kraus described that the curb from the park entrance to the ballpark needed to be replaced as the new sidewalk will abut to it, the previous curb has partially sunk down and leaving it would cause the new sidewalk to buckle. The additional cost is $7,500.

O’Malley Concrete will be installing the new curb and approach to the park, and they cannot be driven on for at least a week. Ubel said that residents affected have all received letters and have been talked to about how this affects access to their homes. The sidewalk should be installed soon too which could cause disruption for the residents in the area for another week.

Ubel told the Council about the water leak that happened at the ballpark.

He said, “The water line is only 100 psi which is a thin pipe. The leak is about nine feet deep which is about 20-30 feet from where the water was bubbling up.”

Councilman Paul Bode said, “The ballpark will need to be billed for that expense.” The cost estimate is about $3,000.

Ubel said the new chairs have arrived for the Community Center; however, the current chair racks do not work with the chairs so he needs to look further to see what can be done.

Ubel is working on the washout by the railroad tracks that is near the sewer line.

“The washout is about 12 feet deep so we need to figure out how much dirt should be brought in before the railroad fills it with rock,” he said.

The water running down Stoney Point continues to cause problems for residents. Kraus and Ubel agreed to talk to residents regarding an easement for the drainage.

WW Blacktopping has talked with Ubel about wanting to put the wear coat layer on Collin Drive this fall rather than in the spring as the contract states. Council members were concerned about settling of the road over winter, and what kind of repair would be done in the spring if the road does settle. Discussion was held on when the total final payment should be made if the wear coat is not done according to the contract. There is a construction meeting on Tuesday at 9:30 a.m. that Ubel and Mayor Al Poehler will attend to discuss the issues with WW Blacktopping.

City Clerk Julie Holm also advised the council that she needed to sign three change orders for WW Blacktopping. One was the extension date change of Sept. 30, 2024, that was approved at the council’s August meeting. The second change was that they did not need to do all the connections that was described in the contract. The third change was for an additional $1,438.50 for extra gravel that was needed.

Bode questioned Ubel on the progress of the light for the water tower that had been previously approved by the council. Ubel is continuing to work with Bolton and Menk who have given him designs for a LED light for the tower. Ubel needs to find an electrician and get pricing.

Poehler explained that he has had some requests to turn the volleyball courts in Courtland to pickleball courts. Or, maybe one pickleball and one basketball court. No action was taken by the council. Resident Greg Juberien said that the Lions Club has talked about possibly donating.

Resident Bob Schabert questioned the council regarding the future development on Riverview/Mary Lane and said he is hearing rumors that it might be too wet to build in that area. He was also concerned about the height of future homes.

Poehler said that he has been talking with a developer and working on the wetland delineation and they hope to have paperwork done by December. He also assured Schabert that there are height requirements for houses and garages in the city. Resident Mark Fiemeyer suggested that a park/playground area should be considered as part of the construction for the area.

The next meeting will be Thursday, October 3, 2024, at 7 p.m.