Council approves first reading of UTV ordinance
Feb. 8—OTTUMWA — The Ottumwa City Council passed the first reading of a new utility terrain vehicle (UTV) ordinance during Tuesday's meeting, but slightly amended the ordinance because of duplicate language.
The ordinance passed 4-1, with council member Russ Hull absent, and with very little discussion. The city elected to revisit its ordinance regarding UTVs after the state passed new guidelines last summer.
Mostly, the ordinance adheres to the state's law. Drivers of UTVs must be 18 and carry insurance, and the vehicles must be driven on streets posted at 35 mph or less unless approved by a resolution from the council.
However, council member Marc Roe spotted an area of identical language when it came to snow removal.
The amendment to the ordinance will read:
23-518 D-2: "Snow removal. UTVs may be operated in the city limits for snow removal purposes on private driveways, sidewalks and private parking lots. The operation of the vehicle on city streets is strictly for transportation to and from the site of the snow removal. The vehicle shall be equipped with a functioning blade, or snow blower, at all times, during operation. The UTV and driver of said vehicle shall meet all state requirements for legal operation of the vehicle."
The city had a work session last week to discuss the draft form of the ordinance, and city administrator Philip Rath expressed his desire to see an exemption made for municipal use, specifically downtown if city officials are tending to plants and flowers along Main Street.
The proposed ordinance now heads to a second and third reading at the next two council meetings. The ordinance excludes dune buggies, golf carts, go-carts, ATVs, snowmobiles and electric scooters.
In other business:
— Ottumwa police chief Chad Farrington discussed his department's desire to apply for a grant for 40 body cameras for officers. Currently, the police department only has cameras in vehicles.
The grant is through the Small Rural Tribal Body Worn Camera Program, and the cost of the cameras is $43,860, and the city would receive half that as a reimbursement should it receive the grant.
"We've been wanting to get the funds for this and get this program up and running for accountability and transparency here," Farrington said. "I think it's going to be a great asset and tool for the police force."
The cameras would be worn in the center of the vest, and will be able to record audio and video essentially no matter where the office is. Farrington said the department would not have to revise any of its policies regarding cameras.
"Since we've been implementing the Lexipol policies, they already have a body-worn camera policy all ready to go," he said. "So if we get these body cameras, I'm able to launch that immediately."
The council approved the request to apply for the grant.
— The council voted to amend the completion date for the Bonita Avenue housing project. According to the contract, completion was to be on Dec. 31, but supply-chain delays have pushed that back. The new completion date is July 1. One of the buildings is finished, a second is almost finished and the third is expected to be completed in the spring.
The complex is 108 units, 36 in each building.
