Published: August 07, 2008 10:18 am      

Welton residents want to see the city’s books

WELTON — Welton residents who had signed a petition demanding an audit of the city’s books received a shock Tuesday night when they learned such a study could cost $6,000 to $12,000.

Mayor Janet Huffman said that when she received notice the petition had been received at the state auditor’s office, she contacted some local certified public accountants about the cost.

“According to several estimates,” she said, “it would cost between $6,000 and $12,000.”

In answer to a gasp from the audience about raising taxes, Huffman replied that the money would come from the city’s general fund: “Which means we will not be able to use the general fund for anything else.”

The city’s attorney, Mark Lawson of Maquoketa, observed, “To be honest with you, after 30 years (in business) I’ve never seen a town the size of Welton asked for an audit, except where someone had been fired.”

The petition had 30 signatures, although four of them were not valid because the people were not taxpayers in the city. One other signature also was eliminated, leaving 25 valid signatures.

“In a town the size of Welton, it really doesn’t take very many,” Lawson said. “It’s really rather unique.”

According to law, a petition for an audit in a small town must be signed by at least 15 percent of the number of (property) taxpayers in the city.

Lawson then said there would be an issue of how many of the remaining 25 signatures were of taxpayers.

City clerk LeAnn McCallister said she had received from the county auditor a lengthy list of all the taxpayers in Welton. Lawson offered to go through the 49 pages to verify the names on the petition and determine how many were taxpayers.

The attorney also pointed out that if some of those who had signed the petition changed their minds, in view of the cost of an audit, they could remove their name by drawing a line through it and signing the change.

One signer, Bonnie Warner, told the Clinton Herald later she would take her name off because she didn’t realize the petition was asking for a formal audit, which would be so expensive.

“I just thought it was to open the books up (to the public),” she said.

She said she had been shown at a meeting that the city has to pay $600 a month to meet in the fire station, “and I didn’t think that was right. The books should be open.”

Huffman told the Herald the town pays the fire department $1,000 a year for office space and meeting space in the station and use of the Internet hook-up.

Another petition signer, Karl Vorwald, said he knew the petition was for an audit and he was not surprised at the cost.

“I just think there are too many things that don’t add up,” he said. He also said he has asked for copies and never received them.

McCallister made a statement at the end of Tuesday night’s meeting in which she assured the audience: “Any records the city has — anything that’s gone out to the contractors, what it was for, how much it was — it’s a public record. Anything anybody wants to see, you can get that at any time you want. I’ll make copies, no problem. You just need to ask. We’re not trying to hide anything.”

McCallister’s office hours are Tuesday and Thursday in the late afternoon. Appointments can be made with her by calling (563) 659-9516.

Lawson was also in attendance to address the issue of a variance that had been requested by Vorwald from a proposed ordinance that would require every household to be connected to the municipal water system now being installed.

The city received a $250,000 grant from the state underground storage tank fund toward the construction of part of the water system.

The grant was awarded because several wells in town have been contaminated by a plume of benzene from long-ago underground fuel tanks at a service station.

The grant agreement requires that every well in town be capped. The capping of the wells and the connecting of every household to the water system will be paid for from the grant.

Vorwald’s well is within the possible plume area shown on a map drawn in 1999, but he claims that according to his research the plume could now have dissipated. The water from his well tests fine, he says.

But Lawson said the city “would stand to lose the quarter of a million dollar grant” if it did not enforce the capping of all the wells.

“If one or two don’t want to hook up, the city could impose a municipal infraction penalty of $500 a day until they do hook up,” he said.

The city could also go to court to enforce the ordinance. Then refusal to do so could bring jail time, he added.

The mayor asked Lawson if the council could grant a variance.

“The ordinance says all,” Lawson replied. But Huffman then asked if the council could amend the ordinance to provide for variances.

“The only way you could do that is to set up an ordinance which would say that under certain conditions you would consider” a variance, he said. “You would have to set up a procedure and set out factors the council would consider. You can’t just decide that because you like this guy, but not her — you have to have certain factors.”

After further discussion the council tabled the second reading of an ordinance amendment which was scheduled at that meeting.

The motion to table calls for the council to look at revising the amendment to provide a mechanism for a variance.