After 18 months in office, a petition is being circulated to recall Town of Iowa Mayor Neal Watkins. He ran against Joshua Macer and incumbent Paul “Hounddog” Hesse, faced Hesse in the runoff and won with 58 percent of the vote.
Watkins said he hasn’t seen the petition. It is his understanding that is being circulated by a group demanding transparency and wanting to keep the Iowa Police Department budget where it is.
“They’re saying the lack of transparency as if we are hiding something,” Watkins said. “Our laws and procedures for the town do not allow us to do such things. Anything that I do that has to do with money, anything to do with money, ordinances, anything that we do, the Council has to vote on it. I can’t sign a check. I can’t enter a contract. This all requires the approval of the Council.”
Watkins said records are public. He’s available to answer specific questions, and the public can depend on the yearly audit.
“If we do something that’s not correct, a finding will occur. “We didn’t have any last year,” he said.
He is not willing to have a one-sided conversation with people with a mindset that they can do his job so much better. He is protective of staff who have jobs to do, and have been answering questions for people who “can’t have a legitimate conversation,” and are taking it out on these people, he said.
The Mayor puts the budget together, and thinks belt tightening is in order because of revenues and inflation. His background is in owning a construction business.
“This budget is not similar to a business budget,” he said. “In a regular business, if you have the money you just do it.”
The population of Iowa is somewhere between 3,300 and 3,500, Watkins said. The overall budget is around $9 million. The Town has $5.8 million in savings, and no debt. The budget is segmented into different accounts. Percentages of tax revenue is allocated to those accounts depending on project priority.
“So I can’t take from Fund B and move it to F without a public hearing and Council approval, and you really should not be doing that (moving money) anyway. If I have a fund that is short and extra in the general fund, could loan or pull it out of savings, but right now with inflation, our biggest concern is going through savings,” he said.
Watkins admits to being fiscally conservative, and he appears to be laser focused on fixing sewer and water issues.
At the last monthly Council meeting, it was reported that City Waterworks (water and sewer), is finally operating in the black after many years in the red.
The price of water and sewer has been increased, a hard knock for people whose wages and income haven’t kept pace with inflation. He knew it would be difficult.
“We didn’t have to, but we started sending out mock billing three months before the increase so people would know what to expect,” Watkins said. “That is what I call transparency.”
The interval also gave households time to fix leaks that could have been costly.
When the mock bills started going out, citizens started attending the Town Council meetings that had been poorly attended up until that point.
Water and sewer went up $5, which made the total water, sewer and garbage pickup bill $10 more. Water is billed at $21 for the first 2,000 gallons, and $3.75 per 1,000 gallons after that. Wastewater is billed at $29 and garbage pickup is $26. Residents with swimming pools who don’t want to drive up their wastewater bill, can purchase water at bulk rates. Single individuals who keep water use at 1,000 gallons or below can pay $15.
Metering has resulted in water conservation so less labor and chemical expense is being incurred, Watkins said.
“When I came in, I wanted to know how sustainable our water and wastewater infrastructure is. How many more households can be attached? What would it take for growth?”
To that end, a study was done and it was determined that three lift stations need to be completely rebuilt. Funding is allocated for that and for reworking manhole covers to place them above floodplain. Iowa’s drainage and other systems are not designed to handle more than four inches of rain in an hour. Higher manholes mean less water infiltration into the wastewater system, less labor, fewer chemicals.
“It’s going to help us as a town save money on our sewer rates,” he said. “We know the amount of water coming from our water tower, 68 million gallons. 103 million gallons are going into the oxidation pond. If we can reduce that even by half of what we’re over, I could see our wastewater rates go down substantially.”
Watkins said he has been working the past 18 months on putting policies and procedures in place to provide funding for improvements and prevent future issues. His decisions were not made in a silo. He has reached out to the SWLA Planning Commission, talked to other Mayors of the same size, smaller and larger municipalities to inform the decision-making process.
Some of what is going on in Iowa is a reaction to what’s been going on in the country for the last four or five years, he said, and people are lashing out at the first person they can get their hands on.
“I am tired of seeing federal dollars wasted, I am tired of seeing local dollars wasted. I wish that we could get together as individuals in our community, parish and state and say, come on, let’s get something right for a change.”
Watkins offered general background on what’s going on with the Police Department budget and the part it plays in the petition, but declined to offer details until he and the Police Chief had a “lengthy conversation.”
That is his department, and he needs to operate it without any encumbrances. That is how a police department should work, he said. “Can he help us cut the budget, I don’t know. He is the only one that can tell. It’s not about me and now, it’s about the Town of Iowa and its future.”
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