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VALLEY — The Valley City Council on Monday held a second reading of an ordinance to sell some city-owned property near the junction of King Road and 55th Street. The action was approved in a unanimous vote. The land is being purchased by Bennett Company LLC, which intends to build some senior apartments.

Construction could start by next spring and will be done in two phases. Phase I will consist of 56 units and Phase II 54 units.

A second reading was held on some updates for the city’s International Property Maintenance Codes ordinance, which dates to 2006. The amendments will get the city current with these codes.

A second reading was held for a third ordinance, which could be approved following a second reading at the next council meeting on June 13.

At stake is the annexation of some property on Shawmut Circle. A home has been constructed on the site. It’s no longer in an industrial park and can be annexed into the city should the property owner want that. The property is owned by Evelyn Trenter and is located at the junction of 32nd Street and Circle Drive. The site is contiguous with the city and could be brought into the city following a second reading and council vote.

The council approved a five-item consent agenda. One item was to take action on a nuisance property and the four other items involved requests to serve alcoholic beverages at family events at the Community Center.

Code enforcement Officer Michael “M.J.” Jones talked to the council about the site at 309 MLK Drive. He said that the person who is listed as the property owner is deceased but that people are living in the house. They won’t answer knocks on the door, but notices have been posted there on an urgent need to clean up their yard. Jones said that discarded furniture, old clothing and piles of trash are scattered across the yard, and there’s a nearby ditch with household trash and discarded items from the house.

The house still has electricity.

“The power is on and there’s an air conditioner running, but no one will come to the door when you knock,” Jones said.

With council approval, the city’s code enforcement department has been given authority to coordinate the clean-up of the site. Once the yard has been cleaned up, code enforcement will send an itemized bill on the clean-up costs to city hall. That cost can then be placed as a lien on the property.

At the June 13 council meeting, the council will have a public hearing to discuss the costs of abating six separate properties in the city. They are located at 2207 52nd Street, 1117 Gibson Street, 5501 21st Avenue, 110 Denna Drive, 123 Denna Drive and 7 Lower Street.

Valley Parks & Recreation Director Laurie Blount informed the council that swimming lessons would soon start at the Community Center pool. A swimming school starts on May 31.

“The farmer’s market is underway and is going strong,” she said. “Senior coupons can be used to purchase at discount rates anything that’s grown.”

The Community Center will be open from 7 a.m. until 4 p.m. on Memorial Day, which is being celebrated on Monday, May 3o.

Public Works Director Patrick Bolt said that the city’s new street sweeper is in transit from Waco, Texas.

“It should be in service by the next council meeting,” he said.

Police Chief Mike Reynolds said that Valley Police Department would soon be getting a police cruiser it has been expecting. He said that some new cameras would be going into the patrol cars. Reynolds also announced that William Gamper is VPD’s officer of the quarter for the first three months of 2022. Three more officers will be chosen for the next three quarters with an officer of the year being selected in December.

Council Member Jim Clark commended the police department on having done some good work in his district in recent weeks.

“They did a top-notch professional job in an incident on Highway 29 and in another incident on 24th where a death had taken place,” he said.

Clark said that there are some homes in the city limits that are having problems because their water pressure is too high. He said he had been told of one home on the south end of town that had water pressure at 120 pounds per square inch. It’s normal when it’s between 40 and 60 psi.