Staff writer
Lisa Anderson addressed the Marion City Council at the end of their meeting Monday. She read about halfway into her prepared speech before a buzzer signaling the end of a 3-minute time limit for public statements interrupted her.
Anderson was upset that city attorney Keith Collett had singled out Anderson and her husband, Bill, as the main reason for a potential ordinance limiting semi-truck parking on private property in the city.
For a period of two weekends, Bill Anderson parked his semi-tractor in his front yard on Main Street. The first weekend he performed maintenance on the tractor and his tools were at the house.
“He was getting the truck ready for a job,” Anderson said. “It’s not like it was there for a week.”
The second weekend, Bill was returning from a six-week run and saw Lisa on the porch. He could not wait to see her and pulled the truck into the grass.
“We don’t like it. It puts ruts in our yard,” Lisa Anderson said. “We have limited parking.”
A complaint spurred Collett to draft the ordinance. Lisa Anderson’s main point in front of the council Monday was that entire discussion in the previous meeting was unnecessary. A phone call from the city would have encouraged Bill to park his truck in a lot the Andersons own at 503 S. Cedar St.
The ordinance would require truck drivers to obtain a permit to park trucks on any private property in a residential zoned district.
She said none of the surrounding residents have complained when the truck is parked at that location. It is where Bill usually parks the vehicle when he is home in Marion.
“It was already settled,” Anderson said. “It’s just kind of stupidness.”
City Administrator Doug Kjellin responded that the ordinance was meant as a discussion item and that it had effectively served that purpose.
Collett is paid $1,200 a month for 12 hours of work, which includes drafting ordinances. If he works more than 12 hours, he will bill the city, but has yet to do so, city clerk Angela Lange said.