Marthasville residents who may be in violation of any city ordinances that recently were updated and adopted as part of the model code book can expect to see some leniency early on. However, citizens will be notified should they be in violation. Some of the major changes that will affect residents include dropping the speed limit within the city to 25 mph, prohibiting the parking of boats, trailers, campers and RVs on city streets, and identifying public nuisances, such as tall weeds, trash and infestation of insects. Aldermen unanimously approved an ordinance last Tuesday, March 13, adopting the code book for the second month in a row after a few minor changes were made. The code book puts procedures in place on how the city deals with certain issues. If needed, the city can change an ordinance in the future contingent on approval from aldermen. "We're going to go around and give friendly reminders," Mayor Dale Verges said. "There is no grandfathering in. We will try to get them to be in compliance." Updating the code book has been in the works for nearly two years. It brings the city's laws more in line with state statutes, officials said. The new code book will keep all similar ordinances together rather than forcing city staff to spend extra time searching through a binder over an inch thick, Verges said. Prior to the code book being finished, the city's ordinances were listed in order as they were approved by previous boards as far back as 40 years ago. The code book is being published by Sullivan Publications. "We wanted to get everything up to date," Verges said. "We had to get everything up to the 21st century. There were a lot of old ordinances." Agreement Not Reached With Collection Agency The city has yet to reach a contract with a Washington collection agency after a service agreement was returned unsigned. According to Verges, a service agreement had been sent by City Attorney Chris Graville to Regional Credit Services, but it was returned with changes made by owner Karen Skornia. Since city officials felt the changes were unnecessary, they agreed to resend the original agreement again in hopes of getting it finalized. The city has considered using a collection agency in an effort to receive payments in a more timely basis and to take a tougher approach with delinquent payments. If the city decides to use Skornia's services, the city would receive 70 percent of the amount collected with the remaining 30 percent to cover the company's fee. Residents Don't Need City Stickers for Vehicles Since the city no longer collects taxes, a job that is now being taken care of by the county collector's office, Marthasville residents will no longer need to purchase city stickers to register their vehicles annually. At last week's meeting, city officials agreed to waive the requirement. The vehicle stickers were a tool to make sure residents were up-to-date on their taxes, according to Verges. Residents were required to pay $3 per vehicle and could only receive the stickers once their taxes were paid.