REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING
July 20, 2015
The City Council of the City of Fayette, Iowa, met Monday, July 20, 2015 at 7:30 p.m. in the Fayette City Hall pursuant to law and rules of said council, Mayor Wenthe presiding.
Roll call: Present - Council members Boberg, Patrick, McGrane, Nefzger. Absent: Sorensen.
Moved Patrick, seconded Nefzger, to approve the consent agenda consisting of the regular meeting minutes of 07/06/15, Claims List of 07/07–20/15, June 2015 Treasurer’s/Clerk’s Report and Budgetary Report . Roll call, all ayes, carried.
Treasurer's Balance for Fund Accounts as of June 30, 2015: General $232,284.03; Streets $391,157.45; Debt Service $5,153.64; Water Utility $162,133.86; Water T&A $19,206.66; Sewer Utility $313,822.13; CDBG Sewer ($273,634.53); Landfill/Recycling ($420.38); Yard Waste $5,227.37; Bolger Fund $232,853.05; TIF $56,085.51; CDBG Façade Grant ($86,020.32); Downtown Project ($16,227.46); Franchise Fees $15,313.85. June receipts by Fund: General $28,632.77; Streets $15,062.52; Debt Service $2,194.70; Water Utility $1,977.30; Water T&A $2,925; Sewer Utility $2,731.57; CDBG Sewer $549,385; Lf/Recycling $557.70; Yard Waste $112; Bolger $1,615; TIF $63.46; Local Option $8,368.57. Total Receipts $613,625.59. June Disbursements by Fund: General $86,258.66; Streets $9,650.79; Water Utility $26,088.84; Water T&A $3,793.93; Sewer Utility $28,215.74; Sewer CDBG $122,484.56; LF/Recy $21; Bolger $750; TIF $675; Downtown Project $329.85. Total Disbursements: $278,268.37. Investments: $1,313,574.78. Bank Balance $2,370,509.64. Balance with Library Funds $2,451,053.41.
Moved Nefzger, to approve the agenda as presented. McGrane asked that a closed session on real estate be added under new business, and Boberg asked that viewing of the drawings for the proposed veteran’s memorial also be added under new business. Moved Boberg, seconded McGrane to amend to approve the agenda with these additions. All ayes, carried.
Mayor Wenthe reported that the police chief position is being advertised again and he has received ten resumes with three of them being from previous applicants. The deadline for this round is August 10, 2015. ~ Wenthe also informed the council that he and Public Works Director, Jerry Hildebrand, visited with Al Miller, Fayette County Engineer, on July 16th, about doing a cost share project on Big Rock Road with the county doing the engineering. Miller said he would speak to the county supervisors about this and get back to them. ~ Wenthe said he and Nefzger spoke to Gary Goodell, 101 King Street, and gave him a written document stating that he needed to be off the property by July 31, 2015 and Gary signed the document.
Administrator/Clerk Dennis reported that Dan Boberg & Gayle Klimesh purchased some perennial plants and planted them around the flag pole with help from Nancy Wulfekuhle. ~ Dennis said she met Patrick Lyons, the new owner of Blessing Industries, on July 8th, with Karla Organist, Fayette Co. Ec. Dev. Director. Lyons said he would be changing the name of all the Blessings locations and his business in Vinton, Ideal Industries, to a new name in three or four months. ~ D & D Plumbing, Electric & Heating installed the new furnace in City Hall for their proposed bid of $1,600. Dennis said she submitted a rebate application to Black Hills Energy for $400 for the new furnace. ~ July 9th Casey Mai, UERPC, and & worked with Dan Narber, IEDA, on audit for our CDBG program sewer grant and everything is in order. The sewer project should be complete by the deadline, July 31st. The sludge removal will be in the fall.
Moved Boberg, seconded McGrane, to introduce for discussion signs for Klock’s Island Park regarding the e-mail that Jerry Hildebrand received from the IDOT. All ayes to discuss. The IDOT did a field study of our park and noted that it meets the criteria for placement of four free Supplemental Recreational Symbol Signs to be attached to our existing Klock’s Island Park signs along Hwy. 93. McGrane said he thought we should get the free signage to help advertise our nice park. Dennis informed the council that there were 42 camping trailers in the park over the July 4th weekend. The IDOT technician also explained the requirements to place signs along Hwy. 150. Moved Patrick, seconded McGrane, to explore putting as many signs on our existing Klock’s Island signs on Hwy. 93 allowed by the IDOT and explore the possibilities of signage on Hwy. 150. All ayes, carried.
Moved McGrane, seconded Boberg, to introduce continuing the discussion on the requirements/inspections of rental properties. All ayes, carried. Patrick said after the work session with the landlords there hadn’t been anymore discussion so he wanted to know if the council was going to drop the subject or decide if we want to proceed. Patrick added that the proposed ordinance would need a lot of revisions after hearing what the landlords had to say. It was decided to have a council work session at 6:00 p.m. before the August 3rd council meeting to continue the discussion and review the ordinance.
Moved Patrick, seconded Nefzger, to introduce the status of the Personnel Committee meeting to begin examining the recommendation by the Finance Committee to change the health benefit payout for employees not participating in single or family health insurance. All ayes, to discuss. Mayor Wenthe explained that the subject was approved by the council during budget planning time, but then he consulted the Iowa League of Cities and was told that a personnel matter of this nature should be reviewed by the Personnel Committee and then a recommendation be made to the full council. Patrick said he would prepare a data sheet for the meeting, but there are bigger philosophical issues to deal with because of the length of service of several of the employees. Nefzger said she would let Admin/Clerk Dennis know when to post the meeting notice after Patrick finishes with the data.
Moved McGrane, seconded Boberg, to approve the Library Board meeting minutes of 6-10-15. All ayes, carried.
Moved Nefzger, seconded Boberg, to introduce for discussion the subject of staggered terms for council members. All ayes to discuss. Admin/Clerk Dennis had consulted Fayette County Auditor Lori Moellers about the procedure. The present two year terms would have to be changed to four year terms by petition with at least 26 signatures, then with council approval the matter would be on the November 3rd election ballot as a public measure.
The three people elected with the highest number of votes would have four year terms and the bottom two people would have two year terms, which would start the staggered terms. All council members elected in the November 2017 election would start staggered four year terms effective January 2018. No decision was made and the council has until the September 8th meeting to decide what they want to do on the subject.
Moved Boberg, seconded Nefzger, to approve Resolution 2015-14: Setting a public hearing for the sale of the city property located at 104 King Street, Fayette, to Northeast Iowa Community Action Corporation. Three voted aye, Patrick nay, motion carried.
Moved McGrane, seconded Nefzger, to discuss the drawings for the proposed veterans memorial in the open air market park. All ayes. Boberg presented preliminary drawings of the memorial that were prepared by Brian Gage, son of Mick Gage at no charge. Boberg suggested that the black granite veteran’s memorial at City Hall be moved to the new location in the center back area. He added that brick pavers, that could be engraved, would form a path from a concrete parking area for handicapped parking and then more pavers would be laid over concrete and the pavers would be sold to help pay for the memorial. An eagle on a stand would be centered at the front of the memorial and two flags would be in the background. Boberg said Mick Gage said he would furnish the concrete and level the area where the bricks would go. He added that all these items need to be discussed with a larger committee. Mayor Wenthe said the council needs to approve the final plans, moving the existing memorial, know what the entire project is going to cost and how the funds will be raised before the project can proceed.
Moved Patrick, seconded McGrane, to approve the location for the James Lee Memorial based on Boberg’s involvement and Public Works Director Hildebrand. All ayes, carried.
Moved McGrane, seconded Nefzger, to go into closed session at 8:27 p.m. on a real estate matter as allowed under Iowa Code Chapter 21.5(1)j. All voted aye to go into closed session, carried.
The council came out of closed session at 9:16 p.m.
There being no further business, moved Nefzger, to adjourn at 9:16 pm.
