Minutes September 21, 2015

REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING

September 21, 2015

    

     The City Council of the City of Fayette, Iowa, met Monday, September 21, 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, McGrane, Nefzger, Patrick, Sorensen.

     Moved Sorensen, seconded Nefzger, to approve the consent agenda consisting of the regular meeting minutes of 09/08/15, Claims List of 09/09–21/15 and the August 2015 Treasurer’s/Clerk’s Report and Budgetary Report. Roll call, all ayes, carried.

     Treasurer's Balance for Fund Accounts as of August 31, 2015: General $199,831.33; Streets $391,511.62; Debt Service $6,175.35; Water Utility $205,752.04; Water T&A $22,490.43; Sewer Utility $368,724.45; CDBG Sewer ($199,663.08); Landfill/Recycling ($776.88); Yard Waste $8,114.37; Bolger Fund $149,321.73; TIF $56,098.47; Local Option Sales Tax $25,053.04; Storm Water $15; Downtown Project ($17,406.21); Franchise Fees $18,948.02. August Receipts by Fund: General $21,707.11; Streets $18,794.31; Water Utility $4,946.74; Water T&A $3,553.31; Sewer Utility $7,341.62; CDBG Sewer $502,412; Lf/Recycling $1,285.68; Yard Waste $260; Bolger $1,848; Local Option $8,315.88; Storm Water $15; Franchise Fees $2,787.15. Total Receipts $573,266.80. August Disbursements by Fund: General $37,750.54; Streets $11,408.92; Water Utility $6,118.71; Water T&A $1,291.59; Sewer Utility $28,642.39; Sewer CDBG $124,254.87; Bolger $245; Downtown Project $3,178.75. Total Disbursements: $212,890.77. Investments: $1,309,942.90. Bank Balance $2,544,132.58. Balance with Library Funds $2,637,555.68.

     Moved Nefzger, seconded Sorensen, to approve the agenda as presented. All ayes, carried.

     Mayor Wenthe reported that the search committee interviewed the two Police Chief candidates who were at the meet and greet on Tuesday, September 15th.   He said they are waiting for the results of some on-going testing, before they can make their final choice for Police Chief.

   Administrator/Clerk Dennis reported that Fayette Lumber installed a new back door and raised the threshold to keep the water from running under the door at 9 South Main, next door to city hall. ~ The hot water heater at city hall broke so she is getting bids for a new on-demand hot water heater and a water softener at the request of the ambulance service. ~   Dennis finalized the application to partially fund two new warning sirens through Iowa Homeland Security & Emergency Management and it was submitted to FEMA on September 10, 2015. A new location was chosen for the siren that was going in Cardinal Park. It will now be placed north of the water tower on city property. After FEMA approves the application, then we may proceed with the project. ~ Fire Chief, Jason Rohde, picked up the new 2016 Ford F350 pick-up truck from Wilbur Ford in West Union on Sept. 15th. The cost was $29,862.24 and was paid for out of the fire department city savings account. ~ The Fayette American Legion made their final loan payment and paid off their 2011 loan of $15,000 early. ~ Fall Clean-up Day will be October 14th in Fayette for landfill items. ~ Mediacom is going to finish going 100% digital starting the first part of October. Lee Grassley, Senior Mediacom Manager, said this would only affect about 1 percent of the subscribers who are still using some analog channels. Grassley said a notice would be sent out to subscribers the first of October.

     Moved Patrick, seconded McGrane, to discuss the topic of an Economic Development Business Survey with Karla Organist, Fayette County Economic Development Director. All ayes, to discuss. Organist informed the mayor and council that the survey had been done in Elgin and Fayette was going to be next. The survey is being done county-wide to find out from businesses where Fay. Co. Ec. Development can best meet their needs.

     Moved Patrick, seconded Nefzger, to introduce and discuss Resolution 2015-18: Adopting a City Building Use Policy for the City of Fayette. All ayes to discuss. Mayor Wenthe explained this policy was drafted by Dennis and him in response to a situation on the Friday night of Watermelon Days. Fire Chief Jason Rohde wouldn’t let the Watermelon Day Committee members use the fire station or the tables and chairs stored in the fire station for the annual dinner, although Committee Co-Leader Bobby Jo Larson had received permission to use the fire station months before from Rohde. Dennis noted in her report that when the council accepted the proposal from David Bolger to use funds from the sale of the Rexam property to pay for the new fire station in October 2007, it was approved with the condition that the fire station would be used for community events and meetings. Also, when Upper Iowa University was replacing some of their old tables and chairs with new ones several years ago, they said they would give them to the city with the stipulation that the tables and chairs could be used by the community for events. After some discussion about the wording for the policy, McGrane suggested that Library Director Adams be given a chance to review the policy, so the resolution was tabled. Mayor Wenthe then said, “We are a community and we should work in a cooperative manner whenever possible. Remember that you may come to me or the five council members if there is an issue and that not just one person has the final say for the use of a public building”. Wenthe thanked Bobby Jo Larson for her work on Watermelon Days and asked her to pass that on to Linda Tenney, the other Committee Co-Leader. Wenthe said there was a good turnout for the event and he received a good report from several people. Wenthe also thanked Kris McGrane for his success with Watermelon Idol. Wenthe commended all the volunteers.

    Moved McGrane, seconded Sorensen, to discuss the letter from Larry Webb regarding the funding of the memorial for James Lee. Webb again thanked the mayor and council for allowing him to pursue the memorial for Lee.  Webb also provided a financial statement for the memorial bench project showing total donations of $2,915 and a cost of $1,995 for the bench that was purchased from Valders Stone & Marble, Inc. Mick Gage donated  the

concrete and his labor. Webb noted that the remaining $921.38 in the fund raising account would be used for lighting the memorial to be installed during the construction of the proposed larger Veterans Memorial. Patrick said that Webb needs to understand that the Veterans Memorial may not be done. McGrane stated that Webb should be made aware, as a courtesy, that things are moving slow. Moved McGrane, seconded Boberg, to approve the letter financial report from Larry Webb. All voted aye, carried.

     Moved Sorensen, seconded Patrick, to introduce the engineering proposals received for the Big Rock Road project. All ayes to discuss. Proposals were received from Fehr Graham, IIW Engineers and Whks Engineering. Since the proposals from IIW & Whks left out a lot of the costs associated with a city project of this size, Public Works Director Hildebrand suggested to Patrick to go with Fehr Graham because their proposal was complete with a final engineering cost of $30,000 (per Jon Biederman) without any hidden expenses. Moved Patrick, seconded Nefzger, to approve the bid from Fehr Graham for the Big Rock Road Project. All ayes, carried.

     Moved Sorensen, seconded Boberg, to introduce for discussion the parking on West Water Street. All ayes to discuss. Boberg said a citizen brought to his attention that the grain trucks don’t have room to pass when there are vehicles parked on both sides of the street, so they have to stop and let others go by before they can get through. Patrick said this was discussed last year and he isn’t convinced that we need to take a whole side of the street from parking. Boberg said it’s a main artery in and out of town. Dennis noted that it was the designated truck route in and out of town. Karla Organist said she is the Transportation Planner for our area and she would send Dennis some reports from the DOT showing the traffic count in Fayette and how far someone should park from a corner. McGrane said he talked to some of the renters last year where some of the cluster parking was happening and directed them to use the Open Air Market area. Dennis noted that November 1 to March 31 no one is allowed to park on the streets over night. There was no further discussion on the matter.

     Moved Sorensen, seconded McGrane, to introduce and approve the second reading of Ordinance 488: Rescinding Ordinance 487, allowing lien exemption notices and adding that the landlord must provide the mailing address and phone number for their tenants. On roll call, all voted aye, carried.

     Moved Patrick, seconded Boberg, to introduce and approve the second reading of Ordinance 489: Amending Chapters 90.10, Tapping Mains; Chapter 92.09, Customer Deposits; Chapter 92.10, Temporary Vacancy and adding Chapter 99.16, Customer Deposits for sewer, landfill, recycling, yard waste and storm water drainage utility service. On roll call, all ayes, carried.

     Moved Boberg, seconded Patrick, to discuss the letter to Sierra Fox regarding her training agreement payback. All ayes to discuss. Mayor Wenthe said an attorney for Fox called him and proposed a 24-month payback of the $7,199 due with 5 percent interest with a co-signer. Patrick said, “I don’t think we’re in the business of being a bank, she can get a loan.” He added, “It’s stated very clearly in the contract, several times, so it shouldn’t have been a surprise to anybody.” Everyone agreed with Patrick. Mayor Wenthe will convey this to Foxes attorney.

     There being no further business, moved Nefzger, to adjourn at 8:17 pm.         

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