Council Meeting Minutes 4-3-17

REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING

April 3, 2017

     The City Council of the City of Fayette, Iowa, met Monday, April 3, 2017 at 7:30pm in the Fayette City Hall pursuant to law and rules of said council, Mayor Wenthe presiding.

     Roll call: Present - Council members Kragnes, Larson, Nefzger, Tucker and Wulfekuhle.

     Moved Kragnes, seconded Nefzger, to approve the consent agenda consisting of the regular meeting minutes of 3/20/17 and the claims list of 3/21/17 – 4/3/17. Roll call, all ayes, carried.

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

     Mayor Wenthe advised he was asked to be a judge at the science fair at the Fayette Elementary School later this month.

     City Administrator/Clerk McGrane advised the council that there are Small City workshops for city officials to attend in May and June. McGrane informed the council that Fayette was not rewarded with the CDBG Water/Sewer Grant that we applied for to help with the downtown project. Diana with Upper Explorerland spoke with IEDA on Friday, March 31st and they explained some reasons why we were not rewarded the grant money: the project is not a competitive project compared to other applicants; other applicants have DNR violation orders and deadlines that must be met; Fayette’s water and sewer rates are not high enough; Fayette has no documented contamination occurring in our water/sewer lines; and the majority of the work is to the downtown area which would not affect the residents of Fayette. Fayette will find out if we were awarded the CDBG Community Facilities & Services grant in May.

     Police Chief Pisanti told the council he is continuing the push on unpaid, over-due parking tickets. Pisanti is sending out certified letters and is going to work with UIU to assist in contacting violators who have an over-due outstanding ticket. Pisanti has also created a list of vehicles with unpaid, over-due parking tickets. Vehicles on the list will be towed and impounded by the Fayette police until the parking ticket is paid. Fayette Officer Davis is attending LEIN (Iowa Law Enforcement Intel Network) school. The cost of the school and hotel is paid for by LEIN. LEIN disseminates intel between cities to look for similar crimes or offenders that jump from town to town committing crimes. Officer Davis will be Fayette’s contact person within the network.

     Moved Kragnes, seconded Larson, to discuss the Hofmeyer & Hanson bill. Mayor Wenthe spoke with John Hofmeyer III and Hofmeyer is willing to settle for the city paying 50% of the bill. The city has not been able to locate any resolution stating Hofmeyer & Hanson is the designated City Attorney, however they are still listed as our City Attorney through the Iowa League of Cities. After further discussion, moved Nefzger, seconded Wulfekuhle, to pay half of the Hofmeyer & Hanson bill in question. All ayes, carried.

     Moved Kragnes, seconded Tucker, to discuss raising ambulance crew member wages. The ambulance crew discussed and voted to raise the ambulance crew wages as follows: from $15/hour for Paramedic/Nurse exempt and $12/hour for all other members to $12/hour for drivers, $13/hour for EMT/EMR, $14/hour for AEMT and $15/hour for Paramedic/Nurse exempt. Nefzger advised the council the higher the level of service on the crew, the more training, hours of recertification that must be met and job responsibilities. The ambulance crew is also purchasing an IV pump for the service to use for patient transfers. Motion Kragnes, seconded Larson, to approve the raises to the ambulance crew wages. All ayes, carried.

     Moved Kragnes, seconded Larson, to introduce the first reading of Ordinance 492 – Amending Fayette City Code Chapters 62.12 General Traffic Regulations, Penalties, and 63.12 Speed Regulations, Penalties, by increasing the penalties and fines. The ordinance increases the $75 and $50 fees in Chapter 62.12 to $100. These fines would include stop sign violations, expired insurance, not wearing a seat belt and other violations in Chapter 62. In Chapter 63, Speeding Regulations, the fees would increase from $75 to $100 for 1-10 miles per hour (mph) over the posted speed limit; $85 to $110 for 11-15 mph over the posted speed limit; and $95 to $125 for 16-20 mph over the posted speed limit. Moved Kragnes, seconded Nefzger, to adopt and approve the first reading of Ordinance 492. On roll call, all ayes, carried.

     Moved Kragnes, seconded Tucker, to discuss a city of Fayette Revolving Loan Fund (RLF). Wenthe reminded the council the RLF was previously discussed to provide an incentive for new businesses or expanding current businesses and using the Bolger Fund to fund the RLF. McGrane spoke with Diana at Upper Explorerland about RLF’s and Upper Explorerland administers RLF’s for other cities on contract. Most of the cities they administer for use other grants or loans to fund their RLF’s, so there is more administrative work involved. Diana recommended forming a committee or small group to get the process together and she would be willing to meet with the group to explain more details. Kragnes and Tucker volunteered to be a part of the small group and will coordinate a time to meet with Diana.

     Moved Larson, seconded Kragnes, to discuss a request from Public Works Director Hildebrand to purchase 48 cubic yards of fiber (wood chips) for Rainbow Land Park, located in the 200 block of W. State Street, to place around the children’s play equipment for approximately $720.50 from SMI in Cresco. The money would come out of the parks department budget. Tucker advised she put in a request for volunteers to help place the fiber around the equipment and clean up the park during Upper Iowa University’s Fayette Appreciation Day. Tucker advised the Recreation Board is also purchasing new volleyball nets for the park. Moved Kragnes, seconded Larson, to approve the request. All ayes, carried.

     There being no further business, moved Nefzger, unanimous, to adjourn at 8:03pm.

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