Council Meeting Minutes 8-7-17

REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING

August 7, 2017

     The City Council of the City of Fayette, Iowa, met Monday, August 7, 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 Wulfekuhle, to approve the consent agenda consisting of the regular meeting minutes of 7/17/17 and the claims list of 7/18/17 – 8/7/17.  Roll call, all ayes, carried.

     Renee Voshell informed the Mayor and Council about a bible reading event she is planning that will take place at Klock’s Island Park, the Open Air Market Park and a gazebo outside Maple Crest Manor Nursing Home and Assisted Living.  The reading will be from 7AM to 8PM on both Friday, Sept. 15th and Saturday, Sept. 16th.  Anyone interested in reading a portion of the bible at this event or has any questions may contact Kathy Thomas at 563-880-4091, Barb Hackmann at 563-880-8362 or Renee Voshell at 563-608-5518.  The Mayor and Council appreciated her informing them about the event and requested City Administrator/Clerk McGrane to include the information in an upcoming community email so the public is aware.

     Moved Nefzger, seconded Kragnes, to add action item 7C under New Business regarding Madison and King Streets storm water drainage.  All ayes, motion carried.  Moved Kragnes, seconded Nefzger, to approve the agenda as presented.  All ayes, motion carried.

     Mayor Wenthe reported that he had inquired with Duane Willhite, North Fayette Valley (NFV) Superintendent, about how many students in the Fayette area would be necessary to have an activities bus that would transport students to and from Fayette to West Union.  Wenthe requested McGrane to inform the public through an upcoming community email to contact City Hall, the Mayor or a Council member if they would have a need for an activities bus in Fayette.  Wenthe advised if the school would not be able to offer the service, maybe the Fayette Recreation Board could help. 

     City Admin/Clerk McGrane reported to the council that he attended 18 classes at the Iowa Municipal Professionals Institute and Academy in Ames between July 17th and 28th.  McGrane has been preparing for upcoming audits and reviews for IMWCA and IPERS.  The exterior, underside of the water tower was cleaned in July, as the council had budgeted for.  Fayette Library Director Linda Adams had turned in her letter of retirement to the city.  Her last day will be on September 29th, 2017.  Adams was hired on November 21st, 1988, and has served the citizens of Fayette for almost 29 years. 

     Police Chief Pisanti informed the council that the Fayette Police Dept. has completed its first week of the contract with Upper Iowa University (UIU).  Fayette Officer Waid has almost completed his Field Training.

     Moved Tucker, seconded Larson, to approve the Fayette Community Library board minutes from July 11, 2017.  All ayes, motion carried.

     Moved Wulfekuhle, seconded Kragnes, to discuss Fayette flooding from July 22nd, 2017.  Mayor Wenthe and McGrane provided a timeline to the council of the events of the flood which included the estimated damage of approximately $80,000 of city property, meetings with Iowa Homeland Security & Emergency Management Department (IHSEMD) and clean-up process.  Wenthe advised the IHSEMD is hoping to provide all the details to the President of the United States so he will consider declaring a disaster.  If the President does declare our area a disaster, then the city may be able to receive up to 75-90% of approved city expenses being reimbursed for flood repair and replacement of damaged facilities and areas.  Tucker asked that since the storm sewer system couldn’t keep up with all the rain water, causing multiple drains to back-up, if there was anything the city could do to help prevent this in the future.  Larson commented that once the system is full of water, then there’s no place for the water to go.  Public Works Director Hildebrand advised that the city pumps were pumping the whole time during the flood at over 1,000 gallons per minute.  Hildebrand advised that most basements that were backed-up and flooded was due to the sewer lines not being able to keep up with all the rain water and not from the river flooding.  In 2014 when the river flooded the sewer plant, no one in town had reported to Hildebrand that they had any sewer back-up in their basements.  It was also discussed that residents who have sump pumps should not have them pumping down their sewer drains.  Hildebrand informed the council that the pre-treatment lift station, the lagoons and well number 3 all have back-up generators if the power would ever go off in a situation like this.  David Orr advised his mother lives on Mechanic St. and she had wastewater backup in her basement.  Orr wanted to know if the cities insurance company would pay for damages.  Wenthe advised we will look into it.  The council discussed other options and citizen suggestions due to the flood. 

     Moved Nefzger, seconded Kragnes, to discuss the consideration of hiring a structural engineer to inspect the city owned Rohn 25G tower.  McGrane advised AC Skyways/Allamakee Clayton Electric Cooperative had inquired about placing an antenna on the tower to provide wireless internet to the community.  McGrane contacted Brenda VandeVoorde, the Fayette County E911 Coordinator, to inform them of the discussion since they have an antenna on the tower that is used for emergency services.  VandeVoorde inquired with their Engineer and they did not recommend adding anything new to the tower until an inspection was done.  The Engineer advised the life of a tower like this is 25 years and it is in its final years.  Moved Kragnes, seconded Nefzger, to have the tower inspected to determine the capacity and status of the tower as well as research the cost of replacing the tower.  All ayes, motion carried.

     Moved Kragnes, seconded Larson, to discuss Madison and King Streets storm water drainage.  Public Works Director Hildebrand advised the council the storm sewer that is under the road is in need of repair or replacement and would recommend the issue be referred to the Streets Committee to look into it.  Moved Kragnes, seconded Larson, to refer the storm water drainage at Madison and King Streets to the Streets Committee.  All ayes, motion carried.

     Moved Kragnes, seconded Nefzger, to discuss the consideration of hiring a municipal or financial advisor to provide financial options to the council for the downtown and Water Street project.  McGrane advised the city was awarded $350,000 of the $500,000 for the CDBG Community Facilities & Service Grant to be used for storm sewer system improvements in downtown Fayette on Main St. as part of the $3,015,012 Downtown Project.  We were not awarded the CDBG Water/Sewer grant.  We were also awarded a SRF Water Resource Restoration Sponsored Project which would provide 10% of the SRF wastewater loan amount (approx. $31,900) for the project.  McGrane felt it was in the best interest of the city to hire a Municipal Advisor to research the financial options if the council wanted to move forward with this project.  Once the council understands the options, then they can decide if they want to move forward with the project or not.  Moved Nefzger, seconded Wulfekuhle, to obtain a scope of practice and cost estimate from a few different advisors for this project.  All ayes, motion carried.

     There being no further business, moved Nefzger, unanimous, to adjourn at 8:22pm.

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