REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING
April 16, 2018
The City Council of the city of Fayette, Iowa, met Monday, April 16, 2018 at 6pm in the Fayette City Hall pursuant to law and rules of said council, Mayor Wenthe presiding.
Roll call: Present - Council members Cowley, Larson, Nefzger, Tucker and Wulfekuhle.
Moved Larson, seconded Cowley, to approve the consent agenda consisting of the regular meeting minutes of 4/2/18, the claims list of 4/3/18 – 4/16/18 and the March 2018 Financial Reports. Roll call, all ayes, motion carried.
Treasurer's Balance for Fund Accounts as of March 31, 2018: Total March Receipts: $73,844.43 (General $28,294.18; Streets $11,915.91; Employee Benefits $1,595.64; Local Option Sales Tax $14,126; TIF $43.26; Bolger $2,576.51; Library Fund $171.22; Water $1,909.41; Sewer $3,573.80; Sewer Fund $9,575.50; Storm Water $63). Total March Disbursements: $112,380.79 (General $51,287.80; Employee Benefits $11,689.45; Bolger $11,120; Library Fund $426.88; Water $13,807.37; Sewer $24,049.29). Treasurer’s Balance: $2,945,890.20.
Matt Campbell with Upper Iowa University advised the council that they had to cancel their 5K Color Run/Walk that was scheduled for last Saturday, April 14th, due to the winter weather. He wanted to advise the council that they rescheduled the event for Saturday, April 28th and wanted to make sure the council was still in favor of the event. The police department and the council had no concerns with the date change.
Bill Dohrmann advised the council that a group will be starting to collect money soon for the flowers on Main Street. Dohrmann advised he will be donating $100 to get it started.
Moved Tucker, seconded Wulfekuhle, to approve the agenda as presented. All ayes, carried.
Upon Mayor Wenthe’s request and the Fayette Recreation Board’s recommendation, moved Nefzger, seconded Larson, to appoint Susan Scott to the Fayette Recreation Board.
Administrator/Clerk McGrane advised the council the Fayette Ambulance Service received $3,246 from the Community Foundation of Northeast Iowa to be used for EMT Training. They also had a great turnout at their Belgian Waffle Fundraiser last week. Jim Thompson with the Iowa Economic Development Authority will present to the Fayette City Council on Tuesday, May 8th at 6PM at Fayette City Hall. McGrane attended a Fayette County Tourism meeting on April 3rd, a Housing meeting with Mayor Wenthe on April 9th and a UIU Community Development Opportunities meeting on April 12th. McGrane asked the council to provide him with any ideas of a location in Fayette to place another cardboard recycling bin that the Transfer Station will be providing at no additional cost to the city. McGrane included his FY2018 Budget Amendment report to the council. An explanation of increases or decreases in revenue and expenditure estimates and appropriations include: repair damage from the July 22, 2017 flood, starting the sewer lining project, trainings, computer/software/website upgrades, FY17 audit expenses, adjustments for the new accounting software as well as transitioning to the Iowa chart of accounts. The amendment will have a new ending fund balance as of June 30th, 2018 of $2,446,042. Moved Wulfekuhle, seconded Cowley, to direct the City Administrator/Clerk to publish the budget estimate and set a public hearing for Monday, May 7th at 6PM at Fayette City Hall on the Amendment of FY2017-2018 City Budget. All ayes, carried.
Police Chief Pisanti presented the Fayette Police Department’s 2017 Annual Report to the council. The report stated residential burglaries have gone down 90% and thefts have gone down 21% from 2016 to 2017, among other statistics.
Moved Wulfekuhle, seconded Nefzger, to approve the Fayette Recreation Board meeting minutes from April 2, 2018. Fayette’s Music in the Park will be on the 2nd Monday’s of the month this summer (May 14th, June 11th, July 9th, August 13th and September 10th) from 6PM to 8PM at the Open Air Market Park on West Water Street. All ayes, carried.
Moved Nefzger, seconded Tucker, to approve the Fayette Community Library Board minutes from March 14, 2018. All ayes, carried.
Moved Wulfekuhle, seconded Cowley, to discuss and request a public hearing for the conveyance of an easement allowing the Fayette County Food Shelf to build upon city right of way. After a brief discussion, moved Larson, seconded Nefzger, to schedule a public hearing at the next council meeting, Monday, May 7th, 2018 at 6PM at Fayette City Hall for the conveyance at the cost of preparation of an easement allowing the Fayette County Food Shelf to build upon city right of way at the intersection of E. Water St. and Washington St. All ayes, carried.
Moved Larson, seconded Cowley, to discuss and take action reference a high water bill for Craig and Jeanie Kleitsch at 404 Wadena Road Lot #202. The Kleitsch’s were unable to attend the meeting, but provided a letter and copies of their previous water bills to the council. The Kleitsch’s mentioned their last bill was $470.25, when normally it is a minimum ($128.41). After contacting Fayette City Hall and looking over the trailer for leaks, they discovered a crack in the water shut-off valve underneath the trailer. The valve is located after the water meter and the water from the leak was soaking into the ground and not going through the sewer. They would like to request the council forgive some of the sewer fees. After discussion, the council would like the Kleitsch’s to provide any type of proof the shut-off valve was replaced or leaking (for example, any pictures or receipts of parts). Moved Larson, seconded Nefzger, to table the request.
Moved Cowley, seconded Larson, to discuss and take action on fixing the Main Street bridge over Volga River. Public Works Director Jerry Hildebrand advised the council that part of the sidewalk has collapsed, the bridge approaches are undermined and the expansion joints need to be repaired. Hildebrand had a quote of around $1,100 from a company that could come in with some equipment to help determine how much void is underneath the approaches to help us bid the project. Hildebrand advised that he spoke with Jon Biederman with Fehr Graham Engineering and Environmental and they are roughly estimating the total cost of the repair project would be somewhere around $50,000 to $60,000. Hildebrand believes the cause of the damages are a combination of the 1999 flood, failure of the expansion joints and the 2017 flood. Upon Hildebrand’s recommendation, moved Nefzger, seconded Wulfekuhle, to move forward and hire Fehr Graham Engineering and Environmental to start the process for the repair of the Main Street bridge over the Volga River. All ayes, motion carried.
Moved Cowley, seconded Tucker, to discuss and take action on 9 South Main Street. City Administrator/Clerk McGrane was notified on April 2, 2018 that the tenants at 9 S. Main St. will be terminating their lease effective April 30, 2018. Moved Wulfekuhle, seconded Cowley, to start advertising the empty space for rent online, including the website and Facebook. All ayes, carried.
Moved Larson, seconded Cowley, to discuss John and Sharon Orr’s request to start preparing the land at the Open Air Market for the Freedom Rock. The Orr’s had placed flags in the approximate place where the cement and rock would be located. John Orr advised the rock and cement may move approximately 2 feet around that area as it will depend on where the foundation that is buried in the lot is located. The council recommended waiting to remove any trees until after the rock was in place. The council would also like to look at possible locations on where to move the current rock that has the UIU appreciation plaque on it. Moved Larson, seconded Tucker, for the Orr’s to start preparing the land at the Open Air Market for the cement and the Freedom Rock, without removing any trees or moving the existing rock at this time. All ayes, carried.
Moved Larson, seconded Nefzger, to discuss and take action reference the high water bill for Diego Duran and Charles Miles at 520 Mechanic Street. Miles was present and advised the council his roommate and him have made some payments on their water bill and would like to request the water be turned back on at their residence. After discussion, moved Nefzger, seconded Cowley, to have the water turned back on at 520 Mechanic Street under the following conditions: Miles makes a payment of $300 this evening; the tenants make a $300 payment every Thursday until the outstanding bill is paid off; if a $300 Thursday payment is not paid, the water is immediately turned back off; and the landlord/property owner agrees with these conditions and provides approval to turn the water back on. All ayes, carried.
Moved Tucker, seconded Wulfekuhle, to discuss and take action reference the Fayette Revolving Loan Fund including committee members, interest rates and application fees. McGrane advised the council may make changes later, but need to agree on something now to complete the application process for a chance to get funds. Moved Nefzger, seconded Wulfekuhle, to have committee members include: an Upper Explorerland Regional Planning Commission representative (not a voting member), the Fayette Mayor, the Fayette City Administrator/Clerk, one Fayette City Council member, three business leaders/owners, the Fayette County Economic Development Director (not a voting member); an interest rate of 1% over prime not to exceed 5%; and an application fee of $50. All ayes, carried.
Moved Tucker, seconded Larson, to discuss new construction, rehab and business incentives. After discussion, the council would like to continue to take community members ideas and wait until after the May 8th presentation by Jim Thompson. Moved Cowley, seconded Wulfekuhle, to table.
There being no further business, moved Nefzger, unanimous, to adjourn at 7pm.
