Council Meeting Minutes 4-15-19

REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING

April 15, 2019

     The City Council of the City of Fayette, Iowa, met Monday, April 15, 2019, at 6:00pm in Fayette City Hall pursuant to law and rules of said council, Mayor Wenthe presiding.

     Roll call: Present - Council members Cowley, Larson (6:08pm), Nefzger, Tucker and Wulfekuhle.

     Moved Cowley, seconded Tucker, to approve the consent agenda items consisting of the regular meeting minutes of 4/1/19 and the claims list of 4/2/19 – 4/15/19.  Roll call, all ayes, motion carried.

     Moved Tucker, seconded Cowley, to approve the agenda as presented. All ayes, carried.

     Upon Mayor Wenthe’s recommendation, moved Cowley, seconded Nefzger, to appoint Susan Scott to the Upper Explorerland Regional Housing Authority Board for a three-year term, until 1/1/22.  All ayes, carried.

     Mayor Wenthe advised the council we need two citizens to serve on the Board of Adjustments. 

     Moved Tucker, seconded Nefzger, to approve the Fayette Community Library Board of Trustees meeting minutes from 3/13/19.  All ayes, carried.

     Moved Cowley, seconded Wulfekuhle, to approve the Fayette Board of Adjustment meeting minutes from 3/28/19.  All ayes, carried.

     Moved Cowley, seconded Tucker, to discuss and consider closing off the 100 block of S. Main Street for the Fayette Show and Shine Car Shows on the 3rd Thursday of the month.  Lloyd Carnicle advised he started this in 2013 and would like to continue to organize the car show again this year between May and September.  Moved Nefzger, seconded Wulfekuhle, to approve closing the 100 block of S. Main Street from 5:30PM to 9PM on the 3rd Thursday of the month starting in May until September of 2019 for the Fayette Show and Shine Car Shows.  All ayes, carried.

     Moved Nefzger, seconded Cowley, to discuss and consider Hawkeye Telephone to continue to expand the fiber network around Fayette.  Craig Schmidt with Hawkeye Telephone advised this summer they would like to expand the fiber network in Fayette and build up the main line which would cover S. Main Street.  Once they get the main line down, they will contact the businesses to find out if they are interested in hooking up to the fiber network for internet and phone.  In the future, they would choose sections of town to expand the network into.  The work this summer would include underground boring.  Schmidt estimates the work would start in about two or two and half months.  Moved Nefzger, seconded Larson, to approve Hawkeye Telephone to continue to expand the fiber network project this summer.  All ayes, carried.

     Moved Larson, seconded Cowley, to discuss and consider forgiving some water and sewer charges for 502 E. Madison Street.  Kevin Lehs (owner of 502 E. Madison St.) explained this is a rental home and he stops down monthly to perform regular maintenance for the house.  He also walks through to make sure there is nothing leaking, or any problems and he hasn’t seen anything leaking over the last year.  The water usage was almost 4 times higher for the December through February quarter.  Lehs did replace a dishwasher during this time but he said it wasn’t because it was leaking.  The monthly March usage seemed accurate.  The Public Works ran a report for Lehs and the council that showed the daily usage for that residence from 2/27/19 through 4/1/19 and it appeared to show normal usage.  The report only went back to 2/27, so the city couldn’t determine when the previous high usage occurred during that quarter.   After further discussion, no action was taken.

     Moved Cowley, seconded Larson, to discuss the building permit for 509 Franklin Street.  Kevin Lehs (owner of 512 W. Water St.) and Jeff Potratz (owner of 509 Franklin St.) were both in attendance.  Lehs advised he believes the garage that was built at 509 Franklin St. is out of compliance with the building permit because the permit states a 15 foot rear yard set-back and it appears to only be about a 13 foot rear yard set-back.  Lehs advised the Board of Adjustment approved a 13 foot rear yard set-back but they could not do that because the variance request was for a 15 foot rear yard set-back.  McGrane advised Lehs pointed that out a few days after the Board of Adjustment meeting last summer and McGrane checked with the City Attorney and Lehs was correct, Potratz could only have a 15 foot rear yard set-back.  McGrane notified Potratz to advise him of this before he started building the garage.  Potratz advised he built the garage with a 16 foot rear yard set-back, but with a one foot roof overhang so he is in compliance with the 15 foot rear yard set-back.  Lehs believes the city ordinance may be deficient because if someone builds a huge building on the top of a hill, it contributes to the water at the bottom of the hill because it takes away a lot of green space.  Lehs suggested having a certain amount of green space per yard for watershed.  Potratz advised he has one of the ease spouts for the new garage that runs to the front of the garage that will drain down the driveway into the street.  Potratz is still working on some landscaping around the garage to also help with slowing the water down.  Wenthe advised he recommends passing this information on to the Board of Adjustments, so they consider these suggestions when approving future permits and if they have any recommendations on changing the city code to let the council know.  No action was taken.

     Moved Tucker, seconded Larson, to discuss and consider accepting the written RFP to engage a CPA firm to perform the City’s required annual examination for the year ending June 30, 2019.  After discussion, moved Larson, seconded Wulfekuhle, to approve and accept the written RFP as presented.

     Moved Cowley, seconded Nefzger, to discuss donations from the late Floyd Alber.  The city has currently received $17,376.41 from United Life Insurance Company (one lump sum), $4,559.24 from Farm Bureau Life Insurance (first payment of five over the next five years) and $33.49 from the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod Foundation (first quarterly payment that the city will receive over the next twenty years designated specifically for the Fayette Community Library).  Mayor Wenthe advised the council to think of suggestions on how to spend the money.  Wulfekuhle mentioned about possibly using some of the money for the Fayette Community Garden.  No action was taken.

     Moved Wulfekuhle, seconded Cowley, to discuss and consider planning a National Night Out event in Fayette.  Police Chief Davis has received support from the Fayette Fire Department and Fayette Ambulance Service and is still waiting to hear back from other area law enforcement agencies.  Davis would like approval from the council to move forward so he can form a planning committee.  The event would be held on Tuesday, August 6th.  Moved Nefzger, seconded Tucker, to move forward with the National Night Out event and start a planning committee.  All ayes, carried.

     Moved Cowley, seconded Larson, to discuss Ordinance 503, amending chapters 92 and 99.  The changes include changing the word “quarterly” to “monthly” in Chapter 99 and making the utility bills be due by 8AM on the 16th of the month, instead of the 15th.  Moved Tucker, seconded Wulfekuhle, to waive the second reading of Ordinance 503.  Roll call, all ayes, carried.  Moved Nefzger, seconded Wulfekuhle, to approve the third and final reading of Ordinance 503, amending the code of ordinances of the city of Fayette, Iowa, by repealing and amending specific sections in chapters 92 and 99 to adjust or add rates, fees, and other changes including billing monthly for water and sewer.  Roll call, all ayes, motion carried.  

     Moved Nefzger to adjourn at 7:04pm.

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