REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING
March 19, 2018
The City Council of the city of Fayette, Iowa, met Monday, March 19, 2018 at 6pm in the Fayette City Hall pursuant to law and rules of said council, Mayor Wenthe presiding.
Roll call: Present - Council members Larson, Tucker and Wulfekuhle. Nefzger arrived at 6:01pm. Absent - Cowley.
Moved Wulfekuhle, seconded Larson, to approve the consent agenda consisting of the regular meeting minutes of 3/5/18, the claims list of 3/6/18 – 3/19/18, the February 2018 Financial Reports and approve the renewal of a beer license and native wine permit for Boarders Inn & Suites. Roll call, all ayes, motion carried.
Treasurer's Balance for Fund Accounts as of February 28, 2018: Total February Receipts: $56,253.55 (General $13,747.04; Streets $18,810.26; Employee Benefits $1,511.71; TIF $26.42; Bolger $1,184.46; Library Fund $717.55; Water $4,731.08; Sewer $5,833.53; Sewer Fund $9,575.50; Storm Water $116). Total February Disbursements: $107,783.07 (General $27,651.85; Employee Benefits $7,882.46; Library Fund $758.49; FEMA $39,046.25; CDBG Downtown Project $753; Water $11,236.44; Sewer $20,454.58). Treasurer’s Balance: $2,987,148.05.
Andy Bilden with the Fayette County Fair Board advised the council that they have hired a carnival for the Fayette County Fair and are planning on offering it free for fairgoers. The carnival is the same one that Allamakee and Clayton Counties will have at their fairs. The total cost of the carnival would be about $15,000. The Fair Board members are asking cities in Fayette County if they would be willing to make a donation to help cover the cost of the carnival. Andy said the City of West Union has donated $5,000, Hawkeye has donated $1,000 and he believes Westgate donated $500. Mayor Wenthe advised we will put the item on a future council agenda to discuss it.
Moved Larson, seconded Nefzger, to approve the agenda as presented. All ayes, carried.
Upon Mayor Wenthe’s request and the Fayette Ambulance Services recommendation, moved Wulfekuhle, seconded Larson, to appoint Hunter Hoffman to the Fayette Ambulance Service, pending a background check. Hoffman is planning on taking the EMT class. All ayes to approve, carried.
Administrator/Clerk McGrane advised the council he had learned about services that NE Iowa Community Action offers community members at a recent meeting he attend and included a brochure to the council members. McGrane also advised that Roger Post with the Ambulance Crew presented him with a 28E Agreement today that will be on the next Council Agenda.
Police Chief Pisanti advised the council that he had many reports of missing trash cans recently. He discovered that Black Hawk Waste Disposal were cleaning up some of their accounts from the recent merge with Bunn Services.
Moved Tucker, seconded Nefzger, to approve the Fayette Community Library Director’s March 14, 2018 Report. Nefzger commented on the great reports the council is receiving from the Library. Tucker commended the new Library Director, Annette Butikofer, for the great activities she’s been organizing. All ayes, carried.
Moved Larson, seconded Nefzger, to discuss UIU students request for a color run in Fayette. Matt Campbell and Erik Zorilla from UIU advised the International Student Association (ISA) is hoping to host a fundraiser where all the proceeds will go to a tribal school in India. They would like to do a color run/walk on Saturday, April 14th at 10AM. The color run/walk would be a 5K, or a little over 3 miles. As the participants would run or walk the route, volunteers would throw a non-toxic, washable, powdered paint at them. The route would start on the UIU Campus and would utilize some roads and trails throughout Fayette and end at Klock’s Island Park. They may also look into having a few food vendors at the event. Moved Larson, seconded Nefzger, to approve the UIU students color run request. All ayes, carried.
Moved Nefzger, seconded Tucker to discuss Roland Vazquez’s request for financial assistance for an event. Roland Vazquez is seeking sponsors in hopes to raise enough funds to bring the Chicago Cuatro Orchestra (CCO) to Fayette to give a presentation on the Puerto Rican culture at the Fayette Library and to perform at the Opera House. The total estimated cost would be around $5,100 to bring nine members of the CCO to Fayette. After a brief discussion, the council decided that the city could help advertise the event and help get the word out that sponsors are needed. The council requested Roland to provide them an update in the future on how he is doing with raising funds.
Moved Nefzger, seconded Wulfekuhle, to discuss appointing Curtis Larson, Roger Post and Kris McGrane to the CDBG Housing Committee. Moved Nefzger, seconded Tucker, to approve the appointments. All ayes, carried.
Moved Tucker, seconded Larson, to discuss the water/utility bill at 520 Mechanic Street. Diego Duran and Charles Miles advised the council that their water had been turned off at their residence and they are still unable to come up with the amount due on their utility bill. After discussion, no action was taken.
Moved Wulfekuhle, seconded Tucker, to discuss new business incentives and a revolving loan fund (RLF). Tucker and McGrane met with Diana Johnson with Upperexplorerland on March 16th to discuss how a RLF works. Diana advised that there is an Iowa Rural Business Development Grant (RBDG) that is due on April 30, 2018, that could help with start-up funds for a RLF. Upperexplorerland believes they still may have time to get the grant written and submitted by the deadline at a cost of $1,500, if the city is interested. The city would apply for an amount under $100,000 to increase the chances of being rewarded the grant. The city would have to come up with a match to the grant funds. The cities match could come out of the Bolger Fund since that is what we’ve used in the past for incentives. An RLF is a loan with a low interest rate that business owners could apply for to provide financing for a new or expanding business for which credit is not otherwise available. Other counties, cities and organizations have RLF’s, including the City of Oelwein, West Union, Elgin, Decorah and Elkader. Wulfekuhle shared some ideas for incentives the city could offer for new residential homes and for people interested in fixing up houses. After further discussion, moved Tucker, seconded Wulfekuhle, to hire Upperexplorerland to write the grant and provide technical services for the RBDG Revolving Loan Fund Grant for the City of Fayette. All ayes, carried.
There being no further business, moved Nefzger, unanimous, to adjourn at 7:28pm.
