Regular Council Meeting
January 4, 2016
The City Council of the City of Fayette, Iowa, met in the Fayette Community Library ICN Room at 7:30 p.m. on Monday, January 4, 2016, council member Kris McGrane presiding.
Roll call: Present - Council members McGrane, Patrick, Sorensen. Absent Nefzger, Kragnes.
Moved Patrick, seconded Sorensen, to approve the consent agenda consisting of the regular meeting minutes of 12/14/15, notices from Mediacom and Claims List of 12/15/15 – 01/04/16. On roll call, all ayes, carried.
Moved Sorensen, seconded Patrick, to approve the agenda as presented. All ayes to approve the agenda, carried.
The following council committee appointments were listed under the mayor’s report: Finance – Patrick (Chair), McGrane, Nefzger; Personnel – Nefzger (Chair), Patrick, Kragnes; Safety – Sorensen (Chair), Patrick, Kragnes; Streets & Sidewalks – McGrane (Chair), Sorensen, Kragnes; Police – Mayor Wenthe (Chair), McGrane, Nefzger. Mayor Pro-Tem – Nefzger.
Administrator/Clerk Dennis reported that the public works employees hauled 50 truck-loads of leaves and traveled 500 round-trip miles to the farm to dump the leaves. They also traveled 321 miles in town using the vacuum truck.
Moved Sorensen, seconded Patrick, to discuss the petition from Dave & Sue Runyon requesting construction of a four foot pedestrian trail adjacent to Big Rock Road in the ditch from the trail bridge to Lima Road – approximate cost $175,000 to $200,000. Dave Runyon read the petition and then handed out copies to the council, with the original going to Admin/Clerk Dennis. The petition was signed by 56 Fayette citizens, three children, and 12 people from out of town who use Fayette’s recreation trails. The petition stated all of the progressive projects that the City of Fayette has done over the past 15 years to move the community forward and the continuing projects to invest in our future. The petition also stated, “All these, and more, have enhanced the City’s “live-ability” ensuring that future generations will enjoy the community’s natural and cultural assets”. Runyon noted that they have seen a big increase in pedestrian, bicycle and vehicle traffic on Big Rock Road since the golf course was expanded to 18 holes (15 years ago) and since the trail was completed with the bridge over the Volga River (over seven years ago). Runyon said the road is a multi-use corridor that isn’t safe for walkers and bikers. The petition stated: “We the undersigned request immediate attention by the Fayette City Council to revise the Big Rock Road rebuilding to include a pedestrian and bike lane”. Runyon added that signage should be installed, at the very least, referring to a legal case from Clayton County where signage was missing. Patrick said in theory he is not opposed to a trail along Big Rock Road, but he said he didn’t want to use the Bolger fund before we’re finished paying off a previous loan to the fund and would like to look into grants and fund raising for construction of a trail. McGrane noted the financial options that Admin/Clerk Dennis had provided to the council and said he would like into where the trail could be taken to and not rush into anything with research it first. Sorensen agreed that we need to look into other options and not rush. Jon Biederman, Fehr-Graham Engineer, was present and said that a four foot width isn’t a trail, it’s just widening the road and that’s all the room there is on the north side of the road. He added that it would actually be a one-way trail because pedestrians should travel against the traffic. Admin/Clerk Dennis said Biederman looked into putting a trail on the south side of Big Rock Road when the trail committee was deciding where to run the trail that was built in 2008 and it was going to be cost prohibitive because of the stream being so close and the dampness of the area, so that’s why it was decided to go across UIU property and construct a bridge over the Volga River. In the grant applications that Dennis wrote to the DNR and DOT, it was shown that the bridge came out on Big Rock Road and that pedestrians and bikers could go east or west on Big Rock Road if they didn’t want to turn around. Biederman said a standard trail is ten feet wide and an exception can be requested to narrow it to eight feet, which we did on the trail from Klock’s Island Park. It was a consensus of the council to have Biederman and Public Works Director Hildebrand look into various signage that could be installed along Big Rock Road to make people more aware that they should “Share the Road”, and that the road is a “Shared Corridor” and perhaps put up some bicycle and pedestrian signs. Also, to review the speed limit ordinance and perhaps lower the speed limit on Big Rock Road from 35 mph to 25 mph and have the Fayette Police do more enforcement of the speed on the road. McGrane thanked the Runyon’s for bringing the matter to the council’s attention.
Moved Patrick, seconded Sorensen, to approve Resolution #2016-01: Setting a public hearing for the 2016 Big Rock Road Improvements Project for January 18, 2016 at 7:30 p.m. in Fayette City Hall. On roll call, all ayes, carried.
There being no further business, moved Sorensen, unanimous, to adjourn at 8:13 pm.
