Regular Council Meeting
November 7, 2016
The City Council of the City of Fayette, Iowa, met Monday, November 7, 2016, at 7:30 p.m. in the Fayette City Hall pursuant to law and rules of said council, Mayor Wenthe presiding.
Roll call: Present - Council members Kragnes, Larson, Sandhagen, Wulfekuhle, Nefzger (7:30)
Moved Kragnes, seconded Wulfekuhle, to approve the consent agenda consisting of the regular meeting minutes of 10/17/16, Claims List of 10/18/16 – 11/07/16, renewal of a liquor license for the Downtown Lounge and renewal of native wine permit for Pavo Blue. On roll call, all ayes, carried.
Moved Kragnes, seconded Wulfekuhle, to approve the agenda as presented. All ayes, carried. Patty Nefzger arrived at this time.
The following council committee appointments were presented under the mayor’s report: Finance – Kragnes (Chair), Nefzger, Sandhagen; Personnel – Nefzger (Chair), Kragnes, Wulfekuhle; Safety – Larson (Chair), Kragnes, Wulfekuhle; Streets & Sidewalks – Sandhagen (Chair), Larson, Wulfekuhle; Police – Mayor Wenthe (Chair), Nefzger, Sandhagen; Mayor Pro-Tem – Nefzger.
Mayor Wenthe gave an update on the Gary Goodell property located at 101 King Street. There has been some significant clean up at the residence over the last few weeks. The deadline to have it cleaned up was yesterday, November 6, 2016. Chris Kragnes advised that he would expect with the weather holding the way it is that by the end of next weekend it will be 95% cleaned up. He doesn’t know if it will ever be at 100%, just like everybody has some items they leave out. Chris Kragnes’ son’s fraternity moved all of the larger items off Gary’s property over the last two weekends. Gary is now sorting through his smaller items. Gary has a good understanding that the items need to be moved and new items cannot be moved onto the property. Mayor Wenthe advised it has been a long process but this is the most progress he has seen since Wenthe has been involved. Police Chief Pisanti advised Gary is doing a good job and wanted to know if the fraternity was planning on going back another time to help him. Chris Kragnes advised yes and that Gary is taking over what appears to be 2 to 3 trailer loads a day and Chris expects by next weekend Gary will have everything sorted and the fraternity will be able to move the last few loads. Nefzger asked where the items were going and Chris advised Gary has secured a commercial location that is out of sight and an appropriate location for the items. Chris advised that all of Gary’s items by the UIU ball diamond will also be relocated by the fraternity, but the items at Gary’s house was more important to get moved over first. Mayor Wenthe and the council would like to let the public know to properly dispose of their own items and to not leave items out at the end of their property that sanitation workers will not pick up, making it easy for Gary to pick up. One option to dispose of these items, including TV’s, is by taking them out to the Fayette County Transfer Station/Landfill located just outside Fayette at 10275 Kornhill Road. Tiffany Kragnes would like citizens to help Gary by watching to see if anyone is driving by and dropping items off when Gary is not there. If they can get a license plate number and provide it to the Fayette Police Department, the police can address the issue from there. The Fayette Police Department will also watch to make sure no one is illegally dumping on Gary’s property. Persons dropping off items on private property without the owner’s permission is illegal and they can be fined. It is believed that Gary still has the sign the city previously put up in his yard and the council believes it should go back up in his yard. Chris Kragnes believes they can get the sign back up in Gary’s yard and next spring look at other options, such as getting a fence put up. Mayor Wenthe wanted to pass along to the fraternity that he appreciates them helping Gary.
City Administrator/Clerk McGrane reported that he had a phone conference with the Iowa DNR in reference to the Sponsored Project program. McGrane attended the River Bluffs Scenic Byway Board Meeting. Jayhawk Utility Billing Co. provided four hours of training on the billing software to Deputy Clerk Sellers and McGrane. McGrane advised the Public Works Department had attended a couple trainings for CEU’s and have been busy picking up leaves. Public Works Director Hildebrand has extended the leaf pick up one week, making the last day for leaf pick up on Monday, November 14, 2016 (weather permitting). The Fayette Yard Waste Site will close for the winter after Wednesday, November 16th, 2016. The water has been turned off and the bathrooms closed up at Cardinal Park/Sports Complex and Klock’s Island Park for the winter. Extending the power at the Open Air Market and installing timers for the Christmas light display is completed. Redoing the electrical at Klock’s Island Park has started.
Police Chief Pisanti said the police department utilized extra resources the night of Halloween to help with traffic. Pisanti also mentioned the latest calls they have been working on.
Move Kragnes, seconded Larson to introduce for discussion an update on Kevin Lehs property at 516 W. Water Street. Mayor Wenthe advised Kevin emailed the City Administrator/Clerk this morning that he would be harvesting this evening but wanted to update the council with the progress. The footing will be poured this morning with the wall to follow soon this week. Wulfekuhle advised she saw the cement truck there today. Kragnes would like Lehs to give another progress report at the next meeting.
Chief Pisanti explained he is going to do some more research on Ordinance 491, in reference to amending Fayette City Code Chapter 50.13, by deleting $1,000.00 maximum penalty for Failure to Abate. Pisanti will present it at a future meeting.
Moved Kragnes, seconded Larson to approve the Fayette Community Library Board minutes of 10-11-16. All ayes, carried.
Moved Kragnes, seconded Larson to introduce Resolution 2016-13: Approving submission of an application for the SRF Water Resource Restoration Sponsored Projects Program. McGrane explained the wastewater main lining & improvement project will make the city eligible for about 10% of the SRF wastewater loan amount under the State of Iowa’s SRF Water Resource Restoration Sponsored Projects program. The program could lower the cost of a future watershed-based project to address water quality problems by approximately $31,900, such as the downtown project. Moved Kragnes, seconded Wulfekuhle, to approve Resolution 2016-13. On roll call, all ayes, carried.
There being no further business, moved Nefzger, unanimous, to adjourn at 7:52 p.m.
