Council Meeting Minutes 2-6-17

REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING

February 6, 2017

     The City Council of the City of Fayette, Iowa, met Monday, February 6, 2017 at 7:29pm in the Fayette City Hall pursuant to law and rules of said council, Mayor Wenthe presiding.

     Roll call: Present - Council members Larson, Kragnes, Nefzger, Wulfekuhle.

     Moved Kragnes, seconded Nefzger, to approve the consent agenda consisting of the regular meeting minutes of 1/16/17, claims list of 1/17/17 – 2/6/17, and the December 2016 Treasurer’s/Clerk’s Report & Budget Report. Roll call, all ayes, carried.

     Treasurer's Balance for Fund Accounts as of December 31, 2016: General $272,556.80; Streets $212,947.47; Debt Service $1,599.09; Water Utility $305,737.03; Water T&A $25,654.15; Sewer Utility $223,554.37; Landfill/Recycling $1,774.70; Yard Waste $11,609.10; Bolger Fund $181,819.71; TIF $42,680.16; Local Option Tax $49,413.41; Storm Water $7,573.43; Downtown Project ($28,485.99); Franchise Fees $42,994.56. November Receipts by Fund: General $35,853.93; Streets $12,437.06; Debt Service $3,686.42; Water Utility $5,577.44; Water T&A $900; Sewer Utility $8,289.51; LF/Recycling $1,655.09; Yard Waste $342.43; Bolger $1,370; TIF $266.40; Local Option $8,178.72; Storm Water $245.65. Total Receipts $78,802.65. November Disbursements by Fund: General $49,804.24; Streets $3,860.35; Water Utility $21,762.10; Water T&A $724.92; Sewer Utility $18,230.20; Downtown Project $1,534.05. Total Disbursements: $95,915.86. Investments: $1,285,321.46. Bank Balance $2,636,540.99. Balance with Library Funds $2,725,799.39.

     Deb Boike advised the council Boike’s Trailside Inn’s last water bill was $5,321.09, which is approximately $4,400 over their average bill. Deb advised they have not had anyone renting out their upstairs apartments in the building during the last water billing quarter so she had turned the water off to the toilets inside the apartments. She believes someone broke into one of the apartments and had been living there because the door frame was broken. She believes the suspect turned the water back on to one of the toilets because she had found the toilets water running consistently. They did not catch the person who done the damage. Deb would like to ask the council to forgive a portion of the water bill. The council suggested Deb contact her insurance company to find out if this would be covered since there is vandalism and theft of services. Moved Kragnes, seconded Wulfekuhle, to waive the late fees of $714.11 on their water bill due to the circumstance and to table this until Deb can contact her insurance company. All ayes to approve, carried.

     Moved Nefzger, seconded Wulfekuhle, to approve the agenda as presented. All ayes to approve, carried.

     Mayor Wenthe shared the creative placemaking economic assessment proposal for the city of Fayette presented by Iowa Business Growth. At the last council meeting Zach Mannheimer with Iowa Business Growth gave a presentation over the phone. The total estimated cost for the proposal is $44,465, but Wenthe advised that Upper Iowa University was willing to pay for 50% of the proposal. Wenthe believes an UIU alumni may donate 25% of the cost. The Finance Committee recommended the city pay for the other 25% of the proposal out of the Bolger fund. Zach is willing to start the assessment this spring if everything falls into place. Motion Kragnes, seconded Wulfekuhle, for the city of Fayette to support this project and pay 25% out of the Bolger fund. Three voted aye, Larson nay, motion carried.

     Mayor Wenthe attended the Fayette Fire Advisory Board meeting, along with the township clerks and trustees, on January 17, 2017, to discuss the Fayette Fire Department FY 2018 budget.

     Administrator/Clerk McGrane advised the council that UIU Peacocks for Progress is looking for Fayette projects to participate in as part of the annual Fayette Appreciation Day (FAD) scheduled for Wednesday, April 19 from 8am to noon. A rain date is scheduled for April 26. Let McGrane know if there are any ideas and he can submit them to UIU. McGrane attended a Clerks meeting in Postville on January 19 and looked at new accounting and payroll software in Ossian.

     Administrator/Clerk McGrane included his FY 2018 Estimated Budget Report reflecting the recommendations from the Personnel and Finance Committees in the agenda packet. Mayor Wenthe and McGrane highlighted a few things from the report, including: 100% city valuation increased $103,249; 2% Cost of Living Allowance for city employees starting July 1, 2017; health insurance decreasing 11.5% March 1, 2017; regular taxable value is $23,965,978 which is down $53,402; the rollback on residential property is increasing 1.31% to 56.94%; the rollback on multi-residential properties is going down 3.75% to 82.5%; township valuations increased so we will receive $575.40 more for the Ambulance and Fire Department; the FY 2018 tax levy was going up seventy-five cents, so the taxes on a house valued at $100,000 will be going up $58.98 from FY 2017. The city decided to budget $60,000 to purchase new water meters to replace the majority of them throughout the city and start purchasing remote transmitters, software and equipment to start remote reading. The goal is to purchase the remainder of the remote transmitters in FY19 so the city can go to monthly utility billing. Also budgeted is new accounting and payroll software for the city that will help implement the Chart of Accounts for Iowa governments that is recommended by the Office of the Auditor of the State of Iowa. The budget reflects moving forward with a contract to provide law enforcement services to Upper Iowa University. The contract reflects UIU paying $96,300 to the City of Fayette for law enforcement services, with an increase of 2% each year. The contract amount would cover the complete cost of one additional full time police officer, half the cost of a second full time police officer and other expenses needed to provide the service.  Due to the Fayette County Solid Waste Commission increasing their prices, an additional twenty-five cents per water bill will be added to the landfill fees. In the Parks Department, $10,000 is budgeted to continue upgrading and expanding the electrical in the camping area at Klock’s Island Park. The budget reflects a 2% increase in water and sewer rates to help with the replacement of water meters as well as continuing to improve water and sewer infrastructure around the city. Tax levy $15.14. The budget report is available at Fayette City Hall and the Fayette Community Library. Moved Kragnes, seconded Nefzger, to adopt the proposed FY 2018 Budget Estimate. Roll call, all ayes, carried. Moved Kragnes, seconded Nefzger, to set the time and date for the public hearing on the proposed FY 2018 Budget Estimate for March 6, 2017 at 7:30pm in Fayette City Hall and direct Administrator/Clerk McGrane to publish the budget hearing notice. All ayes to approve, carried.

     Motion Kragnes, seconded Nefzger, to approve the Finance Committee meeting minutes from January 30, 2017. All ayes, carried.

     Motion Kragnes, seconded Wulfekuhle, to approve the Personnel Committee meeting minutes from February 1, 2017. All ayes, carried.

     Motion Kragnes, seconded Nefzger, to approve the Finance Committee meeting minutes from February 2, 2017. Ally ayes, carried.

     Motion Nefzger, seconded Kragnes, to approve remaining with the city’s current health insurance company and plan, with the 11.5% decrease in monthly premiums. All ayes, carried.

     Motion Kragnes, seconded Nefzger to discuss replacing Randy Sandhagen on the city council. All ayes, carried. Mayor Wenthe recommended the council appoint Amy Tucker to fill the city council vacancy, after Randy Sandhagen submitted a letter on January 30, 2017 resigning due to personal reasons. The process of replacement was explained, including the council may fill the vacancy by appointment, then the electors of the City of Fayette have the right to file a petition for a special election within 14 days after the appointment is made or the notice of appointment is published in the newspaper, whichever is later. The required number of signatures on the petition would be 32 or 15% of 212 voters in the last election in November 2015. The cost of a special election would be around $850. The appointment shall be for the period until the next city election, later this year, in November 2017. Moved Nefzger, seconded Kragnes to approve the appointment of Amy Tucker to city council at the February 21, 2017 regular council meeting, at 7:30pm in the Fayette City Hall. All ayes, carried.

     Motion Nefzger, seconded Kragnes, to discuss Resolution 2017-03: amending the city Personnel Policy, Section 3.3 Vacation. All ayes, carried. Some changes to the policy include accumulating vacation hours on a monthly basis, instead of an annual basis and an employee may only accumulate a maximum of 200 vacation hours. The current policy did not have a maximum of vacation hours an employee could accumulate or carry-over. Motion Kragnes, seconded Nefzger, to approve Resolution 2017-03. Roll call, all ayes, carried.

     There being no further business, moved Nefzger, unanimous, to adjourn at 8:51pm.

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