Council Meeting Minutes 2-21-17

 REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING

February 21, 2017

     The City Council of the city of Fayette, Iowa, met Tuesday, February 21, 2017 at 7:30pm in the Fayette City Hall pursuant to law and rules of said council, Mayor Wenthe presiding.

     Roll call: Present - Council members Larson, Kragnes, Nefzger by telephone until 7:31pm. Absent – Wulfekuhle.

     Moved Kragnes, seconded Larson, to approve the appointment of Amy Tucker to the city council to fill the vacancy of Randall Sandhagen who resigned because of personal reasons. All ayes, carried. Mayor Wenthe then administered the oath of office to Amy Tucker and she was sworn in as a city council member. Her term will be until the next city election in November 2017.

     Moved Kragnes, seconded Larson, to approve the consent agenda consisting of the regular meeting minutes of 2/6/17, claims list of 2/7/17 – 2/21/17, the January 2017 Treasurer’s/Clerk’s Report & Budget Report, and the renewal of a beer license and native wine permit for Boarders Inn & Suites. Roll call, all ayes, carried.

     Treasurer's Balance for Fund Accounts as of January 31, 2017: General $261,919.86; Streets $206,740.85; Debt Service $1,652.55; Water Utility $337,592.32; Water T&A $25,730.64; Sewer Utility $286,287.48; Landfill/Recycling ($191.86); Yard Waste $14,100.10; Bolger Fund $181,939.71; TIF $42,706.09; Local Option Tax $57,592.13; Storm Water $8,926.66; Downtown Project ($28,485.99); Franchise Fees $43,844.87. January Receipts by Fund: General $23,363.82; Streets $14,995.96; Debt Service $53.46; Water Utility $51,004.61; Water T&A $526.49; Sewer Utility $75,074.47; LF/Recycling $12,991.15; Yard Waste $2,491; Bolger $120; TIF $28.93; Local Option $8,178.72; Storm Water $1,353.23; Franchise Fees $850.31. Total Receipts $191,032.15. January Disbursements by Fund: General $34,000.76; Streets $21,202.58; Water Utility $19,149.32; Water T&A $450; Sewer Utility $12,341.36; LF/Recycling $14,957.71. Total Disbursements: $102,101.73. Investments: $1,285,391.75. Bank Balance $2,725,471.41. Balance with Library Funds $2,815,219.51.

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

     Upon Mayor Wenthe’s request and the Fayette Ambulance Services recommendation, moved Larson, seconded Kragnes, to appoint Dina Taylor and Bonnie West to the Fayette Ambulance Service. Dina and Bonnie are both RN’s and will be able to run at a Paramedic-exempt level. All ayes, carried.

     Moved Kragnes, seconded Larson, to discuss the city of Fayette’s auditor’s reports, basic financial statements, supplementary information and schedule of findings and questioned costs. Each council member received a booklet from the auditor, Ridihalgh, Fuelling, Snitker, Weber & Co., PC. Mayor Wenthe advised the city has already been taking steps in practicing the recommendations that were suggested. Moved Kragnes, seconded Tucker, to accept the auditor’s reports. Ally ayes, carried.

     Moved Tucker, seconded Kragnes, all ayes to discuss Resolution 2017-05: awarding the 2017 Water Improvement Project to Ray’s Excavating LLC of Edgewood, Iowa. Moved Larson, seconded Kragnes, to approve Resolution 2017-05. Roll call, all ayes, carried.

     Moved Kragnes, seconded Larson, to approve the Fayette Community Library Board minutes from January 11, 2017. All ayes, carried.

     Moved Tucker, seconded Larson, all ayes to discuss Resolution 2017-06: authorizing representation by the Fayette County Emergency Management Coordinator in analysis and development of Hazard Mitigation Plan for the city of Fayette. Lisa Roberts, Fayette County Emergency Management Coordinator, informed the council that the Hazard Mitigation Plan must be updated every five years. Roberts mentioned there were two federal disasters in Fayette County this last year. This plan will make sure the city of Fayette and Fayette County is in code with FEMA and the plan must be in place before any disaster to get federal assistance as well as to apply for certain federal grants. Fayette County is working with Upper Explorerland and they are planning and organizing the Fayette County Hazard Mitigation Planning meetings. There have been four meetings so far and City Admin/Clerk McGrane made it to the last meeting. Roberts advised legally the city of Fayette needs a representative to attend at least three of the meetings. The representatives from the city of Fayette will be giving input at the meetings as far as vulnerabilities to our city, our community facilities, our community services and resources, our plans and policies, among other things. The next meeting is Wednesday, March 1, 2017, at 6:30PM in the assembly room in the Fayette County Courthouse. Council member Kragnes advised she could attend the March 1, 2017, meeting and anyone else may attend as well. Moved Larson, seconded Kragnes, to approve Resolution 2017-06. Roll call, all ayes, carried.

   Moved Kragnes, seconded Larson, all ayes to discuss Resolution 2017-07: temporarily amending the City of Fayette’s Personnel Policy by providing full-time city employees up to 20 hours of personal time to use between 1/1/17 and 6/30/17 to get on a fiscal year schedule as recommended by the auditors. Moved Tucker, seconded Kragnes, to approve Resolution 2017-07. Roll call, all ayes, carried.

     Moved Kragnes, seconded Tucker, all ayes to discuss increasing ambulance rates by 5% per recommendation from the Fayette Ambulance Service. Lisa Roberts with the Fayette Ambulance Service mentioned that our service is one of the cheapest services in Iowa. Roberts said the billing company the city partnered with has been doing a great job. Moved Kragnes, seconded Larson, to approve the 5% increase in ambulance service rates. All ayes, carried. A resolution reflecting this will be on the next city council agenda.

     Moved Kragnes, seconded Larson, all ayes to discuss signing an agreement with Data Technologies, Inc. to purchase city government accounting and payroll software and programs. Mayor Wenthe advised purchasing this software was discussed during the budget process. City Admin/Clerk McGrane advised the company currently has about a three month waiting process from when the contract is signed until they are able to install the software and provide training. The company rarely installs the software for new clients in June and July since that is the end and the beginning of the fiscal years and is a busy time for them. McGrane advised the sooner we sign the contract and pay the down payment, the sooner we get placed on the list. McGrane informed the council the down payment would come out of the P&A savings then the remainder of the costs would be paid next fiscal year, which is in the estimated budget. McGrane advised the best time to switch over to the new software would be at the end of this fiscal year or the beginning of next fiscal year because it will alleviate entering things into two different software programs. Moved Kragnes, seconded Tucker, to authorize the purchase of Data Technologies software. All ayes, carried.

     Moved Larson, seconded Kragnes, all ayes to discuss AC Skyways/Allamakee Clayton Electric Cooperative inquiring about placing an antenna on the city of Fayette’s water tower or the tower south of town to provide wireless internet to the community. City Admin/Clerk McGrane advised this company is looking on expanding their internet service into our area. They have made and are currently making similar agreements with surrounding towns. If the city lets them use our water tower or our tower south of town for their antenna, they would provide free internet service to three places in town. The company would then offer different internet packages to the community for a fee. Public Works Director Jerry Hildebrand doesn’t recommend letting them use the water tower as he has heard other cities run into issues with such agreements. For example, sometimes there is added costs when it comes to moving the antenna or equipment when the water tower needs cleaning, repainted or repaired. If there is not anything in the agreement, the added costs or responsibility of moving the equipment could fall on the city. Moved Kragnes, seconded Larson, to contact AC Skyways/Allamakee Clayton Electric Cooperative and have them research if the tower south of town would work for them and if so, attend a future council meeting to discuss further details. All ayes, carried.

     Moved Larson, seconded Kragnes, all ayes to discuss getting rid of the old street signs. City Admin/Clerk McGrane advised last year Jerry Hildebrand purchased enough street signs to replace half the town to meet the new retro-reflectivity guidelines. The city posted a sign stating they were taking bids for the old street signs that were replaced. They were sold to the highest bidder and the money went back into the Street Department to help offset the costs of the new signs. This year, Hildebrand purchased the other half of the street signs. We have had a few people contact the city about letting them know when we decide to take bids for the next batch of old street signs. Wulfekuhle suggested donating the old signs to Main Street Matters or a non-profit so they could make some money as a fundraiser. Larson and Kragnes both felt the city should take bids as the city did last year. Moved Larson, seconded Kragnes to put the old street signs up for bid. All ayes, carried.

     There being no further business, moved Larson, unanimous, to adjourn at 8:08pm.

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