REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING
March 6, 2017
The City Council of the City of Fayette, Iowa, met Monday, March 6, 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, Tucker and Wulfekuhle.
Moved Kragnes, seconded Wulfekuhle, to approve the consent agenda consisting of the regular meeting minutes of 2/21/17 and the claims list of 2/22/17 – 3/6/17. Roll call, all ayes, carried.
Moved Tucker, seconded Nefzger, to open the public hearing on the proposed Fiscal Year 2018 Estimated Budget. All ayes, carried. Kurt Wood commented on the component of the budget that includes the relationship and collaboration between Upper Iowa University and the City of Fayette. Wood thinks the contract agreement that states the City of Fayette would provide law enforcement services to UIU is good for both parties. Wood said it brings the university and the city closer and as a retiree living on Main Street he thinks it is a wise move. Wood commends the council for getting it in the budget. Roy Karlson asked what the breakdown in costs were in reference to the UIU and City of Fayette agreement. Mayor Wenthe advised in the current contract that has been proposed UIU would pay approximately $98,000 to the City of Fayette which would cover the cost of one and half full-time police officers. There is a 2% annual increase in the contract and UIU would be responsible for purchasing a police vehicle and some related equipment. Should either of the parties decide to end the contract, they can do that with adequate notice. The cost to the City of Fayette would be approximately $37,000 and the City of Fayette should be able to have 24/7 police coverage. IPERS and social security is all part of the benefits package that is figured in to the contract. One change in the contract that the City of Fayette is requesting is, should one of the parties end the contract, unemployment costs be covered by UIU. Karlson commented that this agreement would be a smart move and that back in the 1980’s the city had 3 ½ officers. Wood added he likes the fact that it would place an armed and fully certified officer on campus. Moved Kragnes, seconded Nefzger, to approve Resolution 2017-08: adopting the budget and certification of city taxes for fiscal year 2018. Roll call, all ayes, carried.
Moved Wulfekuhle, seconded Kragnes, to approve the agenda as presented. All ayes to approve, carried.
Mayor Wenthe shared the changes to the council committee appointments: Finance – Kragnes (Chair), Nefzger, Larson; Personnel – Nefzger (Chair), Kragnes, Wulfekuhle; Safety – Larson (Chair), Kragnes, Wulfekuhle; Streets & Sidewalks – Wulfekuhle (Chair), Larson, Tucker; Police – Mayor Wenthe (Chair), Nefzger, Tucker; Mayor Pro-Tem – Nefzger. Moved Nefzger, seconded Wulfekuhle, to approve the committee appointments. All ayes, carried.
Administrator/Clerk McGrane advised the council that he attended a Municipal Finance and Economic Development Workshop in Independence on Feb. 21st. McGrane advised that the city is now set-up for people to pay their water/sewer utility bills, municipal citations and parking tickets online. McGrane will be working on finishing up the directions and procedures so people may pay their bills online when the next utility bills go out the end of this month. Last week a person paid their municipal citation online and people may also use their credit/debit cards to pay at city hall. Anyone who chooses to make a payment online or uses their credit/debit cards at City Hall must pay a small service fee. The service fee is paid to Convenient Payments who processes the transactions for the City of Fayette. McGrane also met with Dean Schade, the cities Loss Control Representative from IMWCA on Mar. 1st. Schade discussed the history of claims, explained the significant increase the city will see in their rates is due to quite a few claims over the last few years and a loss-of-time claim from last year, and steps the city can take to help prevent “preventable” accidents.
Police Chief Pisanti (via speakerphone) informed the council the police have been doing a push on getting the unpaid parking tickets paid. Pisanti worked with Administrator McGrane to get the electronic and online payment system going. Last calendar year there were approximately 120 parking tickets issued but only about 45 were paid. The department is going to send out letters to the car owners who have received parking tickets but have not paid them and let them know they can now pay them online.
Moved Larson, seconded Kragnes, to discuss Resolution 2017-09: Amending the Fayette Ambulance Service (FAS) rates by approximately 5%. All ayes, carried. McGrane advised upon request he received the rates that Tri-State Ambulance Service charges in West Union, but pointed out they are a full-time service. McGrane had reached out to a few other services including Sumner, Oelwein, Arlington, Ackley and Garner for their rates, but had not heard back yet from any of them. Roger Post with the FAS advised that one of their crew members was going to research rates from other ambulance services, but that crew member was not at the last ambulance meeting. Post advised that they are also checking into charging for situations when the FAS provides emergency care treatment to a patient but then turns the patient over to a paramedic service or a flight crew. Currently if the FAS provides treatment and uses their supplies, then turns the patient over to another service or crew, the FAS doesn’t charge the patient. If the FAS responds to a call and doesn’t provide treatment or uses their supplies, then the service would continue not to charge the patient. Moved Kragnes, seconded Wulfekuhle, to approve Resolution 2017-09: Amending the Fayette Ambulance Service rates by approximately 5%. Roll call, all ayes, carried. The new rates will be: $518 – Basic Life Support (Non-Emergency); $629 – Basic Life Support (Emergency); $741 – Advanced Life Support 1 (Non-Emergency); $853 – Advanced Life Support 1 (Emergency); $1,075 – Advanced Life Support 2 (Emergency); $210 – Paramedic Intercept; $16 – Mileage per Loaded Patient Mile; $52 per hour for stand-by.
Moved Tucker, seconded Larson, to discuss a bill from Hofmeyer & Hanson. All ayes, carried. Mayor Wenthe advised the council that last year the council had asked John Hofmeyer to provide some legal advice and answer one question and the council received a document back from Hofmeyer. Wenthe had some concern expressed to him about the volume of information that was provided by Hofmeyer that was not requested by the council. Hofmeyer said the ordinance was sent to him by the city administrator. As he was reviewing it to figure out the answer to the council’s question, he found things missing and problems with it. He felt he would have to enforce the ordinance as city attorney. Kragnes asked where is the designation for city attorney or is it done on a contract basis. Wenthe advised there used to be a retainer paid to Hofmeyer & Hanson, but the city stopped paying it around 2014 and determined that the city would work with attorney’s that they selected per case. Part of the reason behind that was because they ran in to conflict of interest cases, which would happen in any small town. Wenthe stated the city should have an official attorney of record and in the budget, that was just passed it includes an expense for a retainer. The council’s direction was to bid out for a city attorney. Hofmeyer said he would agree to split the difference on the $1,110 bill where the city would only be responsible for paying $555. Kragnes said that in the document Hofmeyer provided to the council, it stated that Hofmeyer chose to review the ordinance on his own volition, and she would be concerned if the city pays for something that they didn’t ask for and that Hofmeyer took upon himself to do. Kragnes also stated that no one has been able to provide her a Resolution that designates Hofmeyer as the city attorney. Until someone can show the designation that Hofmeyer is city attorney, then Kragnes stated she doesn’t know if the city can say that Hofmeyer is the designated city attorney since the city has been operating under a contract basis with Hofmeyer since 2014. Hofmeyer stated they are appointed designated city attorneys until successors are chosen. Hofmeyer said he can find the appointment and show it to the council. Wenthe said he doesn’t believe the council has acted to appoint a city attorney since he’s been Mayor and is unsure if it carries forward even if the retainer is stopped. Wenthe believes that Hofmeyer & Hanson were looking out in the best interest of the city when reviewing the ordinance, but it was frustrating to him because he thought it was clear in what they were asking Hofmeyer to provide and the ordinance was still in the drafting portion of the process. Wenthe advised he would feel comfortable having the city pay $555 of the bill and ask any attorney the city is working with in the future to answer only what is asked or provide input back stating they would like to do modifications instead of doing the modifications then billing for them. After further discussion, the council would like to find out if Hofmeyer is still the city attorney.
Moved Kragnes, seconded Larson, to discuss Lloyd Carnicle’s request to have the Fayette Show & Shine Car Show on Main St. throughout the summer of 2017. Lloyd Carnicle explained he would once again like to have a Fayette Show & Shine Car Show in Fayette and discussed the details. Moved Larson, seconded Tucker, to approve Lloyd Carnicle’s request and have the Fayette Show & Shine Car Show on Main St. on the third Thursday of the month in 2017 from 6PM to 9PM, starting in May and ending in September, and blocking off S. Main St. from Water St. to State St. All ayes, carried.
There being no further business, moved Nefzger, unanimous, to adjourn at 8:11pm.
