REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING
September 18, 2017
The City Council of the city of Fayette, Iowa, met Monday, September 18, 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, Nefzger, Tucker and Wulfekuhle. Absent – Kragnes.
Moved Nefzger, seconded Wulfekuhle, to approve the consent agenda consisting of the regular meeting minutes of 9/5/17 and the claims list of 9/6/17 – 9/18/17. Roll call, all ayes, motion carried.
Moved Tucker, seconded Nefzger, to approve the amended agenda, moving item 8G to 8I, adding 8G – consideration and awarding the Cardinal Park Flood Repairs to Bacon Concrete LLC out of Postville, Iowa and adding 8H – consideration and discussion to apply for a CDBG Housing Rehabilitation grant. All ayes to approve, motion carried.
Upon Mayor Wenthe’s request and the Fayette Ambulance Services recommendation, moved Nefzger, seconded Wulfekuhle, to appoint Austin Steil and Caitlin Himes to the Fayette Ambulance Service. Steil is currently an EMT and Himes will be a driver, but is considering going through EMT school. Both passed background checks. All ayes, carried. Wenthe also wanted to thank the Fayette Recreation Board for hosting another successful Music in the Park last night.
Administrator/Clerk McGrane reported to the council that City Hall will be busy the next few weeks getting water bills prepared and mailed, gathering and uploading information to the FEMA website to get financial assistance from the July flood, preparing and submitting the annual street report and preparing for an IPERS audit and the city exam later this week and the following week. McGrane attended the Housing Study Focus Group along with a few other Housing Study meetings on 9/5 and 9/6, met with Jerald Ballanger (Ia Dept of Homeland Security & Emergency Management) for a Scoping Meeting for FEMA funds on 9/13 and 9/14 and met with area City Administrators on 9/14. McGrane and Public Works Director Jerry Hildebrand are still working with the insurance company for the Pre-Treatment Plant damage due to the flood. A retirement reception is planned for Library Director Linda Adams on 9/27 from 5PM-7PM at the Fayette Community Library. The Friends of the Library will have refreshments available.
Police Chief Pisanti wanted to thank everyone for their participation with Watermelon Days. There were no reported incidents or crimes during the event.
Moved Tucker, seconded Larson, to approve the Fayette Community Library Board Minutes from August 9, 2017. All ayes, carried.
Moved Larson, seconded Wulfekuhle, to discuss Ordinance 497 – Amending Fayette city code section 69.08 parking regulations: No parking zones by adding sub section 13. No parking on east side of Mechanic Street from West Madison Street to East Jay Street, first reading. Moved Larson, seconded Wulfekuhle, to approve the first reading of Ordinance 497. On roll call, Larson, Wulfekuhle and Tucker ayes, Nefzger nay, carried.
Moved Wulfekuhle, seconded Larson, to consider vacating the alley in between the 700 and 800 blocks of S. Main Street and Washington Street. City Attorney, Pat Dillon, advised some of the pros and cons of vacating the property. Dillon mentioned it is hard to get property back once it is vacated, most of the time cities don’t give up property unless there is a specific reason, if the property is a burden or causing problems for the city or the town is not planning on growing in that direction those are reasons to vacate the property. If the city does vacate the property, it is recommended that the city maintains an easement for future utilities if something changes and the city needs to get access to that area. After further discussion, the council took no action.
Moved Wulfekuhle, seconded Larson, to consider and approve Dave Buchholz placing a portable building at 233 S. Main Street. Buchholz was present to inform the council of his plan to place a red, 10x16 portable building on the south side of the current station. The 16 foot side would face S. Main Street and the building would be to store inventory for Buchholz’s business. Moved Nefzger to refer this to the Board of Adjustments. After further discussion, Nefzger withdrew her motion. Moved Nefzger, seconded Wulfekuhle, to have the City Attorney review the city code to find out if a variance is required. All ayes, carried.
Moved Larson, seconded Wulfekuhle, to consider and approve Jeff Scott replacing sidewalk and adding a curb at 246 S. Main Street. Wenthe advised the plans have changed since the council packet was put together and McGrane passed out an updated diagram. Scott no longer wants to put a curb at 246 S. Main Street, just leave it as it is because it will be an entrance and exit to a parking area. Scott would like to change the last parking space in the 200 block of S. Main Street, on the west side in front of Scott’s Pharmacy to a handicap parking spot. Moved Tucker, seconded Larson, to accept Scott’s second plan and place a handicap parking space in the suggested space. All ayes, carried.
Moved Larson, seconded Nefzger, to consider and approve the purchase of a mower as budgeted to replace the old mower. Public Works Director Hildebrand advised this mower is used for the lagoons, the sports complex, the Frisbee golf area and the welcome to Fayette’s signs. Hildebrand received a bid from Baumler Implement (West Union) for $2700 and P&K Midwest, Inc. (Sumner) for $2890. Moved Larson, seconded Nefzger, to approve the purchase of a new mower. All ayes, carried.
Moved Larson, seconded Wulfekuhle, to consider and approve replacing the chlorinator. Hildebrand advised the current chlorinator is about 25 years old and has been acting up. Hildebrand received a quote from J&R Supply, Inc. (East Dubuque, IL) for $1770. After discussion, moved Larson, seconded Nefzger to purchase a new chlorinator. All ayes, carried.
Moved Nefzger, seconded Wulfekuhle, to discuss Resolution 2017-14: Amending the city personnel policy, section 2.19a Residency requirements. Nefzger recommended updating the residency requirements by expanding the requirements to police officers. City Attorney Pat Dillon advised the trend is going away from requiring employees to live in town unless there is a compelling need. Dillon recommended to the council if they decide to adopt a residency restriction policy, it should be very broad due to the trend of the economy. A smaller residency restriction makes it harder to recruit future employees and the council cannot look at this as an economic development engine, it has to be rationally connected to their performance. Dillon also stated that some employees, including the Police Chief, have contracts with the city. The residency requirement in the personnel policy would be for employees that do not have a performance contract or that have a contract but it doesn’t mention any residency requirements within the contract. After discussion, moved Tucker, seconded Nefzger, to approve Resolution 2017-14, which would give the police chief, public works director and assistant public works director up to two years from time of employment or appointment to reside within the City of Fayette or within one mile of the Fayette city limits. Police officers, other than the police chief, must reside within a 20-air mile radius of the Fayette city limits within two years of employment or appointment. It also clarifies the principal place of residence as that place where an employee actually lives and which the employee declares as the employee’s home with the intent to remain there indefinitely. On roll call, Tucker, Nefzger and Wulfekuhle aye, Larson nay, carried.
Moved Tucker, seconded Nefzger, to discuss changing the ATV and UTV city code. Adam Hildebrand had presented the council with a few suggestions to the city code. Currently snowmobiles, ATV’s and UTV’s are all grouped together in the same code section and Hildebrand suggested separating them. He would also like the council to consider letting people drive ATV’s and UTV’s on city roads within the daylight hours. After discussion, moved Nefzger, seconded Larson, to research and look at the entire section of this code to update it, including fines and fees. All ayes, carried.
Moved Tucker, seconded Wulfekuhle, to consider and award the Cardinal Park Flood Repairs to Bacon Concrete, LLC, out of Postville, Iowa. McGrane explained to the council that Fehr Graham was hired to assist with repairing Cardinal Park due to the extensive amount of damage. Fehr Graham was the engineer when the park was built and had all the information. Due to FEMA regulations, the city needed at least three different bids for the project in order to be able to get financial help from FEMA. Fehr Graham put together an estimate of $41,990 and sent it out for bids. Earlier today we held the bid opening and the bids received were: Bacon Concrete LLC, Postville - $41,629; Leslie Lauer & Sons, Inc., West Union - $43,566.71; and Super Landscapes, West Union - $75,757. Fehr Graham recommends the council award the bid to the lowest bidder, Bacon Concrete. Public Works Director Hildebrand advised Bacon Concrete worked on the cement flood wall in town and did a good job. After discussion, moved Tucker, seconded Nefzger, to award the construction contract for the Cardinal Park project to Bacon Concrete LLC out of Postville, Iowa, per their proposal. All ayes, carried.
Moved Wulfekuhle, seconded Larson, to discuss applying for a CDBG Housing Rehabilitation grant. McGrane explained the city was awarded a CDBG Housing Rehab grant years ago to help Fayette residents who are below 80% low and moderate income (LMI) make housing repairs such as repairing or replacing roofs, doors, windows, electrical, etc. In the past, the city had to have a match to the funds, but that has since went away. The grant could help about 6 homeowners in Fayette. The cost to the city would be $1500 for Upper Explorerland to write the grant, submit and help manage the program. If the council is interested, the next step would be to invite Lori Brockway with Upper Explorerland to a future council meeting to help answer any questions. Moved Wulfekuhle, seconded Larson, to invite Brockway to a future council meeting to get more details. All ayes, motion carried.
At 8:29pm, moved Nefzger, seconded Wulfekuhle, to go into closed session per Iowa Code Section 21.5(1)(j) to discuss the purchase or sale of real estate only where premature disclosure could be reasonably expected to increase the price the City would have to pay for that property or reduce the price the City would receive for that property. Roll call, all ayes, motion carried.
At 8:41pm, moved Nefzger, seconded Wulfekuhle, to get out of closed session. Roll call, all ayes, carried.
Moved Tucker, seconded Nefzger, to direct Administrator McGrane to follow up with what was discussed in the closed session. All ayes, carried.
There being no further business, moved Nefzger, unanimous, to adjourn at 8:42pm.
