Council Meeting Minutes 8-5-19

REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING

August 5, 2019

     The City Council of the City of Fayette, Iowa, met Monday, August 5, 2019, at 6pm in Fayette City Hall pursuant to law and rules of said council, Mayor Wenthe presiding.

     Roll call: Present - Council members Cowley, Larson, Nefzger, Tucker and Wulfekuhle (arrived at 6:04pm).

     Moved Tucker, seconded Cowley, to approve the consent agenda items consisting of the regular meeting minutes of 7/15/19, the claims list of 7/16/19 – 8/5/19, the financial reports for June 2019, and the Outstanding Obligations Disclosure Statement for 2019.  Roll call, all ayes, motion carried.

     Treasurer’s Balance for Fund Accounts as of June 30, 2019: Total June Receipts: $102,769.06 (General $29,623.84; Streets $14,003.99; Employee Benefits $1,504.64; Local Option Sales Tax [LOST] $8,378.53; TIF $20.20; Revolving Loan $1,085.02; Bolger $3,319.25; Library Fund $3.88; Water $14,690.67; Water T&A $900; Sewer $24,455.37; Water/Sewer Capital $4,235.46; Storm Water $548.21). Total June Disbursements: $281,263.16 (General $64,202.65; Streets $6,850.90; Employee Benefits $10,403.41; TIF $42,565.32; CDBG LMI Housing $566.47; Bolger $22.16; Water $18,374.48; Water T&A $3,063; Sewer $17,880.88; Sewer Project $32,596.10; Sewer Fund $84,684.29; 9 S. Main St $53.50).  Transfers in: General $32,241.10, Street $48,269.57, Bolger $37,481.80, Radio Tower $15,000, Sewer Fund $9,575.50; Transfers out: General $15,000; LOST $106,909.34; TIF $5409; Library Memorial $5,674.13, Sewer $9,575.50. Treasurer’s Balance: $3,301,193.10.

     Moved Larson, seconded Cowley, to approve the agenda as presented. All ayes, carried.

     Moved Larson, seconded Nefzger, to schedule a public hearing on August 19, 2019, at 6PM at Fayette City Hall for the conveyance of a utility easement allowing Hawkeye Interconnect Company a perpetual right-of-way easement for the purpose distributing fiber optic service and communication facilities at the following locations: The east 15 feet of the north 18 feet of lot 12 and the south 14 2/3 feet of lot 13, block 7, Fayette, Iowa; the west 15 feet of the west 20 feet of the south 26 feet of lot 1, block 12, Fayette, Iowa; and the west 15 feet of the south 3 feet of lot 3, block 13, Fayette, Iowa.  All ayes, carried.

     Moved Nefzger, seconded Tucker, to discuss scheduling a public hearing on August 19, 2019, at 6PM at Fayette City Hall for consideration in rezoning 807 W. Water Street to commercial.  Tim Bruihler, who submitted the request to change the zoning, advised the council he would like to build two or three commercial storage units on the property that Bruihler believes could possibly be assessed from $130,000 to $140,000.  The Planning and Zoning Commission recommended Bruihler provide documentation that the well was properly sealed, if there was any septic or sanitation system and if it’s been properly taken care of and meets all health and sanitation code requirements and receive consent from the neighbors of the property.  Bruihler went to the Sanitation department at the Fayette County Courthouse and they have record of a septic system application in the 1980’s but it was never installed.  There is currently an outhouse at the location, so Bruihler believes the outhouse was put in place instead of the septic system.  There is a well on the property, but they have no records of sealing the well.  Bruihler said there is concrete around it that has October 1984 or 1994 inscribed in it indicating it has been sealed for at least 25 years. Bruihler did email the DNR for more information but has not heard back from them.  Jeff Muzingo, a neighbor to the property, is not in favor of having commercial building(s) on that location.  Muzingo advised he would like to live next to people and not structures.  Muzingo and Bruihler both indicated they respect each other’s intentions and that they are content with whatever the council decides and hope the council makes a decision on what is best for the city.  Moved Tucker, seconded Cowley, to schedule a public hearing on September 3, 2019, at 6PM at Fayette City Hall for the consideration of rezoning the residential property at 807 W. Water Street in Fayette, Iowa, to commercial.  Ayes – Cowley, Tucker; Nays – Larson, Nefzger, Wulfekuhle, motion failed.

     Administrator/Clerk McGrane informed the council that he filmed and produced a short video promoting the City of Fayette and the new construction incentives on his own time as a way to give back to the City of Fayette.  The video is on the cities Facebook page.  Mallory Hanson with NEIA RC&D is scheduled to attend the 9/16/19 Council meeting to discuss Fayette County Economic Development and Tourism.  McGrane has been continuing to work on the steps needed to install the new server, including researching and ordering CAT6 wiring and accessories.  He is hoping to run the wire himself over the next week or two.  McGrane assisted with the IMWCA audit on 7/17/19. He attended the NEIA Community Action Housing meeting on 8/1/19 and they are still accepting applications for the new home on S. Main Street.  The construction on the new home should be completed by the middle of this month.  The city of Fayette is still being considered for another future NEIA Community Action home.

     Fayette Police Chief Davis reminded the council that the National Night Out event scheduled for tomorrow (Tuesday, 8/6/19). 

     Moved Cowley, seconded Wulfekuhle, to discuss Ordinance 506, second reading.  Moved Nefzger, seconded Wulfekuhle, to waive the second reading of Ordinance 506.  Roll call, Ayes – Cowley, Nefzger, Tucker and Wulfekuhle; Nays – Larson, motion carried. Moved Tucker, seconded Cowley, to approve the third and final reading of Ordinance 506, an ordinance that would amend a portion of Chapters 92 and 99 to adjust the water and sewer infrastructure/administration fee from a flat $10 fee per month, per account, to a 2% of total cubic feet used per month, per account, with a minimum charge of $3 per month and a maximum charge of $100 per month.  Roll call, Cowley, Nefzger, Tucker and Wulfekuhle – ayes, Larson – nay.  Motion carried.

     Moved Cowley, seconded Tucker, to discuss Resolution 2019-16.  The resolution clarifies a few things in the new home and new commercial construction incentive program from July 15, 2019 through December 31, 2020. A few of the clarifications include a new construction of home or business must be completed within 2 years of the demolition date as indicated on the demolition permit.  The demolition must begin after August 1, 2019.  The Council may extend the deadline upon written application submitted to the City Council prior to the expiration of the initial deadline and supported by good cause beyond the applicant’s control. No partial demolition of a structure(s) shall qualify.  The property owner must turn in a completed application and it must be approved by the City Council prior to funds being awarded.   Moved Wulfekuhle, seconded Cowley, to adopt Resolution 2019-16, adopting the updated new home and new commercial construction incentive program.  Roll call, all ayes, motion carried.

     Moved Cowley, seconded Nefzger, to accept the Fayette Planning and Zoning Commission meeting minutes from 7/24/19.  All ayes, carried.

     Moved Cowley, seconded Tucker, to discuss the request by Joel and Mina Fantz, 706 Lovers Lane Ct, to forgive a portion of the sewer charges.  Mina Fantz explained to the council they had accidentally left their garden hose run for approximately four days.  Fantz requested a breakdown of their daily usage which the city provided them, and they figured an average daily usage of 18 cubic feet per day.  They would like to ask the city to forgive $232.32 of the sewer fees, or whatever the council feels fair, since the water would not have gone down the city’s sewer line.  In the past, the council has forgiven sewer fees when the residents have shown some sort of proof that the water has not went down the sewer lines for such situations like a pipe burst or leaked.  In this case it is hard to prove.  Nefzger suggested the council discuss giving $100 off the Fantz bill.  After discussion, no action was taken.

     Moved Cowley, seconded Nefzger, to discuss purchasing a mower at the cost of no more than $9,800 from the Parks budget.  The city received two quotes, one from Bodensteiner Implement Company in the amount of $8,400 and one from P&K Midwest in the amount of $9,752.21.  Moved Larson, seconded Wulfekuhle, to accept the quote from Bodensteiner Implement Company in Oelwein, Iowa for $8,400 for a new John Deere Z950R ZTrak mower.  All ayes, carried.

     Moved Tucker, seconded Cowley, to discuss accepting the quote from K&W Coatings LLC.  K&W Coatings LLC provided a quote of $1400 for cleaning and inspecting of the wet interior of the water tower, $3600 for the exterior washing of the underside of the tank from the logo to the pedestal, and $12,500 to furnish and install a Kasco Certisafe tank mixer with a stainless-steel suspended mounting system.  Jerry Hildebrand, the Public Works Director, budgeted for the interior cleaning and the mixers, but not for the exterior cleaning.  Hildebrand informed the council, it is their choice if they want to clean the exterior at the same time or not.  Moved Nefzger, seconded Tucker, to accept the entire bid of $17,500 from K&W Coatings LLC for the interior cleaning and inspection, the exterior cleaning of the bottom part of the tank and the furnishing and installing of the tank mixer.  All ayes, carried.

     Moved Cowley, seconded Larson, discuss Resolution 2019-15.  Moved Nefzger, seconded Cowley, to approve Resolution 2019-15: Transferring funds FY2018-19.  Roll call, all ayes, carried.

     Moved Cowley, seconded Nefzger, to discuss purchasing a laptop for City Hall.  McGrane advised one of the computers at City Hall is about 5 to 7 years old and has Windows 7 installed.  Microsoft will no longer support the computer and it will not work with the new server.  McGrane feels if we need to replace the computer, he suggests a laptop so he could use it for meetings, trainings and to work in the council room at times when the Deputy Clerks are working, and he needs to get things done without any interruptions.  McGrane had only asked for one quote, so far, from Access Systems, and they quoted a laptop for $1,588.91, but McGrane would continue to shop around before purchasing a new laptop.  Cowley inquired if the current computer could be upgraded to Windows 10.  McGrane advised he never thought of that and Cowley advised he could look to see if it would be worth upgrading.  McGrane was in favor of having Cowley look at the computer before the council makes any further decisions.  Moved Nefzger, seconded Tucker, to table the discussion.  All ayes, carried.

     Moved Tucker, seconded Cowley, to discuss new business incentives.  An idea that was brought up in a previous incentive discussion was to offer reimbursing a new business costs for advertising/marketing.  The council would like McGrane to draft an incentive proposal that includes reimbursing a new business up to $1,000 in advertising/marketing costs, they must present their business proposal to the council, the advertisement must mention “located in Fayette”, and must stay in business for at least 6 months.  Moved Nefzger, seconded Wulfekuhle, to move forward with drafting a new business marketing incentive.  All ayes, carried.

     Moved Larson, seconded Cowley, to discuss changing water rates for irrigation systems or non-consumption water accounts.  McGrane had provided the council with some information that they had requested.  There were 11 active irrigation water accounts in 2017 that used a total of 888,327 cubic feet of water and generated $42,999.33.  There were 10 active irrigation water accounts in 2018 that used a total of 287,306 cubic feet of water and generated $14,497.40.  For the first 6 months of 2019, there have been 10 active irrigation water accounts that have used 6,672 cubic feet of water and generated $358.35.  Wenthe advised the council to contact McGrane if they have any suggestions for an increase in the water rates for irrigation systems and they can discuss it at a future meeting.  No action was taken.

     There being no further business, moved Nefzger, unanimous, to adjourn at 7:05pm.

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