Regular City Council Meeting
City Hall, Cherokee, Iowa
October 23, 2007 – 7:00 P.M.
A regular meeting was called to order on this date by
Mayor Henrich. Present:
Councilman
Varce, Mallory, Stieneke, Leach, Peck, Clerk-Treasurer Taylor.
Absent: City Attorney
Miller.
Mayor Henrich added item #6.04 to the agenda – annual
goose hunt at Spring Lake Park.
Jim Agnitsch, Street Supt., was
present speaking as a taxpayer. He
said several weeks ago
he mentioned to Councilmen Varce and Stieneke that rather than hiring a city
administrator
to consider an engineer/manager/building inspector.
The city spends a lot of money on
engineering and he feels there could be some savings by having an engineer on
staff. Jim
doesn’t know if this suggestion had been passed on to the other council
members. As for
grants, Jim said the county gets their grants through the County engineer.
Councilman Peck
said an engineer would know about budgeting and planning.
M/S/P Stieneke, Varce, adopted
Resolution No. 07-21, approving a Pre-Disaster Mitigation
Planning Grant Program and authorizing signatures.
Under “Consent Business”,
Neal Kuehl, Kuehl & Payer, reviewed change orders No. 23, 24 and
25 for the aquatic center project. The
changes include changing a PVC fence color to black-
$3,360.50; add a ladder-$935; and move a pressure-reducing valve for the
irrigation system-
$1,920.60. Neal indicated they are
working on some pending change orders for deductions.
Councilman Mallory asked whether there would be any adjustment/refund
from the contractor
for the mudslide issue. Neal said
he can continue to work with the contractor on that, but feels
it was an act of God and no deductions would be made. The contractor was given an updated
punch list last week and Neal feels the project should be ready for closeout in
2-4 weeks. A
motion was made by Councilman Varce, seconded by Leach, to approve the items
under “Consent
Business”. Councilman Mallory
commented on the October 18th Board of Adjustment approval of
variances for Kevin Halder, 401 N. Roosevelt.
The Board approved variances to the rear and side
yard setbacks, allowable square footage of accessory buildings, and building
height. Mr. Halder
is moving an existing 29’ high garage east of its current location and
building a new 24’ x 32’
garage adjacent to the alley. Councilman
Mallory would like to send the decision back to the
Board for review. The Board members
should go to the neighbors’ house and look at the variance
requests from his point of view. After
discussion, Mayor Henrich called for a vote on the approval
of the following items under “Consent Business”.
Roll call was:
AYES: Varce, Stieneke, Leach
NAYS: Mallory, Peck
City council minutes of October 9th and October 16th.
Renewal of class “C” liquor license – Danny’s Sports Spot.
Renewal of class “C” liquor license – Cherokee Bowl/Coachman Lounge.
Approval of change orders No. 23, 24, and 25 to Grundman-Hicks for the aquatic center project.
Reviewed Library Board minutes of September 5th.
Reviewed Board of Adjustment minutes of October 10th and October 18th.
Approved tax abatement
application for 410 Poplar Dr.
At 7:20 p.m., Mayor Henrich
opened the public hearing on the sale of vacant lots at 343 E. Cedar,
317 E. Main and 312 W. Locust. Dan
Rollison, 209 W. Locust, said he lives one block from the
W. Locust vacant lot and said if the city receives a bid of $1 for the lot they
should take it.
Mayor Henrich said the council had set a $200 minimum bid on that lot and
that was how it
was advertised. As there were no
other oral comments and no written comments, M/S/P Peck,
Leach, the hearing was closed at 7:22 p.m.
The following bids were received
on the vacant lots. James Forcier
bid $526 for the lot at 343 E.
Cedar with the stipulation that the garage remains on the property and all back
taxes are forgiven.
Mr. Forcier owns the property next door at 337 E. Cedar.
Alice Hare, 315 E. Main, bid $156 for the
lot at 317 E. Main with the stipulation that all back taxes are forgiven.
No bids were received for
312 W. Locust.
M/S/P Varce, Leach, adopted
Resolution No. 07-22, selling the vacant lot at 343 E. Cedar to
James Forcier for $526.
M/S/P Varce, Mallory, adopted
Resolution No. 07-23, selling the vacant lot at 317 E. Main to Alice
Hare for $156.
John Cook reported that the
Bacon Aquatic Center/Gillette Park project is winding down. Next
week contractors will begin to install the two additional surface drains and
extend the retaining
wall as part of the Gillette Park Trail grant.
John also reported that as part of Grundman-Hicks’
contract they are to help with the takedown of equipment this first season.
This will take place
in the next couple weeks with the help of city staff. The remaining playground ramp was
delivered last week, but was the wrong color.
The correct ramp should be here in a couple weeks.
The Park staff has placed the wood fiber material under the playground
equipment.
Duane Mummert, Park Supt., reported that a quote of
$6,900 a year ago to repair the community
center roof has now increased to $9,514 and there is no guarantee on how long
that would last,
maybe 1-2 years. Duane has had two
contractors look at the roof and both have recommended
total replacement. The current roof was installed 21 years ago.
As the cost is estimated to be
less than $40,000, the council can request quotes, saving the cost of
engineering and going
through the full bidding process. Rick
Dean, Cannon, Moss, Brygger & Assoc., recommended
staying with the rubber membrane roof system as it has worked well for this
building and there
is a 15-year warranty. Councilman
Varce asked whether Mr. Dean was familiar with the Dura-Last
roof system that several downtown businesses have installed.
He said he thought that system
has a 30-year warranty. Mayor
Henrich corrected him saying the warranty is 15 years.
Duane
said Mr. Dean was familiar with the product, but still recommended the rubber
membrane for the community center building.
M/S/P Stieneke, Leach, authorized Duane to solicit quotes on a rubber
membrane roof replacement and to accept the low quote if it is under $40,000.
The council was asked to
consider the sale of the vacant lot at 110-112 S. 4th Street.
Councilman
Varce reminded the council that Central Bank purchased the property and donated
it to the city
with the understanding that the city would demolish the building and use the lot
for parking. He
also feels the council needs to look to the future as there are more people
living above the
businesses on East and West Main Street. Also,
the use of the Lewis Apartments could change
requiring more parking. Councilman
Mallory indicated that Central Bank had publicly offered to
pay for shrubs and low maintenance landscaping, but that has yet to be done.
Councilman Varce
said that he was to ask the ABC Committee to help draft a plan for the plantings
and let Central
Bank know what they wanted, but he has not done that yet.
Councilman Peck felt there was
available parking in the W. Elm Street parking lot, but Councilman Varce said
there are at least
30 cars parked there on a regular basis. Jim
Agnitsch, Street Supt., indicated that it is very difficult
to remove snow from this lot. Councilman Leach feels the lot should be sold and put back on
the
tax rolls so the city doesn’t have to continue to maintain it.
A motion was made by Councilman
Varce not to sell the lot. The
motion died for lack of a second. In
further discussion, Councilman
Stieneke asked Jim Agnitsch what the cost would be to pave the lot.
Jim said it would cost about
$1,000 to remove the footings before paving and he has given the council the
cost to pave it several
times. He feels it should be sold.
Steve Schuck asked whether the council could put a stipulation
on the bid that would require the successful bidder to build on the lot or pave
it. Mayor Henrich
said that was possible, but the council wasn’t in favor of placing
stipulations on the sale. A
motion by Councilman Stieneke, seconded by Peck, authorized the sale of the
vacant lot at
110-112 S. 4th Street with a minimum bid of $1,000.
Roll call was:
AYES: Stieneke, Leach, Peck,
Mallory
NAYS: Varce
Councilman Mallory asked the
council to consider reviewing the policy and code concerning the
variance process and Board of Adjustment. He
asked why the council should bother with
establishing ordinances if they can’t enforce them.
So many codes can be manipulated, so why
have them. Councilman Varce feels
it is important to be sure the members of the Board of
Adjustment and Planning & Zoning Commission receive some type of training.
This needs to
be looked at seriously and should be mandatory.
Councilman Mallory said there is plenty of
literature available if Board members want to read it.
Councilman Varce feels it is sometimes
easier to understand if the members can hear that same information through
workshops from
people who work with it all the time.
M/S/P Peck, Varce, authorized
the annual Spring Lake Park goose hunt. Dates
and times will be
set at a later date.
The council reviewed the aquatic
center revenue/expense report for the 2007 season.
On a motion by Councilman Varce, seconded by Stieneke, the meeting was
adjourned at
7:55 p.m. Motion carried.
News media – Ken Ross, Chronicle Times.
Dennis Henrich - Mayor
ATTEST:
Debra Taylor, CMC
City Clerk-Treasurer