Regular City Council Meeting
City Hall, Cherokee, Iowa
January 27, 2009 – 7:00 P.M.
A regular meeting was called to order on this date by
Mayor Pierce. Present: Council Members Peck, Leach,
Mallory, Burkhart, Stieneke, Administrator Eikmeier, Clerk-Treasurer Taylor.
A motion by Burkhart, seconded
by Stieneke, adopted Resolution No. 09-01, committing local funding for the
N. 11th Street STP Project for FY2013. Roll call was: AYES: All.
NAYS: None.
A motion by Leach, seconded by Peck, unanimously approved the following under “Consent Business”.
City council minutes of January 13, 2009.
Renewal of class “B” native wine
permit-Hy-Vee; class “C” liquor license-The Other Place; class “C” beer
permit-Casey’s
General Store; class “C” beer permit-Fareway; class “B” native wine
permit-Hy-Vee Gas.
John Cook was present to request
temporary street closings on February 24th from 5:25 p.m. to 5:45
p.m. for a special
event coordinated by St. Paul’s United Methodist Church. John explained that
the event follows a tradition established
years ago in England. The day before Ash Wednesday people would make pancakes
with the ingredients for which they
might be denying themselves during lent. The women would then race 415 yards
with a pan and pancake. They had to
be 18 years or older, wear a dress and headscarf, and had to flip the pancake at
the beginning and end of the race. The
proposed course would start at City Hall, go north on Pine to Willow, then west
on Willow to 5th, then south on 5th to
Main and finish at the Methodist church. The race would be open to the public.
A pancake dinner will follow and all
proceeds will be donated to the two local food pantries. A motion by Burkhart,
seconded by Stieneke, approved the
temporary street closings as requested. Motion carried.
Fire Chief Gary Chase and Roger
Frisbie were present to review bids for equipment to be purchased with FEMA
Firefighters
Grant funds. Bids were received for the following equipment. Jaws of Life:
Municipal Emergency Services-$23,788;
Danko Emergency Equipment-$26,920. Light Tower: Maintainer Custom
Bodies-$14,500; North Central Ambulance Sales
& Service-$14,900; FireGuard-$14,960. Washer/Extractor & Drying Cabinet: R. J.
Kool-$16,249.25; Municipal Emergency
Services-$18,517. On a motion by Stieneke, seconded by Leach, the council
approved the low bid for each piece of
equipment as presented. Motion carried.
Mark Buschkamp, CAEDC, was
present and passed out the annual report and reviewed it with the council.
CAEDC is
supported by the county, cities and businesses. Mark asked for the city’s
continued support at the same level as this
past year. Mark also expressed his appreciation for the new administrator as he
is very knowledgeable and a great
point of contact.
Megan Pigott was present representing the Cherokee Arena
Committee and passed out the schedule for 2009. She said
the use of the arena is growing and getting better every year, but because of
last years’ inclement weather and
equipment repairs, they are short of start up funds this season. The committee
put in 1126 man-hours last year to
maintain the arena, put on shows, man the concession stand, etc. and it is a lot
to expect committee members to
continue to put their own money into the start up. Megan pointed out that the
arena draws people from outside
the county who spend money at restaurants, gas stations, grocery stores, and
other businesses. They are looking
at possibly drawing some big names for several events this year. The arena is
open to the public at no charge if
there is no event scheduled. Administrator Eikmeier said that funding is the
council’s decisions, however he would
suggest that the support be in the form of a replenishment fund and not an
annual expenditure. The council will
consider the request and will look at the Hotel/Motel Tax fund as an option. A
report will be brought back to the
next meeting.
The Police and Fire Departments were asked to briefly
review their 2009-10 budget requests. Police Chief Schuck
said his budget includes wage increases for the officers as set by their
contract; an increase for a new vehicle;
$3,000 for new vests with a match of $3,000 from a grant; and an increase for
software maintenance. Administrator
Eikmeier said the vests are a safety item and are essential. All departments
are using $3/gal. to budget for fuel as
no one knows what will happen with gas prices. Council Member Stieneke noted
that the Police Dept. has been
successful in getting grants for necessary items. Fire Chief Chase and Roger
Frisbie presented the fire budget. The
part-time salaries cover vacation and sick days for full-time employees as well
as the Chief’s salary; they need to
replace the air conditioner, overhead door gaskets, meeting room and front entry
windows, and weather stripping
on the entry door. The budget also includes funds for 4 signs that are required
to be placed at accident scenes. The
council noted that the fire department has also been very successful this past
year in obtaining grant funds. Administrator
Eikmeier then asked each department that if money wasn’t an issue, what would
they like to see included in their
budgets. Chief Schuck said he would like the council to look at comparables for
officer salaries. He has a bunch of
good officers and he would like to keep them here. He would also like a
part-time secretary to fill in when his full-time
secretary is on vacation, etc. Chief Chase would like to replace the 1967
pumper, which responds to most fire calls.
They will apply for funding through the FEMA Firefighters Grant for this
vehicle.
The council will meet on Monday, February 2 at 5:30, with
department heads present, to continue review of 2009-10
budgets. They will then follow up a week later for continued review.
A motion by Leach, seconded by Mallory, adjourned the meeting at 8:00 p.m. Motion carried.
News media – Paul Struck, Chronicle Times; Nikki Thunder, KCHE.
Pam Pierce – Mayor
ATTEST:
Debra Taylor, CMC
City Clerk-Treasurer