Regular City Council Meeting
City Hall, Cherokee, Iowa
February 26, 2008 – 7:00 P.M.
A regular meeting was called to order on this date by Mayor Pro-Tem Leach.
Present: Councilmembers
Burkhart, Mallory, Stieneke, Peck, City Attorney Miller, Clerk-Treasurer Taylor. Absent: Mayor
Henrich.
Fire Equipment Truck
Councilmembers Stieneke and
Burkhart expressed concern regarding a proposed fire equipment truck
with an estimated cost of $250,000. They
asked whether the fire department had considered a used vehicle
that would serve the purpose. Stieneke
doesn’t want to raise taxes that much and indicated that he has had
several phone calls regarding this issue. Dave
Lucas, Fire Chief and Roger Frisbie were present representing
the fire department. Roger said
they have looked in their trade magazines for used vehicles.
He said they would
like to wait until the next council meeting in order to put together more
information. The quote they have on
the
proposed vehicle is $210,000. Councilmember
Mallory suggested proceeding to set the public hearing for
March 11, which gives the department time to get more information.
Stieneke said he would rather wait a couple
of years, until the city gets back on its feet. Burkhart said she has looked at several websites and asked
whether
a used chassis could be purchased and then custom make the interior.
She’s not implying that the department
doesn’t need the vehicle she’s just concerned about the cost.
A motion by Councilmember Stieneke, seconded
by Mallory, adopted Resolution No. 08-01, fixing the date for a meeting on the
proposition to authorize a Loan
Agreement and issuance of Notes not to exceed $250,000 for a fire equipment
truck for March 11, 2008 at 7:00 p.m.
Roll call was:
AYES: Stieneke, Peck, Leach, Burkhart, Mallory
NAYS: None
Community Center Improvements
At 7:15 p.m., Mayor Pro-Tem
Leach opened the public hearing on the plans, specifications, form of contract
and estimate of cost for the community center improvements.
Duane Mummer, Park Supt., reported that bids
were received on February 21st and Haselhoff Construction is the low
bidder at $378,800 for the base bid
and $10,200 for alternate #1, theater lighting.
As there were no oral or written comments, a motion by
Councilmember Peck, seconded by Burkhart, unanimously closed the hearing at 7:20
p.m.
On a motion by Councilmember
Peck, seconded by Burkhart, the council adopted Resolution No. 08-02, fixing the
date for a meeting on the proposition to authorize a Loan Agreement and issuance
of Notes not to exceed
$400,000 for community center improvements for March 11, 2008 at 7:15 p.m.
Roll call was:
AYES: Peck, Leach, Burkhart, Mallory, Stieneke
NAYS: None
A motion by Councilmember
Burkhart, seconded by Mallory, unanimously approved the plans, specifications,
form of contract and estimate of cost for the community center improvements.
The council reviewed the bids received for the community
center improvements: Haselhoff
Construction-base
bid $378,800, alternate #1-$10,200; H & H Builders-base bid-$397,700,
alternate #1-$9,600; Grundman-Hicks-base bid-$400,673, alternate #1-$10,000.
The low bidder expects to complete the project by 8/31/08.
Duane Mummert
explained that the lighting and sound system for the auditorium would be
separate from this base bid. A
contract
with Haselhoff Construction will be brought back for council approval.
Consent Business
A motion by Councilmember Burkhart, seconded by Mallory,
unanimously approved the following under
“Consent Business”.
City council minutes of February 12th and 19th.
Tax abatement application for 721 W. Main Street.
City Manager Search
Mayor Pro-Tem Leach reported that after visiting with
Mayor Henrich and Clarence Krepps regarding the
City Manager search, Mr. Krepps decided that if the council needs further help
with the search they are welcome
to contact him. Councilmember
Burkhart asked whether the information Mr. Krepps has already gathered
on the city’s behalf would be turned over to the city.
City Attorney Miller said he would contact Mr. Krepps.
Councilmember Burkhart then suggested that a
representative from SIMPCO be invited to a meeting to explain
their process in helping with a City Manager search.
Councilmember Stieneke understood that SIMPCO would
only offer suggestions on placing the ads, interview questions, and such, but
they don’t actually do the search.
Burkhart, however, understood that SIMPCO would help write and place the ads,
help establish criteria for the
position, go through the applications with the council to see if they meet the
criteria, and set up interview questions
at no additional charge. She feels
that is pretty good help at no cost. Stieneke
feels this is what the first search
committee did, which resulted in receiving few adequate applicants.
Mayor Pro-Tem Leach said that maybe the
council needs to sit back and get some new ideas in order to move forward.
Burkhart agreed and said they need
to set some goals, begin working on a comprehensive plan, and work on
trying to agree a little more in order to
look more attractive to applicants. She
feels the town is attractive, but the council needs to come up to those
standards.
Stieneke would like to thank the original search committee for the time
they put toward the search and suggested
that some of that work could be used in a new search. The Clerk will contact SIMPCO and invite a representative
to the March 25th meeting.
Smoke Free Designation – Aquatic Center/Gillette Park
Councilmember Stieneke asked the council to consider
designating the Bacon Aquatic Center and Gillette
Park as a “smoke free” area. He
said the school uses the front area of the aquatic center for their tailgate
meals
and he would just like to keep the entire area looking nice.
Councilmember Burkhart asked how this would be
enforced. Stieneke is suggesting
just placing signs with no fine attached. Dan
Rollison, Recreation Director,
said that the aquatic center is already a no smoking zone, but that doesn’t
currently include Gillette Park. A motion
by Councilmember Stieneke, seconded by Burkhart, authorized making the Bacon
Aquatic Center and Gillette
Park a smoke free zone. Motion
carried.
Community Center Brickwork and Precast Panels
The council received a quote from Harman Masonry for
$3,800 to provide labor, material and equipment to
wash the precast panels and take out and relay 30 brick on the community center. Duane Mummert indicated
that this was not included in the bid for improvements and would be done after
all other improvements are
completed. A motion by
Councilmember Peck, seconded
for $3,800. Roll call was:
AYES: Peck, Leach, Mallory,
Stieneke
ABSTAIN: Burkhart (relative of
Harman)
Request to Vacate Alley
Gus Erickson, 740 Gillease, is requesting that the alley
adjacent to his west property line be vacated.
He would
like to acquire the property to install a driveway for access to the rear of his
property. The alley isn’t
maintained
by the city and doesn’t provide access to any other property.
A motion by Councilmember Peck, seconded by
Mallory, authorized sending the request to the Planning & Zoning Commission
for their recommendation, as
required by City Code. Motion
carried.
2008-09 Budget
Mark Buschkamp, CAEDC, was present during discussion on
the 2008-09 budget. He understands
that the
council is considering cutting back the distribution of hotel/motel tax to CAEDC
and the Chamber of Commerce.
(The current distribution is 25%-Chamber, 14%-CAEDC, 10%-business incentive
program, and 51% is retained
by the city). He asked the council
to take a look at what grants from this tax money do for the community.
He
passed out a report showing businesses that have been assisted by CAEDC over the
last 9 years with total
project costs of $46,391,567, the creation of 126 jobs and 46 jobs saved.
He indicated that when businesses
have to cut back, advertising dollars are usually the first to go, which hurts
in the long run. You need to keep
your
community out there. Mark referred
to the hotel/motel tax distribution as an investment in the community.
CAEDC
receives $9,000-$10,000/year from the tax, which is 55%-60% of their marketing
budget. Mick Samsel, Chamber
member and member of the Tourism Board, helps decide which grants are funded
from the Chamber’s portion
of hotel/motel tax. He said there
are misconceptions on why certain things are funded through the grant process.
He said they are just the review board and have no control over who
submits grants. The grants are
tools to bring
people to town. It has been said
that every tourist potentially spends $100 in town and every dollar helps local
businesses. The grants have funded
39 organizations, which are volunteers marketing Cherokee.
It would be
tough on these volunteers to have this funding source reduced.
He strongly recommends that the council continue
with the current funding. Councilmember
Burkhart asked Mick how the Chamber grant program compares with
the County Legacy Grant program. Mick
says it is unique in that the grants help so many different organizations.
Mark Buschkamp commented that the County Legacy Grant program would
eventually like to make large grants
to community projects, brick and mortar, and would outgrow the smaller projects,
as funded by the hotel/motel tax.
Burkhart suggested that these organizations could apply for the Legacy
Grant as well. Mayor Pro-Tem Leach,
speaking as a citizen, said that as part of the Arena Committee, they have
received grants from the Chamber
for bleachers and lighting. He said
you hate to keep asking people for donations.
Mick said that the small events
and projects would go away without the grant funds and feels an investment of
$15,200/year is minimal. Dwight
Varce, Chamber member, said they have a lot going on right now and feels that
the volunteers would lose
enthusiasm if the distribution of the tax were reduced.
He said 11% was taken away from the Chamber a couple
of years ago and that he was part of that as a councilmember.
Tim Gaydo, Chamber member, said that they were
going to ask for the council to reinstate the additional 11%.
He said there is a lot of diligence that goes into
choosing the grant recipients as they try to decide which events will bring the
most people to town. Duane Mummert
asked what was done before the hotel/motel tax was available.
He said people got together and got things done.
The city needs to get moving in the right direction and he doesn’t believe you
would lose volunteers without the
grant funds.
The council continued budget discussion by asking
department heads if they had any questions regarding
proposed General Fund budget cuts. Dan
Rollison, Recreation Director, is concerned about increasing the
daily admission fee to the aquatic center from $4 to $5.
He said that we didn’t have a full season last year and
that some communities are decreasing fees because of competition.
He asked whether it was worth the
chance to increase revenue by $6,000 to possibly lose $12,000.
He also noted that with the $4 admission,
this usually left $1 to be spent in the concession stand.
Regarding the proposed cut in wages for pool staff,
Dan said he could probably live with that as he is working on restructuring the
staffing. He also reminded the
council that they had to drain the pool 5 times last year, which is not normal.
He would like to go through a full
season before increasing admission fees. Dan
was a little concerned with the $1,500 freeze in the current
budget for recreation officials. He
is working on some new programs, such as spring soccer, so isn’t sure
how much of that line item he may need. Other
programs he is working on include sand volleyball, church softball l
eagues, disc golf, water polo, and water basketball and volleyball.
Councilmember Burkhart noted that the
Wellness Center charges $5/day for admission, so feels we are just setting our
price the same as our competitor.
Steve Schuck, Police Chief, commented on proposed cuts for his
department. Overtime is a guess and
depends
on raises that are given, and the confidential funds are for drug enforcement.
Mary Jo Ruppert, Library Director,
said that they could probably live without the $2,500 for computer supplies and
service, as this was a new line
item. She doesn’t know where else
she would cut. Mary Jo explained to
the council that because of their State
classification (for cities 5,000-10,000) she has to be open a certain number of
hours a week and she is at the
minimum now. If they lose their
State certification, they lose State funding.
She also reminded the council of
purchases and repairs that have been made from the Library Foundation, which
saves the city’s budget.
Councilmember Burkhart said her goal was not to cut anything from the budget
that would harm the city and they
also didn’t cut personnel. She
recommended approving the proposed General Fund revenue increases and
expenditure cuts as presented. It
was noted that the recommended proposal doesn’t affect the hotel/motel tax
distribution. Councilmember Leach
also told those in attendance that the proposal leaves only a $14,000
reserve balance in the General Fund and said the council will be faced with
these same issues next year.
Councilmember Stieneke said that if there is an emergency $14,000 doesn’t
cover much. He then mentioned
Connie Ladwig’s temporary position at the community.
A couple weeks ago Connie had asked to reduce her
hours to 35/week and Councilmember Burkhart asked whether this could be done.
The Clerk said the council
could authorize it. Councilmember
Leach asked whether the council wanted to set precedence.
Would other
employees then ask for the same consideration?
Connie Ladwig was present and asked Councilmember
Stieneke what he meant by a temporary position.
She explained that several years ago when the former
Recreation Director left, she helped Linda Peterson at the community center half
days, with the other half day
spent at City Hall. When Linda
retired last year, Connie then continued to spend half days at the community
center.
Last summer, however, she was asked by the council to spend a larger
share of her time at the community center
to allow Dan to concentrate on the opening of the new aquatic center.
Councilmember Leach asked where cuts
would be made next year if we are in the same situation. Do we cut personnel? He
said that none of the department
heads turned in budgets with any substantial increases.
Councilmember Stieneke said he had received several
phone calls about the budget and questions on why the city is buying a skid
loader. Because the budget is so
tight, Councilmember Burkhart suggested having an item on the council agenda on
a quarterly basis to review the budget.
She also addressed Dan’s concern about increasing the daily admission fee to
the aquatic center. She doesn’t
want to make it unaffordable for anyone, but the season ticket price isn’t
being increased.
On a motion by Councilmember Burkhart, seconded by
Mallory, the council accepted the proposed adjustments
to General Fund revenue and expenses for the 2008-09 budget.
Roll call was:
AYES: Burkhart, Mallory, Peck,
Leach
NAYS: Stieneke
The Clerk asked the council how they wanted to proceed
with the Debt Service levy. As
presented, the levy
shows an increase of $2.00/$1000 over the current year.
With the proposed bond issues for the community
center and fire equipment truck, the levy would increase another $.75/$1000.
The council has the option of
using an additional $200,000 from local option sales tax toward street
improvement debt to decrease the levy.
The council instructed the Clerk to advertise the public hearing on the
2008-09 budget for March 11th at
7:30 p.m., without using any additional local option sales tax funds.
After the public hearing, the council has
the option of decreasing the tax levy, but cannot increase it.
Reports
Under reports, Mark Napier clarified that the well and
pump test contract with Sargent Drilling approved at
the 2/12/08 council meeting also includes 7 pumps at the Tyson water plant.
Adjournment
On a motion by Councilmember Stieneke, seconded by
Burkhart, the meeting was adjourned at 9:15 p.m.
Motion carried.
News media – Ken Ross, Chronicle Times.
____________________________
Robert Leach – Mayor Pro-Tem
ATTEST:
______________________________
City Clerk-Treasurer
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