Regular City Council Meeting
Tuesday, February 27, 2007|
City Hall, Cherokee,
Iowa
A regular meeting was called to order on this date by
Mayor Pro-tem Varce. Present:
Councilman Mallory, Stieneke, Peck, City Attorney Miller, Clerk-Treasurer
Taylor. Absent:
Mayor Henrich and Councilman Leach.
Mayor Pro-tem added two items to the agenda:
#6.10-award Gillette Park trail contract; #6.11-department head pay
review.
The council reviewed information regarding a request
from the City of Quimby to call for an election for local option sales tax.
Quimby’s
tax will expire 1/1/08 and in order for the issue to go to election, there must
be a motion or motions of governing bodies within the county
that represent at least half of the county population.
As a partner in requesting the election, the City of Cherokee would also
put a question
on the ballot to extend the tax. As
Cherokee’s tax doesn’t expire until 12/11/11, the wording could include a
statement indicating the
expected effective date would be January 1, 2012.
The City of Cherokee doesn’t have to partner with Quimby as they could
partner
with the unincorporated area of the county.
However, since Cherokee, Quimby and the unincorporated area are the only
entities with
sunset dates, Cherokee may not be able to call for an election in 2010 when they
are ready to do so because we would need Quimby
or the unincorporated area to partner with us to satisfy the 50% requirement.
A motion by Councilman Peck, seconded by Stieneke,
authorized partnering with the City of Quimby to call for a local option sales
tax election. Motion carried.
A motion by Councilman Stieneke, seconded by Mallory,
approved the first presentation of an ordinance pertaining to adult-oriented
establishment regulations. Roll
call was:
AYES: Stieneke, Peck, Varce,
Mallory
NAYS: None
On a motion by Councilman Stieneke, seconded by
Mallory, the council unanimously approved the following under “Consent
Business”.
City council minutes of February 13th.
Reviewed Library Board minutes of January 3rd.
Renewal of class “C” liquor license – Cherokee
Country Club.
John Cook was present with an update on the Bacon
Aquatic Center/Gillette Park Project. The
bathhouse roof structure is completely
installed and shingling will be done when the weather warms up.
Weather permitting, the contractor installing the Centennial Shelter will
be on site next week. Playground
equipment will be ordered in the next few weeks. The committee is looking at a synthetic surface for
under and around the play equipment. However,
this could be cost prohibitive unless they find a benefactor.
The play equipment is from
the same company as that at Roosevelt School.
John also reported that committee members, city staff and a councilman
met last week
to review admission fees. The fees
as presented would be: daily-$4.00
(tax included); age 2 & under-free with paid adult; viewer
fee-$2.00 (tax included); lap swim-$2.00 (tax included); 10-punch pass-$35.00
(tax included); single season pass-$65.00 plus tax; family
season pass-$110.00 plus tax (family of 4, $10 for each additional member).
Councilman Stieneke asked whether it would be easier to
have all fees include tax. John
said that would probably make it more clear to everyone.
Councilman Varce passed out information along
that same line, showing possible fees with and without tax included.
Councilman Mallory asked what a family would consist of.
As in the
past, anyone included on a person’s income tax as a dependent would be
considered “family”. As
Councilman Leach wasn’t present and
new information was just passed out this evening, a motion by councilman Varce,
seconded by Stieneke, tabled any action until the next
regular meeting on March 13. Motion
carried.
Jim Warrender, representing the Veteran’s
Administration, was present to request two handicap parking spaces in front of
their new
location on 4th Street. He
would like a space on both the north and south side of the alley, which would
allow the use of the alley “ramp”.
With higher visibility and new hours, Thursday evenings and Saturdays,
they feel they will need two spaces. Jim
Agnitsch, Street Supt.,
doesn’t have a problem with putting the spaces on each side of the alley.
This will be the least expensive for the city, as no curb cuts will
be needed. A motion by Councilman
Stieneke, seconded by Peck, authorized establishing two handicap parking spaces
on 4th St.,
one on the north side and one on the south side of the alley between Main and
Willow. Motion carried.
Jim Warrender also asked if the city would waive the
sign permit fee for their new sign. As
this was not an agenda item, it will be placed
on the next agenda. The
Redevelopment Incentive Fund may be a possible source of funding for the sign.
John Devitt, Kuehl & Payer, was present to review a
proposal to alleviate the storm water/ground water problem in the Ament
Addition. The problem has been
ongoing for many years, requiring almost every residence in the addition to have
a sump pump. Because the existing
storm sewer system is not adequate, most of the pumps discharge into the
sanitary sewer causing the wastewater plant to treat clean water. The first option, estimated at $200,091, would be to
construct a small diameter groundwater disposal system around the perimeter of
the addition to carry only groundwater from sump pumps.
This system would serve all the homes to the outside of the addition.
The second option, estimated at $226,846, would be to construct a new
reinforced concrete pipe storm sewer throughout the addition and add a number of
new intakes to
John Devitt also presented a preliminary design to repair
the water line under the E. Main Street bridge. He feels it is better to stay away from the bridge and
proposes to cross the creek behind Quinn’s Service Station. The city will need an easement from Goslar’s, but they
seemed receptive to the project as long as it doesn’t close the access to the
station. John estimated the project
to cost $100,000 and would take approximately 3 weeks to complete.
Mark Napier, Water Supt., will get copies of the proposed plan to the
council members for their review. A
motion by Councilman Stieneke, seconded by Peck, authorized Kuehl & Payer to
proceed with plans and specifications with a bid letting to take place within
the next 2 months. Motion carried.
Mark Napier presented a request from Verizon to put
antennas on the north tower and construct a 12’ x 30’ equipment building on
the
site. Mark has requested drawings
on how the antennas would be attached, but hasn’t yet received the
information. Mark also provided
information from Utility Service Communications, a division of Utility Service
Group, who would negotiate a lease with Verizon as well as
make sure the equipment is installed properly so it doesn’t interfere with the
quality and safety of the water. If
a successful lease is
negotiated, Utility Service Communications receives 30% of the lease price.
Councilman Stieneke indicated that the fencing has been
removed and landscaping done near the north tower and asked whether we really
want an equipment building on the site. Councilman
Varce said this is an additional source of revenue and felt they need to review
the information. When copies of
drawings are available,
this item will be brought back for further discussion.
Mark presented two quotes for the purchase of 52
various sized water meters to complete the meter change-out program.
Municipal Supply-$4,820.65; HD Waterworks-$4,847.50.
Mark indicated that Municipal Supply would also pick up the old meters at
no charge.
On a motion by Councilman Peck, seconded by Mallory, the council
unanimously authorized the purchase of water meters from
Municipal Supply at $4,820.65.
Because of some recent concerns, Councilman Mallory
asked that the tool lease with Duane Mummert be discussed.
For many years,
the city has entered into an annual lease with Duane for $1,000/year for use of
his tools and equipment for city projects.
Duane
Mummert was present and didn’t feel there was anything to discuss, as he
isn’t interested in continuing with the lease.
As far as he
is concerned the lease is done as of now. Because
the tools were in Duane’s personal vehicle, that is the vehicle he would
primarily
use during the workday. City
Attorney
insurance policy. He found that as
a hired or non-owned vehicle, Duane’s vehicle would be covered, although
Duane’s insurance would
be primary. City Attorney Miller
will meet with Duane and Mayor Henrich to review the current lease.
Councilman Mallory suggested implementing a policy on
how employee vacancies are handled. In
reference to a recent newspaper
article on two new police officers, he said he wasn’t aware until after the
fact that two officers had been hired. As
a councilman, he feels
they should be better informed on employee matters.
Councilman Varce asked whether it is just a matter a better
communication.
Councilman Mallory feels all employee vacancies should come before the
council. The department head should
get the consent of the
council before filling a position. Mick
will work with the staff on drafting a policy for employee vacancies.
The council reviewed a revised 28E Agreement with the
911 Board. Councilman Peck, the
city’s representative, said that the changes
included adding an alternate member for each community and adding several
outlying areas served by the 911 Board. The
communities
added were Alta, Holstein, Galva, Pierson, Peterson and Sutherland. A motion by Councilman Peck, seconded by Stieneke, approved
the 28E Agreement with the 911 Board. Motion
carried.
On a motion by Councilman Mallory, seconded by
Stieneke, the council unanimously
representative to the 911 Board.
A motion by Councilman Mallory, seconded by Peck,
appointed Mayor Henrich as the city’s alternate to the 911 Board.
Motion carried.
Bob Payer, Kuehl & Payer, was present to review
the Gillette Park Trail Project with the council. The project was let by the I.D.O.T. on
February 20 and the low bidder was Ten Point Construction Co., Inc., Denison, at
$87,385.27. Other bids included:
Jasper Construction Services, Inc.-$95,182.65; Howrey Construction,
Inc.-$109,384.60; Fred Carlson Co., LLC-$126,915.94; Christensen Bros., Inc.-
$136,529.40; and Grundman-Hicks, LLC-$140,746.38.
Mr. Payer was familiar with Ten Point Construction and felt they would do
a
good job. A motion by Councilman
Mallory, seconded by Peck, awarded the bid to Ten Point Construction Co., Inc.
for $87,385.27.
Motion carried.
Councilman Mallory added an item to the agenda to
review department head pay increases that were approved at the last council
meeting.|
He said the council
authorized paying some department heads more than others because they are
required to maintain certain licenses
for their positions. He feels the
City Clerk was passed over and should receive extra compensation.
He would like to find the money to
pay Deb for her time and extra duties at least for the time since the
administrator resigned 4/25/06 and the 14-15 weeks when Diane
Cargin was gone last spring. He
would also like to compensate her more until something changes in the
administration – whether they
hire a city manager or public works director. He feels Deb has taken over a lot of the duties.
Councilman Stieneke questioned where
the money would come from. Mallory
said they had discussed funding a manager or public works director from the
water, sewer and road
use funds, so felt the same could apply here.
From what he has heard from city employees, things seem to be going well.
If things
continue as is, someone should be
last meeting. He said some
communities make the Clerk the Clerk/Administrator during an interim period.
Councilman Peck agreed
that Deb had gone above and beyond and should be compensated somehow.
More information will be put together regarding this issue.
Councilman Peck reported that County Engineer, Larry
Clark, spoke on the city’s behalf recently at the Technical Advisory Committee
meeting regarding funding for Surface Transportation Projects (STP) and
Transportation Enhancement Projects (TE) for 2008-2011.
The
city submitted a project to overlay a portion of River Road, which will receive
$144,000 of the $180,000 estimated cost in 2010.
In the
past, Dan Hingtgen, as the city’s engineer, represented the city at these
meetings. However, at this time,
the city doesn’t have an engineer
to fill this position. Councilman
Peck recommended sending Mr. Clark a letter thanking him for his help in
securing funding for this project.
On a motion by Councilman Stieneke, seconded by Peck,
the council went into closed session at 8:55 p.m. to discuss possible litigation
as per Iowa Code Chapters 21.5(c) and 20.17(3).
Roll call was:
AYES: Stieneke, Peck, Varce,
Mallory
NAYS: None
A motion by Councilman Stieneke, seconded by Mallory,
brought the council back into regular session at 9:05 p.m.
Roll call was:
AYES: Stieneke, Peck, Varce,
Mallory
NAYS: None
No action was taken in closed session.
On a motion by Councilman Stieneke, seconded by
Mallory, the meeting was adjourned at
9:06 p.m. Motion carried.
Dwight Varce – Mayor Pro-tem
ATTEST:
Debra Taylor, CMC
City Clerk-Treasurer