Regular City Council Meeting
City Hall, Cherokee, Iowa
September 22, 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 Leach, unanimously approved the following under “Consent Business”.
City council minutes of September 8th.
Renewal of class “B” wine permit
– The Book Vine; class “C” beer permit – Cherokee Country Store; class “E”
liquor
license – Hy-Vee Food Store.
Pay request #5 to Grundman-Hicks for wastewater ultraviolet project for $42,897.73.
Barry and Lisa Carlson are
requesting that their property at 1711 Linden St. be removed from the city
limits because they don’t
receive any city utilities or street. Administrator Eikmeier reported that this
request would need to go to the Planning & Zoning
Commission for their recommendation. He explained that properties removed from
city limits in the past could not feasibly be
served by city utilities. Although the Carlson property is not currently served
by city services, they will be available as the city
will be extending water and sewer lines to serve the South Highland Subdivision
just east of the Carlson property. The Administrator
also explained that a city doesn’t want to create islands or irregular borders
and it is one of the council’s goals to square off the
city’s boundaries. The Carlson’s will be notified when a meeting of the
Planning & Zoning is scheduled. On a motion by Burkhart,
seconded by Peck, the council referred the Carlson request to the Planning &
Zoning Commission. Motion carried.
Ken Slater informed the city
that he has left Central Insurance and has opened Ken Slater Insurance Agency.
Both Ken and Central
Insurance sent letters and met with the Mayor and Administrator expressing
interest in continuing to serve the city’s insurance
needs. As Central Insurance is currently the agent of record with the city’s
insurance provider Iowa Community Assurance Pool,
this will remain the same through the policy expiration date of 3/31/10. If the
city chooses to seek the services of other
insurance agencies, the appropriate time would be after the first of the year.
Chuck Wulfsen, Central Bank, said they appreciate
the city’s business and look forward to continued service in the future. Ken
Slater had asked ICAP to be appointed agent of record,
but respects that Central Insurance is the agent at this time. The council will
review this again in January.
In his report to the council,
Administrator Eikmeier said that the city continues to receive complaints
regarding the quality of
cable service through current provider Mediacom. Council member Burkhart
attested to these problems and along with the
Mayor and Administrator met with Mediacom representatives last spring regarding
the complaints. At that meeting, Mediacom
was asked how they could correct these issues and the city has received no
response. The communications industry has changed
dramatically since the current system was installed and Mediacom has not kept up
with needed upgrades to the system. The
Administrator explained that there are several options to address the poor
quality some of which are: solicit proposals for a new
franchise; build, own and operate our own system; create ownership but contract
the operations to a third party. City ownership
would be to address the quality of service but would also keep revenues local.
This is not a low-cost opportunity costing $3,000-
$4,000 per customer. The process would be to have a feasibility study done and
then take it to the citizens for a vote. Before
proceeding with a feasibility study, which is another expense, the Administrator
is recommending the appointment of a
communications study committee to compile information and make a recommendation
to the council. This process would have a
timetable of 120 days. Suggested members of the committee would be Council
Members Burkhart and Mallory, Chuck Wulfsen,
Mark Schuett, and Mark Arnold. If the council would decide to proceed with a
city-owned system the process would include
creating a communications utility, an election to approve the utility and
issuance of revenue bonds. This would take about 2 years
to complete. On a motion by Peck, seconded by Leach, the council unanimously
authorized proceeding with the Communications
Study Committee.
Administrator Eikmeier reminded the council of a special
meeting on Thursday, Sept. 24 to tour the community center at 6:00
and for an informational meeting with Ament Addition residents at 7:00.
In reference to a recent editorial in the Chronicle
Times, the Administrator is gathering information on pool attendance,
openings/closings, and temperatures. He will also be getting information from
other pools. A report will be provided to the
council at the next meeting. Stieneke asked whether there are discounts for
pre-season sales. The Clerk indicated that there
is not, but that pool passes are available throughout the year and payment
arrangements can be made. Burkhart asked that this
be put on the city’s website. The Administrator said they need better marketing
in the future. Paul Struck, Chronicle Times,
said the paper provided free advertising this past season. The Mayor suggested
a sign on Hwy. 59 indicating the location of the
pool and community center.
On a motion by Stieneke, seconded by Burkhart, the meeting was adjourned at 7:45 p.m. Motion carried.
News media – Paul Struck, Chronicle Times.
Pam Pierce – Mayor
ATTEST:
Debra Taylor, CMC
City Clerk-Treasurer