July 21, 2008

Wellman, Iowa 52356

The Wellman City Council met in regular session in the Council Chambers of the Wellman Municipal Building at 7:00pm. Mayor Ryan Miller presided with the City Attorney, City Administrator, City Clerk and following Council Members: Robert Goodrich, Karri Fisher, Marc Pennington, and Matt Latcham; absent: Steve Slaubaugh. Also present were: Mary Coblentz from the news media and three citizens.

The consent Agenda, including the agenda, minutes of the previous meeting, and the bill list, was approved upon motion by Goodrich, second by Latcham, and all aye votes. The claims approved for payment are as follows:

Action Services	portable units/July 4th	400.00
Baker Paper Company	park paper supplies	144.85
Bancard Center	credit card purchases	533.55
East Central Iowa Council of Govt	administration	392.00
Eastern Iowa Light and Power	street lighting,etc	87.55
Energy Economics Inc	rotary meter testing	1,433.20
Farm Plan/Farmers Supply Sales	parts & repairs	168.45
Federation Bank	fica,medicare,fed wht	3,079.80
HACH Company	equipment	61.53
Hawkins Inc	water chemical supplies	565.45
Hilltop Sign & Graphics	Goodwin Center signs,etc	20.00
Hygienic Laboratory	quarter water testing	381.00
International Institute of Munc Clerks	annual membership	115.00
Iowa Assn Municipal Utilities	repairs	4,588.70
Iowa One Call	line locate calls	19.80
Kalona Builders Supply Co	door	145.70
KOCH Brothers	quarter copier maintenance	84.55
LL Pelling Company	street repairs,patch	36,638.15
Municipal Gas System	refund customer deposits	226.58
Municipal Water System	refund customer deposits	176.28
Payroll Expenses	transfers	14,729.55
Petty Cash Fund	postage, supplies	37.95
Reggie Tire	fuel,repairs	623.00
Mark Robe	skate rink CD player	40.00
Southeast Iowa Safety Group	annual membership	1,760.08
Tebockhorst Trimmers	park mowing	1,992.00
TERRA Enterprises LLP	Heritage Park repairs	2,591.18
Thrapp Electric	repairs	888.50
Utilities Division of Iowa	annual assessment	615.00
Various medical vendors	employee benefit	57.90
Washington County Ambulance Serv	emp cpr/aed certifications	60.00
Wellman Advance	publications	118.29
Wellmark	employee insurance	1,838.75
James A Yoder	sound system for park	250.00
TOTAL EXPENDITURES		74,864.34

In the matter of vacation of an alleyway between 9^th Street and 8^th Street west of 9^th Avenue, the Planning & Zoning Commission reviewed the request and interviewed residents residing along the alley. A letter to the council from the commission chair in its conclusion stated: “The recommendation of the Planning and Zoning Commission is that the City’s alleys remain the property of the City. The main reasons for this recommendation are the lack of a standard policy for determining the abandonment of alleys, to provide property and future property owners, access to the backside of their property and to provide access for public needs.” Ross reviewed the city ordinance with the Council regarding alleys that supported the P&Z statement. Goodrich moved to uphold the Planning and Zoning Commission recommendation and deny the Bernard request to vacate the alley. Pennington seconded the motion and all present voted aye.

Resolution No. 08-48 approving a part-time, on-call employee and setting the salary at $10.00 per hour was introduced and caused to be read. Goodrich moved to adopt Resolution No. 08-48, Fisher seconded and upon roll call the vote was four ayes; Slaubaugh absent. The Mayor affixed his signature.

Resolution No. 08-49 to approve a twenty-four month contract with Cox Sanitation for City trash and recycling collection was introduced and caused to be read. Some spelling and grammatical errors were pointed out. Under Fees and Payments Attorney Kitchen questioned the reference to a “fuel-charge add on with the prevailing price of diesel fuel assumed to be $1.50 per gallon”. Kitchen indicated it was his opinion that should be changed to $4.50 per gallon. Ross listed the other minor changes that needed to be made. Goodrich moved to approve the contract and adopt Resolution No. 08-49 contingent on Cox agreement to the changes. Fisher seconded the motion and upon roll call the vote was four ayes; Slaubaugh, absent. The Mayor affixed his signature. Should Cox not approve the changes, the item will be returned to the Council for additional consideration.

Resolution No. 08-50 to approve a Downtown Business Incentive Grant was introduced and caused to be read. Wellman Telephone Company requested assistance in replacing windows and the front structure to the Trio Gas & Hardware building. The windows and façade are showing signs of deterioration and will be replaced with new smaller windows and some stucco façade. Pennington moved to adopt Resolution No. 08-50, Fisher seconded and upon roll call there were four aye votes; Slaubaugh, absent. The Mayor affixed his signature.

Resolution No. 08-51 to approve financial institutions as depositories of public funds and establishing deposit limits was introduced and caused to be read. Fisher moved to adopt Resolution No. 08-51, Latcham seconded and upon roll call the vote was four ayes; Slaubaugh, absent. The Mayor affixed his signature.

Resolution No. 08-52 to approve mileage reimbursement rates pursuant to IRS mileage rate increases was introduced and caused to be read. The City’s present rate is 50.5cents. The IRS rate was increased as of July 1 to 58.5cents. Goodrich moved to adopt Resolution No. 08-51, Pennington seconded and upon roll call the vote was four ayes; Slaubaugh, absent. The Mayor affixed his signature.

Vacancies on the Board of Adjustment and Planning and Zoning Commission were filled by nomination of Royce Buckwalter to the Board of Adjustment and Doug Slaubaugh and Keith Semler to the P&Z Commission. Goodrich moved to approve these appointments, Pennington seconded and all present voted aye.

Discussion was held on the employee health plan. Rates have increased by 31%. Ross has suggested raising the deductible from $1000 to $2000 which will lower premiums for employees. Those who do not use the full allotted $600 per month could put their left over allowance in a savings fund to be used only for the $2000 deductible if needed. It would not mean any increased expense for the City. Other discussion involved donating sick leave to other employees and ways to offer paid time off for illness. It was decided Ross should come back to the Council will various options to review before any decision is made.

The Council was asked if it was agreeable to send future council packets via email. The City’s copier has the capability of scanning and emailing items with some additional programming. It would cost approximately $100 to implement this feature. This method would save on staff time in preparing and delivering packets as well as paper. Goodrich moved to approve electronic council packets, Fisher seconded and all present voted aye.

At a recent work session the City Council reviewed a proposal to engage a local contractor to do the 3^rd Street water main replacement to reduce the cost of the project. Formal action to approve TERRA Enterprises to proceed with the project was taken by motion from Goodrich, second by Fisher and all aye votes.

A new city policy to outline the proper use and care of the City owned Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs) was presented. Goodrich moved to approve the policy, Pennington seconded and all voted aye.

Discussion was held on the street problems on 6^th Avenue North in the Deer Meadows addition. A section towards the north end is being undermined with large quantities of sand from under the pavement being washed down the street. It is proposed to install tile on both sides of the street to empty the water into the storm sewer to help eliminate the problem. Larry Rediger, resident and owner of the subdivision, spoke to the Council on the problems and possible solutions. Ross has obtained one bid for the work. He will obtain a second bid and bring it to the Council at the next meeting.

During the Public Forum Larry Thurman announced he would be resigning as WATV coordinator. He will stay on until a replacement can be found and plans to continue to assist in filming projects, etc.

After a brief general administrative discussion, at 8:09pm Goodrich moved to adjourn the open meeting, take a five minute recess and then enter into a work session.

At 8:15pm the Council reconvened in a work session with Ross reviewing all fees and charges for the City to determine needed increases. The Council discussed at length the three utilities and the need for increasing rates. Ross will do a spreadsheet with various options and proposals to bring to the Council.

With no further business Fisher moved for adjournment at 9:08pm, Goodrich seconded and all voted aye. The next regular City Council meeting will be Monday, August 4, 2008, 7:00pm in the Council Chambers of the Wellman Municipal Building.

Minutes transcribed by the City Clerk subject to Council approval.