February 2, 2009
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 Administrator, City Clerk and following Council Members: Robert Goodrich, Karri Fisher, Steve Slaubaugh, and Matt Latcham with Marc Pennington arriving for the work session portion of the meeting. Also present were city maintenance workers Jesse Gingerich and Rory White. The consent Agenda was approved upon motion by Slaubaugh, second by Latcham and all aye votes. The consent Agenda includes the agenda, minutes of the previous meeting, and the following claims:
| AFLAC | employee benefit | 449.01 |
| Alliant Energy | electric/all departments | 1,824.30 |
| Baker Paper Company | supplies | 137.35 |
| Bancard | credit card charges | 195.68 |
| Boyse Dozing | trucking snow,water break | 1,778.74 |
| City of Wellman | utilities & transfers | 1,723.59 |
| Commercial Towel Service | mops | 24.10 |
| Duane Covington | operator service fee | 2,300.00 |
| Cox Sanitation & Recycling | Jan recycling,stickers,trsh | 2,780.50 |
| Digicon Inc | work on server & reinstall | 350.00 |
| Douds Stone | road stone/wa main break | 99.00 |
| Farm Plan/Farmers Supply | parts | 85.84 |
| Farmers Cooperative Assoc | regulator heaters service | 90.00 |
| Federation Bank | payroll taxes | 5,947.17 |
| Fisher Automotive | repairs | 67.81 |
| Freeman Foods | supplies | 97.20 |
| Don Gingerich | building permit inspect | 35.00 |
| Jesse Gingerich | reimburse for cell phone | 43.00 |
| Gingerich Well & Pump Service | service call | 100.00 |
| Hawkeye Foodservice | supplies | 1,632.58 |
| HTM Sales Inc | duplex pump controller | 137.50 |
| I Wireless | Lampe cell phone | 52.09 |
| Iowa Assn Municipal Utilities | newsletter,repairs | 2,781.73 |
| Iowa Prison Industries | signs | 309.65 |
| Iowa Public Employee Retirement | employee contributions | 2,539.81 |
| JWs Foods | UPS fees | 17.94 |
| Jared Kinsinger | trucking | 52.65 |
| KOCH Brothers | quarter copy machine fee | 75.93 |
| Fred Lampe | labor | 30.00 |
| Mahaska Bottling | concessions | 199.40 |
| Ryan Miller | mileage | 44.00 |
| Municipal Gas Project Share Fund | disbursement to customer | 400.00 |
| Municipal Gas System | furnace rebates | 200.00 |
| Municipal Gas System | refund customer deposits | 150.85 |
| Municipal Water System | refund customer deposits | 75.71 |
| William Nickell | Feb lease payment | 150.00 |
| Paws & More | Feb contribution | 200.00 |
| Payroll expense | transfers | 29,917.48 |
| Quill Corporation | office supplies | 330.52 |
| Dave Ross | Jan mileage&reimburse | 88.10 |
| Sam's Club | concessions | 281.23 |
| Schimberg Company | clamps | 255.24 |
| Scoops/Mary Lee Ehrenfelt | downtown improve grant | 2,500.00 |
| Senior Center Commission Fund | transfers to close funds | 906.73 |
| Standard Pest Control | Feb service | 25.00 |
| TERRA Enterprises | various projects | 675.00 |
| TestAmerica | wastewater testing | 253.26 |
| Thrapp Electric | electric to welcome sign | 1,152.00 |
| Titan Machinery | skid loader maintenance | 318.28 |
| Treasurer State of Iowa | state wht & sales tax | 6,102.00 |
| Various Vendors | employee health benefit | 40.90 |
| VSP Engineering | 2nd Street Bridge Project | 9,037.35 |
| Washington County Auditor | Feb law contract | 6,237.58 |
| Wellman Auto Supply | supplies & parts | 19.49 |
| Wellman Emporium | Feb condominium fee | 86.52 |
| Wellman Telephone Company | phone services | 406.75 |
| Rory White | reimbursements | 43.00 |
| Laverta Yoder | reimbursements | 47.45 |
| TOTAL EXPENDITURES | 85,902.01 | |
The Sheriff had not yet arrived so Ross continued with Item 4 regarding the annual insurance dividend check. As part of the EMC group insurance plan, refunds are received based on insurance claims filed each year. The City received a refund of $4,397 plus $25 coupons to be used towards registration fees for risk management training.
Shelia Hanson and Amber Talbot were present from the Paws and More Animal Shelter of Washington to ask the Council permission to add $1 to utility bills for those residents who wish to volunteer donating monthly to the shelter. The contribution will be part of the utility bill and the City will forward a check to Paws and More on a regular basis for the funds collected. Goodrich moved to approve sending a letter out with the next billing to solicit volunteer donations through the City’s utility billing. Slaubaugh seconded and all voted aye.
Sheriff Jerry Dunbar arrived to report on calls of service. He said the twenty-one calls were down from thirty-six a year ago. The Supervisors are reviewing the law contract and will be contacting the Cities with that information. A brief discussion was held on the recent bomb threat at Mid-Prairie High School. Dunbar indicated emergency response was excellent with Superintendent Schneider doing an outstanding job of dealing with the situation.
Resolution No. 09-07 was introduced and caused to be read to certify an unpaid utility bill to the County Treasurer to be collected in the same manner as property tax. Slaubaugh moved to adopt Resolution No. 09-07, Latcham seconded and upon roll call the vote was four ayes; Pennington, absent.
During the Public Forum Goodrich mentioned that Senator Becky Schmitz would be in Wellman on Friday, February 6 at 9:30am to discuss issues facing Iowa. With no one having comments during the General Administrative discussion at 7:25pm Goodrich moved to take a five-minute break and reconvene in work session. Slaubaugh seconded the motion and all voted aye.
At 7:34pm the Council reconvened to discuss the budget and capital projects. City Clerk Wade reviewed the property tax asking as calculated to date. Some work will still need to be done to the budget before final figures are available. City Administrator Ross reviewed some of the funds and various debt service balances. Gingerich and White addressed the Council concerning purchase of a DOT brine truck with a belly blade and selling the white dump truck. They discussed at length the pros and cons of using the brine system as well as other snow equipment.
A lengthy discussion was held on a Public Works Director position with the Council concluding they prefer advertising for another maintenance worker requiring them to have grade 2 certifications in water and wastewater at date of hire. Rory White is now taking certification classes but will not be able to have grade twos for another two years.
White and Gingerich presented a “wish list” for public works items including 4-wheel drive service pickups, DSL internet connection at the maintenance building or a weather monitor, replacement of doors at the old shed on 10th Avenue, a small electric generator for small sump pumps to be used at water main breaks, replacement of several tools at the shop, a grapple bucket for the skid loader to pickup up brush and a hammer drill to break cement.
Ross then reviewed his capital improvement plan with the Council to determine what projects they wanted to schedule and in what fiscal year. Ross will use their recommendations to complete the five-year plan and bring it back to the Council for approval.
Goodrich moved to return to open session, Slaubaugh seconded and all voted aye. Slaubaugh moved to approve the job description for a certified public works maintenance position and to advertise for applicants. Goodrich seconded the motion and all voted aye.
With no further business Goodrich moved for adjournment at 10:17pm, Slaubaugh seconded and all voted aye.
Minutes transcribed by the City Clerk subject to Council approval.