June 6, 2016

June 6, 2016

Wellman, Iowa

The Wellman City Council met in regular session in the Council Chambers of the Wellman Municipal Building at 5:30pm.  Mayor Ryan Miller presided with City Administrator, City Clerk and the following council members: Robert Goodrich, Fern Bontrager, Robert Freeman and Tracy Owens, absent Jared Schneider.  Following the Pledge of Allegiance the Consent Agenda was approved upon motion by Freeman, Seconded by Goodrich and all aye votes.  The Consent Agenda includes the agenda, minutes from previous meeting, approval of March and April Financials, approval and appointment of Planning & Zoning Member, Approval of Reggie Tire, Freeman Foods, Casey’s Tobacco Permits, and the following claims:

March Financial Report:

April Financial Report:

In public forum, Samuel Bailey with The Boy Scout’s Troop #234 spoke on a project in town that he would like to do.  He said that this would be the first project that’s been done in Wellman for quite some time.  The project he’d like to do would be building a shelter in Wishard Park.  The shelter would be 14’x14’ and he thought would cost approximately $8500.00.  He plans to raise all the money by donations and wouldn’t cost the city anything.  Litwiller asked how long he thought it would take to complete the project and when the project would begin.  Bailey thinks the project should take about 80 hours or less to complete and plans to start working on the project in mid July.  Owens questioned the location of the shelter in the park.  Bailey said that he would like to build the shelter at the North end of the park where the tire swing is located.  Miller asked Bailey what his plan was on lining up volunteers to help with building the project.  Bailey explained that he plans on having a sign-up sheet at his church for volunteers and has 5 volunteers already.  Council feels like this would be a great project for Wellman.  Miller recommended that as soon as he has a definite plan to contact City Administrator then we can have Public Works guys go and map everything out to make sure shelter will fit where he’d like to place it.

Resolution No. 16-31 A Resolution setting the date for public hearing on proposal to enter into a General Obligation Refunding Loan Agreement and to borrow money there under in a principal amount not to exceed $950,000 was introduced and caused to be read.  Michael Hart with Northland Securities was present and spoke to Council on Refinancing options.  He presented Council with a proposed schedule of events for getting the refinancing completed and a summary on the refinancing options.  He explained to Council that the original Bond amount of $1.7 million which has been paid down to half over the past 5 years of payments.  By refinancing at a lower rate will be a cost savings of around $29,000 over the remaining terms of the loan.  Miller stated that he feels that it will allow for the savings to be spent on other projects to better the city.  Goodrich moved to set the date of the public hearing for June 20^th, Seconded by Owens and upon roll call the vote was 4 unanimous ayes, Schneider absent.

Freeman moved to accept the Adoption of Required Resolutions and Policies Required CDBG Program funding assisting the City Wastewater Improvement Project: (1) Code of Conduct; (2) Procurement Policy; (3) Equal Employment Opportunity Policy; (4) Excessive Force Policy; (5) Residential Anti-Displacement And Relocation Assistance Plan; and (6) Affirmative Fair Housing Policy, Seconded by Bontrager and all voted aye.

Bontrager moved to accept the Authorization for the Mayor to execute a $25,000 Service Agreement with the East Central Iowa Council of Governments (“ECICOG”) to provide grant administration for $500,000 awarded by the Iowa Economic Development Authority (IEDA) from the federal Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Program to assist the City’s wastewater improvement project; with grant to pay 100% of cost, Seconded by Freeman and all voted aye.

Owens moved to accept the Authorization to publish public notice stating a combined finding of no significant effect and intent to request the release of funds as environmental certification for CDBG Program funding assisting the City’s wastewater improvement project.  Following required opportunity for citizen review and comment, to include authorization for the Mayor to submit the request for release of funds from the IEDA.  The release date will be July 15^th, Seconded by Bontrager and all voted aye.

Discussion was had on Wellman Co-op Telephone Cell Equipment on Water Tower.  Litwiller and Jayne Hochstedler, with Wellman Co-op, have been discussing options on Cell Tower Equipment.  The tower that they have outside of town has dead spots and poor coverage in certain areas of town.  They would like to see if they could put a small tower on the Water Tower to hopefully resolve this problem.  If they could work this out they’d be willing to credit the city’s telephone bill like they had done in the past.  No action was taken for now, Litwiller will discuss further with Utility Services and Wellman Telephone.

Discussion, action and adopting of IAMU O&M updates were had.  Litwiller explained that her and Meade have gone through and got all the records updated.  Owens moved to accept, Seconded by Freeman and all voted aye.

Discussion and action was taken on Hickory Ridge Subdivision.  Litwiller explained to Council that the Subdivision is located south of town and that P&Z has approved this.  They will have City Water and that once approved by them that it will go to the County for approval.  Freeman moved to approve, Seconded by Owens and all voted aye.

Discussion was had on Woodruff Construction LLC bid.  Litwiller had a meeting with Dennis White & Josh Dean, with PeopleServices, and Dean has done some tweaking with the vibration and hammering issues and feels that maybe we should hold off on this replacement for the time being and thinks that he may have fixed the issues for now.  Council decided that we will table this and bring it back if need be.

In Council Reports, Litwiller updated Council on a few items.  Delinquent accounts have gone down from $37,000 to now $14,000 and every one of them is either on a budget plan or has payment agreements with the City.  She would like to thank everyone involved with getting these numbers down.  Litwiller & Lampe will be going around and taking photos this week to move forward with the Nuisance Abatement process.  She also mentioned that Freeman would like to go to the League of Cities Workshop this September and wondered if there were any other Council members that would like to join him.  The Wellman Library sponsored skating last Friday and had 111 skaters show up.  Goodrich commented on the bleachers at the Ball fields in the north park.  He’s received a few complaints on this and wondered if there was anything that could be done.  Miller & Litwiller will make plans to go up and take a look at what options there are for fixing this issue.  He also wanted to mention that Don Randol & Leroy Powell have done a lot for the community and would like to see us do something to thank them for their hard work.  Owens questioned the pond north of the golf course and whether there are any ordinances on fencing for ponds and worries about liability issues.  He also questioned whether they were on the list for mowing.  Miller isn’t aware of any ordinance for fencing around ponds and Litwiller said she has this property on the list for mowing.  He also mentioned the Fire Station did the cleaning of Main Street again.  He stated that Main Street was very dirty and feels that the city owning a street sweeper would be very beneficial.  Miller wanted to remind everyone that voting is open from 7 am – 9 pm Tuesday at Parkside.  He also wanted to mention that the Wellman Rotary has received bids for a Welcome to Wellman sign that they would like to put up on the North side of town.  He feels that the northeast end of the north park would be a great location.  The Rotary will be applying for a grant to help with part of the cost.  They will also be having a Chicken Dinner fundraiser on July 4^th to help raise money for the sign and would like to see the city donate a portion of the cost.

Upon motion by Goodrich, Seconded by Bontrager and upon roll call the vote was 4 unanimous ayes, with Schneider absent, council entered into closed session at 6:20 pm per Iowa Code Section 21.5(1)(i) to evaluate the professional competency of an individual whose appointment, hiring, performance, or discharge is being considered when necessary to prevent needless and irreparable injury to that individual’s reputation and that individual request a closed session.

Upon motion by Goodrich, Seconded by Owens and all aye votes, council entered into open session at 7:12 pm.

Council discussed both candidates interviewed and looked at options for future Water/Wastewater opportunities.  Council decided that wages offered would be $15/hr as advertised with a $.75 raise once gas certified and on call begins, with another$.75 raise once boot camp is finished.  Litwiller will call references and make additional calls to both candidates with additional questions.  No offer was made to either candidate as council needs additional information.  They will hold a special meeting Friday, June 10^th to make official decision.

With no further business to be discussed Bontrager moved for adjournment at 8:10 pm, Goodrich Seconded and all voted aye.  The next regular City Council Meeting will be Monday, June 20, 2016 at 5:30 pm in the Council Chambers of the Wellman Municipal Building.

Minutes transcribed by the City Clerk subject to Council Approval.