City Council

CITY OF BRITT – BRITT IOWA – NOVEMBER 5th, 2019 The City Council of the City of Britt, Iowa met in pursuant to law and the rules of said Council in regular session in the Council Chambers in City Hall at 7:00 o’clock P.M. the 5th day of November 2019. The meeting was called to order by Mayor pro tem Gast, and the following Council members were: PRESENT: Stacy Swenson, Curt Gast, Karrie Wallen, Paul Verbrugge and Chad Luecht ABSENT: None The Mayor pro tem presented the agenda for approval. It was moved by Verbrugge and seconded by Luecht to approve the agenda with the correction. Motion carried by unanimous vote. It was moved by Luecht and seconded by Verbrugge that the following items contained in the Consent Agenda be approved and adopted: All items listed under the Consent Agenda will be enacted by one motion with a roll call vote. There will be no separate discussion of these items unless a request is made prior to the time Council votes on the motion. Consent Agenda items may include any non-controversial subjects. a. Approve Minutes of the 10/15/2019 Council Meeting b. Claim list in the amount of $64,101.40 A roll call vote was had which was as follows: Ayes: Swenson, Gast, Wallen, Luecht and Verbrugge Nays: None The motion carried, and the Consent Agenda items were approved and adopted. The Mayor pro tem announced this was the time, date, and place for the public hearing regarding authorization of a Loan & Disbursement Agreement and the issuance of Notes to evidence the obligation of the City thereafter. Public hearing opened at 7:07 p.m. The Mayor pro tem asked the City Administrator/Clerk whether any petition had been filed in the Clerk's Office, as contemplated in Section 362.4 of the Code of Iowa, and the Administrator/Clerk reported that no such petition had been filed. The Mayor pro tem then asked the Administrator/Clerk whether any written objections had been filed by any resident or property owner of the City regarding authorization of a Loan & Disbursement Agreement and the issuance of Notes to evidence the obligation of the City thereafter. The Administrator/Clerk advised the Mayor pro tem and the Council that no written objections had been filed. The Mayor pro tem then called for oral objections regarding authorization of a Loan & Disbursement Agreement and the issuance of Notes to evidence the obligation of the City thereafter. Whereupon, the Mayor pro tem declared the time for receiving oral and written objections to be closed. Whereupon, the Mayor pro tem declared the hearing regarding authorization of a Loan & Disbursement Agreement and the issuance of Notes to evidence the obligation of the City thereafter was officially closed at 7:08 p.m. The Mayor pro tem presented Resolution 19 -2019 Instituting Proceedings to take Additional Action for the Authorization of a Loan & Disbursement Agreement and the Issuance of Not to Exceed $500,000 Water Revenue Capital Loan Notes. It was moved by Verbrugge and seconded by Swenson to approve Resolution 19 - 2019 Instituting Proceedings to take Additional Action for the Authorization of a Loan & Disbursement Agreement and the Issuance of Not to Exceed $500,000 Water Revenue Capital Loan Notes. A roll call vote was had which was as follows: Ayes: Swenson, Gast, Wallen, Verbrugge and Luecht Nays: None The motion carried. The Department Head presented their reports. Linda Friedow, Library Director reported they did not get the grant from Hancock County Foundation for the digitization project. They were told the Foundation was not funding historical projects at this time. Britt’s Library will host the County Trustee’s training in March 2020. The State Librarian, Michael Scott, visited the library on October 24th. He discussed 3 topics: WhoFi - a new state funded system of tracking WIFI usage, IAShares – new courier service beginning later in November for inter-library loans, and EDGE 2.0 – the next level in assessments and strategic planning for the library to focus on digital inclusion and equity. The program “Downstairs at Downton”, presented by Kathy Wilson had 30 attendees. On November 6th at 7pm Duffy Hudson will present “Audie Murphy” as celebration of Veteran’s Day. Blast in October had 36 children for the Outdoor Games and 37 children for the Pumpkin Party. The November Blast will be on November 13th. Mark Anderson, Chief of Police, reported the PD took part in the last quarterly training. They participated in a refresher training on OWI with a wet lab. Kovu, Britt’s K-9 Officer, was used to pursue a subject which ran during a stop. This was his first outside training and he did very well. Officer Holbrook is almost finished with his EMT course for WHAS. Since the last meeting the police department took 163 calls for service. Chief Anderson informed the City Council that Officer Holbrook and Officer Williams will be due their final interdepartmental increases. This is a 3% increase which will bring their salary from $20.14/ hour to $20.74/ hour. There will no additional interdepartmental increases and the officers will then be put in line for their annual increases from this point forward with the remainder of the staff. Officer Holbrook is due for the increase on November 18th and Officer Williams is due for the increase on December 18th. It was moved by Luecht and seconded by Wallen to approve the departmental increase to Officer Tyler Holbrook’s salary from $20.14 to $20.74 on November 18th and Officer Williams’s salary from $20.14 to $20.74 on December 18th. Motion carried by unanimous vote. Jon Swenson, Fire Chief, reported they had 2 calls for service last month, 1 fire call/1 assist. They have put the new truck into service. The 1991 pumper is repaired, it had a bad switch leaking on the transmission. The antenna tower, from Hancock County, will be going up in the back of the building. And lastly, the truck committee has finalized the 2020 Spartan Pumper order. The cost of the truck will be split 50/50 with Britt Rural Fire. The City Administrator presented her report. Sawyer presented Resolution 17-2019 Amending Employee Handbook Section 6.670 Military Leave. This update aligns the city’s leave policy with the Federal policy. It was moved by Gast and seconded by Luecht to approve Resolution 17-2019 Amending Employee Handbook Section 6.670 Military Leave. A roll call vote was had which was as follows: Ayes: Swenson, Gast, Wallen, Luecht and Verbrugge  Nays: None The motion carried. Sawyer presented Resolution 18-2019 Establishing Residential Sidewalk Reimbursement Program. This is only updating the current policy to include the reimbursement for grout installation when using mud-jacking as the form of repair of a sidewalk. There were issues in the program that need to be updated. An example of one change is the reimbursement for ½ of the delivery fee is to be included. In addition, Section 8 – regarding the amount of times a resident can apply for the program is being removed. The Assistant City Attorney will work on the changes and get the resolution back to the City to be presented to the Council at a future meeting. Next, Sawyer presented an engagement letter from Ahlers & Cooney for Bond Counsel in connection with the issuance of not to exceed $500,000 Water Revenue Capital Loan Notes Anticipation Project Note. It was moved by Luecht and seconded by Verbrugge to approve the engagement letter from Ahlers & Cooney for Bond Counsel in connection with the issuance of not to exceed $500,000 Water Revenue Capital Loan Notes Anticipation Project Note. Motion carried by unanimous vote. Lastly, Sawyer discussed the discount that is currently provided to Britt’s senior citizens billing for water/sewer/trash service ($1 credit). Per Iowa State Statute - Section 388.6 a city utility or a combined utility system may not provide use or service at a discriminatory rate. Beginning December 2019’s billing the discount will be removed. Mayor Arndorfer presented his report. Arndorfer has been working with Vance Hagen, Public Works Director, on the purchase/lease of a new end loader. Hagen and Arndorfer spoke with a John Deere dealer and a CAT dealer to discuss the funding options available. If the City chooses to buy the loader outright it will deplete the Road Use Fund. The CAT 930M has lower lease payments but has a $69,040 buyout option at the end of the lease. The John Deere 544L has a yearly payment with $1 buyout option at the end of the lease. Arndorfer recommended we go with the John Deere as its overall cost is less than the CAT. It was moved by Verbrugge and seconded by Gast to approve a lease for a John Deere 544L Wheel Loader in the amount of $166,177.18. It will have a annual lease payment of $35,735.28. Motion carried by unanimous vote. Lastly, Chief Anderson presented his request for a fifth police officer. We have been notified that one of our officers has joined the National Guard and is due to go to basic training in April of 2020 for 6 months. Additionally, another officer has applied for a position outside of the City limits. Costs to maintain a 5-man department would be substantially less than previous years in which overtime and part-time officers were used. In comparison, in 2017 we spent $247,410 for salaries and in 2018 we spent $223,782. Forecasted costs to run a 5-man department would cost $216,348 in salaries. The intent is to open the posting up to internal applicants first. We have several officers who have been working for the City of Britt on a part-time basis and a few have expressed interest in applying with us if a position ever opened up. This would be a lateral move for the officer. It was moved by Luecht and seconded by Gast to approve the hire of a fifth officer. This would be a lateral position and all those applying must be certified officers. Motion carried by unanimous vote. With no further business it was moved by Verbrugge and seconded by Luecht to adjourn the meeting. Motion carried by unanimous vote. Debra R. Sawyer, City Administrator/Clerk Curt Gast, Mayor pro tem “These minutes are as recorded by the Clerk and are subject to Council approval at the next regular meeting.” VENDOR DESCRIPTION AMOUNT AFLAC AFLAC-PRE-TAX $85.52 ALLIED ENS LLC CONTRACT SERVICES $339.43 AMAZON DVD & CDS $299.97 BADGER METER SVC AGREEMENT 11/19-4/20 $780.00 BASE MEDICAL REIMB $262.52 BOLTON & MENK REBIDDING SERVICES $457.50 BRITT FOOD CENTER SUPPLIES $37.80 BROAD REACH BOOKS NF BOOKS $84.75 BRODART BOOKS $287.44 BROWN SUPPLY INC HYDRANT OIL $255.53 CENGAGE LEARNING LP BOOKS $103.75 CENTER POINT LARGE PRINT LP BOOKS $53.84 COAST TO COAST POLICE SUPPLIES $312.37 COMM 1 TELEPHONE $601.99 MILEAGE HOLIDAY INN DES DEBRA SAWYER MOINES $291.29 DELTA DENTAL OF IOWA DNTL/VISN-PRETX $522.84 LIBRARY ANNUAL DES MOINES REGISTER SUBSCRIPTION $336.03 DOGS FOR LAW ENFORCEMENT MEMBERSHIP DUES $65.00 EFTPS FED/FICA TAX $5,306.71 FENCHEL, DOSTER, BUCK LEGAL FEES $1,024.00 HANCOCK CO CLERK OF COURT GARNISHMENT $339.50 HISCOCKS ENTERPRISES LLC BROADLEAF CONTROL $3,151.90 HOLIDAY INN AIRPORT IMFOA $342.35 IMWCA WORKMAN'S COMP PREM. $1,153.00 INGRAM BOOKS $427.90 IOWA ONE CALL IOWA ONE CALL $63.00 IPERS POLICE IPERS $6,826.02 MCNEESE TIRE RECAP GRADER TIRES $6,634.48 MEIER PLUMBING AND HEAT CHECK SEWER PLANT $65.00 MICRO MARKETING AUDIO BOOKS $234.56 MID AMERICA BOOKS NF BOOKS $94.75 NATIONWIDE RETIREMENT DEFERRED COMP $20.00 NORTH IA MEDIA GROUP ADVERTISING $254.55  PAYROLL CHECKS ON PAYROLL CHECKS 10/23/2019 $15,301.30 PAYROLL CHECKS ON PAYROLL CHECKS 10/25/2019 $1,037.34 PRESTO-X-COMPANY PEST CONTROL $47.00 PRITCHARD AUTO FLEET MAINTENANCE $61.13 RENEE DIEMER SIDEWALK REIMBURSEMENT $160.00 STATE TREASURER STATE TAXES $1,628.00 SWENSON'S HARDWARE SUPPLIES $340.99 TRULSON AUTO STREETS MAINTENANCE $6,301.73 U S POSTMASTER UB BILLING NOV $271.67 UHC HEALTH-PRE-TAX $5,336.95 US PATENT & NTL HOBO CONVENTION TRADEMARK TRADEMARK $2,500.00 CLAIMS TOTAL $64,101.40