City Council

CITY OF BRITT – BRITT IOWA – JANUARY 7TH, 2020 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 7th day of January 2020. The meeting was called to order by Mayor Arndorfer, and the following Council members were: PRESENT: Stacy Swenson, Curt Gast, Karrie Wallen, and & Paul Verbrugge ABSENT: Chad Luecht The Mayor presented the agenda for approval. It was moved by Gast and seconded by Wallen to approve the agenda as presented by Mayor Arndorfer. Motion carried by unanimous vote. It was moved by Swenson 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 12/17/2019 Council Meeting b. Claim list in the amount of $74,293.46 A roll call vote was had which was as follows: Ayes: Swenson, Gast, Wallen and Verbrugge Nays: None The motion carried, and the Consent Agenda items were approved and adopted. The Mayor announced this was the time, date, and place for the public hearing Proposed Contract documents and Estimated Cost to Repair or Improvement of the 100,000 Gallon Elevated Storage Tank Rehabilitation. Public hearing opened at 7:03 p.m. The Mayor informed the Council the project has been cancelled due to a change in the direction we are taking for the water tower. It was decided at the last meeting that we are now going to replace the water tower when we do the water treatment plant project in the next 2 years. This decision was made when the engineers we have hired for the water treatment plant project, reviewed the condition and age of the tower and well onsite. It has been determined they would need to be replaced within 10 years. The water tower in question was manufactured and erected in 1938 and the well is approximately 107 years old. To mitigate costs it was suggested we do one with the water treatment plant project and one with the wastewater treatment plant project. At 7:04 p.m. The Mayor closed the public hearing. Department heads presented their reports. Linda Friedow, Library Director, reported the Library continues to be accredited at Tier 3, which is the highest level. The WhoFi (Wi-Fi usage) system is now working. This tells the library how many people are using their Wi-Fi. The BLAST attendance for December was 43 children. There are two sessions in January. They continue to try for grants for the digitization project and they just received $250 from the Ley Foundation. Vance Hagen, Public Works Director, presented his report. Among items discussed was the possibility of trading in the mower. In the past, it was on a three-year rotation. In addition, he suggested we think about extending the contract for street overlay work being done in spring. If we combine the contracts, we could get a discount on work needed on 3rd St SE and the alley behind the Vet’s office and the laundromat. Gast questioned whether 1st St NE was worse in which Hagen stated they are about the same, but they have not done the sewer mains on 1st St NE. The additional work would be done in the summer/fall of the 2020/2021 budget year. The new end loader will be ready on February 10th, 2020. Mark Anderson, Police Chief, reported they had 168 calls for service in December of 2019. In addition, the department ended the year with 2,192 calls for service in 2019, compared to 2,068 calls for service in 2018. He is in the process of prepping for our quarterly training schedule for the year. Jon Swenson, Fire Chief, reported they had no calls for service in December. They had training on the new radios. In addition, the new quick attack truck has been outfitted with 2 new SCBA packs so the first firefighters on scene can put on a breathing apparatus which allows them to provide onsite aid before the rest of the responders arrive. The truck committee has finalized the 2020 Spartan Pumper. The pump control panel has been reviewed and approved. Finally, the department has been awarded a grants from the Hancock County Foundation and the Hanson Foundation. Swenson continues to work on a DNR grant. Mike Boomgarden, Zoning Administrator, reported he issued 2 building permits in December and answered 7 zoning related questions from businesses and residents. The City Administrator presented her report. Sawyer presented council with a mortgage release for Holly Weiss (formerly known as Schmid) and Joshua Schmid from the 2009 City of Britt Housing Rehabilitation Program. It was moved by Gast and seconded by Swenson to approve the mortgage release for Holly Weiss (formerly known as Schmid) and Joshua Schmid from the 2009 City of Britt Housing Rehabilitation Program. Motion carried by unanimous vote. Next, Sawyer presented the updated Agreement for Professional Services – North Watermain Extension project from Bolton & Menk for engineering services in the amount of $42,000. This will be for service that will be provided to new development on the north side of town. It was moved by Verbrugge and seconded by Wallen to approve the Agreement for Professional Services – North Watermain Extension from Bolton & Menk for engineering services in the amount of $42,000. Motion carried by unanimous vote. Lastly, we have received several reports from citizens that we hit their mailboxes during one of the last snowstorms. Sawyer and Vance Hagen spoke about this and feel a written policy needs to be put in place regarding replacement of the mailbox. In addition, information needs to be sent out to the public providing specifications set forth by the United States Postal Service in regard to placement of the mailbox. Sawyer has been instructed to create a policy and present it to Council at the next meeting. Mayor Arndorfer presented his report. Interviews for the Public Works department were done Monday and Tuesday before the council meeting. It was determined two candidates that would be good options. Candidate A has experience working at a city performing the same duties he would be required to do for us. It might be possible for him to go to a few classes to also get his Water/Wastewater II certifications reinstated. Candidate B has experience working in the water department and the street department. He was eager to learn and understood what would be expected of him if he was offered the position. It is the recommendation of the Mayor and Vance Hagen, Public Works Director to offer the position to Candidate A in the amount of $21.63/hour with credit of 5 years seniority. It was moved by Verbrugge and seconded by Wallen to offer the position to Candidate A with a salary of $21.63/hour and 5 years of seniority. Motion carried by unanimous vote. Furthermore, it was moved by Gast and seconded by Swenson to offer the position to Candidate B if Candidate A declines his offer. Candidate B’s starting salary would be $15.50/hour. Motion carried by unanimous vote. Next, Arndorfer presented the quotes to purchase a truck to replace the 1993 Ford F-150 currently in use in the Public Works department. We received 3 quotes for a brand-new truck as follows: 2020 Ford F-150 with standard cab $30,631, 2020 Ford F-150 SuperCab $31,067, and 2020 Ford F-150 CrewCab $33,495. The used quotes are as follows: 2016 Ford F-150 SuperCab with 66,452 miles for $24,500 and a 2016 Ford F-F150 CrewCab with 35,176 miles for $28,975. It was moved by Gast and seconded by Verbrugge to approve the purchase of a 2020 Ford F-150 SuperCab in the amount of $31,067. Motion carried by unanimous vote. Hagen was instructed to contact Pritchard’s to order the truck. Arndorfer discussed an upcoming meeting planned with the City of Garner to discuss their golf course. At 6 p.m., before the council meeting on Tuesday, January 21st, 2019, the City Council will meet with Mayor Kent Mick and City Clerk Daisy Huffman of Garner to discuss the transition of the Garner Golf Course from being privately owned to being publicly own by the City. After which the City will look at setting up a town hall meeting to allow public a chance to discuss this topic. Finally, Arndorfer stated he will be doing his Council appointments to the committees at the next meeting, along with reviewing budget requests from outside groups. Council input included: Karrie Wallen stated she would like to find a way for more citizens to get information. For instance, Curran McLaughlin of The Leader Newspaper wrote a very informative article after the last meeting in December regarding the new water plant. Wallen noted not all the residents get the paper so is there a way where the word can get out more freely. Linda Friedow did note the Library does get both papers and anyone is welcome to come in and read them. We will continue to look for ways to communicate with our residents. With no further business it was moved by Gast and seconded by Verbrugge to adjourn the meeting. Motion carried by unanimous vote. Debra R. Sawyer, City Administrator/Clerk Ryan L. Arndorfer, Mayor “These minutes are as recorded by the Clerk and are subject to Council approval at the next regular meeting.” VENDOR DESCRIPTION AMOUNT A P CLEANING SERVICES CITY HALL $ 325.00 ADVANCED DOOR SYSTEMS RPLCD BROKEN SPRINGS & CABLES $ 871.25 AFLAC AFLAC-PRE-TAX $ 42.76 AGSOURCE LABORATORIES TESTING SERVICES $ 2,688.50 ALLIED ENS LLC LIBRARY INTERNET REPAIR $ 524.01 AMAZON 100.93 DVD/118.24TECH $ 219.17 ARAMARK CITY HALL RUGS $ 353.74 BASE MEDICAL REIMB $ 161.26 BOOK LOOK IF BOOKS $ 278.82 BRITT FOOD CENTER SHOP SUPPLIES $ 97.56 BRITT LUMBER LLC LUMBER $ 23.70 BRODART BOOKS $ 26.40 BROWN SUPPLY INC CURB REPAIRS $ 129.44 CARD SERVICES LIBRARY $ 189.96 CITY OF VENTURA MEALS ON WHEELS $ 600.00 COMM 1 PHONE $ 605.23 DELTA DENTAL OF IOWA DNTL/VISN-PRETX $ 239.95 DEMCO SUPPLIES $ 206.07 ED M FELD EQUIP CO INC REPAIRS $ 220.00 EFTPS FED/FICA TAX $ 10,348.50 ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY LIBRARY MAGAZINE $ 20.00 GRAHAM POLICE TIRES $ 473.40 H C SECONDARY ROADS SAND $ 1,781.10 HACH CHEMICALS $ 415.23 HANCOCK COUNTY AUDITOR ELECTION COST $ 1,230.70 HIWAY TRUCK EQUIPMENT INC LED HEADLIGHT $ 512.32 IMWCA WORKMAN COMP PREM $ 1,153.00 INGRAM BOOKS $ 459.03 INTERSTATE MOTOR TRUCK 2003 INTERNATIONAL REPR $ 468.21 IOWA LIBRARY ASSOCIATION 2020 LIB ASSOC MEMBERSHIP $ 75.00 IOWA PUMP WORKS SEAL/BEARING RPLCMNT $ 3,823.09 IPERS POLICE IPERS $ 3,378.15 MICRO MARKETING AUDIO $ 111.48 MIDWEST TAPE DVDS $ 49.98 NORTH IOWA MEDIA GROUP ADVERTISING $ 622.23 PAYROLL CHECKS PAYROLL CHECKS ON 12/18/2019 $ 14,456.56 PAYROLL CHECKS PAYROLL CHECKS ON 12/20/2019 $ 1,037.34 PAYROLL CHECKS PAYROLL CHECKS ON 12/31/2019 $ 14,284.95 PAYROLL CHECKS PAYROLL CHECKS ON 01/02/2020 $ 175.27 PETTY CASH CITY HALL PETTY CASH $ 113.29 PRITCHARD AUTO POLICE VEHICLES $ 348.94 PSI SUPPLIES/PAPER $ 55.89 SANDRY FIRE SUPPLY FIRE TESTING $ 1,426.00 STATE TREASURER STATE TAXES $ 822.00 STOREY KENWORTHY WATER BILLS $ 495.00 SWENSON'S HARDWARE MISC SUPPLIES $ 519.33 TRULSON AUTO TRUCK LABOR $ 525.14 UHC HEALTH-PRE-TAX $ 3,383.70 VERIZON POLICE PHONES $ 331.55 WATCHGUARD VIDEO VISTA CENTER MOUNT $ 101.00 WELLIK IMPLEMENT SWEEPER REPAIR $ 1,276.50 CLAIMS TOTAL $ 72,076.70