City Council

CITY OF BRITT – BRITT IOWA – JANUARY 21ST, 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 21st 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 with the following changes: Agenda numbers 4.a.iii (will be presented at the next meeting) and 4.a.vi (duplicate) are being removed. In addition, the representative for the Hobo Days Association will be moved to the top of the outside budget request list. It was moved by Verbrugge and seconded by Gast to approve the agenda as amended by Mayor Arndorfer. Motion carried by unanimous vote. It was moved by Verbrugge and seconded by Wallen 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 1/7/2020 Council Meeting b. Approve Minutes of the 1/20/2020 Special Council Meeting c. Claim list in the amount of $50,932.61 d. Approve renewal for a Class B Wine Permit (Carryout Wine – Including Native Wine) with Sunday Sales for Dollar General Store #4565 A roll call vote was had which was as follows: Ayes: Swenson, Gast, Wallen & Verbrugge Nays: None The motion carried, and the Consent Agenda items were approved and adopted. Outside budget requests were discussed. Representatives from several groups were present to discuss their request with the members of city council. The Hobo Days Association requested $15,000, Britt Draft Horse Show requested $3,500, Hancock County Agricultural Society $1,500, Hancock County Historical Society $1,826, and the Hobo Art Gallery $800. Requests will be examined in future budget hearings. Wes Brown of Bolton & Menk was present to discuss funding options available for the new Water Tower/Water Treatment Plant project. He presented council with 3 funding options. The combined cost for the 2 projects is $6.9M – $8.4M. The first option is an SRF loan for 20 years with an interest rate of 1.75%, the second option is an SRF loan for 30 years with an interest rate of 2.75%, and the third is a USDA loan for 40 years with an interest rate of 2.25%. Bolton & Menk do not suggest a 40-year rate as the type of infrastructure included in these projects will need to have repairs done to them before the 40 years are up. Also included in the handouts are possible grant opportunities offered by SRF. The documents handed out to council were for informational purposes at this time. The next time Bolton & Menk will be looking for direction on which route we would like to pursue.  The City Administrator presented her report. Sawyer presented Resolution No. 01-2020 Providing Wages for Fiscal Year 2020 Wages. The wages included in this resolution are current wages approved in the beginning of the fiscal year. Additions to the resolution will be to add the new police officer and the new public works employee. It was moved by Gast and seconded by Wallen to approve Resolution No. 01-2020 Providing Wages for Fiscal Year 2020 Wages with the addition of the new police officer and the new public works employee. Motion carried by unanimous vote. Salaries are as follows: Position Name Annual or Hourly rate Police Chief Mark Anderson $55,098.16/yr. Police Officer Tyler Harmon $21.91/hr. Police Officer Tyler Holbrook $20.75/hr. Police Officer Jordan Williams $20.75/hr. Police Officer Lara Cram $20.75/hr. Public Works Director Vance Hagen $24.53/hr. PW Employee Curt Smidt $25.58/hr. PW Employee Justin Leerar $14.79/hr. PW Employee Guillermo Jorrin $18.00/hr. City Administrator/Clerk Debra Sawyer $65,000/yr. Deputy Clerk Staci Ball $15.30/hr. Snow removal $14.00/hr. Part-time Police $18.00/hr. Part-time Office $10.00/hr. Sawyer presented Resolution No. 02-2020 Scheduling the Public Hearing on the City of Britt 2020/2021 Maximum Property Tax Dollars for Tuesday, February 4th, 2020 at 7:00 p.m. The levy noted on this form is not the final levy. The figure is to act as a not to exceed number. It was moved by Verbrugge and seconded by Swenson to approve Resolution No. 02-2020 Scheduling the Public Hearing on the City of Britt 2020/2021 Maximum Property Tax Dollars for Tuesday, February 4th, 2020 at 7:00 p.m. Motion carried by unanimous vote. As Sawyer is finishing up the application for the Firefighting Equipment Loan Fund, we need to provide a letter to the Fire Board authorizing the Application for the Loan, Designing the Authorized Signatory, and the Execution of all Documents Necessary to the Consummation of the Loan. It was moved by Gast and seconded by Verbrugge to approve the letter which has been written authorizing the Application for the Loan, Designing the Authorized Signatory, and the Execution of all Documents Necessary to the Consummation of the Loan. Motion carried by unanimous vote. Next, Sawyer discussed the water tower, located near the current water treatment plant. Since the Council has decided to replace the water tower it will still need to be cleaned out and disinfected. The Council has been provided with two bids. The first one is from Maguire Iron in the amount of $1,850.00 The other is from Central Tank Coatings, Inc. in the amount of $2,000. It was moved by Swenson and seconded by Wallen to accept the bid from Maguire Iron in the amount of $1,850.00. Motion carried by unanimous vote. Lastly, Sawyer presented the Council with a mailbox policy which will layout how the city handles the replacement of mailboxes that may be damaged during snow removal. It was decided to rework the letter and speak with our attorneys to find out if a resolution or ordinance would be a better choice than just implementing a city policy. This will be presented again at the next council meeting on February 4th, 2020. Mayor Arndorfer presented his report. He began with Mayoral appointments. The following are the 2020 Appointments: Mayor Pro-Tem: Curt Gast; Police Chief: Mark Anderson; Personnel/Finance: Ryan Arndorfer, Curt Gast, Chad Luecht & Debra Sawyer; Public Works: Karrie Wallen, Paul Verbrugge, Vance Hagen & Debra Sawyer; Nuisances: Curt Gast, Mark Anderson & Debra Sawyer; Parks & Recreation: Stacy Swenson; Chamber Rep: Debra Sawyer; Trees/Trees Forever: Karrie Wallen; NIACOG/Community Housing: Stacy Swenson & Debra Sawyer; Safety Coordinator: Chad Luecht; Cable vision/Peg Channel: Karrie Wallen; Hancock County Economic Development: Ryan Arndorfer; Disaster/911/Emergency: Paul Verbrugge; Fire Advisory Board: Ryan Arndorfer, Paul Verbrugge, & Debra Sawyer & Library Board: Stacy Swenson. It was moved by Gast and seconded by Verbrugge to approve the Mayoral appointments as presented. Motion carried by unanimous vote. Next, Arndorfer reviewed the special meeting, which was held yesterday January 20th with members from Garner City Council. Denny Drabek, Garner Councilperson/Member of the Golf Course Board along with Daisy Huffman, City Clerk was present from the City of Garner to share their experiences Garner encountered when they took over the golf course. The City of Britt is planning on discussing the option of taking over the Britt Golf Course at the next meeting on February 4th, 2020. We wholly invite the public to attend if they have any questions or concerns. Finally, Council appointments were made. It was moved by Verbrugge and seconded by Gast to approve the following Council appointments: City Administrator- Debra Sawyer, Jane Swenson – City Treasurer, Vance Hagen – Public Works Director, Mike Boomgarden – Zoning Administrator, Jon Swenson – Fire Chief, Earl Hill- City Attorney and Frances Schiro – Assistant City Attorney. Motion carried by unanimous vote. With no further business it was moved by Verbrugge and seconded by Swenson 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 ALLIANT ENERGY ALLIANT $10,370.91 ALLIED ENS LLC PASSWORD MAINTENANCE $45.00 AMAZON DVDS/LIBRARY $127.19 BRITT CHAMBER OF COMMERCE DUES/LIBRARY $50.00 BRITT FOOD CENTER SUPPLIES $50.32 CARD SERVICES PD CAPITOL EQUIP $1,402.65 CENTER POINT LARGE PRINT LP BOOKS $156.28 DELTA DENTAL OF IOWA DENTAL/VISION COVERAGE $676.57 EFTPS FED/FICA TAX $5,622.73 GREAT AMERICA FINANCIAL COPIER LEASE $181.65 HARMON CONFERENCE IA NARCOTICS OFFICERS REGISTRATION $250.00 INGRAM BOOKS $413.09 JOYMARK! COMMUNICATIONS WEBSITE CONTENT MGMT $730.00 KIOW PUBLISHING $111.59 MAXYIELD COOPERATIVE GAS $1,983.24 MICRO MARKETING AUDIO $31.00 MIDWEST TAPE DVDS $48.28 NATIONWIDE RETIREMENT DEFERRED COMP $60.00 PAYROLL CHECKS PAYROLL CHECKS ON 01/15/2020 $16,315.72 PRESTO-X-COMPANY PEST CONTROL $47.00 STATE HYGIENIC LABORATORY TESTING $26.00 STERLING COMPUTER PRODUCT PRINTER AND COPIER TONER $288.37 SWENSON'S HARDWARE SUPPLIES $29.99 WASTE MANAGEMENT SANITATION $11,915.03 CLAIMS TOTAL $50,932.61