City Council

CITY OF BRITT – BRITT IOWA – DECEMBER 1ST, 2020 The City Council of the City of Britt, Iowa met in pursuant to law and the rules of said Council in regular session at 7:00 o’clock P.M. the 1st day of December 2020 via Zoom. The meeting was called to order by Mayor Arndorfer, and the following Council members were: PRESENT: Stacy Swenson, Curt Gast, Karrie Wallen, Paul Verbrugge and Chad Luecht ABSENT: None. The Mayor presented the agenda for approval. It was moved by Verbrugge and seconded by Wallen to approve the agenda as presented. A roll call vote was had which was as follows: Ayes: Swenson, Gast, Wallen, Verbrugge & Luecht Nays: None The motion carried. 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 11/17/2020 Council Meeting b. Claim list in the amount of $44,592.18 A roll call vote was had which was as follows: Ayes: Swenson, Gast, Wallen, Verbrugge & Luecht Nays: None The motion carried, and the Consent Agenda items were approved and adopted. Cory Miller was present to be heard. Mr. Miller has some concerns about our dog at large ordinance and its inability to curtail repeat offenders who continue to allow their dogs to run loose. He has, on multiple occasions, been confronted with dogs running up to him when he is out walking his dog. Some of the dogs have been more aggressive than others. He has asked the council to review the policy and see if there are changes to prevent those individuals who allow their dog to run at large, even after they have been fined. Chief Anderson spoke regarding the times Mr. Miller has reported problems and stated the PD has followed up with in the manner as requested by the resident. Mayor Arndorfer stated that perhaps we should not reset the charges at the start of the new year, but instead allow the fines to escalate. In addition, he suggested we could possibly review the policy. He knows a lot of time and effort had gone into the last update. Councilperson Verbrugge and Wallen will sit down and review the current policy to determine if we can make any improvements to the existing ordinance. Department head reports were given. Linda Friedow, Library Director, informed the council the flooring has been done in the entrance way and bathrooms and they will be painting soon. They are filling 5 to10 orders a week and have had 5 individuals using the computers, as they do not have any other option available. The library received 8 STEM kits that will be used for the Children’s program. The value for these kits are over $2,000. The library will be co-sponsoring the annual “Parade of Trees”. Trees will only be on display at Westview for the residents only, but voting will be online with photos displayed on the library’s Facebook page. The library will be offering unlimited viewing of an online presentation of Duffy Hudson performing “A Christmas Carol” through the month of December. They have received all the paperwork to begin as a US Passport Acceptance Facility on January 4, 2021. A grant application for an American Library Association “Libraries Transforming Communities” has been completed. Finally, Friedow has renewed her director certification until 2024. Vance Hagen, Public Works Director, presented his report. His department has serviced the grader for winter. The tree trimming program is progressing. They are working on the reverse osmosis pilot program. They hooked up water and sewer service to the pilot trailer. He did some training with Wigen Industries. Inspections of the generators was done. They received the snow pusher from Lampe Custom Welding. His department put up the Christmas decorations. Hagen attended the pre-construction meeting for the water tower site and construction. He stated Jade Johnson, from his department, and Elizabeth Ibarra and Debra Sawyer, from the Clerks’ office planted trees in Sunset Ridge Housing Development and some area parks. The trees were bought with grant money provided to us by Trees Forever/Alliant Energy. Lastly, he presented council with 2 bids for a grappler bucket with rake for the JD 544L wheel loader. Mid Country Machinery, Inc. came in at $21,950 but we would need to purchase the hose kit and that would be an additional $600 (total $22,250). The second bid was from Murphy Tractor Supply Co., who we bought the loader from, in the amount of $22,000. This estimate includes the hose kit. It was moved by Luecht and seconded by Gast to approve the estimate from Murphy Tractor Supply Co in the amount of $22,000 for a grappler bucket with rake for the JD 544L. A roll call vote was had which was as follows: Ayes: Swenson, Gast, Wallen, Verbrugge & Luecht Nays: None The motion carried. The funds to purchase this equipment will come from the Road Use Fund. Mark Anderson, Police Chief, presented his report. Anderson reported they had 244 calls since the last council meeting. Josh Trulson has formally accepted the position as our new police officer. He will be starting in the next few weeks. All abatements have been updated. The department has implemented and response to calls based on COVID proclamations, from both the Governor and the Mayor. The PD went through the annual audit from the State regarding our NCIC (pertains to each officer’s ability to use computer systems to get confidential information) and it went well. In addition, due to personal reasons Officer Cram has turned in her resignation. She will continue to work for us on a part-time basis. Her last day is December 4th. Arndorfer stated the formal request to hire a new officer will be on the next agenda. Jon Swenson, Fire Chief, stated they have been busy. They had 5 calls related to ice on wires and they assisted West Hancock Ambulance Service with some calls. They have checked over the equipment, made any repairs needed, and installed equipment to get ready for winter. Finally, Mike Boomgarden, Zoning Administrator, issued 6 building permits in the month of November and answered questions from residents. The City Administrator presented her report. As we have discussed the water rates during several meetings it is time to change the ordinance to match the rates approved by council. Sawyer introduced Ordinance No. 505 Amending the Code of Ordinances by Deleting Section 6-5-8 & Substituting a New Section 6-5-8 Pertaining to Water Rates. It was moved by Luecht and seconded by Gast to approve the first reading of Ordinance No. 505 Amending the Code of Ordinances by Deleting Section 6-5-8 & Substituting a New Section 6-5-8 Pertaining to Water Rates. A roll call vote was had which was as follows: Ayes: Swenson, Gast, Wallen, Verbrugge & Luecht Nays: None The motion carried. The second reading will be presented at the December 15th, 2020 meeting. Sawyer also noted that as the council has also decided to separate the water and sewer charges, so that sewer rates are not increased with the water rate. A new ordinance will be presented at the next council meeting on December 15th, 2020 which will be to Amend the Code of Ordinances by Deleting Section 6-5-10 and Substituting a New Section 6-5-10 Pertaining to Rate of Sewer Rental and Manner of Payment. Sewer rates will stay the same as they are now and will not increase with the water rates at this time. Mayor Arndorfer presented his report. Arndorfer reviewed the outcome of the Water Tower Design poll. It seems we have a tie between two of the choices. Arndorfer has given it back over to the engineer to present something that will please everyone. More news to come at the next meeting. Finally, we will be having our town hall meeting via Zoom at 7 p.m. on the 15th of December with the council meeting following directly afterwards. This will be the time to ask any questions about the new water tower project and the increase to the water rates. With no further business it was moved by Luecht 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 AFLAC AFLAC-PRE-TAX $85.52 AMAZON MISC SUPPLIES $224.90 AMERICAN LEGION POST 315 FLAGS FOR MAIN STREET $240.00 BASE MEDICAL REIMB $41.68 BOOK LOOK IF BOOKS/LIBRARY $78.95 CARD SERVICES POLICE MINOR EQUIPMENT $2,606.38 CENGAGE LEARNING LP BOOKS/ LIBRARY $110.95 COLLECTION SERVICE CENTER GARNISHMENT $163.93 DELTA DENTAL OF IOWA DNTL/VISN-PRETX $531.56 EDUCATIONAL DEVELOPMENT USBORNE BOOKS/LIBRARY $292.41 EFTPS FED/FICA TAX $5,389.35 HANCOCK COUNTY SHERIFF GARNISHMENT 2 $281.49 IMFOA ATHENIAN DIALOGUE TRAINING $50.00 INGRAM LIBRARY BOOKS $746.12 IPERS POLICE IPERS $6,963.29 MICRO MARKETING AUDIO BOOKS/LIBRARY $262.36 NATIONWIDE RETIREMENT DEFERRED COMP $20.00 PAYROLL CHECKS PAYROLL CHECKS ON 11/18/2020 $15,240.81 PAYROLL CHECKS PAYROLL CHECKS ON 11/23/2020 $922.97 PETTY CASH POSTAGE / LIBRARY $137.58 POPULAR MECHANICS MAGAZINE SUBSCRIP/LIBRARY $21.37 RICHARD HUDSON ONLINE PERFORMANCE/LIBRARY $150.00 STATE TREASURER STATE TAXES $1,677.00 SWENSON'S HARDWARE FLAGPOLEKIT/PAINT/BRUSH/PPTOW $175.93 UHC HEALTH-PRE-TAX $8,177.63 CLAIMS TOTAL $44,592.18 GENERAL FUND $25,141.29 LIBRARY FUND $4,339.69 FIRE DEPARTMENT FUND $175.93 ROAD USE FUND $7,433.13 WATER FUND $7,502.14