City Council

CITY OF BRITT – BRITT IOWA – DECEMBER 23RD, 2020 The City Council of the City of Britt, Iowa met in pursuant to law and the rules of said Council in a special Zoom session meetings at 8:00 o’clock P.M. the 23rd day of December 2020. The meeting was called to order by Mayor Arndorfer, and the following Council members were: PRESENT: Curt Gast, Stacy Swenson, Karrie Wallen, Paul Verbrugge, and Chad Luecht ABSENT: None Mayor Arndorfer presented the recommendations from the Personnel & Finance Committee. We have been notified that our K9 Officer has been offered a position with the City of Forest City. They are also interested in obtaining Kovu and our K-9 Unit. The Personnel & Finance Committee reviewed the monies invested in the K-9 program. Those totals include obtaining the dog, outfitting the police vehicle, and providing ongoing training with equipment equates to $19,595. Resale value for the 2017 Police Interceptor Explorer with 60,000 is $16,000. Original options recommended by the P&F Committee to be presented to City Council was $9,000 for Kovu and equipment (excluding the narcotics kit) $9,000. The vehicle with equipment and Kovu $35,000. After the Mayor spoke to Forest City’s Mayor his new recommendation is, they could buy Kovu, the vehicle, and equipment for $28,000 or just buying Kovu for $6,000. It was moved by Luecht and second by Swenson to approve the Mayor’s recommendation to buy Kovu, the vehicle, and equipment for $28,000 or just buying Kovu for $6,000. All roll call vote was had which was as follows: Ayes: Swenson, Gast, Wallen, Verbrugge, Luecht Nays: None The motion carried. Next, the Council talked about increasing wages for the Police Department. They think with this increase of salary it will help retain police officers and help with the staffing issues we have now and have had in the past. The following wage increases are as follows: The Chief salary would go from $55,098 to $59,000. The Sergeant position will go from $23.56/hr. to a salary of $54,000. Current certified officers will go from $21.37/hr. to $23.75/hr. Non-certified officers will stay at 20.15/hr. until certified; then would see an increase to $22.50/hr. The position for a Sergeant will be posted. It was moved by Verbrugge and seconded by Luecht to make the following changes to the wages of the police department: The Chief salary would go from $55,098 to $59,000. The Sergeant position will go from $23.56/hr. to a salary of $54,000/yr. Current certified officers will go from $21.37/hr. to $23.75/hr. Non-certified officers will stay at $20.15/hr. until certified; then would see an increase to $22.50/hr. The position for a Sergeant will be posted. A roll call vote was had which was as follows: Ayes: Swenson. Gast, Wallen, Verbrugge, & Luecht Nays: None The motion carried. Lastly, the Council talked about changing the current living requirement criteria for the police department. Currently, an applicant must live within 3 miles of the city of Britt when on call. The proposed change would allow an applicant to live within 30 minutes of the city of Britt. If we allow for a 30-minute response time for our police department we will allow for a larger pool of applicants when searching for new officers. It was moved by Gast and seconded by Luecht to change the living requirement response time to 30 minutes, allowing for a larger pool of applicants when we have job openings. A roll call vote was had which was as follows: Ayes: Swenson, Gast, Wallen, Verbrugge & Luecht Nays: None The motion carried. With no further business it was moved by Luecht and seconded by Verbrugge to adjourn the meeting. Motion carried by unanimous vote. ___________________________________ ________________________________ Elizabeth Zamago-Ibarra, Deputy City Clerk Ryan L. Arndorfer, Mayor “These minutes are as recorded by the Clerk and are subject to Council approval at the next regular meeting.”