Committee of the Whole

COLUMBUS COMMON COUNCIL – COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE MINUTES TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2021 – 6:45 PM COLUMBUS CITY HALL 1. Roll Call: Council President Gray called the meeting to order at 7:29 pm. Present: Council President Gray, Mayor Arnold, Alders: Albright, Motiff, Pyfferoen, Reid; Staff: City Administrator Ellefson, City Clerk Goebel, City Engineer Lietha, Schreiber, Lentz. 2. Notice of Open Meeting: Noted as posted. 3. Approve Agenda: Motion by Pyfferoen, second by Albright to approve agenda. Carried voice vote. 4. Citizen Comments (limited to 3 minutes per person): Ron Curtis shared his opinion about the stormwater project, read letters from Parkview residents. 5. Department Reports: Placed on file: August 2021: Finance, DPW, Fire, Library, Lifestar, Police 6. Review & discuss 2nd Ward Creek Storm Water Update: City Engineer Lietha presented the 2021 2nd Ward Creek Storm Water Study with information regarding sediment, updated survey data, and current estimates on potential costs. Lietha discussed different ways to help alleviate flooding; dredging, dredging & box culvert; doing one or both will help but his opinion to dredge upstream will help the most. Consensus was the project needs to be started. The cost could be upwards of $800,000 and Council directed Ellefson to present alternate ways to pay for the project. 7. Review & discuss Butterfly Trails Volunteer Park & Community Gardens: Staff met with the Community Gardens and they have expressed interest in moving their gardens from the current location to Butterfly Trails and it could provide additional educational opportunities for students; they would need some help from the City to fill the water tanks, provide mulch for the pathways. The Gardens mentioned their members tend their plots at different times of day and thought there would only be 3-4 cars in the parking lot at a time; they do not allow their members to use pesticides on their gardens. Staff also mentioned that there has been some opposition to the Community Gardens moving to Butterfly Trails. Consensus was to move forward with the project. Ellefson mentioned he thought an MOU between the City, Community Gardens, and Oddfellows so all would know what is expected of their group. Forward to October 5 Regular meeting. 8. Review & discuss Process for Filling Council Vacancies: With the resignation of District 3 Alder Mike McCabe and pending resignation of District 2 Alder Paul Pyfferoen, the Council was looking for ways to get those positions filled as quickly as possible. Both terms expire in 2022. Gray suggested each Council member submit 2 names as candidates, have prepared questions for each, and vote until they get a candidate for each district. Forward to October 5 Regular meeting. 9. Review & discuss street name change for Nina Drive: Earlier this year Council approved two certified survey maps which created six new single family lots for development on Nina Drive. This area was platted in 2008 and Nina Drive was a circular drive. The first portion of Nina Drive was built and several addresses were issued on the 700 block. With this development there would be addresses on the 900 block of Nina Drive. The concern that staff had was that the remaining portion of Nina Drive has not been completed and EMS, Fire and Police response times may be impacted by having 2 separate Nina Drives that do not connect; the solution was to rename the street where the new homes will be built to Nina Drive West. Forward to October 5 Regular meeting. 10. Review & discuss Administrator’s preliminary draft 2022 budget: City Administrator Ellefson hi-lighted the preliminary draft 2022 budget. There are some items not in the budget such as insurance, state aids, expenditure restraint as these are unknowns at this time; department heads worked hard to keep increase to a minimum. Council members requested a group session to discuss the budget. Ellefson will send out an email requesting the best date to meet. 11. Convene to closed session per § 19.85(1)(c) to consider employment, promotion, compensation, or performance evaluation data of any public employee over which the governmental body has jurisdiction or exercises responsibility – Discuss compensation of select City employees: Motion by Pyfferoen, second by Motiff to convene to closed session at 9:21 pm. Roll call vote unanimous. 12. Reconvene into open session: Motion by Pyfferoen, second by Motiff to reconvene at 9:57 pm. Carried voice vote. 13. Adjourn: Motion by Motiff, second by Pyfferoen to adjourn at 9:57 pm. Carried voice vote. Submitted by: Pat Goebel, City Clerk