Committee of the Whole

COLUMBUS COMMON COUNCIL – COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE MINUTES TUESDAY, MARCH 1, 2022 – 6:45 PM COLUMBUS CITY HALL 1. Roll Call: Mayor Arnold called the meeting to order at 7:10 pm. Present: Council President Gray, Mayor Arnold, Alders Albright, Reid, Roelke; Staff: City Administrator Ellefson, City Clerk Goebel, via Zoom: Hazeltine, Ganz, Schreiber, Meyers, Anding, Leitha, Lentz, Johnson, Bledsoe, Kaltenberg, interesting citizens. 2. Notice of Open Meeting: Noted as posted. 3. Approve Agenda: Motion by Roelke, second by Arnold to approve agenda. Carried voice vote. 4. Citizen Comments: None. 5. Commission/Committee Minutes: placed on file: Cable 1/5/22, CWL 1/20/22, CHLPC 1/20/22, PFC 12/15/22 6. Discuss Status of Emergency Order: Options: keep emergency order in place, remove parts of it, or remove it entirely. Would like to keep Zoom as an option for citizens to attend. Consensus to keep the order in place for 60 days but suspend face covering requirement, suspend weekly testing and proof of vaccination, but keep Zoom option. Effective when Mayor signs amendment. Forward to March 15 Regular meeting. 7. Discuss Ruekert Mielke Task Orders: Three Task Orders involving the WWTP; #2022-02 Water Quality Trading Assistance; #2022-03 2 lift station replacements (Waterloo & Meister design & bidding); #2022-05 Biosolids Drying Study (drying & storage of sludge). Concerns with the spending money on a study. Lietha explained Forward all three Task Orders to March 15 Regular meeting. 8. Discuss Recreation Department Fundraising for Park improvements: Recreation Director Meyers requested Council approval to begin fundraising for 2 park improvements: full size basketball court and 2 pickle ball courts. Forward to March 15 Regular meeting. 9. Discuss Columbus Area Aquatic Center annual membership fees: CAAC Board recommended increases to memberships effective April 1, 2022. Also changed definition of the couple pass to allow a single parent/1 child to utilize the pass. Forward to March 15 Regular meeting. 10. Discuss compensation for Elected Officials: Last increase for elected officials was in 2001. Consensus to increase $100 for both alderpersons and Mayor to $350/month & $850/m respectively. Current Council members cannot receive the increase until they are re-elected. Forward to March 15 Regular meeting. 11. Discuss Operational and Compensation RFP Submissions: Late in 2021, the City embarked on an effort to explore or implement recommendations found in the Public Administration Associates Organizational study. The City published a Request for Proposals on January 5, 2022 to address compensation concerns, identify ways the City could improve workflow and workload, and detail any opportunities they see to combine departments or staff to achieve greater efficiency and effectiveness for internal and external customers. Received 2 responses and staff recommended McMahon Associates. Forward to March 15 Regular meeting. 12. Adjourn: Motion by Arnold, second by Reid to adjourn at 8:07 pm. Carried voice vote. Submitted by: Pat Goebel, City Clerk