City Council

MANTORVILLE CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2019 6:30 PM 1. Call to Order – Mayor Bradford called the meeting to order at 6:30 pm. Members Present: Chuck Bradford, Henry Blair, Sharon Davern, Don Hofstad and Luke Nash. Others Present: Tod Fyten, Ruth Pettey, Virgil and Carol Andrist, DCSO Steph French, City Engineer Tim Hruska, Fire Chief JJ Williams, Joe Adams, and Cami Reber 2. Pledge of Allegiance - Done 3. Additions/Deletions to Agenda - None 4. Consent Agenda – Motion made by Member Hofstad, second by Member Blair to approve the consent agenda as follows: a) City Council Meeting Minute’s September 9 & 16, 2019 b) Warrant List September 23, 2019 c) DCSO August Call Report for Mantorville Motion passed unanimously. 5. Public Concerns - None 6. Public Hearing(s)- None 7. Old Business/New Business a) JJ Williams – AFG Grant Award Fire Chief, JJ Williams discussed the award of the Federal AFG Grant in the amount of $136,000 for the air pak replacement project they have been discussing. Council noted a great job done by the Fire Department in pursuing this. JJ commended Rog Nolte for writing of the grant. Mayor Bradford asked where the 5% match will come from and JJ noted it can be taken from the money, they have been setting aside for the bottle replacement program. b) Virgil Andrist – 101 3rd Street West Property Mayor Bradford explained that the City did touch base with all parties. The Cities insurance has not denied the claim, they are waiting for Elcor’s insurance company to complete their investigation and make their determination. Tim noted that the valve extension has been placed by Elcor. They should be stopping by to meet with Virgil this week. c) Tod Fyten Brewery Clean-up Plan Tod Fyten, owner of the Mantorville Brewery, handed out a clean-up plan for the Brewery property. Some items were completed over the past weekend. His schedule includes items to be removed between now and November. Motion made by Member Blair, second by Member Hofstad to extend the clean-up date to November 1, 2019. Motion passed unanimously. d) 2020 Infrastructure Projects • Jefferson Street, Hickory Lane, West Street N of 9th, 5th to 7th Drainage Tim reviewed the projects as they were discussed at the workshop meeting. Member Davern asked what Tim is proposing for 2020. Street wise, Jefferson Street and Hickory Lane are the two top projects. West Street is a close 3rd but more of a maintenance item for Joe. Jefferson and Hickory Lane would be reconstruction projects. The drainage project could be broken up into phases. He noted that the Jefferson Street project is about $100,000. • 2020 Street Repair/Maintenance Projects Tim reviewed the chip sealing list that is being recommended for 2020. He also reviewed the Street survey color coded map which was updated to current conditions. Council discussed all projects but no decisions on what they want to do next year have been made. The recommended option is for  $50,000 seal coating, $42,000 in minor street repairs, $100,000 for Jefferson Street, $100,000 for Hickory Lane. e) RFP’s City Consultants – Attorney, Engineer, Financial Member Davern wants to review the individual RFP’s that she handed out with all Council Members. Mayor Bradford noted he didn’t think the engineering draft was a good match with what we currently need but he thought if we want to go down this path, we would put a draft together based on what the City is actually looking for and what we currently do with our consultants. Nash noted that before we address the content and formation of the proposals we need to agree on if and when and how we are going to do this. Council members discussed. Member Blair noted he has not had any real issues with our consultants at this point and does not feel we need to go forward with this at this point. Member Davern noted it is a responsible way to spend dollars. Let the tax payers know we are doing our best in spending the tax dollars. This is not personal; it’s just cleaning up a process. Member Nash noted it would serve the city well to examine things, he sees some value in it, but he is on the fence. Member Bradford noted that it answers if what we are paying our consultants in line. He referred to the information he handed out at the retreat that answers that question and saves us time, effort and money in going through the formal RFP process. Member Hofstad noted he sees the value of making sure we are getting our bang for the buck but he also currently doesn’t have any issues. Member Nash noted that he can see the value underestimated of building the relationship and partnership with our consultants when they get the level of knowledge and expertise of our city. We are only here so long and they are here much longer. Motion made by Member Davern to move forward with the RFP process. Motion died for lack of a second. Mayor Bradford noted we won’t be moving on with this. f) City Health Insurance Renewal 2020 Cami presented the Health insurance plan renewal for 2020. She noted the increase is 6.5% on the same plan as we currently have through the Southeast Service Cooperative. Motion made by Member Nash, second by Member Davern to accept the 2020 health plan as presented. Motion passed unanimously. g) Wage and Classification Study Cami gave an update on the wage and classification study proposal which could be started and finished this year. The total cost is $5,800 which includes a review of the job descriptions. She has money left in her CIP that can go towards this. Member Davern asked what the justification is to this. Cami noted the City has never had one done. How do we sit with other cities and she would like to see a different compensation plan. Member Nash asked if we are bound by the results, and Cami replied no. It is a study, it is a recommendation, we are not bound by the results. Member Davern noted she likes these and agrees with the intent of them but her concern is that the results are going to come back saying we should be paying our employees a lot more, how are the employees going to feel about that? Mayor Bradford struggles with the value of the study for only 4 employees. Member Davern noted we need to do our infrastructure stuff and if Cami feels we are on track, then we leave it. Do this later on when we are in a position to have wiggle room if needed. Revisit in a year or two. Member Nash feels we will struggle if we are underpaid and staff is going to be unhappy if we aren’t in a position to increase wages. He doesn’t see a benefit. Member Hofstad noted it would be nice to have the information on hand but also understands all the other things going on in town. Member Blair noted it is interesting, unintended consequences is interesting, the better times sort of things never happens, there is never a good time. Cami noted she would really like to implement a step pay plan for the employees and her goal is to make sure that all staff is moving along as they should be, not leave it up to Council to decide every year what they feel like giving the staff. Mayor Bradford noted to take the $5,800 and create the step plan program ourselves and apply the $5,800 to the steps until the budget line items can handle it. Council continued discussion. Motion made by Member Blair, second by Member Nash to approve to move forward with the wage and classification study. Member Nash noted no matter what comes back, the council will do what they deem is appropriate. Mayor Bradford noted best case scenario is that it comes back saying we are right in line; we are paying our compensation and your benefits are exactly as they should be. The two other options have a slightly negative effect where we are overpaying everyone and how do we explain that to our citizens. The other option that comes in is that you are underpaying your employees, which is an easier problem.  Member Hofstad noted that is what we need to figure out and will give us an affirmative action of where we need to be. Its time. He doesn’t foresee this being a problem. Motion passed unanimously. If we have the money in the budget this year, we can pay it all out. h) Resolution 2019-21 – A Resolution Adopting Proposed Property Tax Levy Motion made by Member Blair, second by Member Hofstad to approve Resolution 2019-21 A Resolution Adopting the Proposed Property Tax Levy in the amount of $ 528, 573. Motion passed unanimously. i) Resolution 2019-22 – A Resolution to Approve Fund Transfer Cami explained the 2019 Fund Transfers resolution. Motion made by Member Blair, second by Member Hofstad to approve Resolution 2019-22, A Resolution to Approve Fund Transfers. Motion passed unanimously. 8. TBD a) Public Works Report – Joe reported on the following: • He gave an update on the condition of the basketball court. To replace the whole thing would cost roughly $19,000. To crack seal, it would be $550. Motion made by Member Hofstad, second by Member Davern to approve the crack seal for $550. Motion passed unanimously. • Approval for cutting edges for the plow - $1,100. Motion made by Member Nash, second by Member Davern to approve the purchase. Motion passed unanimously. • Tree Certification Class to maintain his license – Motion made by Member Nash, second by Member Hofstad to approve. Motion passed unanimously. • Pavement at the shop – to replace its $14,000 – discussion only. • Plans for the bike path – is the City planning to keep it clear? $6,000 for a snow blower and sander. Member Davern asked about contracting with the County. Joe responded that they only keep their trails clear if and when they have time. Council agreed to let it go for now. Let’s see if it’s used and if we get complaints. • Three spots in the new tar along the Park that was damaged during Marigold Days. He got a bid from SL to fix it for $1,000. Council agreed to move forward with the fix and bill the Marigold Days Committee. b) City Clerk Report • Discussion on the old shop building and does Council want her to get numbers to have an Asbestos Study done. Mayor Bradford noted there is an interested party to purchase it. Cami noted she already has the building inspector doing a formal report on its condition and why he recommending demolition. She will go ahead and get costs to have an asbestos report completed on it. Mayor Bradford is to reach out to the interested party and have them make an offer. • Cami handed out the results of the speed study report from 9th Street. DCSO Steph French was present and discussed this with the Council. • DCSO Steph French gave Council an update on the disorderly use violation that was recently given out involving a rental property in town. c) Consultant Report – None d) Committee Report - None e) Council Member Report – None f) Mayor Report - None 9. Executive Session - None 10. Adjourn – Motion made by Member Hofstad, second by Member Nash to adjourn the meeting at 8:31 pm. Motion passed unanimously.