City Council

Mantorville City Council Minutes 4-26-2021 / 6:30 p.m. 1. Call to Order. Mayor Bradford called the meeting to order at 6:35 p.m. Members Present: Mayor Chuck Bradford, Don Hofstad, Lyle Hoaglund, Bill Kinney, and Kent Keller. Others Present: Carol Keller, Rhonda Rocap, Carol Boyd, Ginger Knight, Carol Allen, Jerrod Kappers and Deputy Tyler Vermeersch attended in person. ZOOM was not working. 2. Pledge of Allegiance - Done 3. Additions/Deletions to Agenda. No Changes. 4. Consent Agenda - Motion to accept the Consent Agenda by Member Hofstad and 2nd by Member Hoaglund; unanimously approved. 5. Public Concerns. Jerrod Kappers approached the Council regarding constructing a retaining wall on his property to help with erosion issues and to make his yard look nice. Discussion ensued – Mayor Bradford cautioned that as long as the work doesn’t cause flooding to a neighboring property he would likely be OK to move forward with this construction. More discussion brought out concerns about easements through that area. It was decided to have Mr Kappers draw up some plans with pictures and bring that back to the Council with more details. 6. Public Hearing. No Public Hearing items. 7. Old/New Business. a. 2020 City Audit Presentation Bumped to end of Old/New Business – issues with ZOOM. b. Hiring of New City Clerk Treasurer Mayor Bradford shared that the offer made by the Council to Shirley Buecksler was countered with the acquisition of 4 weeks’ vacation after the probationary period of 6 months was accepted and Ms. Buecksler and she will start on Monday, May 10, 2021. c. Carol Allen – details on commemorative park bench. Carol presented the plan and pictures of the park bench that is being donated in honor Ell & Susie Heusinkveld to be placed in the in area across from their home that Ell has maintained to park standards for many years. The bench has been ordered and  should arrive in 6 to 7 weeks. Carol wondered about a cement pad to place the bench on and will coordinate this with Joe in Public Works. Motion to accept the gift of the bench was made by Member Hofstad and seconded by Member Kinney; unanimously approved. d. 2020 City Audit Presentation – Ran the Power Point with Jason from Smith Schafer presenting over the phone. See attached for summary. 8 TBD a.) Public Works Report: Adams reported on: Fire department having issues with ballasts burning out and requested replacing with LED bulbs which last much longer. With labor coming in around $600 for Maxson Electric to do the wiring and the cost of the bulbs, we are looking at about $2400. Member Keller wondered if the bulbs could be sourced a bit lower in cost and offered to do some research into this. Member Keller motioned to replace the current lighting in the Fire Hall garage with LED bulbs contingent on checking into the pricing and the project not to exceed $2400; seconded by Member Hofstad; unanimously approved. b.) City Clerk Report. AT&T contract changes have been requested by AT&T – our Consultant David Anderson recommended to turn down the proposed changes as they are not as lucrative as the current Contract. Member Kinney questioned the content of the current agreement and the proposed changes – Mayor Bradford explained that we are currently contracted with AT&T for 5 consecutive, 5 year leases and the proposal calls for a lump sum pay out or a reduction in their rent by 10%. It was agreed that we would go with David Anderson’s advice and reject the new contract proposal. c.) Consultant Report. Nothing to report. d.) Committee Report. Chamber of Commerce functions for the year have been set: Member Hoaglund reported Stagecoach Days coming up in June. MFD nothing to report MFD Relief nothing to report Infrastructure nothing to report MRA – Member Hoaglund reported the MRA has 2 more - $500 Scholarships so they give 2 Scholarships to a K-M student and 2 Scholarships to a Triton Student. Both Scholarship recipients must maintain a B average grade thru the 1st quarter of their College year.  Mayor Bradford shared that he had talked with Lynnette from the MRA and the State is looking at limiting or eliminating charitable gambling. Member Hoaglund offered details that this only applies to etabs and that paper pull tabs will not be affected. The MRA donates roughly 30% of it’s profits from Pull Tab sales so this vital to the MRA. Park Board. Member Kinney reported that the Park Board meets tomorrow night and they will be doing their Spring Park walk through to identify areas in need in our parks. Also he shared that a tree will be planted on Friday in the Campground at 1pm to maintain our Tree City USA status. Mayor Bradford questioned the loose rocks by the sign at the edge of the city – Joe will reach out to John Olive as he is under the impression that Mr. Olive is not yet finished with a project out there. e.) Council Reports. Nothing to report. f.) Mayor Report - Mayor was questioned about the population count from the 2020 census as these numbers should’ve come out today – no one has looked it up yet – will bring back this number at next meeting. Member Keller asked Joe about the flags on the North side of town and tree trimming that needs to happen – Ryan put up the new flags this afternoon and the trees are scheduled to be trimmed up tomorrow. 9. Adjourn - Motion was made by Member Hofstad to adjourn the meeting; seconded by Member Kinney; unanimously approved. Meeting adjourned at 7:20 p.m. .