February 16, 2015 Minutes

The semi-monthly meeting of the City Council of Walcott, Iowa, was held on Monday, the 16th day of February, 2015, at Walcott City Hall. Mayor John Kostichek called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. Council members present were: Tim Koehler, Virgil Wayne Latimer, Lisa Mengler, Jackie Puck, and Jacob Puck. Absent: None. City employees present: Jeff Blake, John Brockmann, Lisa Rickertsen, and Tom Schirman.

Latimer moved and Jacob Puck seconded to approve the agenda. Motion carried.

Consent Agenda. Koehler moved and Jacob Puck seconded to approve the consent agenda including the invoices, minutes from February 2, 2015, minutes from February 12, 2015, January 2015 Financial reports, and Resolution 2015-10, Adopting the 2014 Supplement to the Walcott Code of Ordinances. Roll call ayes: Koehler, Jacob Puck, Jackie Puck, Latimer, and Mengler. Motion carried.

Introduction of Audience. Michael Hart, Bernard Brus, Jill Hernandez, Gene Meyer, Donna Housley, and Joe & Kelly Quick.

Bond Financing/Northland Securities. Michael Hart discussed the City's current outstanding debt, debt capacity, procedures for using TIF (tax increment financing), and General Obligation Bonds versus TIF Revenue Bonds. Future financing options were discussed for the Main Street Enhancement project and the proposed Municipal Building project. Mayor Kostichek thanked Hart for the presentation.

RAGBRAI Pass-Through Agreement. Rickertsen stated a chairperson is needed for this year's RAGBRAI events. Joe Quick volunteered to co-chair the event. Koehler moved and Jackie Puck seconded to approve the RAGBRAI XLIII Pass-Through Town Agreement for July 25th. Motion carried. The agreement states that the City agrees to shut down outdoor activities by 2:30 p.m.

101 S. Main Street Lot. A letter expected from Central Petroleum Company regarding their concerns with the City constructing a municipal building on the city-owned lot (101 S. Main Street), west of Cen-Pe-Co, had not been received yet. City Hall neighbor, Jill Hernandez, was present and stated she doesn't have the same attachment to her house as she had in the past and had plans to put her home for sale.

Full-Time Grade III WW Operator Position. Discussion was held on hiring a full-time certified Grade III Wastewater Operator. Currently the City has a part-time certified operator that is only at the plant on a limited basis. Brockmann stated our certified operator and full-time wastewater employee have been discussing issues and Brockmann will report on options at the next meeting. Council asked that an updated job description be prepared for the next meeting.

Call Service for Code Enforcement. Discussion was held on the information presented by the Building Official/Code Enforcement Officer at the last meeting regarding utilizing a call service for code enforcement violations. Following discussion, Mengler moved and Jackie Puck seconded to not proceed with utilizing a call service as presented. Motion carried.

2015 Summer Youth Program. Rickertsen reported the rate for a six-week summer youth program with Scott County YMCA will remain the same this year. Mengler moved and Jackie Puck seconded to approve the 2015 Summer Youth Program with Scott County YMCA, same fees as last year. Motion carried. Fees will be $70 per participant for children residing in city limits or Fire District #6 and the full cost of $196.45 for non-residents.

Police Department Report. Chief Blake reported he will present a proposed weapons policy at the next meeting. Mayor Kostichek stated he had citizen inquiries pertaining to the police dog, Titan. Chief Blake reported he isn't doing much with Titan this time of year and there have not been any large seizures. He stated the policies for prosecuting have changed since he had a police dog in another community several years ago.

Public Work's Report. Brockmann presented a project worksheet for a used 2006 International Dump Truck with an underbody plow. He stated the new truck will replace the 1992 International dump truck, which will move to the sewer plant and replace the 1983 Ford K7000 dump truck. Discussion was held on options of either advertising for sealed bids or trade-in for the 1983 truck. Following further discussion, Koehler moved and Jacob Puck seconded to proceed with purchasing a 2006 International dump truck with an underbody plow. Motion carried. The cost of the truck and sandblasting and painting is expected to be $42,800. The 1983 Ford K700 dump truck will be advertised for sale. Brockmann stated he is also researching costs of a new dump truck/snow plow, or another used one if available. Brockmann also reported on a recent water main break, snow plowing issues, and hauling of snow piles (due to safety concerns).

City Clerk's Report. Jacob Puck moved and Mengler seconded to request the State Auditor's Office perform the annual examination for FYE 2015. Motion carried. Discussion was held on the building at 1113 N. Main Street and the high heating bill.

Mayor's Report. Mayor Kostichek stated the municipal building project is going to take time as it needs to be something that will last 70 : 80 years and he wants to do it properly and hopes the public is patient through the process.

Mengler moved and Latimer seconded to adjourn at 7:28 p.m. Motion carried. All votes on motions were unanimous, unless noted.

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February 2, 2015 Minutes

The semi-monthly meeting of the City Council of Walcott, Iowa, was held on Monday, the 2nd day of February, 2015, at Walcott City Hall. Mayor John Kostichek called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. Council members present were: Tim Koehler, Virgil Wayne Latimer, Lisa Mengler, Jackie Puck, and Jacob Puck. Absent: None. City employees present: John Brockmann, Lisa Rickertsen, Linda Rivers, and Tom Schirman.

Mengler moved and Jacob Puck seconded to approve the agenda. Motion carried.

Consent Agenda. Jackie Puck moved and Koehler seconded to approve the consent agenda including the invoices, minutes from January 19, 2015, and minutes from January 22, 2015. Motion carried.

Introduction of Audience. Dennis & Karen Puck, Carol Snay, Brent Puck, Larry Koberg, Randy Moeller, Lee Muller and Brett Marshall.

Central Petroleum Company. Attorney Brett Marshall was present, representing Central Petroleum Company (Cen-Pe-Co). On behalf of Cen-Pe-Co, he requested the City Council reconsider constructing a municipal building on the city-owned lot (101 S. Main Street), west of Cen-Pe-Co. Marshall cited security and safety issues, additional parking concerns, proximity of other buildings, and delivery issues. Marshall stated that due to the nature of their business they would like to have a buffer zone around their property and have already purchased additional property over the past several years. Mengler stated she appreciates everything Cen-Pe-Co does for the community and will take it under consideration. Following additional discussion, Mengler moved and Jackie Puck seconded to have Attorney Schirman converse with Marshall to obtain further information on reasons why Cen-Pe-Co feels the City should not build at 101 S. Main Street. Motion carried.

Karen Puck : Historical Items. Karen Puck stated she would like to find a place to keep and maintain historical items and memorabilia so that Walcott's history can be preserved. She stated the items represent stories and ideas and having an area for historical items could also be utilized as an educational center. Carol Snay reported on the historical items present during the Sesquicentennial celebration in 2004 and the need to preserve and display items on a permanent basis. Lee Muller agreed with Puck and Snay and spoke in favor of having a place to store and view historical items. Puck has a tremendous amount of items and brought copies of old newspapers and other historical artifacts for council to view. Puck stated she wants her collection of items to belong to the City and asked the Council to consider providing space for a historical area/center, possibly in the proposed municipal building. Mayor Kostichek thanked them for coming and providing the information for future consideration.

Building Department Report.
Rental Housing. Rivers reported the biennial rental housing inspections will start in March. The rental housing inspection program is for all non-owner occupied housing. Rivers questioned if the council wanted to continue to inspect non-owner occupied residences that are occupied by immediate family members (parents or children). Following discussion, Koehler moved and Mengler seconded to leave the ordinance as is. All non-owner occupied housing will continued to be inspected under the rental housing program. Jackie Puck and Jacob Puck abstained due to conflict. Motion carried.
Call Service. Rivers presented information on a call service to use as a courtesy call to remind residents of code enforcement violations, such as snow removal, and suggested it could also be utilized for other departments when needing to notify multiple residents at one time. The service includes a pre-recorded message regarding the code violation/city notification. Discussion ensued regarding snow removal. The council took the information under advisement and it will be discussed at the next meeting.

Public Work's Report. Brockmann reported on the recent snowfall issues. He stated they did one pass through on all streets and will start to widen the streets and haul snow tomorrow.

City Clerk's Report. A special meeting for the FYE 2016 budget was scheduled for Thursday, February 12th at 5:30 p.m. Rickertsen reported she received a phone call from a citizen in support of being a pass through town for RAGBRAI this year. Davenport will be the end point for the 2015 RAGBRAI and Coralville is the last overnight town. Larry Koberg stated it's too good of an opportunity to pass up. Following discussion, council consensus was to advise Joe Taylor, President of the Quad-Cities Convention & Visitors Bureau, that the City is interested in being a pass through town for this year's RAGBRAI.

Questions/Concerns. Randy Moeller questioned the status of the South Downey Street paving project. Rickertsen stated it will not be done this fiscal year and the council has not yet discussed projects for the FYE 2016 budget. The project will depend on street finances available and/or borrowing. The Public Works Department was thanked for their snow removal efforts.

Koehler moved and Jackie Puck seconded to adjourn at 7:34 p.m. Motion carried. All votes on motions were unanimous, unless noted.

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