August 6, 2012

The semi-monthly meeting of the City Council of Walcott, Iowa, was held on Monday, the 6^th day of August, 2012, at Walcott City Hall. Mayor Jim Couper called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. Council members present were: Tim Koehler, John Kostichek, Jackie Puck, and Jacob Puck. Absent: Lisa Mengler. City employees present: Lisa Rickertsen, John Brockmann, Jeff Blake, and Joe Hahn.

Jacob Puck moved and Koehler seconded to approve the agenda with the deletion of item seven, Kent Arp : Proposed Fertilizer Plant, as requested by Arp. Motion carried.

Consent Agenda. Jackie Puck moved and Kostichek seconded to approve the consent agenda including the invoices, Casey's Class C Beer Permit renewal, and minutes from July 16, 2012. Motion carried.

Audience. Verlyn and Josie Dietz, Kristal Koberg-Schaefer, Wayne Latimer, and Steve Stender.

Walcott Day Fireworks. Jackie Puck moved and Koehler seconded to approve the annual fireworks donation to Walcott Day Committee, in the amount of $1,000. Motion carried.

Vision Committee. Kristal Koberg-Schaefer was present to request the City pay for Jody Bailey, graduate intern who has been assisting the Vision Committee, to attend the Iowa Economic Development Downtown Summit in Keokuk on August 21-22. Following discussion, Jackie Puck moved and Kostichek seconded to pay for conference attendance, room, and travel, not to exceed $400, for Jody Bailey to attend the Iowa Economic Development Downtown Summit. Motion carried.

Steve Stender : Rowe Street Right-of-Way. Stender was present to request acquiring the 80' wide Rowe Street Right-of-Way (ROW) adjacent to his property. Brockmann stated there is a sanitary sewer line in the ROW and additional area will be needed for stormwater drainage for the W. Bryant Street project. Stender stated he would wait for the street project to be completed before pursuing the request.

Architect Contract. Discussion was held on the architect contract with Gere Dismer Architects regarding their services of the building at 1113 N. Main Street. Following discussion, Kostichekmoved and Koehler seconded to accept the contract, with an amount not to exceed $17,500 for Phases 1 & 2, as per the architect's letter dated 07/13/12. Motion carried.

Approval of Payment to Architect. Koehler moved and Jackie Puck seconded to approve the payment of $8,022 to Gere Dismer Architects. Motion carried.

Proposed Renovation Project. Jackie Puck reported the consensus of the Building Committee was that the presented drawings of the proposed renovation project are the best option. Building Committee member Verlyn Dietz questioned if the library is a viable option. Discussion was held on the possible future use of the basement area and future growth. The architect will be asked to include a cost estimate to renovate the basement area for a potential library. Rickertsen referenced a letter from the bonding attorney regarding that the building is located in an Urban Renewal Area and tax increment financing (TIF) could be utilized as a funding option but the Urban Renewal Plan needs to be amended. Consensus was to proceed with amending the Urban Renewal Plan in order to utilize TIF as a funding option. A question arose regarding installing a sidewalk to the property. A committee member responded that it was discussed during a Building Committee meeting and not planned for at this time but it may be added in the future. Koehler questioned if it would be more economical to demo and build from the ground up since the estimated renovation cost is close to the amount referenced in the petition, submitted last fall, urging the council to purchase the building in lieu of constructing a new building. Following further discussion, Kostichek moved and Jacob Puck seconded to have the architect move forward with the next project phase. Motion carried. Brockmann will obtain a second opinion on the efficiency of the current heating and cooling systems in the building.

2014 Joint Aerial Photography Project. Scott County is beginning to plan for the next orthophotography flight in spring of 2014 and they are contacting other agencies and local governments for joint commitments of the flight. Koehler moved and Kostichek seconded to request additional information and funding participation options from Scott County. Motion carried.

W. Bryant Street Drainage Study. Brockmann reported the City Engineer provided a cost estimate to study and design a stormwater conveyance route along the railroad, which is needed to address drainage from the W. Bryant Street Paving Project. Koehler moved and Jacob Puck moved to proceed with obtaining two additional engineering estimates. Motion carried.

N. Henry Street. An engineer's cost opinion of $283,000 was received for the North Henry Street Pavement Improvements, from Lincoln Street to Otis Street. This will be discussed later this fall during the update of the Capital Improvements Plan.

Approval of Highway Right-of-Way (ROW) Application. Koehler moved and Jackie Puck seconded to approve the Highway ROW Application for Windstream Communications. Motion carried. This construction will enable Windstream to place a fiber optic cable to the Verizon Wireless site at 7225 230^th Street, by boring operations under Interstate 80.

City Clerk's Report. Rickertsen reported the new Building/Code Enforcement Official, Michael Jasper, will be starting on Monday, August 13^th. Resolution 2012-30, Establishing Hourly Wage for Building/Code Enforcement Official. Kostichek moved and Jacob Puck seconded to approve Resolution 2012-30. Roll call ayes: Kostichek, Jacob Puck, Jackie Puck, and Koehler. Motion carried.

Kostichek moved and Jackie Puck seconded to adjourn at 7:50 p.m. Motion carried. All votes on motions were unanimous, unless noted.