The semi-monthly meeting of the City Council of Walcott, Iowa, was held on Monday, the 20th day of July, 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, Linda Rivers, and Tom Schirman.

Approval of Agenda. Jackie Puck moved and Mengler seconded to approve the agenda. Motion carried.

Audience. Verlyn and Josie Dietz, Larry Koberg, Kent Arp, Gene Meyer, Brent Arp, Randy Robb, and Kirk Koberg. Employees Jody Siebel, Scott Brockmann, Neal Krebs, and Adam Hill were also in the audience.

Consent Agenda. Jacob Puck moved and Mengler seconded to approve the consent agenda including the invoices and June 2015 financial reports. Motion carried. Mengler moved and Jackie Puck seconded to approve Resolution 2015-27, Transfer of Funds. Roll call ayes: Mengler, Jackie Puck, Jacob Puck, Latimer, and Koehler. Motion carried.

Minutes from July 6, 2015. Mengler moved and Jackie Puck seconded to approve the minutes from July 6, 2015. Koehler and Latimer abstained due to absence from meeting. Motion carried.

RAGBRAI : Street Closures. Jackie Puck moved and Latimer seconded to close a portion of Main Street, between James Street and Otis Street, and the streets around Victory Park during RAGBRAI on July 25th. Motion carried.

Employee Benefits/Personnel Policy.
Health Insurance. Roger Robb (Group Specialist of GBL) presented different plan options for employee medical insurance and discussed different ways for the City to save on costs. Koehler stated when the discussion regarding changes to medical benefits started, it was meant for new employees. Robb reported on proposed changes to the health insurance regulations. Following further discussion, Jackie Puck stated the health insurance benefits should remain as is and it can be addressed later when the laws change. Mengler moved and Koehler seconded to not make changes to the health insurance benefits. Motion carried.
Sick/Vacation Leave. Information has not yet been received from the employment law attorney regarding proposed changes to the sick leave policy for new employees. Mengler moved and Jacob Puck seconded to table the sick leave policy. Motion carried. Koehler questioned the vacation leave policy, specifically allowing employees to accumulate/carry over up to 80 hours each year at their anniversary date. Brockmann stated his employees are cross trained, allowing everyone to take their vacation if they choose to. Following further discussion, no further changes will be made to the vacation policy.

Vision Committee. Committee chairperson, Larry Koberg, reported on the minutes from their July 8th meeting. The committee will be renamed to Walcott Hearts and Hands Foundation Committee and will be no longer be a city committee once they are designated a 501(c)(3) organization. Questions arose on the hanging flower baskets. The committee did previous work on this and will provide contact information to the city for next year’s flower baskets on the new decorative light poles on N. Main Street.

Quad Cities Convention & Visitors Bureau Contribution. Koehler moved and Jackie Puck seconded to approve the annual $1,000 contribution request, as budgeted, to Quad Cities Convention & Visitors Bureau. Motion carried.

Main Street Enhancement Streetscape Project. Koehler questioned if Brockmann had contacted the project engineer and informed him that Brockmann should be contacted regarding the project instead of the Building Official, Linda Rivers. Brockmann responded that he did contact the engineer and said to contact him. He stated he should handle the administration part and needs to be included in the project. Koehler reviewed the minutes from May 18th when Brockmann stated the City needed to hire an engineer for construction observation as he can’t be fair to the contractor since he doesn’t believe in the project, and the June 1st minutes when Council appointed Rivers to do the daily construction observation/inspections and to contact the engineer with items as needed. Mengler stated Brockmann was present during the June 1st meeting and he did not comment about the appointment at that time. Brockmann reiterated concerns about not being involved with the project, including the pre-construction meeting, which was held when he was on vacation. Council reconfirmed that Rivers is the city contact person for the project. Brockmann left the meeting. Rivers reported that she will email all departments regarding project status and updates so everyone is kept informed. There was discussion regarding conflicts between departments.

Building Department Report. Rivers reported all rental inspections are completed and reported on recent tree inspections. Rivers stated she contacted an Iowa State Extension consulting arborist regarding a tree on private property that could be a danger to adjoining property or passing motorists or pedestrians. The arborist felt that a significant weather event would probably cause the tree to come down. Council consensus was to have Rivers contact the homeowner and pursue removal of the tree.

Police Department Report. Mengler commended the police officers that worked during the Walcott Day events.

City Clerk’s Department Report. Rickertsen reported Iowa 80 Truckstop appealed the tax assessments for two of their parcels. The consent order reduced one of the property valuations by $1,667,060. Rickertsen stated the reduction starts with the 2013 assessment year which was paid in the last fiscal year; therefore, property tax revenue will be lower than projected for this year to account for the reduction for both the 2013 and 2014 assessment years during this fiscal year.

City Attorney Report.
South Main Street Damage. Attorney Schirman stated he believes the City currently has no recourse on the recent street damage done to a portion of South Main Street, south of Memorial Road, as a result of heavy truck traffic. A lengthy discussion was held on possible options to prevent this in the future, including implementing load limits and traffic pattern restrictions. Koehler expressed his frustration and disappointment regarding the damage that resulted. Council consensus was to send a letter to the property owner and Jackie Puck offered to make personal contact with the owner.

Solid Waste and Recycling Contract Renewal. Attorney Schirman reported the concerns he had with the proposed contract with Allied Waste d/b/a Republic Services have been addressed. Koehler questioned two items he felt should be deleted in their entirety. Schirman will contact the company representative.

Questions/Concerns. It was reported there is a pot hole that should be addressed prior to RAGBRAI and the streets needs swept.

Mengler moved and Jacob Puck seconded to adjourn at 8:08 p.m. Motion carried. All votes on motions were unanimous, unless noted.

July 20, 2015 Signed minutes and claims

The semi-monthly meeting of the City Council of Walcott, Iowa, was held on Monday, the 6th day of July, 2015, at Walcott City Hall. Mayor John Kostichek called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. Council members present were: Lisa Mengler, Jackie Puck, and Jacob Puck. Absent: Tim Koehler and Virgil Wayne Latimer. City employees present: Jeff Blake, John Brockmann, Lisa Rickertsen, and Tom Schirman.

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

Audience. Randy Moeller, Kent Arp, Gene Meyer, Janice Dawson, Joe Quick, Kirk Koberg, Deb Mathias, and Jay Brady.

Consent Agenda. Jackie Puck moved and Mengler seconded to approve the consent agenda including the invoices, minutes from June 15th, annual cigarette permit renewal for Lamp-Liter, Class A liquor license renewal for Walcott Legion Post #548, beer permit renewals for Pilot Travel Center #043 & #268, and the annual Scott County Humane Society agreement renewal. Motion carried.

Stanley Consultants : Sewer Inflow & Infiltration Study. Deb Mathias and Jay Brady were present to report on the results of the phase 1 sewer inflow and infiltration study. Mathias reported on what was accomplished in phase 1, what the results were and what the next steps are. Phase 1 consisted of flow monitoring and data analysis, manhole locates and inspections, and sanitary sewer map development. Potential next steps include: smoke testing, televising of city sewers, manhole rehabilitation, and additional manhole inspections and mapping. Some estimated costs were also included in the report for future budgeting. Brady stated this is a long term investment and could take up to 10 years to complete. Following a lengthy discussion, Jacob Puck moved and Mengler seconded to table any action until a future council meeting when all council members can be present. Motion carried.

Employee Benefits/Personnel Policy. Mengler moved and Jacob Puck seconded to table until the next regular meeting. Motion carried.

W. Bryant Street Improvements Project.
Resolution 2015-26, Accepting Project & Approving Final Payment. A letter from the project engineer recommended the City accept the improvements and release the final payment to the contractor. Brockmann stated he had no further concerns with the project. Mengler moved and Jacob Puck seconded to approve Resolution 2015-26. Roll call ayes: Mengler, Jacob Puck, and Jackie Puck. Nays: None. Motion carried. The Resolution authorized the City Clerk to submit the final payment to N.J. Miller, Inc. for $30,228.95.

Solid Waste and Recycling Contract Renewal.
Resolution Approving Contract. Attorney Schirman reported on liability concerns regarding the proposed contract with Allied Waste d/b/a Republic Services. Jackie Puck moved and Mengler seconded to table the Resolution to a future meeting. Motion carried.

South Main Street Damage. Discussion was held on the recent street damage done to a portion of South Main Street, south of Memorial Road, as a result of heavy truck traffic. Brockmann presented quotes for both asphalt overlay and single seal coating but stated some sections could be dug out and rebuilt. Questions arose and discussion was held on imposing restrictions on the street. Attorney Schirman will do further research and bring back to a future meeting.

Public Works Director Position. Mayor Kostichek asked Brockmann what his retirement date will be. Brockmann responded it would be the end of September. Following discussion, Mengler moved and Jacob Puck seconded to advertise for the position with applications due by July 31st. Motion carried.

Police Department Report.
Squad Purchase. Chief Blake presented a memo and project worksheet to replace the 2009 Ford Expedition K-9 unit. His information included costs for different trucks and SUV’s. His recommendation was to purchase the vehicle with the lowest bid, a Dodge Ram 1500 Crew Cab 4×4 from Stew Hansen Dodge (Urbandale) at a price of $26,180. The information presented included that the vehicle would be left unmarked, have interior lighting and no light bar. Mayor Kostichek suggested the council wait until a future meeting when all council members are present prior to approving the purchase. Jackie Puck moved and Mengler seconded to approve the purchase of a Dodge Ram 1500 Crew Cab 4×4 at a total cost not to exceed $35,180. Motion carried. The additional cost of $9,000 is for W. Reeves and Associates to transfer the equipment from the Expedition and install interior lighting. Chief Blake received an $18,000 grant from the Scott County Regional Commission towards the purchase. The Expedition will either be traded or passed to another city department. Jackie Puck questioned the speed limit by the school. Chief Blake responded he preferred to leave it at 20 MPH instead of increasing it to 25 MPH.

Public Works Department.
Dump Truck Sandblast & Paint. Brockmann reported on the sandblasting and paint job on the 2006 International truck and stated he would like to sandblast and paint another dump truck. Jacob Puck moved and Jackie Puck seconded to approve sandblasting and painting a dump truck, not to exceed $4,600. Motion carried.
South Water Tower Painting. Discussion was held on the proposal to repaint the south water tower. Brockmann stated that the tower has not been in operation for five years but it could be utilized if needed. Mengler moved and Jackie Puck seconded to approve the repainting of the south water tower as presented. Motion carried. The low bid, from Central Tank Coatings, Inc., is not to exceed $20,000.
Purchase of Pickup Truck. During the January 19th meeting the council approved the purchase of a 2015 Ford F150 from Ron Alpen Ford for $25,064. Brockmann reported they are unable to fulfill the order for that truck and requested to proceed with the next lowest bid, from Kriegers, for a 2015 GMC Sierra Regular Cab for $26,950. Mengler moved and Jackie seconded to approve the purchase of a 2015 GMC Sierra Regular Cab from Kriegers for $26,950. Motion carried.

Attorney’s Report. Attorney Schirman requested direction regarding meeting with Cenpeco. Brockmann stated the owner would like to meet with the entire council. Consensus was to schedule a special meeting with him.

Questions/Concerns. Randy Moeller questioned the status on the South Downey Street pavement improvements project. Rickertsen stated an engineer has not been hired yet but the project engineering is typically started in the fall in order to meet a spring bid letting. Due to concerns about the construction on North Main Street, Jackie Puck requested the Building Official contact the project contractor and inquire about a possible delay until after the Walcott Day and RAGBRAI events.

Mengler moved and Jackie Puck seconded to adjourn at 8:00 p.m. Motion carried. All votes on motions were unanimous, unless noted.

July 6, 2015 Signed minutes and claims

July Newsletter