A special meeting of the City Council of the City of Walcott, Iowa was held on Wednesday, October 26, 2016, with Mayor John Kostichek calling the meeting to order at 4:50 p.m.  Council members present were: Tim Koehler, Virgil Wayne Latimer, Lisa Mengler, Jackie Puck, and Jacob Puck.  Absent:  None.  City employee present:  Lisa Rickertsen.

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

Council separately interviewed applicants for the Public Works Director and Building Official positions.  Discussion was held on the applicants and proceeding with second interviews for both positions. Another special meeting will be scheduled for Wednesday, November 2^nd.

Koehler moved and Koehler Mengler seconded to adjourn at 7:20 p.m.  Motion carried.

All motions were unanimous.

October 26, 2016 Speical Meeting

The semi-monthly meeting of the City Council of Walcott, Iowa, was held on Monday, the 17^th day of October, 2016, 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, Jacob Puck, and Jackie Puck.   Absent: None.  City employees present:  Adam Hill, Randy Reimers, Lisa Rickertsen, and Tom Schirman.  Employees Neal Krebs, Jody Siebel, and Scott Brockmann were present in the audience.

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

Public Comments.  John Brockmann had questions about the South Downey Street Project.  The project engineer will be asked to attend the November 7^th meeting.  Brockmann also questioned the method of disposing of city equipment. Randy Moeller questioned why ATV’s and golf carts are not allowed to be operated year-round.  This will be on the November 7^th agenda.  David Bauer stated there are pollutants from the corn drying process at River Valley and he expressed his concerns with the air quality and health of residents.  He stated he contacted the EPA.  Janice Dawson questioned if leaves can be taken to the compost area.  Leaves are permitted but do not leave bags.

Consent Agenda.  Koehler moved and Jackie Puck seconded to approve the consent agenda including the minutes from October 3^rd & 10^th, 2016, invoices, September 2016 financial reports, and the following TIF rebate payments, totaling $18,111.41:

• JDW Holdings – Midfield Pattern Project $2,508.50
• Iowa 80 Truckstop – Morton Building Project $578.32
• Iowa 80 Truckstop – 60×240 Building Project $1,604.40
• Ossian, Inc. – Salt Processing/Storage Project $3,391.31
• Sterling Partners – Multi-Use Building Project $9,045.06
• Eugene Meyer – Geno’s Project $983.82

Motion carried.

Approval of Minutes from October 13, 2016.  Mengler moved and Jackie Puck seconded to approve the minutes from October 13, 2016.  Motion carried with Latimer and Jacob Puck abstaining due to absence from meeting.

Stanley Consultants.  Local Limits study and Treatment Agreement.  Engineer, Jay Brady, was present to provide an update on the local limits study and treatment agreement development.  He stated he hopes to finalize both the treatment agreement and local limits study and present recommendations to council during the November 21^st meeting.          

Concrete Pavement Replacement at Fire Station.  Discussion was held on the quotes for concrete replacement, in front of the fire station doors, city hall parking area, and a patch on the southwest corner of building.  Koehler moved and Jacob Puck seconded to approve bid, in the amount of $4,608, from Paustian Concrete for all three concrete replacements as discussed.  Motion carried.

Level Dirt at Wastewater Treatment Plant Area. Attorney Schirman reported the farm lease states that the City will level out the dirt.  John Brockman, Brockmann Excavating, stated he wanted to withdraw his bid.  Jackie Puck moved and Mengler seconded to approve the low bid from Needham Excavating at $1,600.  Motion carried.

Hearts and Hands Foundation – Tree Planting Project.  A lengthy discussion was held on the plan for tree plantings on City-owned property at the west end of Cedar Lane Drive.  Austin Burt stated the goal of the plan is to provide a wind and dust break and visual screening for the Westbrook development area.  Siebel expressed concerns that the location of the trees will cause a greater problem with snow drifting at the area, causing greater difficulties for city equipment to access the area during the winter.  Discussion was held on snow fence/tree line set-back requirements from roadways, possibility of a snow fence on the west side of the drive (private property), and additional snow plowing in the area.   Mengler moved and Jackie Puck seconded to approve the tree plantings, with any required placement set-back from road.  Motion carried.  Council thanked Burt for his work on the project.

City Clerk Report.  Rickertsen reported the City was notified of a public hearing with the Scott County Zoning Board of Adjustment for a special use permit for the property located at 20580 60^th Avenue to expand a home industry.

Council Member Comments.  Mengler stated she appreciates the work the Public Works Department is doing during staffing disruption.

Closed Session.  Mengler moved and Jackie Puck seconded to go into a closed session under Iowa Code Chapter 21.5 (1) (J) to discuss the purchase of particular real estate.  Roll call ayes:  Mengler, Jackie Puck, Koehler, Jacob Puck, and Latimer.  Motion carried. All audience members left the council chambers and the following employees were authorized to remain:  L. Rickertsen and Attorney Schirman.  Koehler moved and Jacob Puck seconded to close the closed session and resume the regular meeting at 7:40 p.m.  Roll call ayes:  Koehler, Jacob Puck, Latimer, Jackie Puck, and Mengler.  Motion carried.

Property Purchase – 116 W. Lincoln Street. Latimer moved and Koehler seconded to have Attorney Schirman draft an offer, with contingencies of a property walk through inspection and obtaining demolition and asbestos removal costs for the property located at 116 W. Lincoln Street.  Motion carried.

Mengler moved and Jacob Puck seconded to adjourn at 7:50 p.m. Motion carried.  All votes were unanimous, unless noted.

Signed Minutes & Claims

A special meeting of the City Council of the City of Walcott, Iowa was held on Thursday, October 13, 2016, with Mayor John Kostichek calling the meeting to order at 12:05 p.m.  Council members present were: Tim Koehler, Lisa Mengler, and Jackie Puck.  Absent:  Virgil Wayne Latimer and Jacob Puck.  City employee present:  Lisa Rickertsen.

Koehler moved and Mengler seconded to approve the agenda.  Motion carried.

Council separately interviewed applicants for the Public Works Director and Building Official positions.  Discussion was held on further interviews and background and reference checks.  Another special meeting will be scheduled during the week of October 24^th.

Mengler moved and Koehler seconded to adjourn at 5:15 p.m.  Motion carried.  All motions were unanimous.

October 13,2016 Signed Special Mtg

A special meeting of the City Council of the City of Walcott, Iowa was held on Monday, October 10, 2016, with Mayor John Kostichek calling the meeting to order at 5:00 p.m.  Council members present were: Tim Koehler, Virgil Wayne Latimer, Lisa Mengler, Jackie Puck, and Jacob Puck.  Absent:  None. City employee present:  Lisa Rickertsen.

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

Approval to Remove Trees & Fence on City Property at 600 W. Cedar Lane Drive. Jackie Puck moved and Koehler seconded to approve allowing the Hearts and Hands Foundation to remove the trees and fence on city-property at 600 W. Cedar Lane Drive, as indicated on the map presented by the Foundation.  Motion carried.

Review of Job Applications for Public Works Director and Building Official Positions.  Applications were reviewed and discussed.  Koehler moved and Jacob Puck seconded to proceed with interviewing applicant numbers 3, 5, 6, and 13 for the Public Works Director position.  Koehler moved and Jacob Puck seconded to proceed with interviewing applicant numbers 1, 4, and 5 for the Building Official position.  Motion carried.

Mengler moved and Jacob Puck seconded to adjourn at 5:40 p.m.  Ayes:  All.  Motion carried.  All votes were unanimous.

October 10, 2016 Signed Special Mtg

The semi-monthly meeting of the City Council of Walcott, Iowa, was held on Monday, the 3^rd day of October, 2016, 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, and Jackie Puck.   Absent: Jacob Puck.  City employees present:  Jeff Blake, Josh Geigle, Randy Reimers, Lisa Rickertsen, and Tom Schirman.

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

Consent Agenda.  Koehler moved and Jackie Puck seconded to approve the consent agenda, including the invoices and minutes from September 19, 2016.  Motion carried.

Public Comments.  John Brockmann stated he had concerns with the drainage on Memorial Road.

South Downey Street Improvements Project.  Nate Stevenson, MSA Professional Services, was present to answer questions on the project and to recommend the approval of payment #4.  Koehler moved and Jackie Puck seconded to approve pay request #4, to All American Concrete, in the amount of $152,439.61, as recommended.  Motion carried.  Stevenson stated the street will be resealed once they are done with the seeding, although he was not sure of the seeding timeline, and that the bid documents did not include new manhole lids.

Concrete Pavement Replacement at Fire Station.  Mayor Kostichek stated he spoke with the former Public Works Director who stated both bidders were presented with the same information. There were still questions on comparisons between the quotes.  Assistant Fire Chief, Joe Hahn, will meet with the two bidders regarding the proposals in order to obtain further clarification.

Manhole Repairs.  It was suggested by the Mayor to delay action so the new Public Works Director can review the manhole inspection reports. The current quotes do not address all of the rehabilitation recommendations as listed in the manhole inspection reports, which were previously provided by Stanley Consultants Inc.  Mengler moved and Koehler seconded to table the repairs until the inspection reports can be reviewed by a new Public Works Director.  Motion carried.

James Street Water Main Project. 

• Resolution 2016-52, Approving Contract & Bonds for the East James Street Water Main Project. Mengler moved and Jackie seconded to approve Resolution 2016-52.  Roll call ayes:  Mengler, Jackie Puck, Koehler, and Latimer.  Motion carried.
• Construction Observation Services. Koehler had questions on the proposed part-time observation services. Specifically that it states services would be done by a Civil Engineer intern and that the original contract already included weekly visits by the engineer during the construction phase. Koehler moved and Jackie Puck seconded to have the Mayor obtain further information on the proposed services.  Motion carried.

North Main Street Mudjacking at Bridge Ends.  A bridge inspection report from 2015 indicated abutment undermining on the south abutment footing.  During the preconstruction meeting of the channel shaping project, it was noted that the project work will fix the current erosion and undermining of the abutment but if the void is not fixed the undermining will return. Two quotes were received and Mike Alberts from Concrete Lifting Services was present to explain the costs and work to be done.  Following discussion, Latimer moved and Jackie Puck seconded to hire Concrete Lifting Services, the apparent low quote, to complete the work as discussed, under both bridge approaches.  Motion carried.

Recreational Trail Lighting Options.  Koehler reviewed a spreadsheet with lighting options and costs.  Discussion ensued and Chief Blake stated he has not had any phone calls or complaints about any issues along the trail area and comments were made they felt the lighting wasn’t needed.  Mengler moved and Latimer seconded to not pursue lighting on the recreational trail.  Motion carried.         

Resolution 2016-53, Approving Public Works Director Job Description.  Koehler moved and Mengler seconded to approve Resolution 2016-53.  Roll call ayes: Koehler, Mengler, Jackie Puck, and Latimer.  Motion carried.

Level Dirt at Wastewater Treatment Plant Area.  Two quotes were received to level out a dirt pile at the City-owned property on the west end of Cedar Lane Drive.  Questions arose on why the pile of dirt needs to be moved and how it is beneficial to the City.  Attorney Schirman stated the dirt pile may be addressed in the farm lease.  Mengler moved and Jackie Puck seconded to table any action until Schirman has a chance to review the lease.  Motion carried.

Police Department Report.  Chief Blake stated he would like to have an additional officer help with the 5K run on October 22^nd. Council had no problems with the request.

Fire Department Report.  Chief Geigle reported on some mold on the wall around the window and around an outlet on the north wall in the meeting room.  He stated he is working with the Building Official, Linda Rivers, on determining the problem and stated that the inside wall was never sealed during the meeting room renovation.  Rivers has suggested sealing the exterior concrete walls.   Geigle will continue to work with Rivers and bring additional information to a future meeting.

Council Member Comments.  Mengler stated she would like to wait until a new Public Works Director is hired to address concerns from John Brockmann regarding the drainage along Memorial Road. Jackie Puck reported on an email she received from a resident.

Public Comments.  Austin Burt arrived after the public comments section at the beginning of the meeting.  He requested permission for the Hearts and Hands Foundation to cut down some trees on the north side of creek and to remove a fence in the same area on the City-owned property at the west end of Cedar Lane Drive.

Koehler moved and Jackie Puck seconded to adjourn at 7:05 p.m. Motion carried.  All votes were unanimous, unless noted.

October 3 Signed minutes and claims

October-2016