Wilton City Council Meeting Minutes for 12/27/2010
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Regular Meeting
December 27, 2010
The Council for the City of Wilton, Iowa met in regular session in the Council Chambers at City Hall on Monday December 27, 2010. Mayor Pro Tem Richard Garrison called the meeting to order at 7:00 PM. The Mayor Pro Tem then led the group in the Pledge of Allegiance.
Council Members present at this meeting: Richard Garrison, Robert Barrett, Steve Owens, Matt Fowler, and Keith Stanley. Absent: Mayor Ira Bowman. Also present at this meeting City Administrator Joel Laws, Advocate News Correspondent Connie Brown, Muscatine Journal Correspondent Charles Potter, Jackie Barten, Ronald Helmold, Amanda Fowler and George Freeland.
The agenda was presented for this meeting. It was moved by Member Stanley seconded by Member Fowler that the agenda be approved as presented. The roll was called and the vote recorded as follows:
Ayes: Garrison, Barrett, Owens, Fowler and Stanley
Nays: None
Minutes for the regular meeting held December 13, 2010 were presented for approval. A motion was made by Member Barrett seconded by Member Owens that these minutes be approved. The roll was called and the vote recorded as follows:
Ayes: Garrison, Barrett, Owens, Fowler and Stanley
Nays: None Motion Carried.
CITIZEN APPEARANCE:
Jackie Barten spoke to the Council regarding the Commercial Revitalization Program. She stated that there was about $1400 in funds left for this program. Shirli's Style Shoppe has made an application for power washing and painting of the outside of her shop at 107 W 4th Street. Two bids were received and the lowest was $1500, which would make the City's share $750. Jackie said that even though Shirli has applied at this time, the work would not be started until spring. The application has been approved by the review committee. It was moved by Member Stanley seconded by Member Fowler that this application be approved. The roll was called and the vote recorded as follows:
Ayes: Garrison, Barrett, Owens, Fowler and Stanley
Nays: None Motion Carried.
Rebecca Birkhofer, a U of I student who has been doing an internship at Eastern Iowa Physical Therapy in Wilton, approached Jackie about hosting a walking program in the Community Center. There would be fees charged and would maybe have to have waivers signed by participants. Discussion was held on this request and Members said they would need more details and also suggested that Rebecca check with the school as they may have more appropriate space for walking.
Jackie checked about the upkeep of the tile flooring. She contacted Madison Company out of Illinois City who is the company that installed the tiles. They said the floor is in good shape and they would charge 20 cents per square foot if they were to clean the floor, which they recommend to be done twice a year. This would come to a fee of around $770. Council felt that the City should contract someone to clean this flooring instead of buying the equipment to do the cleaning ourselves. Another option would be to ask the school if they have a machine that cleans tile flooring.
A fifty five inch television set has been installed near the bar area. The center has free cable for five years from WTC but the cable box is $12 per month. Jackie said this would be paid out of funds from WDC.
Member Garrison asked Jackie if there were any updates on the Wilton sign on the west end of town. Jackie said that WTC took the antenna from Wilton Express and installed it in the new Arnold's Motor building. When she went to reprogram the sign it would not work at all. She then made a call to Nesper signs and they will be coming to check the sign to see if the equipment is the problem.
POLICE ITEMS:
Chief Leathers reported that Office David Clark will be back to full duty on January 8th. He will have surgery on January 5th to remove the pin in his ankle and the doctor said he would be able to return to the job after that procedure.
The part time officers for Wilton have been very helpful during the time that Officer Clark has been off with his injury. At this time the part time officer's wage is $14.69 per hour. A check of near by cities was done and the Chief reported that Wilton's part time wage is low. He feels that we should raise this wage so that part timers will consider working in Wilton before going to other towns because of the rate of pay. It was also noted that these part time officers are not included in the bargaining unit for the Wilton Police Department. Discussion was held on wages for part time police officers. It was then moved by Member Barrett seconded by Member Fowler that the part time police officer wage be moved to $16.00 per hour effective December 26, 2010. The roll was called and the vote recorded as follows:
Ayes: Garrison, Barrett, Owens, Fowler and Stanley
Nays: None Motion Carried.
Discussion was held on the holiday/over time pay for part time officers. A survey was done on other surrounding cities and it was found that most towns do not pay part time officers over time or holiday pay. It was mentioned that maybe holidays could be covered by an on call officer. Chief Leathers stated that the present officers all live outside of Wilton and that may not work out. Consensus after discussion was that the City of Wilton will not pay overtime for holiday's worked by part time employees.
COUNCIL ITEMS:
At this time the City Administrator introduced Ronald Helmold who has been hired as the part time maintenance employee for the Library Community Center. Ron has many years of experience in maintenance and recently worked for the City of Muscatine. He will be working 16-20 hours a week at the center and started work last Monday. It was then moved by Member Barrett seconded by Member Owens that this position be approved at a wage of $10.00 per hour. The roll was called and the vote recorded as follows:
Ayes: Garrison, Barrett, Owens, Fowler and Stanley
Nays: None Motion Carried.
It was announced that Don Drake has agreed to fill the unexpired term on the Wilton Park Board. It was moved by Member Stanley seconded by Member Barrett that Don Drake be appointed to fill the unexpired term on the Park Board, such term expiring 1-1-14. The roll was called and the vote recorded as follows:
Ayes: Garrison, Barrett, Owens, Fowler and Stanley
Nays: None Motion Carried.
The Buy Local Policy was the next item on the agenda. Since Mayor Bowman recommended this policy and he was not in attendance, it was moved by Member Stanley seconded by Member Fowler that this policy be tabled until the next regular meeting. The roll was called and the vote recorded as follows:
Ayes: Garrison, Barrett, Owens, Fowler and Stanley
Nays: None Motion Carried.
An allocation request in the amount of $10,000 was made by the Wilton Pool Board. It was moved by Member Fowler seconded by Member Owens that this request be approved. The roll was called and the vote recorded as follows:
Ayes: Garrison, Barrett, Owens, Fowler and Stanley
Nays: None Motion Carried.
A bartending agreement for the Wilton Fire Department was presented for approval. This should clarify some of the responsibilities for the department while they are working at the various events at the center. It was moved by Member Stanley seconded by Member Barrett that this agreement be approved as presented. The roll was called and the vote recorded as follows:
Ayes: Garrison, Barrett, Owens, Fowler and Stanley
Nays: None Motion Carried.
All Council Members commended the public works department for their diligent work on snow removal during the recent snowfall. They were out plowing many times and gave up holiday time with their families.
Member Owens said that he has been trying to call Iowa Interstate Railroad regarding trimming of trees along the railroad. A citizen that lives along the railroad said that there were branches and twigs thrown all over his roof. He will keep trying to contact the railroad regarding the trimming and he will also talk with them about the speed of the trains going through Wilton.
Member Barrett reminded the City Administrator to send letters to the candidates that were interviewed for the maintenance job.
Since the weather is supposed to turn warmer later this week, Member Barrett asked the City Administrator to have the city workers make sure the sewer intakes are open up. If all of the snow melts, we want to make sure that the intakes are not frozen.
ADMINISTRATIVE ITEMS:
A Fire Department meeting was held this month with the Township Trustees. The department will be looking at getting a new 1st responder vehicle in the near future. The suburban that they have now was purchased used and now has 115,000 miles on it. They will be checking to see if it will be best to trade or sell this unit when they make a new purchase. The City Administrator will be meeting with the Fire Chief to get specs together.
There was a leak in the new library roof this past week and it has been repaired.
Since the new public works department truck is not scheduled to be here until February the City Administrator reported that we will not be getting a plow until that truck is here.
BILLS:
The Financial Statements were accepted and placed on file. It was moved by Member Stanley seconded by Member Barrett that the total disbursements of $300,249.50, approved by the Finance Committee, be allowed and instruct the City Clerk to pay the same. The roll was called and the vote recorded as follows:
Ayes: Garrison, Barrett, Owens, Fowler and Stanley
Nays: None Motion Carried.
No further business at this time, the Mayor adjourned this meeting.
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Mayor Ira Bowman
Attest:
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City Clerk Lori A Brown