Wilton City Council Meeting Minutes for 3/26/2012
Printable Version
Regular Meeting
March 26, 2012
The Council for the City of Wilton, Iowa met in regular session in the Council Chambers at City Hall on Monday March 26, 2012. Mayor Ira Bowman called the meeting to order at 7:00 PM. The Mayor 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: none. Also present at this meeting City Administrator Joel Laws, City Attorney Gerald Denning (present at 7:30PM), Advocate News Correspondent Connie Brown, Muscatine Journal Correspondent Charles Potter, Marcia Hetzler, Andrew Marsh, Greg Shuger and Norman Grunder.
The agenda was presented for this meeting. It was then moved by Member Stanley seconded by Member Garrison that the agenda be approved. 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 March 12, 2012 were presented for approval. A motion was made by Member Barrett seconded by Member Owens that these minutes be approved as read. The roll was called and the vote recorded as follows:
Ayes: Garrison, Barrett, Owens, Fowler, and Stanley
Nays: None Motion Carried.
At this time (7:03PM) Mayor Bowman opened the public hearing for the rezoning request from the WDC. Notice of time and place of this hearing had been published in The Advocate News on March 15, 2012 and the affidavit of publication is on file at City Hall. The Mayor asked for written or oral objections. No written or oral objections were received. It was noted that the Planning & Zoning Commission had met and gave their approval for the rezoning. The Mayor then closed such public hearing (7:05pm).
At this time a proposed Ordinance entitled “An Ordinance Amending the Zoning Ordinance to Change the Zoning of Certain Real Estate from R-1 Single Family Residential to M-2 Heavy Industrial” was presented before the Council for discussion. It was moved by Member Garrison seconded by Member Fowler that said Ordinance be passed on first consideration. The question being upon the foregoing motion, the roll was called and the vote recorded as follows:
Ayes: Garrison, Barrett, Owens, Fowler, and Stanley
Nays: None Motion Carried.
It was then moved by Member Stanley seconded by Member Barrett that the requirement that said Ordinance be considered and voted on for passage at two Council meetings prior to the meetings at which time it is finally passed be suspended and that said Ordinance be fully adopted. Upon the question of suspending said requirement, the roll was called and the vote recorded as follows:
Ayes: Garrison, Barrett, Owens, Fowler, and Stanley
Nays: None Motion Carried.
Upon the question of fully adopting said Ordinance, the roll was called and the vote recorded as follows:
Ayes: Garrison, Barrett, Owens, Fowler, and Stanley
Nays: None Motion Carried.
Thereupon the Mayor approved said Ordinance, declared said Ordinance fully adopted, assigned the number 491 to said Ordinance and ordered that said Ordinance be added to the City Ordinance Book.
CITIZENS:
Community Center Director Marcia Hetzler spoke to the Council regarding items at the Center. She first wanted to let them know that the fire alarm system that went off last weekend has been taken care of. The party that had the center rented for the weekend were using helium balloons for decoration and a few of them got loose and went up through the beam and set off the alarm. When the Fire Department arrived they ended up using some big fans to blow the balloons off the beam so the alarm could be reset. Marcia has set the alarm to off (but the fire alarm still is in working order) until the last of the balloons come down from the ceiling. She just wanted the Council to be aware of that situation in case they heard any rumors about the fire department being at the center.
Marcia reported that CEC was here Friday and she was trained on the use of the audio/visual system. She felt the training was very worthwhile and it is on DVD for future use. The recessed lights on the south side were not working and she had TriCity check on this, it was found out that a slider switch needed to be replaced. The center has been having trouble with the restroom lights, which have been running all of the time. Marcia and Ron checked on this situation and they believe that the lights are running according to the air flow and it is a work in progress.
The purchase order has been sent to Tall Grass for the furniture order for extra tables and chairs. Delivery is expected in about 4 weeks. The MCC Administrators requested a meeting with Marcia to discuss promotion ideas for the adult classes. Marcia told MCC she would do what she could on the website or within the center. Mayor and Council thanked Marcia for attending and keeping them informed.
CONSULTANTS:
Andrew Marsh from HR Green Company appeared before the Council with a presentation of the water/sewer rate study. The study included the need for increases, projected capital improvements, cost of service analysis and proposed rate increase options. Andrew showed Wilton’s current rates and does not feel that if we stay at our current rate structure the City will not be able to preserve the cash reserves and/or meet current revenues and expenditures. His presentation showed some examples of where Wilton stands with their rates compared to our communities our size and in the area. HR Green wants Wilton to have money on hand to pay for future expenses and to keep infrastructure in mind. With the proposed rates Wilton would meet the SRF standards. (Gerald Denning was present at this time) Andrew asked the Members to consider option #1 for the water and option #2 for the sewer rate increases. A discussion was held on the information presented. Consensus of the Members was that the City should proceed with the options recommended by the engineers. An ordinance with the increases will be presented at the next regular meeting and such increases will begin June 1, 2012. The Mayor and Council thanked Andrew and HR Green for their work on the rate study.
LEGAL ITEMS:
Work is scheduled to begin on the resurfacing of Y14 soon. The concrete company that is doing that work is beginning to set up a temporary plant near the current ready mix plant on Liberty Street. The City has some concerns about this plant being in the City limits. When the company first came to the city they said they would be using Story Avenue to go south out of town. Since that time Muscatine County told the company that they could not use Story Avenue or 104th Streets for this amount of truck travel. Now the company wishes to use Liberty Street going north to 5th Street and then out of town to Y14. This project is anticipated to last 3-4 months and there could be 200-250 trucks day traveling on these streets from 6AM-7PM. Weight of these trucks will be approximately between 55,000 and 80,000 pounds. If they set up on Liberty Street they will be tapping into the City water system and using up to 50,000 gallons per day. Wilton Municipal will be providing electric service to this proposed location. The City Administrator stated that the City has three options: 1 – pass an ordinance, 2 – negotiate and 3 – do nothing. Since learning of this information the City Administrator has talked with the City Attorney to see if there could be some negotiating with the Company since there are concerns about the condition of our streets after the project is done. Denning told the Council that he has been checking on some type of agreement that the City could present to the company. He asked the Council if they wanted to consider a temporary embargo, an indemnity bond, what dollar amount they want to consider and how they want to enforce any rules put in place. Denning stated that the City should take pictures and videos of the streets as they are now and they may even want to consider camering the sewer lines in case they are damaged during the truck traffic. Members held a discussion and there were pros and cons brought about up as to which direction the City should take on this issue. Denning told the Members that he will attempt to contact the attorney for the concrete company and see if they are willing to agree to some type of negotiations. He also suggested that there be a committee from the Council so if he has information he can contact those members and not the entire Council. Everyone agreed that we need to move forward as soon as possible as the project could begin soon.
POLICE ITEMS:
Member Barrett questioned the Chief as to the status of the junk vehicles at the City shop. The Chief said that he has been busy with the recent burglaries and has not had time to get the abandoned paper work filed for the abandoned vehicles. Council would like the Chief to gather the needed information for these vehicles as they have been at the shop for more than a year.
MAYOR ITEMS:
The City is looking for someone or a group to take care of the flowers and flower beds in front of City Hall. The Mayor asked if anyone is interested that they call City Hall for more information or to volunteer for this job. Member Barrett said that someone has approached him about having potted plants around the downtown area. If they want to pursue this idea they should contact City Hall also.
CORRESPONDENCE:
A thank you for the donation was read from the Wilton Post Prom committee.
COUNCIL ITEMS:
The Park Board has requested that a Trust & Agency fund be set up for any donations they may receive. They have some funds that have been received for the West View concession stand and they would like those funds ($3500) transferred to this new fund. It was moved by Member Owens seconded by Fowler that this new fund and transfer be approved. The roll was called and the vote recorded as follows:
Ayes: Garrison, Barrett, Owens, Fowler, and Stanley
Nays: None Motion Carried.
Member Fowler said that since there has been nice weather there are some teams using the parks already. He asked that we get a head start on the weeds and diamonds improvements. There also needs to be more rock put in at the parking areas at Cherrydale. Over time most of the gravel has sunk in and not much is left to park on.
Member Barrett said that the walking path at West View could also use some attention. Joel said that the signs have been put up around the activity stations on that walking path and some of the dirt needs to be leveled around those signs also.
Member Owens wanted to thank the police department for the response near the Zion Luther School last weekend. Since the trouble with break ins lately, it is a good thing for neighbors to be looking out for each other.
Since spring is near, Member Owens asked if the street crews could clean up some of the cul-de sacs that have debris from snow removal. Even though there was not much snow removal there are some of these areas that need to be swept or shoveled out.
On a recent visit to the city shop Member Owens said that he was talking with some of the employees about a possible lift purchase. He asked Joel to check for sure, but said the lift that they were looking at is not all terrain and he did not feel that it would be a good purchase for the City.
Member Garrison said that he was approached by a citizen that had a faulty furnace and asked if the City ever considered an inspector. Their furnace was emitting carbon monoxide and if it had been inspected they felt they would not have been in danger as they were. Council said this would be an item that would have to be investigated, stating that there was more to the inspector other than just hiring someone.
ADMINISTRATIVE ITEMS:
The City Administrator reported that he met with the Durant Mayor and City Clerk pertaining to the concession stand that they recently built. He looked at their blue prints and got information on grants and what funding they used. He will meet with the Park Board and relay this information to those members. It will be up to the Park Board to move forward with the project.
Joel asked the Members if they would like to schedule a spring clean-up. Council said that since the City has the convenience center citizens can take their items down there or pay and have them picked up at the curb. They would like to see spring leaf pickup. Joel said he would talk with the Public Works and see when they want to do that leaf pickup. The City will try to publicize that time so the citizens will be aware of that leaf pickup week. Member Barrett said that he would be in favor of a spring leaf burning day. Since burning is only allowed in the fall, he feels citizens would appreciate that privilege if only for a weekend.
Joel also reported on: cleaning up the parks, swimming pool drainage, street sweeping, storm sewer clean up and abatement letters. He is working with the Police Department regarding junk or unlicensed vehicles within the City. When a list is completed with these vehicles, letters will be sent to the owners.
Since mowing season has started, Joel wanted to remind people that when they are mowing that it is illegal to dump or throw the grass or clippings onto the streets or curbs. If there are offenders of this ordinance, nuisance letters will be sent to the property owners.
BILLS:
The Financial Statements were accepted and placed on file. Member Barrett said he noticed that some chemicals had been purchased out of town. He wanted to remind the employees that VanDiest has a variety of chemicals and they should check with the local company before purchasing out of town in the future. It was moved by Member Barrett seconded by Member Stanley that the total disbursements of $73,948.48, 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, the Mayor adjourned this meeting.
________________________________
Mayor Ira Bowman
Attest:
___________________________
City Clerk Lori A Brown