February 12
CITY OF HIAWATHA
CITY COMMISSION MINUTES
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2007
5:35 P.M.
HIAWATHA CITY HALL
723 OREGON ST.
1. Pledge of Allegiance/ Call to Order
The Hiawatha City Commission met Monday, February 12, 2007, at 5:35 p.m. with Mayor Gernon, Commissioner Shamburg, Commissioner Schmidt, and Commissioner Gamble present. Commissioner Collins was absent.
2. CONSENT AGENDA
a. Approval of minutes of the February 5, 2007, City Commission meeting
b. Appropriation Ordinance #1114 in the amount of $38,764.43
c. Approval of Payment to Bottorff Construction for January 2007 for Streetscape Project in the Amount of $95,553.69.
d. Approval of Payment to BG Consultants for December 2006 Downtown Streetscape Construction Administration in the Amount of $9,501.54.
e. Approval of the Municipal Judge Report for January 2007.
f. Approval of Contractor License Renewal for Gary Meisenheimer dba Meisenheimer Construction.
Mayor Gernon noted that a correction was necessary on page one of the minutes. In item 4, paragraph 2, line 4, delete the word “had.”
Commissioner Schmitt made a motion, seconded by Commissioner Gamble, to approve the consent agenda with the correction to the minutes of February 5, 2007. Motion carried. 4 ayes.
3. Presentation of petitions, public comments, memorials.
a. Hiawatha High School FFA Concerning Plantings for Planters.
Zana Manche and Abby Freese spoke on behalf of the Hiawatha High School FFA. They said that the FFA had been approached about planting flowers in the planters downtown as ground cover under the trees that will be planted in them. They presented several kinds of low maintenance perennial and annual flowers and plants that could be planted in the planters. They had tried to pick out flowers that bloomed at different times so that there would always be some color in the planters spring through fall. The FFA is willing to donate greenhouse space, flats, plants and maintenance, and said that their horticulture class would be willing to plant the flowers in the planters. They would like to have donations for the perennials from the businesses owners who had planters in front of their businesses. Also, if the business owner had a specific flower that they would like to have in the planter, they could donate the seeds to the FFA.
Commissioner Gamble expressed appreciation for the work the organization plans to do with the planters.
b. Sophia Fortmeyer, Brynn Wright, Sammie Shamburg, and Nancy Jackson Concerning the Boundless Playground.
Brynn Wright and Sammie Shamburg presented information concerning the Boundless Playground Contest. They said that they have made it to the top 20 out of about 930 entries. They said they should know April 16 if they have won. They have been contacting businesses to see how much support they would have. They already have 15 businesses that were willing to help and have not yet contacted everyone. They asked for authorization from the Commission to work with the City Administrator to get the project going.
Administrator Ladner said that there were some things on the form that need the consent of the Commission. Page two of the form, question three, asks for the site owner to allow a volunteer build if Contest Entities request it, which would allow volunteers from the local area as well as Hasbro/Playskool to come in. Since this is a City property, there may be some liability issues with that. Question four asks if the site owner would be willing to give Hasbro/Playskool naming rights to the playground, and question five asks if the playground signage needs to be approved by the City Commission and if so what the process was. We can provide them with a copy of our municipal signage rules.
Commissioner Shamburg made a motion, seconded by Commissioner Gamble, to authorize the City Administrator to cooperate with the Boundless Playground group and to complete the form and application. Motion carried, 4 ayes.
Old Business
4. Review Matter of Bidding on L9000 Heavy Dump Truck for Street/Sewer Departments.
Administrator Ladner reported that Dennis Hartter, Street Superintendent, had gone to Kansas City and looked over the truck that was up for bid. He recommended not to bid on it because of the amount of work it would take to repair the rust on the side of the bed as well as mechanical issues.
Administrator Ladner said that they were in the process of putting together specifications for the Commission to review to put this out for potential lease/purchase of a new truck. Depending on the size they decide on, a new truck would cost between $65,000 and $85,000 for an L8000 size truck, which would be slightly smaller but would meet the City’s needs. An L9000 size truck would cost approximately $110,000.
Since the old truck is not running, she has given permission to Dennis Hartter to rent a truck to aid in snow removal. The County truck which we borrowed last time is not available as it is up for sale. It is only two years newer than the one we have currently, and would run into the same problems we have with the 1976 that we now have, in that it would be hard to find replacement parts for it.
Commissioner Gamble asked if the one that the County had for sale was an International, and said that if it was it would probably be easier to get parts for. He said that the County truck did have a good body and a good bed.
Mayor Gernon asked for a list of ages and mileage of the fleet of vehicles.
Administrator Ladner said that she is in the process of putting that together as a part of the capital improvement plan.
Commissioner Schmitt said that she would also like to see the maintenance records on the vehicles.
Commissioner Gamble noted that a $1000 repair on our present vehicle is “a far cry” from $65,000 that a new truck would cost.
Mayor Gernon asked what the rental was going to cost. Administrator Ladner replied that it will be $55 per hour, and that we used the County vehicle eight hours last time.
Mayor Gernon asked about the smaller truck that the City of Shawnee had for sale. Administrator Ladner replied that it was $6500, and had 132,000 miles on it. She didn’t think it was worth that much.
Mayor Gernon said they would wait and see what Dennis’ proposals came back with.
No further action was taken.
New Business
5. Review Farm Bids for City Properties.
Administrator Ladner told the Commission that the farm bids had been received and tabulated. She reported that Dave Grimm, Waste Water Superintendent, recommended we accept the bid from Jake Rieger at $126.01 per acre. It was his recommendation that we reject the hay bids at the Hansbury Springs well, and allow him and Administrator Ladner to negotiate a per acre price to row crop that farm with the highest bidder. Mr. Rieger agreed to farm that land also at the row crop price. Dave also recommended that the City ask for a March and a November payment, which is the standard farming practice.
Dave also recommended that the City enter into an agreement with Larry Nolte to give him the City’s dewatered sludge for the next four years, and that Nolte conform to all KDHE compliances as required in the CFR 503 regulations. If the Commission approves of that, Dave will put together an agreement and bring to the Commission next week. Administrator Ladner said that she would have the City Attorney review the agreement before presenting it to the Commission.
Commissioner Schmitt made a motion, seconded by Commissioner Gamble, to accept the farm bid from Jake Rieger of Falls City at the cost of $126.01 per acre on the row crop bid. Motion carried. 4 ayes.
Commissioner Schmitt made a motion, seconded by Commissioner Shamburg, to reject the hay bid on the Hansbury Springs well property, and allow the City Administrator to negotiate a per acre contract to row crop that farm. Motion carried. 4 ayes.
6. Consider Request from Police Department for Purchase of X26 Tasers.
Chief Woehlecke presented information on the X26 Tasers. He said that the Brown County Sheriff’s Department used them in several incidents locally and found them to be a very effective tool. He thought that the purchase of three tasers would be sufficient. He said that the officers would be trained on how to use them. Three tasers, cartridges, and software would cost $2801.53. He noted that the policy concerning the use of the tasers was included in the Commissioner’s packets.
The funds are available in the emergency equipment line item #10-12-8161 in the 2007 budget.
Commissioner Gamble made a motion, seconded by Commissioner Shamburg, to approve the purchase of three (3) X26 tasers, cartridges and software in the amount of $2801.53 from Ed Roehr Safety Products Company. Motion carried. 4 ayes.
7. Lynne Ladner, City Administrator.
Administrator Ladner referred to the fire run sheet for January in the information section of the Commissioner’s packets. She said that she needs direction from the Commission on how they want us to handle these payments in order to be in compliance with the IRS. She said that our auditor stated that in his reading of IRS regulations, reimbursements that we regularly pay to our fire fighters are subject to Social Security and Medicare taxes. That is different from what we have done in the past, and is contrary to the information received from local CPA Jim Scherer. She said that administrators from other communities pay the volunteer firemen reimbursements either as 1099 or W2 wages.
Her concern was how to avoid negating the volunteer status of the Fire Department if these reimbursements become classified as income. The Fire Department is concerned they may lose their volunteer status and lose their eligibility for grants they have applied for. She said she has a call in to the State Fire Marshall, but that he has not returned her call yet.
Commissioner Schmitt explained the difference between the information they had gotten from Mr. Scherer and the information they had gotten from the City’s auditor, Tom Singleton. She said that they were addressing two different issues. Mr. Scherer was addressing length of service award payments for being a firefighter for a certain number of years, and Mr. Singleton was addressing non-accountable reimbursements, which are subject to Social Security and Medicare taxes. The only way around that would be for the City to have an accountable plan in which the firefighters would turn in actual receipts for reimbursement including number of miles driven and other expenses incurred during the course of answering fire calls.
Administrator Ladner summed it up by telling the Commission we have three options, [pay each firefighter as a vendor and] issue a 1099, [pay each firefighter through payroll, withholding social security and medicare tax and] issue a W2, or change the City’s method of reimbursement by requiring the firefighters to submit receipts for expenses incurred from damage due to fires, such as clothing, shoes, eyeglasses, etc. and mileage reports.
Commissioner Schmitt asked City Administrator Ladner to get the response from the State Fire Marshal as to how it is going to affect the Fire Department’s volunteer status.
Administrator Ladner gave the Commission some information on a priority project on water service on West Iowa Street. She said that she had been approached by a property owner on West Iowa Street on Monday, February 12, who lives in the city limits that does not currently have city water. The owner said that his well was failing and he would like to have city water made available to him. Looping the city water main in this area would improve the service to the Wal-Mart Super Center and the Koch building which already have city water service.
She said she had spoken with the State Bureau of Water about what the City’s options were if the City chooses to go forward with this project. There is money left in our line of credit on our existing SRF loan. The City would need to submit paperwork to the State for an environmental review and an engineering report. This is a project that could be added to our existing loan. She also pointed out that our existing SRF loan is currently at 4.08%.
She said that another option would be to open a new revolving loan with the State for this project. This loan would be subject to availability of funds, but it could be at a substantially lower rate of interest than our current loan. The current February rate is 3.33%. The initial one page document would need to be submitted to the State by next Monday, February 19. Otherwise we would have to wait until June, which is their next funding round.
Rick Koenig, Water Superintendent, had told the administrator that this was his number one project except for the water tower maintenance which had already been budgeted for the 2007, 2008, and 2009 years. The estimated cost of this project was between $110,000 and $120,000.
Administrator Ladner said that there is approximately $600,000 left on our line of credit on our existing loan. Since this project is a water line extension, it does fall within the scope of the original loan and that money could be used for this project. If we chose to close out that loan, we could open a new loan at a lower interest rate. Opening a new loan would take longer, possibly taking six months to get funded, provided they had sufficient funding to make us the new loan. There is no guarantee that this project would be funded.
Mayor Gernon asked if the water tower maintenance could be included in this loan. Administrator Ladner replied that it could not, because it was not safety or OSHA compliant repairs. It is considered general maintenance; therefore it does not qualify under the State revolving loan program. We could also include new well exploration in the loan, so a decision needs to be made quickly on that as well. We could also wait until we finalize our capital improvement plan.
Mayor Gernon said that he was in favor of using the existing loan.
Commissioner Schmitt said that it would make the water service better.
Administrator Ladner said that it was her understanding that the area between Koch and Schwans is not on city water even though it is in the city limits.
Administrator Ladner gave a summary of the three options: Do we want to do this project now? If so, do we want to do it on the existing loan or a new loan? Do we want to wait and do this on the Capital improvement plan and see where it falls in the ten-year plan?
Either loan would require the city to submit an environmental review consisting of submitting a project plan to eleven different state agencies and giving them thirty days to review it and determine if they have any environmental concerns as well as having an engineering report done.
Commissioner Schmitt made a motion, seconded by Commissioner Gamble, that the City should initiate the paperwork for the water improvement on West Iowa Street, and use the existing SRF loan. Motion carried. 4 ayes.
Administrator Ladner explained that she had also put in the information section of the Commissioner’s packets a copy of an e-mail from Doug Grimm at Grimm’s Gardens, detailing a tree maintenance plan as requested by the Commission.
She also indicated that the information section contained a request from Janet Griesel from NEK Enterprise Facilitation asking that the City provide her with a letter of support for the work they do. They are justifying before the House Economic Development and Senate Commerce Committees. Administrator Ladner asked permission from the Commission to put the letter together. Mayor Gernon gave his permission.
Administrator Ladner told the Commission that the Morrill Public Library had requested that the City crews construct a bike pad on the northwest side of the library. They would like this done before April in order to plant grass seed around the new lights and landscaping. Administrator Ladner said that this would cost approximately $150 to $200, and could come out of the library’s budget. She asked for the Commission to give their input on this. She also asked if the City crews could paint their bike rack. The Commission agreed to have the City crews to construct the concrete pad.
Administrator Ladner said that Rick Koenig, Lights Superintendent, has asked if it was their intention in Phase II of the Streetscape Project to use the same lights around the courthouse square. He needed to know because of the wiring being put in now in order to get the 120 volt circuits put in place. The Commission said they should anticipate using the same.
Administrator Ladner told the Commission that she will be meeting with the representative from Blue Cross on February 13 to go over the City’s health insurance plan for 2007. She said that the existing health plan will no longer be available in the coming year.
She said that a question had come up about 23rd Street, which sits between Silver Lake Bank and Hemisphere GPS. It is not a city street. It was previously maintained by Wal-Mart. Silver Lake Bank has expressed concern about maintaining it. It is not built to city specification and would eventually need to be rebuilt. The street department needs to know if they should start maintaining it. There is some concern that if the City starts maintaining it, there will be an expectation that the City continue maintaining it.
Mayor Gernon said that he thought that it would end up being basically a driveway.
Commissioner Gamble said that it was not a city street, and that he was not interested in maintaining it right now.
Commissioner Schmitt left the meeting at 6:30 p.m.
8. Mayor Gernon.
Mayor Gernon asked if the public notice on the property maintenance agreement had been published. Administrator Ladner said that City Attorney Don Cashman would have a copy for her review this week and she would have a copy in next week’s packet for the Commission’s review before it was published. He asked that the Property Maintenance Committee get this “wrapped up.”
He would like to have Administrator Ladner, Dennis Hartter, and some of the city crews discuss what it would take for the city to enter into a limited offer to demolish and raze properties. He thought that this might spur some developers to purchase some of these properties. It would need to be a “tax neutral” arrangement.
9. Com. William Collins.
10. Com. Curtis Gamble.
Commissioner Gamble noted that there has been a tree down at 9th & Iowa for at least a month. Administrator Ladner said they had been working on that. Commissioner Gamble said that if the owner did not want to get it cleaned up, the City should do it and add it to their taxes.
He said also that there is a house around 1011 Iowa that has debris on the ground that needs cleaned up. He would like that looked into as well.
11. Com. Marianne Schmitt.
12. Com. Steffen Shamburg.
13. Adjourn
Commissioner Shamburg made a motion, seconded by Commissioner Gamble, to adjourn. Motion carried. 3 ayes. Meeting adjourned at 6:38 p.m.