The Perry City Council held their final meeting of 2013 last night.
At the meeting Mayor Jay Pattee talked about the Local Option Sales Tax and how it impacts the city. His hope is that minor changes to the way LOST funds work and are established encourage communities like Waukee, West Des Moines and Clive to start a LOST, which would positively impact all cities in Dallas County.
Impact Seven G representatives then provided a brief update on the Brownfield’s grant program. So far a quality assurance exam has been completed, along with sampling soil and groundwater near the former railroad roundhouse northwest of town. Testing detected arsenic and other chemicals in the area though Impact Seven G does not believe this will negatively impact the project. The pilot grant is a three year program, though the group thinks they will be able to complete the project in two years.
Jenny Eklund was then thanked for her service as an At Large council member, seeing as this was her last meeting. Mayor Pattee said she was a contributing member to the council and will be missed. Councilman Phil Stone mentioned that Eklund was a great addition to the council as a representative of the business community and a lover of the arts. Eklund said not much will change once she leaves the council, she still plans on being very involved in Perry, just a little more behind the scenes.
Next a public hearing was held in regards to entering a general fund loan agreement in an amount not to exceed $613,543 to complete energy conservation improvements. The project will replace light fixtures at various locations throughout town and renovate the HVAC system at the public safety building. The low interest loan came in at 1% and the City is expected to save approximately 45% in energy costs with these improvements. Following no comments from the public, the agreement was approved.
A contract amendment to the agreement with Bolton and Menk was then approved. This gives them the authority to refigure and rebid the projects within the Energy Conservation Improvements, with the contract not exceeding $12,000 without prior authorization from Council.
Brad Schieb with Hoisington Koegler Group then gave a brief recap of the City’s 2030 comprehensive plan. Schieb says the steering committee and City staff worked hard to get the plan rolling this year. The plan includes thirteen different elements including public transportation, land use, housing, economic development and community facilities. Shieb recommends the City starts by removing barriers that prevent people from coming into Perry. Councilman Stone then noted that Shieb made the project easy and was a great facilitator throughout the process. Councilman Dr. Randy McCaulley then said he feels it’s very important for the public to be informed about the plan an actually accomplish things in the plan moving forward. Copies of the Comprehensive plan will be available at the library and on the City’s website. The Council then gave final approval to the plan.
A change order for the 2013 Sanitary Sewer Cleaning was then approved, decreasing the total cost of the project by $2,063 for a total of $17,915. The third pay request for work completed through November 27th was also approved, made payable to Hydro Klean along with certificate of completion for the project.
In new business, the Council accepted a donation of property. Viivi Shirley gave Lots 1-3 and 5-7 in block two of the McCluen Addition to the city. The City already owned Lot 4 and there are many options for this property due to it’s location adjacent to Perkins Park. A resolution adding street lights to the newly constructed intersection on Willis Avenue was also then approved, with Alliant Energy planning to construct them.
The Council then approved a contract for 2014 hangar improvements at the Perry airport. Since more pilots want to bring their aircrafts to Perry and there is currently a waiting list, this contract allows Bolton and Menk to engineer the construction of the proposed hanger with the City being responsible for 30% of the cost and the rest being paid for through a state grant. In a related agenda item, the Council also approved a contract for 2014 apron reconstruction at the airport with the City being responsible for 10% of the cost and the remaining portion coming from a federal grant.
HVAC improvements to the public safety building were then approved, Brown Engineering Company will oversee the project with a service agreement not to exceed $25,200 for their services.
Finally, City Administrator Butch Niebuhr introduced the thought of creating an administrative assistant position at City Hall. Sven Peterson has been an intern in Perry for the past two years. He is about to graduate with a City Planning bachelor’s degree from Iowa State University and plans to enter into a master’s program in Public Administration at Drake University. Niebuhr says he is a year or two out from retiring and thinks that bringing Sven on board would be beneficial for the future of the City, seeing as though he could get to know more about the workings of the City and potentially transition into taking over the City Administrator’s position. Niebuhr says the City does have money in the budget to cover this position and he thinks this would be a smart move to enter at the beginning of the calendar year rather than the fiscal year. If he ends up moving into an assistant manager’s position in the future, Niebuhr says he’s willing to take a pay decrease and give extra money to Peterson for his work. Peterson is from Perry and Niebuhr says this is the best chance for the City to move forward and get a good future City Administrator at a “bargain basement” price. Niebuhr says even after retirement he plans to stay involved in the City and is willing to help consult Peterson when needed. Eklund expressed concern about Peterson handling all the negative feedback that comes with this position. Peterson agreed that though he is young he thinks respect will come with time and he is willing to step up to the plate. Councilman McCaulley expressed financial concerns with adding a position and said he wants to be more comfortable with the decision based on the fact that there will likely be a decrease in revenue coming in with the next fiscal year. Councilman Phil Stone says he’s in favor of training someone in to take over in preparation of the day when Niebuhr retires. He noted that it’s likely a new City Administrator would cost the City as much, if not more, than both Niebuhr’s salary and the additional cost of adding an administrative assistant. Councilman Chuck Schott noted that he was not comfortable with both creating and filling the position all at one time and needed some time to think about options. The proposed resolution stated that Peterson would start on January 1, 2014 with an hourly rate of $18 per hour. Schott made a motion to approve the resolution creating the position but not filling it at this time, that was seconded by Councilman McCaulley. Councilwoman Barb Wolling noted that she’s dealing with a similar issue at her workplace and it’s very important to be proactive. She believes Peterson is the right person for the job or “we don’t know that he isn’t the guy for the job until we give him a chance”. She doesn’t believe there is someone out there who would be in a better position to transition into this spot than Peterson. Mayor Pattee noted that a decade ago the City budget saw a lot of “red ink” and he attributes some of that to City Administrators that came and went and didn’t know all the ins and outs of Perry. In the end, Schott’s motion passed unanimously. A personnel committee with meet with Peterson in the coming weeks and make a recommendation at the first meeting in January.
For more on last night’s meeting and things happening in the City of Perry, tune into today’s Let’s Talk Dallas County program during the 9am, noon and 5pm hours on AM 1310 KDLS.