The Perry City Council met in regular session last night.
At the meeting, City Administrator Butch Niebuhr mentioned that Alliant Energy and Interstate Power and Light will be working in town for the next couple years and working on getting easements. He also mentioned that he, Finance Officer Susie Moorhead and Administrative Assistant Sven Peterson have already been through the first round of budget requests with department heads. A public meeting with the Council has been set for 8am on January 29th.
Next, Mayor Jay Pattee recapped 2014 and highlights for the City, similar to what he talked about in our four part Let’s Talk Dallas County program earlier this month.
During open forum, TJ Maylum, a special education teacher at Perry High School, addressed the Council in regards to low income housing options. Maylum lives just south of Perry and says teachers have a difficult case load to deal with currently at the schools, with a lot of the focus being on students who come from low income housing. Eddie Diaz, another teacher in the school district, then stepped up to the mic to address the Council also in regards to housing. He says he’s optimistic about the future of Perry but they’re concerned that people might be looking for short term gains for long term goals. Kevin Wicks was the third to address the Council, also about the housing issue. He says it’s important to promote Perry and add value to the community. He says Perry doesn’t always have the best reputation and there are hurdles to overcome in the eyes of other people. Wicks says Perry shoulders a lot of the burden when it comes to low income housing in Dallas County. Councilman Dr. Randy McCaulley responded by saying that a housing committee is looking at ways to bring housing to the community that attracts moderate income citizens. He also said that Perry’s median income is significantly lower than other communities in the the County, which makes it attractive to developers wanting to build low income facilities. Mayor Jay Pattee added that developers that come in and apply for tax credits, sometimes the City doesn’t get the payback on that because property values are lower due to that designation. Councilman Phil Stone suggested an ad hoc committee be developed to discuss these options moving forward. Councilman Chuck Schott said he appreciated the gentlemen’s time in coming to address the Council and show that they care about the issue.
A public hearing was then held in regards to vacating a public owned right-of-way. Bear Development has requested the City vacates an alleyway and 18 foot strip along with west side of Block 22. If their project is selected for funding through the Iowa Finance Authority, they plan to purchase the land in that area to build a multi-family housing complex. Diaz and Wicks asked questions of Dave Ginger, who was in attendance representing Bear Development, in regards to their plans for the property. Diaz said the statistics shared with him and the Council are very concerning and he encouraged the Council to vote no on vacating this public right-of-way because he does not want to see this project continue to move forward. Wicks stepped up and echoed Diaz’s comments saying he feels that not enough discussion has been had. Maylum also recommended a No vote or tabling the issue so that more discussion could be had. At this time, Bear Development does not own this property as their purchase agreement depends on getting approved for funding through the Iowa Finance Authority.
Following the public hearing, Councilman Phil Stone made a motion to approve the vacation of the right-of-way in order to discuss the issue and make a decision that evening. The motion failed after not being seconded, as a result the issue was tabled and will be further discussed at a future meeting.
A two year general engineering agreement with Bolton and Menk was then approved, with no increase in fees. A professional services agreement for environmental analysis at the Perry Airport was then approved. This is related to the future land acquisition and runway shift at the airport, the agreement is not to exceed $79,950 without prior approval by the Council.
A supplemental agreement for maintenance and repair of primary roads with the Iowa Department of Transportation was then approved. This covers snow removal, street lighting, and traffic control through June 30th of this year.
Next the Council approved the installation of street lights by Alliant Energy at the intersection of 18th Street and Park Street to help with visibility.
A resolution authorizing sale of a 2009 Chevrolet Impala owned by the Perry Police Department was then approved. The City will calculate and obtain the best possible sale price by bid, trade or auction.
Temporary placement of the communications facility was then approved. Perry Water Works plans to complete necessary maintenance to the water tower, which requires all communication devices to be removed. Verizon Wireless will relocate their antenna that currently sits on the tower while the project is being completed. Water works superintendent Hank Schmidt says the two other companies that have antennas on the water tower have not yet gotten back to them as far as their plans to temporarily relocate equipment when the project is being completed.
The second regular City Council meeting in February has been rescheduled to Tuesday, the 17th in observance of President’s Day and the first meeting in September will be held on Tuesday, the 8th because of Labor Day.
Police Chief Eric Vaughn was then appointed to the Dallas County E911 Board and Emergency Management Commission, with Lori Riley serving as the alternate.
Finally, Phil Stone was appointed as Mayor pro-tem, Carolyn McNeill with Perry Day Care was appointed to the Dallas County Early Childhood Education Board and building inspector Steve Tibbles was appointed to the Central Iowa Regional Housing Authority Housing Committee, with all terms expiring at the end of the year.
For more on the meeting, tune into today’s Let’s Talk Dallas County when we speak with City Administrator Butch Niebuhr during the 9am, noon and 5pm hours on AM 1310 KDLS.