Regular Council Meeting
December 7, 2015
The City Council of the City of Fayette, Iowa, met in the Fayette City Hall at 7:30 p.m. on Monday, December 7, 2015, Mayor Wenthe presiding.
Roll call: Present - Council members Boberg, McGrane, Nefzger, Patrick, Sorensen.
Moved Nefzger, seconded Sorensen, to approve the consent agenda consisting of the regular meeting minutes of 11/16/15, Claims List of 11/17/15 – 12/07/15 and a Native Wine Permit for Pavo Blue. On roll call, all ayes, carried.
Moved McGrane, seconded Nefzger, to approve the agenda as presented. Patrick asked that the following addition be added to the Fayette Ambulance Service meeting minutes: approval of Dr. Troy Buchholz, Sumner, as the Emergency Medical Director for the Fayette Ambulance Service. All ayes to approve the agenda with the addition, carried.
This being the time and place set for a public hearing on the proposal for authorizing the submission of a CDBG Water/Sewer application and a CDBG Community Facility & Services application to the Iowa Economic Development Authority for the Fayette Downtown Reconstruction Project 2017 to replace water/sewer & storm water mains and the installation of a sewer main on West Water Street, Mayor Wenthe declared the hearing open for public comment. Rachelle Howe, Director of Upper Explorerland Regional Planning Commission, included a review of the following:
- (a)how the need for the activity was identified;
The need was identified as the existing sanitary sewer lines were televised. The results have indicated cracks and holes throughout the pipe and deterioration at some of the service tees. There are also two sections of private sanitary sewers, one on each side of Water Street from Vine Street to King Street. These sections have been problematic causing several blockages and sanitary sewer backups into the homes.
The condition of the water mains is unknown. The City reports that minimal repair work has been needed on the water main. However, the south block of Main Street has several leaking underground storage tanks (LUST) and replacement at this time seems appropriate to coincide with the replacement of the sanitary sewer line.
The storm sewer would be replaced at the same time and the City will be exploring the use of green solutions that would affect the quality of the storm water runoff of Main Street. The storm sewer empties into the Volga River, which is only 1,300 feet from the farthest point of the proposed project and the Volga River State Park is just downstream of the City of Fayette.
- (b)how the proposed activities will be funded and the sources of funds;
The proposed project will be funded by CDBG Water/Sewer funds in the amount of $500,000 and by CDBG Community Facilities & Services funds in the amount of $500,000. The overall cost of the project is estimated to be around $3,164,795.00, leaving the City of Fayette to cover the local match portion.
(c) date the CDBG application will be submitted;
The CDBG Water/Sewer application will be submitted on or before January 8th, 2015 to the Iowa Economic Development Authority (IEDA).
- (d)requested amount of federal funds;
The requested amount is $500,000 from CDBG Water/Sewer and $500,000 from CDBG Community Facilities & Services.
- (e)estimated portion of federal funds that will benefit low-and moderate-income persons;
According to the 2014 HUD LMI numbers, 52.76% of the population in the City of Fayette is considered as low-and-moderate.
(f) where the proposed activities will be conducted;
The project will be conducted downtown along South Main Street from approximately 200’ north of Water Street to Clark Street and along West Water Street from Highway 150 to Main Street, which is within the city limits of Fayette, located in Fayette County.
(g) plans to minimize displacement of persons and businesses resulting of funded activities;
There will be no displacement of persons and businesses as a result of funded activities for the water/sewer project.
(h) plans to assist persons actually displaced;
There are no plans to displace any persons.
(i) the nature of the proposed activities.
The nature of the project is to assist the City of Fayette with the replacement of their water, sewer and storm sewer lines throughout the downtown and install city sewer main on West Water Street to replace private sewer lines for six residences.
City Administrator/Clerk Christie Dennis handed out a spreadsheet to the Mayor and City Council showing where the $2.165 million for the city match for the project would come from with a combination of Revenue Bonds, Road Use Tax and General Obligation Bonds. Dennis noted these grant applications would be Fayette’s second try through the CDBG program. She added that the project wouldn’t start until 2017 if we were awarded both grants.
There being no further comments from the public, Mayor Wenthe closed the public hearing.
Moved Patrick, seconded Boberg, to approve Resolution #2015-21: Authorizing the submission of a CDBG Water/Sewer application and a CDBG Community Facility & Services application to the Iowa Economic Development Authority and authorizing the expenditure of city funds for the required match, pending approval of the applications, and authorizing Upper Explorerland Regional Planning Commission to perform the administration of the grants. On roll call, all voted aye, carried.
Mayor Wenthe thanked the Girl Scouts and Shirley Ungerer, Scout Leader, for furnishing the cookies and drinks for the meet & greet for Fayette’s new police chief, Rich Pisanti, this evening prior to the council meeting. Also, thanked Linda Adams for having the library open for the event. ~ The mayor also thanked Kris McGrane for researching the new computers for the police department and the clerk’s office.
Upon the mayor’s recommendation, moved Boberg, seconded Nefzger, to reappoint Jason Rohde as the Fayette Fire Chief for 2016 and to reappoint Bradley Minger for three more years to the Fayette County Community Foundation Board as Fayette’s representative. Minger’s new term will expire 01/01/2018 and will be his final term because representatives may only serve two terms, three years each. All ayes, carried.
Administrator/Clerk Dennis handed out brochures from Fayette Co. Economic Development that she had received in the mail this date. ~ Dennis announced that Floyd Alber gave a $500 donation and didn’t specify the use. ~ Dennis said she would be listening to a webinar through the EPA for an hour the next day about green infrastructure ideas and Jon Biederman would be one of the presenters, speaking about Monona’s pervious paver parking lot. ~ Dennis called Windstream and had the bandwidth increased in City Hall from 1.5 mbps to 12 mbps, for $20 more, so the internet is faster for the ambulance, police and clerk’s office. ~ The sludge removal from the fourth cell of the sewer lagoons was completed, then Blazek Co. installed the aeration system in that lagoon, finishing on Dec. 4, 2015. Some ventilation issues still need to be looked at and the heater checked in one of the buildings. ~ Dennis gave the abstract and deed for 104 King Street to NEICA, so they officially own that property now. NEICA is applying for funding through a grant application that will be submitted in May 2016 to construct a house on that property.
Moved Nefzger, seconded McGrane, to introduce for discussion a funding request from the Main Street Matters group for flowers on Main Street for 2016. All ayes to discuss. Sue Dohrmann addressed the council and gave them a copy of the group’s latest meeting minutes explaining what their plan is for the flowers and pots. The cost of the flowers will cost $1,050 and they plan to have Lucy Fox plant 8 wave petunias into each of the 30 hanging brackets on February 1st, to give the plants a better start. Dohrmann said getting volunteers to water the flowers was an issue this past summer so their group is going to advertise to try to get groups to volunteer to do the watering. Dennis said she can put their ad on the city web site, city Facebook page and send to the community e-mail list. There isn‘t enough space on the water bills to write much. The group is planning to purchase a new pump/tank because the last one broke near the end of the season. Moved Boberg, seconded Nefzger, to donate $1,000 for the plants, using the $500 donation from Floyd Alber and taking $500 from the General Fund. All ayes, carried.
Moved Boberg, seconded McGrane, to introduce Dave Runyon’s request to widen Big Rock Road for a pedestrian trail when the Big Rock Road project is done next year. All ayes to discuss. Runyon addressed the council and said since the trail and bridge were completed several years ago, they have seen a significant increase in the amount of foot and bicycle traffic go by their house on Big Rock Road. Runyon said because the road is so narrow, he and his wife, Sue, have seen some near misses of people getting hit by vehicles, so they would like to see the road widened for safety. Runyon said they would donate their land for a trail in the ditch. Runyon said they appreciate the trails the city has built and they are a great enhancement to Fayette. Jon Biederman, Fehr-Graham Engineer for the Big Rock Road project, addressed the council and explained that the cost for a four foot trail would be approximately $150,000 and that doesn’t include land acquisition, or additional intakes and storm piping, if needed. Biederman said they are planning to go to bid on the road project in January or the first of February 2016 so construction can begin in the spring/summer. There was discussion about the need for consistent speed enforcement when the new surface is finished on Big Rock Road because people will be speeding. Biederman mentioned that the cost estimates for the Big Road project are coming in a little higher than the allowed budget, so he will present those figures at the next council meeting, Dec. 14th. No decision was made on the pedestrian trail in the ditch because funding would have to be researched.
Moved Boberg, seconded Patrick, to approve the Fayette Ambulance Service meeting minutes of Nov. 4th and to approve Dr. Troy Buchholz, Sumner, as the Emergency Medical Director for the Fayette Ambulance Service. All ayes, carried.
Moved McGrane, seconded Nefzger, to introduce the Dec. 3rd meeting minutes of the Fayette Recreation Board. The Rec. Board provided craft activities at the soup supper put on by Rainbow Land Preschool on Dec. 4th. Looking into having open gym time at the middle school for the winter for children. Moving their meeting time to third Tuesday each month, starting Jan. 19, 2016. Moved Boberg, seconded McGrane, to approve the meeting minutes, carried.
Moved Patrick, seconded McGrane, to approve an amendment to the FY 2015 Annual Urban Renewal Report with the addition of debt obligations for Colonial Manors Memory Care and the low-to-moderate income requirement for Northridge Condominiums. All ayes, carried.
There being no further business, moved Nefzger, unanimous, to adjourn at 8:23 pm.
