REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING
July 6, 2021
The City Council of the City of Fayette, Iowa, met Tuesday, July 6, 2021, at 6:00 pm in the Community Room at the Fayette Community Library pursuant to law and rules of said council, Mayor Wenthe presiding.
Roll call: Present - Council members Post, Potratz (via telephone), Tenney, Tucker and Wulfekuhle.
Moved Post, seconded Wulfekuhle, to approve the consent agenda items consisting of the regular meeting minutes of 6/21/21, the claims list of 6/19/21 - 7/2/21 and the May 2021 Financial Reports. Roll call, all ayes, motion carried.
Moved Tenney, seconded Wulfekuhle, to approve the agenda as presented. All ayes, motion carried.
Mayor Wenthe informed the council of the activities that will be held during the Concert and Cones event this Saturday at Cardinal Park from 5-9PM.
Upon Mayor Wenthe’s request, moved Wulfekuhle, seconded Post, to appoint Shaun Arman to the Fayette Fire Department. All ayes, motion carried.
City Administrator/Clerk McGrane advised the council 3 blocks of S. Main Street received new asphalt on 6/30/2021. McGrane met with Lyle Miller to discuss the city's insurance renewal. There were some significant increases mostly due to inflation of property values, an approximate 13% rate increase and discounts no longer being provided. Miller advised he was informed all insurance renewal premiums are going up. McGrane updated the council on the American Rescue Plan Act and that we will soon be able to request our allocation of funds. McGrane advised city hall has continued to be busy with utility move-outs and closing out Fiscal Year 2021.
Moved Tenney, seconded Tucker, to discuss the process of changing the city council member terms from 2 years to 4 years. McGrane provided part of Iowa Code Chapter 376 and 362 regarding city election terms and petition of eligible electors. McGrane advised a petition must be started by a citizen requesting this change and must have a minimum of 27 signatures from eligible voters. Once we receive the petition, the city council may accept the petition and pass a Resolution asking the county auditor to place it on the ballot for the next election. No formal action was taken.
Moved Tenney, seconded Post, to discuss Resolution 2021-18. Moved Post, seconded Tucker, to adopt Resolution 2021-18 authorizing the approval of changes to the vehicle policy in the Fayette Police Operating Guidelines and Procedure Manual. Roll call, all ayes, motion carried.
Moved Tenney, seconded Wulfekuhle, to discuss Resolution 2021-19. Moved Tucker, seconded Post, to adopt Resolution 2021-19 authorizing the Mayor and City Administrator to deliver to the Fayette County Commissioner of Elections a request to submit the question of an extension of the local option sales and service tax to the qualified electors of the City of Fayette, Iowa, on November 2, 2021. Roll call, all ayes, motion carried.
Moved Tenney, seconded Wulfekuhle, to discuss Resolution 2021-20. McGrane included information that the City of Adel had when they recently passed the hotel and motel tax. Wulfekuhle shared the reasons she was not in favor of the tax including that Fayette doesn't have enough tourism to bring many people to our area to stay at our hotel. Tenney thought that all cities had this tax until she was elected on city council and doesn't feel like it would turn much business away from our hotel. Potratz advised if people go anywhere else in Fayette County to stay at a hotel or motel they will have to pay for the tax which benefits their communities. Moved Potratz, seconded Tenney, to adopt Resolution 2021-20 authorizing the Mayor and City Administrator to deliver to the Fayette County Commissioner of Elections a request to submit the question of a hotel and motel tax to the qualified electors of the City of Fayette, Iowa, on November 2, 2021 at the 7% tax rate. Roll call, ayes - Post, Potratz, Tenney and Tucker; nays - Wulfekuhle; motion carried.
Moved Tenney, seconded Post, to discuss and approve the contract change order number 2 for the Water Street improvements project 20-897. Jon Biederman from Fehr Graham was present to provide an update and explanation. He advised this change order is the remainder of the added costs due to the extra rock they ran into when digging for the new sanitary sewer line. The pay estimate is for the month of June. The sanitary sewer amount includes the private lines that will be paid back to the city by the citizens when the city bills them. The cost of the private lines came in below the estimates. They are currently working on the storm sewer and are hoping to finish it this week. Next week they will hopefully be working on the new water line which is the full length of the street. Moved Post, seconded Tenney, to approve the contract change order number 2 for the Water Street improvements project 20-897 in the amount of $2,640. All ayes, motion carried.
Moved Tenney, seconded Post, to discuss partial pay estimate number 3 to Heartland Asphalt, Inc. for the Water Street improvements project in the amount of $54,561.82. Moved Tucker, seconded Post, to approve partial pay estimate number 3 to Heartland Asphalt, Inc. for the Water Street improvements project 20-897 in the amount of $54,561.82. All ayes, motion carried.
Moved Tenney, seconded Tucker, to discuss and consider accepting a written RFP to engage a CPA firm to perform the City's required annual examination for the year ending June 30, 2021, June 30, 2022, or June 30, 2023. McGrane provided a procedures engagement RFP for the council to look over and gave them the choice if they wanted to lock in a CPA firm for one, two or three years. Moved Tucker, seconded Post, to approve and accept the written RFP as presented for the year ending June 30, 2021 and 2022 (2 years). All ayes, motion carried.
Moved Tenney, seconded Post, to discuss and consider purchasing a concrete pad for the Freedom Rock kiosk and military branch emblems for around the Freedom Rock. Mallory Hanson, the Fayette County Economic Development and Tourism Director, provided a letter with cost estimates for a 5'x5' concrete pad from Croell, Inc. in the amount of $126 and 5 stainless steel military branch emblems from Echo Valley MetalWorks in the amount of $500. Moved Post, seconded Wulfekuhle, to approve purchasing a concrete pad and military branch emblems for around the Freedom Rock out of the park fund. All ayes, motion carried.
There being no further business, moved Wulfekuhle, unanimous, to adjourn at 6:47 pm.
