The Belle Plaine City Council met on October 7, 2020, at 6:00 p.m. with Mayor Dave Fish presiding in the council chambers. Council members who answered roll call were Mitch Malcolm, Mary Pech, Judy Schlesselman, Garrett Landuyt and Mark Tegeler. Also attending were City Administrator Stephen Beck, City Clerk Jacki McDermott, Assistant City Attorney Gage Kensler and Assistant City Clerk Sandy Walton. The Pledge of Allegiance was recited.
Motion by Landuyt, seconded by Malcolm to approve the Consent Agenda, the Council Minutes of September 16, 2020 and bills received. On roll call vote, all voted Aye, motion carried.
Resident Comments: Bob and Joyce Ausberger of Jefferson, Iowa were present to talk about saving the Herring Hotel. Malcolm explained that there is not much local interest. Ausberger said that they will try to get pledges for the project. City Administrator Stephen Beck said that they need to understand that the City will be seeking grants to demolish the building. Fire Chief Jason Kaplan was present to tell the Council that the recently acquired fire truck is in service now and to talk about the Fireman’s Dance that is upcoming this weekend.
Assistant City Clerk Sandy Walton gave a presentation about switching the city messaging service from Nixle to Text-Em-All. The difference in the price is almost $1,500 per year and the services are comparable. Motion by Malcolm, seconded by Schlesselman to switch the city messaging service to Text-Em-All. On roll call vote, all voted Aye, motion carried.
The Committee of the Whole discussed a parking issue at 16th Street and 8th Avenue and advised that they were dropping the issue and if residents have problems they can call the police.
Trunk or Treat, which is sponsored by Belle Plaine Community Development Corporation, was discussed. Plans are to block off from 8th Avenue to 10th Avenue on Main Street for a 2:00 p.m. event on Saturday October 31st. They will have the children walk in two lines that won’t meet and wear masks aside from their Halloween masks. Participants are encouraged to decorate their trunks for the children to see. Participants and businesses will donate candy and sacks will be handed out at the end. Motion by Malcolm, seconded by Pech to approve the BPCDC plans for Trunk or Treat. On roll call vote, all voted Aye, motion carried.
City wide Trick or Treat was also discussed. Trick or Treat will be held from 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. on October 31st. If citizens do not wish to participate, they can shut off their porch lights. The City will encourage safe practices and the mayor will publish guidelines. Motion by Landuyt, seconded by Tegeler to approve Trick or Treat in Belle Plaine. On roll call vote, all voted Aye, motion carried.
The Council discussed closing 12th Street from 10th Avenue to 11th Avenue for the Fire Dance on October 10th. They will get their fencing and posts from Keystone and the city will need to barricade the street. Alcohol must be consumed inside the building, but people can listen to the music inside the fence. Motion by Pech, seconded by Landuyt to approve closing 12th Street on October 10th for the dance. On roll call vote, all voted Aye, motion carried.
Motion by Malcolm, seconded by Schlesselman, to appoint Dan Drahos to the Zoning Board. On roll call vote, all voted Aye, motion carried.
Motion by Schlesselman, seconded by Landuyt, to appoint Jeff Coover to the Zoning Board. On roll call vote, all voted Aye, motion carried.
Motion by Malcolm, seconded by Landuyt, to approve the renewal of the Class E Liquor License (LE), a Class B Wine Permit, and a Class C Beer Permit with carryout beer and Sunday Sales for Grieder Beverage Deport at 708 13th Street in Belle Plaine. On roll call vote, all voted Aye, motion carried.
The Council voted to divide the donations from the Windstorm 2020 fund. Motion by Landuyt, seconded by Schlesselman, to donate 25% of the donations to the Belle Plaine Fire Department and 25% of the donations to the Belle Plaine Ambulance. On roll call vote, all voted Aye, motion carried.
Motion by Tegeler, seconded by Pech, to donate 6% of the donations to the Belle Plaine Congregational Church and 44% of the donations to the Belle Plaine Ministerial Union. On roll call vote, all voted Aye, motion carried. Malcolm also noted that the Historical Society will be involved with fundraising for the damage at the cemetery. Tree replacement will also be a topic for later.
The City Administrator Stephen Beck reported that a claims adjuster for EMC came and spent two days looking at damage to city property. The next step will be a report from him on the scope of the loss and what insurance will cover. The City did receive a check for $9500 for the loss of the mural on Highway 30. Rhonda Wittrock from Wittrock T-Shirts had also expressed an interest in the project of replacing the mural on Highway 30th with the proceeds of t-shirt sales after the derecho.
Beck noted that the insurance company identified 32 sites in the city that are insured. Franklin Park, the well field and Well 6 are the worst damaged areas. Contractors will be involved to fix the damages and claims to insurance will be made. FEMA grants will be applied for to cover what insurance does not cover. He also discussed the increased work load at the Clerk’s office because of the windstorm insurance claims and FEMA grants, and started making plans to cover this problem.
The Mayor reported that he has attended several meetings and reported about those meetings. Benton Landfill has accepted all of the wood chips from the Belle Plaine mulch pile. At East Central Iowa Council of Governments (ECICOG), they went over reports. At Benton County Emergency Management, he learned that the Duane Arnold Energy Center at Palo has shut down totally and all of the funding from Alliant is gone for Benton County Emergency Management. The Emergency Management budget will now ask the county to make up the funding that Alliant Energy used to pay. At Benton Development Group, they are considering development along Highway 30. Iowa County tried to hire Kate Robertson, Executive Director, away for an $8,000 salary increase, so Benton Development Group matched that salary.
Correspondence: The mayor has heard from the “Above the Influence” group and also he received a thank you from the Food Pantry for the donation of $1,000 from the Windstorm 2020 donations.
Old Business: none
Motion by Tegeler to adjourn the meeting, seconded by Landuyt. On roll call vote, all voted Aye. Meeting adjourned at 7:57 p.m.
Transcribed by the Assistant City Clerk subject to Council approval.
| Claims Approved by the City Council on October 7, 2020 | |
| $790.00 | ACCO (pool paint) |
| $137.93 | Alliant (credit on bills) |
| $121.94 | Angelina Batterson (water deposit refund) |
| $137.15 | Avesis (vision insurance) |
| $2,248.33 | Belle Plaine Ambulance Service (donation distribution) |
| $2,248.33 | Belle Plaine Fire Department (donation distribution) |
| $237.07 | Belle Plaine Hardware (supplies all depts) |
| $345.00 | Benton County Sheriff’s Office (police taser training cartridges) |
| $3,308.50 | Benton County Solid Waste Commission (gate fees) |
| $418.00 | Brown Supply Co. (manhole lid & sater supplies) |
| $102.82 | Carquest (battery for storm) |
| $94.30 | Casey’s (police fuel) |
| $227.04 | Clerkbooks (voucher checks) |
| $1,000.00 | Country Foods (For meat donation for food pantry) |
| $1,540.69 | Cummins Sales and Service (new fire truck repairs) |
| $775.00 | Dennis Wiese (storm cleanup) |
| $115.00 | Donald Piano Service (library piano tuning) |
| $35.00 | East Side Body Shop (towing police car) |
| $539.60 | First Congregational Church (donation distribution) |
| $57.00 | Fresh Scents of Iowa (bathroom deodorizers) |
| $850.00 | Furler Utility Services (sewer licensing) |
| $30.00 | Gahring Machine Inc (man hole cover) |
| $10.26 | Galls (dty sock) |
| $288.08 | The Gazette (library newspaper subscription) |
| $1,869.08 | Grieder Standard (fuel all depts) |
| $75.20 | Group Services (Med Ad Fee – Nov) |
| $4,030.00 | Hamilton Construction & Concrete (storm debris cleanup) |
| $29.25 | Hawkeye Fire & Safety (recharge fire extinguishers) |
| $555.42 | Hawkins (water chemicals) |
| $18,065.00 | Hupfeld Stump Removal (storm cleanup) |
| $220.00 | Independent Tech Solutions (laptop screen replacement) |
| $210.00 | Iowa DNR (annual sewer NPDES fee) |
| $49.50 | Iowa One Call (one calls) |
| $88.66 | Janice Henry (refund of credit balance on acct at closing) |
| $1,129.30 | Keystone Laboratories (lab fees) |
| $13,722.50 | Kinzenbaw Earthmoving (storm debris cleanup) |
| $2,377.25 | KMDE LLC (solar panels all depts) |
| $6.86 | Koch Office Group (library copier contract copies) |
| $1,390.00 | Kollmorgen, Schlue & Zahradnik (legal services) |
| $114.72 | Kris Hudson (mileage/meals for training) |
| $102.44 | LEAF (copier lease) |
| $2,495.00 | Life Time Fence Company (supply and install white PVC fence) |
| $1,151.10 | Macqueen Equipment (sweeper repair) |
| $238.41 | Manatts (sand) |
| $10,000.00 | Maureen Carroll Devine (park & rec truck) |
| $460.00 | McClenathan Excavation (repair of water stop) |
| $3,957.04 | Miniserial Union (donation distribution) |
| $18,000.00 | Monticello Fire Dept (fire truck purchase) |
| $3,906.21 | Municipal Supply (pump repairs) |
| $485.32 | North American Rescue (bleeding control kits from forfeiture acct) |
| $5,571.88 | Northway Well & Pump Co (wastewater lift pump #3) |
| $296.22 | P & K Midwest (small equipment repair) |
| $3.45 | Petty Cash (city hall cleaning supplies) |
| $273.00 | Port O Jonny (portable restrooms) |
| $322.05 | Postmaster (utility bill postage) |
| $200.00 | Republic Services (add’l storm dumpster) |
| $605.49 | Radio Communications (fire & police radios & sirens) |
| $2,640.00 | Richard Allen (storm damage clean-up) |
| $1,961.35 | Scharnweber (set Franklin Park pole & traffic light repairs) |
| $76.45 | Sirchie (fingerprint equipment & cloth masks) |
| $34.96 | Star Press Union (library newspaper subscription) |
| $176.55 | Storey Kenworthy (office supplies) |
| $186.94 | Streicher’s (police equipment from forfeture acct) |
| $164.92 | Sunset Law Enforcement (duty ammunition for officers) |
| $11,905.42 | Thomas Company (storm damage work) |
| $280.00 | Thys Motor (truck rental for cleanup) |
| $53.50 | Timber Gate Gardens (plant fom forfeture acct) |
| $575.00 | Trent Grieder (mowing) |
| $59.00 | Trugreen (pool lawn service) |
| $7,147.82 | United Health Care (health insurance premium) |
| $189.15 | UNUM (life insurance premium) |
| $875.51 | USA Communications (phone and internet all depts) |
| $206.20 | VGM Forbin (remote access & tech support for police laptop) |
| $80.02 | Verizon (police phone ) |
| $38.46 | Wayne Parizek (reimburse for restroom ceiling sign-Comm Ctr) |
| $566.18 | Wellmark (dental insurance premium) |
| $321.63 | Wendling Quarries (rock) |
| $135,196.45 |
Jim Magdefrau 