Belle Plaine, Iowa
February 17, 2021
The Belle Plaine City Council met on February 17, 2021 at 6:00 p.m. at the Belle Plaine Community Center to allow for social distancing, with Mayor Dave Fish presiding. Present: Mary Pech, Judy Schlesselman, Mitch Malcolm, Garrett Landuyt and Mark Tegeler. Also present: City Administrator Stephen Beck and City Clerk Jacki McDermott.
The Pledge of Allegiance was recited.
Motion by Landuyt to approve the consent agenda consisting of the council minutes of February 3, 2021, and bills received, seconded by Malcolm, with the following corrections: strike the sentence “Schlesselman suggested that we put the length of time of the readings on the bills but she was informed the program will not do that on individual bills.” and to add to the end of the next sentence items to put in the newsletter “length of time and how to read your bill and what factors affect your bill.” Another change was to change “water” to “sewer” on a discussion about waiving a bill. On roll call, all voted aye. Motion carried.
Residents Comments: None.
Motion by Malcolm, seconded by Tegeler to approve the hiring of Houstyn Phinney as a Belle Plaine police officer. On roll call vote, all voted aye, motion carried. The mayor gave Houstyn the Oath of Office.
The mayor opened the public hearing on the Maximum Levy on the FY22 budget at 6:16 p.m. There was no public comment. The mayor closed the public hearing at 6:17 p.m. Motion by Landuyt, seconded by Schlesselman to approve Resolution 21-02-01 approving the maximum levy. All voted Aye; the motion was approved. Motion by Tegeler, seconded by Schlesselman to set the public hearing on the FY22 budget for March 17, 2021, at 6:00 p.m. at the Community Center. On roll call vote, all voted aye, motion carried.
BPCDC Report: Steve Beck, City Administrator, said that representatives from Main Street Iowa will be in town on March 16th and they want two council people to attend. He also said that someone will be offered the Director position soon. He presented the criteria for Business Incentive Grants to the Committee of the Whole to proofread and change. Changes will be added and then proofed before sending back to Belle Plaine Community Development Corporation regarding grants.
Motion by Tegeler, seconded by Pech to allow an extra cat above the limited number of pets at 405 5th Ave. All voted Aye; the motion was approved.
The City Treasurer’s Report and the City Budget Report and the Solar Report for January were given to the Council for their information.
The City Administrator, Stephen Beck, notified the council that the city has applied for a State of Iowa Asbestos Mitigation grant for the Herring Hotel. He also told the council that the engineer from Veenstra and Kimm will be here on February 18th to talk about the water study. He has been notified that the replacement salt and sand shed will be a $25,000 hoop building and it could be six months before it is built. He has also been working on preliminary demolition and asbestos removal quotes for the Herring Hotel.
The City Clerk told the Council news about future grants coming our way, including $24,132 for Covid-19 relief for streets and $9,000 for Covid-19 mitigation at the airport.
Mayor Dave Fish told the council he could put in the newsletter an article about the number of pets allowed at a residence. He also told the council that our Clerkbooks specialist can make programming changes so that the read dates on the meters can be put on the monthly bills. He also gave the council an outline of the items the City Attorney had sent to the Herring Hotel group that they must complete and to send to the City by March 3, 2021.
The mayor attended an Emergency Management meeting in Vinton. He said that Scott Hansen, Emergency Management Director, will not be retiring until 2024. The group will no longer be receiving funding from Alliant Energy for the Palo nuclear plant, so will need to explore other budget options.
The mayor also attended a 911 meeting at Van Horne where the fire and police were being issued new pagers.
He said he received an e-mail about the “racist” sign in the south part of town.
Resident Comments: None
Old Business: None.
Correspondence: None.
Motion by Tegeler to adjourn the meeting, seconded by Landuyt. On roll call, all voted aye. Meeting adjourned at 7:44 p.m.
Dave Fish, Mayor
Attest: Jacki McDermott, City Clerk
| Claims Approved by the City Council on February 17, 2021 | |
| $1,807.56 | Acterra Group (airport fuel farm repairs) |
| $145.65 | Alliant Energy (electric/gas – all depts) |
| $9,182.00 | Anderson-Bogert (engineering fees) |
| $425.00 | ATCO (ice control salt) |
| $600.54 | Barco Municipal Products (truck chains) |
| $2,548.41 | Beck Equipment LLC (bobcat repairs) |
| $423.02 | Belle Plaine Hardware (various-all depts) |
| $16,461.00 | Benton County Solid Waste (per capita fees) |
| $1,305.00 | Blue Valley Public Safety (siren repairs) |
| $90.12 | Carquest (wiper blades & anti gel) |
| $561.48 | Cory’s Truck & Tire (FL70 truck tires & valve stem) |
| $210.00 | Countryside Vet Clinic (boarding strays) |
| $33.00 | Des Moines Stamp (notary stamp-Dallas Dvorak) |
| $1,148.00 | Drahn Insurance (Commercial Fire Premium) |
| $158.98 | Drahos Shoe Store (clothing allowance-shoes) |
| $301.50 | Ehlen Plumbing & Htg (airport heater repairs) |
| $6,500.00 | Faller, Kincheloe & Co PLC (audit completion) |
| $28.50 | Fresh Scents of Iowa (bathroom deodorizer) |
| $1,725.30 | Gahring Machines Inc (loader repairs) |
| $3,500.00 | GFP Tree Service & construction LLC (tree take down) |
| $634.00 | Global Tac 10 (police annual maintenance agreement) |
| $2,542.82 | Grieder Standard (fuel – all depts) |
| $131.60 | Group Services (monthly med ad fee) |
| $2,979.98 | H & L Repair (F700 & FL70 truck repairs) |
| $781.00 | Iowa Assn of Municipal Utilities (water member dues) |
| $30.00 | Iowa League of Cities (Mayor Assn dues) |
| $233.00 | John Wagner Law Offices (legal fees) |
| $1,285.30 | Keystone Laboratories (lab fees) |
| $12.51 | Koch Office Group (copier copies) |
| $1,086.75 | Kollmorgen, Schlue & Zahradnik (legal fees) |
| $90.50 | LEAF (copier lease) |
| $2,259.38 | Midwest One-VISA (call-em-all, quickbooks, DPH reg programs) |
| $107.79 | NPC (credit card fees) |
| $23.99 | Office Express (ink) |
| $69.00 | Our Town Publications (Comm Ctr employment ad) |
| $6.00 | Petty Cash (police postage) |
| $375.68 | Register Media (Jan legals) |
| $10,921.66 | Republic Services (garbage/recycle fees) |
| $12.95 | Rylie Davis (water deposit refund) |
| $750.00 | Tomash Professional Home Inspection (bldg inspection) |
| $27.96 | Town & Country Wholesale (supplies) |
| $305.55 | USA Communications (phone service-all depts) |
| $53.08 | US Cellular (police cell phone) |
| $7,292.88 | VGM Forbin (city hall computers) |
| $822.04 | Wendling Quarries (ice control sand) |
| $79,990.48 | |
| January 2021 SUMMARY OF RECEIPTS AND DISBURSEMENTS | |
| Revenues by Fund | |
| General | $10,068.29 |
| Windstorm 2020 | $68,555.98 |
| COVID-19 | $57,990.42 |
| Road Use | $29,314.74 |
| Special Revenue (exc Road Use & Covid and Windstorm) | $39,891.71 |
| Capital Projects | $0.00 |
| Debt Service (proceeds of debt) | $4,677.91 |
| Airport | $6,908.60 |
| Water Project 2019 | $0.00 |
| Water | $33,103.11 |
| Sewer Capital Project | $0.00 |
| Sewer | $36,310.45 |
| Landfill/Garbage | $19,896.81 |
| Storm Water | $4,872.00 |
| Yard Waste | $2,296.00 |
| $313,886.02 | |
| Disbursements by Fund | |
| General | $35,937.62 |
| Windstorm 2020 | $35,988.26 |
| COVID-19 Spending | $264.00 |
| Prairie Park | $0.00 |
| Partners for Beautification | $0.00 |
| Road Use | $23,534.78 |
| Donovan Spending | $0.00 |
| Equipment | -$180.00 |
| Economic Development | $0.00 |
| Housing & Urban Development | $0.00 |
| Employee Benefits | $14,390.56 |
| Emergency Fund | $0.00 |
| Police Forfeiture | $439.46 |
| LOST | $15.99 |
| TIF | $0.00 |
| Medical Bldg | $0.00 |
| Community Center | $291.38 |
| Library Improvement | $593.20 |
| Capital Projects | $1,435.86 |
| Debt Service | $0.00 |
| Airport | $5,706.51 |
| Water Project 2019 | $0.00 |
| Water | $26,991.88 |
| Sewer Project | $0.00 |
| Sewer | $42,724.39 |
| Landfill/Garbage | $18,294.93 |
| Stormwater | $4,005.98 |
| Yard Waste | $665.23 |
| $211,100.03 |
Jim Magdefrau 