Belle Plaine, Iowa
April 21, 2021
The Belle Plaine City Council met on April 21, 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, Mark Tegeler and Garrett Landuyt. Also present: City Administrator Stephen Beck, City Clerk Jacki McDermott, and Assistant City Attorney Gage Kensler.
The Pledge of Allegiance was recited.
Motion by Pech to approve the consent agenda consisting of the council minutes of April 7, 2021, and bills received, seconded by Landuyt. On roll call, all voted aye. Motion carried.
Residents Comments: None.
Greg Johnson from Belle Plaine Community Development Corporation was present to announce that there will be no car show on July 3rd as the Legion will hold a car show in September. On July 3rd, there will be some kids’ games downtown and a band. He also said that Director Rachel Montgomery is off to a fantastic start. In other news, representatives from Main Street Iowa were in town, and also hanging baskets and new weighted edge flags are coming for Main Street. The sound system has been running downtown on Tuesdays and Fridays and Saturdays from 10 to 2. Awnings were torn down in the derecho and need to either be replaced or taken off the buildings. He also noted the bio-cells have overgrowth and suggested taking plants out of some of the short cells and filling those with rock. He also suggested an adopt-a-cell program and asked the city if there is money to spend on permeable pavers as many of the bricks have been ruined by salt.
Police Chief Kris Hudson told the Council that Dallas Dvorak is half done with the police academy and will graduate on May 21st. They are also concentrating on abatements and dilapidated housing. He discussed police retention and opening the union contract to renegotiate wages and benefits such as vacation, pay, and hiring bonuses. He also said that talks with the Sheriff’s Department for extra help have not been productive.
Allison Hicks of Garrison from the Benton County Historic Preservation Commission gave a presentation about the Herring Hotel group and their plans for the future. Landuyt remarked that he would like to see a list of committed donors and how much they have committed to the group. Malcolm also remarked that he has no doubt about the integrity and desire of the group but that the funding has to be there. The City Administrator also said that he could talk to the group about the likelihood of grants.
Motion by Malcolm, seconded by Tegeler to approve an RFP for engineering services related to application development, cost benefit analysis, design, bidding, and construction observation service for derecho work. On roll call vote, all voted aye, motion carried. The Clerk was instructed to send it to the League of Cities site and the City Administrator will submit to Veenstra and Kimm, Calhoun and Associates and Anderson Bogert Company.
Motion by Schlesselman, seconded by Landuyt to approve the rewrite of the Business Incentive Grant Program Application form. On roll call vote, all voted aye, motion carried.
The City Treasurer’s Report and the City Budget Report for March were given to the Council for their information. The Mayor said he would contact the solar company to try to get some answers about the solar situation.
The City Administrator, Stephen Beck, told the Council about FEMA grant appeals. He also said that work is starting on replacing roofs at the parks. He also has ordered a camera for livestreaming council meetings.
The Mayor was looking for a volunteer to cover at the Benton Landfill meeting.
Correspondence: The Main Street Iowa Review was shared with the Council.
Old Business: None.
Resident Comments: Mary Preston told the council about upcoming events at Preston’s Station, including unveiling of Interpretive Panels on May 1, 2021 at 10:00 a.m.
Motion by Tegeler to adjourn the meeting, seconded by Landuyt. On roll call, all voted aye. Meeting adjourned at 8:20 p.m.
| Bills Approved by the City Council on April 21, 2021 | |
| $12,196.83 | Allient Energy (school signal electricity) |
| $3,282.50 | Anderson-Bogert Engineers (engineering fees) |
| $148.59 | Belle Plaine Hardware (supplies-all depts) |
| $33.97 | Brenda Brown (water deposit refund) |
| $227.49 | Clerkbooks (checks) |
| $960.00 | Cronbaugh Excavating (debris clean-up) |
| $359.52 | Dallas Dvorak (ILEA mileage) |
| $7,550.00 | Dennis Wiese Tree Service (storm tree removal) |
| $132.62 | Ehlen Plumbing & Heating (sewer pump repairs) |
| $358.00 | Employee Benefit Systems (insurance admin) |
| $377.57 | Filtration Corp. of America (airport fuel farm repairs) |
| $2,300.00 | GFP Tree Service (remove damaged trees) |
| $2,583.00 | GovOffice (website development & hosting) |
| $1,104.67 | Grainger (sewer supplies/airport bldg maint) |
| $1,977.80 | Grieder Standard (fuel – all depts) |
| $5.99 | Hartig Drug (office supplies) |
| $120.00 | Hupfeld Stump Removal (stump removal) |
| $29.98 | Independent Tech Solutions (USB Hub) |
| $2,197.00 | Iowa Dept of Revenue (water/sewer/pool taxes) |
| $30.60 | Iowa One Call (one call fees) |
| $487.75 | John Wagner Law Offices (legal fees) |
| $1,541.30 | Keystone Laboratories (water/sewer lab fees) |
| $228.31 | NPC (credit card fees) |
| $186.74 | Office Express (office supplies) |
| $799.96 | P&K Midwest (gator service & maint) |
| $44.05 | Petty Cash-Clerk (police postage, car wash) |
| $200.00 | Prairie Valley Technologies (phone software upgrade) |
| $12,521.66 | Republic Services (garbage & recycling fees) |
| $65.00 | Rite Way Pest Control (library pest control) |
| $121.94 | Sarah Rueger (water deposit refund) |
| $214.39 | Storey Kenworthy (ink cartridge) |
| $12,300.00 | T&W Grinding (storm debris grinding) |
| $75.00 | Thomas Company (Med Ctr A/C inspection) |
| $286.20 | Thys Motor Co (vehicles serviced) |
| $281,427.50 | UMB Bank (bond & interest payments) |
| $111.18 | USA Communications (phones/internet-all depts) |
| $1,095.81 | Wendling Quarries (sand) |
| $347,682.92 | TOTAL |
Jim Magdefrau 