Belle Plaine, Iowa

March 2, 2022

The Belle Plaine City Council met on March 2, 2022, at 6:00 p.m. at the Belle Plaine Community Center to allow for social distancing, with Mayor Dave Fish presiding. Present: Mitch Malcolm, Mary Pech, Judy Schlesselman, Garrett Landuyt and Lyle Morrow. Also present: City Administrator Stephen Beck, City Clerk Sandy Walton, and City Attorney Jennifer Zahradnik. The Pledge of Allegiance was recited.

A minute of silence was observed in honor of Henry B. Tippie.

Motion by Schlesselman, seconded by Malcolm to approve the Consent Agenda, the Council Minutes of February 16, 2022 (as corrected), the receiving & filing of minutes from the February 22, 2022, Belle Plaine Community Library Board of Trustees meeting, and bills received. On roll call vote, all voted aye, motion carried.

Resident Comments: Bonnie & Delbert Meeks of 1404 2nd Avenue expressed their dissatisfaction with council’s slow progress with the nuisance property at 1402 2nd Avenue. Randy and Tina Beal of 1003 9th Avenue were also in attendance made some inquiries/suggestions on the sweeping of main street.

Curtis Brown was present to update the council on the demolition progress of 1504 7th Avenue. He was notified that gas was disconnected on 2/15/22. His plumber has advised to wait to disconnect the water line due to frost and how close phone lines are to the area needed to terminate service. The two sheds have been torn down and rubble will be removed next weekend. He said he will keep the mayor informed of additional progress.

A discussion was held regarding the property at 1402 2nd Avenue. A draft letter prepared by our City Attorney was presented to council for approval. Motion by Pech, seconded by Morrow to give the Mayor and City Administrator power to approve a revised letter after suggested changed have been made so that it can be mailed on March 3rd.On roll call vote, all voted aye, motion carried.

Motion by Malcolm, seconded by Landuyt to approve the third and final reading of Ordinance #22-5: an ordinance amending the code of ordinances of the City of Belle Plaine, Iowa, by amending the provisions pertaining to the boundaries and ward divisions. On roll call vote, all voted aye, motion carried. The ordinance will become law upon publication.

Resolution #22-03-02, a resolution regarding reasonable accommodation requests for service animals located with city limits was tabled until the March 16, 2022, meeting.

Motion by Landuyt, seconded by Pech to approve a one-time utility credit at 1106 13th Street due to a toilet issue. On roll call vote, all voted aye, motion carried.

Motion by Morrow, seconded by Schlesselman to approve a one-time utility credit at 904 5th Avenue due to a toilet leak. On roll call vote, all voted aye, motion carried.

Motion by Pech, seconded by Malcolm to approve a one-time utility credit at 402 7th Street due to a broken pipe. On roll call vote, all voted aye, motion carried.

Motion by Morrow, seconded by Landuyt to approve the renewal of the Class C beer permit & Class E liquor license with Sunday service for Karam Kaur Khasriya LLC commonly known as Zip Mart located at 702 13th Street, Belle Plaine, Iowa. On roll call vote, all voted aye, motion carried.

The Committee of the Whole discussed possible methods to begin having city council meetings broadcast to the public. Plans are to live stream over YouTube with a link back to our website. Current plans are to have this up and running for the April meetings. Also, meetings will move back to Council Chambers at City Hall starting with the April 6th Council Meeting.

The City Administrator, Stephen Beck, gave his report. He is working with Veenstra & Kimm and on getting the water report wrapped up. If they cannot provide soon, he is to ask them to again attend a council meeting so they can address council directly on progress. More chemistry tests have been taken from our distribution system and well 6. Since well 6 was intended to be a back-up, emergency well that has had to perform for months now, we must work on resolving system deficiencies and determine appropriate actions going forward. We must respond to the DNR with our plans by the end of March.

Mayor Fish reported that there were three candidates that applied for the heavy equipment operator position. Council persons Pech & Landuyt will join Mayor Fish and City Administrator Steve Beck in the interview process which will be set up soon (Council person Morrow will be an alternate if Pech or Landuyt become unavailable). Resume copies will be made available to this hiring committee. He attended both ECICOG and landfill meetings this past week. The BDG meeting was cancelled. The one sealed bid received for auditor services was opened. A resolution will be prepared potentially accepting the bid at the next council meeting. Sandy will scan the bid & 3-year agreement and send to council members and our city attorney for further review. Many members of the council plan to attend the Tippie visitation or funeral this weekend.

Motion by Landuyt, seconded by Malcolm to approve the emergency MOU with our police department with one addition regarding reimbursement. On roll call vote, all voted aye, motion carried. Dave & Steve with follow-up with appropriate people on Thursday, March 3rd.

Correspondence: Discussions on accessory structures and a civil citation, lengthy resident comments and the Herring Hotel were held following an email request from one of the council members. We will have the zoning administrator issue the appropriate civil citation due to a building code violation. Malcolm and Beck will plan to meet with SHIPPO to get clarity on removing the Herring Hotel from the registry and/or tearing it down. The mayor will continue to encourage residents to attend and comment at council meetings, but try to keep those comments concise.

Old Business: none

Resident Comments: None

Discussion was held in regard to the recently received DNR report.

Motion by Landuyt to adjourn the meeting, seconded by Malcolm. On roll call vote, all voted Aye. Meeting adjourned at 8:45 p.m.