Belle Plaine, Iowa

April 6, 2022

The Belle Plaine City Council met on April 6, 2022, at 6:00 p.m. in the council chambers 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.

Item 7.B. about School Safety Zones was postponed and therefore removed from this agenda. Also the word swamp was replaced with swap in the land trade resolution. Motion by Landuyt, seconded by Malcolm to approve the Consent Agenda, the Council Minutes of March 16, 2022, special council minutes of March 23, 2022, the receiving & filing of minutes from the March 22, 2022, meeting of the Belle Plaine Community Library Board of Trustees, and bills received. On roll call vote, all voted aye, motion carried.

Resident comments were received from the following individuals all in favor of having the City of Belle Plaine approve urban chickens: Melissa Kriegel of 807 7^th St, Holli Carlson of 1405 6^th Ave, Deb Gensley of 405 7^th St, Allana Schwenn of 1510 3^rd Ave, Johnny DeRaad of 404 4^th St, and Matthew Clark of 709 10^th St.

Mayor Fish opened the public hearing at 6:11 p.m. to accept bids and grant application for the pavement rehabilitation project at the Belle Plaine Airport in Belle Plaine, Iowa. Joe Roenfeldt of Bolton & Menk, Inc. was present to answer any questions that residents or the council had regarding the project. He pointed out that the project is funded with 90% federal funds and 10% airport or trust funds.

Mayor Fish closed the public hearing at 6:19 p.m. concerning the bids and grant application for the pavement rehabilitation project at the Belle Plaine Airport in Belle Plaine, Iowa.

Motion by Malcolm, seconded by Morrow to accept the low bid from Iowa Civil Contracting Inc. of Victor, Iowa in the amount of $273,944. On roll call vote, all voted aye, motion carried.

Motion by Schlesselman, seconded by Pech to authorize the signing of the grant application and submission to the FAA. On roll call vote, all voted aye, motion carried.

The Committee of the Whole heard a presentation by Tracy Papesh of 601 11^th St. in favor of allowing Urban Chickens in the city limits of Belle Plaine. The council listened to the presentation and after asking several questions will have the mayor and clerk modify the draft ordinance provided by Tracy in her presentation packet. The draft ordinance will be presented to the council for review upon completion (at one of the next two meetings).

A letter from Kirkwood regarding a proposal of possibly transitioning their building in Belle Plaine to the City as a “gift” was presented to the council. Motion by Malcolm, seconded by Pech to have our City Administrator with our City Attorney draft a deal to accept their proposal. On roll call vote, all voted aye, motion carried.

A discussion was held regarding the properties at 1306 6^th Avenue and 1411 10^th Avenue. The current owner has indicated that he will be selling both properties. Motion by Landuyt, seconded by Morrow to have our City Attorney file a dangerous building notice for both properties with the Benton County Recorder and draft resolutions regarding these properties for the next meeting. On roll call vote, all voted aye, motion carried.

A list of updated/proposed auxiliary water department charges was presented to council for their review. Motion by Morrow, seconded by Schlesselman to approve the list as presented. On roll call vote, all voted aye, motion carried.

Motion by Malcolm, seconded by Pech to approve Resolution #22-04-01: a resolution setting a public hearing on delinquent animal licenses for 6 p.m. on May 4, 2022. On roll call vote, all voted aye, motion carried.

Motion by Morrow, seconded by Landuyt to approve Resolution #22-04-02: a resolution approving the transfer of funds between accounts. On roll call vote, all voted aye, motion carried.

Motion by Schlesselman, seconded by Pech to approve Resolution #22-04-03: a resolution to not transfer funds from the water account to debt service for this fiscal year. On roll call vote, all voted aye, motion carried.

Motion by Landuyt, seconded by Malcolm to approve Resolution #22-04-04: a resolution approving the designation of SLFRF funds for the City of Belle Plaine, Iowa. On roll call vote, all voted aye, motion carried.

Motion by Landuyt, seconded by Schlesselman to approve Resolution #22-04-05: a resolution regarding the city of Belle Plaine and Belle Plaine Community School District land swap. On roll call vote, all voted aye, motion carried.

Motion by Pech, seconded by Schlesselman to approve a one-time utility credit at 1306 8^th Avenue due to a water softener problem. On roll call vote, all voted aye, motion carried.

Motion by Schlesselman, seconded by Landuyt to approve the appointment of Morgan Mitchell to the Belle Plaine Community Library Board of Trustees to complete Angel Brecht’s term of office. On roll call vote, all voted aye, motion carried.

Motion by Morrow, seconded by Malcolm to approve the renewal of the Class C liquor license commercial, with Sunday Sale & Outdoor Service for Grand Central Station Inc, at 803 12^th Street, Belle Plaine, Iowa. On roll call vote, all voted aye, motion carried.

Motion by Landuyt, seconded by Pech to approve a film permit for Warm Springs Production to film in Belle Plaine in mid-April including the use of a drone. On roll call vote, all voted aye, motion carried. Steve will let them know the city’s approval and provide our airport manager’s name and phone number to them.

The City Administrator, Stephen Beck, gave his report on progress made with the DNR on the sanitary survey and the viability assessment. Steve Marsh from IAMU met with Steve this week on the recommendation from the DNR. Our new heavy equipment operator, Jay Hamilton, started this week. The guys are working on several projects to inventory our water assets (parts, supplies, etc.) and general clean-up activities at the wastewater treatment plant. We are still in the running for the $300,000 upper story living grant that was submitted for The Depot renovation. We were granted a $5,000 tree grant from Alliant Energy/Trees Forever that we will utilize this fall. Lastly, team meetings are starting every other Friday with city staff.

Mayor Fish reported on recent meetings attended for Emergency Management, Iowa County/Benton Development, Benton Development Group, ECICOG and Benton Landfill.

Correspondence: None

Old Business: Judy inquired on the status of the debris pile at 1111 15^th Street. Steve reported she is still waiting on quotes to come back. Judy also asked about the city-owned property at 910 8^th Avenue as what is the plan. The City will put out a request for sealed bids in the next couple of months. Lastly Judy inquired about the old Herring Hotel status. Steve has tried to pin-down what needs to be done and whether we could tear it down without removing it from the historic registry if we did not seek federal funds but has not received a definitive answer. Mitch will try to help with this.

Resident Comments: Heather Carl of 903 4^th Avenue asked about the potholes on 4^th Avenue that have rebar sticking out. Steve will get with Al on the matter.

Jennifer Zahradnik brought up some concerns with the DOT signage due to the Highway 21/30 closure and it being unclear or confusing especially to those not from the immediate area. Also, the low clearance sign out past Pierce Lumber appears to be missing causing problems for higher profile vehicles heading toward Luzerne. Steve will get with appropriate state and/or county persons to see if we can help rectify these situations.

Council did not go into closed session as needed information was not ready.

Motion by Landuyt to adjourn the meeting, seconded by Malcolm. On roll call vote, all voted Aye. Meeting adjourned at 8:09 p.m.

Dave Fish, Mayor

Attest: Sandra Walton, City Clerk

Transcribed by the City Clerk subject to Council approval