Belle Plaine, Iowa
October 5, 2022
The Belle Plaine City Council met on October 5, 2022, at 6:30 p.m. in the council chambers with Mayor Dave Fish presiding. Present: Judy Schlesselman, Mitch Malcolm, Garrett Landuyt and Lyle Morrow. Mary Pech was present via phone. Also present: City Administrator Stephen Beck, Assistant City Attorney Gage Kensler and City Clerk Sandy Walton. The Pledge of Allegiance was recited.
Motion by Schlesselman, seconded by Malcolm to approve the Consent Agenda (with the removal of the police report, the discussion of a Sound Sens “I” machine, and closed session), Council Minutes of September 21, 2022, receiving & filing of the minutes from the September 27, 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: None
Teresa Hermsen from BPCDC was present to discuss a downtown lighting plan. They have some up-lighting samples coming to see if they would work for the corner trees and possibly mid-block. The lighting color can be changed for special holidays. The cost is roughly $140 each and 10-12 would be needed. Once they get a chance to try out the samples a complete plan will be brought to the council for their possible approval and financial support. The parade, Santa’s workshop, and shop small Saturday plans are continuing as in the past.
Steve is to contact the nursery to see if they will be providing the Christmas tree this year.
Engineers Chris Parizek and Dave Schechinger from Veenstra & Kimm were at the meeting to present their Water System Evaluation and answer any questions from the council regarding the Water Supply Preliminary Engineering Report. This included 5 project alternatives, a cost and rate discussion, as well as a tentative project schedule. Additional requested information is a list of cities that use the Jordan aquifer and a range of costs including installation for the least technological to the most technological water meters. A discussion was also held on when the WWTP would be completely metered. A brief conversation on grant eligibility also took place.
Motion by Malcolm, seconded by Morrow to officially make 6:30 p.m. the starting time for regular city council meetings. On roll call vote, all voted aye, motion carried.
Virginia Smalley and her attorney, Anders Norgaard, were present to discuss the property at 1402 Second Avenue, Belle Plaine, Iowa. After lengthy discussion Landuyt moved to deny an extension pending an immediate re-inspection of the property. Other than the roof which we know has not been completed, if all other concerns are not complete our lawyers will push forward with the court case. If all other items pass inspection, a continuance may be granted. This was seconded by Malcolm. On roll call vote, all voted aye, motion carried. Steve will call our inspector on Thursday and get back with Ms. Smalley on status of re-inspection.
Motion by Morrow, seconded by Landuyt to approve the renewal of a Class E Liquor License, Class C Beer Permit, Class C Beer Permit Sunday Sales, Class B Wine Permit, and Class B Wine Permit Sunday Sales for Grieder’s Beverage Depot, LLC, at 708 13th Street, Belle Plaine, Iowa. On roll call vote, all voted aye, motion carried.
Motion by Malcolm, seconded by Schlesselman to approve the renewal of a Class B Beer Permit with Sunday sales for Benton County Brewing Company at 708 12th Street, Belle Plaine, Iowa. On roll call vote, all voted aye, motion carried.
Motion by Morrow, seconded by Schlesselman to approve the Gov-pay Services Agreement for on-line bill paying. On roll call vote, all voted aye, motion carried.
Motion by Landuyt, seconded by Pech to approve a one-time utility credit of $497.28 at 912 2nd Avenue, Belle Plaine, Iowa for a broken water softener. On roll call vote, all voted aye, motion carried.
Motion by Landuyt, seconded by Morrow to approve a one-time utility credit of $378.88 at 1516 Sunset Drive, Belle Plaine, Iowa for a toilet problem. On roll call vote, all voted aye, motion carried.
Motion by Morrow, seconded by Landuyt to approve a one-time utility credit of $532.80 at 1004 8th Avenue, Belle Plaine, Iowa for an outdoor spigot problem. On roll call vote, all voted aye, motion carried.
Motion by Landuyt, seconded by Schlesselman to select a carpet bid of $3,072.39 for the clerk’s office from Stein Hrabak in Toledo. On roll call vote, all voted aye, motion carried.
The City Administrator, Stephen Beck, reported that the test filter for Well #6 has arrived and is installed. We are waiting for testing re-agents which have been backordered but should be coming soon. When they arrive, we will begin testing. The IDNR visited the airport to look at its Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan which passed its review. We recently held a tree planting event at Box Park with the help of Trees Forever & the DNR. We will be submitting our Tree City USA application soon and he will finish picking out trees this week for planting this fall. The wells are holding steady but are not in great shape with very little precipitation recently. This has caused us to put hydrant flushing on hold, but we still hope to complete it before winter. Our new water/wastewater operator has been hired and will start soon.
Mayor Fish reported on the ECICOG zoom meeting that he attended this week. It was a short financial meeting.
Correspondence: A letter from Tyler Brandt, who was in attendance, was given to the council. It is regarding a nuisance issue with a neighbor who has had a tarp on their roof so long that it is shredding all over the neighborhood causing a great deal of mess and work to repeatedly clean up. We will have Chief Hudson review the concerns and issue a nuisance complaint as appropriate. The council thanked Tyler for bringing his concerns to them.
Old Business: None
Resident Comments: None
There were no updates from our attorney regarding litigation, so council did not go into closed session.
Motion by Morrow, seconded by Landuyt to adjourn the meeting. On roll call vote, all voted aye. The meeting adjourned at 8:46 p.m.
Dave Fish, Mayor

Attest: Sandra Walton, City Clerk
Transcribed by the City Clerk subject to Council approval