Belle Plaine, Iowa
February 15, 2023
The Belle Plaine City Council met on February 15, 2023, at 6:30 p.m. in the council chambers with Mayor Pro Tem Mary Pech presiding. Present: Judy Schlesselman, Garrett Landuyt, Mary Pech, Mitch Malcolm, and Lyle Morrow. Also present: City Administrator Stephen Beck, City Attorney Jennifer Zahradnik, and City Clerk Sandy Walton. The Pledge of Allegiance was recited.
Motion by Schlesselman, seconded by Malcolm to approve the Consent Agenda, Council Minutes of February 1, 2023, and bills received. On roll call vote, all voted aye, motion carried.
Resident Comments: None.
Pech opened the Public Hearing concerning the city maximum property tax dollars for the affected levy totals concerning the FY24 Belle Plaine City Budget at 6:33 p.m. There were no comments from the public or from the City Council. The Public Hearing closed at 6:36 p.m.
Motion by Morrow, seconded by Landuyt to approve resolution #23-02-04: a resolution approving the maximum tax dollars from certain levies for the city’s proposed fiscal year 2023-2024 budget. On roll call vote, all voted aye, motion carried.
Motion by Schlesselman, seconded by Landuyt to set the public hearing for the 2023-2024 budget for March 15, 2023, in the BP City Council Chambers at 1207 8th Avenue, Belle Plaine, Iowa at 6:30 p.m. at the regular Belle Plaine City Council Meeting. On roll call vote, all voted aye, motion carried.
Pech opened the Public Hearing at 6:38 p.m. concerning the proposed adoption of ordinances granting to Interstate Power and Light Company (Alliant Energy) 25-year non-exclusive electric and natural gas franchises and imposing a 3% franchise fee. With no comments from the public or from the City Council, the public hearing was closed at 6:40 p.m.
Motion by Malcolm, seconded by Morrow to approve the first reading of Ordinance 23-01; an ordinance repealing Chapter 111 and granting to Interstate Power and Light Company a non-exclusive electric franchise for the City of Belle Plaine, Iowa and imposing a 3% franchise fee. On roll call vote, all voted aye, motion carried. There will be two additional readings of this Ordinance at future meetings.
Motion by Morrow, seconded by Schlesselman to approve the first reading of Ordinance 23-02; an ordinance repealing Chapter 110 and granting to Interstate Power and Light Company a non-exclusive natural gas for the City of Belle Plaine, Iowa and imposing a 3% franchise fee. On roll call vote, all voted aye, motion carried. There will be two additional readings of this Ordinance at future meetings.
Motion by Malcolm, seconded by Landuyt to send out RFPs for our garbage/recycling contract. On roll call vote, all vote aye, motion carried. The City Council would like to review the RFP before it is distributed. Sandy will bring it to the March 1st Council Meeting for review and approval.
Police Chief Hudson handed out a Calls for Service report for January showing 328 calls. He also reported that Officer Terrones has left our employment. The vacant position has been listed on Indeed. The new police vehicle isn’t being built until July (instead of this spring as expected). Our building inspector, Mike Tomash, inspected three more buildings today (104 11th St, 909 9th Ave, and 715 12th St). None of these locations is currently occupied. Reports will be coming soon. A snow emergency has been declared. The first 24 hours work well. Often in the second 24 hours the public does not follow the requirements to not park on the streets. If roads are clear, the city should do a better job of cancelling the balance of the snow emergency. Officers are handling those situations a little differently as well. There were 25 sidewalks that were not cleared after the first big snow. That has improved for subsequent snow events.
Brian Baumgartner, President of Belle Plaine Community Development, gave the BPCDC Report. Plans for July 3rd are progressing. They are still looking for more volunteers for the committee without much luck. They will keep trying. The Director position is currently open. They hope to have someone hired this month. The bio-cells and their upkeep are a concern. The goal is to have volunteers to help with them. He feels that they will need the city council to work with them on a solution. Lastly, there is the possibility that we will leave Main Street Iowa. If we do, there needs to be a plan in place so that the group does not deteriorate and cease to function. It was suggested that Brian determine what resources are no longer available to us if we discontinue membership.
Motion by Malcolm, seconded by Landuyt approving renewal of the Class B retail alcohol license with Sunday sales for DOLGENCORP, LLC (Dollar General) at 405 13th Street, Belle Plaine, Iowa. On roll call vote, all voted aye, motion carried.
Motion by Malcolm, seconded by Schlesselman to approve a one-time utility credit of $284.16 at 1616 8th Avenue, Belle Plaine, Iowa due to frozen pipes and a toilet leak which have been fixed. On roll call vote, all voted aye, motion carried.
Motion by Schlesselman, seconded by Morrow to approve Resolution #23-02-03; a resolution to revise Resolution #22-11-02 which approved usage of ARPA Funds for relocation of two emergency sirens. On roll call vote, all voted aye, motion carried.
Motion by Landuyt, seconded by Malcolm to approve the appointment of Teresa Hermsen to the Tree Board. Her term will expire in January 2026. On roll call vote, all voted aye, motion carried. A special thank you will be sent to exiting member Vicki Schwab for all her years of service.
The City Treasurer’s Report, City Budget Report, and Solar Report for January were given to the Council for their information. Sandy also reported that some extra Community Center LOST funds have been placed in CDs to gain some interest until the funds are needed.
Committee of the Whole: Discussion on drones was postponed until March 1, 2023.
Steve Beck, City Administrator, reported that he had an initial conference call with FEMA, a Federal Judge and Federal Attorney regarding the two projects we have going to arbitration for Roads and Bridges. The arbitration hearing date has been set for May 2nd. Grassley’s office was informed. They would also like us to fill out the Federal Register for Road Safety documenting problems we had with replacing the school crossing lights due to the MUTCD. Steve has also submitted another round of documents for the wellfield generator. We received a citizen complaint through the Iowa Utilities Board. Steve has reached out to this citizen as well as the Ombudsman’s office on this matter.
No Mayor’s Report this week. There is a landfill meeting Thursday evening. Mitch has volunteered to attend via ZOOM if the mayor cannot. Jennifer will email him the ZOOM connection information.
Correspondence: Waste Management provided a letter requesting that we open the residential trash and recycling contract for bid.
Old Business: None
Resident Comments: None
Motion by Schlesselman, seconded by Malcolm to enter into closed session at 7:38 p.m. under Iowa Code 21.5 (1) (c) To discuss strategy with counsel in matters that are presently in litigation or where litigation is imminent where disclosure would be likely to prejudice or disadvantage the position of the government body in that litigation. On roll call vote Pech, Schlesselman, Morrow, Malcolm, and Landuyt all voted aye. Motion carried.
Motion by Schlesselman, seconded by Morrow to come out of closed session at 8:17 p.m. On roll call vote Pech, Schlesselman, Morrow, Malcolm, and Landuyt all voted aye. Motion carried.
Motion by Landuyt, seconded by Malcolm to complete the documents necessary to finalize the judgment and pay the judgment debt. On roll call vote, all voted aye. Motion carried.
Motion by Landuyt, seconded by Malcolm to adjourn the meeting. On roll call vote, all voted aye. The meeting was adjourned at 8:20 p.m.
Mary Pech, Mayor Pro Tem
Attest: Sandra Walton, City Clerk
Transcribed by the City Clerk subject to Council approval.
Jim Magdefrau 