Belle Plaine, Iowa
September 6, 2023
The Belle Plaine City Council met on September 6, 2023, at 6:30 p.m. in the Council Chambers at Belle Plaine City Hall, with Mayor Pro Tem Mary Pech presiding. Present: Mary Pech, Mitch Malcolm, Lyle Morrow, Judy Schlesselman, and Garrett Landuyt. Also present: City Administrator Stephen Beck, Assistant City Attorney Gage Kensler, and City Clerk Sandra Walton. Mayor Dave Fish was absent due to illness. The Pledge of Allegiance was recited.
Motion by Schlesselman, seconded by Malcolm to approve the Consent Agenda, Council Minutes of August 16, 2023, Council Minutes of August 23, 2023, receiving and filing of the minutes from the July 27, 2023, minutes of the Belle Plaine Community Library Board of Trustees meeting and bills received. All voted aye, motion carried.
Resident Comments: None
Upon a request from Robert Brown, he was given a public hearing regarding nuisance notices he received for his properties at 205 11th St and 204 10th St. Chief Hudson confirmed that some progress had been made, but some items still needed attention. Motion by Malcolm, seconded by Landuyt to give him two more weeks (until the September 20th meeting) to take care of items still needing attention from the nuisances. A copy of the City Code is to be sent to him to help him understand what is required. All voted aye, motion carried.
Paula Mitchell from ECICOG was present to answer any questions regarding the CDBG-DR documents. Motion by Malcolm, seconded by Schlesselman to approve the following documents relating to the CDBG-DR Housing Grant (A-Developer Agreement, B-Mortgage Form, C-Promissory Note, D-Assignment of Leases and Rents, and E-Rental Covenants Form) and authorized them to be signed. All voted aye, motion carried.
James Rozendaal, CFO of Next Generation Wireless and Kate Robertson of Benton County Development were present to discuss the possible rental of the Annex Building. Motion by Morrow, seconded by Malcolm to have our lawyer draw up a Letter of Intent in favor of proceeding to the next step in this process. All voted aye, motion carried.
Jay Hamilton, Public Works Manager, explained his proposal for replacement of the 10th Avenue culvert with projected costs near $25,000. Motion by Landuyt, seconded by Malcolm to proceed with the project. Pech, Malcolm, Schlesselman and Landuyt voted aye, motion carried.
Motion by Landuyt, seconded by Morrow to approve resolution #23-09-01; a resolution approving the usage of ARPA funds not to exceed $30,000 for the culvert replacement on 10th Avenue. All voted aye, motion carried.
Motion by Landuyt, seconded by Schlesselman to approve an engineering contract with Fehr Graham on a proposed demolition project for the Herring Hotel (with proposed changes). All voted aye, motion carried.
Motion by Morrow seconded by Malcolm to approve resolution #23-09-02; a resolution approving the usage of ARPA funds not to exceed $150,000 for a portion of the Herring Hotel demolition project. All voted aye, motion carried.
Jay Hamilton then gave a few more updates. The city-owned house at 909 9th Avenue is having asbestos removed and then we will be taking it down. The culvert at the corner of 13th Avenue and 1st Street has been replaced. The new public works truck is now in use and is working great. It has a good lighting set-up that worked well when the team had to fix the water value leak on 7th Avenue last Friday evening.
Police Chief Hudson handed out the August Dispatch Activity Report. He said there are two properties that we should take further action on as the yards are in terrible shape. He will work with our attorney to get letters as needed. He has applied for the Gary Sinise Grant for police equipment (radar, etc.). He is waiting to hear if it has been awarded. After a brief discussion on possible hiring bonuses, the Council asked him to investigate it further and see if it has been successful for other similar sized communities. He is working with Walmart trying to set up Shop With A Cop for this Christmas. He and the mayor toured Belle Plaine looking at some of the outstanding nuisance abatements. Attorney Kensler said applications for default have been submitted on three properties and we are just waiting on the court orders to come through to finalize these rulings.
Motion by Morrow, seconded by Malcolm to approve the appointment of Tylar Gallagher to the Belle Plaine Community Library Board of Trustees (due to the resignation of Greg Johnson). Her term will expire July 2026. All voted aye, motion carried.
Motion by Malcolm, seconded by Landuyt to approve a 2023-2024 cigarette license for October through June for Family Dollar, 509 13th Street, Belle Plaine. All voted aye, motion carried.
Motion by Schlesselman, seconded by Morrow to approve renewal of a Class E Liquor License, Class C Beer Permit, Class B Wine Permit with Sunday Sales for Caseys General Store, 606 13th Street Belle Plaine, Iowa. All voted aye, motion carried.
Motion by Schlesselman, seconded by Landuyt to approve the request from the Knights of Columbus to move their Tootsie Roll Drive collection from Saturday, September 9 to Saturday, September 16. All voted aye, motion carried.
City Administrator Steve Beck reported on the status of the water treatment facility project and also the wellfield project. He has met with Dorsey & Whitney as well as Northland Securities regarding TIF and the possibility of utilizing it to help pay for some of the water project. The land agreement has been signed and he has a surveyor coming in the next couple of weeks to split out the 3 acres that we are purchasing. Water from Well 6 is being blended with our shallow wells’ water due to the extreme drought. It has helped our wells rebound slightly although they are still quite low. Both the Eastern Iowa Sleep Center and Dr. Fleming will be vacating the City’s Medical Building. Steve is actively reaching out to find others from medical related fields that might be interested in leasing. Steve thanked the Public Works crew for their work on the water valve leak and the great job painting lines this year.
The Mayor was not present to give his report.
Correspondence: RAGBRAI organizers came to Belle Plaine and presented framed artwork with several pictures of riders passing through this year. They were very complimentary of Belle Plaine and said they would love to come back here in the future.
Old Business: None
Resident Comments: None
Motion by Landuyt, seconded by Malcolm to adjourn the meeting. All voted aye, motion carried. The meeting was adjourned at 8:36 p.m.
Mary Pech, Mayor Pro Tem
Attest: ___________________________
Sandra Walton, City Clerk
Transcribed by the City Clerk subject to Council approval.
Jim Magdefrau 