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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes-07/14/2008• • July 14, 2008 The Council of the City of Waterloo, Iowa, met in Regular Session at City Hall Council Chambers, Waterloo, Iowa, at 5:30 p.m., on Monday, July 14, 2008. Mayor Timothy J. Hurley in the Chair. Roll Call: Cole, Getty, Hart, Greenwood, Steve Schmitt, Welper, Reggie Schmitt. Moment of Silence. Pledge of Allegiance: Carolyn Cole, Ward 2 Council Member. 127444 - Reggie Schmitt/Welper that the Agenda, as amended, for the Regular Session on Monday, July 14, 2008, at 5:30 p.m., be accepted and approved. Ayes: Seven. Motion carried. 127445 - Reggie Schmitt/Welper that the Minutes, as proposed, for the Regular Session on Monday, July 7, 2008, at 5:30 p.m., be accepted and approved. Ayes: Seven. Motion carried. Mayor Hurley presented a Certificate of Neighborhood Recognition to Alabar Hills Neighborhood Association. CONSENT AGENDA 127446 - Reggie Schmitt/Welper that the following items on the consent agenda be received, placed on file and approved: a. Resolutions to approve the following: 1. Resolution approving Schedule AP642, pp. 1-78, dated July 14, 2008, in the amount of $3,794,062.67, a copy of which is on file in the City Clerk's office, together with recommendation of approval of the Finance Committee. Resolution adopted and upon approval by Mayor assigned No. 2008-599. 2. Communication from City Clerk transmitting request of Pastor Helen M. Seenster, 2222 Falls Avenue, for a variance to the noise ordinance on July 20, 2008 from 11:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. in conjunction with an outdoor church service, including a PA system, together with recommendation of approval of Police Chief. Resolution adopted and upon approval by Mayor assigned No. 2008-600. b. Motion -to approve the following: 1. Aaron McClelland, Police Sergeant, to attend Tactical Weapons School in Mason City, Iowa on July 15-18, 2008, with costs not to exceed $600.00, including use of city vehicle. 2. Steve Gerberich, Guest Artist, to travel to Waterloo, Iowa from Brooklyn, New York for two trips to install and remove artist's exhibit, with costs not to exceed $3,600.00. c. Beer License Permit Application Class B Pizza Hut, 2828 Crossroads Boulevard (Renewal) (Expires 7/8/09) (Includes Sunday Sales) d. Beer/Liquor License Permit Application Class C Club 726, 726-728 Logan Avenue (Renewal) (Expires 7/8/09) (Includes Sunday Sales) e. Beer License Permit Application Class C Hometown Foods, 2834 Ansborough Avenue (Renewal)(Expires 8/26/09) (Includes Sunday Sales) Neighborhood Mart, 2100 Lafayette (New) (Expires 5/31/09) (Includes Sunday Sales) July 14, 2008 Consent Agenda continued Page 2 f. Wine License Permit Application Class B Hometown Foods, 2834 Ansborough Avenue (Renewal)(Expires 8/26/09) (Includes Sunday Sales) g. Liquor License Permit Application Class E Hometown Foods, 2834 Ansborough Avenue (Renewal)(Expires 8/26/09) (Includes Sunday Sales) h. Cigarette/Tobacco Permit Application John's Tobacco, 1848 Airline Highway i. Bonds. Ayes: Seven. Motion carried. HEARINGS & BIDS 127447 - Getty/Hart that proof of publication of notice of public hearing on F.Y. 2008 West Commercial Street Extension Storm Water Pumps, Contract No. 750, as published in the Waterloo Courier on June 24, 2008, be received and placed on file. Ayes: Seven. Motion carried. 127448 - This being the time and place of public hearing, the Mayor called for written and oral objections and there were none. Getty/Hart that the hearing be closed. Ayes: Seven. Motion carried. 127449 - Getty/Hart that "Resolution confirming approval of plans, specifications, form of contract, etc. in conjunction with F.Y. 2008 West Commercial Street Extension Storm Water Pumps, Contract No. 750", be adopted. Ayes: Seven. Resolution adopted and upon approval by Mayor assigned No. 2008-601. 127450 - Getty/Hart that "Resolution ordering construction in conjunction with above said project", be adopted. Ayes: Seven. Resolution adopted and upon approval by Mayor assigned No. 2008-602. 127451 - Getty/Hart to receive, file and instruct City Clerk to open and read bids and refer to City Engineer for review: Bidder Electric Pump Des Moines, IA Bid Bond Base Bid Alternate 1 Alternate 2 5% $383,296.00 $174,293.00 $346,985.00 Quality Pump Central $47,500.00 $500,000.00 Mason City, IA Ayes: Seven. Motion carried. 127452 Getty/Hart 1 $720,000.00 $950,000.00 that proof of publication of notice of public hearing on F.Y. 2008 West Commercial Street Extension, River Road Relocation and Storm Water Pump Station, Contract No. 720, as published in the Waterloo Courier on June 24, 2008, be received and placed on file. Ayes: Seven. Motion carried. • • • • July 14, 2008 Page 3 Hearings & Bids continued 127453 - This being the time and place of public hearing, the Mayor called for written and oral objections and there were none. Noel Anderson, Community Planning & Development Director, reported the extension will go from the former Winterbottom location where River Road meets Commercial Street. It will go through the former Deere site connecting to the new entryway at Highway 63 and Westfield, creating a new entryway to the John Deere Manufacturing facility as well as serving as a secondary entrance to the Cedar Valley TechWorks site. Approximately 50 percent of this project is being funded from a RISE grant from the state of Iowa. Getty/Hart that the hearing be closed and oral comments be received and placed on file. Ayes: Seven. Motion carried. 127454 - Getty/Hart that "Resolution confirming approval of plans, specifications, form of contract, etc. in conjunction with F.Y. 2008 West Commercial Street Extension, River Road Relocation and Storm Water Pump Station, Contract No. 720", be adopted. Ayes: Seven. Resolution adopted and upon approval by Mayor assigned No. 2008-603. 127455 - Getty/Hart that "Resolution ordering construction in conjunction with above said project", be adopted. Ayes: Seven. Resolution adopted and upon approval by Mayor assigned No. 2008-604. 127456 - Getty/Hart Bidder to receive, file and instruct City Clerk to open and read bids and refer to City Engineer for review: Bid Bond Base Bid Alternate 1 Alternate 2 Alternate 3 Alternate 4 Cedar Valley Corporation 5% $4,751,535.20 $99,400.00 $111,000.00 $161,827.16 $22,125.00 Waterloo, IA Peterson Contractors, Inc 5% $4,783,054.72 $99,400.00 $111,000.00 $145,370.53 $7,685.00 Reinbeck, IA K. Cunningham 5% $5,264,874.46 $117,650.00 $120,250.00 $148,613.95 $18,785.00 Cedar Falls, IA Ayes: Seven. Motion carried. HEARINGS 127457 - Getty/Steve Schmitt that proof of publication of notice of public hearing on request of Property Owners at 815, 821 and 825 Bayard Street to vacate approximately 150 feet of public sidewalk generally located in the 800 block of Bayard Street, as published in the Waterloo Courier on July 8, 2008, be received and placed on file. Ayes: Seven. Motion carried. 127458 - This being the time and place of public hearing, the Mayor called for written and oral objections. Jorje Jarchow, 825 Bayard Street, explained he lives on the corner and where his sidewalk stops there is another approximately 18 feet from the end of his sidewalk to the street where there are no sidewalks. The next two neighbors have sidewalks, then an alley and another half block of grass going to the north with no sidewalks. Then it picks up for one block and goes into Williston. There are approximately three or four blocks going to the south to two different businesses where there are no sidewalks. Mr. Jarchow stated nobody ever uses these sidewalks, and he feels it is a waste to spend $950.00 for just his property. Mr. Jarchow noted the city is unable to give an answer on when they will continue with the sidewalk to the south. July 14, 2008 Hearings continued Page 4 Greenwood/Steve Schmitt that the hearing be closed and recommendation of approval of Planning, Programming and Zoning Commission and oral comments be received and placed on file. Ayes: Seven. Motion carried. 127459 Greenwood/Steve Schmitt that "an Ordinance vacating approximately 150 feet of public sidewalk generally located in the 800 block of Bayard Street", be received, placed on file, considered and passed for the first time. Prior to a vote on the above motion, the following comments were heard. Mayor Hurley noted that he spoke with Mr. Jarchow today and a lady who lives on Bertch Street. The lady said she is doing a lot more walking and walks over to the grocery store and drug store on Byron and really wants the city to keep the sidewalks and to expand them. She talked about a lot more walking because of children in the area, gas prices, exercising. In the winter she has to walk in the street and a lot of times cars seem to be coming right at her and she has to jump out of the way. She was imploring council to deny the vacation. Councilperson Welper commented he thinks the lady is Mrs. Truman, who was speaking in behalf of the West Central Neighborhood Association. Councilperson Welper noted that Mr. Jarchow stated that 18 feet or 15 feet from the end of his sidewalk to the curb is still grass. Councilperson Welper asked if the owner has to fill that in as well and replace or is it just the sidewalk and is the city going to pick up the difference. Eric Thorson, City Engineer, responded the city is asking the residents to replace or repair the sidewalk that exists in the front of their homes. Mr. Thorson commented Mr. Jarchow may have been talking about the connection to the curb and in the past those weren't done until the street was paved, and he will investigate to figure out what happened in this particular case. It has changed a little bit now with the handicap accessibility rules. Ramps have to be put in, but that would be the city's responsibility, and the city has not typically connected those until the rest of the sidewalk goes in. The homeowners are being asked to repair the sidewalk in front of their homes. Councilperson Steve Schmitt noted at the Planning & Zoning Commission meeting staff was in favor of repairing and replacing the sidewalk, and he thinks the Planning & Zoning commissioners were very empathetic with the Jarchows and some of the other folks who were at the meeting. Councilperson Steve Schmitt stated he appreciates their situation, but we have these pockets all over the city, and one fear he has if we allow this to happen we are going to have a hard time saying no in future situations. Nationwide, there is a growing sense of having sidewalks everywhere for kids to ride and walk to school and from that perspective he thinks the city should require the sidewalk to be repaired. Councilperson Steve Schmitt stated he would like to tie this with moving this section of street or sidewalk up to the top of our list because it was also mentioned at the Planning & Zoning meeting that the city may have some funding next year that could be used to finish some of these spaces where there are no sidewalks, and he feels this would be a logical place to start. He does not feel it is fair to have these folks do this without any guarantee of what is coming down the road. Councilperson Cole stated she lives in the neighborhood that has a sidewalk just like the Jarchows and its not in front of her house. Councilperson Cole noted it makes no sense, and there is no reason to have 20 feet of sidewalk in an area that has no sidewalk, and she thinks it is an undue burden on property owners who are asked to spend $1,000.00 to fix them. It is also a bit unfair on our part to say that we will identify funds to handle a situation like this when in the past we've had people come to us and say they can barely afford to buy groceries, what are they suppose to do about their sidewalk, and we say we'll just put it on your property taxes. If we are talking about allocating money we have so many other pressing needs. For example, we just learned earlier we are starting to figure out how much the flood is going to cost the city. This is so far down on the list of what we should be worrying about at this point in the city that she will support Planning & Zoning on this vacate. • • • • July 14, 2008 Page 5 Hearings continued Mr. Thorson explained that the federal funds come down to the state in the transportation bills, and there is some funding that has been set aside for sidewalks in a program called Safe Routes to Schools. The City of Waterloo, along with the Waterloo school system and the City of Cedar Falls and their school system, has worked with INRCOG to apply for some of those funds through a grant. We received one of those grants and have hired a consultant because we have to do a selection process to study this issue and determine where some of this type of funding could be used. That study is just getting underway and is expected to be completed by about this time or maybe a year from this fall. We will primarily work around school zone, but part of that funding then could be used to infill sidewalk. The council has already set aside $100,000.00 for infill sidewalk in the bond program from last year. Councilperson Hart asked if the grant is a competitive grant nationally with other cities and would this area be a priority for us with that $100,000.00 or do we have a prioritized way to approach infill sidewalks throughout our entire community. Eric Thorson responded that each state will get $1 million for this program so we will compete for it on a statewide basis. We have been hoping to get this study completed, see what it recommends and then work with the schools and the other entities that are involved to determine priorities. Councilperson Hart commented that it basically involves around having a safe passage to school on the sidewalks. Councilperson Hart stated his recollection as a member of the Planning and Zoning Commissioner was they would say we are going to require you to do a sidewalk, not that there was a strategic plan to say this is the actual goals of the city, this is what we are going to do from now on and we are going to adhere to it. It was this is what we want to attempt to start doing by requiring sidewalks in specific areas. The priority of starting that overall emphasis of the city to start pushing ahead to require sidewalks in all of those areas for the safe passage, not just schools but overall for all citizens to be able to walk from store to store from house to house. Mr. Thorson noted that the Zoning Ordinance and the Subdivision Ordinance require that sidewalks be put in residential subdivisions, and that has been in place for probably at least 30 years. There was a period of time in history where they were not required, but they have been required now for many years in residential subdivisions. They also can be required through those ordinances in commercial subdivisions, and we are working more stringently to include those sidewalks along with bike/recreational trails because they are multiuse. Mr. Thorson stated he thinks there has definitely been emphasis on including more recreational trails and sidewalks in commercial areas then they are currently required in residential areas as part of the subdivision process. Councilperson Reggie Schmitt commented that the ordinance dictating sidewalks has been around for over 30 years, but the repair and safety program started a lot later. The city has been divided into ten zones and we do a zone a year. This is our second pass at zone 8 so we have been at it for 18 years. The goal is that someday we have sidewalks, and he cannot see where removing sidewalks is going to help the gap situation that we have on sidewalks. To vacate sidewalks that are already there doesn't make sense when the goal that hasn't change and the ordinance that hasn't changed is that we connect the city with sidewalks. We have a lot of areas in every zone where we have gaps in the sidewalk. If there is money available through the transportation bill what little we get should be spent to fix the infrastructure around schools. Draw a half mile radius around every school and that is the sidewalks that we need to go after first. This is nothing new and removing sidewalks is not going to make the gap situation better. Councilperson Welper noted that probably one of the most difficult bills for us to pay is to pay for the maintenance or repair of public sidewalk, especially if your neighbor doesn't have a sidewalk or two blocks down they don't have a sidewalk. Every budget that we look at the beginning of the year, council focuses on public safety. We make sure that our police and fire are adequate to make our citizens safe and really this is no different. We need to make our sidewalks and our streets safe as well and stay with putting in sidewalks. July 14, 2008 Page 6 Hearings continued Councilperson Getty stated if the city had money available to do the infill and do the complete blocks he would be for it 100 percent, but to make people put in two or three pieces of cement or half a dozen in a block doesn't make any sense. We have areas where they built brand new schools and don't have a sidewalk going by the front of it. It makes no sense. Why do we allow that to happen and we just did that how many times in the last two years or three years. Councilperson Getty stated he is totally opposed to this because the sidewalk goes nowhere and nobody uses them so why have them. Councilperson Greenwood stated he agrees with Councilperson Reggie Schmitt, but in this situation there is not a sidewalk in the 700 block. The 800 block has sidewalk in half of the block, the 900 doesn't have any and the 1000 block doesn't have any sidewalks. Councilperson Greenwood stated he has been in business in that area of town for 25 years and people walk in the streets and they walk in the alley, and he doesn't think making these folks fix their roughly 30 feet of sidewalk is going to make any difference because the rest of the neighborhood is never going to have sidewalks in it without some major policy changes. There is a lot next to where he has lived for the last 15 years. The lot has been sold four times and probably won't be development on for another five years. They do not have sidewalks in front of that house, but the rest on the cul-de-sac have replaced sidewalks with the repair program the last couple of years. They have a neighbor who has decided that he is never going to build on the lot and has planted arborvitaes around it and there is no sidewalk. We need to come up with some solid policies to expand what we have in place to define what we want to do. Councilperson Greenwood stated in this situation he doesn't think it's the right thing to do to have them repair the sidewalk, and he will support the Planning & Zoning Commission. Following comments a vote was taken on the above motion with the following result. Ayes: Four. Nays: Steve Schmitt, Welper, Reggie Schmitt. Motion carried. 127460 Greenwood/Cole that rules requiring ordinances to be considered and voted for passage at two prior meetings be suspended. Ayes: Seven. Motion carried. 127461 Greenwood/Cole that "an Ordinance vacating approximately 150 feet of public sidewalk generally located in the 800 block of Bayard Street", be considered and passed for the second and third times and adopted. Prior to a vote on the above motion, the following comments were heard. Mayor Hurley commented that he intends to veto the ordinance if it is passed. A veto requires a vote of five council members to override the veto. This is the first time he would exercise that right in five years and it isn't done just for flash, it isn't done to cause any undo hardship on the good people on Bayard or any other street. Its simply that we either have a policy or we don't, to infill or not. The fact is we don't have a formal policy that council has ever adopted except secondarily. Council has adopted capital improvement programs that have included bonding for infill. Its been a vision and council spoke to it roughly in the goals and objectives adopted in safe secure neighborhoods. Mayor Hurley commented that in the phone call from the lady this morning, she noted that the traffic in that neighborhood has picked up substantially since the changes to Williston where it doesn't go all the way to 6 -corners anymore. People have been cutting around and that is adding to it. Mayor Hurley stated he feels it is an important matter, that it is a matter of whether we have policies or not, whether its the low bidder, competitive bids or whatever we tend to float around on things. Mayor Hurley noted he has offered a middle ground where we could take this block as a priority, finish out the sidewalk and pay for half of it with those monies that we have available. Mayor Hurley stated he will exercise his veto and back the staff's recommendation. Following comments a vote was taken on the above motion with the following result. Ayes: Four. Nays: Steve Schmitt, Welper, Reggie Schmitt. Ordinance adopted and upon approval by Mayor assigned No. 4918. • • • • July 14, 2008 Page 7 Hearings continued Mayor Hurley distributed a letter to council members serving notice that he will exercise his right to veto the ordinance allowing the vacation of the sidewalks at 815 Bayard, 821 Bayard and 825 Bayard. Mayor Hurley noted if this comes back up, council will need a motion to extend the time period that the neighbors have on Bayard Street to get their permits. Mr. Thorson explained that the notice that was approved by council and sent out to property owners required that they obtain their permit by this Friday and the work to be completed by August 1, 2008. If council is going to take this up next Monday night, he can come up with some sort of extensions depending on which way it goes. Councilperson Getty noted that Mayor Hurley's veto letter talks about infill program by approving the CIP bonding infill and asked if this the first year we have done that. Mayor Hurley responded he didn't think so. Councilperson Getty asked because of the infill bonding how many pieces of property have we put sidewalks on in the last five years. Mr. Thorson noted the bond money was just made available last year, and he wanted to get the study in place using the grant funds and set some priorities that he could bring back to council. Mr. Thorson stated he has received a couple of letters from councilpersons that they have received about a sidewalk on Logan Avenue by Hy -Vee that seems to have some importance for folks. The city was doing a little work with the school system over by the new Kittrell School, and he thinks the schools are putting in six or seven blocks of new sidewalk because of that new school, and staff was thinking about proposing some connections and fill-in there that would make some sense with what is going on there. We have not actually in -filled any yet with the money that has been made available. Councilperson Getty stated that is his point. There are none being in -filled that the city has ever done. There is a brand new school on Cedar Bend Street with no sidewalk, but cars sit there and all the kids walk up and down and nothing has been done. Now we have the 800 block of one street and Mayor Hurley wants to exercise his veto, but he hopes the council takes a long look at this and overrides the veto. Councilperson Hart stated the calls he has received regarding Logan Avenue is that folks do not have a sidewalk to walk across at a busy area, and depending on what time it is, there are semis and other traffic speeding by. Councilperson Hart stated that taking a look at the actual priority of Bayard Street, not that one is more important or those residents are less important, but he just sees other opportunities to begin this process to start building the city's sidewalk repair programs. UNFINISHED BUSINESS 127462 - Greenwood/Hart that request of request of Councilperson Greenwood to reconsider allocation of additional $25,000.00 to Beck Disaster Recovery, Inc. for continued monitoring of debris removal for FEMA compliance, be approved. Ayes: Six. Nays: Getty. Motion carried. 127463 - Greenwood/Welper that "Resolution approving allocation of additional $25,000.00 to Beck Disaster Recovery, Inc. for continued monitoring of debris removal for FEMA compliance, including reconciliation of work and preparation of FEMA report", be adopted. Prior to a vote on the above motion, the following comments were heard. Mayor Hurley explained the project status report from Beck Disaster Recovery, Inc. and that the current billings for monitoring as of noon on Saturday are $28,568.00, with most of the tonnage being sandbags at 56 percent, storm debris is another 42 percent and then minor amounts in hazardous materials and appliances. The total cost incurred are $197,000.00, which is probably Ceres. Mayor Hurley noted he had lunch last week with William Vogel, who is the FEMA Field Coordinating Officer (FCO) for this event. July 14, 2008 Page 8 Unfinished Business continued Mayor Hurley stated in conversations with Mr. Vogel he told him we had a couple of contracts and one of them was hiring someone to follow up and somebody was hired for debris removal and he asked Mr. Vogel if that was the smart thing to do. Mr. Vogel looked at him and said absolutely it is, and that we need to be very cautious about the procedures, etc. that must be followed for FEMA. We may be in jeopardy of not getting funded in full, and if we do it ourselves we would need things like a force account in engineering or whatever department took on this monitoring, besides the training, etc. necessary. Mayor Hurley stated we have exceeded our first contract of $25,000.00 and is asking for a second extension not to exceed $25,000.00 which would include also wrapping up the reconciliation of all the records and then preparing the FEMA report. Councilperson Greenwood stated that in his dealings with government agencies for probably 75 percent of the business that his small business does, it takes a lot of training to be able to correctly bill all aspects of billable items and he thinks its the same way in this case. There are lots of billable items, lots of detailed record keeping that have to be kept and timely submitted. When the first guy gets it and automatically rejects it, which happens in about 50 percent of the case dealing with the government, then you have to be able to quickly fill in the blanks, fill in the missing data, or whatever they want to see and get it back on their desk, and it takes a lot of perseverance. Then when the claim is paid you have to do contract compliance to make sure that they paid you for what you asked them to pay for. Councilperson Greenwood stated he fully supports the mayor and the city, and he thinks its a wise use of the city's limited funds, and he thinks its very wise for the council to spend this money to protect the interest of our citizens. Mayor Hurley commented that is why you have third party administrators in the insurance. Mayor Hurley stated if council approves this request, and in the worst case we pay BDR $50,000.00, we would have to pull out of our pocket 15 percent of that when the day is done because the rest is billable to FEMA. That is a $7,500.00 insurance policy and we are up close to $200,000.00 in just debris removal. Councilperson Hart asked if the debris removal, FEMA compliance, reconciliation of work and the preparation of FEMA report is it up to $25,000.00. Mayor Hurley responded it is not to exceed and additional $25,000.00. Councilperson Hart asked preparation of FEMA reports and that debris removal will not exceed $25,000.00 from the communication from BDR from their estimates. Mayor Hurley responded it will not because the proposal is not to exceed another $25,000.00. The city got billed $28,568.00 as of noon Saturday, so we are $3,000.00 over our first contract now. Mayor Hurley stated he is asking for authorization for another $25,000.00 maximum for finishing up, reconciling the reports and the records and then putting them into the proper report form. Councilperson Hart asked BDR from a guesstimate will this $25,000.00 do everything that the mayor indicated for the rest of BDRs stay with the city as far as completing the preparation of the FEMA report and the reconciliation of work. A representative from BDR responded that is correct. Councilperson Hart stated that he believes with working with grants in his daily career it is very important to make sure our documentation and everything is covered. The i's are dotted and the t's are crossed so he is definitely in support of it, but he is just wondering when we say an additional $25,000.00 and it is hard for BDR to estimate the work entirely because we are not done with the debris pickup, they can always go all the way up to $25,000.00 or if we said we have x amount, that there is no negotiated price within that $25,000.00. Mayor Hurley responded there are negotiated rates per position. BDR is just following Ceres around, and we need to ask Ceres because they have been through the city comprehensively once. They are running around looking for places they may have missed now. In the meantime, we have citizens who have perhaps begun tearing out drywall, etc. that was missed. • • • • July 14, 2008 Page 9 Unfinished Business continued Mayor Hurley stated he thinks Ceres should go around our routes one more time, then we will be done with Ceres and BDR, and he thinks this amount of money would allow that to happen from BDRs standpoint. If it doesn't BDR are done because he is not going to come back and ask council for more money. We will just stop at that point and take a time out and train our own engineering to do the monitoring. Councilperson documentation $25,000.00 is feds. Hart stated that the FEMA reporting is highly important and our is highly important so he is hoping that up to the additional what its going to take to get what we need to have done for the Councilperson Reggie Schmitt noted the city has a bill now from Ceres that is going to be over $200,000.00, and it is going to cost our tax payers $7,000.00 for BDR because the $50,000.00 for BDR is also chargeable to FEMA. Councilperson Reggie Schmitt stated another important point is that BDR is also assuming our future liability. If FEMA comes back to us and says that something was missed and that we don't have the records for this $25,000.00 or this $30,000.00, that just like the CPA who does your taxes, BDR is going to pick up the liability for what is not there. Councilperson Steve Schmitt stated he again will have to speak in opposition. in going back through the minutes of the meeting from June 23, 2008 when the city originally hired Ceres part of their presentation where they were going to have this arm of vehicles here and start the removal, but also part of that presentation was that they would assist with FEMA reimbursement paperwork and all the necessary documentation. When we originally talked to Ceres they presented the fact that they dealt with Katrina and a variety of other disasters and they were just a top notch company. Councilperson Steve Schmitt stated he had no expectation that when we hired Ceres we were going to have to turn around and hire somebody else to monitor them, which council has been told that Beck has to go around and keep an eye on Ceres and make sure that they are doing what they are suppose to be doing. Councilperson Steve Schmitt stated that concerning the FEMA paperwork, it is his understanding that in the floods of 1993 and 1999 city staff did that paperwork. Councilperson Steve Schmitt noted he talked to the City of Cedar Falls and Black Hawk County, and they have not hired any of these companies to do this. Councilperson Steve Schmitt stated he has enough faith in our staff, and he just can't believe that we are that fearful of FEMA that we have to hire somebody to cross our is and dot our i's. Councilperson Steve Schmitt stated he cannot support this. Mayor Hurley reiterated that the head FEMA guy said it was absolutely necessary. City staff could certainly do it, but in doing it they wouldn't be available to work on our public assistance, on our buyout projects, regular work, the overlay program that is normal business, or the recon program or all of the other things that engineering does. It is already a short staff, shorter than normal because of absences. At the end of the day, this is a $7,000.00 insurance policy that we should have very, very good paperwork. Following comments a vote was taken on the above result. Ayes: Five. Resolution adopted and 127464 - Cole/Reggie Schmitt Nays: Getty, Steve Schmitt. motion with the following upon approval by Mayor assigned No. 2008-605. that communication from Associate Engineer transmitting recommendation of award of contract in the amount of $1,539,947.00 to Vieth Construction Corp. of Cedar Falls, Iowa in conjunction with F.Y. 2008 Cedar Valley River Renaissance Trail Enhancement, Contract No. 743, be received, placed on file and "Resolution approving award of said contract", be adopted. Ayes: Seven. Resolution adopted and upon approval by Mayor assigned No. 2008-606. July 14, 2008 Unfinished Business continued Page 10 127465 - Cole/Reggie Schmitt that communication from Superintendent of Traffic Operations transmitting recommendation of award of contract in the amount of $27,570.00 to Traffic Control Corporation of Ankeny, Iowa in conjunction with Purchase of Six Solar -Powered Radio Controlled Flashing Beacons, UST -8155(703)-4A-07, be received, placed on file and "Resolution approving award of said contract", be adopted. Ayes: Seven. Resolution adopted and upon approval by Mayor assigned No. 2008-607. REPORTS 127466 - Cole/Reggie Schmitt that Waterloo Water Works 2007 Annual Audit Report, be received and placed on file. Ayes: Seven. Motion carried. DOCUMENTS 127467 - Cole/Reggie Schmitt that communication from Police Chief transmitting agreement with Governor's Office of Drug Control Policy for 2008 Byrne - Justice Assistant Grant (JAG) in the amount of $396,443.00, with required local match of $99,111.00, to be used for funding of the Tri -County Drug Enforcement Task Force, be received, placed on file and "Resolution approving said agreement", be adopted and Mayor authorized to execute same. Ayes: Seven. Resolution adopted and upon approval by Mayor assigned No. 2008-608. 127468 - Cole/Reggie Schmitt that communication from Assistant City Attorney transmitting Acknowledgment/Settlement Agreement in the amount of $300.00 with Kum & Go, 1104 Washington Street, for sale of tobacco, tobacco products or cigarettes to persons under 18 years of age, be received, placed on file and "Resolution approving said agreement", be adopted and Mayor and City Clerk authorized to execute same. Ayes: Seven. Resolution adopted and upon approval by Mayor assigned No. 2008-609. 127469 Cole/Reggie Schmitt that communication from Building Official/Maintenance Administrator transmitting completion project at an amended amount of $318,507.91 for work performed by Failor Hurley Construction of Hudson, Iowa in conjunction with 2007 Window Replacement for Waterloo Public Library, be received, placed on file and "Resolution approving said amended amount", be approved. Ayes: Seven. Resolution adopted and upon approval by Mayor assigned No. 2008-610. RESOLUTIONS TO BE ADOPTED 127470 Reggie Schmitt/Welper that "Resolution approving an advance of funds not to exceed $196,020.00 for repayment from the Martin Road Urban Renewal Tax Increment Revenue Fund and directing the filing of certification under Iowa Code Section 403.19 to pay for acquisition of property", be adopted. Ayes: Seven. Resolution adopted and upon approval by Mayor assigned No. 2008-611. 127471 - Reggie Schmitt/Welper that "Resolution approving an advance of funds not to exceed $350,018.34 for repayment from the Midport Urban Renewal Tax Increment Revenue Fund and directing the filing of certification under Iowa Code Section 403.19 to pay for acquisition of property", be adopted. Ayes: Seven. Resolution adopted and upon approval by Mayor assigned No. 2008-612. • • • • July 14, 2008 Resolutions to be Adopted continued Page 11 127472 Reggie Schmitt/Welper that "Resolution approving communication from Mayor Tim Hurley transmitting request from Main Street Waterloo for discretionary hotel/motel tax grant in the amount of $8,000.00 for BBQ'Loo and Blues Too event", be adopted. Prior to a vote on the above motion, the following comments were heard. Councilperson Hart noted he received a call in regards to the discretionary hotel/motel tax grant, and he knows a list will be presented in the future, but asked how is that distributed or is it at the discretion of the council or the mayor. Mayor Hurley stated it is a certain percent of the total fiscal year revenues from the hotel/motel tax. Most of the revenues council has asked the Convention & Visitors to allocate, which is a grant driven from a very formal process and council approves. For the discretionary funds, we try to tie it to events, entertainment and heads on beds, but that is entirely up to the council to approve recommendations from the mayor's office. Councilperson Hart commented that there is close to $100,000.00 discretionary funds left and asked if Mayor Hurley will come before council with a listing of all of the folks who have applied for it or a list of wish projects. Mayor Hurley responded yes, but he has been putting it off because of flood reasons and other reasons, and the requests have built up. Mayor Hurley noted the reason he brought this one to council singly is that their event is next weekend and he didn't feel it fair to leave them in limbo. Mayor Hurley noted he has taken a look at what the other requests. Those include internal requests from our police and fire departments for event overtime coverage that we have been allocating. There are requests from the Cattle Congress and the Center For The Arts. We have an expectation or a request that we fund a marketing position for the downtown renovation. Mayor Hurley noted that the city booked a year that was 37.5 percent more than the previous year in terms of gross hotel/motel receipts, but even with $99,284.00 unallocated there is not enough to go around with what everybody wants. Councilperson Hart asked for applicants who are interested in any type of discretionary funds have the requests already been submitted or do people just come in right now. Mayor Hurley noted that Cindy Wells started with him last year and for the 2007 event, but we did not have the money. In August they asked him to consider it, so there was a formal request and several follow-ups on their part in between. Councilperson Hart asked if folks with a worthy project bringing in people should contact Mayor Hurley's office. Mayor Hurley responded yes, but he will need a letter or an e-mail outlining what the project is, what they intend to spend the monies for and how much they want. Following comments a vote was taken on the original motion with the following result. Ayes: Seven. Resolution adopted and upon approval by Mayor assigned No. 2008-613. ORDINANCES TO BE ADOPTED 127473 - Reggie Schmitt/Cole that "an Ordinance amending the 2007 Waterloo Code of Ordinances by repealing Section 7-5B-6, Payment, Assessment of Costs, of Article B, Weeds, of Chapter 5, Vegetation, of Title 7, Public Ways & Property; and enacting in lieu thereof new Section 7-5B-6, Payment, Assessment of Costs, Appeal, of Article B, Weeds, of Chapter 5, Vegetation, of Title 7, Public Ways & Property (waiver of administrative fee if fine is reduced by one-half upon appeal)", be received, placed on file, considered and passed for the second time. Ayes: Seven. Motion carried. 127474 - Reggie Schmitt/Cole that rules requiring ordinances to be considered and voted for passage at two prior meetings be suspended. Ayes: Seven. Motion carried. July 14, 2008 Ordinances to be Adopted continued Page 12 127475 - Reggie Schmitt/Cole that "an Ordinance amending the 2007 Waterloo Code of Ordinances by repealing Section 7-5B-6, Payment, Assessment of Costs, of Article B, Weeds, of Chapter 5, Vegetation, of Title 7, Public Ways & Property; and enacting in lieu thereof new Section 7-5B-6, Payment, Assessment of Costs, Appeal, of Article B, Weeds, of Chapter 5, Vegetation, of Title 7, Public Ways & Property (waiver of administrative fee if fine is reduced by one-half upon appeal)", be considered and passed for the third time and adopted. Ayes: Seven. Ordinance adopted and upon approval by Mayor assigned No. 4919. 127476 - Cole/Reggie Schmitt that "an Ordinance amending the 2007 Waterloo Code of Ordinances by repealing Section 1-3-2, Municipal Infractions, of Chapter 3, General Penalty, of Title 1, Administration; and enacting in lieu thereof new Section 1-3-2, Municipal Infractions, of Chapter 3, General Penalty, of Title 1, Administration (creation of $100 administrative fee for second notice of violation and $300 for each additional notice in the same calendar year)", be received, placed on file, considered and passed for the second time. Ayes: Seven. Motion carried. 127477 - Cole/Reggie Schmitt that rules requiring ordinances to be considered and voted for passage at two prior meetings be suspended. Ayes: Seven. Motion carried. 127478 - Cole/Reggie Schmitt that "an Ordinance amending the 2007 Waterloo Code of Ordinances by repealing Section 1-3-2, Municipal Infractions, of Chapter 3, General Penalty, of Title 1, Administration; and enacting in lieu thereof new Section 1-3-2, Municipal Infractions, of Chapter 3, General Penalty, of Title 1, Administration (creation of $100 administrative fee for second notice of violation and $300 for each additional notice in the same calendar year)", be considered and passed for the third time and adopted. Ayes: Seven. Ordinance adopted and upon approval by Mayor assigned No. 4920. NEW BUSINESS 127479 Hart/Steve Schmitt that communication from Community Planning and Development Director transmitting request to vacate an alley in Block 4 of Riverside Addition Adjacent to the former Rath Administration Building at 1515 Sycamore Street, be received, placed on file and "Resolution setting date of hearing as July 28, 2008, at 5:30 p.m. in the City Hall Council Chambers on the above described request", be adopted and City Clerk instructed to publish notice of same. Ayes: Seven. Resolution adopted and upon approval by Mayor assigned No. 2008-614. 127480 - Hart/Steve Schmitt that communication from General Manager of Waterloo Water Works requesting to certify the amount of $5,636.29 for work performed by the Water Works at 522 Kern Street, together with recommendation of approval of Waterloo Water Works Board of Trustees, be received, placed on file and "Resolution approving said request", be adopted and City Clerk instructed to notify Black Hawk County Treasurer of same. Ayes: Seven. Resolution adopted and upon approval by Mayor assigned No. 2008-615. • • • • July 14, 2008 New Business continued 127481 - Hart/Steve Schmitt that communication from Community Planning & Development transmitting request for a minor site plan amendment to the Industrial District for property generally located at the park site consisting of approximately ten acres to allow temporary office and staging area for manufactured homes, be on file and "Resolution approving said request", be adopted. Page 13 Director "M -2,P" Planned former Greyhound FEMA to have a received, placed Ayes: Seven. Resolution adopted and upon approval by Mayor assigned No. 2008-616. ORAL PRESENTATIONS 127482 - Marci Savage, President of Neighbors for Life Neighborhood Association, noted this association is in the Lafayette Park area that was recently hit with the floods. Ms. Savage stated she was coming here to express how upset, angry and frustrated they were when the waters first came because they felt they were pretty much in the dark on the coverage of their area. Halfway through the day as the waters came up the street, the water department was coming with sand bags and they came all night long to drop water off. They would go through the water that would be waist high in some spots to help the neighbors try and save the residences. Ms. Savage stated after the waters receded, Mayor Hurley along with the Street Department and Waste Management did an excellent job in responding. The sandbags were picked up before downtown, the streets were swept before downtown, and Mayor Hurley along with Waste Management even opened up Lafayette school for a very big clean-up with free appliances. Ms. Savage stated many of the residents would just like to say thank you very much. Lawrence Wheeler, 433 Bratnober, distributed a photo to show what is going on during the flood clean up. Mr. Wheeler stated he feels there are people using the charities in Waterloo as a garbage dump. At some of the recycling bins people had been discarding flood debris and dumping garbage. They pile it up so high that the recycling bin cannot be emptied. On the south side of St. Vincent de Paul recently code enforcement cleaned it up. Now there is debris again starting to pile up. This happens on a regular basis. He lives the third house down from St. Vincent de Paul on Bratnober. When people do this that puts rats in his back yard. To the right hand side of that picture is PCI, and they a rat problem. There is a brand new restaurant that went into the old Kentucky Fried Chicken, but if people keep doing that we are going to have a really bad rat problem. Mr. Wheeler stated he did not like the city banning the use of air rifles within the city limits. He would like to see about having that repealed because he doesn't want to always have to be putting out bait to kill rats, but he wants to be able to shoot them. The Salvation Army on Franklin Street was also used as a garbage dump. A company out of Sara Lee out of Wisconsin dumped a bunch of moldy bread and that bread was distributed to low income people and people who were flood victims needing grocery assistance. Mr. Wheeler stated he does not like how some of these grocery stores use the Northeast Iowa Food Bank as a garbage dump for their spoiled produce and outdated product. There are elderly people who can't afford to pay their bills and they rely on that charity for their grocery assistance and we are giving them outdated stuff. Cole/Welper that the above oral comments be received and placed on file. Ayes: Seven. Motion carried. 127483 - Reggie Schmitt/Cole that the council adjourn to Executive Session at 6:59 p.m. Ayes: Seven. Motion carried. City Attorney Jim Walsh stated that discussion of strategy in matters in litigation is an approved topic of Executive Session pursuant to Iowa Code Section 21.5(1)(c)(2007) and acquisition of property is an approved topic of Executive Session pursuant to Iowa Code Section 21.5(1)(j)(2007). July 14, 2008 Page 14 EXECUTIVE SESSION 127484 - Reggie Schmitt/Cole that the council adjourn Executive Session at 7:14 p.m. Ayes: Seven. Motion carried. 127485 - Reggie Schmitt/Cole that the City Attorney be authorized to proceed. Ayes: Seven. Motion carried. ADJOURNMENT 127486 - Reggie Schmitt/Steve Schmitt that the Council adjourn at 7:15 p.m. Ayes: Seven. Motion carried. c'4„4.,4 - Nancy Ecfcert, CMC City Clerk • •