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HomeMy WebLinkAbout08/14/95COUNCIL WORK SESSION August 14, 1995 4:45 p.m. Large Conference Room Members present: Mayor Rooff, Jordan, Anders, Collier, Getty, Krizek and Mollenhoff. Members absent: Murphy Moved by Krizek, seconded by Collier to approve the agenda as proposed. Ayes: Six. Absent: Murphy. Motion carried. City Planner Don Temeyer summarized the remaining balances of the disaster recovery funds. Phase I and Phase II of the Sherwood Park acquisition are nearing completion and it is estimated that $590,416.95 will be available for use. Costs for Phase III are estimated at $472,125.00 with demolition costs for all Phases estimated in the $308,000 dollar range. The council requested that disaster recovery funds be used in the Columbus Driver Storm Sewer Project which has estimates ranging from $78,605.00 to $117,995.00. The disaster recovery funds remaining can be used for completion of Phase III, the Columbus Storm Sewer Project or demolition of Phase I and II. An additional source of funding for demolition could be to access State of Iowa Disaster Recovery funds which will require a 25% match by the City. Alternately, Community Development Block Grant funds are available for use in the demolition or as matching funds for the State funds. Councilperson Krizek supported completing the demolition of Phase I and II before making any offers to property owners in Phase III of the buyout. Councilperson Getty disagreed stating that residents are depending on the progression of Phase III and the City should complete the buyout as discussed. Councilperson Jordan stated that he is not willing to use any City funds to match the State disaster recovery funds for demolition of the residences in Sherwood Park. Councilperson Murphy is now present at 4:59 p.m. Temeyer explained that if the council approves using Community Development funds as a match there would still be over $1,000,000 available for housing rehabilitation this year. Councilperson Anders recommended the council move forward with purchase and relocation of Phase III first and then deal with the demolition of the buildings and any excess disaster recovery funds. Krizek asked if the relocation cost estimates for Phase III will be more in line than the other two Phases. Temeyer responded that the length of time it has taken to complete Phase I and II had an inflationary effect on the estimates but that Phase III should be very close if the council commits to moving forward. The federal disaster recovery funds do need to be allocated by September or the funding could be de -allocated for use. It was the consensus of the council to place the proposed plan for allocation of the disaster recovery funds to the Phase III buyout and Columbus Storm Sewer Project on the August 21 council agenda. Don Temeyer was asked to identify demolition funds and Fire Chief Magsamen was requested to identify any structures that the Fire Department could use for training before the next meeting. With no further discussion on this matter it was moved by Mollenhoff, seconded by Krizek that the meeting be adjourned at 5:05 p.m. Ayes: Seven. Motion carried. Susan Fangman City Clerk COUNCIL WORK SESSION August 14, 1995 5:00 p.m. Large Conference Room Members present: Mayor Rooff, Jordan, Anders, Collier, Getty, Krizek, Mollenhoff and Murphy. Moved by Krizek, seconded by Mollenhoff to approve the agenda as proposed. Ayes: Seven. Motion carried. It was moved by Mollenhoff, seconded by Collier to recommend placement of the agreement with Waterloo Industrial Association to finance the purchase of 247.6 acres of property for an industrial park before council for action. Before a vote on the above motion the following discussion was heard: Mayor Rooff explained the terms of the proposed agreement with the Waterloo Industrial Development Association to finance the purchase of 247.6 acres of property for an industrial park. WIDA will purchase the property for $580,620 and the City will pay the principal back to WIDA on a fifteen year schedule with a five year balloon at an interest of 6.5 adjusted to the prime rate per annum. It is anticipated that the farm income will be used to reduce the interest cost prior to the annual payment and any principal payments can be supported out of the Economic Development Revolving Loan fund. Councilperson Anders asked whether sites would be offered free of charge to prospective businesses. Temeyer explained that each lease agreement will be negotiated separately but that land could be used as an incentive to prospective businesses. However once businesses are established they will be placed on the tax rolls and tax increment agreements would be negotiated. The next step after the approval of the agreement and the purchase is to hire an engineer to subdivide the property and design sewer and road infrastructure improvements. It is estimated that a one million dollar project would pay for the land acquisition and four million dollars of development would pay all the costs of acquisition and infrastructure improvements. With no further discussion a vote was taken on the motion. Ayes: Seven. Motion carried. City Planner Don Temeyer reviewed the request from Hawkeye Community College regarding a new jobs training program for Design Products Corporation, a subsidiary of IBP. DPC is planning a $4,200,000 expansion project which will employ an additional 137 employees at an average hourly wage of $9.66. Hawkeye Community College has the right to create individual tax increment financing districts for jobs training programs but due to the new State law must work cooperatively with the taxing district. This will not affect the existing IBP jobs training program which will result in an additional $700,000 in new revenue coming out of the TIF in FY 97 and $1,200,000 in FY 98. There being no further discussion, it was moved by Getty, seconded by Jordan to adjourn the meeting at 5:25 p.m. Ayes: Seven. Motion carried. Susan Fangman City Clerk COUNCIL WORK SESSION August 14, 1995 5:30 p.m. Large Conference Room Members present: Mayor Rooff, Mollenhoff, Krizek, Getty, Collier, Anders, Murphy, Jordan. It was moved by Krizek, seconded by Mollenhoff to approve the agenda as proposed. Ayes: Seven. Motion carried. Administrative Director Bob Stevenson reviewed the results of the 1995 City of Waterloo Citizen Survey with the members of the council. The results indicate that street repair and maintenance remain the number one priority for citizens. The list of priorities is also presented by Ward, indicating that each ward has individual characteristics and needs. Citizens were asked to prioritize the capital improvements programs and street repair remained at the top of that list. Stevenson stated that the results could be analyzed by ward if desired and it was requested that all the summary sheets be reproduced by ward if possible. Dr. Claisen stated in the executive summary that street improvements have resulted in a positive change in attitude and the perception of the effectiveness of law enforcement efforts has increased. In 1993 the citizen survey indicated that 48% of respondents rated the services they receive from the City as Very Good or Good while the current 1994 survey resulted in a 67% rating of Very Good or Good. Police Chief Koehrsen assisted in documenting the summary of handwritten comments on the survey. These comments indicated that the Mayor and Council are doing a good job and the public safety departments are seen as effective. However areas needing additional attention include noise violations and increased patrol of residential areas. The cost of the survey was $3,500 with the Chamber of Commerce contributing $1,000 and $500 from Community Development funds leaving a balance of $2,000 for the City's funding. Councilperson Mollenhoff stressed the importance of this information to elected officials and suggested that this is a valuable resource that requires continuity and should be considered as an ordinance. With no further business before the council it was moved by Krizek, seconded by Jordan that the meeting be adjourned at 5:55 p.m. Ayes: Seven. Motion carried. Susan Fangman City Clerk