HomeMy WebLinkAbout07.31.2023 Council Planning Session MinutesJuly 31, 2023
The Council of the City of Waterloo, Iowa, met in a Planning Session in the Harold E. Getty
Council Chambers, City Hall, at 5:30 p.m., on Monday, July 31, 2023.
Roll Call.
Mayor Quentin Hart in the Chair. Roll Call: Boesen, Nichols, Creighton -Smith, Chiles, Grieder,
Wilder and Feuss.
Prayer or Moment of Silence.
Pledge of Allegiance: Dave Boesen, At -Large Council Member.
Approval of Agenda as proposed or amended.
Feuss/Grieder
that the agenda, as proposed, be approved. Voice vote -Ayes: Seven. Motion carried.
CONSENT AGENDA
Feuss/Grieder
that the consent agenda, as proposed, be approved. Voice vote -Ayes: Seven. Motion carried.
Motion approving Change Order No. 2 with Modern Builders, Inc., of Janesville, Iowa, in the
amount of $1,418.00, in conjunction with repairs to the waterline in eight (8) separate locations
of Aircraft Storage Hangar No. 4 at the Waterloo Regional Airport, and authorizing the Mayor to
execute said document.
Motion to approving Application for Fireworks Display for the Lost Island Theme Park, 2225 E.
Shaulis Rd. on August 4, 2023, for approximately 15 minutes, beginning at 9:45 p.m.
Liquor Licenses
a. Basal Pizza, 225 W. 4th St., Class C Alcohol w/Outdoor Service and Sunday Sales,
Renewal - Exp: 4/30/2024.
b. Benevolent & Protective Order of Elks #290, 407 E. Park Ave., Class C Alcohol
w/Outdoor Service, Catering and Sunday Sales, Renewal - Exp: 6/30/2024.
c. BJ's Bar and Billiards, 110 Ida St., Class C Alcohol w/Outdoor Service and Sunday
Sales, Renewal - Exp: 7/29/2024.
d. BP Fuel, 127 Jefferson St., Class E Alcohol w/Sunday Sales, Renewal - Exp:
5/29/2024.
e. Cork's Grocery, 1956 Lafayette St., Class B Alcohol w/Sunday Sales, New - Exp:
6/22/2024.
Page 1 of 5
f. Family Dollar #30944, 2206 Kimball Ave., Class B Alcohol w/Sunday Sales, New - Exp:
6/30/2024.
g. Fraternal Order of Eagles, 202 E. 1st St., Class F Alcohol w/Outdoor Service and
Sunday Sales, Renewal - Exp: 7/14/2023.
h. Hickory House, 315 Park Rd., Class C Alcohol w/Sunday Sales, Renewal - Exp:
5/23/2024.
i. Kwik Star #732, 324 Fletcher Ave., Class B Alcohol w/Sunday Sales, New - Exp:
7/21/2024.
j. Kwik Stop 3, 1104 Washington St., Class E Alcohol w/Sunday Sales, Renewal - Exp:
7/14/2024.
k. Liquor and Tobacco Outlet, 2844 University Ave., Class E Alcohol w/Sunday Sales, New
- Exp: 7/31/2024.
I. Maple Lanes, 2608 University Avenue, Class C Alcohol w/Outdoor Service and Sunday
Sales, New - Exp: 7/22/2024.
m. Red Carpet Golf, 1409 Newell St., Class C Alcohol w/Outdoor Service and Sunday
Sales, Renewal - Exp: 4/4/2024.
n. Vinton's Pub and Eatery, 201 Rath St., Class C Liquor w/Sunday Sales and Catering,
New - Exp: 9/30/2023.
o. XO Food & Liquor, 428 Franklin St., Class E Alcohol w/Sunday Sales, Renewal - Exp:
8/9/2024.
p. Yesway #1022, 1976 Franklin St., Class E Alcohol w/Sunday Sales, Renewal - Exp:
7/12/2024.
q. Singlespeed Brewing, 325 Commercial St., Class C Alcohol w/Outdoor Service (1 day
extended Outdoor Service) - Exp: 8/5/2023.
r. Iowa Irish Fest, 315 E. 5th St., Class C Alcohol w/Outdoor Service and Sunday Sales,
New - Exp: 8/7/2023.
s. Iowa Irish Fest, 3238 Dewitt Rd., Clss C Alcohol w/Outdoor Service and Sunday Sales,
New - Exp: 8/7/2023.
Motion approving Cigarette/Tobacco Permit Application for G's Corner, 1117 E. 4th Street.
Motion approving Cigarette/Tobacco Permit Application for Liquor and Tobacco Outlet, 2844
University Avenue.
PLANNING SESSION
Discussion of Tolemi software.
Mayor Hart provided an overview of the Tolemi Software.
Dan Moroni, Tolemi, provided a brief overview of the features of the software.
Mr. Boesen questioned the cost of the software.
Page 2 of 5
Dan Moroni shared that the quote for the software is $25,000 annual fee plus a $5,000 set up
fee. Additional systems could be added at no additional cost. The license fee is $5,000
annually.
Mr. Boesen questioned if the public would have access to the data as well.
Dan Moroni explained that the city has the option of publishing the data.
Mr. Boesen questioned the implementation time frame.
Dan Moroni explained that implementation takes 12 weeks from signature to launch.
Mr. Grieder and Mr. Nichols expressed support for purchasing the software.
Mr. Chiles expressed concern for having an abundance of data without an effective strategy for
using the software. He shared that he is not opposed to purchasing the software but explained
that he wants to understand how staff are going to use the software.
Mayor Hart explained that city staff have sat through multiple demonstrations of software and
have vetted its capabilities and how it will integrate within their departments.
Ms. Creighton -Smith commented that she believes this software will be cost -saving in the long
run.
Mr. Chiles explained he is interested in seeing additional uses this software can provide above
and beyond what we already know and plan to use it for and if there is any overlap of software
currently in use.
Mr. Nichols clarified that Mr. Chiles wants to see additional use case examples for different
departments, such as public works and police.
Mayor Hart explained that Tolemi will combine all of our current software into one place so that
we can easily access it.
Mr. Chiles questioned if the software creates data or just collects it..
Dan Moroni explained that the system will both centralize data from the various systems
throughout the city, county and federal government, as well as use that data to derive additional
predictive analysis that the city does not have.
Ms. Wilder explained that it would be a time -saving benefit to have information in front of us so
we could make decisions more quickly. She questioned if there is a dollar estimate of how
much this software would save the city yearly.
Dan Moroni commented that just from a rental registration perspective, the revenue generation
would surpass the cost of the software. He provided several other scenarios of savings,
including efficiencies in both manhours and wait time.
Mr. Nichols questioned if the software has the capability to embed data information on the
Page 3 of 5
roads surrounding certain properties.
Dan Moroni provided examples.
Mr. Chiles questioned if any decision was needed from council tonight.
Mayor Hart shared that the purpose of the presentation was to provide information to the
council.
Discussion of Local Option Sales Tax.
Kelley Felchle, City Clerk, provided an overview of the steps required to approve a new Local
Option Sales and Service Tax (LOSST).
Jamie Knutson, City Engineer, provided an overview of how LOSST dollars have been utilized
in the past to repair roads in Waterloo.
Mayor Hart commented that there is enough money in reserves to maintain our roads at the
same level if council should decide to use a portion of the local option sales tax for property tax
relief.
Jamie Knutson shared reports on the increase in construction costs for roads and highways and
cautioned what could happen to our city streets if local sales tax monies were reduced.
Mayor Hart reiterated that there are currently very healthy reserves. He provided an overview
of how other Iowa cities utilize their local option sales tax. He spoke about conversations he
has had with individual council members over the years on what percentage of the local option
sales tax dollars could be used to address the biggest concerns of our citizens. He commented
that 20 percent is an amount that is reasonable to consider using for property tax relief.
Mr. Grieder questioned if there is any concern that the state might make changes in the future
to the local option sales tax, similar to what they did to property taxes.
Jamie Knutson shared that, based on the last two years, they had been proposing a specific
end date for LOSST and explained the scenarios that had been proposed by the state
legislature.
Mr. Grieder commented that a conversation should be had on whether some roads could be
turned into pedestrian areas.
Ms. Creighton -Smith questioned if doing some work in-house would help offset the costs.
Mayor Hart commented that over the last few years Public Works and Engineering have worked
to do more work in-house and he needs to have a conversation with Randy, about how much it
would take to do more work in-house.
Mr. Boesen commented that he has long been a strong proponent of pushing this forward. He
concurred that we are facing a serious budgetary shortfall, but whether we fix $10 million dollars
worth of streets a year or $20 million, people will still complain about the quality of our streets
due to the nature of the beast. He stated that he supports at least 20 percent for property tax
Page 4 of 5
relief.
Ms. Creighton -Smith commented that she would like to better understand the reserves available
to pull from to help pay for road construction.
Mr. Chiles commented that Ward 1 is primarily concerned about property taxes. He is looking
forward to a plan to help find a more efficient way to maintain our roads and find money
elsewhere in order to do so.
Mr. Boesen questioned the timeline to make a decision.
Kelley Felchle, City Clerk, explained since this will be on the August 7th agenda, a decision is
needed now to allow for the reconfiguration of the resolution for property tax relief and to allow
time to meet with our bonding attorney's for the necessary language.
ADJOURNMENT
Feuss/Grieder
that the council adjourn at 6:58 p.m. Voice vote -Ayes: Seven. Motion carried.
�effey Eefch[e
Kelley Felchle
City Clerk
Page 5 of 5
SriVE