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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes-05/23/2016COUNCIL WORK SESSION May 23, 2016 3:30 p.`m. Harold E. Getty Council Chambers Members present: Schmitt, Lind, Morrissey, Welper, and Amos. Absent: Jaebbs. Moved by Welper, seconded by Schmitt that the Agenda, as proposed, be approved. Ayes: Five. Motion carried. Greater Cedar Valley Alliance and Chamber's Bi -Annual Update. Sue Armbrecht, MidWest One Bank, spoke in support of the Greater Cedat Valley Alliance. Lisa Skubal, Greater Cedar Valley Alliance, gave an update on the current business expansion, new companies looking at Waterloo, and new business that have moved to Waterloo. She reviewed the projects that have been completed since the last update. Mr. Welper asked if there was any particular thing that makes Waterloo . attractive to these companies. Lisa Skubal stated that the promotion of the OCWEN building and the quality of the available raw resources in Waterloo have been major attractors. Mr. Schmitt questioned the importance of the IDED tax credit to the expansion of businesses such as the Hydrite Chemical Co. Lisa Skubal explained the importance, stressing that these types of credits demonstrate the business -friendliness level of both the City of Waterloo and the State of Iowa. Mr. Lind questioned being able to know the number of jobs created and lost in Waterloo. Lisa Skubal explained the potential job creation for the projects mentioned and offered information on obtaining details relating to other projects. Mr. Morrissey questioned the skill level of the workforce in Waterloo and if the Alliance is working with Hawkeye Community College and University of Northern Iowa to increase training for the skilled laborers. Lisa Skubal stated that the Alliance works closely with both institutions to increase skillsets and marketability of the area workforce through training and retraining. Cary Darrah, gave an update on Tech Works campus. Tech 2 is finishing up with abatement and will soon be able to start construction. She°reviewed=the Leader in Me program and announced that Teri Trask will be joining the Leader in Me team. Steve Dust, CEO — Greater Cedar Valley Alliance and Chamber, emphasized several areas in which the Alliance is working including amenities, infrastructure, and marketing the area's rich skillset and diverse workforce. Mr. Morrissey, asked for discussion to take place in the near future regarding the Fair Chance Act. Steve Dust stated that the Alliance is open to and ready for that discussion. Presentation from Cedar Valley Catholic Schools The Cedar Valley°Catholic School students presented to Council their work in obtaining the Blue Zones designation for their schools. Mayor Hart commended the students on their presentation and work toward their Blue Zones goals. Page 2 Traffic Safety Awareness Campaign Update Sandie Greco, Traffic Superintendent, gave an update on the Drive Safe Cedar Valley campaign. Discuss council vacancy Suzy. Schares, City Clerk, explained the timelines, and details involved in holding a special election and the process of appointment should the council choose to do so. Mr. Schmitt offered suggestions for making an appointment and' stated the requirements and procedures involved in doing so. . Suzy Schares offered suggestions for the interview/appointment process. Mr. Morrissey stated that he supports an overwhelming number of taxpayers -in Ward 1 who believe that they should•be'given the opportunity to choose who will represent them on Council. Mr., Welper expressed his agreement with allowing the taxpayers in Ward 1 to elect who will represent them. Mr. Amos expressed his agreement with .allowing the taxpayers in Ward 1 to elect who will represent them. Mr. Schmitt stated that he lives in Ward 1 and has listened to a sense of urgency for. filling this seat from the residents living there. He added that he'does not believe the city needs to spend the money on a special election. Mr. Morrissey stated that the process can begin moving forward if the Council makes ,the decision now to hold the special 'election. Mr. Lind stated that an email had been sent to the City Clerk requesting this itefn be placed on the agenda and, if that request would have been honored, Council could already have been moving forward with the special election process. Mayor Hart stated that the whole process requires a vote by Council. He expressed his confusion with the whole matter as Mr. Lind had originally supported the special election process but later expressed support of an appointment instead of an election. Suzy Schares recommended that members who are in favor of appointment, as an attempt to gain a majority, should attempt to gain support of those members in opposition to it. She added that, if those attempts fail, they would be forced to hold a special election anyway and that election could be added to the next agenda. Mr. Morrissey expressed the, desire for council to come together and decide, to move forward with the special election: Mr. Schmitt questioned if items were only being placed on the agenda if there were already 4 known votes on them. Mayor Hart stated that on Monday he heard that Mr. Lind was in favor of,the special election, the next day there is a letter stating that this had changed. He expressed the level of confusion this has placed on this item and is asking for clarification of what council members want. He affirmed that, because they already know that there are three votes against the appointment process, placing a motion to appoint on the agenda would be delaying the process instead of moving it forward. Mr. Schmitt stated that he had asked for several weeks to no avail that this item be placed on the agenda. He -added that the document was drafted to be presented at the scheduled meeting with the Mayor to which the Mayor' did not attend.' In an attempt to observe agenda deadlines, the letter was "then presented to the City Clerk and was -in the Courier the very next day. He added Page 3 that half the, council is requesting that a motion to approve the appointment process be placed on the agenda and it should be. Suzy Schares, City `Clerk, stated that the other half of the council is requesting that a `special election is placed on the agenda as well. This is the reason for scheduling this work session; allowing Council to decide the direction they wish to proceed and what will be placed on the agenda. Steve Schmitt expressed his disapproval with delays in this process. He added that it has been his desire to hold these public discussions and move forward with this process. Mr. Morrissey stated that he had not heard anything prior to last week regarding this process being an issue only that a work session should be held. He asserted that allowing a special election is the most citizen oriented response to this need. Steve Schmitt asked Mr. Morrissey if he understood that appointing someone would fill the position sooner than the process' of a special election. Mr. Morrissey followed by asking Mr. Schmitt if he understood that they would only be delaying the process further if the council could not come together in agreement on making an appointment and the special election process would ultimately take place anyway. Suzy Schares clarified that the majority of Council members had indicated to her that they were leaning toward the special election route and, therefore, she had been moving in that direction. She added that, due to primaries and state regulations, the, special election could not take place until July so there was no delay in the process. She explained that she had done all the research on the requirements for hold a special election and had presented those findings to council at a previous meeting. Mr. Welper asked if, in order to get on the ballot, a candidate must obtain ,a certain number of signatures. Suzy Schares affirmed that each candidate would need 37 signatures from residents of Ward 1 to allow their name to be placed on the ballot. Mr. Welper stated that he supports the special election. Mr. Morrissey stated that he supports the special election. Mr. Amos stated that he supports the special election. Mr. Schmitt stated that the document requesting to place the interview/appointment process on the agenda still stands. Mr. Morrissey questioned the reasoning of placing that option on the agenda if there are three known opponents to it on the council. Mr. Schmitt stated that this would give 2 weeks for citizens to contact council members to sway their thinking. Forest Dillavou, 1725 Huntington Rd., reminded council that last week there were four representatives from Ward 1 at the meeting, two of whom expressed interest in filling that seat. He asked the council to save the $5,000.00 and just make an appointment. John Sherbon, 1715 Robin Rd., stated that he believed' the, citizens of Ward 1 want an appointment made. Mayor Hart clarified the process of adding the request for the interview/appointment process to the next agenda and asked about the timing of adding the special elections process as well. Page 4 Suzy Schares explained that both items could be added to the next agenda; first the interview/appointment followed by the special election. She asked for clarification of expectations council has regarding the application process relating to the interview of candidates. Mr. Welper stated that he would like to see an application process in place. Mr. Schmitt agreed. Suzy Schares stated that she would place these items on the next agenda. Ayes: Five. Motion carried. With no further business before the Council, it was moved by Welper, seconded by Schmitt that the meeting be adjourned at 5:23 p.m. Ayes: Five. Motion carried. Suzy Sc - res, CMC. City Clerk/Human Resource Director