MINUTES OF THE ROLAND CITY COUNCIL

REGULAR SESSION

MARCH 27, 2006

 

The Roland City Council met in regular session on Monday, March 27, 2006, at 7:00 p.m. at City Hall with Mayor Samuel Juhl presiding.  Council members present at roll call were:  Duane Canny, Roger Fritz, Bob Hanson, John Lee, and Jeri Neely.  Also present were 11 visitors and members of the community.

 

Motion by Hanson, second by Lee to approve the consent agenda containing the following items: agenda, minutes from the March 13, 2006 and March 21, 2006, meetings as written, clerk’s reports, and claims as submitted.  All in favor.

 

There was no public input at this time.

 

The Department Heads report were as follows: 

 

Streets - Street Superintendent Harold Hovick reported the bird chirper is back and he has ordered an external speaker.  He will place the speaker up high so that the chirper itself can be mounted lower and might not be so exposed to the weather.  The owls have been donated to the City by Argyll Amenson.  Council member Neely asked about the asphalt patch on Cottonwood Street that is dipping and breaking up.  Harold said he is going to fill the holes and then Manatt’s will go over it when they resurface Cottonwood Street sometime this summer.  She also inquired if anyone has gotten costs to paint the light poles.  Harold said he has talked with Mike Lewis and he will be down in a couple of days to give him an estimate.  Harold also stated that there is a new Alliant Representative for Roland, and he is checking to see who owns the light poles.  The City has signed an Extension Facilities Agreement for some of the poles in town, but he’s not sure which ones.  He will get back to Harold when he gets it all sorted out.  Council member Neely also inquired about how much the bid was to paint the bridge.  Harold told her $7,000.00.

 

Water/Wastewater - Water/Wastewater Superintendent Dean Uitermark reported he received the bid to repair the stand pipe where the jacket and insulation are coming off on the water tower.  It came in at $2,850.00.  That also includes putting up the owls that were donated by Argyll Amenson.  Consensus of the council was to proceed with the bid.

 

City Clerk- City Clerk Deneen reported she received a call from Kathy Hovick regarding the additional charges this year to the girl’s softball program.  She would like to see the council agree to a $5.00 increase this year and then another $5.00 increase next year.  Consensus of the council was to proceed with the recommendation of Kathy Hovick.  City Clerk Frost reported what she found out from the Ames Resource Center about items that will and will not be excepted on the Free Resource Day.  The City is tentatively planning to have a Roland Clean Up Day on June 10, 2006.  She also reported the Greg Moeller is installing the new computers this week.

 

Angela Moore, 201 W. Maple Street, was present to discuss the water drainage problem they have when it rains.  Angela says that the water runs down their driveway and washes the rock, sand and silt from the right-of-way down their driveway and sidewalk.  Dennis and Lynn Nielsen, 205 W. Maple Street, were also present and said they have the same problem.  There is actually two (2) drains, one on each side of the driveway at Nielson’s, but the water never seems to get there.  They were hoping to have the City do something with it when the put in the new water main, but found out tonight that the water main is going to cross at Green Street and be installed on the south side of the road.  Street Superintendent Harold Hovick stated that the problem is that the street is higher than the sidewalk.  He said he would have to go in an tear up the parking from Schaefer’s all the way to Nielsen’s.  Council member Neely asked if it would help if we paved the parking.  Harold said it would be very costly.  The strip in front of Maple Street Ice Cream was $5,000.00, and where she is talking about is considerably more area.  They also discussed installing another intake.  Harold will look into the options and get back with them.

 

Jerry Dickinson was present to discussion the web page proposal he provided to the City.  Jerry made a clarification on the “per page cost”.  He said the amount listed is if the information is provided to him, and that it will be higher if he has to research the information.  Currently the web page has 12 links with 14 pages.  He is not looking for much growth in the site.  He feels the site needs to be amplified and could maybe use a history page.  He can make it anyway the city wants its.  He will post the updates as soon as he gets them.  Council member Canny stated he likes the idea of a history page.  Council member Fritz asked what would happen to the web site if they decided to part ways.  Jerry said the web page belongs to the City.  He is just overseeing it.  Council member Neely asked how long it would take for him to get the new site up and running.  Jerry was hoping less than a month.  Council member Canny asked if there will be the option of text only for those who are still on dial up.  Jerry said he could add that option.  Motion by Neely, second by Hanson to hire Jerry Dickinson to develop and apply a Roland specific template to the entire web site using the current information and to provide monthly maintenance and upgrades.  All in favor.  Jerry will have the design approved by Council members Canny and Neely, and will get any addition information needed from City Clerk Frost.

 

Motion by Lee, second by Hanson to authorize Mayor Juhl to sign the Electric Facilities Extension Agreement with Alliant Energy for the new light pole being installed on the 600 block of S. Main Street.  All in favor.

 

There was discussion on Resolution No. 06-03 entitled,  RESOLUTION CLARIFYING THE PURCHASE OF THE PROPERTY AND STRUCTURES LOCATED AT 221 N MAIN STREET, WITH AN OPTION TO PURCHASE THE PROPERTY LOCATED AT 217 N MAIN STREET FOR FUTURE EXPANSION, TO BE USED AS THE ROLAND PUBLIC LIBRARY.  Council member Hanson didn’t like the word “minor” that was listed in two places throughout the resolution.  He defined “minor” renovating and remodeling as repairs that would cost between $4,000.00 - $6,000.00.  He would like to see the word “minor” removed from the resolution.  Council members Canny, Neely and Fritz agreed.  Council member Lee would like to see the resolution left as written.  He was asked why he wanted the word “minor” left in.  Council member Lee stated he wants the word “minor” left in so they don’t completely tear down the existing building.  Council member Canny stated that the “minor” projects that need to be done at the existing building would be to make the entrance and bathrooms handicap accessible.  The cost of just these two projects alone would be over the $4,000.00 - $6,000.00 amount that was discussed above.  Motion by Fritz, second by Neely to approve Resolution No. 06-03, striking the word “minor” in the seventh whereas paragraph and in #3 of the now therefore paragraph.  The roll was called for and is as follows:  AYE:  Canny, Fritz, Hanson, Neely;  NAY:  Lee.  Whereupon Mayor Juhl declared the resolution duly adopted and the same placed on file.  Council member Lee didn’t vote “nay” against the resolution, he voted “nay” against the removal of the word “minor”.

 

There was a short discussion on Ordinance No. 50.  Council member Fritz stated he has not received any comments on the changes, Mayor Juhl stated that he has received comments saying they thought it was good, and Council member Neely said she has received several comments asking why we are changing it now.  Motion by Fritz, second by Lee to approve Ordinance No. 50 entitled, AN ORDINANCE AMENDING THE CODE OF ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF ROLAND, IOWA, 2003, BY AMENDING PROVISIONS PERTAINING TO SNOW REMOVAL AND SNOW ROUTES.  The roll was called for and is as follows:  AYE:  Canny, Fritz, Hanson, Lee, Neely;  NAY: none.  Whereupon Mayor Juhl declared the second reading of Ordinance No. 50 approved.  The third and final reading of Ordinance No. 50 will be held at the next regular council meeting.

 

Council/Mayor comments consisted of the following:  Council member Fritz inquired if the council would be interested in permanently or temporarily moving the council meetings over to the new library building.  Council members Hanson and Neely were in favor of this idea.  Council member Lee was not.  Council member Neely would also like to see the time of the council meetings changed.  City Clerk Frost will place this on the agenda for April 10, 2006 for more discussion.  Council member Neely stated that she resents the implication from Deneen at the special meeting.  She is here to help the City of Roland.  She’s here to help promote the town.  She is not here to promote her business.  She’s just setting the record straight.  She’s here to stay.  She was voted in by the citizens and she’s staying.  Council member Hanson said that council member Neely’s comment was not that she was trying to personally sell houses, she was trying to sell the City.  Council member Canny asked if they were going to go forward with the goals they set up.  He was wondering if a committee needed to be set up.  Council member Neely stated that there are already too many groups and too much lack of communication between them.  The City needs to have one person to attend all the meetings.  She feels all the committees should have been invited to the special meeting.  Consensus of the council was to set up a committee consisting of Mayor Juhl, council members Canny and Neely, and one member from each committee, organization group, and a business owner.  Council member Fritz feels the special meeting was a good start.  They just need to keep the momentum going.

 

There was no public input at this time.

 

With no further business at this time, Hanson moved adjournment of the meeting at 8:10 p.m., second by Canny.  All in favor.  The next regular council meeting will be Monday, April 10, 2006, at 7:00 p.m. at City Hall.