The Lawler City Council met in regular session on June 5, 2017 at 7:00 PM.
Mayor Mueterthies presided.
Council members present: Izer, Scheidel, Throndson, Zubrod and King.
Others present: Jay Uhlenhake, Kathy Humpal, Karen Wilson, Diane Gebel, Linda Alexander, Gail Stammeyer, Chad Pickar, Reed Palo, Carol Hopp, and Jacob Hackman
Moved by King, seconded by Scheidel to approve the Agenda. All Ayes.
Moved by Scheidel, seconded by Zubrod to approve the minutes of the previous meeting and approve the bills presented to be paid. All Ayes.
| MiEnergy Cooperative | Service | $17,094.22 | |
| Treasurer State of Iowa | sales tax May | $1,009.51 | |
| Treasurer State of Iowa | IA Withholding | $129.00 | |
| United States Treasury | FICA, with | $1,377.38 | |
| IPERS | May | $945.68 | |
| Salaries | Salaries | $2,426.39 | |
| Jendro Sanitation | garbage May | $2,152.48 | |
| Windstream | May | $108.25 | |
| Iowa Finance Authority | Loan #MC119R | $33,375.00 | Sewer fund |
| Iowa Finance Authority | Loan #D0345R | $17,204.05 | General fund |
| CASH | $601.72 | ||
| Paul Nieman Construction | $171.15 | ||
| TeamLab | Chemicals | $1,721.50 | |
| Test America | water & wastewater testing | $276.40 | |
| Black Hills Energy | gas | $149.85 | |
| New Hampton Tribune | council minutes | $0.00 | |
| Aramark | rugs | $62.20 | |
| UPS | $119.54 | ||
| Heartland Asphalt | $577.43 | ||
| Five Star Coop | $78.63 | ||
| Sandean | $7.68 | ||
| Hawkins | $264.50 | ||
| Bodensteiner | oil filter | $25.47 | |
| Pollard Pest | $54.50 | ||
| Riley’s Inc | toner for HP | $134.99 | |
| Tifco Industries | $79.95 | ||
| Teeter Specialty Co. | checks | $150.98 | |
| US Post Office | postage | $185.00 | 5/12/2017 |
| Floyd Mitchell Chickasaw Landfill | appliances | $120.00 | |
| Brown Supply Co | $680.25 | ||
| Iowa Department of Natural Resoures | Jay-operator renewal certificate | $120.00 | |
| Stanton Electric | locate, ball park, tree in line | $772.04 | |
| Total | $82,175.74 | ||
| Library Bills | |||
| IPERS | May | $187.63 | |
| Cathy Humpal & Jane Lynch | wages | $982.19 | |
| Treasurer State of Iowa | IA withholding | $39.00 | |
| INGRAM | books | $0.00 | |
| The Iowan | magazine | $0.00 | |
| Calmar Courier | subscription | $34.00 | |
| Midwest Tape | dvd’s | $0.00 | |
| Windstream | April | $0.00 | |
| Prevention | magazine | $0.00 | |
| Gluten Free & More | magazine | $0.00 | |
| Demco | office supplies | $0.00 | |
| Library Total | $1,242.82 | ||
| May Receipts | |||
| Gas Tax Refund | $0.00 | ||
| Transfer of jurisdiction | $1,921.48 | ||
| Local Option Tax | $2,857.59 | ||
| Road Use Tax | $2,922.46 | ||
| Property Tax | $3,271.83 | ||
| Total | $10,973.36 | ||
Suzette Byrne discussed the new accounting software. Installation and training will be June 7th, 8th, 14th and 15th. The city hall will be closed those days.
Gail Stammeyer with Crane Creek Trail discussed a thank you monument listing all who donated time and materials for the trail at Highland Park. Also, the committee would like to hang a plexy glass frame on the outside of the restroom wall at Highland Park describing the phases of the trail. A resident would like to donated park benches and a possible water fountain to the Highland Park.
John Izer discussed the Lawler All-Nighters with the council. He will be running the All-Nighters, including concessions, streets and port-a-pottys. He has discussed with Jason Byrne the rules and regulations regarding the games. John will also be speaking with the Chickasaw County Sheriff Department. No trespassing signs need to be put up by home owners by the ball field. John will be taking gate. He has 13 volunteers.
It was moved by Scheidel and seconded by King to open the public hearing.
Concerns from residents were discussed. Linda Alexander was concerned about how it would affect snow removal. Jay informed her that the snow removal will not be affected. John Izer spoke with 3 different realtors regarding property value. They all said that the closures will not affect the homeowner’s property values.
It was moved by King and seconded by Zubrod to close the public hearing.
It was moved by Scheidel and seconded by Izer to permantly close Center Street and Brush Street and keep Depot Street, Benz Street and Lincoln Street open with flashing lights and cross arms passing Resolution NO. 04032017. All Ayes.
Diane Gebel was here to represent Irish Fest. Everything will be set up the same at the previous year. Chickasaw County Sheriff will help control traffic during parade. The committee asked for permission to set up a petting zoo in Croell Park. It would be ok, however they would need their own water since there is no water in the Park.
Cathy Humpal informed the council regarding two new board members to replace Pat Sheridan and Karen Franzen. Steve Lynch and Renee Throndson accepted the positions. It was moved by Izer and seconded by Throndson to appoint Steve Lynch and Renee Throndson to the Library Board. All ayes.
Karen Wilson was here to discuss dog owners not cleaning up after their dogs. She presented and article regarding the reasons to clean up after you pet. She spoke with New Hampton and they charge a fine for not cleaning up after pets. She requested to have signs installed at the city parks regarding cleaning up after dogs. Suzette will type up an ordinance for pet owners to take responsibility to clean up after their pets. It was moved by King and seconded by Throndson for Karen Wilson to order 6 signs from Sandy’s Sign Shop. All Ayes.
The Chickasaw County Coalition discussed progress that the County and the City has done with underage drinking. Carol Hopp went over the Summer/Fall 2016 Park Assessment Results. She discussed a list of the Best Practices and Room for Improvements for 3 events, Parks, Irish Fest and the All- Nighters. The Chickasaw County Sheriff will be available for Irish Fest and Ragbrai.
MiEnergy completed an electric rate study for the city. It was being recommended to raise electric rates 8% since the cities wholesale rate increase 6%.
King moved to raise electric rates by 8% effective with the August 2017 billing since it has been close to 10 years since the last electric rate raise. Seconded by Izer. All ayes.
An ordinance relating to RAGBRAI activities with the City of Lawler was presented to the Council.
It was moved by King to pass 1st and 2nd readings of the ordinance. Seconded by Scheidel. All Ayes.
It was moved by Scheidel to pass the RAGRAI Ordinance No. 06052017 and seconded by Zubrod. All Ayes.
RAGRAI will be here Thursday, June 8, 2017 for their inspection ride of the route. John Izer will go over the map of vendors with them. Currently, the city is on schedule for the event.
A Residential Lease Agreement for the use of Mike Leanard’s property for snow removal was presented to the council. With recommendation from the City Attorney to change one paragraph in the Agreement regarding responsibility of liabilities and lawsuits to be replaced with Indemnification language.
A motion made by King and seconded by Zubrod to accept the Residential Lease Agreement with the attorney recommendation. All Ayes.
Deb Zubrod planted flowers around the Croell Park sign and band stand. Would like to put wood chips around band stand. Croell Park is ready for the slide and diggers to be installed.
Wages were discussed for Jay Uhlenhake and Suzette Byrne.
A motion made by Izer and seconded by King to give the two employees a 1.5% raise effective July 1, 2017. All ayes.
The DNR was in Lawler to discuss a resident spraying the ditches all a creek. After walking along the creek it was noticed that a something in a barrel was spilled into the creek. It will take 2-3 weeks for the DNR assess the damage.
Delinquent accounts were discussed.
Moved by King, seconded by Zubrod to adjourn the meeting at 9:10 PM. All Ayes.
Next Council Meeting is Wednesday, July 5, 2017 at 7:00pm
______________________________
Suzette Byrne, City Clerk