City Council Special Meeting - October 19, 2009

Alden City Council
Minutes of a Regular Meeting
October 19th, 2009

Mayor Fiscus called the meeting to order at 7:00 P.M. with the following Council Members present: Bill Ramspott, Bob Hoversten, Janaan Harding & Steve Hunt. Council
Member Mike Oliver was absent.  Also in attendance were Chester Neubauer, Robin Heinzeroth, Gatlin Anderson, Chuck Steen, Leonard Baker, Fire Chief, Deputy J.D. Holmes, Justin Ites of the Times Citizen, Dave & Kristy Forgy, Lorrie Watts, Dan Zoske
and Tom Vanderloop.

Consent Agenda: Bill Ramspott motions to adopt the consent agenda, Steve Hunt seconds and all present vote aye.

Fire Department: Leonard Baker, Fire Chief was present to let the Council know some of the items the Department are planning to purchase with the Estate money from Mary Silke.  They have purchased new pagers for $6705.00 with a rebate from the County of
$637.00 and there is $18932.00 remaining.  The Department plans to buy some new bunker gear, some items for the trucks and purchasing some weather radios and smoke detectors to pass out free in the Alden Fire District.  Mrs. Silke wanted the money to go for safety equipment to help the community.

Tree Removal: Bill Ramspott motions for the City to pay for ½ of the cost of the tree removal at the Alden School for a total of $750.00, Janaan Harding seconds the motion
and all present vote aye.

Marty Wymore of Region Six: Marty Wymore was present to talk to the Council about the CDBG Infrastructure Grant that was applied for in June 2009.  No applicants have
received a response at this time.  There has been $122 million allocated.  There was $15
million initial awards between February-May 2009.  HUD has not awarded a contract to the State of Iowa as of yet.  This does not mean the City is out of the running. There has been some financial and tax issues at the Iowa Department of Economic Development and two department heads have stepped down with investigations pending. This has delayed the process. The City has several other programs that can be applied for: a one time opportunity I-JOBS has $35 million available for towns of population under 10,000.
Applications need to be done by March 2010.  Regular CDBG grant applications needing to be done by November 17, 2009.  This application would require an income survey to be done quickly and an 80% participation rate is necessary.  Residents names and exact
Incomes would not be needed, just the number in the household and a range of income.  This process also requires a public hearing before approving the complete application.
State Revolving Loan Funds could also be applied for with the use of Revenue Bonds or
General Obligation Bonds.  Revenue Bonds would increase the sewer rates and General Obligation Bonds would increase property taxes.  The  I-JOBS funding is part of the
Stimulus Package and are highly competitive programs.  Bill Ramspott motions to apply for the CDBG Grant, Janaan Harding seconds the motion, all present vote aye.  The Public Hearing is set for November 4th @ 7:00 P.M. 
Janaan Harding will present the survey task at the Horizons Group Meeting on October 20, 2009 to see if there is anyone willing to volunteer to help.

Portage Park-Tree Planting:  There is $2200.00 left to be spent in the Trees Forever Grant.  Harding reports that Ashe trees will be dead in the next 5-10 years due to disease.  This money may be spent to buy trees to replace the existing Ashe trees.  Barb Grabner Kerns suggests putting one bigger tree along the roadway near parking and some colorful trees like Red Twig Dogwood in the park.  The City can purchase 2-3 more trees and can replace the tree that was taken down in the park in June of 2009.  Harding asks Vanderloop and Zoske if there are any other places in the park that trees could be placed.  Vanderloop reports that there are some Crab Apple trees that could be planted to replace ones that have been taken out.  The plantings need to be done by the end of spring 2010.
Lights: Janaan Harding met with Alliant Energy and they suggested changing the light across from the Portage Park from 100 Watts to 250 Watts to increase visibility.  This will cost an extra $8.03/month.  They can put a 250 Watt light on the pole where the meter is and this will light up the fire ring and picnic area.  This will be a cost of $15.16/month .  There will be no installation fees.  Hoversten motions to approve lighting
change, Ramspott seconds the motion and all present vote aye.