City Council Meeting - September 19th, 2011

Alden City Council
Minutes of Regular Meeting
September 19th, 2011

Mayor Fiscus called the meeting to order at 7:00 PM with Bill Ramspott, Janaan Harding, Bob Hoversten, and Steve Hunt present.  Mike Oliver was absent.  Also present were the following: Chuck Stein, Frank Cearley, Chad Cearley, Gene Jondall, Chris Henderson, Justin Ites of the Times Citizen, Dave Forgy, Leonard  Baker, Tim Moreau of Veenstra & Kimm, Deputy J.D. Holmes, Tom Vanderloop and Lorrie Watts.

Consent Agenda: Bill Ramspott motioned to adopt, Bob Hoversten seconded the motion and all present voted aye.

Public Hearing/Conveyance of  Property: Mayor Fiscus opened the public hearing at
7:01 PM for the purpose public input for the bid received from Chris Henderson of $500.00 for 411 Water Street.  There was no public input, Mayor Fiscus closed the public hearing at 7:02 PM. 
Resolution 5-11B: Approval of the sale of 411 Water Street to Chris Henderson for $500.00. Bill Ramspott motioned to approve the sale, Steve Hunt seconded the motion and all present voted aye,

Resolution 10-11 State Road Use Tax Report: Steve Hunt motioned to approve, Janaan Harding seconded the motion and all present voted aye.

Wastewater Collection System Rehab Project:
Veenstra & Kimm Supplemental Agreement #3 increases the current contract from $80,000 to $95,000.00 This increase is due to the added work due to the unknown conditions and more extensive rehabilitation work on the sewer collection system, some other work was sidewalk, curb and gutter and grading work and new sewer intakes.  Janaan Harding moved to approve Veenstra & Kimm’s Supplemental Agreement #3, Bob Hoversten seconded the motion and all present voted aye. 
Project General Overview: Visu-Sewer crew will be finishing up by grouting the connections where the new service lines were installed, that should take a week to two weeks to finish, they will take care of all the punch list items, seeding and clean up the streets.  Lorrie Watts asked when would Black Top Services be into finish the paving, she went onto say that the City has been receiving complaints about the condition of those areas and the noise to those residents living along Main Street.  The Semi-truck traffic is making it hard to sleep past 3:00 AM. Between 3-5 AM the traffic is heavy and they do not slow down for those spots.  Janaan Harding said she spoke to Bill Gross of Black Top Services recently and was told they will not be in until the 1st or 2nd week in October. Moreau said he would speak with Shaun Ritter of Visu-Sewer about the delay and about getting the seeding done sooner.

Tim Moreau then presented pictures of the “before & after” sewer lining project and the manhole rehabilitation results.  He then presented digital footage of the pre-lining and then the completed results of the project.  This footage was of new manholes and newly lined pipes.

Visu-Sewer Pay Estimate #6 $160,567.15, this invoice is for pavement removal and saw cutting. The last five pipe segments are done.  Janaan Harding asked if they had received the compaction tests from the Mill Street section.  Moreau had not seen anything as of then, he was going to get those for the council.  This invoice did not contain curb, gutter or sidewalks.  There were some quantities of rock that still needed to be ironed out and 240 ton had not been paid for.  Moreau is looking for explanation of where those amounts were used.  Steve Hunt motioned to approve Pay Estimate #6, Bill Ramspott seconded the motion and all present voted aye. 
Veenstra & Kimm Pay Estimate #8 $10,570.80: Janaan Harding motioned to approve, Bill Ramspott seconded the motion and all present voted aye.
Approve Veenstra & Kimm Invoice $1901.75 Sump Pump Inspection:  Bob Hoversten asked where the City was with the completion of these.  Lorrie Watts reports to the council that they have all been inspected and we currently have five households that are in violation.  These residents would be receiving a certified notice that will explain the violation and the corrections that need to be made.  Three households would be a quick and easy fix, two households would be a bit more costly and detailed. Janaan Harding motioned to approve the invoice for $1901.75 to V&K, Bill Ramspott seconded the motion and all present voted aye.  Steve Hunt motioned to set the time frames for repairs 60 days for the three quick fixes and 90 days for the more detailed repairs.  Bob Hoversten seconded the motion and all present voted aye. 

Resolution 11-11 Hardin County Multi-Jurisdictional Hazard Mitigation Plan: Janaan Harding motioned to approve, Bill Ramspott seconded the motion and all present voted aye.

Employee Handbook Changes: Janaan Harding motioned to change the employee funeral leave for immediate family members from Seven (7) days to Five (5) days and to remove the $400.00 out of pocket maximum from the insurance benefits, Steve Hunt seconded the motion and all present voted aye.

Public Input:  Leonard Baker, Fire Chief was present to ask about the City’s red Ford  pick up Truck being turned over to the Department for grass fires. Council did not discuss   this and wanted to discuss at the next meeting. The Clerk was directed to look up details of this from older minutes.  Deputy J.D. Holmes asked if there were any concerns, Lorrie Watts asked about the last dog citation and if had been resolved and issued.  That was and is the biggest concern and complaints that the City is receiving and it is a select address that seems to be the habitual offender.  Deputy Holmes said he would check into the issue and get back to the Clerk.  

Gene Jondall asked if he could be reimbursed for the gas/mowing he has been doing for the City since August 1st.  Bob Hoversten asked how many hours he had mowed, Jondall reports he has put in about 28 hours.  Clerk was directed to pay Gene Jondall $10.00/hour for the mowing he has done.  The Council thanked him for his efforts and his help during the past two months.

Janaan Harding asked Tom Vanderloop to make sure Black Top Services knows where to put the materials when they come to town.  She also mentioned the sidewalk was done on the Corner Beautification Project and that it turned out very nice, she thanked Steve Hunt for helping haul dirt and asked everyone if they had sometime to help on the corner with hauling flag stone and pick up rocks.  There has been approximately $2500.00 in memorial bricks sold for the corner.  Lorrie Watts contacted the High School looking for students needing Purple Cord Hours but had not heard anything.  Mayor Fiscus stated that he would talk to Principal Kim Nelson about having some of the elementary kids help during a class period.  Bob Hoversten stated that he would like to see more progress being made on Travis & Stephanie Nicolles building.  He would like to see the windows and doors they told us about in May, installed.  He also stated that he spoke with Manuel Lerma and he has made progress on his property.  He also suggested that the City make available a brief overview of the City’s abate nuisance & junk/junk vehicle ordinance. Lorrie Watts states that a completely current Code of Ordinance is on display at the library for residents to use and reference.

Mayor Fiscus called for a motion to adjourn:  Bill Ramspott moved, Steve Hunt seconded the motion and all present voted aye. Meeting adjourned at 8:10 P.M.

                                                                    Signed:_______________________________
Jeff Fiscus, Mayor

ATTEST;
________________________________
Lorrie Watts, City Clerk