City of Ute REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING February 10, 2025 – City Hall 6:00pm – Monday The Ute City Council met with Mayor Henschen in regular, open session on Monday, February 10, 2025 at 6pm in the Council Chambers, City Hall with the following council members present: Jimmy Carlson, Josh Gotto, Sue Kelm, Matt Leitz, Ryan Pithan. Also Present: City Clerk Megan Peitsch, Public Works Superintendent Lonnie Carlson, Library Board – Leanne Thies, Angie Kroll, Denise Dunahoo, and Hoffman Agency – Jim Jepsen. The meeting was called to order at 6:00pm by Mayor Henschen. The agenda was reviewed and item #18 (Consideration of Switching Insurance Agents) was moved up on the agenda to #2. Motion by JCarlson/Kelm to approve the agenda with the change. All Ayes. MC Ute Library Board spoke on council expectations, general goals and extra funding needed to meet those goals. No action taken. Jim Jepsen presented on how a change of agent of record would proceed if council decided to switch agents. EMC Insurance will remain the insurance provider and no change of cost to the City. Motion by Kelm/Pithan to switch from Mark Boehm at McClintock Insurance to Jim Jepsen at the Hoffman Agency and direct the City Clerk to help fill out required paperwork. All Ayes. MC. Mayor reported that two building permits were approved: 225 E Main St (Add Accessory Building), 310 E 7th St (Addition to Machine Building) Public Works Superintendent LCarlson reported that concrete crushing went well and the City made back the money spent on crushing. He will be using the city’s portion on our alleys and roads as needed. Possible water leak in city’s water line near the water plant. Will be monitoring. City Clerk Peitsch presented the following financial reports for the month of January: Cash Report, Treasurer’s Report, Outstanding Transactions, Budget by Function, Bank Reconciliations for Banks 1, 2, 3, and 4. Utility Reconciliation for January was also presented. USDA SEARCH grant is submitted, but decisions are on hold due to the federal funding freeze. LCarlson talked about the well’s current status and that it is starting to fail. City Clerk said that the City may need to look into bonds as a backup in case the federal grants are not available yet when the project becomes an emergency. CDBG project closeout letter was received for the Water Tower Project. FY24 Audit is scheduled for March 10-12. Receipts for January totaled $110,771.63. 001 GENERAL $9,551.77, 110 ROAD USE TAX $4,016.11, 112 EMPLOYEE BENEFITS $120.72, 121 LOCAL OPTION SALES TAX $5,243.90, 303 WATER TOWER PROJECT $70,050.22, 600 WATER $14,882.66, 601 WATER-DEPOSITS $100.00, 602 WATER SINKING FUND $156.27, 603 WATER SHORT LIVED ASSET $453.70, 610 SEWER $6,196.28 Motion by Leitz/Pithan to approve the consent agenda consisting of: Approval of January 2025 Bills and Payroll; Approval of City Council Minutes: 01/13/2025 Regular Meeting with the following change: in the consent agenda for item “Approve the Conflict of Interest Policy” the Resolution number should be RESOLUTION #2025-06A; 01/20/2025 Special Work Session; Approval of January cash report, treasurer’s report, budget by function, bank and utility billing reconciliations as presented by City Clerk. All Ayes. MC Motion by Gotto/Leitz to approve the resolution approving filling vacant positions to Mayor’s Committee Appointments for the 2025 calendar year (RESOLUTION #2025-08). All Ayes. MC Motion by Leitz/Pithan to approve the resolution amending the credit card policy for the City of Ute (RESOLUTION #2025-09). All Ayes. MC FY26 Property Tax Levy was reviewed and will be sent to the County Auditor for mailing. Discussion was held on the shortfall in General Fund and future shortfalls in coming years. Motion by Gotto/Kelm to set the FY26 Property Tax Public Hearing for Monday, March 31, 2025 at 6pm at City Hall. All Ayes. MC Discussion was held on mowing contract at the lagoon. Motion by Gotto/JCarlson to advertise on the City website, Facebook page, and three posting locations that the City will be accepting names of those who can mow the field around the lagoon and keep the bales in exchange for fertilizing and spraying the field. All Ayes. MC Discussion was held on the parshall flume project coming in higher than anticipated. Grants may be able to be applied for, but cannot get more information until the federal freeze is lifted. Project will stay on the FY26 budget, but with grants added to offset some of the project. If grants cannot be obtained, the project will be delayed another year. Motion by JCarlson/Gotto to table discussion of the repair the Ballpark Concession Building this fiscal year until an estimate can be made of work needed and cost. All Ayes. MC. Motion by Gotto/JCarlson to have LCarlson mark the trees in the right-of-way determined to be removed this year so tree companies can give an estimate of cost. All Ayes. MC Discussion was held on using a trail camera for the City dump. Clerk will look into what other cities have done and bring to next meeting. Motion by Leitz/Gotto to advertise the large Library desk for sale by sealed bid with proceeds going to the Library fund. All Ayes. MC Discussion was held on the first question set from Iowa Codification regarding recodification. Motion by Pithan/Gotto to approve City Clerk Peitsch helping Charter Oak with grants on her own time. All Ayes. MC Motion by Gotto/JCarlson to approve LCarlson to arrange towing and Peitsch to track and invoice expenses if nuisance abatements are not complete by the deadline. Reminders will go out to those that have not completed the abatement process. All Ayes. MC Next Regular Council Meeting is Monday, March 10, 2025 at 6pm at City Hall. Motion to adjourn at 7:34pm by Leitz/Gotto. All Ayes. MC Jan 2025 For Feb Meeting Claims Report Vendor,Reference, Amount, Amazon Business, Library Rug59.79 Amazon Business, Library Table134.48 Awwa Region Iv, Awwa Annual Meet Registration50 Badger Meter, Meter Hosting29.26 Bc’s Ampride Truck Plaza, Fuel46.4 Bomgaars, Supplies284.98 Chn Garbage Service, Garbage Pick Up4,800.20 Crary Huff, Legal Services892.5 Dunlap Plumbing & Heating, Water Plant Thermostat Repair245.5 Eftps Irs, Fed/Fica Tax2,035.85 Foundation Analytical Lab, Water Testing37.5 Hydro Optimization And Automat, Scada Subscription250 Incontrol Electronics, Fire Door Dues17 Iowa One Call, Digging14.5 Ipers, Ipers-Regula1,544.09 Jeo Consulting Group, Water Tower Engineering375 John Deere Financial, Tractor Supplies577.15 Lisa Pithan, Library Reimbursement74.82 Lonnie Carlson, Mileage Reimbursement74.2 Mapleton Press, Publishing191.87 Megan Peitsch, Library Reimbursement107.39 Midamerican Energy, Electric2234.38, New Cooperative Inc, Diesel Fuel1,062.12 North American Truck & Trailer, Sander Repair1,211.59 Parr Contracting, Concrete Crushing9,313.00 Iowa Department Of Revenue, Wet Tax Jan 2025809.54 Iowa Department Of Revenue, State Taxes278.52 Triple C Pest Control, Mosquito Spraying1,995.00 Usa Bluebook, Water Supplies1,048.25 Usda, Loan 91-04 Feb 2025 2,578.00 Usda, Loan 91-06 Feb 2025 2,565.00 Usps, Certified Letters48.4 Ute Senior Citizens, Feb Senior Meals Contract140 Ute Tire & Automotive, Tanker Batteries444.53 Visual Edge, Copier Lease211 Visual Edge, Printing17.76 Wellmark, Health Insurance1,148.59 Wex, Fuel236.42 Whitney Gustin, Library Reimbursement15.63 Windstream, Phone/Internet403.22 Wipco, Sewer Electric40 Accounts Payable Total37,743.43 Madison Miller, Ub Refund100 Refund Checks Total100 Payroll Checks5,397.14 ***** Report Total ***** 43,240.57 General26,183.28 Library Fund (Gen) 700.38 Road Use Tax 823.24 Employee Benefits 574.3 Cap 2023 Water Tower Proj 375 Water 11,617.17 Water - Deposits 100 Sewer 2,867.20 Total Funds 43,240.57 MP2-20-25
