City of Ute REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING Monday, April 1, 2024 – City Hall 7:00 p.m. The Ute City Council met with Mayor Henschen in regular, open session on Monday, April 1st at 7pm in the Council Chambers, City Hall with the following council members present: Jimmy Carlson, Sue Kelm, Matt Leitz, Ryan Pithan. Absent: Josh Gotto. Also Present: City Clerk Megan Peitsch, Ethan Joy – JEO The meeting was called to order at 7:00pm by Mayor Henschen. Motion by Leitz/Kelm to approve the agenda. All Ayes. MC Discussion of signed formal complaints regarding dogs from Brodi Buscho and Erika Kragel were reviewed. Buscho’s complaint was found not to violate any ordinances, but a letter reminding the dog owner of the code will be sent. Kragel’s complaint was found to violate three ordinances. Motion by Leitz/JCarlson to send a violation letter to the dogs’ owners. All Ayes. MC Ethan Joy from JEO Consulting explained the Group B Change Order request for the Water Tower project. Motion by Leitz/Carlson to accept and have the mayor sign the Group B Change Order. All Ayes. MC Joy presented paint colors, designs, and fonts for the new water tower. Motion by Pithan/Leitz to approve a white stem, blue bulb with white stripe containing the lettering “Ute” in the option 1 font all using the colors Old Glory Blue and Tank White. All Ayes. MC Joy also spoke on the new well project listed on the bottom of the agenda under “New Business”. Discussion was held on using the current well with a new smaller pump/well or digging a new well. More discussion to come starting the project direction. Public Forum had no speakers. Mayor Henschen presented further information on establishing rental property standards/inspections. Region 12 inspection information was briefly reviewed and more information will be discussed at future meetings. Discussion was held on the EMS meeting the Mayor recently attended where Ida County’s ALS system for centralized Ambulance EMS support was discussed as a potential model for something in Monona County. Public Works Superintendent Lonnie Carlson was absent and City Clerk Peitsch gave a brief update from Lonnie. JEO progress report meeting minutes were reviewed by Council. Boil orders from water main connections should be done until the new water tower goes online towards the Fall. Connections on Main St and N Day still need to be made, but no boil orders are anticipated. The valves and pump repair using APRA funds is upcoming. This should fully spend the remaining ARPA funds. The playground merry-go-round needs some new welding. A temporary repair has been made, but Lonnie will remove and have the pieces re-welded in a few weeks. The Shelter House keys are all accounted for, but access is still being gained and kids have been playing inside the park shelter house. The shelter house will be rekeyed. City Clerk reported on the financials for the City. With the nice weather, the water tower project has moved faster than the planned timeline and more pay apps will be due this fiscal year instead of next fiscal year. After Council reviewed the reports, Council felt a budget amendment should be done. Motion by Pithan/Leitz to set a budget amendment public hearing for FY24 for May 1, 2024 at 7pm to account for the water tower project spending shift. All Ayes. MC The budget timeline was reviewed. Utility reports were presented. Two liens are on a resolution for this meeting and write-offs for uncollectible debt are also included in this meeting’s action items. The new Utility Billing reconciliation form was reviewed and Pithan will work with City Clerk Peitsch to tailor a UB reconciliation form for our city. Motion by Leitz/Pithan to approve the consent agenda consisting of: Approval of March 2024 Bills and Payroll, Approval of City Council Minutes 3/4/2024 Regular, Approval of Pay App 6 Group A, and Pay App 7 Group B. All Ayes. MC Motion by JCarlson/Pithan to approve the resolution regarding assessment of unpaid utility charges (RESOLUTION 2024-16). All Ayes. MC Motion by Leitz/Pithan to approve the resolution authorizing and directing the City Clerk/Treasurer to write-off certain utility accounts as uncollectible (RESOLUTION 2024-17). All Ayes. MC Motion by Pithan/Leitz to approve the resolution establishing a credit card policy (RESOLUTION 2024-18). All Ayes. MC Motion by Leitz/JCarlson to approve the resolution setting policies and procedures for examination of the City’s open records (RESOLUTION 2024-19). All Ayes. MC Discussion was held on the City Hall Custodian, Michelle Carlson, requesting to clean on Fridays or weekends when the City Clerk is not in the office. Motion by Leitz/Kelm to approve Michelle Carlson to clean when the City Clerk is not in the office and to be given a key to council chambers. Roll Call Vote. Ayes: Kelm, Leitz, Pithan. Nays: None. Absent: Gotto. Abstain: JCarlson. MC Discussion was held on the Budget for FY2025. Council reviewed a draft budget and briefly discussed potential changes. City Clerk Peitsch became aware of errors in the 01/10/2024 regular meeting minutes through a filed IPIB complaint. The three Ordinance second reading votes contained a copy/paste error where Miller, who completed her term, was still listed and Pithan was missing from the roll call. “Miller” has been stricken and “Pithan” has been added on all three ordinance second readings. An additional error was made after the motion to move to closed session. “All Ayes. MC” has accidentally left off. It has been added per the records of that vote on the closed session recording. Motion by Leitz/JCarlson to approve the amended City Council Minutes for 01/10/2024 Regular Meeting and direct the City Clerk to publish them. All Ayes. MC Discussion was held on creating a social media policy. Facebook comments were turned off on the Facebook page as they could not be moderated and no policy was in place for guidelines. The City Clerk requested a social media policy be created. City Council would like the policy to include commenting on Facebook to be turned off as it is one of our notification locations, just like the website. The City Clerk will create a policy for approval at the next regular meeting. Discussion was held on AllPaid Credit Card processing. Council was receptive to the idea and wanted more information. The City Clerk will move forward with gathering information from the vendor. Discussion was held on office help for the City Clerk. Motion by Leitz/JCarlson to approve volunteer Marilyn Melby to organize the box of bank statements from various years. All Ayes. MC. Discussion was held on a contingency plan for city clerk absence should anything arise, like illness. Kelm was in favor of pursuing a deputy clerk, Leitz requested information on their options for the next meeting. The City Clerk will present options and costs at the next regular meeting. Discussion was held on pool fills and garden meters with the new water/sewer rates. Residents may opt to purchase a water meter through the city for their outdoor water source that would not have sewer associated with it. Water from the fire station for pool fills is not metered and using this option would violate the USDA agreement of how we charge for water. No new discussion was held on the new well as it was discussed earlier in the meeting when Joy from JEO was present. Ute Clean Up Days will be May 3rd – 5th, 2024 for residents only. No curbside pickup. Dumpsters will be at the Ute Town and Country. Appliance Tags will be available at City Hall. Mowing Ordinance 3-2-3.8: MOWING OF PROPERTIES. Any property within the City of Ute, whether vacated or non-vacated, is required to be mowed any time the vegetation reaches a height of more than 8 inches in April, May, June, July, August, September, October of each year. PENALTY. The City of their agents may mow any property which is not mowed by the above date, and a charge of $75.00 per hour for such mowing, plus a surcharge of $100.00, will be charged to the property owner. Any property owners who fail to mow their properties, thus allowing the same to be mowed by the City or their agents, and who do not provide payment for the mowing as required, will be assessed by the City for such costs, which will be collected in the same manner as general property taxes. METHOD OF SERVICE AND BILLING. Annual publication of the ordinance codified by this chapter will serve as notice to property owners. Any billings for mowing done by the City or their agents are to be sent by regular mail and are payable within 30 days of the billing date. Primary Election will be held on Tuesday June 4, 2024 at City Hall. Polls are open from 7am – 8pm. Next Regular Meeting set for Monday, May 6, 2024 at 7:00 p.m. at City Hall Motion by Leitz/Kelm to adjourn at 8:11pm. All Ayes. MC. Submitted By: Megan Peitsch, City Clerk Claims Report March 2024 Bills For April Meeting Vendor, ReferenceAmount Office Of Auditor Of State, Periodic Exam Fee 2-24 Bill$1,200.00 Badger Meter, Water Meter Hosting$17.12 Barco, Water Plant Equipment$324.10 Bc’s Ampride Truck Plaza, Fuel For Truck$835.48 Bomgaars, Supplies$38.64 Chn Garbage Service, Garbage Pick Up$2,400.10 Crary Huff, Legal Services$918.00 Eftps Irs, Fed/Fica Taxes$2,814.33 Feld Fire, Fire Dept Equip Test$175.60 Foundation Analytical Lab, Water Testing$37.50 Imfoa, Imfoa Membership$50.00 Incontrol Electronics, Fire Door Card Support Dues$17.00 Iowa Unemployment, Qtr 1 2024 Unemployment$139.66 Ipers, Ipers-Regula$1,934.32 Jeo Consulting Group, Water Tower Engineering$5,008.75 King Construction, Water Tower Pay App 6$26,799.74 Krudico, Inc., Brine Supplies And Labor$830.90 Lonnie Carlson, Reimbursement Supplies And$88.99 Maguire Iron, Water Tower Pay App 5$47,569.02 Mapleton Press, Publishing$295.12 Midamerican Energy, Electric$2,039.41 Monona County Auditor, 11-7-23 Election Invoice$372.48 Office Depot, Ink$380.99 Quill, Ink And Cleaning Supplies$193.54 Quill, Supplies$196.07 Rehab Systems Inc, Emergency Sewer Jet$1,452.50 Iowa Department Of Revenue, Mar 2024 Wet Tax$668.10 Iowa Department Of Revenue, State Taxes$490.73 Stinn Backhoe & Plumbing, Water Main Repair$1,957.01 Team Lab, Weed Killer$1,031.00 Totten Plumbing And Heating, Sewer Repair$450.00 Usa Bluebook, Water Supplies$672.78 Ute Senior Citizens, April Senior Meals Contract$140.00 Ute Tire & Automotive, Fire Truck Maintenance$243.23 Utility Equipment Co., Water Equip Repair Supplies$779.64 Wellmark, Health Insurance$1,040.56 Windstream, Telephone/Internet$325.40 Windstream, Telephone/Internet$76.95 Wipco, Sewer Electric$35.00 Accounts Payable Total$104,039.76 Payroll Checks$6,808.69 ***** Report Total *****$110,848.45 General$12,897.06 Library Fund (Gen)$154.70 Road Use Tax$836.42 Employee Benefits $520.28 Cap 2023 Water Tower Proj$79,377.51 Water$12,436.48 Sewer$4,626.00 Total Funds$110,848.45 MP4-11-24
