[0:00] All right, I've got six o'clock. We'll call the meeting to order. Please call a

[0:04] roll. >> Hammer

[0:06] » here. >> Hampton

[0:07] » here. >> O Kelly here.

[0:08] » Morman >> here.

[0:12] » Here. Angstrom >> here.

[0:16] » All right. Number two, approval of agenda.

[0:18] » Any changes, your honor? >> No changes.

[0:20] » Move to approve. >> Second.

[0:23] » Call roll. >> Henson.

[0:26] » Yes. >> Kelly.

[0:27] » Yes. >> Mormon.

[0:29] » Yes. Lson, >> yes.

[0:30] » Angstrom, >> yes.

[0:31] » Hammer, >> yes.

[0:34] » And number three, presentation of petitions and other communications a

[0:39] public hearing to review an application for state revolving funds, SRF loan, and

[0:44] uh and to make available to the public the contents of an environmental

[0:50] informationational or information document and the city's project plan

[0:54] water expansion. Are there any written comments? Yes,

[1:01] » you'd like to read those.

[1:08] » There is a total of four questions. There are some graphs and things on

[1:13] here, but you have to bear with us here. A legal

[1:17] limit versus health limit. The EPA standards of 10 milligrams per liter was

[1:22] established in 1962 exclusively to prevent acute blue baby syndrome in

[1:28] infants under six months. Extensive medical research links long-term

[1:33] drinking water nitrate exposure at levels as low as 3 to 5 milligrams per

[1:38] liter to significantly increase risk of colon cholesterol cancer, thyroid

[1:44] disease, and birth defects. Why is the city settling for just staying under the

[1:49] legal ceiling rather than aiming for a health protective target below 5

[1:55] milligrams per liter?

[2:04] » Go on. >> That's the question. That's the question

[2:08] is is why is the city settling for staying under the legal ceiling rather

[2:13] than the aiming for health protective target below 5 milligrams per liter?

[2:18] Well, currently um the test results have been coming in around 2 to three

[2:22] milligrams per liter. So, uh currently our our nitrate levels are below the

[2:28] five >> and and we do shoot for as low as we can

[2:32] possibly get. It's not like we're just shooting to stay around eight or nine.

[2:36] We're shooting for as low as we can get them. So,

[2:40] » uh, what target nitrate concentrates in milligrams per liter will the city

[2:44] guaranteed at the tap once Daisy is operational? Will levels be kept

[2:50] consistently below a safer threshold like 3 to 5 milligrams per liter or

[2:55] allowed to float near the legal 10 milligrams per liter limit during peak

[3:01] spring runoff.

[3:06] I don't know how we can guarantee that. >> Yeah, I don't either. Um, you know, all

[3:12] cities struggle in Iowa struggle with this. Um, we do our best in blending the

[3:19] water. Um, we don't know for sure what Daisy's

[3:23] going to cause. We are going to put a new well in uh to help offset the

[3:28] nitrate levels. Um we expect that they will stay within the same range that we

[3:33] have been um seeing. Um we have looked at alternatives in in treating the water

[3:42] um if if that is necessary.

[3:47] » Um >> we also talked about putting on CIP,

[3:50] right? >> Right.

[3:51] » That nitrate system on CIP. Yep. >> So and that's coming up shortly. Y uh

[3:59] many states trigger mandatory intervention when nitrates reach 3 to 5

[4:05] milligrams per liter. Given that Boon's raw raw water regularly pushes 6 to9

[4:10] milligrams per liter, why is well blending treated as a permanent strategy

[4:16] instead of setting a lower finished water target?

[4:22] I think if you look across the state of Iowa, you'll find that most um water

[4:27] plants are using the blended method um along with the RO system.

[4:35] Since Daisy's 1.4 for MGD demand focuses high nitrate walls to run continuously.

[4:43] How will the city prevent finished tap water from spiking higher than it

[4:47] currently does during peak May through July runoff events?

[4:57] I think I think that well number 30 is is our solution to that. I'm not quite

[5:01] sure I understand that question >> and we the city doesn't control runoff

[5:07] so I yeah I don't >> that's a tough one so

[5:15] » um well uh well second set of questions

[5:20] well number 30 and the aluvial aquifer risks

[5:25] site specific draw down proof aluvial wells draw directly from riverbank

[5:30] infiltration. What hydraological

[5:35] modeling process modeling proves well number 30 can pump continuously without

[5:40] pulling in surrounding high nitrate groundwater during high flow spring

[5:44] months.

[5:48] » Do you want to >> Yeah. No, no modeling was done

[5:52] performance. Something we can easily look into, but that wasn't something we

[5:55] were contracted to look into. This is well number 30 is in the area of your

[6:00] well number 27. It should result in similar pulling of low nitrate water. If

[6:07] you would experience high nitrates at well number 30, I would expect you to

[6:11] experience high nitrates at well number 27. It's in the same general area which

[6:16] then with the blending process you're using gets into

[6:22] what after the supply and using that blending. How high are we actually

[6:26] talking with these numbers for what gets supplied to the city?

[6:31] » Public data. Page one of the EID notes. The city regularly runs seven of its 14

[6:37] wells. Where can the public access historical individual nitrate test

[6:42] results for each specific well rather rather than just monthly averages of the

[6:47] combined wells? How high are the nitrate levels in in the high wells? uh US water

[6:54] would be able to provide those to you.

[6:58] Uh page three admits well number 30 is being dug specifically to provide low

[7:04] nitrate dil dilution water. What is the emergency backup plan if

[7:09] well number 30 own nitrate levels rise during a high runoff season?

[7:20] » The blending limit difference. Oh yeah, >> other wells. That's why we have so many

[7:24] wells to choose from.

[7:31] » Go ahead, please. >> Yeah. So, the it the city's using a

[7:35] process called blending. And as I alluded to two questions ago, well

[7:39] number 27 is roughly in the same area as well number 30. So if you're

[7:43] experiencing high nitrates in well number 30 in the new well we're going to

[7:47] drill, most likely it's coming in into well number 27 as higher nitrates as

[7:53] well. So then it's really becomes a quantification game of and a semantics

[8:00] game of how high is high and then can we still utilize what the cities of what

[8:06] the city of Boone's current capacity and blending all of that together to get

[8:10] underneath what the city standard what the EPA standard is of that 10

[8:15] milligrams per liter. Section three, al alternative

[8:21] technologies in the Jordan aquifer deep well limitations. Page three notes that

[8:26] Jordan oper aquifer wells are ruled out because preliminary modeling capped

[8:31] pumping at only 500 gpms per well to maintain tier one status. Was a combined

[8:38] approach using a 500 gpm Jordan well alongside a lupial blending evaluated

[8:44] for long-term drought and climate resilience? I'll leave that to you, Eva.

[8:49] » So that this approach was evaluated at the high level and what I'll say is the

[8:55] Jordan well could still be done. It's just more money, more cost from the

[9:00] city. We'd have to figure out how to budget and plan that. Now the regarding

[9:05] the actual questions of a long-term clout or long-term drought and climate

[9:10] resiliency by just by having the Jordan aquifer, you have to recognize that just

[9:16] the city of Boone is not pulling from the Jordan aquifer, but a bunch of other

[9:19] communities pull from the Jordan aquifer. And it's not just limited to

[9:24] the current impact. So, you start playing the what if game of how many

[9:29] other communities, how many other new wells will get drilled into the Jordan

[9:32] aquifer to pull out the water by that time you hit the long-term drought. We

[9:38] can we need to define what the long-term drought is to actually be able to risk

[9:43] and assess the resiliency that this question is trying to get at. But

[9:48] generally by using the term of a long-term drought, I would say there's

[9:52] multiple other reasons or there's multiple other communities and multiple

[9:56] other wells pulling from the aquifer that you'll see that aquafer drop and

[10:02] all the communities might end up in a tier one or a tier two or a tier three

[10:06] status when it's a long-term drought situation. Were we not denied the Jordan

[10:12] aquifer by the DNR >> at the I think you guys wanted to pump

[10:16] about 750 out of it and it's you're if you want to go out of the Jordan aquifer

[10:23] it's that's where this 500 number comes from is that's the limit you get a you

[10:28] would pump from it. It doesn't guarantee. It's not a guarantee though

[10:32] that you would lose that tier one status and go into you would lose that status

[10:38] where it becomes a tier one or a tier two or tier three which is all

[10:42] restricting and lessening your water use and trying to recharge that aquafer

[10:45] because then that aquifer is overdrawn or an aquifer is kind of starting to get

[10:49] to be a sensitive aquifer from all the other communities that are drawing from

[10:55] it. >> Thank you.

[10:58] Nitrate removal assessment. Page three explicitly states that as a source water

[11:04] nitrate increase, a comparative assessment of constructing an additional

[11:09] well versus implementing a nitrate system should be completed. Has the

[11:14] costbenefit assessment been completed? If so, where can the public view it?

[11:24] » So, what I would say is the cost benefit hasn't been done. What's still needed

[11:28] for Daisy to come on is the additional well and additional capacity to pull

[11:33] water out of the ground for the treatment and the blending process to

[11:37] supply it. So, it's it's not one or the other here of a nitrate treatment system

[11:43] would work. You still need that well to pull the quantity of water that's going

[11:47] to be required.

[11:52] » Go ahead. So, why would this project be started if

[11:55] that assessment hasn't been done yet? Do you figure out whether that's going to

[11:59] be viable? >> We did a water assessment through the

[12:02] utility committee. Um, and this would have been four or three years ago when

[12:07] we did the water assessment and we have the we have the capacity to supply them

[12:11] with what's needed. It's just when we get into these future expansions that

[12:16] we're doing with the city with all the housing and stuff like that, it's going

[12:20] to it changes the assessment a little bit. So, we're constantly doing these

[12:23] water assessments, whether it's waste water or drinking water. We're always

[12:27] looking forward on that side of things.

[12:33] » Uh, capital impermit and long-term financing. Following CIP additions,

[12:38] following acknowledgement at the August 2026 utility meeting that the nitrate

[12:42] removal is not in the 5-year capital improvement plan, at what date will the

[12:47] nitrate removal system be added to the CIP and when will it be functional? Uh

[12:52] we start our CIP process in October. Um and it the final approval is in March or

[12:59] April. Um it goes along with our budget time. uh at that point is when the

[13:05] nitrate system will get added to the pro the CIP. Um there still needs to be a

[13:12] process on the engineer side to design it, determine what we are needed. Um and

[13:20] and then also financial analysis to determine how we'll pay for that.

[13:26] Um future rateayer burden. Page one confirms our well-filled firm capacity

[13:32] 5.57 MGDs is technically enough to meet the 2044 volume depend demands 4.89 MGD

[13:41] meaning these immediate upgrades are driven primarily by nitrate blending

[13:45] from industrial growth. If blending eventually fails, how will a

[13:50] multi-million dollar nitrate removal plant be financed without spiking

[13:55] residential utility rates? I don't think we can guarantee that um

[14:00] your rates won't increase to pay for a nitrate system. However, um until we get

[14:07] through all these projects that have to be done and Daisy gets online, um I

[14:12] can't guarantee or tell you that that's how we're going to have to fund it.

[14:20] » And I think that's all the written comments.

[14:22] » Thanks for going through those. Andrea, are there any other written comments?

[14:26] Okay. Are there any other public comments on this subject?

[14:33] » No. Yes, sir. I set these at two minutes. Uh,

[14:39] my name is Elvin Duchess and I'm just a citizen here in Boom.

[14:44] I'm no scientist, so I have no idea, you know, what a nitrate is except what I

[14:50] read. That's probably not good for me, but

[14:57] It seems to me like what we're asking the city to do

[15:03] is put a band-aid on an elephant. You know, anything north of us, runoff,

[15:09] farm runoff, whatever, it's going to run into the rivers.

[15:13] And I think that's where we get some of our our water. So many people tap into

[15:18] this aquifier or whatever it is. I personally feel that until that

[15:25] elephant encapsulated by not just the city of Boone, but by

[15:30] every city around and the state of Iowa and maybe even every state in the union.

[15:35] We've got a problem and I don't think we're going to solve it

[15:41] by drilling a well or two. We may delay it, but we're going to have to have help

[15:47] other than from the city alone. I think anytime we do a well and increase either

[15:53] my taxes or my water uh bill or whatever and I you're we're going to have to

[15:58] expect that. I don't know what the answer is. I

[16:03] appreciate what you're trying to do. Uh

[16:08] but but again that elephant is going to be there until

[16:12] somebody higher than us

[16:16] is going to get a handle on this. Thank you.

[16:19] » Thank you. Any other public comments?

[16:27] » Well, I I would just like to say that we have a great partnership with US Water.

[16:30] I said that was part of the reason why we went on board with them and made them

[16:34] a partner with us. Um we can we rely on them to talk to other cities and see how

[16:39] they're blending, see what they're doing for nitrate removal systems. We've been

[16:43] to other cities and seen their nitrate removal. Not that it's not in our CIP,

[16:47] but it's in our radar. There's a lot of things within the city that is on our

[16:51] radar. It might not be in our CIP at this time because we're still doing our

[16:55] due diligence to figure out what the best process is for us to deal with the

[17:00] nitrate removal. And we really rely on US Water for that. And they have

[17:03] multiple other communities in central Iowa that they deal with. So, we can we

[17:08] we piggyback off of them on what they're doing at these other cities to adjust

[17:11] their uh nitrate levels as well. Thanks, Kyle. Any other public comments?

[17:20] Okay. If there are no other public comments, we'll declare this public

[17:24] hearing closed and we will move on to B.

[17:30] B is the public hearing to review an application for a state revolving fund

[17:34] SRF loan and to make available to the public the contents of environmental

[17:39] information document and the city's uh project plan water wastewater expansion.

[17:48] » Are there any written comments on this subject?

[17:50] » No sir. >> With no written comments, are there any

[17:53] public comments on that subject?

[17:59] » Yes. No public comments. We will declare the public hearing closed.

[18:04] Move on to C. Public hearing on the plans, specifications, form of contract,

[18:10] and estimate of cost for the Hancock Drive water towers project. Are there

[18:15] any public or excuse me, written comments on that subject?

[18:18] » No, sir. >> No written comments. Are there any

[18:21] public comments on this subject?

[18:26] Okay. No or no public comments. We will declare that public

[18:31] and uh we'll move on to C1 3592 resolution

[18:38] adopting plans, specifications, form of contract, and estimate of cost for the

[18:42] Hancock Drive water tower project. And we need a motion for that.

[18:47] » So moved. >> Second.

[18:50] » Can I ask what the cost estimate for that is? It's not the packet.

[18:56] I think it's around 7 and a half million.

[19:00] » Okay. So, what we're expecting the bids to come in at. There was a memo that I

[19:05] believe I shared with Whan and Andrea that my intent was shared with you guys

[19:10] to explain I know the original CIP budget back two and a half years ago is

[19:15] like 4.5 million but kind of explains how that cost has grown since that time

[19:20] on the CIP which has made it's almost unbelievable from my

[19:26] experience on how it how it's gained and how these costs have grown with

[19:30] inflation and everything that happened through that process. And it was when we

[19:34] helped you develop your CIP at that time. We had what we thought was a

[19:39] similar water tower in size performed in a neighboring community and

[19:44] it came in at that four and a half million cost. But then as we work

[19:47] through the design, the numbers, the proper sizing,

[19:52] uh comparing of different types, different whether different shapes, um

[19:59] those costs just outer that >> are all the engineering costs included

[20:04] in this now. >> Uh our engineering costs were locked in

[20:08] our contract we signed before we started design. So as these what I would say is

[20:13] as these costs grew from whatever that initial cost was when he got us under

[20:18] contract to design it right >> our fee never grew it

[20:22] » was locked in so it's just it truly is just those construction costs.

[20:26] » Okay. >> All right. Thank you. We have a first

[20:30] and a second. Uh please call roll. >> Kelly.

[20:34] » Yes. >> Mormon.

[20:35] » Yes. >> Williamson.

[20:37] » Yes. >> Angstrom.

[20:38] » Yes. >> Hammer.

[20:39] » Yes. >> Henson. Yes, sir.

[20:44] All >> right, with that, we'll move on to four

[20:46] reports of standing committees, policy administration and employee relations

[20:51] committee Williamson. >> No report tonight.

[20:54] » Thank you. Uh B, public safety and transportation. Hillbec is not here.

[20:59] Kyle, did you have it? >> Yeah, we just have one item on here and

[21:02] it's discuss and approve downtown Boone gorilla wayfinding signs. Um Holly

[21:08] Stucker with downtown came to us um probably a month and a half ago, two

[21:12] months ago with some signs. Uh we asked her to get with the businesses of

[21:17] downtown and get their opinions on the signs that she was putting up to

[21:22] represent each business. Um she went through talked to the 12 businesses. The

[21:27] 12 signs are in the packet. Um everything looked good in public safety.

[21:31] We went ahead and or would make the motion to need a motion to approve it.

[21:35] So, so MOO, no cost to the city, by the way. It's

[21:40] all taken care of by downtown >> and they're even putting them up.

[21:43] » Yeah. They're very they're very temporary. They're more of like a

[21:46] corrugated plastic. Uh something that they can change out throughout the

[21:50] seasons and as you know, businesses change or they they want to make a

[21:54] different look. I guess >> got a motion. Do we have Do we have

[21:59] » a second? >> Please call.

[22:02] » Mormon. >> Yes. Williamson,

[22:05] » yes. Angstrom, >> yes.

[22:07] » Yes. >> Hson,

[22:08] » yes. >> Ellie,

[22:10] » yes. >> Thank you. And utility committee.

[22:14] » Uh, no report today. We'll just have a prior meeting on the

[22:18] 21st. >> Thank you. Uh, D, Economic Development

[22:24] Committee, Mormon. >> I have one thing, your honor. Um, Linda

[22:28] is going to give an update on the arts. on the arts. Um just wanted to share

[22:36] that we did conduct a city survey and trying to get uh some input from uh

[22:44] citizens just on interest for public art or public art projects.

[22:49] Uh our survey uh we did this through the library. the library helped us and and

[22:54] we had initially 118 responses and from that uh I'll just share there

[23:02] were five questions that we asked community members. First one, what kind

[23:06] of impact do you feel public art has on our city's public areas? We had uh the

[23:12] two highest responses of highly positive impact and slightly positive impact were

[23:18] 94% agreed to that. So, a strong uh support of public art and the impact.

[23:26] The second, what forms of public art would you be most excited to see or

[23:31] encounter around the city? The number one that was mentioned by 87% of the

[23:37] people that responded to the survey were largecale murals. Murals seem to be very

[23:43] popular in a lot of towns. The second listed for 78%

[23:50] selected was functional art which are like artistic benches, um trash

[23:56] containers that are painted, those kinds of things. So, uh objects that are

[24:00] already in the community. The next one, where would you most like

[24:05] to see public art integrated into our city landscapes?

[24:09] Number one was in hightra civic areas near city buildings, downtown district,

[24:16] main streets. The second uh listed was in open green spaces like parks, trails,

[24:25] community gardens. Next question, what stories, themes or subjects would you

[24:31] like the artwork to focus on? Number one selected highest selection was local

[24:38] history and heritage celebrating our communities roots and

[24:43] historical milestones. The second one listed uh highest was nature, wildlife

[24:50] and the environment. Um the last question was what types of

[24:57] cultural events or arts programming would you be interested in in attending

[25:02] in our city? Number one listed uh most highly listed was artist fairs and

[25:08] markets. Um outdoor community art markets,

[25:12] seasonal vendor fairs. The second live art performances and festivals,

[25:18] community theater, live music, interactive cultural festivals. And of

[25:22] course, we have some of that going on already. A couple of the comments um

[25:27] that I'll share. We also asked to uh have people leave comments on this and

[25:33] I'll just give you uh just a sample of what we heard. Um first, wonderful. You

[25:39] want to increase art in Boon. Second, highlight the history of our town.

[25:45] Public art. I always look for it when I visit somewhere. More art is a good

[25:51] thing. I like that one. Of course, uh community will not support it. It's a

[25:56] waste of time and money. I travel to see public art. Thank you for this survey.

[26:04] So, a lot of different comments on doing this. I think the next um step for us

[26:11] will be pulling together um some community members and talking about what

[26:15] kind of art project we would like to pursue and bring back to the the

[26:20] council. >> Sound good?

[26:24] » Thank you. >> Thanks. That's all I have, your honor.

[26:26] All right. Thanks, J. Move on to five public or excuse me, department reports.

[26:32] Uh Dave A's building official is not here. B city attorney Ray F. Nothing,

[26:38] your honor. >> Yep.

[26:40] » C. Director of public works, Wayan Andrews. No report. Your

[26:43] » honor, I have one real quick question for you. Um, do you know where we're at

[26:47] or are we moving along with the engineering for the first street overlay

[26:52] and so forth? >> Yes, we're moving along.

[26:55] » We're moving along. So, we'll be good. >> We got Yeah, we got prioritized on that

[26:58] north transmission bane to make sure that that one met the timelines it

[27:02] needed to and then we're >> back on that one now.

[27:05] » All right. Thank you. Uh D, Jamie Williams, library. She is not present.

[27:09] Uh E, public or park director, superintendent Mike Cornellis.

[27:13] » No reporting. >> F public safety chief Adams.

[27:17] » No report. >> Thank you. And fire chief we uh Chief

[27:22] Weeble Police Chief Weeble, sorry. >> I got a demotion.

[27:28] » Oh,

[27:33] is wow. He'll now have a comment. I

[27:40] » G City administrator Andrea Elmquist. >> Uh yeah. Um we uh took applications for

[27:47] the finance officer position. Uh we received six applications. Uh the hiring

[27:53] committee um selected three to interview through a

[27:58] Zoom call that took about 30 minutes each. Uh they recommended candidate

[28:03] number three to the city council to move on to the next level. Uh the next level

[28:09] would be that you guys can choose to go ahead and in do an in-person interview

[28:15] with her or another Zoom interview. Um she's not local. Um so uh if you would

[28:21] prefer to do a Zoom interview that would be fine also

[28:24] » but in state she >> she's in state. Yes.

[28:28] Um or if the alternative um is that you would like to continue to do a search, I

[28:34] did reach out to a consulting company um out of North Dakota uh called Seveny, I

[28:42] believe is how you pronounce it. Um it'd be about $18,000 uh for them to do the

[28:47] search. They are uh just finishing up Pleasant Hills uh finance officer

[28:52] search. um they would like 12 weeks just to collect applications. Um primarily

[29:00] what they would be doing is making phone calls um to try and find an applicant or

[29:07] a candidate that would fit our our needs.

[29:11] » 12 weeks >> 12 weeks just to do the search.

[29:17] I would like to point out that this is our busiest time of the year especially

[29:21] for a finance officer. Uh there are multiple deadlines that we need to meet.

[29:27] Um first one being getting caught up on bank wrecks, doing an audit and then we

[29:32] have four state financial reports that are not um one pagers. They are fairly

[29:37] extensive. Um and then we are also entering into our capital improvement um

[29:43] plan uh process and our budgeting process.

[29:48] » So is this candidate qualified or no? >> Um this

[29:53] » your opinion >> this candidate I I want to respect the

[29:57] hiring uh committee and they chose the best one um out of the applicants that

[30:02] we received. Uh the applica the candidate that they are recommending um

[30:08] is coming from a community that is very very small. Um

[30:14] they do not have an accounting degree. They are working on a master's in

[30:18] finance. Um >> when will they finish that?

[30:22] » I do not know that. She did not put that on on their application.

[30:28] Um it would uh the candidate would

[30:34] have a big very big learning curve, >> very big. Uh their current budget that

[30:40] she's used to is a $1 million budget and 50% of that is a bond payment. So

[30:45] basically her budget is $500,000 that she actually has to deal with.

[30:50] » How many years experience? >> Four years. She's the only employee for

[30:54] that city. So, she also is not um very wellversed in payroll and FLSA.

[31:03] » I think we need to do a search. I think that's going to be a waste of time and

[31:07] money. >> I agree. After hearing that,

[31:13] » uh, we need somebody with qualifications that can at least jump in and start

[31:21] payroll on day one instead of having a six-month training period.

[31:27] » What was the cost again for this search? >> 18,000.

[31:31] » So, 18 grand. >> They do have a one-year guarantee. Uh so

[31:35] if the person does not work out um within that first 12 months um they

[31:39] would uh redo the search. Uh they do have a periodic check-in with them. Um

[31:46] they do different types of testing to make sure that they fit um be a good fit

[31:50] within our community. >> I think we I mean we should at least

[31:55] like interview or entertain and like look into what the candidate they pick

[31:59] credentials are. maybe speak with like the hiring committee before we go out

[32:04] spending money. But that's just my opinion.

[32:06] » We're gonna spend way more than that because this gal is comes from a

[32:12] population of 750 people. It's a very small community. She has very little

[32:18] experience when it comes to what we're up against.

[32:23] you're going to >> but our search you know we we found that

[32:28] there are few applicants who are qualified to do this. So that's the

[32:33] challenge is even when we try we can't come up with many to even interview or

[32:39] consider. >> That's why it's time the nice thing

[32:41] about this company is you're going to get applicants that are qualified.

[32:45] That's what I'm saying is this this might be worth it in that they're going

[32:48] to have a much larger pool to pull from and will guarantee that they you know

[32:54] can bring qualified applicants for us. >> Do they have a good track record for

[32:58] doing so? >> Uh they have not done a lot of finance

[33:02] officer searches in the state of Iowa. Pleasant Hill is their only one.

[33:06] » What do they do normally? >> Um private businesses.

[33:12] They don't do a lot of government. Uh they have reached out to over 200 um

[33:18] potential candidates for Pleasant Hill. Uh their consistent um response from

[33:24] individuals is that they don't want to leave their current cities due to

[33:28] property tax reform um and the unknowns. Um, they also made the comment that

[33:34] they're finding that either the finance officers are

[33:40] are seasoned and are closer to retirement and therefore don't want to

[33:45] leave and the ones that are ready and able to leave just don't have the

[33:50] experience to come to a community our size.

[33:53] » And I think we also have to look at probably what we're offering. I mean, if

[33:58] this is a very difficult position to to fill, we're going to have to be

[34:02] competitive. >> The salary range is um the same salary

[34:07] range that Pleasant Hill and Automo was offering.

[34:12] » So, we're So, we're in range >> that we are. Yep. So, we're comparable

[34:15] to that at the moment. I will tell you that um one of the

[34:20] hiring uh committee members um is a finance officer of a community um here

[34:27] in Iowa and he was paid more than what I'm being paid and that's why he did not

[34:32] apply.

[34:37] the last officer that we tried to that we hired, you know, came from a

[34:41] community bigger than the community that we're talking about now. And it was a

[34:44] huge jump for her as well, and it didn't work out. I I just I'm not saying that

[34:50] we're going to throw $18,000 out the window, but at least there's a guarantee

[34:53] there that we that if if it doesn't work out, we're not sitting here again.

[34:58] They're going to be the ones going through the the process going to school

[35:01] for finance. And the last chick we hired, was she going going to get her

[35:06] masters in finance and anything like that?

[35:09] » She was not, but she had 18 years of experience.

[35:12] » Smaller. >> Wasn't going to school for anything

[35:14] pertaining to finance or anything like that.

[35:17] » No. Um, >> there's a difference.

[35:19] » You're talking a five, you know, $500,000 budget compared to a $6 million

[35:23] budget, you know. So, >> we have a $27 million budget.

[35:27] » 27. And and I think the issue is we don't really have a lot of time for

[35:32] somebody to get up to speed. We have a lot of things going on right now.

[35:37] » So, you know, hiring I mean having somebody that says, "Yeah, within months

[35:42] and months they'll come I mean I think we have to move ahead."

[35:46] » Agreed. >> It's pretty complex. So, we need

[35:51] somebody wellqualified. >> I I I see it as the cost of doing

[35:54] business. The only downfall is the 12 weeks that they get for the search time.

[35:59] And we need somebody like >> we try to convince them to go a little

[36:03] quicker. >> Yeah. See if they can get

[36:05] » you know, you know, >> if they're doing it for already some

[36:10] place, maybe we can kind of get a similar those

[36:15] results. >> I just had the conversation with them

[36:17] about a week ago and that is what she she had requested is 12 weeks.

[36:22] You can see we're kind of looking for >> right now.

[36:27] » They did uh mention that some of the people that they've reached out to were

[36:31] recently retired and maybe potentially able to um do a temporary Yeah.

[36:37] » Yeah. >> I think we have to look at all options

[36:41] right now. >> Doing this for two years. It's it's time

[36:44] to build >> get to it. So,

[36:51] » do you need a motion to go to that or what do you think on there?

[36:54] » I will uh reach out to them and I'll bring back a agreement with on the 21st.

[37:00] » Sounds good. >> Anything else, Andre?

[37:03] » That's all. >> Okay. Thank you. With that, we'll move

[37:07] on to the cons consent agenda. All items listed under the consent

[37:12] agenda will be enacted by one motion. There will be no separate discussion of

[37:17] these items unless unless a request is made prior to the time of council the

[37:27] » prior to the time council votes on the motion.

[37:30] » So moved. >> Second.

[37:32] » Please call.

[37:36] » Yes. >> Hammer.

[37:36] » Yes. >> Henson.

[37:38] » Yes. >> Kelly.

[37:39] » Yes. >> Mormon.

[37:40] » Yes.

[37:44] » All right. With that, we'll move on to seven, which is ordinances.

[37:48] A second reading, ordinance 2330 to allow the city of Boone, Iowa to change

[37:56] the stop intersections in the code of

[38:02] ordinances action adding section 65.02 subsection 59. The intersection of West

[38:10] Fifth Street and Jefferson Street is a stop inter stop intersection for all

[38:17] northbound and southbound traffic on Jefferson Street.

[38:21] » Moved. >> Second.

[38:25] » Please call roll. >> Yes.

[38:27] » Hammer. >> Yes.

[38:28] » Benson, >> yes.

[38:30] » Kelly, >> yes.

[38:31] » Yes. >> Yes.

[38:33] » Hey, mayor. I'd like to make a motion to wave the third reading on ordinance

[38:36] 2330. Second,

[38:41] please call roll. >> Hammer,

[38:43] » yes. >> Henson,

[38:45] » yes. >> To Kelly,

[38:46] » yes. >> Mormon,

[38:47] » yes. >> Williamson,

[38:48] » yes. >> Angstrom,

[38:49] » yes.

[38:52] » To approve or adopt. >> Move to adopt. I'm sorry.

[38:55] » Second.

[38:59] » Please call RO. >> Henson,

[39:02] » yes. >> Kelly,

[39:03] » yes. >> Mormon,

[39:04] » yes. >> Lson,

[39:05] » yes. Thanks Jeffrey. >> Yes.

[39:10] » All right. Thank you for that. With that, we'll move on to B, second

[39:15] reading, ordinance 2331 to allow the city of Boone, Iowa to change the

[39:22] persons with disabilities parking in the code of ordinance

[39:27] ren moving section 69.07 07 subsection 4J

[39:33] 7th Street North side first space east of Keeler Street and adding section

[39:41] 69.07 section 4 FFF

[39:46] first space east of Boom Street and 7th Street intersection on the south side.

[39:52] » So moved. >> Second. Please call R.

[39:56] » Kelly. >> Yes. Mormon.

[39:58] » Yes. >> Yes. Angstrom. Yes.

[40:00] » Hammer. >> Yes.

[40:01] » Henson. >> Yes.

[40:03] » Mayor, I'd like to make a motion to wave the third reading of ordinance 2331.

[40:08] » Second. >> Who's call?

[40:11] » Mormon. >> Yes.

[40:12] » Williamson, >> yes.

[40:13] » Angstrom, >> yes.

[40:14] » Hammer, >> yes.

[40:15] » Hson, >> yes.

[40:17] » Kelly, >> yes.

[40:19] » Move to adopt. >> Second.

[40:22] » Please call a roll. >> Lamson,

[40:25] » yes. >> Angstrom,

[40:26] » yes. >> Hammer,

[40:27] » yes. >> Henson,

[40:28] » yes. vote. Kelly, >> yes.

[40:30] » Mormon, >> yes.

[40:32] » All right. Thank you. And number eight, public comments for items not on the

[40:36] agenda. If you do have one, please raise your

[40:40] hand high so I can see you back there. If you would come up and gate or inside

[40:46] the gate and please speak loudly. >> And again, we give two minutes for

[40:50] public comments. >> My name is Dana Baker. I live on the

[40:54] corner of 12th and Benton Street and I have some concerns about some of the um

[41:00] activities going on in our neighborhood. Um

[41:05] have pictures on um we have a lot of there's a house

[41:12] on the corner of between them. Um there's people there's like seven nine

[41:18] people living in the house. There's people living in the trailer. There's

[41:21] people potentially living in the car. There is a minor girl that lives there.

[41:25] Um there's a lot of traffic that come and goes um all hours of the night. Um

[41:32] there's a lot of garbage in the yard. I'm going to say garbage. There's stuff

[41:36] in the in the yard. And there is a trailer that is backed up over the

[41:40] sidewalk with orange over it. I recently had a fall, so I have to walk with a

[41:46] walker and I am unable to go around my block because they have cones. Um, we

[41:52] have another neighbor here who's also has to use a walker who can walk a

[41:56] little further than I can, but she cannot make it. She can make it around

[42:00] different blocks. Um, so that's the first thing. We've had an increase in

[42:05] rodents, possums, I don't know if it was a rat, raccoons, snakes. Um, we have

[42:12] another neighbor that was going to show up tonight and he was unable to um that

[42:18] he sent me a text saying what he wanted me to say. If I can have my husband read

[42:23] it because I don't have my glasses. >> Yep.

[42:27] » Yeah. It just says the abundance of junk they've strung everywhere is getting

[42:31] old. I've heard the been mentioned a few times to get cleaned up and the license

[42:35] has been taken.

[42:46] He didn't know if it's illegal or not, but nothing's happening with property.

[42:51] » This one's currently on our radar. >> It's been going I mean, we've complained

[42:56] over it over the last couple years. We've had um contact with Ron And I know

[43:01] he's been working on it. It just seems like it's getting worse instead of

[43:04] better. Um, but we're just kind of we're kind of frustrated. And then to be

[43:09] honest, we're kind of frustrated with even the house next to us is that

[43:12] duplex. People are coming and going in that is a

[43:16] is an eyesore. We've done a lot of work to our property and um needs to get a

[43:22] little bit. And there's pictures that are close as well. Um they had reached

[43:28] out to some other neighbors and a lot of them were just fearful of retaliation

[43:34] here that just can't keep living with a couple years ago. We were pretty sure

[43:38] there was a drug deal that went down at the end of our driveway and I am a

[43:42] medical professional and last thing I want to do is have to fight for my

[43:45] license else.

[43:49] » This one Ron Freyer. >> Yeah.

[43:52] » Yeah. We we've uh we have weekly meetings. Andrea, Ron, and myself. Uh,

[43:56] and this property has come up a few times, and we've, uh, I know Ron's

[44:02] reached out to them and taken different steps to try to clean up garbage left on

[44:05] the curbs and stuff like that. Um, we can maybe talk outside of a public

[44:10] hearing about the trailer situation. Um, because you might have some additional

[44:14] information that would be helpful for us to address that.

[44:17] » And then there's just one last thing is um, there is a house to the east of me

[44:21] on 12th and and Benton. Um he has a art um a tree a volunteer tree coming up

[44:30] right next to the fire hydrant. >> Is that the one the picture that you

[44:33] pass around? Yeah. Okay. >> Pitch on fire and the water couldn't

[44:37] come on. >> And then there's also a like an 8 foot

[44:43] artificial volunteer tree coming up along the

[44:47] sidewalk that's probably going to break the

[44:50] straight. I I really appreciate you guys coming up here and bringing it up and

[44:53] bringing it to our attention. >> The police department is rather well

[44:56] aware of this property. And I didn't know about the trailer blocking the

[45:01] sidewalk, though. I'll have the office shut that thing.

[45:06] » It's a pickup block and sidewalk. >> It's a pickup. It's a pickup and a

[45:09] trailer. >> Yas

[45:18] driving down the street. You can't see what's going on because you have two

[45:21] things blocked. >> Sure.

[45:24] » It's just it's getting

[45:30] » Thank you. >> Thank you for your time.

[45:31] » Thank you. Thank you guys. >> Thank you.

[45:35] » Motorome somebody you talk to that motor home to take it out. Now it's back.

[45:45] » Yeah. I think I think there might be two different ones. um one was removed at

[45:49] one point and another one showed. Like I said, we're trying to deal with the

[45:52] situation and and any additional information um is helpful. So,

[45:57] appreciate it. >> Thank you guys.

[45:59] » Thank you. >> Any other public comments for items not

[46:02] on the agenda?

[46:06] » I just have a small wastewater update for you guys. I was not sure if I can

[46:10] make it to your next meeting, but just to give a general update, um I'm your

[46:14] wastewater engineer. um working with a whole team of people for your we sweater

[46:20] treatment plant. Um and I've been talking with Andrea and Whan and just

[46:25] want to to update you guys. Um we had I had come before to do an amendment for

[46:30] the flows and loads the wasteland allocation facility plan and all those

[46:35] things have been completed and we just received facility plan approval in

[46:39] August. So we are good to proceed on the rest of the week.

[46:44] And so that contract signed a few years ago. I think

[46:53] with that and I was waiting to do some of the last

[47:01] green light to go ahead. Um, so the next thing is just for us to finish our work

[47:06] and then to submit for approval to the DNR. So I hope to do that and I hope to

[47:11] do it soon. I'm in the next month or so. So um the only addition with that it

[47:17] will be on the next council.

[47:21] So in the middle of our design

[47:27] for Daisy products said they were increasing our flows by half million

[47:31] gallons and also reducing their so taking away carbon from water supply. So

[47:37] that affected our design. So when I wrote here report in your facility plant

[47:43] I accounted for that additional flow in there. So that's all good with the DN.

[47:47] Um, I also accounted for addition of a chemical called microine and that

[47:52] supplements carbon to your wastewater system and that's needed to nitrify and

[47:58] dnitrify and take the nitrates out of the water before it goes back to the De

[48:03] Moine River. So, um, so that you can meet your ethanol needs for that. So, so

[48:08] everything is included in my design except for that micro seed edition. So,

[48:13] it's a chemical addition. Look, there's a tank that goes with it, a building to

[48:17] heat it, and then a chemical pump, and some monitoring for that. So, next week,

[48:22] that will be on the agenda, but I just wanted to make you guys aware of what's

[48:27] you got. Any questions about your waste?

[48:34] » That is all. >> All right. Thank you.

[48:37] Any other one more? Yep. >> Yeah. Um, all this development felt like

[48:43] the D uh uh far and daisy building. I'm concerned because it doesn't work. I

[48:50] feel doing a job of what's going to happen with the traffic.

[48:55] We've got the ledger uh elementary school out there on industrial park.

[48:59] You're going to put a bunch more people going in and out of that daisy and that

[49:03] complex you can barely see it. Go down on 30. It's a hill. I think the city

[49:09] needs to take a little action on finding some of these subdivisions to make sure

[49:13] we're covered with the increase in traffic now and also we don't end up

[49:17] with nightmare traffic and danger. >> We we Daisy did do a traffic study um

[49:23] that has been addressed. So there will be a right lane um they their policy is

[49:27] to go right. Uh so there'll be a turning lane where they go in there'll be a

[49:32] traffic light they'll go in right turning right and then they'll leave

[49:35] turning right. But I think you need to address the one

[49:40] on 32 there coming out complex.

[49:47] » That's DOT. >> Yeah,

[49:49] » that's the DOT and they're going to be doing a roundabout there.

[49:53] » I don't like roundabouts.

[49:57] People in more access than that is a state highway and we don't

[50:04] have jurisdiction over that. They need to learn

[50:09] that

[50:15] other places. They had round took a long snow oper.

[50:35] » Nobody likes them. They're showing up a lot.

[50:49] But I am concerned about

[50:56] going out.

[51:10] » Well, we appreciate your concern and your comments. So, thank you very much.

[51:14] » Any other public comments?

[51:19] If not, we'll move on to nine, which is mayor comments. Uh, the only I have is I

[51:23] want to thank everybody for coming on Labor Day evening. Um, council members,

[51:28] public department heads, and obviously you folks as well. So, but that's all

[51:32] I've got under my comments. Number 10, council member comments.

[51:38] No council member comments. We will adjourn.

[51:44] Sorry, we have to go into close session. So, I need a motion to go into move.

[51:49] » Second roll.

[51:53] » Yes.

[51:58] » Yes. Hson.

September 7, 2026 Boone City Council Meeting

Transcript