[0:00] to order. Please join me in the pledge

[0:02] of allegiance.

[0:04] I aliance to the flag of the United

[0:07] States of America and to the republic

[0:10] for which it stands. One nation under

[0:13] God, indivisible with liberty and

[0:16] justice for all.

[0:18] >> Mandy, will you please call the role?

[0:21] here.

[0:22] >> Here

[0:28] » city councils adop adopted a code of

[0:30] civility as elected officials. We pledge

[0:32] to promote civility through extending

[0:34] respect to others listening to

[0:36] understand disagreeing without

[0:38] disrespect engaging collaboratively and

[0:40] speaking up to address in civility. This

[0:42] meeting is being recorded. As a

[0:44] reminder, this meeting is being recorded

[0:46] and broadcast for Pella TV. Anyone who

[0:48] speaks to council, please come to that

[0:51] podium and microphone before you begin

[0:53] speaking so those listening at home can

[0:55] hear your comments and see you on

[0:57] camera. Can I get a motion for approval

[0:59] of the tentative agenda?

[1:01] >> So move.

[1:02] >> Support.

[1:03] >> Brander Horseman Stryland. Any

[1:05] discussion?

[1:07] Okay. All in favor, please say yes.

[1:09] Close. No. Mandy, please call the role.

[1:12] >> Yes.

[1:15] Cross.

[1:16] >> Yes.

[1:18] >> Motion passed. [clears throat] This time

[1:21] I get the honor of uh reading a

[1:23] proclamation recognizing and thanking uh

[1:27] Chad Hardman for 26 years of service as

[1:30] a fellow police officer as he's going to

[1:33] head into retirement. So Chad, would you

[1:35] come up here and meet me here? I'll read

[1:39] this proclamation.

[1:45] All right. Proclamation thanking

[1:47] Sergeant Chad Hardman for 26 years of

[1:49] service as Pella police officer. Whereas

[1:52] the city of Pella has been safeguarded

[1:54] by the steadfast commitment and

[1:56] dedication of its law enforcement

[1:57] officers. And whereas Sergeant Chad

[2:00] Hartman has exemplified the highest

[2:02] standards of professionalism, integrity,

[2:04] and courage as a member of the fellow

[2:06] police department. And whereas Sergeant

[2:08] Hart Hartman has served the citizens of

[2:11] our community with distinction for an

[2:13] impressive and commendable period of 26

[2:15] years. And whereas Sergeant Hartman's

[2:18] exemplary service has contributed

[2:20] significantly to the safety and

[2:21] well-being of our residents, fostering a

[2:24] sense of security, and trust within the

[2:26] community. And whereas Senator Hartman

[2:29] has demonstrated leadership, resilience,

[2:31] and commitment to upholding the

[2:33] principles of justice throughout his

[2:35] distinguished career. And whereas

[2:38] citizens of Palo a debt of gratitude to

[2:40] Sergeant Hartman for his selfless

[2:43] devotion to the protection of life and

[2:45] property. Now therefore be it resolved

[2:48] by the city council of the city of Pella

[2:50] Iowa that on behalf of the city council

[2:53] staff city staff and citizens of Pella,

[2:56] we acknowledge the outstanding service

[2:58] of Sergeant Chad Hartman and extend our

[3:03] heartfelt appreciation for his 26 years

[3:05] of dedicated and honorable service to

[3:08] the city of Pella. This is the first day

[3:11] of September 2026.

[3:14] Congratul All

[3:16] >> [applause]

[3:31] [clears throat]

[3:37] » right. At this time, we have opportunity

[3:38] for public forum. Anyone wishing to

[3:40] address council regarding any agenda

[3:42] item, please step forward with the

[3:44] microphone. State your name and address.

[3:46] Please limit your comments to three

[3:48] minutes.

[3:51] » Okay. Oh,

[3:58] » Anna Rupert, 1104 Key Street. Um, I'm

[4:01] here to voice my support for the

[4:03] proposed re uh rental inspection program

[4:06] on the agenda tonight as well as the

[4:07] revitalization committee. Um, I

[4:10] understand that Pellet is not yet

[4:12] required to have a rental inspection

[4:13] program because we are under 15,000

[4:16] residents, but I see that as an

[4:18] opportunity for Pellet to be proactive

[4:20] rather than reactive, especially given

[4:22] the significant amount of rental

[4:24] development being proposed through the

[4:26] Imagore urban renewal project. Imagine

[4:29] is proposing as many as 1350 rental

[4:32] units. Uh whether or not that entire

[4:34] number ultimately comes to fruition, I

[4:37] think it raises an important question.

[4:39] What do we want the standard for rental

[4:41] housing in Pella to be? This is an

[4:44] important issue because more than a

[4:45] third of Pella's occupied housing. Three

[4:48] uh sorry 37.4%

[4:51] according to the current comprehensive

[4:52] plan is renter occupied and Pella has

[4:55] experienced a shortage of quality rental

[4:57] housing for a long time. Like a lot of

[5:00] people who moved to Pella, I once was a

[5:02] renter and I have a lot of friends who

[5:04] are renters. Numerous renters I know

[5:07] from a variety of property owners and

[5:09] management companies have or are

[5:11] currently dealing with problems

[5:12] including sewage, mold, water damage,

[5:15] bed bugs, rodents, electrical hazards.

[5:19] Our 2015 comprehensive plan identified a

[5:22] rental vacancy rate of just 1.2%. When

[5:25] vacancies are low and the cost to own a

[5:27] home in Pellet is high, tenants have a

[5:30] very little leverage. With long waiting

[5:33] lists, high rents, and very few

[5:34] short-term lease options, there isn't

[5:36] much incentive for a landlord to make

[5:38] improvements, and tenants may be

[5:40] reluctant to report serious problems

[5:42] because they don't want to risk losing

[5:43] their housing or being unable to find

[5:45] another place. The uh the situation has

[5:48] improved somewhat. The current

[5:50] comprehensive plan draft identifies a

[5:52] vacancy rate of around 3.4%

[5:54] and suggests that rental demand may be

[5:56] declining. If 1350 rental units are

[6:00] eventually built, increased competition

[6:02] may encourage landlords to invest in

[6:04] more in their properties. But I don't

[6:07] think that we should rely on market

[6:08] competition alone to ensure that people

[6:10] are living in safe and sanitary

[6:12] conditions. We have already seen rent uh

[6:14] several rental properties and town homes

[6:17] included in the Imagine More urban

[6:18] renewal area identified as blighted. I

[6:21] can't help but wonder how much of that

[6:23] deterioration might have been prevented

[6:25] if regular inspections and basic

[6:27] standards had been in place earlier. And

[6:30] inspections provide a way to identify

[6:32] problems without putting the entire

[6:34] burden on tenants to speak up. That

[6:36] matters because renters may be

[6:38] particularly hesitant to report problems

[6:40] when their landlord is also their

[6:42] employer, school, or another institution

[6:44] with whom they have an ongoing

[6:46] relationship. People who want to live in

[6:49] Pella already pay a high price to be

[6:51] part of this community. I don't think

[6:53] that they should also have to pay a

[6:55] price in their health, safety, or

[6:56] quality of life. For those reasons, I

[6:59] believe a rental inspection program is a

[7:01] timely and reasonable investment in the

[7:03] long-term quality of housing in Pella.

[7:06] Thank you.

[7:08] [clears throat]

[7:11] » Anyone else?

[7:14] All right, move on. I'll entertain a

[7:16] motion for approval of the consent

[7:17] agenda.

[7:18] >> So support

[7:20] >> Benstra. Any discussion?

[7:23] >> Okay. All in favor, please say yes.

[7:25] Suppose no. Mandy, please call the role.

[7:28] >> Yes.

[7:29] >> Horse.

[7:30] >> Yes.

[7:30] >> Father,

[7:31] >> yes.

[7:31] >> Carl,

[7:32] >> yes.

[7:32] >> Motion passed. Moving on to resolution

[7:35] number 7110

[7:37] entitled resolution ordering

[7:38] construction of the north tower recoding

[7:41] and fixing a date for hearing thereon

[7:43] and taking of bids. Therefore, Mike.

[7:45] >> Yes, Mr. Mayor. I'd be happy to explain

[7:47] this item. And for those in attendance,

[7:49] I'd like to direct your attention to the

[7:50] big board for a brief presentation on

[7:52] this item. As Mayor Dwart stated this

[7:54] evening, what this resolution really

[7:56] does is it sets the public hearing date

[7:58] for proposed north water tower painting

[8:01] project that we have. So, this would be

[8:02] the paint the water tower that invites

[8:05] Lincoln Elementary School on it. And a

[8:07] little bit of background on the tower.

[8:09] It's roughly 3/4 of a million gallons

[8:11] tower on it as well. do for an exterior

[8:14] painting. Now, the engine engineer's

[8:16] opinion of probable cost on this power

[8:18] project is $675,000.

[8:21] Council to approve this resolution. What

[8:23] that really does is sits the wheels and

[8:25] motions for soliciting bid for the

[8:26] project. We'd hold the bid letting on

[8:29] the project on September 24th.

[8:30] Hopefully, we'll have a little bit to

[8:32] present to council on October 6th.

[8:34] That's the day of the public hearing on

[8:36] it. Council proceeds with the

[8:38] construction contract on that evening.

[8:40] We be looking at a final completion date

[8:42] of September 1st, 2027. Staff is

[8:46] recommending approval of the resolution

[8:47] this evening.

[8:49] >> Okay. Thank you, Mike. Can I get a

[8:50] motion for approval?

[8:52] >> So move.

[8:54] >> Brandon Horse Carl Stone. Any

[8:56] discussion?

[8:59] >> Okay. All in favor, please say yes.

[9:08] » Community

[9:10] like to go ahead and direct that

[9:11] question over to our engineer Bob Beans.

[9:15] >> Currently, because there's no logo on

[9:17] it, we've got it so that the it's a

[9:19] single color. The city gets to pick the

[9:21] color. So, it doesn't have to be white.

[9:24] Once the contractors picked, if you want

[9:25] to have a different color, you can do

[9:27] that. If you wish to add a logo to it,

[9:30] we can discuss that. But right now,

[9:32] because it was all white, the thought

[9:34] was we would start with that. But the

[9:36] color is to be selected by the city.

[9:39] Just for frame of reference, the actual

[9:41] painting won't occur until next summer

[9:43] when school's out. So we're bidding it

[9:45] now because we want to get on the

[9:48] schedule of biders because it's a very

[9:51] tight window. And so if you wait too

[9:53] long, that window will close. There'll

[9:56] be nobody available or the price goes

[9:57] up. So may seem like we're way ahead of

[10:00] ourselves, but we're doing that for a

[10:01] very strategic reason.

[10:03] We want to talk about a different color

[10:05] or a logo or something that I think at

[10:09] this point want to get the project out

[10:11] for a bit.

[10:13] >> Last time they painted just the inside.

[10:15] Is this inside and outside?

[10:17] >> This is inside and outside. And the

[10:19] paint on the outside is lead paint. Um

[10:22] so we've got when they when it gets

[10:24] painted there'll be a full like a canvas

[10:27] enclosure around it so that when they

[10:29] sand blast it off all of that will fall

[10:33] inside that containment. Um so that we

[10:36] won't have that they don't have to go

[10:37] around and pick up all any of that lead

[10:40] paint that gets blasted off. Um it may

[10:43] or may not be u

[10:46] in containment when they actually do the

[10:48] painting. If they want to spray paint

[10:50] it, they have to put the containment

[10:51] back up. If they want to roll it on,

[10:53] which and the wind has to be less than

[10:56] 10 miles an hour, there's an option for

[10:58] them to do that. They could do that

[11:00] without containing it. So it may it'll

[11:02] definitely be have a a canvas

[11:04] containment around it when it gets

[11:06] blasted sand blasted off the old paint.

[11:08] It may or may not when they put the new

[11:09] paint on.

[11:15] » Okay. Anything else?

[11:17] [clears throat]

[11:18] All right. We'll mo vote on the motion.

[11:20] All in favor, please say yes. Oppos? No.

[11:22] Mandy, please call the role.

[11:24] >> Yes.

[11:25] >> Carl,

[11:26] >> yes.

[11:30] Motion passed. Ordinance number 1091

[11:34] entitled an ordinance approving the

[11:36] addition of article 9.05 to the m

[11:39] municipal code of the city of Pella Iowa

[11:41] authorizing participation in the state

[11:43] of Iowa set off program. This is the

[11:45] second reading. Mike.

[11:48] >> Yes, [clears throat] Mr. Mayor. I'd be

[11:48] happy to explain the mayor stated what

[11:51] this ordinance proposes is participation

[11:53] in the Iowa set off program. Now, a

[11:56] little bit of background on the setup

[11:57] program. administered by the Iowa

[11:59] Department of Revenue and it allows

[12:02] public agencies such as the city of

[12:04] Pellet to recover past two debts that

[12:06] are owed to the city of Helen. The most

[12:08] likely sources of this could be utility

[12:10] collections. It could be ambulance

[12:12] billings that we've had been

[12:13] unsuccessful in collecting as well. But

[12:15] with that um there's a process that you

[12:18] would go through to enroll the debt with

[12:20] the state. And then what the state does

[12:23] is it checks for any individual that

[12:25] does owe money to the city of PO that we've enrolled in the program or

[12:28] submitted to the program. That

[12:30] individual has a state income tax

[12:32] refund, casino or sports wager wagering

[12:35] winnings, lottery winnings, any of those

[12:37] types of items before the state issues

[12:40] any dispersements on it, they would pay

[12:42] the debt that the individual owes to the

[12:43] city of Pella. So we view this as a

[12:45] win-win situation for the city of Pella.

[12:48] also hopefully allow us to get a higher

[12:50] percentage collection rate on our past

[12:52] few due receivables as well. So let's go

[12:54] ahead please Heidi.

[12:57] Now that first bullet point that we have

[12:58] up on the slide is the efforts city

[13:01] currently undertakes to collect past due

[13:03] debts on them as well. And with this we

[13:05] believe that this would be a good option

[13:07] for the city and collecting past debts

[13:09] to the city of Pelis. So with this we

[13:11] are recommending approval this evening.

[13:12] Mr. Mayor be more than happy to answer

[13:14] any questions the mayor council may have

[13:16] on this item.

[13:17] >> Okay. Thank you, Mike. Can I get a

[13:18] motion for approval?

[13:19] >> Some move.

[13:20] >> Mr. Carlstone. Any discussion.

[13:25] » Okay. All in favor, please say yes.

[13:27] Oppos? No. Mandy, please call the role.

[13:29] >> Yes.

[13:30] >> Carlson,

[13:31] >> yes.

[13:34] >> Motion passed. [clears throat]

[13:36] >> I'd like to make a motion that we

[13:38] suspend the rules and wave the third

[13:40] reading.

[13:43] » Okay. Sansra and Carl Stone.

[13:47] Is there any discussion on that motion?

[13:50] Okay. All in favor, please say yes.

[13:52] Suppose no. Mandy, please call the roll.

[13:55] >> Yes.

[13:55] >> Carlson,

[13:56] >> yes.

[14:00] >> Motion passed.

[14:02] >> Move to adopt.

[14:04] >> Support.

[14:04] >> Benryland. Branderhorse. Any discussion?

[14:09] All right, we'll vote on that motion.

[14:10] All in favor, please say yes. Opposed?

[14:12] No. Mandy, please call the role.

[14:15] >> Yes.

[14:16] Yes.

[14:17] >> Charleston.

[14:18] >> Yes.

[14:20] >> Motion passed. Can I get a motion for

[14:22] approval of abstract bills number 2206?

[14:27] >> Move to approve and issue warrants.

[14:31] >> Rander Horseman Stryland. Any discussion

[14:33] or questions?

[14:35] Okay. All in favor, please say yes.

[14:37] Pose. No. Mandy, please call the role.

[14:39] >> Yes.

[14:43] >> Carlson.

[14:44] >> Yes.

[14:45] Motion passed. Any council member have

[14:48] any other business you'd like addressed

[14:50] this evening?

[14:51] >> I would like to thank the police

[14:53] department for their quick response to

[14:56] the incident at the high school last

[14:59] week. To get there in three minutes is

[15:02] amazing. Thank you so much for what you

[15:04] do and [clears throat] staying on top of

[15:06] everything.

[15:09] I'd like to make an announcement that

[15:11] Thursday night here in this chamber,

[15:13] we're having a meeting about t tax

[15:15] incremental financing, explaining the

[15:17] ins and outs of it, how it's works and

[15:20] where it's useful and you're welcome to

[15:23] go

[15:27] six o'

[15:33] Okay.

[15:34] All right. Any member of the public have

[15:36] any other business you'd like to address

[15:38] council with this evening? If so, please

[15:39] step forward the microphone, state your

[15:41] name and address. Please limit your

[15:42] comments to three minutes.

[15:47] [clears throat and cough]

[15:51] Good evening, Ron Rosenville, uh, East

[15:54] First Street. U,

[15:57] I want to thank John for bringing up the TIFF program u that you're going to

[16:02] put out.

[16:04] That's that's uh that's great for once.

[16:07] I'm not going to yell at anybody. Um

[16:10] it's uh I think that's great. Everybody

[16:12] needs to know what that that is. And the

[16:15] last time I was here, lady was in about

[16:17] the library. I stopped by the library

[16:19] and took a look and

[16:23] they would write on everything they said

[16:26] library could use a little uh little

[16:27] facelift. So I'm in support of that. So

[16:31] hey, let's write this down on the

[16:32] calendar. Good night. [laughter]

[16:40] » Okay, seeing no one else, we will Oh,

[16:44] Harry,

[16:45] >> I was waiting to see if anybody else

[16:46] came up.

[16:48] >> Yeah, Harry, 725 Countryside Lane. Two

[16:53] comments on item I one. This trail

[16:58] that's being suggested, I think it's a

[17:00] good idea. I think that it's needed

[17:03] because otherwise traffic and vehicle

[17:07] potential conflict of bicycles and

[17:10] pedestrians through the parking lots is

[17:11] not a good thing. So should have a

[17:13] designated

[17:15] bike way or whatever. So I think it's so

[17:18] whoever came up with that thought had a

[17:20] good suggestion. I would encourage you

[17:23] to consider once it's in there possible

[17:26] lighting for it. It doesn't look like

[17:30] there's any lighting, but that's could

[17:32] be something that could be developed as

[17:34] we go. And then also on I2

[17:38] the whole revitalization

[17:41] grant committee report I'm a new member

[17:43] of that committee, but I did attend

[17:45] previous two meetings and I'd like to

[17:48] thank Councilwoman

[17:50] for her leadership and Mr. Nardini's

[17:54] staff support on it because they did a

[17:56] lot of analysis a lot of discussion when

[17:59] you look at that report

[18:02] you might look at it and think that it's

[18:04] over

[18:06] analysis etc but for a community that is

[18:08] developing it's something that's

[18:10] important and way back in my history I

[18:14] was in charge of program and it's

[18:18] important especially for safety

[18:21] health and safety code issues etc so

[18:24] I've told you that

[18:27] go ahead to continue

[18:30] and give direction to the committee to

[18:32] keep working. Thank you.

[18:34] [clears throat]

[18:40] » All right, seeing no one else, we will

[18:42] move into our adjourned policy and

[18:44] planning. Our first discussion item is

[18:47] the proposed trail connection at the

[18:49] sports park to University Street. So

[18:52] Mike,

[18:53] >> yes, Mr. Mayor, I'd actually like to

[18:54] turn the floor over to Mr.

[18:56] to explain the site. Council

[19:01] » with the construction of the indoor rec

[19:03] center extension of University Street,

[19:06] it appeared that there would be a demand

[19:07] for pedestrians and bicyclists to want

[19:10] to go from University Street down to the

[19:12] sports park. The plan right now is

[19:15] eventually there would be a trail

[19:16] connection on University to baseline and

[19:19] then south on baseline, but that's not a

[19:21] part of the current project. also that

[19:24] took pedestrian and traffic and

[19:26] bicyclists across the driveways of the

[19:28] pedest of the indoor rec center. So the

[19:31] thought was it might be a good idea to

[19:34] construct a trail from the trail that's

[19:36] in the sports park, the loop that's just

[19:38] north of the rec building up to the

[19:42] University Street. So that's what's

[19:43] shown in yellow. Um how that fits into

[19:46] the longterm plan is right now the trail

[19:48] on University Street would not go east.

[19:51] So we wouldn't have any trail crossing

[19:52] the

[19:53] really wouldn't go anywhere and

[19:55] eventually it would extend east over to

[19:57] baseline and south to baseline tie back

[20:00] into the sports park at that way but

[20:02] that's probably a few years down the

[20:04] road. So the current project would be to

[20:06] construct that trail. The goal basically

[20:09] alignment it follows just west of the

[20:11] parking lot on the west side of the rec

[20:13] center and continue south pretty much

[20:16] along the west broccoli line. If you

[20:18] back and look at the longterm plan for

[20:20] the sports park, there's two more ball

[20:23] fields that are west of the two westerly

[20:25] ball fields. There's also a drain that

[20:28] extends south. So we're trying to stay

[20:30] west of that. Stay out of many of those

[20:32] evergreen pine trees that are there.

[20:35] sort of in the west side of the unused

[20:37] area north of the rec building. So the

[20:39] plan is to go ahead and try to build

[20:41] that trail, get it open by the time the

[20:44] rec center opens next summer. The

[20:46] comment earlier about lighting, that's

[20:48] something we could consider. What we're

[20:51] trying to do right now is to get procure

[20:55] that contractor through what's called

[20:58] competitive quotation. So instead of

[20:59] going out for a formal bid similar to

[21:02] what we just you just did on the water

[21:04] tower, there's a procedure by which we

[21:07] can invite contractors.

[21:09] We have to by a minimum of three

[21:11] contractors to submit a price proposal

[21:14] at a certain time and then we would

[21:16] propose to do that later in September

[21:19] again. Come back to the October 6

[21:20] meeting, give the contractor the choice.

[21:23] They can either build it this fall or

[21:25] they can build it next spring. they need

[21:27] to be done by the time the rec center is

[21:29] done. And then

[21:31] we would suggest that you not

[21:33] incorporate lighting with it. It's it's

[21:35] almost two different kind of

[21:36] contractors. We're trying to appeal to

[21:39] concrete contractors who have small

[21:41] overhead who could give us a very

[21:43] favorable pricing. They couldn't do the

[21:45] electrical work. They'd have to

[21:46] subcontract that out. So we

[21:48] [clears throat] want to at some point

[21:49] consider lighting the trail. It's

[21:51] probably better just to go ahead and do

[21:53] a separate procurement for the lighting.

[21:56] because that way we're not paying to

[21:58] have one contractor mark up a

[22:01] subcontractor. The lighting may also

[22:04] push us over the limit which we couldn't

[22:05] use competitive quotations and that's an

[22:08] expedient process which we like to use.

[22:10] So we don't have to have a public

[22:12] hearing. We don't have to invite

[22:13] everybody to bid. We can select who we

[22:16] go out and solicit for. So because under

[22:19] competitive quotations the project

[22:21] wouldn't come to council normally

[22:23] similar to what just

[22:25] tower. The thought is it be good to come

[22:27] to policy and planning to see if the

[22:29] council had any concerns with moving

[22:32] forward with the procurement of the

[22:34] trail with the goal to get that

[22:35] connection in by the time the rec center

[22:38] opens next summer.

[22:40] >> So Bob question um

[22:45] the trail from with the extensive

[22:48] university is going to run on the south

[22:49] side of university right so this would

[22:52] be easy to hook into that once you get

[22:55] The trail right now runs on the north

[22:58] side of university to the schools with

[23:01] an intersection there. What have do we

[23:04] have a how how's that going to be

[23:07] addressed? The crossover

[23:10] uh

[23:13] >> to that

[23:13] >> that's a part of the university street

[23:15] project.

[23:16] >> Yeah.

[23:16] >> Brad, do you want to comment on that?

[23:18] might be he's the most

[23:20] knowledgeable of that.

[23:23] Yeah. So that crossing would be on the

[23:25] east side of 240th um from north to

[23:28] south across University Street and then

[23:32] following University Street um on the

[23:34] south side. And there is yeah

[23:38] there will be a cost savings on the

[23:40] University Street project. It was

[23:42] proposed to be extended over to Baseline

[23:44] Drive and so we have the exact number of

[23:48] feet that'll be eliminated but there'll

[23:51] be a portion of that eliminated from the

[23:53] University Street contract.

[23:55] >> So where the where you cross the road

[23:58] now and the trail goes north it'll just

[24:01] it will be right there then go south to

[24:04] Yeah, I think it I think it jogs just a

[24:06] little bit to the east before it crosses

[24:08] but it's at that stop intersection

[24:10] there.

[24:15] Okay, thanks Brad. [clears throat]

[24:20] » Any other questions?

[24:21] >> Just curious, what's the procurement?

[24:24] Um, is there a threshold where you have

[24:26] to go to bid versus doing this the

[24:28] simpler procurement method?

[24:30] >> If it's under about $68,000, we don't

[24:33] have any state procurement at about

[24:35] $225,000

[24:37] we have to go out to the competitive

[24:38] bidding. That's not the exact number,

[24:40] but that's really close to where it's

[24:41] at.

[24:42] >> Okay.

[24:42] >> So, we're out in the midway between the

[24:45] 70,000 and the 225. It's so we're in

[24:48] that mid-range.

[24:52] » Well, it's going to be a great addition

[24:54] to the sports park. The whole bike trail

[24:56] out to the sports park is an exciting

[24:59] part of this whole project.

[25:01] [clears throat]

[25:01] >> So, this will be great. Based on the

[25:04] discussion tonight, I think we'll move

[25:05] forward with the procurement and then

[25:08] we'll be back hopefully on the 6th of

[25:10] October with the results of the

[25:11] quotations.

[25:13] >> Okay. Thanks, Bob. [clears throat]

[25:15] All right. Uh we'll move on to the

[25:17] recommendations of the neighborhood

[25:18] revitalization grant committee.

[25:23] » Yes, Mr. Mayor. I'll be happy to explain

[25:25] this item. As Mayor Ward stated, um

[25:27] we're here to talk about the

[25:28] recommendations for the neighborhood

[25:30] revitalization grant committee that

[25:32] we're making this evening. Little bit of

[25:34] background on this. The council recent

[25:37] appointed originally appointed at this

[25:39] committee to make a recommendation on

[25:41] developing a grant program for low and

[25:43] moderate income families to identify

[25:46] initiatives um for improvements to their

[25:48] homes on it as well and also to identify

[25:51] initiatives to improve neighborhoods

[25:52] throughout Pella. Now, the first we have

[25:55] three things we're going to be here

[25:56] talking about this evening. Actually,

[25:58] multiple items that we're going to be

[25:59] talking about this evening. We're going

[26:01] to start off with the low and moderate

[26:03] grant um program that we have that the

[26:05] committee was originally charged with.

[26:07] Now, when we were originally appointed

[26:09] the committee, we started off with and

[26:11] we thought we had a revenue estimate

[26:12] over the next 15 years of about $1.5

[26:15] million in funds. where we're getting

[26:18] those funds was previously under state

[26:21] law through tax increment financing

[26:23] which is council member Butler says

[26:25] there's going to be a public information

[26:26] session on it this Thursday night on

[26:28] that under the old laws is for a grant

[26:32] award we had to dedicate a portion of

[26:34] those tax increment financing revenues

[26:36] and dedicated towards improving or

[26:37] assisting low and moderate income

[26:39] families

[26:41] recent tax legislation that was passed

[26:42] this past year by the state of Iowa

[26:44] eliminated that requirement and so we're

[26:47] no longer required and we've been

[26:48] advised by legal counsel, we cannot

[26:50] withhold those funds. So, in essence,

[26:52] when we looked at the committee's

[26:54] budget, we started off with an estimate

[26:55] of 1.5 million and thought we'd be able

[26:58] to do a lot of good with the community.

[26:59] We still can on it, but our funding

[27:02] source has changed. What it looks now is

[27:04] we have about $60,000 of funds available

[27:06] to support this. And so, the committee

[27:09] spent a considerable amount of time

[27:10] looking at our options and what we could

[27:12] actually do um with that. and we uh

[27:15] actually reached out. We developed a

[27:16] grant program and we thought about the

[27:18] administration of the grant program

[27:20] internally at the city and then we

[27:23] decided to contact Habitat for Humanity

[27:26] and talk options with them. And with

[27:28] that, we had a presentation from Miss

[27:30] Amy Meyer, that's the director of

[27:32] Habitat for Humanity, and it's also in

[27:34] attendance this evening on the ability

[27:37] to administer those funds for us and

[27:39] specifically the critical home repair

[27:41] program. We did included extensive

[27:44] summary of the critical home repair

[27:46] program in the council package as well.

[27:48] But that was the committee's

[27:49] recommendation. They felt that Habitat

[27:51] for Humanity had the framework already

[27:53] in place to administer a program to

[27:56] assist low and moderate income families

[27:58] in Pawa. And then also with the change

[28:00] in funding from 1.5 million down to

[28:02] 60,000, that's a significant decrease in

[28:05] the budget as well. So we thought with

[28:07] limited funds in the short term that we

[28:09] have with this that we the better option

[28:11] would be to contract Habitat for

[28:13] Humanity on this. And so before we go on

[28:16] to the next item of discussion, I'd like

[28:19] to turn the floor over to Council Member

[28:20] Brand Horse for any additional com

[28:22] comments on this or anything that I may

[28:23] have may have failed to mention.

[28:25] >> I think that you have uh covered it all.

[28:28] Um in speaking with Amy and seeing what

[28:33] her organization could do for our

[28:36] community, it was clear to us that the best selection was to partner with

[28:42] Attack for humanity and uh so I'm in

[28:46] full endorsement of that move.

[28:52] » Okay, let's go ahead and dive in number

[28:55] two. As we stated earlier in the

[28:57] presentation, when this committee was

[28:59] originally appointed, we started off as

[29:00] an LMI committee or lower moderate

[29:02] income committee along with an

[29:04] additional charge on any other

[29:05] initiatives that can help improve the

[29:06] quality of life and neighborhoods

[29:08] specifically in Pella. Now, one of the

[29:10] items that we did take a look at is we

[29:13] conducted a blight assessment of the

[29:14] Huber Street area. Now, when we talk

[29:17] about Huber Street, it's this area.

[29:19] We're looking at this red highlighted

[29:21] area up there on the Bayboard. And

[29:22] generally, it's south of University

[29:24] Street, east of Main Street, and it goes

[29:27] all the way down to north of Cuber

[29:29] Street, and just west of Carson Street.

[29:32] We hired a consultant to go out and

[29:34] review this area. Roughly, there's about

[29:36] 65 properties within this assessment

[29:38] area. Now what the consultants report

[29:41] and the finding on it included was about

[29:43] 55% of the property they felt contained

[29:46] item items of light in this

[29:48] neighborhood. So that's a significantly

[29:49] higher percentage when you look at this

[29:51] area on it. So Heidi, let's go ahead

[29:54] please.

[29:55] Now when we looked at the blight

[29:56] assessment and our committee spent a lot

[29:58] of time on the blight assessment really

[30:00] re researching what options actually

[30:02] work in communities if you're going to

[30:03] eliminate blight or reduce blight in

[30:06] communities. And what we found out just

[30:09] to summarize on this is there's no one

[30:11] approach that seems to work for

[30:12] eliminating blight. The most effective

[30:15] approach is multiple approaches to

[30:17] reducing blast a concentrated effort to

[30:20] do this. So what we have up here is just

[30:22] a few points um on approaches to blight.

[30:25] Now the first thing when anytime you

[30:27] tackle blight or you want to improve

[30:29] neighborhoods, the very first thing you

[30:30] got to know is where you stand within

[30:32] those neighborhoods. That was the

[30:34] purpose of the blight assessment on it

[30:35] to see what we're at, where we're

[30:37] actually at if the neighborhood was

[30:38] blighted, what percentage of properties

[30:40] were blighted under there as well. So

[30:42] for that first one, as it applies to

[30:44] Hubert Street, that neighborhood

[30:45] assessment we've already taken care of.

[30:48] Now, in researching this item, what a

[30:50] lot of places will tell you is that you

[30:52] need to strengthen your property

[30:53] maintenance codes. And this goes for

[30:55] nuisance abatement, weeds and tall

[30:57] grass, junk vehicles on it. City needs

[31:00] to take an aggressive stance on it. And

[31:02] that's been successful in other places

[31:04] also with dangerous and dilapidated

[31:06] structures as well. And that's something

[31:09] that for you know been fortunate I can

[31:11] say I've been fortunate to be city

[31:13] ministry for for a while now and I would

[31:16] say communitywide I've always felt that

[31:18] hey the community takes care of this

[31:19] issue and there's not a lot of blight in

[31:21] pel and we're very very fortunate but

[31:23] the issue is is our housing stock gets

[31:25] older in nature this could become more

[31:27] of an issue in the future as well and so

[31:30] the strengthening of the property

[31:31] maintenance code by the committee didn't

[31:32] make a recommendation on this item that

[31:34] should be an item for discussion at

[31:36] future council meetings to to look at a

[31:38] potential approach for reducing blight.

[31:41] We're going to talk about the

[31:42] residential rehabilitation program.

[31:45] Actually, we just did with Habitat for

[31:47] Humanity. The committee was recommending

[31:48] to contract with Habitat for Humanity

[31:50] for our main funds on that as well. Now,

[31:54] one item that keeps coming up and all

[31:56] the research on it when you talk about

[31:58] reducing blight, usually one of the

[32:00] first items that's being recommended is

[32:02] a rental inspection program on it as

[32:05] well. We'll talk about the rental

[32:07] inspection program in detail as well.

[32:09] But what the rental inspection program

[32:11] lets us do and in essence there's a

[32:14] strong correlation between blight

[32:16] neighborhoods and rental properties as

[32:18] well. What the rental inspection program

[32:20] would a do is identify how many

[32:23] properties we actually have that are

[32:24] rental units in the city of Pella. We'd

[32:26] also have a guaranteed actually a

[32:29] rotating site one when we'd inspect

[32:31] those rental programs for life and

[32:32] safety items as well, but someone would

[32:34] actually be on the inside of the units

[32:36] inspecting program. So, more to come on

[32:38] that here in just a little bit. The

[32:40] other approach to um reducing blight if

[32:43] you wanted to look at the rental

[32:44] inspection program and I call this the

[32:45] carrot and the stick program on it as

[32:48] well. So, if you wanted to take a look

[32:49] at the carrot is a urban revitalization

[32:52] area. We're going to be talking about

[32:54] that very very soon as it flies the

[32:56] Hubert Street area. But the thought is

[32:58] if you could encourage economic

[32:59] development or redevelopment in this

[33:01] area that would take care of some of the

[33:03] blight issues as well. So if you wanted

[33:05] to look at that would be the potential

[33:06] cure. I hate to use the word stick with

[33:09] the rental inspection program because

[33:10] there's a lot of benefits on it but that

[33:12] would be the code enforcement aspect of

[33:14] it as well. Now, one of the items that I

[33:17] think we've seen in Pella and that holds

[33:19] true in other communities and I think

[33:20] it's a big item for the city on a go

[33:22] forward basis and it's always been a

[33:24] huge it's always been a significant item

[33:25] for the city of Pella is to invest in

[33:28] your public infrastructure. If you look

[33:30] at neighborhoods when the city redes the

[33:32] streets

[33:35] actually improves the streets on it,

[33:37] improves sidewalks when there's

[33:39] additional landscaping green space areas

[33:41] around there that tends to really shape

[33:44] up and reduce blight in those areas.

[33:45] Now, I can think of the Huber Street

[33:47] area. If you looked at our capital

[33:48] improvement program, we have planned

[33:50] repairs, University Street, East First

[33:53] Street. There's also going to be an

[33:54] electrical underground conversion

[33:56] project on East First Street where we're

[33:57] going to be burying transmission lines

[33:59] around this area as well here in the

[34:01] next two years on that. And then we look

[34:04] at the Charles S. Far Charles Farber

[34:07] Park, which is the old power plant site,

[34:08] and what the city's planning to do and

[34:10] really turning that in from an old power

[34:12] plant site into what I is going to be a

[34:14] very nice public park as well. So, we

[34:17] have a lot of these items that we're

[34:18] currently planning for and I didn't even

[34:19] mention the storm water improvements

[34:21] that we're working on as well. But that

[34:23] is an important item as far as reducing

[34:25] blight is invest in your public

[34:26] infrastructure as well. So, in summary,

[34:29] when we talk about approaches to

[34:31] reducing blight, there's no

[34:32] oneizefits-all. It's usually a

[34:34] combination of approaches that you have

[34:36] to take to actually make a dent in

[34:38] blight. And this would be something that

[34:40] the committee looked at and we thought

[34:42] we kind of prioritized the ones that we

[34:44] thought would have the most impact on it

[34:46] overall. And with that, I think the

[34:48] census was that the city is has plans to

[34:50] invest in public infrastructure as well

[34:52] as landscaping with the Charles Charles

[34:55] Harbor Park coming in the horizon as

[34:57] well as the repairing of the electrical

[34:59] power line, storm water improvements and

[35:00] street improvements in this area. on

[35:03] this. Um it's a policy decision when you

[35:05] look at strengthening property

[35:07] maintenance codes and that be something

[35:09] we certainly could follow up on as well.

[35:12] But what the committee looked at the two

[35:13] items that we're currently not doing

[35:15] here would be the urban revitalization

[35:17] area and the rental inspection program

[35:19] and that's what we're here to talk about

[35:21] the rest of the program this evening. So

[35:24] with that, council member Brown, do you

[35:26] have any additional comments to add as

[35:27] far as reducing light?

[35:28] >> Nope. Good.

[35:30] >> Okay. I I had one question about the the

[35:33] study. Um you mentioned a couple of the

[35:35] commercial buildings and they actually

[35:37] put a picture of deriders there and then

[35:39] also mentioned Jimmy John's for for

[35:41] traffic going on to Huber. Did did they

[35:44] count those as part of the

[35:48] those properties actually assessed for

[35:50] blight or were they just comment

[35:51] commenting on that for generalities? I

[35:54] >> think generalities I'll verify that but

[35:56] I do not believe they were included. And then also on the map that they give,

[36:00] did they they talked about 36 of 65? Did

[36:03] they identify which ones on the map that

[36:05] we got or did they have a another

[36:08] supplemental piece that showed which

[36:10] ones that aren't attached here?

[36:12] >> I'm sure we can get that. Okay. Find out

[36:14] the detail on those.

[36:16] >> Okay. I don't need to see it, but I was

[36:18] just curious how they I was looking at

[36:19] the math how they came up with the

[36:21] numbers on that.

[36:22] >> Okay. I think they also Calvin looked uh

[36:25] in the in the blight assessment there's

[36:27] also a safety evaluation and so I think

[36:30] some of the the things uh like the uh

[36:33] photograph of the writer and the uh

[36:36] mention of Jimmy John's and going into

[36:40] business were part of the safety

[36:44] >> because they also looked at safety for

[36:46] children.

[36:47] >> I just didn't know if that figured into

[36:49] the math or not.

[36:50] >> Um no I don't believe it does. I think

[36:52] it's numbers of of actual lighted

[36:56] property, but then they do have a caveat

[36:59] in that study uh mentioning safety.

[37:03] So, it's a good point. Thank you.

[37:10] » Okay, let's go ahead and let's talk

[37:13] about kind of the continuation of the

[37:15] Huber Street area. And when we talked

[37:17] about economic development, economic

[37:19] development is very important in

[37:20] communities with it. And the thought is

[37:23] when you look at economic development,

[37:25] usually we're talking about urban

[37:26] renewal plans. We're going to be there's

[37:27] going to be a lot of discussion on urban

[37:29] renewal plans on Thursday night. This is

[37:31] another approach uh to for economic

[37:34] development. It's called an urban

[37:35] revitalization plan um with it. And so

[37:39] with urban revitalization, it has a lot

[37:41] of the same framework as urban renewal

[37:44] does on it. It's very similar as far as

[37:47] adoption. We'll have to formalize it if

[37:49] the council proceeds with an urban

[37:51] revitalization plan. We'll have to

[37:52] develop a plan document as well. There

[37:56] be adopted via there will be an urban

[37:57] vitalization ordinance as well. In

[38:01] addition, the notification requirements

[38:03] for urban arrivalization areas are more

[38:05] significant than urban renewal plans.

[38:07] There'll be actually in addition to

[38:08] advertising for public hearings, there

[38:11] actually be mailed notices to every

[38:12] property that's within this district as

[38:14] well. we move forward. So, it's a little

[38:16] bit more intensive as far as

[38:18] notification requirements of urban

[38:19] renewal, but the basic framework is the

[38:22] same. Now, overall, if you're looking at

[38:24] urban revitalization, we're talking

[38:26] about 65 odd properties. With urban

[38:29] renewal and economic development, we've

[38:30] been focused a lot on those properties.

[38:32] A lot of times with urban renewal, what

[38:34] you're looking at is one property owner

[38:36] that's developing their property on it.

[38:38] It's a little different when you go to

[38:40] an established neighborhood and you're

[38:41] dealing with multiple property owners

[38:43] throughout the area. When you look at

[38:46] those properties and my sense is

[38:48] particularly at the residential

[38:49] properties that you could potentially

[38:51] have if you wanted to try to accomplish

[38:53] economic development a lot of smaller

[38:55] projects instead of one large project

[38:57] there could be multiple small

[38:59] improvement projects as well. So what

[39:02] urban revitalization was most commonly

[39:04] used for in Iowa is tax abatement on tax

[39:07] abatements for new improvements within

[39:10] the area. And so what our committee

[39:12] talked about and these aren't set in

[39:14] stone. The purpose of tonight's

[39:16] discussion is to see if there's interest

[39:17] in going forward with council with an

[39:20] urban realization plan. So just taking a

[39:23] stab at this to throw something out

[39:25] there for discussion purposes. What our

[39:26] committee talked about is the projects

[39:29] that would be eligible for active date

[39:31] would be residential rehabilitation

[39:34] including additions and expansions

[39:36] construction of new single family to and

[39:38] multifamily residential housing as well.

[39:42] Now, I will say this, um, with it, we

[39:44] approached this from a policy

[39:45] standpoint. We certainly could have had

[39:48] more in-depth conversations on these

[39:50] eligible improvements, and there's

[39:51] different perspectives on things such as

[39:53] multifamily housing out there with our

[39:56] committee. But we thought that just in

[39:58] throwing putting these up for proposals

[40:01] that if council was interested in this,

[40:02] there' be additional discussions on this

[40:04] as well. Hopefully the NRG committee be

[40:06] able to share some additional feedbacks

[40:08] and additional recommendations if

[40:10] council is interested in going forward

[40:13] or further exploring an urban

[40:14] vitalization plan. The committee also

[40:17] talked about this item that we have and

[40:19] that's the fourth bullet point down is

[40:21] under state law there's a requirement of

[40:23] the urban vitalization plan will have as

[40:25] a threshold as far as the minimum

[40:27] improvement. I initially had the number

[40:30] proposed significantly higher than

[40:31] $10,000 for minimum improvement. Um the

[40:34] committee had a lot of talk and

[40:36] discussion about that and we settled on

[40:38] 10,000. Now whether that's the right

[40:40] number or not um that's up for

[40:42] discussion as well. There is a

[40:44] requirement under state law when you

[40:45] look at tax abatement that the

[40:47] improvement or the new construction has

[40:48] to lead to at least at least a 10%

[40:51] increase in valuation for the property

[40:53] as well. So how that plays into 10,000

[40:55] that would probably need further um

[40:58] further research on that as well. Now if

[41:01] we did we're going to move forward with

[41:03] urban revitalization plan and area on

[41:06] it. We could offer a maximum tax

[41:08] abatement under state law of up to 100%

[41:11] of eligible improvements for up to 10

[41:12] years. Now, this would exclude the

[41:15] school district levy. So, if you looked

[41:17] at the tax rate and backed out to

[41:18] school, you'd be looking about half of a

[41:20] typical property tax bill in which is

[41:22] significant. So, again, what the idea

[41:25] with this is you'd be incentivizing

[41:28] property owners to improve their

[41:29] property. You'd also be incentivizing

[41:32] developers to go into this area and

[41:34] potentially conduct smaller projects and

[41:36] improve the neighborhood as well.

[41:38] Hopefully with the goal of eliminating

[41:40] or reducing blight on it. That would be

[41:42] the ultimate goal with this. So Heidi,

[41:45] let's go ahead please.

[41:48] Okay, let's back up if we could please.

[41:50] So again, I mean I would tell you with

[41:53] urban renewal plans, we've done a lot of

[41:55] urban renewal plans, a lot of

[41:56] development agreements on urban renewal.

[41:58] I see the advantage of like this. If we

[42:01] establish an urban revitalization plan

[42:03] in an area and you identify the Heber

[42:06] Street area, I view a lot of just

[42:08] improvements could happen just

[42:10] organically without the city getting

[42:12] involved. It would just be handled down

[42:13] at the county auditors, county

[42:15] assessor's office when you look at those

[42:17] improvements. So the smaller projects

[42:19] could take place without necessarily

[42:21] having a development agreement with the

[42:22] city of Pella. And I think that's

[42:24] significant to it as well. And so the

[42:27] hope would be with the tax abatement

[42:29] that set up for smaller improvements.

[42:31] And again, what we're trying to do is

[42:32] incentivize economic development in this

[42:34] area. And so with that, I'd once again

[42:37] like to turn the floor to council member

[42:38] Brandon Wars to add any additional

[42:40] comments on this.

[42:41] >> Right. I think the most important thing

[42:44] uh to note is that the committee is uh

[42:47] focusing on developing neighborhoods

[42:51] uh getting individuals uh to get into

[42:55] these homes and send their children to

[42:58] Pella schools, shop in the Pella grocery

[43:01] stores and shops. It's it's about

[43:04] neighborhood revitalization just as its

[43:06] title is. It's about eventually seeing

[43:09] kids riding their bikes up and down the

[43:11] sidewalks in a safe and healthy

[43:14] environment.

[43:16] It's not if if you live in that area,

[43:19] which I do, it doesn't mean that we're

[43:22] going to have the bulldozers

[43:24] ready to go and sit at the top of the

[43:27] hill. No, we're going to walk alongside

[43:30] of of families that believe in this area

[43:33] and want to breathe new life into it.

[43:38] » [clears throat]

[43:38] >> So, it's the Habitat for Humanity

[43:42] Partnership you talked about, is that

[43:44] within this revitalization plan or is

[43:47] that something?

[43:49] >> Well, [clears throat] it certainly could

[43:50] cover it. So, we sent out letters right

[43:53] away to specifically to this district to

[43:55] let them know that our program is

[43:56] available to them. So, um, for the owner

[43:59] occupied homes, especially the ones

[44:01] under like $200,000 assessment, they've

[44:04] already been made aware that this is an

[44:06] option for them. So, um, some of them

[44:08] might take, you know, more work than

[44:11] that.

[44:17] » I think the humanity programs anywhere

[44:19] in the city.

[44:24] » Thanks. But we're certainly happy to

[44:26] target that area as well.

[44:29] >> Mike, [clears throat] when you talked

[44:29] about that 10% increase in value, do

[44:32] they use the assessed value as the

[44:34] baseline of preassessed value and a post

[44:37] assessed value?

[44:38] >> We believe so, but that's something we'd

[44:40] have to verify. Okay, Google council.

[44:46] » Okay. Any other questions about the

[44:47] urban revitalization plan? So, I think

[44:50] you're going to move into the inspection

[44:52] program.

[44:57] I should say is anybody opposed to

[44:59] pursuing that?

[45:05] » Okay, let's talk about the rental

[45:06] inspection program and with this again

[45:11] the committee was looking at it and we

[45:12] originally started discussing the rental

[45:14] inspection program when we looked at

[45:16] items that were successful as far as

[45:17] reducing blight. But when you look at

[45:19] the city and the growth of the city on

[45:21] it and with the rental inspection and

[45:23] we've been involved in I would say a

[45:25] little bit of background on on this as

[45:27] well, we do typic not typically

[45:30] occasionally hear about complaints from

[45:31] renters at the city as well. This seems

[45:34] to be an area that you know we're not

[45:36] quite at the $15,000

[45:38] 15,000 population, excuse me, level

[45:41] where we'd be required to have a rental

[45:42] inspection program, but we're bumping

[45:44] up. We anticipate bumping up that here

[45:47] in the next decade or so. Now, with

[45:50] that, again, for a population of 15,000,

[45:53] we'd be required to have this program.

[45:56] And what the committee looked at the

[45:57] rental inspection program and some of

[45:59] the difficulties the city's had on

[46:01] rental inspection. And we'll talk later

[46:03] on this evening about public safety and

[46:05] some of the issues with the public

[46:06] safety departments as well. But as it

[46:09] applies to blight, there is in other

[46:11] communities a high correlation between

[46:13] blight and rental rental properties, not

[46:16] only in the Hebrew Street area, but

[46:17] throughout the city of Pel. That could

[46:19] be the case as well. So other

[46:21] communities that are under 15,000, for

[46:24] instance, that have adopted a rental

[46:25] inspection program. This could be the

[46:27] city of Knoxville. This could be the

[46:28] city of Oscaloosa. This could be the

[46:30] city of Grenell. All of those cities

[46:32] have adopted the rental inspection

[46:33] program. A lot of cities have adopted

[46:36] just looking at life and safety, health

[46:38] and safety issues that are listed up

[46:39] here on the board. So this would be

[46:41] smoke and carbon monoxide alarms,

[46:43] electrical hazards, heating and plumbing

[46:45] systems, sanitation within the within

[46:48] the home, property maintenance items as

[46:50] well as structural items as well. So

[46:53] cities tend to focus on on those items

[46:55] when you go through. So, we're not

[46:56] looking to bring the entire housing

[46:58] structure up to code, but we are focused

[47:00] on life and safety issues and health and

[47:02] safety issues as well. So, let's go

[47:05] ahead, please, Heidi.

[47:08] Now, one of the benefits we think with

[47:10] the rental inspection program is a lot

[47:12] of rental inspection programs require an

[47:14] annual registration of all rental units

[47:16] within the city of Pella. And one of the

[47:19] items if you were to ask folks, how many

[47:21] exact rental units do we have in Pella,

[47:23] you always get this kind of good look.

[47:25] Well,

[47:26] on it. We don't have an exact count. We

[47:28] would have a handle on it, but that's

[47:30] not the sole reason for doing this with

[47:32] annual registration. I think one of the

[47:34] hidden benefits of this is we would also

[47:37] ask for a local property manager or

[47:39] emergency contract on it. So, when we

[47:41] have a public safety call on this, that

[47:44] information would be very very bene

[47:46] beneficial to our public safety

[47:47] departments and I'll let them talk about

[47:49] it here very very soon on that as well.

[47:52] Now, as far as the frequencies of

[47:54] inspections, the city council, that's a

[47:56] policy decision. The city council would

[47:57] have to decide how often we would

[47:59] inspect the rental units, but our

[48:01] committee talked about them. Most rental

[48:04] inspection programs are anywhere from

[48:05] two to four years initially on it as

[48:08] well. And the fees for it for the

[48:11] cities, there are some firms that

[48:12] conduct the rental inspection programs

[48:14] that the city would hire that they would

[48:15] bill out the property owners directly on

[48:18] it as well. Now, we did contact one

[48:20] contractor performs numerous rental

[48:22] inspections throughout Iowa. Their fees

[48:25] would be $125 for the first unit. This

[48:27] would be for the property owner and $50

[48:29] for additional units as well. So

[48:32] overall, we thought again we originally

[48:35] started on this as a blight reduction

[48:37] item, but there's a lot of other

[48:39] benefits with this as well. And I'd like

[48:41] to start off with if I could call on

[48:44] Chief Bogard of the fire department to

[48:46] talk a little bit from the fire

[48:47] department's perspective on proposed

[48:49] rental inspection programs.

[48:51] [clears throat]

[48:55] In a recent meeting I had with Mike, we

[48:58] discussed the public safety aspect of

[49:01] rental inspection program.

[49:03] Um for the record, fire department would

[49:06] definitely be in favor of initiating

[49:08] such program. I believe it helps serve

[49:11] as a leveling the playing field so to

[49:14] speak of all the property owners. To be

[49:17] clear, there are many, many good,

[49:19] trustworthy, responsible property

[49:21] owners, rental property owners in right

[49:25] now, they're already providing and even

[49:27] overproviding what's required. This

[49:30] discussion is really for those that

[49:31] aren't and they are out there.

[49:35] Uh, I discussed with Mike a recent call

[49:37] that we had where a young couple had

[49:40] rented a duplex, had only been living

[49:42] there about a week or so, and the young

[49:44] man noticed there was no CO detector

[49:46] present. He took it upon himself to buy

[49:49] one and put it into service. Two days

[49:52] later, all three agencies here responded

[49:56] to that unit with a CO activation call.

[49:59] We went in and discovered some of the

[50:01] highest readings I've ever seen. The

[50:03] furnace had malfunctioned

[50:06] and these folks might not have survived

[50:09] because it was in the middle of the

[50:10] night. They were sleeping. That

[50:14] activation woke them up. They took it

[50:16] seriously, called 911 and evacuated.

[50:22] Without the presence of that detector

[50:24] that he installed himself, the outcome

[50:26] would have been completely different.

[50:30] They were lucky. Consequently, we were

[50:32] lucky.

[50:33] I'm not comfortable relying on luck

[50:36] regarding public safety. I think we can

[50:39] do better. Thank you for listening.

[50:44] » Chief McH.

[50:49] » Yeah, the police department is very much

[50:51] in favor of this. You know, a lot of

[50:53] people look at public safety as siloed.

[50:55] You know, fire department, police

[50:56] department, ambulance. We're not. Um we

[50:58] all, you know, situation arises, we all

[51:02] come together and so we have a lot of

[51:04] the similar concerns and and actually

[51:06] the same issues

[51:08] from the police department standpoint.

[51:10] You know, I look at anything that

[51:12] improves the quality of life in this

[51:14] city, a positive thing. So, public

[51:17] safety, that's that's my lens. That's my

[51:19] focal point. Uh, also when we talk about

[51:22] contacts, there's there's just numerous

[51:24] times throughout, you know, different

[51:26] calls for service where we need contact

[51:29] information of who owns this apartment

[51:31] or who owns this house. And sometimes we

[51:34] don't have the luxury of time. And so

[51:36] having, you know, this compiled in one

[51:40] um in one section which would come

[51:42] through the police department, we have a

[51:44] very robust uh CAD system uh already in

[51:47] place. So we wouldn't have to spend any

[51:48] money to do this. uh is super important

[51:51] and I echo a lot of the same comments as

[51:54] chief

[51:56] >> take Boston.

[51:59] >> Um I'm also going to echo the same uh

[52:02] same views as Chief Bogar. I'm going to

[52:04] bring a remembrance to some people from

[52:06] about six years ago. We got called to

[52:09] the manor. You all know the manor here

[52:11] has a lot of individuals that live

[52:13] there. Um, and we actually we have

[52:16] carbon monoxide detectors on our bags

[52:18] and we were there for somebody that was

[52:20] sick and they were feeling sick and our

[52:23] alarms went off the minute we walked

[52:24] into that that building and we had to

[52:26] evacuate it. It was evacuated for

[52:27] several weeks while they fixed the

[52:29] carbon monoxide leak. Had we not had

[52:31] that luck of having a carbon dioxide

[52:34] detector on our bag and detecting that,

[52:36] how many people could have perished from

[52:38] that? And this could all be rectified by

[52:41] having a program where detectors like

[52:43] that are in place. So,

[52:50] and before we turn over our

[52:53] recommendation, council member Brander

[52:54] Horse, do you have anything to add?

[52:56] >> No, I I I want to thank each and every

[52:59] one of the department heads that spoke.

[53:02] Um, some of you um have been chatting

[53:05] with me about this for eight plus years

[53:09] and it it's not only time, it's past

[53:12] time and uh to Ry's point, you know

[53:17] what, one incident like that is one too

[53:20] many. So, appreciate your input greatly.

[53:27] I see the fees here, but what are the

[53:30] penalties for not complying? Are they in

[53:33] here somewhere that I read?

[53:35] >> Yeah, but that you didn't talk about the

[53:37] non-compliant or the reinspection fees.

[53:39] We had to verify that. So, if council's

[53:42] interested in the rental inspection

[53:43] program, that's kind of a nice segue.

[53:45] Council member Butler, if I can jump in.

[53:47] What our thoughts are is at the NRG

[53:50] committee, we talked about things on a

[53:52] broad policy level. We didn't into the

[53:55] details other than what we're talking

[53:57] about here. We wanted to make sure

[53:59] before we looked at additional details

[54:01] on it that council was in favor of even

[54:03] pursuing it in the first place. Other

[54:06] cities do have a fee for reinspections

[54:09] on those and it automatically triggers

[54:11] if you have issues. The follow-up

[54:13] inspection is given amount of time to

[54:15] the property owner to come into

[54:16] compliance on it. And so there are fees

[54:19] for reinspection, but this assumes a

[54:21] clean build first time the units

[54:23] inspected. But there would be additional

[54:24] fees if they had to come back out most

[54:26] likely. Okay. And I I would recommend

[54:30] random inspections, not scheduled

[54:37] because

[54:38] if they know the schedule,

[54:41] it's too easy to fix stuff.

[54:45] You want to correct stuff.

[54:51] The business I was in when I got in the

[54:54] grain business, we had random warehouse

[54:56] inspections. You never knew when the guy

[54:58] was coming. [snorts] You walked in,

[55:00] dropped his satchel, and you were under

[55:03] the gun. So, you know, just you can

[55:06] figure out how to do it randomly.

[55:18] » The one thing we have to think about

[55:20] There are some laws that since there's

[55:22] tenants there there there's a notice

[55:25] requirement. I don't I don't know if

[55:28] that can be overridden by state code or

[55:30] not but that just that's what a

[55:32] committee's for right to research this.

[55:34] >> Yeah. I think for tonight I think we

[55:35] might be digging too deep into details

[55:38] here. I think we expect I think

[55:41] >> I would assume based on the three

[55:45] >> Yeah. what we just heard that we want to

[55:47] move in the direction of establishing a

[55:50] rental program, inspection program.

[55:52] >> So, let's start there. Committee can

[55:54] work with staff,

[55:56] >> lay out the parameters, then we can

[55:58] start picking the parameters part if we

[55:59] want to.

[56:01] >> Because when I look up there, I think

[56:02] two to four years, if you only do it

[56:04] every four years,

[56:06] that would what good would that do? I

[56:08] mean the CO2 detector could go out

[56:13] three years and you know anyway but I

[56:15] think all those details we would

[56:18] anticipate coming back with an actual

[56:20] policy to discuss

[56:23] >> and to your point it is an incredibly

[56:27] detailed committee. Everyone on there is

[56:30] a detailed person and they will really

[56:33] rise to the occasion.

[56:38] Okay. So, just to make sure we're all on

[56:41] the same page, let's go. Excuse the next

[56:42] slide, please. Heidi. So, with that,

[56:45] staff is planning on proceeding with the

[56:47] LMI grant program, Habitat for Humanity.

[56:50] There'll be a formal contract. We

[56:51] already have a contract of Habitat for

[56:53] the program. We'll most likely have an

[56:56] additional contract for the remaining

[56:58] LMI funds that we will have on that.

[57:00] probably take that just for review of

[57:03] the NRG committee before it proceeds to

[57:05] county to the the council, excuse me.

[57:09] Two, um, with the urban revitalization

[57:12] plan for Cuber Street area, we'd like to

[57:14] go back to the NRG committee and talk

[57:16] about the details of that program before

[57:18] we hold another work session on it at

[57:20] council as well. And the last item that

[57:23] we have as far as the rental inspection

[57:25] program, we'd ultimately like to go back

[57:28] to the city council as well, but I also

[57:30] would like to to mention that we are

[57:32] planning on holding work sessions on the

[57:35] commercial building code, especi

[57:38] specifically on interior renovations on

[57:41] existing buildings as well. So, we had

[57:43] thought with that that time when we

[57:46] talked about enforcement and property

[57:48] owners that we would talk about the

[57:49] rental inspection program. Again, we

[57:51] don't have to do that. We can send this

[57:53] directly back to the committee and work

[57:55] independently of that sessions on the

[57:58] commercial building code independently

[57:59] of the rental inspection program. So, um

[58:03] with that, Mr. Mayor, don't have any

[58:05] suggestions. Well, I I just think based

[58:07] on discussion,

[58:09] uh, we definitely want the committee to

[58:13] hammer out more details about a rental

[58:15] inspection inspection program for

[58:18] >> for housing, rental housing, the

[58:21] commercial code. I see that as a

[58:23] separate discussion, commercial code,

[58:25] building code discussion. So I would

[58:29] expect the the committee to start having

[58:33] more discussions about the rental

[58:35] inspection program

[58:37] >> bring something council to actually

[58:40] approve.

[58:47] » Yes sir. Thank you.

[58:49] >> Okay. [clears throat]

[58:51] We'll move on to Pella Historical

[58:52] Society proposal regarding the trolley

[58:54] station. I see we have a few members of

[58:57] the historical society here. Uh are they

[59:00] doing this? Are you going to do it or

[59:02] >> I'll do a brief mayor before we turn the

[59:04] floor over and a little bit of

[59:06] background. The fellow historical museum

[59:08] is in the process of renovating and

[59:10] build Wells Fargo Bank that's located at

[59:12] 712 Washington Street. And here's their

[59:14] approved design commit by the city's

[59:17] community development committee to the

[59:18] building that we have up here as well.

[59:20] Little bit of background on the

[59:22] facility, including the hours of

[59:24] operations. It'll be seven days a week

[59:26] from 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. And we do

[59:28] have listing of the exhibits inside

[59:30] there. Is important to note the building

[59:32] will contain proposed to contain public

[59:34] restrooms. What we're here to talk about

[59:36] this evening is a proposal that we've

[59:38] received from the public historical

[59:40] museums and specifically at the end of

[59:42] the discussion we're looking for

[59:44] direction if we want to move forward in

[59:46] drafting considering a draft contract

[59:48] with the historical museums on this for

[59:51] the public restrooms as well as the

[59:53] proposed alley upgrade that's being

[59:55] proposed. So, as far as their proposal

[59:58] this evening, what we're looking at in

[1:00:00] exchange for allowing the public to use

[1:00:02] public restrooms within their new

[1:00:03] building, they're asking or requesting

[1:00:06] an $8,000 stipen to help support the

[1:00:08] operations of of the public restrooms.

[1:00:11] In addition, the item number two, which

[1:00:14] is somewhat new to the city council,

[1:00:15] we've talked about this alley before at

[1:00:17] city council meetings as well. What they

[1:00:20] are proposing and requesting city do is

[1:00:22] take ownership and upgrade the alley

[1:00:24] that's along the northern boundary of

[1:00:26] the station as well. And I believe we

[1:00:28] may have a map of the alley here as

[1:00:31] well. So this is the alley that we're

[1:00:34] back here looking at as well. It's this

[1:00:37] green highlighted area that we have

[1:00:40] Wells Fargo building is located right

[1:00:43] over over here as well. So now as far as

[1:00:46] staff's understanding of this, it's our

[1:00:49] understanding that the property owner,

[1:00:51] the legal property owner of the alley is

[1:00:53] willing to donate the property to the

[1:00:55] city. The PEL his Historical Museum say

[1:00:58] a preliminary cost estimate for the

[1:01:00] alley improvements. They range somewhere

[1:01:02] between 60 to $80,000. If we were going

[1:01:04] to hire a contractor, the 80,000 would

[1:01:07] be as if we repaid it with a brick inlay

[1:01:09] on it as well. So from staff's

[1:01:12] perspective, we are looking for

[1:01:14] direction. Um there's a lot of details

[1:01:16] not on the historical society or the

[1:01:18] historical museum's part, but on city

[1:01:21] staff's part that we would need to firm

[1:01:22] up before we formally consider this

[1:01:25] item. So we're simply looking for

[1:01:26] direction this evening on it. Before we

[1:01:29] turn the floor over, we'll jump to the

[1:01:31] questions that we're going to be asking

[1:01:32] at the end of the presentation. So let's

[1:01:34] go ahead, please.

[1:01:37] If council would like to proceed further

[1:01:38] with these two projects and consider

[1:01:40] them, what we would do is we'd go back

[1:01:42] and we we would develop a project budget

[1:01:44] both for the public restrooms as well as

[1:01:47] get an updated cost estimate for

[1:01:49] upgrading the alley. One of the items

[1:01:51] that we're going to take a look at is

[1:01:53] whether we can do it with city crews or

[1:01:54] not. That would significantly reduce the

[1:01:57] cost of that alley down. So, we'll look

[1:01:59] at the feasibility on that as well. And

[1:02:02] we'll also have a draft agreement that

[1:02:04] we would work on with the historical

[1:02:06] museums as well, both for the restroom

[1:02:08] use as well as the alley project on it.

[1:02:10] And so again, we're simply looking for

[1:02:13] direction this evening. And as Mayor

[1:02:14] Dart stated, we do have representatives

[1:02:16] here tonight. I'm sure we'd love to

[1:02:19] speak and get their perspective on the

[1:02:21] project. So mayor before we turn the

[1:02:23] floor over.

[1:02:25] >> Yeah.

[1:02:26] Comments.

[1:02:29] » Well, my two cents worth. I'm not big on

[1:02:32] the brick. I'll leave it at that. You

[1:02:34] know, a lot of old people coming through

[1:02:36] there. Weather conditions, wet, ice,

[1:02:40] brick is sleep, slippery. We get a lot

[1:02:42] of comments on the downtown business

[1:02:45] district in front of the big trees and

[1:02:47] so on. I'm not big on brick and brick is

[1:02:50] more expensive. So you may disagree but

[1:02:53] that's my comment.

[1:02:55] We look at the press brick and so on

[1:02:57] that exists in Gell which is very

[1:03:00] attractive and it's not as slippery.

[1:03:08] » When is the renovation plan to be done?

[1:03:11] >> Our hope is mid March 2027.

[1:03:17] So, so my question kind of comes from

[1:03:19] back my first term that the question of

[1:03:21] the legal ownership of that alley was up

[1:03:24] for debate. Has that been settled?

[1:03:32] What I from the discussion I've had with

[1:03:33] Mike, the city attorney has has

[1:03:35] determined Ted Nancy actually in a

[1:03:38] position they could authorize the sale

[1:03:42] or the gifting of that ele

[1:03:48] » and they're willing to do that.

[1:03:49] >> Well, I think I'm I'm 100% in favor of

[1:03:52] moving forward

[1:03:54] >> because it's going to be with the

[1:03:56] trolley

[1:03:58] Yeah.

[1:03:59] >> Yeah, I agree.

[1:03:59] >> I look at the walkway to hit the salty.

[1:04:02] >> Well, I mean, downtown restrooms,

[1:04:06] we've all had that question a million

[1:04:08] times.

[1:04:10] So,

[1:04:12] yeah, I think we move forward with this

[1:04:15] project and get it done. [clears throat]

[1:04:17] >> I do, too. I I think that we've looked

[1:04:20] at this project before, but at that

[1:04:23] point, we were looking at a bank. We

[1:04:26] weren't looking at something that is a

[1:04:29] citywide attraction and this most

[1:04:32] assuredly is and it has great purpose

[1:04:35] and great aesthetic value. And I'm

[1:04:38] probably going to make Bob off his chair

[1:04:40] at this point because it's really hard

[1:04:42] to get a doubleian individual to change

[1:04:46] her mind

[1:04:48] and you all just saw it. But I do with this is very purpose driven now and

[1:04:55] We have our trolley driver here. So,

[1:04:58] >> make it much easier to drive in and out

[1:05:01] if they can go through that.

[1:05:03] >> Yeah. No, it's it's shows extreme

[1:05:06] creativity and wonderful project. So, I

[1:05:11] would be in support.

[1:05:12] >> Yeah. And I think Harold brings up a

[1:05:14] good point. I think get the get the

[1:05:18] ownership of the alley and all that.

[1:05:19] Then we can have a couple we can have

[1:05:21] some options on details about how to how

[1:05:24] to hard surface the alley from there

[1:05:27] once we get this other stuff done.

[1:05:33] » Okay. I think

[1:05:35] >> got support to move forward.

[1:05:37] >> All right. Thank you.

[1:05:39] >> All right. Any any upcoming items you

[1:05:42] want to point out here? Yeah, the next

[1:05:45] um actually the next meeting is going to

[1:05:47] be a rather long meeting that we have.

[1:05:49] There'll be numerous not maybe not

[1:05:51] numerous items items on for September

[1:05:54] 15th. We'll have the parks master plan

[1:05:56] discussion on that as well. We'll also

[1:05:59] have the pill municipal airport layout plan discussion

[1:06:03] for September 15th. And then we

[1:06:05] anticipate the other permit ordinance

[1:06:07] will be presented to council on October

[1:06:09] 6 as well as the investment policy

[1:06:11] changes or proposed changes to the

[1:06:13] investment city's investment policy on

[1:06:15] October 6th as well. So that's our

[1:06:18] upcoming project report.

[1:06:20] >> Okay, with that I'll entertain a motion

[1:06:22] to adjurnn.

[1:06:23] >> So moved.

[1:06:25] >> Answer Brandor. All in favor please say

[1:06:27] yes. Opposed no. Mandy, please call the

[1:06:29] role.

[1:06:30] >> Yes.

[1:06:32] >> Be in strike.

[1:06:33] >> Yes.

[1:06:34] >> We are ajourned.

09-01-26 Pella City Council Meeting (audio only)

Agenda

Transcript