[0:00] Yeah. >> Good evening everyone and welcome to the

[0:02] event city council meeting. Before we start with our regular council meeting,

[0:06] we're going to have a brief board of health meeting. So I'm going to go ahead

[0:09] and call the board of health meeting to order and press take the role.

[0:13] » Council member Cabinet >> here.

[0:15] » Council member Galloway >> here.

[0:17] » Council member McIntyre. >> Council member Reid

[0:20] » here. >> Council member Hoffman

[0:22] » here. >> Mayor Johnson

[0:23] » here.

[0:30] Okay. Uh the next item on our agenda is to approve the minutes from the August

[0:35] 19th, 2025 board of health meeting. Is there a

[0:38] motion to approve? >> Move to approve.

[0:41] » Is there a second? >> Second.

[0:42] » Any further discussion? If not, Chris will take the role.

[0:48] » Council member Cavanus. >> Yes.

[0:49] » Council member Galloway. >> Yes.

[0:51] » Council member Reed. >> Yes. Council member Hoffman.

[0:54] » Yes.

[0:57] This is the time, place, and date set to consider condemnation of the structures

[1:00] on the property located at 242 South Ward in the city of Dumbo, Wapalo

[1:05] County, Iowa. >> I'll call the condemnation hearing to

[1:09] order and I believe Jake, you're going to present.

[1:11] » Yeah. Thank you, mayor. >> Wow. Good evening, council. This is all

[1:15] right. Uh the structure located at 242 South Wrated April 11th, 2024. is

[1:21] plaqued due to lack of utilities and dilapitated structure conditions. Uh the

[1:26] property has been mowed by the the city contractors and has been open to the

[1:30] elements not secured with squats during routine driveby inspections. Police and

[1:35] neighbors in the area have had issues at this property. Owners have shown very

[1:39] little interest in the property and have been uh there's been multiple missed

[1:42] inspections. There's no current repair plan or commission and confirmation was

[1:46] served by certified mail posting on the property and in the temper and staff

[1:51] recommends uh kingdom in the structure at north 242 south.

[1:56] » Does council have any questions for Jake?

[2:01] » Jake, this is the same property we looked at last time, was it?

[2:04] » No. No, this is this property and I've had no contact from uh owners or

[2:10] anything during this uh this time. >> Okay. It does look a lot different now,

[2:14] but it does in these pictures. All this outside stuff seems to be gone clean up.

[2:19] » Yeah. Uh I I believe that the city did a clean up at this property.

[2:22] » Okay.

[2:27] » Is there any other questions from council for Jake?

[2:33] » Uh no. Since since we've uh started the action of condemnation, I've had no

[2:38] contact.

[2:41] Since this is a public condemnation hearing, is there anyone in the audience

[2:44] that would like to speak about this property?

[2:58] questions.

[3:01] If not, I'd entertain a motion to close the public hearing.

[3:04] » Motion to close. >> Second.

[3:07] » Chris will take the role. >> Council member Cavanis.

[3:09] » Yes. >> Council member Galloway.

[3:11] » Yes. >> Council member Reed.

[3:12] » Yes. >> Council member Hoffman.

[3:14] » Yes. >> Addend the structures located at 242

[3:16] South Ward. order prompt demolition, removal, and leveling of the lot and

[3:20] direct all costs attended such actions, including administrative costs to be

[3:24] assessed against the property and or collected from the owner or owners

[3:28] thereof. Recommendation approve the condemnation of structures located at

[3:32] 242 South W. >> Is there a motion to approve the

[3:35] recommendation? >> Approve the condemnation.

[3:37] » Second.

[3:41] » Chris will take the role. >> Council member Gavinus.

[3:43] » Yes. >> Council member Galloway.

[3:45] » Yes. >> Council member Reed.

[3:46] » Yes. Yes. Council member Hoffman. >> Yes.

[3:50] » This is the time place to consider condemnation of the structures on the

[3:53] property located at 310 North Caldwell in the city of Atumbbo Walo County,

[3:58] Iowa. >> I'll go ahead and open the condemnation

[4:00] hearing and Jake, it's all yours. >> All right. Thank you, mayor. Uh so this

[4:04] this structure was uh plated January 28th of 2025 is uh plated due to lack of

[4:10] utilities and latent structural conditions. Uh I have had contact from

[4:14] the owner of this property. uh he's uh said that he was going to he had a

[4:20] contractor that was going to do the demolition for him that he'd already uh

[4:24] had that set up in in the case of that. If we see movement on this property,

[4:28] I'll step back, let that try to play out if in any way possible, but as of that

[4:33] right now, there's been no movement on it. So, uh staff recommends going ahead

[4:37] with the condemnation of this property. Does council have any questions for Jay

[4:42] regarding this property? >> I think uh the information I have on

[4:48] this. The only hold up is the man that he was going to employ to do the removal

[4:54] didn't show up and so his intention is still the same.

[4:58] » Yeah. And and it's been that intention for several months. So we just want to

[5:02] make sure that we're moving. If he's not going to move, uh like I said, if if he

[5:06] does start moving on the property, I'll definitely step back. Uh we had that

[5:09] situation on the south side of the property just uh a couple months ago

[5:12] where I was able to step back and let them do the demolition. So if that

[5:16] happens in this case, we'll step back. I think he actually has another trailer to

[5:21] put in there which is in much better condition and that's his plan is to have

[5:26] that one removed and place a new one in place.

[5:30] » Yeah. Yeah. It would definitely benefit him if that was the case to uh move with

[5:33] it himself. Any

[5:38] other questions from council? Does anyone in the audience have any

[5:43] comments or questions they'd like to make regarding this property?

[5:50] Okay. If not, I'd entertain a motion to close the public hearing.

[5:55] » Motion close. Second. >> Chris will take the role.

[5:59] » Council member Cabinets. >> Uh, no.

[6:04] » Council member Galloway. Yes. >> Council member Reed.

[6:07] » Yes. >> Council member Hoffman.

[6:08] » Yes. >> Condemn the structures located at 310

[6:13] North Caldwell. Order prompt demolition, removal, and leveling of the lot and

[6:16] direct all costs attended. Such actions including administrative costs to be

[6:20] assessed against the property and or collected from the owner or owners

[6:24] thereof. Recommendation approve the condemnation of the structures located

[6:27] at 310 North Paul. >> Is there a motion to approve the

[6:31] recommendation? Motion to approve. >> Second.

[6:36] goes to take the role. >> Council member Gavinus,

[6:41] » yes. >> Council member Galloway,

[6:44] » yes. >> Council member Reed,

[6:45] » yes. >> Council member Hawk,

[6:47] » yes.

[6:51] » This is the time, place, and date set to consider condemnation of the structures

[6:54] on the property located at 424 Tacoma in the city of Wuffalo County, Iowa.

[7:00] » I'll go ahead and open the condemnation hearing and Jake to follow yours. Thank

[7:04] you, mayor. Uh, this one was placarded February 19th of 2025. Uh, suffered a

[7:09] severe fire at this property. Uh, there's no insurance on the structure.

[7:15] Uh, there's been no, uh, movement towards tearing it down or

[7:18] rehabilitating it. Council, u, So, at this time, staff recommends that we

[7:25] can structure at 4.42. >> Council, have any questions for Jake

[7:30] regarding this property?

[7:38] If not, is there anybody in the audience that has any questions or comments

[7:41] they'd like to make regarding this property?

[7:48] Okay. If not, I'd entertain a motion to close the public hearing.

[7:52] » Motion to close. >> Second.

[7:56] » Take the old. >> Council member Cabinet.

[7:58] » Yes. >> Council member Galloway.

[8:00] » Yes. >> Council member Reed.

[8:01] » Yes. Council member Hoffman. >> Yes.

[8:03] » Cadet the structures located at 424 Tacoma order front demolition, removal

[8:08] and leveling of the lot and direct all cost intendance such actions including

[8:12] administrative cost to be assessed against the property and or collected

[8:15] from the owner or owners thereof. Recommendation approve the condemnation

[8:19] of structures located at 424 Tacoma. >> Is there a motion to approve the

[8:24] recommendation? >> Motion to approve.

[8:25] » Second.

[8:28] » Chris, take the role. >> Council member Cavinus. Yes.

[8:31] » Council member Galloway. >> Yes.

[8:33] » Council member Reed. >> Yes.

[8:34] » Council member Hawker. >> Yes.

[8:36] » Thank you, council. >> Thank you.

[8:39] » If there's no other matters to come to the attention of the atom board of

[8:43] health, I would entertain a motion to adjourn the board of health meeting.

[8:46] » Motion to adjurnn. >> Second.

[8:50] » Chris will take the role. >> Council member Gavinus.

[8:53] » Yes. >> Council member Galloway.

[8:54] » Yes. >> Council member Reed. Yes. Council

[8:56] » member Hoffman. >> Yes.

[9:02] Okay, we'll move forward with our Tom City

[9:07] Council meeting. If everybody rise for the pledge of allegiance, please.

[9:17] I pledge algiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the

[9:22] republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and

[9:29] justice for all. >> Thank you.

[9:39] » Take the role. >> Council member Galloway

[9:41] » here. >> Council member Hoffman

[9:43] » here. >> Council member McIntyre. Council member

[9:46] Cavinus. >> Yes.

[9:47] » Council member V >> here.

[9:48] » Mayor Johnson >> here.

[9:53] » The next item on our agenda is to approve consent agenda part one. Is

[9:57] there a motion to approve? >> Motion to approve.

[9:59] » Second. >> Any further discussion?

[10:04] If not, Chris takes the role. >> Council member Galloway.

[10:07] » Yes. >> Council member Hoffman.

[10:08] » Yes. >> Council member Cabinet.

[10:10] » Yes. >> Council member Reed.

[10:11] » Yes. The next item is to approve consent

[10:15] agenda part two. Is there a motion to approve recommendation?

[10:20] » Move to approve. >> Second.

[10:24] Any further discussion? >> If not, we will take the role.

[10:29] » Council member Galloway. >> Yes.

[10:30] » Council member Hoffman. >> Yes.

[10:32] » Council member Gavinus. >> Yes.

[10:33] » Council member B. >> No.

[10:42] The next item is to approve tonight's city council agenda. Is there a motion

[10:45] to approve? >> Motion to approve.

[10:48] » Second. >> Any further discussion?

[10:52] If not, let's take the role. >> Council member Galloway,

[10:55] » yes. Council member Hoffman, >> yes.

[10:57] » Council member Cavanus, >> yes.

[10:58] » Council member Reed, >> yes.

[11:01] » The next item on our agenda is city administrator's report to council

[11:05] citizens of the turn over to Phil, our city administrator. Thank you, honorable

[11:09] mayor. Um, before I bring up our guest uh tonight, I just wanted to touch uh

[11:14] real briefly on uh the u first goal uh of the comprehensive plan which was uh

[11:22] focused on housing. Um currently we are on track with uh with the goals in that

[11:30] area uh 31% uh four of those areas. um 54% has had some disruption uh and 15%

[11:40] plus is uh considered completed. Overall that we're at 53% complete uh of the

[11:46] 20-year uh progress plan and we're in essential year five. So I think we're

[11:52] we're tracking real well on that. Uh one of the biggest accomplishments uh in the

[11:55] area of housing was the designation as a thriving community. Uh I believe that uh

[12:01] can go very far with assisting mission 500 and their uh their goal to reach 500

[12:07] homes by 2030. Um we have uh seen some some success in that area with with the

[12:15] uh apartment buildings and things that we have been able to provide. Uh and uh

[12:20] we've got a number of conversations with a number of developers and more to come

[12:23] over the next few weeks. So, uh, we're hoping that that housing, uh, will

[12:27] continue to improve and and we'll see even more success in this area over the

[12:30] next, uh, next few quarters and and couple years.

[12:35] Uh, and with that, uh, I'd like to invite Chris Patrick, the executive

[12:40] director of Main Street, uh, once, uh, here to provide the quarterly update for

[12:45] Main Street.

[12:49] » Thank you, Phil, and thank you, Mr. mayor and city council for allowing Main

[12:54] Street to come and share all of the great things that have been going on in

[12:58] the downtown and talk about some of our challenges today. As most of you know,

[13:03] uh the Main Street and Tunnel program fosters a vibrant, dynamic, and healthy

[13:07] downtown through community engagement and collaborative partnerships. So July

[13:12] 1, our board turned over. So if you can see the slide, AJ Gok is our new board

[13:17] president and Colobby Mercer and Kristen Muscle are new to the executive team and

[13:22] we kept Polly Bird on in a new role as immediate past president. We have three

[13:27] new faces on our board now. We have Cyan Basu because she took over from our row

[13:32] as the goip representative. We also have Maggie Horin. She is from Indian Hills

[13:39] Community College and brand new to Main Street. So of course we threw on the

[13:42] board. and then Shiloh Seam who has been on our business vitality committee and

[13:47] she stepped into this administrative role as a general board member. We do

[13:51] have one open position. So if you have anybody that you think would be a good

[13:55] fit for Main Street, please send their contact information our way.

[14:01] And city staff or city staff you should not city staff staff. Um we have Lindsay

[14:07] Luen. She is now our business builder academy facilitator. Her role as

[14:12] business specialist and volunteer coordinator is open and it is being

[14:16] advertised right now. We also have Steven Martinez and Terry Hicks on our

[14:20] downtown green and clean team. And here are the local results. This is

[14:26] our cumulative polars since 2006. And I'll let you read the slide. Um, but I

[14:31] do want to touch on that $38 million of private investment in the downtown. That

[14:36] includes properties that have been rehabilitated and properties that have

[14:40] been transition to a new owner. And that number is huge to us because it really

[14:44] shows community involvement in making sure that the downtown is thriving, that

[14:48] we're keeping our historic buildings, and we're making sure that we have a

[14:52] strong um downtown. Uh also, the number of 52,000 volunteer hours is huge

[14:58] because it's almost one million well, it's 1.8 billion dollars of investment

[15:05] of our community matters in the downtown. That's hands and feet in the

[15:08] downtown. making sure that things are green and clean. We're talking to

[15:12] property and business owners, making sure we know who is in our district and

[15:16] how we can help them thrive um and provide business services.

[15:21] So, we have transformational strategies that Main Street America um demands from

[15:26] us. That's part of our accreditation piece. We'll talk about that later. So,

[15:31] we'll look at that third piece, the measures of success. Um in three years,

[15:35] we needed to have 15 new apartments. This year, we have four. uh again in

[15:39] three years 25 new residents. We have many team this year. We have changed the

[15:44] way that we are uh conducting those um conversations with those property

[15:49] owners. So maybe that number is a bit skewed this year, but still we'll take

[15:53] it um over last year. And then uh property values have increased in the

[15:57] district by 13.4%. And then improved properties by 36.74.

[16:03] So we're right on track with those three-year goals. Also, we're still

[16:08] working on our launching a new neighborhood coalition piece where we're

[16:12] really trying to create that neighborhood village feel in the

[16:15] downtown and bringing residents, businesses, and property owners

[16:20] together. Also, we've had a lot of one-on-one conversations and we have 10

[16:24] current residents that are interested in that. I do want to give you just some

[16:28] real quick uh current um notes. We have 131 businesses in the downtown

[16:34] currently. 33% are office, 22% are service, and 15% are restaurants. Of the

[16:41] upper spaces, we have 122 occupied apartments with 174 residents. We have

[16:48] 142 spaces open for development in our upper stories currently. What a great

[16:52] place for housing, right? And then we have full-time employees are

[16:57] 942, part-time are 238 with a total of,80

[17:02] employees in the downtown. We have $33 million in talk in in tax valuation in

[17:09] 2024 and 4 million of property that is owned by nonprofits.

[17:15] » Chris, could you say that number again? Which one? Well, the last two numbers.

[17:19] » The last two numbers. $33 million in tax valuations for 2024 and we have $4

[17:25] million of property owned by nonprofits in the district.

[17:32] » Are we good? >> Yeah. Thank you.

[17:34] » Awesome. Thank you, Cara. So, um Oh, I didn't say your name. You're part of our

[17:38] board. I was going to like call you out and say how phenomenal.

[17:41] I forgot one. >> I know she's not going to talk to me

[17:44] from now on. Okay. So, meas success for our second strategic plan. I'll just

[17:49] talk faster. Uh growth in development in the downtown. So reducing first four

[17:53] vacancies to 10%. We're at 15% right now. 15.7 almost 16. Net gain of five

[17:59] new businesses per year. This year we've really pushed in recruiting businesses

[18:03] and developers into the downtown. So we have eight new businesses. And then we

[18:07] had 10 businesses go through our business builder academy each year. 10

[18:11] last year, 12 currently in this year. And the third plan is just about telling

[18:16] our story better for Main Street and making sure that we're a sustainable

[18:20] organization. So we've increased our um organizational sustainability by 18.7%

[18:25] this year. Net assets increased to 33.8 from our endowment giving and I'll talk

[18:30] about that in a minute. Increased marketing outreach through um ads on the

[18:36] radio really promoting our district which is not something we've done before

[18:39] and Brett started that before he left. And then achieving program recognition

[18:44] at the national level. And Main Street America recognizes us for our business

[18:48] builder academy. They actually want to replicate that at a national level. And

[18:52] then also the Booms Tracker. Fred was the first one in the country to get all

[18:56] of our properties and upper floors in that application.

[18:59] » Chris, can you go back to the second trust? What kinds of things you look at

[19:03] when you say you've increased your organizational sustainability?

[19:07] um investors, making sure that all of our activities are actually profitable

[19:11] and so none of the committees are carrying an event that's not making

[19:14] money. So everything that we're doing is we're running a nonprofit business

[19:18] serving the downtown. So sometimes it's easy to forget that we have a bottom

[19:22] line. >> Thank you.

[19:24] » You're welcome. So we are the self-supported municipal improvement

[19:28] district and we administer those funds. This is how they were spent. Uh 35,000

[19:33] went into reserve for future projects. Uh the next big pie in that scale is

[19:39] economic development and that was almost $16,000 and that most of that goes into

[19:44] business builder academy beautifification. That's all the

[19:47] downtown maintenance pieces that SMID helps with but does not do. And so you

[19:53] can see that that graph before you move on can you so it right here I just want

[19:58] to make sure we're very clear. It authorizes a city to impose additional

[20:02] property taxes. However, how are those property taxes like imposed? Is it just

[20:06] the city gets to decide that or who decides that? Hey, let's look at the

[20:10] next slide. >> Perfect. Thank you.

[20:12] » All right. So, this next slide shows how we divide the how we divide the district

[20:16] into three parcels and actually we had a submit last year where the property

[20:22] owners actually choose to have this tax put onto their tax bill. So then the

[20:27] instead of say they're supposed to have a certain amount of tax, it's a dollar

[20:31] more per thousand or $2 more per thousand or three. And the part that has

[20:36] three is that really centralized business district alongs 200 and 300

[20:41] block of main street. Um and all of those monies go back into the district

[20:46] for improvements. None of it comes into our coffers. It actually resides in

[20:49] separate funds and in a ladder CD. So we know exactly how much money we have at

[20:54] any given time. And then you can see that at least 25% of the property owners

[21:00] and 25% of the owners of the assessed value. So that means it's not just 25%

[21:07] of the owners, but if one person owns say 13% of the district, they have to

[21:13] have at least 25% of their ownership saying yes to that. So, it can get

[21:19] complicated, but we appreciate the fact that the city understands the value of

[21:23] downtown, understands the value of our historic buildings and is willing to

[21:28] help us keep that engaged in the community and showing progress to those

[21:33] property owners. So, downtown green, green, and clean. For some reason, I

[21:38] can't say that. Anyway, this is the downtown maintenance fund that the city

[21:42] um allocates to us, $39,900 annually. You can see 785 78% went to

[21:49] contract labor. Um, and our guys this year were paid $15 an hour. I really

[21:55] wish we could increase that for our person who's supervising the piece of

[21:59] the people that do this work. Sue retired last year, so we have a lot of

[22:03] turnover this year. We really got ahead of it finally, but a lot of turnover is

[22:08] we were just kind of figuring things out. And then you'll see the next funds.

[22:11] There's some capital um equipment being purchased and then plantings of course.

[22:18] So this is our budget for fiscal year 2025. You'll see the majority of our

[22:23] income comes in in July and August. Um part of that is through government

[22:27] support and then grant income. The third uh bucket that's the largest in that pie

[22:32] is actually organizational commitment and organizational committee and those

[22:36] are fundraising pieces. And then you'll see a similarity in our

[22:41] outgoing expenses showing July and August being those top two months. And

[22:45] that's partly because we're distributing that money to this into this mid buckets

[22:50] that we have um that you saw on the end of the graph. And this pie is really

[22:54] showing how pretty much we divided out over all of our committees and all of

[22:59] our work. Our wages were high this year because we paid retirement out and we

[23:04] were nationally accredited. So, I want to shout out to the council member Cara,

[23:09] Phil, Mr. Mayor for attending those meetings along with Jean and Amal. Uh,

[23:14] we have meetings all day. We took them on a tour at lunchtime, walked them

[23:18] around the district, had lunch at the canteen, which they loved, and then met

[23:22] with Tucker Black, who owns 2320 Fitness. He's a business builder academy

[23:27] graduate. And then came back for an afternoon full of meetings. So, they met

[23:31] with our uh private partners. They met with our volunteers. They met with as

[23:35] many people as we could get there in one day.

[23:39] Um, also, we're going to talk about housing. We're going to talk about

[23:43] downtown buildings for just a second. So, the benefit to an Iowa downtown

[23:47] economy for an upper floor housing unit rented purple and their rent is between

[23:53] 800 and $1,300 a month um equates to between $24,000 and $52,000

[24:00] of of spending their um dollars in a community. And why that's important is

[24:08] because we have I believe I said 142 vacant spaces in

[24:12] the downtown. So if we start the math right, we're trying to figure out how we

[24:17] can really increase that footprint in the downtown with retail. It's really

[24:22] housing first because we definitely know that a town lot is short in housing and

[24:26] we are thrilled that we are now a thriving community. So hopefully um some

[24:31] of that um some of those things that are going to

[24:35] be developed can happen downtown. So now we're going to look at the cost

[24:40] of an empty building. And whenever I show this slide, there's just no way to

[24:44] put the total amount on the bottom. It won't let me. So the total amount to a

[24:50] community for a cost of one empty building is $333,000

[24:54] annually. That's a huge number, especially when you're starting to count

[24:57] on your fingers these 20 buildings that we have in the downtown that are

[25:01] currently vacant. Um, and that goes to rent, it goes to supplies, it goes to

[25:06] taxes to the government, it goes to professional services and the workers,

[25:10] the people that would be employed in that space and then the people that

[25:13] would be employed to rehabilitate that space.

[25:17] So, one of the ways that some communities across the state of Iowa are

[25:20] dealing with this is something called a vacant building registry ordinance. Now,

[25:24] we have vacant building ordinances, but this one's a bit different. There's some

[25:28] teeth in this one. So, I'll just read a couple sentences on this and this is

[25:33] from Mason City. An owner of a vacant commercial or industrial building must

[25:37] register the building um choose a vacant building plan and pay the registration

[25:43] registration fee within 120 days of the building becoming vacant. There are

[25:48] exemptions to this rule and the owner can wish to claim an exemption. So,

[25:53] these are not hot links. We're not going to go through the whole process of

[25:56] course, but there are vacant property form which we'll see next and there are

[26:01] those exemption forms. So, let me talk a little bit about how this works. So, Jim

[26:06] Thompson um I worked a lot with him. So, if we are interested in this, he can

[26:10] definitely come and fill everybody in on how this works. So, a building is vacant

[26:15] and they do a registry. They decide, okay, I'm going to register my my

[26:19] property. And some communities it's as low as $50. Others it's $500. So within

[26:25] for this one it's 120 days. Other communities it could be a year. So a

[26:30] year later the vac the building is still vacant. Nothing's been done. They've

[26:34] just left it like it was for a year. So then they come back in the price goes up

[26:39] and then life safety people go into the building to make sure that it's not a

[26:44] detriment to people along the street level behind the building and that

[26:48] nothing is going to happen to the two buildings on both sides of it. So it can

[26:52] really be a good way to transition buildings and properties from someone

[26:57] who doesn't have the capacity or has lost interest in the building to someone

[27:01] that wants that building can see the potential of that building and make it

[27:05] productive to the community because it's not being a productive citizen right to

[27:12] if it's sitting empty. So, I just wanted you to be aware that there's this tool

[27:16] out there and if you are interested in more information, um, let me know. And

[27:22] then this is the market analysis. I've shared this with you before and it

[27:26] assists recruiting new businesses. And that's one of the things and how we got

[27:30] eight businesses here in the downtown this year. That was in fiscal 2024.

[27:38] Um, real quick about our committees. Um, I know you know our standing committees,

[27:43] design, economic vitality, organization, and promotion. But we did add our

[27:46] communication team to hit that point of telling our story better. And then we

[27:51] have recruited 21 new volunteers this year. 16 are on that holidays by the

[27:56] river task force that Cara's been a part of, so she can attest to how many people

[28:01] on there. Um, but just bringing interest back into the downtown, we sent out an

[28:06] um, Facebook post and actually 16 people responded. So people are interested in

[28:11] what's going on in the downtown. And then we did start a new volunteer

[28:14] handbook with job descriptions and that seems to have gone over really well.

[28:20] I want to just shout out to the Barney Grant Foundation again because design

[28:25] makes an impact. We have the three new historic panelists depicting uh famous

[28:30] people from for sorry and they are in Cany. If you

[28:35] haven't been in that sitting area, please do so so you can see those.

[28:40] Uh, quick touch on events. Business Brew is coming up in October. It's October

[28:44] 17th, so please mark your calendars. We had two Central Park cinemas and Bizaar

[28:49] Bazaar saw a record turnout of people, over 500 people with over 44 vendors,

[28:55] and they said moving to um, Baldwin Park was perfect. So, thank you, Jean, and

[29:01] making sure everything was beautiful and clean and allowing us to have so many

[29:05] people there and in the clubhouse. Uh, coming up um is National Day of Services

[29:10] Friday. So, we'll be doing some more cleanup. Here's a picture of the kiddos

[29:13] that were actually and students that were helping us on September 5th getting

[29:17] ready for creditation. Queen of the Green was Saturday. Uh that's our big

[29:21] one of our big fundraisers this year. So, thank you for everybody who turned

[29:25] out. And which way to Maine? Our trunk or treat is October 30th and these are

[29:31] the events that are coming up um in board quarter. Again, new title for

[29:35] everything that's going on. Holiday by the river. We have lights of love. It's

[29:38] live on our Facebook. And guess what? People want snowballs. We're going to

[29:42] snowball drop again this year. So, that will be a blast. That's going to be so

[29:46] much fun. Um these are the businesses that came

[29:50] into the district since May. So, I'll say it again. Since May.

[29:55] They're more than a, which is really incredible. Boondock's bathing company

[30:00] um is a business builder academy student 2320 fitness. Um we have um oh haven on

[30:09] she's one of our current um students in our business builder academy. So it

[30:13] really is pushing those limits and making people understand that you don't

[30:18] have to have a degree and a business a business degree to actually open up a a

[30:23] business. But what we're supplying are some really easy fundamentals to help

[30:27] them think about their business plan, insurance, all those things that when

[30:31] you're first starting out, you don't think about. Here's a picture of Fred

[30:34] and Lindsay with our last um French storefront grant winners. The issant

[30:42] from Elden. So, thank you to Legacy Foundation for supporting that one. Um

[30:46] that helps with utilities and rent and that really helped them get off the

[30:50] ground. um here are the major stakeholders and partners that we work

[30:54] with on a daily basis and they did actually almost all of them come to the

[30:58] accreditation. So I just wanted to to share that with you that we're really

[31:02] reaching out to the community because it is not just Main Street, it's not staff,

[31:06] it's not our volunteers, it's the whole community that makes the downtown

[31:10] thrive. So questions.

[31:16] » Chris, I have a question. Maybe this is more of a poll question, but that tax

[31:20] taxable about the 303

[31:26] million >> 53 million tax valuation. What does that

[31:28] mean for our general fund? I guess it's more of a cold question.

[31:40] So, first of all, if that's 33 million in actual taxable valuation or 33

[31:46] million valuation because if it's 33 million valuation, you take 90% of that,

[31:50] okay? >> Divide it by a,000 and times it by $810,

[31:55] right? And I can't do that math right right in my head, but let's just say

[31:59] it's eight times 8 time 30. So you're talking 20.

[32:11] » Yeah. Well, 30 be 3 3,000 30,000

[32:18] 30,000 30,000 times 8 real quick would be

[32:26] 14,000 >> 240,000.

[32:31] Thank you. >> I hope it's more than 24,000. That'd be

[32:35] scary. >> No, I just wanted to do that to show

[32:38] that, you know, again, that does, you know, we hear on Facebook, you know, a

[32:42] lot of people putting down uh Main Street. Again, you know, Facebook is

[32:46] Facebook, but still there's an impact and it's not just to our community. It's

[32:51] also to our um our actual uh general fund, too.

[32:56] » It is. I actually had a developer walked in my office today that had seen um what

[33:00] we have on our on our website and he came in talking about a couple buildings

[33:04] in the district and he's never been into my office before. So, I mean, there is

[33:07] interest in purchasing some of these vacancies, too. Any other questions?

[33:13] Well, that's who I am and I want to thank you all again so much for allowing

[33:17] us to just share the news and some thoughts about how to fill those or

[33:21] transition those vacant properties. Thank you so much. And when you talk

[33:26] about a building, are you talking about something as two floors, could be two

[33:31] floors or is two floors? Are you dividing them as two different entities

[33:35] or is it all one piece? >> Well, actually, it could be it could be

[33:39] many entities. With a threestory building, you actually could have three

[33:43] owners. Um, Iowa law allows us to condominize a property in in a downtown.

[33:50] So, say you have a a property that the first floor has a restaurant and it's

[33:56] doing great, but the upper two floors are not being impacted by, you know,

[34:00] commerce or apartments. So, they can sell the top two floors of their

[34:03] building to someone else that can then come in with the capacity to

[34:06] rehabilitate those into housing. Great question. I should have said it earlier.

[34:10] Thank you. >> Thank you.

[34:14] » Right. Uh, thank you, Chris. And uh thank you for bringing up specifically

[34:18] about the vacant building ordinance. I know that's something that Amal and her

[34:22] team are working on. Uh something she presented to me as uh something to help

[34:27] out with uh addressing vacant buildings throughout the city. So we are working

[34:30] on that to let city council know and we should have something coming sometime in

[34:34] the near future I believe uh on that. So be looking for that. Uh I think it is a

[34:39] great idea and working in other communities across the state. So, um

[34:43] that's just a a good little uh appetizer there.

[34:47] Um I did have one other thing that I wanted to uh mention tonight. Um

[34:54] here's the a statement I wanted to go through.

[34:58] The event last week with the assassination of Charlie Kirk appears to

[35:01] have affected everyone in one way or another. As with other acts of senseless

[35:05] violence across our nation, whether a school shooting or the attempted and/or

[35:09] successful shootings of political figures, I highlighted his examples of

[35:13] what can happen when civility breaks down. Regardless of anyone's political

[35:17] stance, I believe it is important to reflect upon this tragedy. As members of

[35:22] society move further away from personal responsibility and accountability, it

[35:26] appears easier to lay blame at the feet of other entities, including their

[35:30] government. We are now essentially in campaign

[35:33] season for elected officials. And if we want good-hearted people to run for

[35:36] office, volunteer for service, or work for the city, and continue to strive for

[35:40] it as a community, we need to protect our staff and elected officials, both

[35:44] physically and mentally. I applaud those who currently serve on the city council

[35:49] and those who have turned in papers attempting to be elected in just a few

[35:52] short weeks. For those who are on fence considering an elected office, the

[35:56] deadline is this Thursday by 5:00 pm. Additionally, I encourage voters to get

[36:01] to know the candidates and realize that you may not agree on 100% of their

[36:05] platform, and that is okay. Please do your own research. Don't blindly believe

[36:11] what you hear at the coffee shop or see on social media. Often, this content is

[36:15] edited for a fact or messaging. I urge everyone not to dwell on the negative

[36:20] while at the same time ignoring the positive around us that is happening in

[36:24] this community. Personally, I chose to work at the local

[36:27] level of government because I wanted to work on solving problems and helping the

[36:31] people of the community I worked in rather than worry about what letter was

[36:34] behind my name or theirs. We have a lot of great people serving this community

[36:40] as volunteers, as appointed and elected officials, and as members of staff. They

[36:45] are often times put into difficult situations having to make

[36:48] recommendations or decisions which are not always popular.

[36:52] As a result, I have been informed of comments or

[36:57] posts not simply disagreeing with recommendations made by myself, other

[37:01] staff members, or decisions made by the city council, but rather defamatory,

[37:06] negative, and sometimes hateful speech no longer about the issue, but personal

[37:10] attacks against the individual. These types of driveby comments and ad homum

[37:15] attacks should not be tolerated. They are lazy arguments typically utilized

[37:20] when someone does not have a solid foundation for their position. Please

[37:24] note that I'm not calling for the elimination of free speech. If someone

[37:28] has complaint or concern about their government or city policy, they should

[37:32] certainly identify that in a responsible manner. Freedom of speech is not the

[37:36] issue. The issue is when name calling and dehumanizing statements are utilized

[37:41] along with the irresponsible use of social social media and a normalization

[37:45] of violent rhetoric. Behavior such as this runs the risk of unnecessarily

[37:50] inciting violence and destruction. I urge people to tone down the political

[37:54] rhetoric to challenge ideas not people. What scares me most, the result of an

[38:01] individual who would take an action against someone else they do not know

[38:04] simply because of of a perceived difference in beliefs or values. We as a

[38:09] society have lost the ability to connect with people. Interactions are done via

[38:14] texts, memes, and emojis. People think they know someone from their posts,

[38:18] clips, and pics they see on Insta or whatever social media app is popular

[38:23] rather than through human interaction. As a result, it has become too easy to

[38:28] dehumanize that individual, which leads to concerns over political violence such

[38:33] as what the world witnessed last week. Although I may not have agreed 100% of

[38:38] everything Charlie Kirk affirmed, I do look up to him as someone who stood for

[38:42] what he believed in and admired his style of challenging those who did not

[38:45] have those same beliefs. He did not be he did not hide behind a monitor and put

[38:51] out content simply to get a reaction. Instead, he met people where they were

[38:55] and encouraged a civil discussion, challenging those who opposed him by

[38:58] using the Socratic method. He did not always convince people to see his point

[39:02] of view, but he compelled others to think critically and as individuals to

[39:07] break the group think that can be so dangerous and most likely led to his

[39:11] untimely death. I pray for the family and friends of Charlie Kerr and I pray

[39:15] that those who have hate in their hearts can find something good in the world

[39:19] around them. And I hope that before people make their next post that they

[39:23] take a moment to consider the consequences of the message they are

[39:25] sending to remember that the person they may choose to criticize is human and

[39:31] deserves love and respect the same as everyone else. Thank you.

[39:41] » Thank you, Phil. The next item on our agenda is is uh any

[39:47] citizens who want to speak on any of our agenda items this evening. I don't have

[39:52] any slips up here, but uh I'll still ask the question. Santa, you want to speak

[39:57] on any agenda items?

[40:01] Okay, we have no public hearings tonight and we have no ordinances tonight. So,

[40:06] we'll move on to departmental board or commission recommendations or reports.

[40:11] Water recreation access cost share grant application for Bridge View Bo.

[40:16] Recommendation approve the grant application for the water recreation

[40:19] access cost share grant for the Bridge View BR project. There motion to approve

[40:24] the recommendation. Motion to approve. >> Second.

[40:28] » I believe Jean Ratcher, our parks director, is going to speak on this.

[40:31] » Thank you, your honor. The application for the grant for the Bridge View Boat

[40:36] Ramp project is due September 30th. There is $40,000 budgeted in the CIP for

[40:42] this project. This grant is a 75% matching grant with the city of the

[40:47] tunnel providing 25% of the funding. This grant will be applied for through

[40:52] the Iowa Department of Natural Resources Water Recreation Access cost share

[40:58] program. >> Does council have any questions for Jean

[41:02] regarding this item? Is there any location for this?

[41:07] Uh it's just downstream here where the current ramp is, but the current ramp is

[41:11] the concrete's cracked and broken. It's getting to the point where it's almost

[41:15] not useful anymore. So, we're going to remove the old one, replace it with new

[41:19] one. >> Is there also going to be kind of a a

[41:23] dock or something where you don't like to get your people onto your boat in

[41:27] once you're launched? I don't know. Just asking. It's mainly just the range where

[41:32] you're focusing on this, >> right? It's the construction of a new

[41:35] concrete ramp. We haven't gotten to the boat dock portion yet, but the cost of

[41:40] those is relatively minimal. So, that can be done also after the ramp is

[41:44] constructed.

[41:48] » Any other questions from council? Any particular time that you're

[41:52] projecting to get this done? Uh it will need to be a summertime or

[41:58] fall project because a big part of it is the river needs to be low so that we can

[42:04] get the slab that's constructed on land pushed into the river when the water's

[42:08] low then connected with the next slab that is built above water.

[42:13] Okay.

[42:22] » Okay. Okay, there's no more questions. Chris will take the role.

[42:24] » Council member Galloway, >> yes.

[42:26] » Council member Hoffman, >> yes.

[42:27] » Council member Cabinet, >> yes.

[42:29] » Council member Reed, >> yes.

[42:31] » Thank you, Dean. >> The next item, we have five resolutions

[42:35] tonight. >> Resolution number 168 2025 authorizing

[42:40] the city of Atoma to participate in the National Opioid Settlements.

[42:44] Recommendation pass and adopt resolution number 168 2025.

[42:48] » Is there a motion to approve the recommendation? Move a recommendation.

[42:54] » Phil, I believe you're going to handle this.

[42:56] » Uh, yes. Uh, in December of 2021, the city council passed resolution 219-2021.

[43:02] By passing that resolution, the city agreed to its share of any settlement

[43:05] agreement the state of Iowa was able to achieve in claims against pharmaceutical

[43:09] companies and the usage of opioids. Since that time, some additional

[43:13] litigations have been identified. The city is not in a position to address

[43:16] these litigations on our own. Uh the attached resolution would encourage the

[43:19] city to back the state of Iowa in any litigation attempts uh thereby

[43:23] increasing the settlement award should the state be successful. Uh and it looks

[43:27] at there's two currently uh that have been introduced to the city and and the

[43:32] state uh and this could address any future ones as well.

[43:38] Does council have any questions for Phil?

[43:44] Is there a time frame on this program? >> Uh, one is due to be respond the city

[43:50] would have to respond by I think it was September 30th and the second one was

[43:53] October 8th and then if any others come in in the future it' be whatever

[43:57] timeline that is. This does not mean that the city itself would get any funds

[44:01] but the state if it's successful would get funds that would then be distributed

[44:05] to other entities or in certain programs that we didn't as well as other

[44:10] communities would be eligible for. So it in it increases the opportunity of

[44:15] dollars that could be received by the state.

[44:20] » Okay. Thank you. Any other questions from council?

[44:25] » If not, please take the role. >> Council member Galloway.

[44:28] » Yes. >> Council member Hoffman.

[44:29] » Yes. >> Council member Cabinet.

[44:31] » Yes. >> Council member Reed.

[44:32] » Yes. Resolution number 172 2025 approving amendment to

[44:39] professional services agreement for construction services between the city

[44:42] of Atama and Bester and Kim Incorporated for the Blakes Branch phase 8 division 2

[44:47] and three sewer separation project recommendation pass and adopt resolution

[44:52] number 172 2025. >> Is there a motion to approve the

[44:56] recommendation? the recommendation.

[45:00] » Second. Second.

[45:03] » Starting off third. Third.

[45:07] » Yeah. >> Okay. Philip Bergmire, our public works

[45:11] director, is going to handle the next four resolutions.

[45:13] » All right. Thank you, mayor. Uh, so the city of somewhat entered into an

[45:17] agreement with mainstream and CAM to provide construction services for phase

[45:20] 8 divisions 2 and three on February 6, 2024. Um the agreement was meant to last

[45:26] the end of division two but with both projects having multiple crews. So like

[45:30] division three had two pipe crews and a concrete crew at the same time as

[45:33] division 2 had a pipe through and a concrete crew as well. So there's five

[45:37] total crews working. Um so we had to bring a second inspector on site. Um

[45:43] division 2 is not finished yet but the city will save money in the long term

[45:47] because division 3 is ahead of schedule and on track to finish before the

[45:50] original 2027 completion date. Um, this agreement will continue construction

[45:55] services until the end of 2026, at which time we'll evaluate the remaining work

[45:59] and if needed, extend the agreement one more time. Um, as of right now, the

[46:04] contractor's goals are finished by the fall of 2026. I think that's aggressive,

[46:08] but that is their intention right now. Um, total additional cost is outlined in

[46:13] the agreement not exceed the sum of $830,800.

[46:17] At this time, um, Randy and Britney from V and K will provide an update on

[46:21] divicious 2M3. Sorry, just Randy.

[46:25] » Just me. >> Good evening. Um, as uh I think you all

[46:31] were here when I was here in the early summer kind of did an update kind of the

[46:35] current project. So, uh, Ray Johnson engineer actually started on these uh,

[46:42] um, city of projects back in 2016, I think the same time Philip. So him and I

[46:47] have been partnering since 2016 on this and really it's on this phase 8. So if

[46:52] you kind of recall back in uh 2003 the city had a consent order with DNR to

[46:58] start separating their combined sewers being Kim has been you know um I guess

[47:05] very fortunate that you've hired us all this full time to continue with the

[47:10] sewer separation. So, next project, this is, you've seen this before. It's kind

[47:15] of a nice colored map. The bottom is the orange was kind of a phase one that we

[47:21] completed that started about 2018, completed a couple years ago. That green

[47:26] to the right side there. That was a east of Iowa separation. That was so division

[47:31] one was a about 12.8 million. East of Iowa was a 3.1 million construction

[47:39] project. We're in division two which is the blue which we'll talk about here in

[47:43] the next and then the green is kind of the division three. So next slide again

[47:47] as combined sewers just a quick littleformational

[47:51] you have one combined pipe that takes both the storm and sanitary in this

[47:56] lakes branch we are going through separating providing a separate sanitary

[48:00] pipe but in the past when you just had dry weather you know the sanitary sewer

[48:06] would go to a smaller pipe and go to the treatment plant. When you had really wet

[48:10] weather some of these nice 4 inch rain events you would bypass into the river.

[48:15] So that is what DNR has asked the community to have a separate sewer

[48:20] system that has that go to treat it and then the storm can get discharged into

[48:25] the river. So next slide again just kind of a summary um you know 2003 is when

[48:31] the city had to start compliance with this decree. Um we out of on that

[48:37] consent was like 10 phases. We're in phase eight. Phase nine and 10 are some

[48:44] smaller things, but phase eight actually was one of the larger trunks because it

[48:48] was about 2,000 acres of land that had to be separated. So, next time, and the

[48:54] blue is division two, and that's where we're coming in, and we'll have some

[48:58] cool pictures here, but uh um this started about 18 months ago. It was um

[49:04] five $5.7 million project. Fortunately, the city was awarded a stag grant, a

[49:09] state tribal government grant. So about 2.1 2.2 million, pardon

[49:15] » 2.5 million is granted on this project. So that was a very nice thing for the

[49:20] city. So next slide. So this kind of just shows you an area where the blue

[49:25] and I should say uh um Philip staff, if you know Chad Carlson, he's a drone

[49:30] pilot. He's the one that provided some of these great pictures. You'll see. So

[49:34] next slide. this here. Um, if you see to the left, upper left, that's the high

[49:39] school and that is Four Street. And so that slide right there. Yeah. If you go

[49:43] to the next one, it's kind of cool because now you can see the tennis

[49:46] courts on the right side. Nice red. And you can see that a lot of the new

[49:51] construction on Fourth Street is taking place. So, next slide. This is now

[49:55] looking from the elementary school looking back towards it. And right

[50:00] there, that street is now completely paved. You'll see that uh the gray

[50:05] that's that's brand new pavement. And our goal here is somewhere in the middle

[50:09] of October to get this opened up if not sooner. But you can go to the next

[50:13] slide. This is up on Plum. So the school is at the bottom there, bottom right. So

[50:19] this is Plum and Ash Street, and that's just the new intersection. And heading

[50:23] away from you or heading to the west, that is just a rock base. And uh on the

[50:29] right side, they just placed that block of pavement this just this afternoon and

[50:35] they'll continue on plum. So, next slide. Again, this kind of shows you the

[50:39] right. There's the elementary school on the right and that is just some more of

[50:43] the project. It just kind of gives you an overview of of of what the city's

[50:47] accomplished in the 18 months here. So, next slide. Division three is the green,

[50:52] and this was about $15.7 million worth of construction. It was over three

[50:57] years. Like Philip is saying, Portsson's doing a great job. They actually brought

[51:01] three crews. They got somewhere between 17 and 19 men. So, they'll have two

[51:06] different pipe crews go in different spots plus a paving crew coming right

[51:11] from behind. So, it's they got a great system right now and they're actually

[51:14] pushing us to allow them to go other places, but we'll kind of get to that.

[51:18] We we want to make sure the football stadium has access and that the schools

[51:23] have access. So, we're kind of holding the reinss. I don't like to say wo in a

[51:27] horse race, but but we're kind of pulling the reinss a little bit. Next

[51:30] slide. So, we'll kind of go through the phase one, which they are really close

[51:34] to finishing. Um, fourth street. You can kind of see there the school would be to

[51:39] the left, the high school. So, they've added the big trunk sewer in this area.

[51:44] Um, did some storm sewer improvements, water main improvements, and they've

[51:48] paved half of center street. So, a lot of that now they're really ahead of

[51:52] schedule on what this base is. So, we'll go to the next phase.

[51:56] So, this in the gray area, that's right next to the football stadium. And uh

[52:00] what we need is Four Street to be back and in use for the public. And then

[52:05] we'll allow them to start using some of this area. Now, with it being football

[52:09] season, we're not going to give them the whole area. We've actually allow them to

[52:13] use one of the streets so that we always have access for the football for the

[52:18] football games. So, we'll be coordinating that with them. So, we're

[52:21] not going to just leave the football stadium without an access. And this one,

[52:26] um, they're, you know, they'll start this year, this fall. Um, you know, how

[52:31] they're going. You know, I wouldn't be surprised if by by next summer at this

[52:36] time, they're confident a bit to go to the next phase. So, go to the next

[52:39] phase. Next slide. This one really doesn't impact anything. And and they

[52:44] have a pipe crew. This has the big trunk store that will go all the way up to

[52:48] Jefferson Street. And that's really what the big box goes to. So the big trunk

[52:52] sewers. So with that area, there's not much impact to the residents. So we're

[52:56] probably going to allow them to go into that area once Fourth Street is open to

[53:00] traffic. So you'll probably see some work over there. You'll probably see

[53:04] work over at the football stadium. Next slide. And the final piece is Grant

[53:09] Street. And that'll sometime next summer, late summer, depending on what

[53:14] streets are back paved and open to traffic. We'll talk to them about

[53:18] getting that that into place. So, I think that's about it. So, um Oh, yeah,

[53:23] we got some pictures. So, this here, um again, you see the tennis courts behind

[53:28] you. So, the trunk sewer kind of if you see the tennis courts to the to the

[53:33] right of them is like a dirt area. That was we our trunk sewer kind of gone

[53:37] through there. When I say a trunk sewer, it's a 36 inch pipe. Can take about 20

[53:41] million gallons a day of sewer. So this the the intent is this will keep

[53:46] continuing up on Jefferson and eventually would be able to to take

[53:51] airport sewer would be the full plan. The airport would come down to this. Um

[53:56] there's still some other work to be done. Um but that that's kind of the

[54:00] goal of this project. So >> that's all been separated right

[54:04] » up at the airport. >> No, from to to where we are right now

[54:09] has been separated. Everything south of um Center Avenue has been separated now.

[54:14] Everything south of Center Avenue and east of here to to Jefferson is all

[54:18] separated. Thank you. >> Yep.

[54:20] » Yep. So, go to the next slide. Again, just a cool picture. So, that is Center

[54:24] Street and that has been paved right next to the tennis courts. Really, I

[54:28] think that this this really turned out nice with the new parking lot, the new

[54:32] amenities the high school have. think this will really be nice when we have

[54:36] because we have Meadow Street, we have Center Street, you have Fourth Street.

[54:40] This will be a lot of new pavement, a lot of nice wide sidewalks, a lot of

[54:44] nice walking paths for uh students to the next slide. Again, to the left,

[54:49] that's Center Street. And they're going to continue paving all the way down to

[54:53] the end of the football stadium. That is this part of the project. Next one, just

[54:58] another look. That's at Center Street. Go to the next slide. And that that's

[55:02] pretty much it. and and it would it was just great timing to come and meet with

[55:07] you or visit with you all kind of give you an update of the project and uh

[55:11] really uh like Philip was saying this project has three crews going forson um

[55:17] we had two crews on division 2 they're getting close to the end of theirs they

[55:21] you know they still got to the end of November they may push into next year

[55:25] with some grass seating and some little things like that but uh um J&K is doing

[55:30] a good job to kind of get us to the end of that division project. So, um really

[55:36] appreciate your consideration and approval on our amendment and I'm here

[55:39] if you have any questions. >> Council have any questions?

[55:47] » Well, it's a lot to digest in one little setting, but neighbors are going to have

[55:52] that anyway. >> Yeah. And so, you know, we are going to

[55:55] be planning the next phases. We'll be coming back to you with the next, you

[56:00] know, division four. you know, we're going to complete division three,

[56:03] probably division four in a year. We'll probably start talking to you about

[56:07] bidding that project for construction contract. It just depends on where

[56:11] division three. We don't want a lot of different contractors and construction

[56:15] traffic all over the place. So, we'll kind of time that a little bit better,

[56:19] but we'll we'll be coming back and talking with you all again.

[56:23] » Thank you. >> Thank you.

[56:25] » Any other questions for Phillip?

[56:33] If not, Chris will take the role. >> Council member Galloway,

[56:36] » yes. >> Council member Hoffman,

[56:37] » yes. >> Council member Gavinus,

[56:39] » yes. >> Council member Reed,

[56:40] » yes. >> Resolution number 173 2025 approving a

[56:45] professional services agreement between the city of Atamwa and Vstrand Cam

[56:48] Incorporated for a sewer raid study. Recommendation pass and adopt resolution

[56:53] number 173 2025. >> Is there a motion to approve the

[56:57] recommendation? Motion to approve. >> Second

[57:01] fellow. >> Thank you, mayor. Thank you, mayor. So,

[57:05] the city staff has uh thinks that it'll be appropriate to evaluate and review um

[57:10] existing sewer user charges for our sewer system. S Waterworks is reviewing

[57:16] their rates at this time and um we can both save money by having the studies

[57:21] performed simultaneously. Um the sewer rate study will evaluate um how each

[57:26] customer's usage contributes to the system costs and whether this costs are

[57:31] being distributed in an equitable and fair manner amongst all the the users of

[57:35] the system. Um this agreement will provide professional services to review

[57:40] and assist the city in the study and analysis of the sewer rates. The total

[57:44] um fee for professional services for sewer rate study shall not exceed

[57:48] $20,000. And I have a um Libby from the from

[57:53] being phased on studies like this before is here to answer any questions you

[57:57] might have on what this study will entail.

[57:59] » What was the last time? >> Well, sorry, Ry's going to start.

[58:02] » When was the last time the city did one of these studies?

[58:06] » I mean, do them every so many years or something. He's think maybe 2008, but I

[58:14] don't think we've ever we've looked at the total amount coming in and what the

[58:20] current rates are, but I don't think the cities probably since at least 2008 has

[58:25] actually looked at, you know, who uses the sewer, what do they contribute to

[58:30] the cost of the sewer, you know, and is are they being built fairly for what

[58:35] they actually um what they actually use? That's what this stud is going to be

[58:39] for. Not to increase rates or or decrease rates, but just to see if the

[58:44] rate structure is appropriate for for the city of Tumblr.

[58:47] » Yeah. It's looking at the equitable distribution of those revenues coming

[58:51] in, not saying if the revenue is accurate or not.

[58:55] » Do do certain user groups pay more than what they're actually

[59:00] using? Do other user groups are maybe being subsidized by these user groups?

[59:05] is something I think other cities have looked at before creating creating

[59:09] groups like this um and just just making sure that everybody is contributing to

[59:15] the sewer system but actually use sewers. Okay.

[59:18] » Thank you. >> And this conversation was actually

[59:20] started a few months ago right discussed that

[59:25] this would be a good idea to bring this forward in the coming year.

[59:29] » Yeah. Yeah. I think it started, you know, we talked about the apartments and

[59:33] if they were being um fairly charged for what they contribute versus single

[59:38] family homes that this got the conversation kind of grew and grew to,

[59:42] you know, why look at just apartments? Why look at all commercial users, all

[59:45] industrial users, all residential users and make sure everybody's being treated

[59:48] fairly, not picking on one group to change and not looking at everything

[59:51] else. This will be a chance to look at every user group and make sure every

[59:55] user group is is being treated fairly. And then this is also a budgeted item.

[59:59] It's not something that you're asking for um amended to be

[1:00:04] » No, we've budgeted for for this in the sewer bond.

[1:00:11] » Thank you Randy with me chem engineers and and just kind of follow up on a

[1:00:14] couple of uh Phillips points. So we are doing the water rate study too. So you

[1:00:20] use a lot of the same data. So, it just helps when when we're already doing a

[1:00:24] lot of the same population growth, you know, flow rates, different things. It's

[1:00:28] just they mesh really well. Um, so, um, I should have introduced Britney. She

[1:00:33] will be more my engineer, my right hand person or left hand at this time. She's

[1:00:39] more the design engineer. And Libby, yes, she's one of our senior

[1:00:42] environmental engineers that has been doing this for several comm This is

[1:00:46] perfect timing because a lot of communities are doing this. We are doing

[1:00:50] this for several other communities. So, u with that we're just here and let you

[1:00:55] be the better person to really get into depth, but until we really dive into the

[1:01:00] raw data, see the last five years, what you all have, then we can start seeing,

[1:01:06] you know, where rates are really being applied to and how equitable it is.

[1:01:11] » I didn't see in the contract um how long it would the study is. Oh, we we would

[1:01:17] anticipate living like six months or something, if not more. I mean, we would

[1:01:21] jump on this because we've already grabbed a lot of raw data from the

[1:01:24] water, so it'll just really be easy to to focus together. So,

[1:01:32] » any other questions from council?

[1:01:37] If not, Chris will take the role. >> Council member Galloway,

[1:01:40] » yes. >> Council member Hoffman,

[1:01:42] » yes. >> Council member Cabinets,

[1:01:43] » yes. >> Council member Reed,

[1:01:44] » yes. Resolution number 174 2025 awarding the

[1:01:49] 2025 RFP number three concrete crushing and cleanup project and authorizing the

[1:01:54] mayor to sign the contract. Recommendation pass and adopt resolution

[1:01:58] number 174 2025. >> Is there a motion to approve the

[1:02:02] recommendation? >> Move the recommendation.

[1:02:04] » Second. >> Okay.

[1:02:06] » All right. Thank you, mayor. So, the city has approximately 3,000 tons of

[1:02:10] concrete stockpiled in our yard off of Quincy Avenue. on this project is for a

[1:02:15] concrete crushing and a concrete crushing plant to come to the site and

[1:02:18] help clean up the material that's stockpiled at the yard. We want to crush

[1:02:23] approximately 500 tons into erosion stone for use at for use at coar outlets

[1:02:27] and other erosion prone areas and the remainder will be crushed with 3/4 in

[1:02:31] road stone. um core stone cage stone cost the city approximately $25 to $26

[1:02:38] per ton including hauling to the city whereas the total cost of crushing these

[1:02:42] 3,000 tons of concrete works out to $920 a ton. So the city's going to save a ton

[1:02:47] of money, >> right?

[1:02:48] » Um this concrete is all free. It's just old roads and different concrete

[1:02:53] structures have been stored on there for at least 10 years at this time to make

[1:02:59] use of it. I think we've been using some of the smaller

[1:03:03] chunks for rip wrap along the ripper and stuff like that, but a lot of it used to

[1:03:08] be crushed up into smaller pieces to be more useful.

[1:03:11] » I think that's great to use what you got on hand since the money for fresh rock.

[1:03:16] Have you used this Bushman excavating for you think?

[1:03:19] » We have not. No. So, yeah, we I guess I skip that. So, we were This request

[1:03:23] proposal was emailed out to three different contractors. two of them

[1:03:26] returned bids and the lowest was from Bushman Esavating in Fairfax, Iowa and

[1:03:29] the $727,600. He did come visit the site and looked at

[1:03:33] it. Actually visited last fall and gave us some recommendations on some cleanup

[1:03:38] we could do cuz some have been sitting here so long there was trees growing

[1:03:41] through it. So, um over the winter, our city crew spent a lot of time pulling

[1:03:45] trees and kind of cleaning stuff up around here. So, we got a better price

[1:03:49] on the crushing so that they just came in and grabbed the concrete, crush it,

[1:03:52] had to deal with all the clearing and grubbing and and cleaned up. So, yeah.

[1:03:57] » Can you give me a little better idea the location on Quincy Street that you're

[1:04:02] talking about? >> So, if you go straight north of Quincy

[1:04:05] Avenue, past Bonds to Blackhawk Road, it's right back in there. I believe it

[1:04:10] used to be a concrete plant or a >> a sand something used to be back there.

[1:04:15] » Sand plant. Yeah, >> sand plant. Okay. For my sign, but yeah,

[1:04:18] you can see something right back there. >> Yeah.

[1:04:25] » Go to the right. I'll zoom in now. Down. Down to the

[1:04:31] right again. See all that white stuff piled up there? That's No, up.

[1:04:36] » You missed there. >> There you go. Zoom in.

[1:04:38] » Oh, great. >> Yeah.

[1:04:40] » Yep. That's all thousands of tons of concrete.

[1:04:45] » Awesome. Okay, good.

[1:04:50] Council have any questions for Phillip?

[1:05:00] » If not, Chris will take the role. >> Council member Galloway,

[1:05:04] » yes. >> Council member Hoffman,

[1:05:05] » yes. >> Council member Cabinet,

[1:05:07] » yes. >> Council member Reed,

[1:05:08] » yes. Resolution number 175 2025 approving

[1:05:12] change order number one for the water pollution control facility headquarts

[1:05:16] building re- roofing project recommendation pass and adopt resolution

[1:05:20] number 175 2025 there >> a motion to approve the recommendation

[1:05:25] move the recommendation second

[1:05:30] » okay so >> all right thank you mayor so we uh

[1:05:33] passed a resolution awarding a region contract for the heads building uh water

[1:05:38] push control facility. And when the first 12,200 f feet or so was pulled off

[1:05:42] of there, um there was a lot of water in the uh insulation and also it it

[1:05:49] destroyed the existing vapor barrier. Um so this RFP um included the price for

[1:05:57] replacing the insulation. We anticipated some insulation being bad, but we did

[1:06:01] have a price for vapor barrier. So, uh, this change order one will provide

[1:06:06] compensation to the contractor for providing a new vapor barrier over the

[1:06:09] entire concrete deck. It'll also authorize the replacement of all

[1:06:12] insulation on the roof. Even though if the roofing insulation is good, we'll

[1:06:17] keep it. But this just authorizes them up to the amount as if it would be all

[1:06:22] be replaced. Um, because so the stipulation is that there's good

[1:06:26] insulation, they'll reuse it and they have been reusing insulation. Um, change

[1:06:30] order increases the contract price by $21,52

[1:06:34] for installing the vapor barrier. It also includes replacing up to $8,350 ft

[1:06:39] of insulation if necessary at the contract, you know, price of $4 per

[1:06:42] square foot. Um, the total change order will be up to $54,92.

[1:06:47] Um, there's 18 $118, sorry, $183,500 left in the budget item to cover the

[1:06:53] cost of this change order. And so this will won't be just like a piece of

[1:06:57] plastic. It's a fully adhered. If you've seen like the like the ice dam product

[1:07:03] that you use on a shingle roof, this kind of looks like it's a fully adhered

[1:07:07] um vapor barrier across all the concrete type. Figured it had to be something

[1:07:12] more than just a sheet of glass. >> Yeah. And there's a lot This is the

[1:07:16] headwork building, so you have a lot of warm water coming here, especially in

[1:07:19] the winter time. So, there was there's a lot of vapor and moisture coming out of

[1:07:24] the out of the building. So, it's probably a good deal anyway, but we

[1:07:30] didn't know how bad shape it was until we to the roof off.

[1:07:35] Council, have any questions for Philip regarding this item?

[1:07:45] » Not Chris will take the role. >> Council member Galloway,

[1:07:48] » yes. >> Council member Hoffman,

[1:07:49] » yes. >> Council member Cavanus,

[1:07:51] » yes. >> Council member Reed,

[1:07:53] » yes. Thanks, Phillip. Thank you.

[1:07:57] The next item is our public forum and I'd ask if anybody would like to speak

[1:08:01] on any non-aggenda items tonight.

[1:08:09] » Would you like to come forward, sir, and identify yourself and your address?

[1:08:16] » My name's Dave Hopkins. I live at Inbella 700 Countryside in Bella. Um, I

[1:08:23] am just gonna speak. I I emailed all of you individually, I believe, but I

[1:08:26] wanted to become put a put a face to a name and let you

[1:08:31] know that I'd love to um be an option on the bridging center rework project um

[1:08:37] either either on the base bid with if it's considered that there was an

[1:08:41] irregularity in bidding from the low bid or if it's um had an energy efficiency

[1:08:47] with the uh with the alternator which I was along. So, love to love to do it.

[1:08:52] I'd love to have it be done by a contractor that's took me 42 minutes for

[1:08:57] my house to get here as opposed to the other contractor that's 5 hours away.

[1:09:02] So, thank you. >> Have you submitted any bids previous to

[1:09:06] this time for anything here at Tumble? >> Um, yeah, I've done several school works

[1:09:12] in a tunnel. >> Several what?

[1:09:15] » School works in a tunnel. >> Okay. the the picture that we saw of the

[1:09:19] high school earlier. All that white roof I did.

[1:09:23] » Okay. >> Yeah.

[1:09:24] » Thank you. >> You bet. Thank you. Thank you.

[1:09:28] » Scott,

[1:09:34] » thanks for the cookies. >> You're welcome. Uh good evening. Uh just

[1:09:38] a quick note on behalf of our Bruce Center team. Uh we just want to say

[1:09:42] thank you for allowing us the opportunity to serve you the last two

[1:09:44] years. uh as your city council meeting site. Uh we wish you the best uh for all

[1:09:50] of you as you move back to city hall next week and then resume your council

[1:09:54] meetings in council chambers in October. Uh don't be a stranger. Uh come back and

[1:09:59] see us for our shows, private events. We'd love to see you all here at Bridge

[1:10:02] Center. But again, just thank you for the last couple years.

[1:10:06] » Thank you. Well, Mr. Cookies,

[1:10:10] » is there anyone else that want to speak on any non-aggenda items?

[1:10:16] Okay. If not, the next item is mayor, city council reports and communications.

[1:10:22] The only thing that I would like to just reiterate a little bit, I'm not going to

[1:10:26] go into the election stuff because Phil has already covered all that, but I

[1:10:31] would just like to thank uh Jean Ratchy and the parks department. The new

[1:10:34] playground equipment has been installed at the Atomo Park campground. It's now

[1:10:38] open to the public. And this equipment was paid for by $25,000 grant from the

[1:10:43] 2024 to Rank Committee and uh the city parks department and Gene put assembled

[1:10:50] all that new park equipment. So, thank you very much.

[1:10:54] » Good project. >> Does anyone else on the council have any

[1:10:59] communications or anything they'd like to announce?

[1:11:02] » Go ahead. >> Well, go ahead. I'd like to mention

[1:11:04] about my no vote on the second part of the consent agenda that I had talked

[1:11:08] about that for a little while. Um my concern there is the the health of our

[1:11:14] people um the our families and our uh finances of our people. So you know I do

[1:11:22] have a personal preference uh you know based upon scripture but that's not what

[1:11:27] I'm arguing about. I think that uh the reason I vote against the alcohol is

[1:11:31] just as a voice to say there's a better a better way. Uh we can enjoy life, we

[1:11:36] can have fun, we can relax without alcohol involving that stuff that might

[1:11:40] be harmful and really not opposed to our businesses in town as far as uh our our

[1:11:47] small businesses. One of the re one of the things I would do if I if it came to

[1:11:52] it uh as far as voting um tonight we have one council member missing. we had

[1:11:58] two council members missing. I would have to vote yes on that second part

[1:12:03] because I don't want to take away somebody's business unexpectedly or or

[1:12:06] shut that down. That would be my goal. U but I do want to just for whoever might

[1:12:12] be listening is the voice to say listen you don't have to be um you don't have

[1:12:16] to have alcohols for part of your life. You can have a good life without that.

[1:12:20] And so that's my my point in voting on that voting no I do on that second part

[1:12:26] of the consent agenda. >> Thank you again.

[1:12:32] » I was just going to uh thank Chief Kanto and the fire the ATMA fire department

[1:12:36] for the 911 um uh remembrance uh ceremony that was held on 911. It was a

[1:12:42] the first time in Atoma that we had something like that. It was um great to

[1:12:46] see community members come out um and the city staff come out in um support

[1:12:51] and remembrance. So, thank you for that. >> Very well done.

[1:12:56] » Any other announcements or comments that any of the council would like to make to

[1:13:00] the public tonight? >> I would like to comment on Dan's comment

[1:13:04] on the second part of the agenda. He realizes that the people that are

[1:13:10] applying for permits are doing so by law. They have to have that permit to in

[1:13:17] order to distribute products, alcohol and tobacco both. So I don't have any

[1:13:23] problem with the way he votes. That's his business. But the fact that these

[1:13:28] people the customers customers of ours are following the law and getting a

[1:13:35] permit to proceed with their business I think is important to

[1:13:39] know. >> I've I got just a couple things that um

[1:13:45] one just to I I want to recognize a couple people, but I do want to uh kind

[1:13:50] of piggy back Dan's comment. You know, I'm going to sit up here and admit no, I

[1:13:55] we I publicly been frustrated. Although I want to say I know that Dan Reed, he

[1:14:00] when he votes no for the alcohol, he just explained it. It's not coming from

[1:14:05] a place of hate. is not coming from a place of he doesn't want to have

[1:14:09] business. He's actually coming from a place where he cares about people and

[1:14:13] loves people and wants him to succeed. Um so even though him and him and I

[1:14:19] might both different on that, I I do appreciate the reason behind what he

[1:14:23] does. Um and two people I want to recognize, I know they're going to kill

[1:14:27] me, but I was in leadership for 28 years, and what I've noticed is is the

[1:14:32] little details. You know, I'm proud of all the staff of the city of Atama, and

[1:14:36] I want to start pointing more out at each meeting. I want to cause, you know,

[1:14:39] have something positive to say. The the two that I want to point out tonight,

[1:14:43] and I know they're going to kill me, and I've learned in leadership that the when

[1:14:47] you're a leader that takes care of the big details, it shows you can perform.

[1:14:51] When you care about the little details, that shows your passion. U My first one

[1:14:56] is Jean in the parts department. I want to start off with a little uh I was at

[1:15:01] the beach with my daughter and I seen Jean in a tie just like he's dressed now

[1:15:05] cleaning counters, sweeping the front uh keeping it clean. And then I've had the

[1:15:10] privilege of being on his board for the last couple of meetings and having some

[1:15:14] interactions and all I've heard out of Gene is when it's a problem or when it's

[1:15:18] something good, I'll take care of it. We're going to take care of it. We're

[1:15:20] going to get on it. Um and you can tell that's from the top down because his

[1:15:25] team feels the same way. So, thank you, Jean. The other one, JD. I went out and

[1:15:31] I went to the airport. Not only does JD, this impressed me so much. Not only does

[1:15:36] he know the profit margin, his his fuel margin, his plane margin, he knows

[1:15:42] people flying in. I seen and and this is going to be insignificant to some, but I

[1:15:46] want you to realize this. He had a discussion with a pop vendor that I

[1:15:50] witnessed. He knows his business so well. He knew the profit margin on the

[1:15:55] pop and drinks in his machine and negotiated with the vendor. He also knew

[1:16:02] who flies in frequently, who comes out there, what they drink, what he wanted

[1:16:06] to keep, and and what he wanted to get rid of. This guy runs a multi-million

[1:16:10] dollar operation and knows it from the complete top to the complete complete

[1:16:14] bottom. So, that's passion. So, JB can't see him, but thank you, brother.

[1:16:18] » Hey, Phil's a good customer, too. Yeah, he he keeps Dr. Pepper for me.

[1:16:24] » So anyway, I do want to say that I do appreciate all the Tumbl staff, but I

[1:16:27] want to do a better job of of pointing people out each meeting. Um, so, you

[1:16:32] know, to end with, there's so many positive things going on in Tumbl. Let's

[1:16:35] not focus on that negative. Let's just keep moving forward and and make it the

[1:16:39] best at Tumblr can be. So, thanks everybody.

[1:16:43] » Any other comments from council?

[1:16:48] If not, I'd entertain a motion to adjourn our city council meeting.

[1:16:52] » So move. >> Second.

[1:16:55] » Take the role. >> Council member Galloway.

[1:16:58] » Yes. Council member Hoffman. >> Yes.

[1:16:59] » Council member Cabinet. >> Yes.

[1:17:01] » Council member We >> Yes.

[1:17:04] » We are adjourned. And thank you everybody for coming to our Toma City

[1:17:09] Council meeting this evening. St. Travis home.

Ottumwa City Council - September 16 2025 - Board of Health and Regular Meetings

Transcript