[0:00] All right, I'll call the August 3rd City

[0:02] Council meeting to order.

[0:04] Call the roll.

[0:05] >> Ashley Allers, here. Abby Hanson, John

[0:07] Hawkins,

[0:08] >> Yeah.

[0:09] >> John Marvel,

[0:09] >> Here.

[0:10] >> Megan McFarland,

[0:11] >> Here.

[0:12] >> Pledge of Allegiance.

[0:15] » I pledge allegiance to the flag of the

[0:18] United States of America,

[0:20] and to the republic for which it stands,

[0:22] one nation under God, indivisible, with

[0:25] liberty and justice for all.

[0:29] » Move for a motion to approve the agenda.

[0:31] Motion to approve.

[0:32] >> Second.

[0:33] >> All those in favor say aye.

[0:34] >> Aye.

[0:36] >> Uh

[0:37] Item one is petitions, communications,

[0:39] or requests. This is the time of the

[0:40] meeting that a citizen may address the

[0:41] council on a matter not on the agenda.

[0:43] No minute No more than 5 minutes per

[0:45] person, except in cases of emergency,

[0:47] the City Council not not take any action

[0:49] at this meeting, but our city staff to

[0:51] research the matter and have the matter

[0:52] placed on the agenda for a future

[0:54] meeting.

[0:55] Mark, you got something for us tonight?

[1:04] » Good evening. A few months ago, I just

[1:06] happened to talk to John.

[1:07] >> Tell us your name.

[1:08] >> Oh, Mark Gillette.

[1:11] Um stopped in and talked to John about

[1:13] real estate. I was only needing 10

[1:15] minutes, but it took us an hour and

[1:20] Um

[1:21] So, around 2008, the council

[1:23] [clears throat] was asked to increase

[1:25] the permits

[1:26] of connections for new construction uh

[1:30] for a 3/4 inch line

[1:32] for $1,600

[1:35] or for a 1-inch line

[1:37] Excuse me, $2,300. That was just the

[1:39] permit cost.

[1:42] Uh which is pretty anti-growth. Well,

[1:44] they

[1:46] in 2011, they rescinded that ordinance,

[1:49] going back to normal.

[1:50] So, around 2007, the council was asked

[1:53] to adopt the international building

[1:55] codes.

[1:56] The codes that the were the same as ours

[1:58] at the time, so there was really no

[1:59] problem. It passed 8 5 to 0.

[2:03] Unfortunately, they didn't tell us that

[2:04] every 2 years

[2:06] they increase the mortgage rates, more

[2:09] money.

[2:11] Uh

[2:15] So,

[2:16] a few years back before John's time

[2:18] here,

[2:19] um

[2:21] the manager

[2:22] and

[2:23] Daniel and

[2:25] the Yahoo you hired down in

[2:28] Des Moines or Polk County

[2:31] got together and they had the council

[2:33] change the ordinance.

[2:35] So, instead of costing 6 to 8,000

[2:38] dollars

[2:39] to put in water and sewer,

[2:40] it went to 18,000 because of these,

[2:43] which that can be rescinded also.

[2:46] We're going to be tearing down 75 of our

[2:48] lots, so we really If you want growth,

[2:50] you're not going to get it with 18,000

[2:52] dollars with all the infill lots we

[2:54] have.

[2:56] The other thing we talked about was

[2:58] granny houses

[3:00] and

[3:02] where you could tie on

[3:04] to the existing house if there's room

[3:08] for the water and sewer lines.

[3:09] Save thousands of dollars doing that,

[3:12] plus you could have either Airbnb, a

[3:14] small rental,

[3:16] or a granny house.

[3:18] Uh

[3:20] So, what I dropped off tonight for you

[3:22] is something to read.

[3:24] They have these

[3:26] little annexations in Cedar Rapids,

[3:29] Cedar Falls, Portland, Oregon, British

[3:32] Columbia, California and all kinds of

[3:35] Although, I think two years you can get

[3:36] the plans.

[3:38] Uh question.

[3:40] So, hopefully you consider it.

[3:42] Um I do have a lot next to my house,

[3:44] which I'd like to put in a sewer and

[3:46] water.

[3:47] Then I could sell it in the future if I

[3:49] wanted to.

[3:50] Um

[3:52] Or if I can't, cuz I'm not going to

[3:54] spend $18,000. If it's If they want to

[3:57] artificially up, that's that's crazy.

[4:00] So, I won't be building there.

[4:02] If I can, and you can change the

[4:04] ordinance, takes three of you

[4:05] to buy into my house, I'd already had a

[4:08] house built

[4:10] for a granny house or a Airbnb or just a

[4:13] family come stay, you know.

[4:16] So, give you something to think about.

[4:18] Hope you do.

[4:19] >> Yeah.

[4:19] >> Um

[4:20] >> Thanks, Knox.

[4:22] >> Nate Ball.

[4:23] Knoxville Ball.

[4:29] Knoxville

[4:33] » All right. Um

[4:35] is it close enough? Yeah, it's close

[4:37] enough.

[4:38] All right. Uh consent the following

[4:40] items have been deemed non-controversial

[4:42] routine actions to be approved by the

[4:43] council on a single motion. If a council

[4:45] member or member of the audience wishes

[4:47] to have an item removed from this list,

[4:48] it'll be considered on its normal

[4:49] sequence on the agenda.

[4:51] I have uh A is the minutes of July 20

[4:53] meeting.

[4:54] Um B is claims in the fund list. C is

[4:57] the issuance of a beer and liquor

[4:58] licenses by the Iowa Department of

[5:00] Commerce for uh recommended for the

[5:02] following. Approve new class C retail

[5:05] alcohol license including outdoor

[5:06] service for Wildcat Products at 713

[5:08] Second Street.

[5:10] Approve a new class C retail alcohol

[5:12] license for Now and Forever at 1102

[5:15] Second Street. And approve a new class C

[5:18] retail alcohol license for Now and

[5:19] Forever at

[5:20] 1803 Superior Street. That's uh formerly

[5:24] S Way.

[5:25] And then D is a resolution authorizing

[5:27] issuance of a cigarette, tobacco,

[5:29] nicotine, vapor device

[5:31] uh retail permits for Brewed Number

[5:34] Seven

[5:35] and Now and Forever formerly S Way at

[5:37] 1803 and 1102 Second Street and Superior Second Street.

[5:43] Uh E is a resolution and

[5:45] directing publication of gross wage

[5:47] salaries for the full-time and part-time

[5:49] city employees for the calendar year of

[5:51] 2025.

[5:52] That's it.

[5:53] >> Motion to approve collectively.

[5:56] >> Second.

[5:57] >> All in favor say aye.

[5:58] >> Aye.

[6:01] >> And then general agenda.

[6:03] We have a public hearing. Public hearing

[6:05] on a proposal to renew the citywide

[6:07] urban revitalization plan for

[6:08] residential tax abatement. I'll open the

[6:11] hearing.

[6:12] Are there any written objections?

[6:13] >> No, there are none.

[6:15] >> Are there any oral objections?

[6:18] Okay, I'll close the hearing.

[6:20] Very well, we're on time.

[6:23] >> I apologize.

[6:24] Good evening, Council. So, this item is

[6:28] just before you. The plan was adopted in

[6:31] 1993. What it does is on infill lots, it

[6:35] allows for 3 years of 100% tax abatement

[6:39] on new construction, and it does have to

[6:42] be reviewed every 3 years.

[6:44] We have had about 140 new dwellings that

[6:49] have had

[6:50] have taken advantage of this 100% 3-year

[6:53] tax abatement. And we actually just

[6:55] approved one at the last meeting, so

[6:57] that would move it to 141.

[7:00] The Planning and Zoning Commission did

[7:03] review this and recommended to the

[7:07] Council for it to be extended another 3

[7:09] years. So, tonight I'm just requesting

[7:11] that you approve the plan for another 3

[7:13] years.

[7:17] » Okay, any questions?

[7:19] Resolution adopting the continuance of

[7:22] the urban revitalization for residential

[7:24] tax abatement.

[7:25] >> Move to approve.

[7:26] >> Second. All in favor say aye.

[7:28] >> Aye.

[7:29] >> Um

[7:30] right. Would I come up?

[7:33] Do you want to

[7:35] talk on your request for the reduction

[7:38] [clears throat]

[7:39] lower the lot prices at 2501 North

[7:42] Terrace.

[7:46] » Yeah, I think

[7:47] I actually sent out an email and I

[7:48] apologize to John you went on the

[7:50] website so I didn't have your email

[7:52] address so

[7:52] >> There was a problem with my picture. So

[7:57] » So

[7:58] well anyway

[7:59] I laid laid out a lot of the points on

[8:02] this and and the one point that I forgot

[8:05] and left out of it was during the time

[8:07] that we did these constructions we had

[8:09] these up for sale. The city had been

[8:13] redoing the streets in that area and had

[8:15] it blocked off and made it very

[8:16] difficult to get to that area. So it was

[8:19] tough for people to even just drive

[8:20] around and see

[8:21] what was going on they couldn't even get

[8:23] to it very easily. So that contributed I

[8:26] think

[8:27] a factor to that.

[8:29] We did lose a sale

[8:31] on a house one of the houses out there

[8:34] when they did their budget they figured

[8:36] out the

[8:38] property taxes were

[8:41] you know quite a bit higher than what

[8:42] they expected so they they were not able

[8:45] to put it together with their budget so

[8:46] we lost that sale.

[8:48] And I imagine we'd have to talk to the

[8:49] realtor but I'm sure other people had

[8:51] the same situation when they looked at

[8:53] it. They combined that with

[8:55] the cost of lumber and and all

[8:58] construction materials going up and then

[9:01] and the environment of rates going up it

[9:04] really made it handicap hard to sell.

[9:07] There's few other factors you know

[9:09] there's a lot of lots out there on the

[9:11] west end that you guys have experienced

[9:13] for years hard to sell and

[9:15] a lot of that's directly related to the

[9:17] cost of the lot.

[9:19] You know they're not a wooded lot or

[9:21] real scenic you got the highway you're

[9:23] dealing with so there there's some

[9:25] challenges out there that you don't need

[9:27] to be addressed to help sell them and so

[9:30] with all those things combined with

[9:33] you know tough environment it made it

[9:36] very hard to sell houses. We We lost on

[9:39] average $34,000 a house is what we lost.

[9:42] Um this house here is in the same

[9:45] situation.

[9:46] Um especially when we've held it for

[9:48] over 2 years. So,

[9:50] makes it hard to do. Um and given the

[9:53] fact that

[9:54] the city is willing to incentivize other

[9:56] another builder to try to build out

[9:59] there, you know, I appreciate that and I think that's right step. But we'd like

[10:03] to have ours reduced down to a lower

[10:07] rate to help us

[10:08] uh

[10:09] absorb some of the losses we've taken on

[10:11] that. And also, you know, to

[10:14] make it more incentivized towards us

[10:16] building small houses in the future out

[10:18] there.

[10:19] Uh

[10:20] Getting close to it

[10:23] >> This specific lot, when did you um start

[10:25] construction? When did you sign the

[10:26] contract?

[10:28] >> I'd have to look. I believe it was 2023.

[10:31] >> 2023?

[10:33] >> That's what I found.

[10:34] >> Right. I looked up that I could not find

[10:35] it.

[10:36] >> Yeah, so

[10:38] 2023 and uh

[10:42] » And we paid

[10:42] >> full price on the other three lots that

[10:45] we did that. Uh Yeah, well, and and we

[10:47] carried them for quite some time to get

[10:49] them sold, but we did finally get them

[10:50] sold.

[10:51] >> Yeah.

[10:51] >> And with that and the other houses, uh I

[10:55] think you'll see we have contributed a

[10:57] large amount of uh

[11:00] tax base to the city over the last, you

[11:03] know, 6 8 years that we've been building

[11:05] here. So, we want to continue that. We

[11:08] need to try to address

[11:10] um

[11:11] you know, the costs so we can absorb

[11:13] those moving forward.

[11:16] >> [clears throat]

[11:17] >> And the house currently,

[11:19] uh I've driven by, I've heard two or

[11:21] three different things. The house has

[11:23] been sold?

[11:23] >> Yes.

[11:27] » Has that completely gone through? And

[11:29] that's final and that's

[11:30] >> Yeah, that's final.

[11:30] >> Okay.

[11:34] » So, I I will tell you all I'm not going

[11:37] to vote on this because I do work with

[11:38] Brian's wife very closely, um and I

[11:40] don't want that to be portrayed as a

[11:42] conflict of interest.

[11:44] But, you know, um John and I have

[11:47] talked. You you can tell me there's a

[11:48] contract in place cuz there is.

[11:50] Contracts get amended all the time. So,

[11:52] I'm I'm less concerned about there being

[11:54] a contract than anything else.

[11:56] Um I do think,

[11:58] you know, considering we're trying to

[12:00] build and expand the housing in Webster

[12:03] City and grow the tax base,

[12:05] that we did just allow this other

[12:08] company

[12:09] significantly different lot rates, and I

[12:11] think at this point it would be the

[12:13] right thing to do.

[12:15] Um I I realize this was several years

[12:18] ago. It's not like he signed it

[12:19] yesterday and now we're trying to change

[12:21] it. This was a couple years ago.

[12:23] Um different city administration, I

[12:25] think even possibly at that time.

[12:28] And so, while I'm not going to vote, I I

[12:30] would say it's something I think the

[12:32] council should seriously consider

[12:34] looking at the price.

[12:37] >> Um did did you did you say that we he's

[12:40] you've already paid a thousand for this

[12:42] lot, haven't you?

[12:44] >> Pardon?

[12:44] >> Is there Is there already a thousand

[12:45] paid for this lot?

[12:47] >> so.

[12:49] >> Um I mean, I'm I'm prepared to uh it

[12:51] seems you've already paid the thousand.

[12:53] I'm prepared to to call that good

[12:56] myself.

[12:57] Um I think you've you've done enough

[12:59] stuff. Uh do I like the idea that we're

[13:01] changing the contract now? No, no, I

[13:03] don't. But at the same time,

[13:05] I can see why you're asking and and

[13:07] we've we're doing a deal with somebody

[13:09] else, which is better than what you got.

[13:11] So, uh I'm I'm happy to do that, but I

[13:14] guess it's over to you, Megan. What do

[13:15] you think?

[13:16] >> I think that's a

[13:17] >> So, I I

[13:18] >> Go ahead. I'm sorry.

[13:19] >> I think that's a good idea, too.

[13:22] >> I appreciate everything you've done. And

[13:24] um

[13:26] you know, I am

[13:28] you know, if you would come to us this

[13:30] year and I think that that

[13:33] he would have been

[13:34] gotten a favorable, you know, price for

[13:36] those lots.

[13:37] I can't speak for the council then. I

[13:40] wasn't on the council.

[13:42] Um

[13:43] You know, I do

[13:46] and I know contracts have been amended.

[13:49] I worked in sports for 40 years and

[13:51] contracts get changed.

[13:53] I'm kind of of a different mind. I you

[13:56] know, I believe the contract is the

[13:58] contract and um

[14:01] I do recognize that you've done a lot

[14:04] for our community. So

[14:06] >> And I will say or remind you that we did

[14:10] in

[14:11] '23 or '24 bring a proposal to buy

[14:14] significantly more lots at a reduced

[14:16] price to the council and it was rejected

[14:19] at the time.

[14:19] >> Yeah, and

[14:21] so

[14:22] I think if you did that now and in the

[14:24] future, I think that you would find that

[14:27] you know, this council in terms of

[14:29] economic development and the shortage of

[14:32] housing, you know, would be more

[14:33] receptive to such a plan.

[14:36] >> Do what?

[14:37] Do you want to make [clears throat] a

[14:37] motion to make the first note?

[14:43] » Thanks, Brian.

[14:44] >> Thank you.

[14:46] >> I'll make a motion to

[14:49] make it a thousand dollars.

[14:50] >> [sighs]

[14:51] >> What's already been paid?

[14:55] » But um

[14:56] I

[14:58] So I'll I'll second that, sir.

[15:01] Um wanted

[15:03] Um yes, you're

[15:04] John, you're all

[15:05] nations abstaining, sir.

[15:07] >> Yeah, and you're a no.

[15:08] >> You're a no.

[15:09] >> I'm a no.

[15:10] >> You're a no and you're both yeses.

[15:12] >> Yes.

[15:13] >> Yeah.

[15:13] Got it.

[15:16] >> So um

[15:18] Well, it's not

[15:19] you know

[15:20] you've paid for it, too.

[15:22] Thank you, Tim.

[15:24] Thanks.

[15:27] Is that right, Jack?

[15:31] All right, item C is a resolution

[15:33] providing for notice of hearing on

[15:34] proposed plans, specifications, proposed

[15:36] form of contract, and estimate of costs

[15:38] for construction of Mary Ann's water

[15:40] main extension project for September 8th

[15:42] at 6:05 p.m.

[15:45] Ready.

[15:46] >> Good evening, Council. Yes, we're ready

[15:48] to set the hearing on

[15:49] Mary Ann's water main extension.

[15:53] Uh prior to construction

[15:55] of the facility at Mary Ann's Specialty

[15:57] Foods, uh city staff and Mary Ann's,

[16:00] Kelly Berleske, sat down and talked

[16:02] about how to assist them with water

[16:04] pressures and flows. And at that time,

[16:06] uh we kind of came up with a joint uh

[16:08] solution is to bring the water main

[16:10] where it uh previously had dead ended on

[16:14] the north side of their property all the

[16:16] way to the west along the property line

[16:19] back uh east along the railroad tracks

[16:22] where it currently is dead ended.

[16:24] Um and there that's what Here's where

[16:26] our portion of of um

[16:28] the project comes into play is where we

[16:30] would then tie on to where they left off

[16:33] uh under the railroad tracks into East

[16:35] Second Street where it would become a

[16:36] loop system.

[16:38] Um looping this system has plenty of uh

[16:40] pros um

[16:42] for them, you know, increase of

[16:44] pressure, water pressure flows, uh but

[16:47] also big thing is for pipe fire

[16:49] prevention with the new building, stuff

[16:51] like that.

[16:52] On our end, something we look at is if

[16:55] one of the facilities, uh Mary Ann's or

[16:57] Custom Meats, would have to be shut down

[16:59] for whatever reason,

[17:00] um previously it would be we shut one of

[17:02] them down, we shut both of them down.

[17:04] And so that's not good for them for

[17:06] uh a big manufacturer, a big business in

[17:09] town. Uh we don't like doing that. And

[17:11] so with this loop system, we will be

[17:13] able to separate the two. So.

[17:16] >> Okay.

[17:18] So we're just setting a hearing. Any

[17:19] discussion?

[17:20] >> Motion to set a hearing.

[17:21] >> Second.

[17:22] >> All in favor, say aye.

[17:23] >> Aye.

[17:25] >> Um item D, there's resolution

[17:27] authorizing the city manager to execute

[17:29] a contract with Pliner Brothers Crushing

[17:31] LLC for 2027 concrete crushing services.

[17:35] >> Yes, so so kind of a yearly

[17:37] um

[17:38] thing we do. Last year, I know we we

[17:40] kind of took some time off of this. We

[17:41] had a lot of We had a big uh panel

[17:43] replacement project that we had going

[17:45] on, so we had a lot of material coming.

[17:48] And so, this year, we decided to do

[17:50] something different. Uh we decided to

[17:52] work in collaboration with uh secondary roads with Ryan um with the

[17:58] county engineer. Um he had a lot of

[18:00] concrete that he needed crushed as well,

[18:02] so we put two contracts together, worked

[18:05] together, went out for one uh

[18:07] quote bid.

[18:08] And uh

[18:09] got some can had three people um turn in

[18:12] Mobile Crushing, who typically does our

[18:14] crushing last several years, um uh

[18:16] Pliner Brothers Crushing, and then

[18:18] Maxim's Trucking Materials.

[18:20] Um

[18:21] it's kind of different, but uh several

[18:24] years ago, we were at like $7.25,

[18:26] and usually this goes the other

[18:28] direction. I just talked to Matt this

[18:30] morning with Mobile Crushing,

[18:32] and I think they're just getting into a

[18:33] bidding war, and we're down to $4. And

[18:36] so, it's really good for us,

[18:38] and so, um obviously, the rock that we

[18:41] use is for projects,

[18:43] um alleys, and all the biggest secondary

[18:45] roads, so

[18:47] uh we would recommend going with Pliner

[18:48] Brothers Crushing, uh $4 a per ton with

[18:50] zero uh cost of mobilization.

[18:54] >> Interesting.

[18:56] >> I appreciate that you worked together

[18:57] with the county. I think that's a great

[18:59] way to

[18:59] >> Yeah, uh

[19:00] we did Ryan and I have been talking

[19:02] quite a bit lately on several things, so

[19:04] um

[19:05] kind of happened quick, and it went very

[19:07] well.

[19:07] >> Good.

[19:09] » Thank you, Pliner. Yeah.

[19:11] Vote for them motion.

[19:12] >> Motion to approve.

[19:14] >> I'll second.

[19:15] >> All those in favor say I.

[19:19] Item eight is a resolution approving the

[19:21] purchase of a 2026 Vermeer AX17 brush

[19:24] chipper from from Vermeer, Iowa for the

[19:27] electric utility.

[19:29] Ryan, good evening.

[19:30] >> Good evening council.

[19:33] >> [laughter]

[19:47] » Staff is requesting to purchase this

[19:49] 2026

[19:51] AX17 brush chipper from Vermeer, Iowa.

[19:55] With a net cost of $72,900.

[19:59] We currently have a 2015

[20:02] mobile art that we've had a lot of

[20:05] clutch issues with.

[20:08] And

[20:09] that has become

[20:11] an issue and currently has a bad clutch

[20:13] in it.

[20:15] With

[20:16] the future of

[20:18] us doing all this project upkeep and

[20:22] road clearances and all that stuff, this

[20:26] unit is going to get a lot of use in the

[20:28] next 5 years just to get caught up.

[20:32] >> Well, let's

[20:33] >> Staff recommends approval of this

[20:36] for the $72,900

[20:38] plus tax.

[20:39] >> [snorts]

[20:39] >> This is also set aside in the 5-year

[20:42] forecast of the um

[20:44] electric [clears throat]

[20:45] capital budget that you adopted earlier

[20:47] this year. That page was included as

[20:50] part of the packet material.

[20:52] >> For the record,

[20:56] can you explain for the record what a

[20:59] brush chipper is?

[21:01] >> I think I know. I'm fairly certain I

[21:03] know, but Pat

[21:06] might want to know.

[21:07] >> I've heard of it, too. So

[21:09] >> So the three chippers throw back to you.

[21:11] >> What chips them?

[21:13] >> That's what I thought, too, but I'm glad

[21:15] >> If you've seen Fargo, you know what I

[21:17] mean.

[21:17] >> [laughter]

[21:18] >> Oh, that's a wood chipper, right? Okay.

[21:20] >> Curious, you'd say oh, it's got clutch

[21:22] issues. It's got clutch

[21:23] >> It's not the use of it.

[21:24] >> Have we spent quite a bit then trying to

[21:26] repair this or have we repaired it

[21:28] ourselves or

[21:29] >> Uh we have had local company do it one

[21:33] time and

[21:34] um

[21:36] I think

[21:38] uh

[21:39] company for

[21:41] Obar did it the other time.

[21:42] >> Okay.

[21:43] >> But yeah, it's about $5,000 every time

[21:45] that happens, so.

[21:46] >> And we did discuss

[21:48] um simply replacing the clutch.

[21:51] Um

[21:52] >> [clears throat]

[21:52] >> the we're we're at a uh tipping point

[21:55] with the trade-in value, it seemed like

[21:57] when we talked with the um

[21:59] the uh

[22:00] folks that we got the quotes from.

[22:03] Uh and the manual clutch seems to be

[22:07] problematic with the cruise. Not that

[22:10] they can't operate them, but it just uh

[22:12] adds a complexity to a dangerous job

[22:14] already. Uh if if I'm reading the

[22:18] comments I've received from staff back

[22:20] uh correctly.

[22:21] >> It does have a few more safety

[22:24] things than the last one I had. It has a

[22:25] knee guard that that

[22:28] you're getting sucked into the unit, it

[22:30] will trip the unit off and

[22:33] So, there is some extra safety involved

[22:35] with it.

[22:35] >> Now, I appreciate that.

[22:36] >> Well, it's 11 years old.

[22:38] >> Yeah.

[22:38] >> So, you did you got a good run out of

[22:40] it, so.

[22:41] >> I'm also very curious, what's the

[22:42] average life of one of these? I mean,

[22:44] this one's 11 years old, so that's

[22:45] great, but I'm just curious.

[22:48] >> Yeah, I was going to ask if I was going

[22:50] to ask that or longer.

[22:51] >> Okay.

[22:52] >> Well, we I do I pick a lot of or used to

[22:54] pick a lot of them up for Asplund all

[22:56] over the place, and most of them weren't

[22:58] They were about 10 years old. So.

[23:01] And they were a lot worse than this one,

[23:03] but

[23:04] I had to say whether they were them more

[23:05] or less, you know. They probably were

[23:06] doing the same thing you guys are doing,

[23:08] so.

[23:08] >> I'm excited to say this. Um, the motion

[23:11] to approve the purchase of the vehicle

[23:13] brush chipper.

[23:16] >> Thanks, Ron.

[23:18] Well, I'm going to have to say I.

[23:20] >> I.

[23:20] >> Uh, and then item F is a resolution

[23:22] approving task order number nine with D

[23:25] G and engineering professional

[23:27] engineering services related to the city

[23:29] city's municipal electric system arc

[23:31] flash assessment update and authorizing

[23:33] city manager to execute the agreement.

[23:36] >> Welcome back, Ron.

[23:37] >> Yeah.

[23:39] >> So, this is a request to approve task

[23:41] order nine with the D G and R for the

[23:44] lab arc flash assessment. The last time

[23:46] this was done was back in 2015. It is

[23:50] recommended to do it every five years.

[23:54] It's an NFPA E standard.

[23:57] Um, what it is is

[24:01] >> What is that group? N N N E

[24:04] >> [clears throat]

[24:04] >> What is What does that stand for?

[24:06] >> National

[24:07] >> Electric

[24:08] >> It's fire protection or safety code. So,

[24:11] it's kind of like your OSHA standards

[24:13] and stuff like that.

[24:16] Um

[24:18] So, the

[24:20] with this

[24:21] um

[24:23] it gives us the available arc flash

[24:26] ratings at different points in our

[24:28] system. And with the last year's system

[24:31] upgrades um, all that needs to be

[24:34] updated uh, with the new Horizon or

[24:36] substation and all that. And what this

[24:38] does is let's city staff know the

[24:41] appropriate um

[24:45] person

[24:46] personal protective equipment to wear

[24:48] when you're in these certain areas. And

[24:51] also like if

[24:53] um

[24:54] edible gardens, their engineers want to

[24:56] know what the available fault current is

[24:59] to design their equipment. It gives us

[25:01] the tools to give them the right answer.

[25:05] » It was last updated 10 years ago.

[25:08] Industry standard is occasionally

[25:11] five. So

[25:13] and it was recommended as part of the

[25:16] broader [clears throat] capital plan

[25:17] adopted by the

[25:19] well, completed by DGR and that informs

[25:22] our capital recommendations

[25:24] to you all. I think the safety aspect of

[25:26] this is considerable given that we've

[25:28] added a new substation

[25:30] and we'll continue to make improvements

[25:32] to the system.

[25:35] » Motion to approve.

[25:37] >> Second.

[25:38] >> All in favor say I.

[25:40] >> Thanks, Ron.

[25:43] » Item G is a resolution accepting and

[25:46] approving acquisition of property

[25:47] generally generally located at 1111

[25:50] Third Street in the city of Webster

[25:51] City, Hamilton County.

[25:57] » So this property was deemed abandoned

[26:00] and unsafe. So this is just a formality

[26:03] that we

[26:04] bring it to council to accept this

[26:06] property. So

[26:08] we have been into the property and it is

[26:12] pretty um

[26:14] pretty far past its useful life. So

[26:17] >> This one have a lead line.

[26:19] One of the properties

[26:19] >> straight have a lead line in the roof.

[26:22] It's across the road from that one we

[26:23] had problem with you know where that

[26:24] property

[26:25] >> patch in the street there for years.

[26:26] >> What is it worth?

[26:32] » Motion to approve.

[26:34] >> I'll second.

[26:35] >> All in favor say I.

[26:37] >> I.

[26:39] >> Okay, are there other items to come?

[26:41] Zach, I think you

[26:42] want to tell us about your work.

[26:44] >> love to. I would love to. Um

[26:47] 128 Apple's closed now. We got that

[26:49] done. They've combined the lots. That's

[26:51] the one where they have three years, But

[26:54] um

[26:56] little shed on it so our garage on it.

[26:57] So that one's moving along nicely.

[27:00] We just talked about 11th 11th 11th 3rd

[27:01] Street. So with that sound.

[27:05] >> [laughter]

[27:06] >> Um 11th 11th 3rd Street, that one's done

[27:08] now. So it's taken a minute. We have

[27:09] three more in the pipeline coming down

[27:12] that you guys will probably own in the

[27:13] next month as well. And then um

[27:17] it's a bunch of FOIA requests, freedom

[27:18] of information requests that we've been

[27:20] receiving. So Beth and I and John and

[27:22] city staff have been working on

[27:23] responses to that and I just in the last

[27:25] couple weeks we've been getting a

[27:27] handful. So she's good, I guess. Might

[27:29] get more tomorrow. People want to know

[27:31] what's going on in town.

[27:32] >> Question Question on the FOIA. Do we

[27:33] charge them for copy and or do we

[27:36] >> Um good question. So the answer is

[27:39] maybe. Um

[27:41] they changed the law in the last year on

[27:43] FOIA.

[27:44] Yeah. So it's actual cost only and it's

[27:46] supposed to be reasonable in the sense

[27:48] of like if

[27:50] they're simply asking for

[27:52] something specific and it takes us 10

[27:54] minutes to get it, we don't charge. If

[27:56] it's something that's going to spend

[27:57] hours, we are authorized to send them a

[28:00] response that says, "Hey, we're

[28:02] estimating this actual cost to be Y or

[28:05] X, whatever." And then they can say yes

[28:07] or no on it. So

[28:09] >> Yeah.

[28:09] >> And then copies and stuff like that.

[28:11] >> Yeah. Yeah. But so far it's been pretty

[28:13] >> Right.

[28:14] >> Got it.

[28:14] >> So

[28:16] » Okay.

[28:18] >> Move for motion to adjourn.

[28:20] >> Motion to adjourn.

[28:21] Second.

[28:25] » All in favor say aye.

[28:26] >> Aye.

[28:27] >> We're adjourned. Thanks, everybody.

[28:29] >> Thanks. Appreciate it.

City of Webster City City Council Meeting - August 3, 2026

Agenda

Transcript