City of Russell
Council Meeting
March 12, 2018, 7 p.m.
Present: Duane Bedford, Chris Feehan, Jay Pierschbacher, Casey
DeHoedt and Terry Newcomb. Jim
Larrington, Jeff Neer, and Delores Carroll were in attendance. Corey Paige did not attend due to being out
of town.
Duane Bedford called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m.
Chris made a motion to open the public hearing regarding the
FY18-19 Budget; Casey seconded the motion.
Duane stated it was open to comments and there were none. The proposed FY18-19 Budget was approved. Terry made a motion to close the hearing;
Chris seconded the motion.
Aye votes: Terry,
Chris, Casey
Nay votes: None
Chris made a motion to open the public hearing regarding the
FY17-18 Amended Budget and Terry seconded the motion. There were no comments from the public. The FY17-18 Amended Budget was approved and
Casey made a motion to close the public hearing; Chris seconded the motion.
Aye votes: Terry,
Chris, Casey
Nay votes: None
Minutes of the February 5th meeting were read and approved; Chris
Feehan made the motion to approve as read and Casey seconded the motion. Minutes were approved unanimously 3-0.
Jay entered the meeting at 7:10 p.m.
Chris stated that there was a question regarding the propane bill
for the fire department on the expenses.
It was determined there was an error on the ticket filled out by the
truck driver. The City will credit the
fire department for the mistake. Terry
motioned to approve the Income and Expense reports; Casey seconded the
motion.
Aye votes: Terry,
Chris, Casey, Jay
Nay votes: None
Delores Carroll asked to close the street (Shaw) again for a St.
Patrick’s Day parade at noon on the 17th. Terry made a motion and Jay seconded it to
approve the street closing for the parade.
Aye votes: Terry,
Chris, Casey, Jay
Nay votes: None
Jeff Neer reported for the fire department in Brian’s
absence. Jeff said that the fire dept.
wanted to add two new members: Levi
Gwinn and Caden Steinhausen. Jay made a
motion to approve adding the new members to the fire department and Chris
seconded the motion.
Aye votes: Terry,
Chris, Casey, Jay
Nay votes: None
Jeff also wanted to discuss the propane bill for the fire
department. The City still uses a
furnace in the water building and there was discussion on what percentage the
City should pay for the propane. The
Council agreed on paying 15 percent of the fire department building
propane. Chris stated the fire department
phone number should be re-instated at the fire station. The phone number was disconnected when City
Hall moved. Kris will contact Windstream
regarding this.
Duane stated that Jim Mefferd will have a draft written regarding
municipal infractions for the April Council meeting.
The rental lease agreement between the City of Russell and the US
Postal Service expires in February of 2019.
The USPS mailed a new agreement with a yearly rent of $5600 per year for
five years. The Council discussed making
access to the basement of the building in case of emergencies. Chris made a motion to approve the new lease
agreement and Terry seconded the motion.
Aye votes: Terry,
Chris, Casey, Jay
Nay votes: None
Duane stated he has not signed the wastewater project agreement
by Garden & Associates because he still has questions and will be talking
with Austin Smith. Duane said he may
have Austin attend the April Council meeting.
Jim reported on water – the DNR sent an auditor, Jeff Theobald,
to audit our records regarding our water and well. He made some recommendations and will send a
final report. Jim stated that he has
approximately 35-40 new meters installed around town. Jim stated that a water payment drop off
receptacle has been attached to the front of City Hall.
Jim reported on Streets – L.L. Pelling came down to look over
streets the City is considering resurfaced.
There are approximately four culverts that need replaced before streets
can be worked on. Stanton Street can be
seal coated but others such as Ames, Northumberland, State, will need tore up
and resurfaced. The Council will decide
which streets to work on when the bids come back. Jim handed out a map marking where and what
streets to be worked on.
Jim brought the new lawn mower to the meeting for Council to
see. There was discussion and the
Council decided on selling the old mower and putting it out for sealed bids.
Discussion was held regarding the donation of three private lots
to the City. The Council agreed to take
the property if there are no liens against them. Duane will check on that.
The Council voted to approve cigarette permits for Last Chance
and Southside. Casey made a motion to
approve the permits and Terry seconded it.
Aye votes: Terry,
Chris, Casey, Jay
Nay votes: None
Jim and Craig Alexander traveled to Zeigler’s in Des Moines to
look at a 2014 backhoe (800 hrs) with a price of $82,555 with forks at an extra
$3500. The Council discussed the
financing for the new equipment. The
decision was made to withdraw $20,000 from the Fema CD and secure a loan for
the balance. Terry made a motion to
purchase the backhoe from Zeigler for $85,000 including the forks and delivery;
Jay seconded the motion.
Aye votes: Terry,
Chris, Casey, Jay
Nay votes: None
The Council discussed and decided to advertise the old backhoe
and put it out for sealed bids.
The Council reviewed bids for heating and air installation in
City Hall and the Post Office side. Jay
made a motion to approve the lowest bid from Keith’s Electric and Terry
seconded the motion. Chris abstained
from voting.
Aye votes: Terry,
Casey, Jay
Nay votes: None
The Council discussed the upcoming retirement of the city clerk
and decided to advertise immediately to get someone in by May 1.
Casey commented that the new City Hall looked nice and thanked
everyone who worked on it.
Chris motioned to adjourn the meeting and Terry seconded the
motion. Motion carried unanimously 4-0.
_______________________ _______________________
Mayor Duane Bedford Clerk,
Kris Wilkins
