City of Russell
Council meeting
August 6, 2018
Present: Duane
Bedford (Mayor), Council members: Chris Feehan, Terry Newcomb, Jay Pierschbacher,
Casey DeHoedt, and Corey Paige. City
Maintenance Jim Larrington, Fire Chief Brian Beatty, Officer Jeff Johnson and City
Clerk Cindy Smith, and residents Deloris Carroll and guest Mike Armstrong for
the Chariton Valley Regional Housing Association.
Meeting was called to order at 7:00 pm by Duane Bedford,
Mayor.
Mike Armstrong
gave a presentation on what the Chariton Valley Regional Housing Association
accomplishes for surrounding towns in Lucas County. They are requesting a repeat pledge from the
City of Russell of $1,000.00. Chris
Feehan motioned for the city to again pledge the $1,000.00 donation and this
was seconded by Casey Dehoedt.
Ayes – all approved
Nay’s – none
Deloris Carroll request the closing of Shaw street in
front of the Southside Bar during the day of the fall festival / cookoff. The street will remain open during the
parade. This was granted in a prior
council meeting with Chris Feehan motioning for the approval of the street
closure and seconded by Casey Dehoedt.
Ayes – all approved
Nay’s – none
On the vacating of Washington Street, notification to the
utilities in the area must first be given to the utility companies that may be
on the property prior to the public hearing.
This item will be put on the September agenda after the utility
companies, if there are any, have been notified by certified mail.
With the Labor Day Holiday falling on the 1st
Monday of the Month the September meeting will be held on September 10th. This meeting date was motioned for approval
by Jay Pierschbacher and seconded by Terry Newcomb.
Ayes – all approved
Nay’s – none
Ordinance 150 regarding the increase in the solid waste
collection and disposal by $1.00 per month was motioned for approval by Jay
Pierschbacher and seconded by Terry Newcomb.
This is the second reading of this ordinance.
Ayes – all approved
Nay’s – none
Chris Feehan motioned for approval to waive the third
reading of Ordinance 150. This was
seconded by Jay Pierschbacher.
Ayes – all approved
Nay’s – none
Duane Bedford brought to council a agreement/resolution
that we can present to the DOT for a sign replacement program for cities and
counties. This will provide some of the
monies needed to replace signs needed for the city. Chris Feehan motioned for approval to proceed
with the agreement / resolution with the DOT and this was seconded by Casey
Dehoedt.
Ayes – all approved
Nay’s – none
On the jake braking sign that has been requested Council
will proceed with research regarding an ordinance.
The minutes from the July 2nd and the July 19th
meetings were motioned for approval by Chris Feehan and seconded by Jay
Pierschbacher.
Ayes – all approved
Nay’s -none
Financial reports for July were reviewed and motioned for
approval by Chris Feehan and seconded by Jay Pierschbacher.
Ayes – all approved
Nay’s – none
Officer Jeff Johnson gave a review on the letters
submitted to property owners via certified mail referencing the new ordinances
on junk and debris and that most have had a positive result with properties
getting cleaned up. There are more
properties that have been presented to council that will be receiving
letters. Councilman Chris Feehan asked
Officer Johnson if there were any parking regulations that we need to follow in
possible changing of parking on Shaw street in front of the apartments as
current parking is causing “blind spots” for the stop signs at the intersection
of Shaw and Prairie Streets. He will
review and let council know. It may be
possible to place yellow paint on the curb and push the parking back to allow
more visibility.
Fire Chief Brian Beaty presented to the council that
Michael Alexander and Levi Abbas have joined the Russell Volunteer Fire
Department. These additions will fill
them back up to 30 fire fighters with only one more spot available. Jay
Pierschbacher motioned to approve these addition’s and this was seconded by
Casey Dehoedt.
Ayes – all approved
Nay’s – none
During the fall festival the Fire Department will again
be having the cook off in the park.
Chief Beaty asked if the city would again be willing to go ½ on the port
– potties that will be needed during the event.
The motion was made by Terry Newcomb to ½ this cost and seconded by
Casey Dehoedt.
Ayes – all approved
Nay’s – none
During the Fall Festival, September 15th,
there will be no parking allowed on Shaw Street during the parade.
It was also brought up at the meeting that the Russell
Historical Society will also be providing a free will donation breakfast.
Wastewater / water / street reports was presented by Jim
Larrington. The meter representative
will be here on Wednesday to see if there is anything that we have question on
and to review the new meters being installed.
There was a new meter tested as we’ve had some complaints on the water
usages being higher then normal. The new
meters are reading correctly as tested by a home owner who tested on his on the
usage that he had. It is possible that
some of the old meters were so old and had so much usage that they were not
reading correctly and now the water is being metered at a correct rate. For this month we are going to be
periodically reading the meters to see if there are any discrepancies in the
reading we receive from the last readings.
2 new fire hydrants are on order and these will be
replacing the one next to the Hundley property that has been hit and one that
is leaking on Grozier on the south side of town.
If there are any leaks with the drought it should be easy
to tell if there are any wet spots in yards to be looking for.
Street repairs on Stanton and Smith street have been
completed by LL Pelling. There have been
numerous complaints of the dust on Smith street and it has been recommended by
LL Pelling not to spray as the chemical in the spray will prevent the road from
freezing in the winter and would cause additional damage and it would also be
removed as the roads are maintained to keep up the road surface. We will look at asphalting this portion of
Smith Street next year after the sewer work is completed. This again will all depend on cost.
There are some culverts that need to be replaced and Jim
is getting quotes on the materials needed to complete.
Old Business that was reviewed is the fencing at the
tennis court. No one has gotten back to
Duane on his requests for bids. The
council will try to schedule a time to do this themselves. Just need to find a good weekend that
everyone is available to help.
Scott McGee will be providing a quote to repair the
curbing along the street next to the new city office and post office to meet
with the recommendations required by the insurance company. We will also be doing some painting as
weather allows on the curbs and walk ways where needed.
Christmas decorations.
The city is needing new decorations but are trying to find ways to raise
the money and not use tax dollars. There
is a total of 14 decorations with 6 of them working so only need to replace
8. Jay Pierschbacher will see if
Johnson’s would be willing to donate and Casey Dehoedt will check with Hy-Vee
to see if they would like to donate for this project.
Casey Dehoedt is working to see if we can get funding to surface
the path that is currently graveled in the old football field as several people
do go out there for walks.
Corey Paige and Chris Feehan are working on getting
quotes to repair the roof on the city hall/post office building.
Duane reviewed the audits from the Alliant energy review
– he will get final numbers on changing of the lights for the office, fire
department on maintenance garage and will present to council via
email/phone/text as the energy audits must be completed by December 31, 2018 to
receive any rebates as they will no longer be doing these rebates after the
first of the year.
At 9:00 pm Chris Feehan motioned to close the meeting
which was seconded by Jay Pierschbacher.
Ayes – all approved
Nay’s – none.
Minutes approved by:
_______________________________
Duane Bedford
Mayor
Attest:
________________________________
Cindy A Smith
City Clerk
