Strawberry Point City Council
Regular Meeting May 17, 2023
The Strawberry Point City Council met for a regular meeting on Wednesday, May 17, 2023, at 6:00 p.m. at the Council Chambers within Strawberry Point City Hall. Mayor Evans presided. Council members answering roll call were Yokiel, Hansel, Gould, Courtnage, Gearhart.
Gearhart moved to approve the agenda as presented. Yokiel seconded the motion. A roll call vote was taken. Ayes: Yokiel, Hansel, Gould, Courtnage, Gearhart. Nays: None. Motion passes
PRESENTATIONS/GUESTS
CONSENT AGENDA Minutes from May 3, 2023, City Council Meeting
Claims
Cigarette/Tobacco Permit – Casey’s
Cigarette/Tobacco Permit – Nadings
Yokiel moved to approve the consent agenda. Gearhart seconded the motion. A roll call vote was taken. Ayes: Gould, Courtnage, Gearhart, Yokiel. Nays: None. Abstain Hansel. Motion passes.
UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Alan Wessels, provided more information to the council about the electrical work that needs done on Eder and Feulner. Gearhart made a motion to replace the two poles instead of running the electrical lines underground. Hansel seconded the motion. A roll call vote was taken. Ayes: Gould, Courtnage, Gearhart Hansel. Nays: Yokiel. Motion passes
The council discussed the proposal for engineers on the sanitary sewer main. They listened to the issues one of the business owners is having with their sewer line and discussed different ideas to resolve the issues. Courtnage made the motion to move forward with the engineer design and send it to the DNR for approval. The Council will work on details and financials at a later date. Yokiel seconded the motion. A roll call vote was taken. Ayes: Courtnage, Yokiel, Hansel, Gould. Nays: Gearhart. Motion passes
Gearhart made a motion to allow Jared to hire the staff for the 2023 pool season, pay for their training right away and have the manager work out a schedule of when they will be open. Courtnage seconded the motion. Staff will try to have the pool open in a couple of weeks if everything goes smoothly. A roll call vote was taken. Ayes: Gearhart, Yokiel, Hansel, Gould, Courtnage. Nays: None. Motion passes
Council discussed if they should hire a city administrator or a city clerk. They discussed different ideas for wages and the possibility of hiring a firm to help with the hiring of a city administrator. After a brief discussion the mayor will get some quotes on a hiring firm and it will be on the next council meeting.
Gould moved to approve hiring candidate #1 that was recommended by the Ambulance board for the Ambulance director position at $24.00 per hour. Hansel seconded the motion. A roll call vote was taken. Ayes: Yokiel, Hansel, Gould, Courtnage, Gearhart. Nays: None. Motion passes
INFORMATION
Council reviewed the April Delinquent Account List
NEW BUSINESS
Gould moved to approve sending deputy city clerk Jared to 2023 Iowa municipal professional institute for clerk training. Hansel seconded the motion. A roll call vote was taken. Ayes: Hansel, Gould, Courtnage, Gearhart, Yokiel, Nays: None. Motion passes.
Eldon Fenton at 417 Elkader Street discussed with the council his idea of developing his property behind his place. Fenton inquired about the possibility of the city getting water and sewer to that location. The council would like more information on the project and would like to see the individual property lines drawn out. Fenton will get the map drawn out and will bring it to the first meeting in June.
Gearhart shared with the council an email he had received from Rivals with concerns that the city’s website is not working properly. On the current site, the info is either difficult to find, not on the website at all, or the links no longer work and give an error message. Your website is the first impression to anyone searching for your city online and for a business in this community, it is often how travelers find us the first time they visit. A city's website is vital to its operations for many reasons: Alerts for Emergency Notices, Access to Online Forms & Permits, Contact Info on Municipal Officials, Info for Local Events and Things to Do, Resources for Residents, Resources for Local Businesses, Emergency Services Information, and Tax Information. Yokiel approved hiring Revivals to build a new city website with the cost of $2500-3500 for the initial website build and $12/month Hosting with Domain/ $100/month Maintenance till City Admin hired & trained. Hansel seconded the motion. A roll call vote was taken. Ayes: Gould, Courtnage, Gearhart, Yokiel, Hansel Nays: None. Motion passes.
Josh Demmer gave an update on the civic center project, items that need to be complete before completion date and explained change order #3 & #4. Yokiel made the motion to approve change order #3 & #4 for $2,294.55 on the civic center / library project. Hansel seconded the motion. A roll call vote was taken. Ayes: Courtnage, Yokiel, Hansel, Gould. Nays: Gearhart. Motion passes
OTHER BUSINESS
Hansel inquired if we could get the Goodwill truck again in the fall and maybe do city wide clean up again as well. Jared will look into doing both. Also, she inquires about the police putting times on their timecards and getting a list of all employee’s vacation times. The mayor will check with the city attorney on this matter. Courtnage inquire about the protocol on the police departments body camera.
Chief Evan shared with the council that they have been working on nuisances’ abatement and inquiries about having the camper towed that is parked in the lot behind city hall. Council agreed to have the police contact the owner and give them 24 hours to move it and after that have it towed.
Gearhart wondered about the city lot that that they sold it coming up on two years and they were supposed to have a house built on it.
A citizen inquired about the location of the storm shelter in town. The council discussed the different location depending on the situation, city hall will be designated if there is a tornado. Fire station for snow storm warming location and even the civic center if people need to stay a few days.
Jeffrey Schuchmann discussed with the council that he would like the city to move forward with getting solar power in town. The mayor explained that there is a whole process that the city has to go through as far as codes, metering and what the buyback rate will be. She didn’t know if that was something they wanted to tackle as council or wait till we get a city administrator. Discussion will be held at the council meeting in June.
With there being no other business, Courtnage moved to adjourn at 7:49 p.m. Hansel seconded the motion. All ayes.