July 1, 2019

Posted: June 28, 2019 | Updated: October 13, 2023

AGENDA

NOTICE AND CALL OF PUBLIC MEETING

 

GOVERNMENTAL BODY:                         THE CITY COUNCIL OF CRESCO, IOWA

DATE OF MEETING:                                   JULY 1, 2019

TIME AND PLACE OF MEETING:             7:00 P.M. AT CRESCO CITY HALL

 

PUBLIC NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN THAT THE ABOVE MENTIONED

GOVERNMENTAL BODY WILL MEET AT THE DATE, TIME AND PLACE SET OUT ABOVE.    THE TENTATIVE AGENDA FOR SAID MEETING IS AS FOLLOWS:

 

ROLL CALL:  BRENNO, McCARVILLE, FORTUNE, BOUSKA, CARMAN

 

ACT ON THE CONSENT AGENDA: All items listed under the consent agenda will be enacted by one motion. There will be no separate discussion of these items unless a request is made prior to the time council votes on the motion.

  1. Approval of the Agenda
  2. Approval of the Claims
  3. Approval of Minutes from June 17, 2019
  1. Approval of Partial Street Closing Permit for North Elm Street from 1st Ave to 3rd Ave (Parking Spaces Only – Street Remains Open) for Ridiculous Day on July 18, 2019
  2. Approval of Tax Abatement under the Urban Revitalization Plan for Peddler Real Estate
  3. Approval of Tax Abatement under the Urban Revitalization Plan for Andrew & Natasha Ludeking

 

STAFF REPORTS: There may be action taken on each of the items listed below.

  1. Public Works
  2. Police
  3. Administration
  4. Committee Updates

 

BUSINESS:  There may be action taken on each of the items listed below.

 

  1. Public Hearing to Amend FY 2019/2020 City Budget
  2. Resolution Amending the Current Budget for the Fiscal Year Ending June 30, 2020
  3. Awarding of Hotel/Motel Tax Grants for Tourism Projects
  4. Second Reading of Ordinance No. 478 Pertaining to Urban Chickens
  5. Second Reading of Ordinance No. 477 Pertaining to Livestock in City Limits
  6. Resolution Authorizing the Mayor and City Clerk to Enter into an Easement for Water Main with Peddler Real Estate LLC
  7. Recommendation of the Planning & Zoning Commission to Appoint Dick Schorr for a Term of Three Years Expiring 6/30/2022
  8. Recommendation of the Planning & Zoning Commission to Reappoint Kris Omar for a Term of Three Years Expiring 6/30/2022
  9. Recommendation of the Board of Adjustments to Appoint Kevin Weinacht for a Term of Three Years Expiring 6/30/2022
  10. Resolution Authorizing the Mayor and City Clerk to Enter into An Agreement with the Twins Community Fund
  11. Discuss Fire Station Concrete Issues

 

COMMENTS FROM AUDIENCE:

 

ADJOURN:

 

THIS NOTICE IS GIVEN AT THE DIRECTION OF THE MAYOR PURSUANT TO CHAPTER 21, CODE OF IOWA AND THE LOCAL RULES OF SAID GOVERNMENTAL BODY.  POSTED JUNE 28, 2019.

MINUTES

Mayor Bohle called the Cresco City Council meeting to order on July 1, 2019, at 7:00 pm at City Hall. Council Members Brenno, McCarville, Fortune, Bouska and Carman were present. No council members were absent.

Brenno requested a change be made to the minutes regarding the phrase “three cats or two dogs” should be replaced with “a combined total of three cats and dogs”. Bouska made the motion to approve the consent agenda which included approval of the: agenda; claims; minutes of the June 17, 2019 meeting; Partial Street Closing Permit for North Elm Street from 1st Ave to 3rd Ave (Parking Spaces Only – Street Remains Open) for Ridiculous Day on July 18, 2019; Tax Abatements under the Urban Revitalization Plan for Peddler Real Estate and for Andrew & Natasha Ludeking. Brenno seconded and it passed all ayes.

Public Works Director Freidhof reported: (a) the Street Department is very busy with the storms and tree damage with at least 28 addresses that had issues; (b) the Sewer Department is busy with issues at the lift stations due to the heavy rains; (c) an employee from Decorah has contacted us to figure out what to do with problems of sump pumps that run all year round and dump into the street and end up with a green slimy film. Dumping in the yard causes problems with neighbors so it is a difficult problem to deal with. We will work with Decorah to see if we can come up with a good plan for these types of issues; (d) we are on the list for an urban tree inventory to be done by the DNR Forestry. Hopefully they will do the inventory in the spring after the remaining hundred ash trees have been removed. Brenno asked again about the sump pumps that dump into Gillette and run for several blocks but is not close to any storm sewer. Freidhof commented that there are at least six other locations in town with the same issue.

The June police report was submitted to Council.

City Clerk Girolamo reported: (a) we will have a special yard waste pick up on Monday due to the storms; (b) the City was awarded two grants of $5,000 each from the Northeast Iowa Regional Housing Trust Fund for demolition costs of the Ellison house and the trailers that were acquired through the nuisance abatement process; (c) due to the holiday weekend we will leave the American flags up until Monday; (d) Housing Rehab update is that two houses will be bid out on 7/22/19, three other houses need to be inspected, and one more is working on the admin plan; (e) the fiscal yearend was processed and we have a loss of about $704,000 which is less than the budgeted loss of $2.1 million. About $476,000 was attributed to projects not finished in last fiscal year, and therefore the budget is being amended tonight for those projects. The rest of the budgeted expenses that were not spent were for other projects or equipment that were postponed and some expenses that came in under budget; (f) Auditors will be here next week.

Library Director Kay reported window cleaners are coming Thursday and carpet cleaners on July 20th and 21st.

Mayor Bohle opened the public hearing on the proposed budget amendment for FY 2019/2020. There were no oral or written comments and the public hearing was closed. Carman made the motion to approve a resolution amending the current budget for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2019. Bouska seconded and it passed all ayes.

This quarter Hotel/Motel Tax of $3,874.95 was received with four grant requests for $6,800. Brenno made the motion to approve the recommendation of the Cresco Tourism Advisory Committee and award grants to: Cresco Fine Arts Council $500; Champlin Hall Renovations $2,000; Norman Borlaug Harvest Fest $1,000. The request from Kellow House was scored favorably but denied until an earlier project is completed and the previous grant is paid out. McCarville seconded and it passed all ayes.

Bohle performed the second reading of the summary of Ordinance No. 478 pertaining to urban chickens. Carman made the motion to approve the second reading of the summary of Ordinance No. 478. Fortune seconded. McCarville, Carman and Fortune voted aye. Bouska and Brenno voted nay. The motion passed by majority vote.

Mayor Bohle performed the second reading of Ordinance No. 477 pertaining to livestock in City limits. Carman made the motion to approve the second reading of Ordinance No. 477. Fortune seconded. McCarville, Fortune and Carman voted aye. Brenno and Bouska voted nay. The motion passed by majority vote.

McCarville made the motion to approve a resolution authorizing the Mayor and City Clerk to enter into an easement for water main with Peddler Real Estate. Brenno seconded and it passed all ayes.

McCarville made the motion to approve the recommendation of the Planning and Zoning Commission to appoint Dick Schorr for a term of three years expiring 6/30/2022. Carman seconded and it passed all ayes.

Brenno made the motion to approve the recommendation of the Planning and Zoning Commission to reappoint Kris Omar for a term of three years expiring 6/30/2022. Fortune seconded and it passed all ayes.

Bouska made the motion to approve the recommendation of the Board of Adjustments to appoint Kevin Weinacht for a term of three years expiring 6/30/2022. Carman seconded and it passed all ayes.

The City of Cresco has been awarded a 2019 Twins Fields for Kids matching grant of $4,000 for renovations at the Kessel Park ball diamond. The grant will be used for a new fence, removal of trees and shrubs, and a new scoreboard. We also received a $1,000 grant from the Howard County Community Foundation for this project. Bouska made the motion to approve a resolution authorizing the Mayor and City Clerk to enter into an Agreement with the Minnesota Twins Community Fund. Carman seconded and it passed all ayes.

The concrete in front of the Cresco Fire Station is settling and there are a couple of spots that need repairs according to an Insurance Agent that was inspecting the boiler. Estimates to repair just the spots would be $5,800 and would not address the depression issue. Estimated cost to replace all of the concrete would be about $50,000. Council suggested we try to get a concrete contractor to grind down the lips. Major repairs would need to be addressed in the next budget.

Mayor Bohle asked for comments from the audience. Brenno inquired as to the flooding issue by H&S Motors. Engineers had looked at the issue about 4 four years ago and it was possibly about a million dollars. Brenno thinks the City has to address the issue because H&S is considering doing some driveway and parking lot repairs. Bouska suggested that the City needs to start requiring a runoff control to keep rain from getting into the storm sewer. She noted that all four corners at that intersection are hardscape. She thinks property owners must need to help with runoff control if putting in hardscape and not putting all the responsibility on the City. Brenno requested the engineer’s plans and estimates be reviewed.

Brenno moved to adjourn at 7:31 pm. Bouska seconded and it passed all ayes.  The next regular Cresco City Council meeting will be July 15, 2019 at 7:00 pm at Cresco City Hall.

 

Mayor Mark Bohle
City Clerk Michelle Girolamo

Documents

2019 City Council Agendas, Minutes