City of Colona City Council met July 22.
Here is the minutes provided by the council:
CALL TO ORDER: 6:30 p.m.
ROLL CALL:
Mayor Lack, Attorney Wright, Aldermen Hillman, Feliksiak, Swemline, Shady-Dahl, Jones, King, Clerk Winegar answered present. Aldermen Holman and Tapscott were absent.
STAFF PRESENT:
C. Lenth M. Winters M. Swemline
Public Works Director Office Manager Police Chief
PUBLIC COMMENTS:
1. Jana De Decker, representing the food pantry, informed the council that the food pantry is planning their city-wide yard sales for the weekend of 6-7 September 2019. She requested that the council approve waiving the $1.00 yard sale fee for that weekend. It was not on the agenda for action for this meeting; however it will be voted on at the next council meeting on August 12, 2019. The Mayor asked Jana if they would be putting together maps again this year. The reply was yes there would be maps available at the food pantry and at BJ's. The Mayor requested some maps be dropped off at City Hall also. Jana replied in the affirmative.
2. Shannon Dinwiddie, a seasonal camper, addressed the council concerning golf carts, ATVs and UTVs. She stated that her family has been seasonal campers for the last four years and they like to participate in the golf cart parades and other activities at the park. A couple of years ago, they inquired of the park manager, Patti King, if it would be alright to purchase a 1989 Kawasaki Mule in lieu of a golf cart. She was told it would be fine; they purchased it and had been using it until the end of last season when they were informed they could not bring it back this year. She understands that the City has had problems with ATVs and UTVs at the park with people driving them in unauthorized areas of the park and at faster speeds; however, their 1989 Mule will not go over 15 miles an hour if it is floored. Most of the golf carts have over-sized tires and will travel faster. Her request of the council was to maybe grandfather their Mule and allow them to use it. The Mayor stated the council would refer this to the Public Works Committee and have Chris Lenth take a look at it. The committee can bring a recommendation to the council.
MAYOR'S REPORT:
1. The Mayor stated the first item he had was an appointment of Bryce Frenell as a part-time police officer. He asked Chief Swemline to share with the council Mr. Frenell's qualifications. Chief Swemline said that he is PT certified, has worked for other police departments, is currently employed as an EMT with Genesis, and he wants to work as a part-time officer in Colona. Alderman King made a motion to approve the appointment of Bryce Freneli as a part-time police officer. Alderman Hillman seconded. Roll call: Aldermen Hillman, Feliksiak, Swemline, Shady-Dahl, Jones, King voted yes. Aldermen Holman, Tapscott were absent.
Motion passed with 6 affirmative votes, 2 absent.
2. The Mayor informed the council that the 2013 bond refinance is moving along.
There still has to be a credit rating call in two weeks with Standard & Poors to review the City's credit rating which is currently AA- which is pretty good.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES:
Alderman Feliksiak made a motion to approve the minutes of the July 8, 2019, council meeting. Alderman Swemline seconded. Roll call: Aldermen Feliksiak, Swemline, Shady-Dahl, Jones, King, Hillman voted yes. Aldermen Holman and Tapscott were absent. Motion passed with 6 affirmative votes, 2 absent.
CONSENT AGENDA:
Alderman Swemline made the motion to approve consent agenda items:
1. Payment of bills for the period July 8-22, 2019
2. Payment of manual bills for the period 8-22, 2019
3. Payroll for the period July 11-25, 2019 Alderman Hillman seconded. Roll call: Aldermen Swemline, Shady-Dahl, Jones, King, Hillman, Feliksiak voted yes. Aldermen Holman and Tapscott were absent. Motion passed with 6 affirmative votes, 2 absent.
COMMITTEE REPORTS:
Public Works Committee: (Alderman Swemline, chair; Aldermen Jones, Feliksiak, members; C. Lenth, staff). A copy of these minutes is available at City Hall and on the City's website.
1. Alderman Swemline asked for guidance from the council on the decks being built at the campground. The situation is entirely out of control. There are screened in decks, gazebos and roofs being added. Chris Lenth informed the council that there are no permits pulled for constructing decks for the campground and the current guidelines are not specific enough. The guidelines state that a deck has to be temporary (able to be moved) and cannot be longer than nor wider than the camper. After discussion, on whether the City would be liable for injuries incurred on these decks because they are on City property, tree trimming not being able to be performed because of the deck being in the way, the Mayor's desire to not have any type of deck along the pond, and Alderman Hillman's question of whether or not we could require the camper's to include insurance on the decks with their camper insurance, it was decided that further research needs to be done. The Aldermen questioned why the campers were not required to purchase a permit to build the decks and the consensus was that permits should be required. Tina Woodbury, a seasonal camper, spoke up and said that when she inquired about a deck, she was told she could build one and then they added a steel roof because it was cheaper than replacing her awning which was damaged. She also said that this year has been unusually wet and the ground has been very muddy at the park. Nobody wants to step in the mud or wear rubber boots. She says her deck with a roof provides her with a nice place to relax. This subject will be further researched.
2. There was no action required on the cabin roofs because the money was in the budget and the committee approved the replacement of the roofs.
Finance/Administration Committee: (Alderman Holman, chair; Aldermen Swemline, Hillman, members; J. Legare, M. Winters, staff). No meeting held this month.
CLERKS REPORT: None
OLD BUSINESS: None
NEW BUSINESS:
> Alderman Swemline made the motion to approve Resolution, R-19-05, Authorizing an Intergovernmental Agreement to Establish the Henry County Trafficking Enforcement Group. Alderman Shady-Dahl seconded. Alderman Hillman asked Chief Swemline if the officer assigned to this group would be on overtime. Chief Swemline replied no, we will only have one officer and this will be his/her shift. Alderman Jones asked what this group would do. Chief Swemline responded that it will look for narcotics and human trafficking. This group is being formed because Henry County disbanded their group. This area is high with this type of trafficking and the group may be doing a lot of patrolling in the areas of 1-80 and 1-74 which Colona is responsible for. Roll call: Aldermen Shady-Dahl, King, Hillman, Swemline voted yes. Aldermen Feliksiak, Jones voted no. Aldermen Holman, Tapscott were absent. Mayor Lack cast a tie breaking vote of yes. Motion passed with 5 affirmative votes, 2 negative votes, 2 absent.
Alderman King stated that he feels it is time to start the conversation about consolidating City Hall and the Police Department into one location. He suggested looking at demolishing the current building which houses the police department and constructing a new building for both. He says this will free up a building for sale. He feels it is time to address this issue because of the recent $100,000.00 quote for repairs at City Hall to bring it up to code. He also feels that building a more energy efficient building for both locations will save the City in utility bills. He suggested that we contact the engineers and ask them draw up a plan.
Alderman Jones asked who is responsible for having someone fix the light at 5th Street and Rt 84. Chris Lenth replied it is Davenport Electric and he has put a call in to them to fix that light and also the one on Rt 6 which is also having a problem.
Alderman Jones asked if we had heard anything about the Henry County Economic Development Board. The Mayor has heard that they hired a Director, but we have not been contacted. Alderman Jones then asked when our contract with them expires. The Mayor replied he thinks the end of the year. Alderman Jones then stated we need to tell them we are no longer interested in participating.
ADJOURN:
Alderman Swemline made a motion to adjourn. Alderman Shady-Dahl seconded. A voice vote of all ayes was received. Meeting adjourned at 7:07 p.m.
https://www.colonail.com/vertical/sites/%7BFC142F78-E9D2-49AE-8B50-7910B5B74E0C%7D/uploads/07.22.19_cc_minutes.pdf
Alerts Sign-up