Minutes

City of Griswold

Regular Council Meeting

Council Chambers, May 5, 2008, 6:00 p.m.

The Griswold City Council met in regular session at City Hall. Mayor Putnam called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. Council present: Bergstrom, Shields, Rink. Absent: Wyman, Carlisle.

Motion by Shields to approve the agenda; second by Bergstrom. Approved 3-0.

Motion by Rink to approve the following items under the Consent Agenda:

a. Minutes of the April 7 & 21 regular meetings, April 25 special meeting.

b. Claims.

c. Employees overtime report.

Second by Bergstrom. Approved 3-0.

Carlisle arrived at 6:04 p.m.

Reports:

Community Building. Verbal report given by Building Manager, Shiona Putnam. Shields asked Shiona if she had a chance to look at the quote given by the Clarinda Correctional Facility to perform the spraying at the playground. Shiona said she had not seen the quote, but had discussed the cost with the City Clerk. The last time they were here, the city paid for the guardπs wages for 8 hours and supplied the tools and supplies, along with snacks for the morning and afternoon. Motion by Shields to approve having the Clarinda Correctional Facility perform the spraying at the playground at a cost not to exceed $400.00; second by Rink. Approved 4-0.

Public Works. Verbal report given by Mitch Kline. Mitch reported that Feldhacker Contracting will be here Thursday to start on the potholes. If it rains, they will be here on Monday. With the sump pumps now all going into the streets, Mitch commented that he would like to see the city get costs to install storm sewers in the northeast part of town. There is no current storm sewer system in that part of town. Shields stated that when JEO Engineering completes their survey, the city should have an idea of what is needed.

City Hall. Written report submitted by Clerk Dawn Ridlen. Motion by Rink to direct the City Clerk to send out RFPπs to auditing firms; second by Bergstrom. Approved 4-0.

Library. Librarian Cindy Miller reported that when there is a heavy rain, there is water coming into the back of the building. She is not sure exactly where the water is coming from, but the east wall of the womenπs bathroom is wet. This has been going on for several years. It was agreed to have McDermott roofing look at the roof.

Set date for public hearing on Budget Amendment for FY 2007-08. Motion by Shields to set the public hearing on the budget amendment for Monday, May 19, 2008 at 6:00 p.m.; second by Rink. Approved 4-0.

Surveillance Cameras. Rink said he would like to see the city find a reputable company to come in and develop specifications for installation of surveillance cameras around town then go out for proposals. Another option would be to just go out for proposals without any type of specifications. There was a question about where the funding would come from. Rink stated he has spoken to some of the Main Street business owners and they have said they would like to participate and there would be seizure money available from the county. Motion by Shield to authorize Rink to proceed with gathering information and costs for the installation of surveillance cameras; second by Carlisle. Approved 4-0.

Attorney Correspondence. City Clerk Ridlen said that Councilman Shields had requested that all city attorney correspondence be sent to the council. The city attorney advised that by doing this, the council could be violating the open meeting laws and suggested the council decide on a procedure to handle the correspondence. Shields stated he feels the council needs to know what they are paying the attorney for and should be apprised of what is happening. Mayor Putnam responded that he thinks the correspondence should go to the city clerk and the council can come to City Hall to look at it. Rink questioned if updates are given on a routine basis. The clerk responded that this is not always the case and she usually tries to get an update prior to the council meetings. Everyone agreed that more communication is needed. Motion was made by Shields to direct the city attorney to forward all correspondence to members of the General Government committee (Shields, Bergstrom), Mayor and City Clerk; second by Bergstrom. Approved 4-0.

Public Comments. Julie Adams commented on a letter she submitted to the paper regarding the city yard waste site. She asked where the city is at with solving the problem of citizens having no place to take their yard waste. The council responded that they city has hired a contractor to clean up the site, move the current burn pile and create a separate area for compost. The anticipated start date is May 19^th, weather permitting.

Messages from the Mayor. Mayor Putnam asked if the outdoor bathrooms could be opened for certain occasions, such as schools bringing children to the playground and Reunion. Kevin said he would check into it. Mayor asked when the contractor is to start with the cleaning of the ditches. Carlisle said he is scheduled to start in two weeks.

Mayor Putnam said he feels the city should start the process to begin cleaning up No Name Creek so that volunteers can be rounded up to start work in the fall.

Propositions and Remarks from Council Members. Carlisle asked if the council has any problems with the golf course using the cityπs trash pump to clean out the pool. Council said they have no problem with it. Carlisle questioned if there were problems with receiving emails from Iowa One Call. Kevin Jipsen said that sometimes the emails are not received until the day the work is being done, but for the most part there is not a problem.

Shields asked if the Pit Bull situation had been taken care of and if there had been any more reports of Pit Bulls within city limits. Clerk Ridlen said the Pit Bulls had been removed from the residence and there have not been any more reports of Pit Bulls. Shields remarked that the property on 4^th St., which was sold on auction by the city, has not been taken care of as requested when it was sold. Mayor Putnam said he would speak to the owners.

Shields told the council he was very disappointed in the way the special meeting held on April 25^th was handled. He feels that special meetings should only be held if there is a pressing issue that needs to be taken care of before the next regular meeting and that the matter of the 28E agreement with the county was not a pressing issue. He also felt that he was not afforded the opportunity to attend the meeting due to the time it was scheduled. Bergstrom said he did not realize there was a problem while Rink stated he felt a sense of urgency because the County was putting pressure on the City of Anita to make a decision on law enforcement. Carlisle said he was the one that asked for the meeting, because he was tired of dragging the topic out and wanted to get it taken care of and put in front of the Board of Supervisors.

Motion by Rink to adjourn; second by Bergstrom. Approved 4-0; 7:38 p.m.

Jerry Putnam

Mayor

Dawn Ridlen, CMC

City Clerk