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City Council votes to hire interim city administratorCENTERVILLE, Feb 20, 2013 (Daily Iowegian - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- The Centerville City Council Monday night voted 5-0 to offer Corey Goodenow, Chariton's city manager, the temporary city administrator job. Centerville Mayor Jim Senior said Goodenow would put in 40 hours per week by working nights and weekends, which would require Joyce Davis, temporary city clerk, to put in overtime. Councilman Edwin Brand questioned the wisdom of adding more overtime for Davis who already has accumulated a lot. A second individual who applied, Dick Schrad, with Schrad Solutions, LLC in Knoxville and the City Council favorite going into Monday's meeting, took himself out of the running after seeing the city's software and deciding he would not be able to get the fiscal year 2014 budget done in time. Davis said the city's proposed fiscal year 2014 budget, which starts July 1, 2013 and runs until June 30, 2014, has to be submitted to the state auditor by March 15. Davis said she was confident if Goodenow was hired, the city would be able to get its budget submitted on time. Nichole Moore, executive director of Chariton Valley Planning & Development and Mark Reinig, with ISU-CIRAS, gave the City Council a presentation on the Appanoose County Sustainable Economies "City Wide Trash Program" proposal. The proposal, a product of the Natural Resources Committee formed in conjunction with CIRAS, asks the city to consider implementing citywide trash pick-up service. The project is just in the beginning stages. The hope is something would be in place by July or August. The City Council voted 5-0 to move forward with city wide garbage pick-up to make it a reality and appointed Councilmen Randy Marcussen and Rob Lind to serve on the Natural Resources Committee in charge of the project. Mayor Jim Senior, George Johnson, Steve Hawkins and Nancy Bennett were also asked to be on the committee. Local trash haulers will also be asked to join the committee, Reinig said. Nancy Huisman with Hall Engineering gave the City Council an update on city projects. She touched on the sludge processing facility project, sewer lining project and Safe Routes To School sidewalk project. Huisman said construction on the sidewalk should start in July. The hope is the DOT will allow the contractor three months to finish the project. Randy Groff, executive director with the YMCA and Justine Heffron, presented the City Council a request for $10,000 for sustaining and $10,000 for maintenance reserve funds for fiscal year 2014. The City Council did not vote on this agenda item. Councilman Rob Lind said he was pretty sure the city would back $10,000 sustain but they need to see what the budget looks like before a commitment is made for an additional $10,000. Groff said the Y is not just a place to swim or exercise. It is also interested in improving the health and wellness of Centerville residents. Tod Faris, executive director with Appanoose Economic Development Corporation, presented the City Council a request for the city to be involved in the development of a web site along with AEDC and Appanoose County. Faris said the cost to the city would be $3,000 up front and $125 per month for web site maintenance. The city didn't act on the money request, instead telling Faris they would wait until after he approached Appanoose County with a similar request for money. Faris' proposal is to hire Golden Shovel for a $15,000 one time fee to redesign the city, county and AEDC web sites. The new web site would provide the area with benefits that would spur economic development, Faris said. Betterment or Bust committee representatives Nancy Bennett and Mike Thomas presented a plan to the City Council to fundraise May 18 at the intersection of state Highway 5 and 2 in Centerville to help improve the VFW Club. The City Council voted 3-2 to approve the fundraiser. Councilmen Lind and Darrin Hamilton voted no. Jeff Hill, Laura Cossolotto and agent Carl Cisler presented a request for the city to pay $4,500 for a pedestal to serve up to six houses, including the one they want to build in Bella Vista. Backing up the request is the city's web site states Bella Vista lots are fully developed with sewer, water, electric and gas. The City Council voted 5-0 to pay the money to have the pedestal installed. George Johnson, Centerville's building and code compliance officer, approached the City Council to pay the cost to demolish the collapsed building at 218 E. Jackson St. The building was once known as the Hiatt Fur & Wool and is now owned by Charles Bunnell. Johnson called the building unsafe and a public safety issue. Johnson said Bunnell doesn't have the money to demolish the building but is willing to sign it over to the city. Complicating the issue, Johnson said, is the fact the building is zoned commercial and Iowa Department of Natural Resources requires asbestos abatement to tear it down. Now two of the city's three recourses are expensive and the third highly unlikely, he said. Option one is remove 100 percent of the asbestos by an asbestos removal team; option two is to use the water method, also done by an asbestos removal team; and option three, highly unlikely, is to get IDNR approval to bury the structure in the basement and cover it with a parking lot, which would be the only thing that could be done if that was the outcome. "The big problem is, it's a commercial building," Johnson said. "The city needs to get something started on it." Johnson estimated it will cost $20,000 to demolish the building. Johnson said he would come back to the council in two weeks after talking to the DNR. Councilman Rob Lind said the city needs to be more proactive with business and homeowners who neglect their properties and then leave the city holding the bag when those properties need attention. The City Council went into closed session at 7:07 p.m. to discuss the purchase of land for the airport. In other action, the Centerville City Council voted 5-0 to approve: --A resolution authorizing and providing for the issuance and securing the payment of $1,382,000 Sewer Revenue Capital Loan Notes, Series 2013. --A resolution to increase the wage of Joyce Davis, temporary city clerk, to $24 per hour until a full-time city administrator is hired. In a related matter, the City Council voted to allow Davis to carry over 62 hours of vacation as long as they are used in the next six months. --A request by Chief Demry to dispose of five old police vehicles by auction the first part of April. One vehicle, Chief Demry said, was drivable but the other four would be good for parts. --Several agenda items dealing with money for housing needs, Economic Development Set-Aside and CVP&D. --A resolution to submit an application for $5,000 to the Iowa Department of Transportation's "All Town Sign Replacement" program to replace stop, stop ahead, yield, two-direction large arrow, one-direction large arrow and do not enter signs. The IDOT would supply the signs at no cost to the city. --Two change orders in the amount of $10,466.45 for sludge processing facilities improvements. One change order covers the additional cost to relocate a waste gas burner and the other covers the additional cost for the installation of electrical to secondary digester. The contractor for the project is Oakview, dck, LLC. Nancy Huisman, with Hall Engineering, said there has been five change orders for this project totaling approximately $35,500. The city has a $118,000 contingency fund for this project to cover unexpected costs. --A resolution to hold a public hearing to approve the proposed fiscal year 2014 budget at a special meeting 5:30 p.m. Monday, March 11 at City Hall. The next Centerville City Council meeting is 5:30 p.m. March 4 at City Hall. ___ (c)2013 the Daily Iowegian (Centerville, Iowa) Visit the Daily Iowegian (Centerville, Iowa) at www.dailyiowegian.com Distributed by MCT Information Services |