Slater Regular City Council Meeting

February 11, 2008

 The regular meeting of the Slater City Council was called to order by Mayor Pro-Tem Gene Staples at 7:30 P.M. on February 11, 2008 , at City Hall, 105 Greene St. , Slater, Iowa .  The roll being called the following council members were present as follows: Gene Staples, Steve Ransom, and Mike Higgs; Electronic - Mark Pritchard.  Absent:  Tim Locker.  Also in attendance were Mary Beth Chinery, Jennifer Davies, and representatives from the Planning and Zoning Commission.

 Library Director, Jeff Meyer, presented the council with handouts outlining library activities and usage numbers. 

 Planning and Zoning Commission President, Deb Engle, made the recommendation to the council to enter into contract with The Building Inspectors, from Huxley, Iowa as a third-party inspector.  P & Z also recommended that the city waive the fee that would be paid to the City by The Building Inspectors since doing so lowers the fee to the contractor/home owner.  Chinery will contact The Building Inspectors and get an updated contract with adjusted fee schedule for the council to review at a later meeting.  In addition, the P & Z members are interested in making changes to the Zoning Ordinance following a joint meeting with the Board of Adjustments.  They will present the council with a more complete list of their suggestions at a later meeting.  The council took the recommendations under consideration and tabled the item.  

It was moved by Pritchard and seconded by Ransom to approve the consent agenda, February 4, 2008 minutes and expenditures totaling $ 2,971.58 as follows:

The motion passed with record vote as follows:  Yes:  Pritchard, Ransom, Higgs and Staples.  No: none. 

Eleven homes will be surveyed in the floodplain area on February 13, 2008 .  The remaining three have not made changes.  Snyder & Associates will complete the LOMA submittal before the map effective date of February 20, 2008 . 

Pritchard moved to set the budget hearing on March 3, 2008 at 7:30 pm during the regular council meeting held at Slater City Hall .  Ransom seconded the motion.  The motion passed with record vote as follows:  Yes:  Pritchard, Ransom, Higgs and Staples.  No: none. 

LaDonna Chriswell, retired Public Works Director, asked if she could retain the cell phone number and old cell phone that she has used during her time with the city.  The council agreed by consensus.  The city is in the process of updating cell phone service and would have been discarding the device shortly.

 The council had significant discussion about the 2008-09 budget.  Each department has cut between 10% and 15% from what they asked for from the general fund in 2007-08.  Chinery will make revisions and the council will make final changes to the budget at the next meeting, February 19, 2008 , 

 It was moved by Pritchard and seconded by Ransom to adjourn at 11:00 P.M. , the motion carried and the meeting adjourned.