Slater Regular City Council Meeting

March 10, 2008

The regular meeting of the Slater City Council was called to order by Mayor Gary Halverson at 7:30 P.M. on March10, 2008, at City Hall, 105 Greene St. , Slater, Iowa .  The roll being called the following council members were present as follows: Gene Staples, Mike Higgs, Tim Locker and Steve Ransom; Absent - Mark Pritchard.  Also in attendance were Mary Beth Chinery, Jennifer Davies and several residents.

It was moved by Staples and seconded by Locker to approve the consent agenda, March 3, 2008 minutes and expenditures totaling $ 6,300.86 as follows:

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

Denny Bernholtz of The Building Inspectors answered various questions about the services they could provide for the city and the related costs.  Staples moved to accept the Planning and Zoning Commission’s recommendation to sign a contract with The Building Inspectors to do the inspections that are required by our code.  Ransom seconded the motion.  The motion passed with record vote as follows:  Yes:  Staples, Ransom, Higgs, and Locker.  No: none.

P & Z will revisit the issue of inspecting detached garages and report back to the council.

The council had a lengthy discussion with Public Works Director, Mark Estrem, about the back-up power that is being required by the DNR .  The council asked Chinery to inform the DNR that they will continue to make progress toward obtaining generators and to increase the SRF loan amount by $100,000 to cover the associated costs. 

Estrem also informed the council that he has located 2 used pick-up trucks with snow blades to replace the current city fleet.  The Dodge will be traded in and the Ford will be sold with the asking price being set at $1500. 

Mayor Halverson opened the public hearing at 8:53 regarding the 2008-2009 Fiscal Year budget.  There was no public input so the hearing was closed. 

Ransom moved for the adoption of Resolution 13 (2007/2008) RESOLUTION ADOPTING THE ANNUAL BUDGET FOR THE FISCAL YEAR BEGINNING JULY 1, 2008 AND ENDING JUNE 30, 2008 .  Higgs seconded the motion.  The Council Members voted on the motion as follows:  Yes: Ransom, Higgs and Staples.  No:  Locker.  The Mayor declared the motion carried. 

Davies presented the council with a letter to sign in support for the Ankeny-Woodward trail that will be submitted with the CAT Grant application.

Ransom moved to approve the job description for the Economic Development Coordinator.  Locker seconded the motion.  The Council Members voted on the motion as follows:  Yes: Ransom, Locker, Higgs and Staples.  No:  none.  The Mayor declared the motion carried. 

Davies asked the council what they would like her to research in regards to various properties.  The response was predominately commercial including an interest in selling 400 Main .  Details on the sale process will be presented at the next meeting.

The council discussed changing the hours at City Hall in order to be more accessible to the public.  The hours will now be 8 am to 5 pm Monday through Friday.

It was moved by Staples and seconded by Locker to adjourn at 10:12 P.M. , the motion carried and the meeting adjourned.