1. EMPLOYEE OF THE YEAR: 2008’s Employee of the Year is Kathy Kester who is the Marketing Coordinator at Park and Rec. Congratulations Kathy! In your packet is a copy of the nomination.
2. STIMULUS PACKAGE: None of our road projects will qualify for the federal stimulus package because they are not shovel-ready, and, due to IDOT right-of-way acquisition processes (quite lengthy), they cannot be ready in time. That means Indianola will not qualify for the near-$494,000 allocation that CIRTPA would have paid based on their $7 million federal allotment.
There is good news, however. Based on CIRTPA discussions thus far, the $494,000 will be available to Indianola thru the (normal) TEA-21 allotment in FY 10/11. The idea is that those cities/counties without “ready” projects will not lose stimulus $$. Rather, it will just be delayed.
3. RACE CARS: Our attorney Hugh Cain reports the Summary Judgment hearing on the 21st went ok. However, he is concerned about several questions from the judge regarding P&Z’s lack of ordinance review. Hugh argued that the ordinance was not a re-zoning requiring a P&Z recommendation. Rather, he argued that the ordinance is a police action and therefore free of P&Z review.
Hugh nevertheless feels the judge may rule the ordinance is not valid (may take a couple months). As such, I have asked Chuck Burgin to restart the process by taking it to P&Z in February. Council will then receive P&Z’s recommendation and initiate the public hearing and 2 additional readings in March/April. Let me know if you have questions or comments.
4. POOL BALANCES: The 3-year balances are shown below:
Year June December
2008 $49,732.21 ($43,836.36)
2007 $48,761.32 ($19,256.05)
2006 $43,415.85 ($23,379.33)
5. RECREATION HOURLY RATES: Glen has provided the enclosed tables.
6. FEBRUARY 2: Steve is unable to attend the meeting on the 2nd.
7. WARREN HOTEL: After a thorough inspection, the brick veneer is falling and not the building. Therefore, it is our intent to simply remove the damage area and waterproof it. Chuck received three quotes to complete the work that should be complete by the end of next week.
8. FEBRUARY 17: Another reminder council meets on Tuesday, February 17 due to Presidents Day on the 16th. Steve will be on the DC trip and unable to attend.
9. E CYCLE FACILITY: In April the city will sponsor Earth Day events including the kick-off of the E-Cycle operation at the Brush Facility. Given the promotion of the facility, I will recommend council waive the tv/monitor fees that week in order to get residents to use the program. The item will be placed on a February agenda.
FYI – MCG of Oskaloosa volunteered to contribution to the e-cycle program thereby reducing city expense.
10. W BOSTON SEWER: In previous news items the multiple-tap sewer issue has been discussed including a meeting with affected property owners (including W Ashland). The owners on Boston are requesting a sewer main replacement this spring so I will have V&K design a project. Estimated cost is about $50,000 and I anticipate using utility billing as a method of owner re-payment.
FYI—The city did a very similar project on Howard just north of Iowa Avenue in 2007.
11. THANK YOU: In your packet is an e-mail from Michelle Hinrich, thanking the street department for doing a great job of clearing the snow on the square.
