1. NEXT MEETING: The next council meeting is March 7 at 6:00 pm.
2. REFERENDUM: A reminder to vote on March 1.
3. SOUTH Y: Thus far there have been 20 voluntary assessments turned in to the Clerks Office. There are a total of 57 properties.
4. STORM WATER UTILITY: The utility begins in March and in the packet are the “administrative” rules that staff has been following. These rules have evolved over the last 4 months as new issues arise.
Properties that do not use the city’s storm water system (drainage ways, culverts, curbs, intakes, etc.) are exempt per a 1998 court case. In the packet is a list of exempt properties.
5. I&I: Per discussions at the February 22 council meeting, the $70 non-compliant fee will take effect on July 1, 2012 for properties that have been non-compliant for 2 years or more. Notification letters will be sent by next week.
6. SEWER OPERATOR: Sanitary Sewer Operator Marty Marriott plans to retire on March 31, 2011. Marty has been with the city since September 11, 1978 and will be missed. Congratulations to Marty and wishing him the very best.
7. TAX REVENUES: Tax revenue thus far this year is about even with this time last year. Good news!
8. HEALTH INSURANCE POOL: The pool balance is about 1.1 million. Good news!
9. SOUTH LIFT STATION: Council member Berry suggested elected officials tour the South Lift Station equalization basin expansion project. If interested, we can schedule March 14 at 5:30 pm as the time and date.
10. SURVEY CREW: Forrest Aldrich said there will be a survey crew on E Girard (east of 9th) possibly this week or next for the storm water project. The crew may also be on W Boston (1500 Block) and W Iowa (just west of L) for those repairs as well.
11. SNOW ORDINANCE: Chief Steve Bonnett reports there were 21 tickets and 12 impound during the snow storm Thursday night.
12. COMMUNITY SURVEY: The city conducts a community survey every 2 years and the last one was in 2009. Information Technology Manager Kurt Ripperger contacted Jeff Schott at the University of Iowa to again receive and tabulate the results along with developing the power point presentation for elected officials. The fee is $2,500 (same as 2009) and budgeted.
In the packet is the ‘09 survey for your review and comment. The recommendation is to keep the ’11 survey as close as possible to get a good comparison on the direction citizens prefer by comparing similar questions. 740 surveys (35% responded) were mailed in ‘09 and we anticipate a similar number in ‘11. Surveys will be mailed randomly at the end of April and due back the middle of May.
13. POOL EXPENSES: The average monthly expense for the pool is $2,069 of which $1,700 are scheduled transfers. The remaining $369 is for phone, utilities and insurance.
14. ONLINE UTILITY BILLING: Billing clerk Lindsey Offenburger reports 1,118 customers are signed online to view their accounts and 885 are paying online monthly. That means 885 less stamps, envelopes and bills (a savings of $375/month) and represents about 14% of our customers.
