HomeMy WebLinkAbout~Master - Special Meeting of the Ames City Council 02/01/1994MINUTES OF THE SPECIAL MEETING
OF THE AMES CITY COUNCIL
AMES, IOWA FEBRUARY 1, 1994
The Ames City Council met in special session at 5:00 p.m., February 1, 1994, in the City Council
Chambers in the City Hall, 515 Clark Avenue, pursuant to law with Mayor Curtis presiding and the
following Council Members present: Brown, Campbell, Hoffman, Parks, Tedesco and Wirth.
HACH MOLYBDENUM DISCHARGE: Motion by Campbell, Second by Brown, to adopt
RESOLUTION NO. 94-45 approving agreement between Hach Chemical and City of Ames
regarding cost to dispose of sewer sludge affected by molybdovanadate solution.
Coun. Tedesco asked if measures had been undertaken to prevent reoccurrences of inadvertent
discharges. Assistant Water Department Director Steve Setoodeh said City staff members have
been working with Hach Company on improving the pretreatment program in order to avoid
similar instances in the future. He said the company was making improvements to its facility,
however it was difficult to have a 100% failsafe system when working with mechanical devices.
Coun. Tedesco commended the Water Department staff for their work on this matter.
Roll Call Vote: 6-0. Resolution declared adopted unanimously, signed by the Mayor, and
hereby made a portion of these minutes.
Motion by Campbell, Second by Brown, to adopt RESOLUTION NO. 94-46 authorizing Staff
to begin remediation work for an amount not to exceed $230,000.
Roll Call Vote: 6-0. Resolution declared adopted unanimously, signed by the Mayor, and hereby
made a portion of these minutes.
Motion by Campbell, Second by Brown, to adopt RESOLUTION NO. 94-47 waiving formal
bidding procedures for purchases and rental agreements to expedite the remediation work
associated with the disposal.
Roll Call Vote: 6-0. Resolution declared adopted unanimously, signed by the Mayor, and hereby
made a portion of these minutes.
DISCUSSION ON CREATION OF STORMWATER UTILITY: City Manager Steve Schainker
noted that while Council would not be asked to make a decision on this item tonight, a decision
would need to be made by the February 15 budget hearing if this utility fund were going to be
created.
Public Works Director Paul Wiegand provided background on the current funding for
stormwater issues. He said at present, the operations portion of stormwater projects involves
ongoing traditional maintenance of the storm water system ($95,000 allocated in the current
budget year), and engineering personnel to accomplish site development review and other related
work ($11,000 allocated in the current budget year). He said the annual total of $105,000-
$110,000 is currently paid for from Road Use Tax Funds. He said the third component of the
existing system is the previous capital expenditures which include $50,000-$75,000 for outlet
erosion control or culvert problems--paid for from Road Use Tax Fund or Local Option Tax
Fund. Total funding has been in the neighborhood of $160,000 to $175,000.
The 1994-95 budget has proposed the creation of a stormwater utility as a means of developing
a new revenue source to address the proposed work on stormwater issues. Over a five-year
period, approximately $600,000 would be expended for annual capital projects in addition to
operational costs. The proposed utility would fund operations as well as the capital projects.
If the level of service is to be increased, funding sources beyond Road Use Tax and Local
Option Tax funds must be identified. The options include: 1) Road Use Tax funds for
operations and G.O. bonds for capital projects; 2) Road Use Tax funds for operations and special
assessments levied against the benefited areas for capital projects; 3) General property tax levy
for both operations and capital; 4) Capital Improvement Revenue fund for capital projects and
Road Use Tax for operations; and, 5) Stormwater utility for both operations and capital.
There was discussion concerning the funding source options as well as the advantages and
disadvantages of each. It was pointed out that continuing to utilize Road Use Taxes would
restrict any increases in street maintenance that are needed. The G.O. Bonds disadvantage
would be using a portion of the allowable debt service, but there would be the advantage of
being flexible in annual bond sales to match annual needs with no special payment or billing
program required. Special assessments levied against those benefited by a specific project
would not involve city-wide cost sharing and would involve the sale of G.O. Bonds for
construction financing with repayment made through special assessments payments vs. property
taxes. However, extensive engineering and legal staff time would be required with this option.
A general property tax levy could severely limit programs currently funded by the general levy
unless other revenue sources can be identified for them, however, there are no special billing
programs needed for this option. Currently, the State Code allows the creation of a Capital
Improvement Revenue fund for projects such as storm sewers and stormwater improvements,
however, this must be approved by a majority of the voters which could raise up to 67.5% per
$1,000 valuation. The advantage of this fund is that it is a "pay as you go"-type program and
does not decrease the allowable debt service. It is also not affected by the property tax freeze
since it requires an enabling election. There are no special programs needed to develop this
option.
The creation of a new stormwater utility user-based system covering both operations and capital
project costs was discussed. It would involve costs associated with establishing and updating
a data base as well as accounting work to generate a billing statement. Administrative costs to
set up a separate billing system would cost approximately $80,000 to $100,000 annually. If the
existing utility billing system could be used, administrative costs are estimated to be $50,000 to
$75,000. The Council discussed equitability in the creation of a stormwater utility. Further
discussion was held regarding design standards for storm sewer systems versus the level of
service provided to citizens.
COMMENTS: There were no comments.
ADJOURNMENT: The meeting adjourned at 6:26 p.m.
Sandra L. Ryan, City Clerk Larry R. Curtis, Mayor