HomeMy WebLinkAbout~Master - Regular Meeting of the Ames City Council 05/25/1993MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING
OF THE AMES CITY COUNCIL
AMES, IOWA MAY 25, 1993
The Ames City Council met in regular session at 5:35 p.m., May 25, 1993, in the City Council
Chambers in the City Hall, 515 Clark Avenue, pursuant to law with Mayor Larry Curtis presiding
and the following Council Members present: Brown, Campbell, Hertz, Hoffman, Parks, and Wirth.
COUNCIL/STAFF WORKSHOP ON AFFORDABLE HOUSING: Mayor Curtis noted this
would be the first of several meetings in the process of determining a policy on Affordable Housing.
Housing Coordinator Vanessa Baker-Latimer presented background information on housing data
in Ames as contained in the document entitled "Affordable Housing Workshop, May 25, 1993,
Outline" which had been distributed to the Council. She reviewed the difference between HUD and
banking standards for housing affordability levels, and reviewed various definitions pertaining to
the issue of housing. She described the housing market in Ames as being very tight, noting the
median price for a home in Ames in 1992 was $78,500. She said in 1991, there were 479 houses
that ranged in price from $150,000 and higher. She discussed ranges of rental costs in the City, as
well as the estimated cost and number of building permits issued for new construction in 1992. She
discussed several privately-owned subsidized rental housing units that currently exist in the City.
Ms. Baker-Latimer discussed possible definitions of "Affordable Housing" for Council's
consideration: a "holistic" definition and a "targeted population" definition. She presented
information about family income in Ames, saying the median family income was $36,478, with
4,335 families in Ames earning less than that median income.
Ms. Baker-Latimer noted this would be a 2-part workshop--with information on City programs and
efforts to promote affordable housing, as well as what other cities are doing, presented at a future
Council meeting.
Council members asked questions regarding the data presented, and discussed the suggested
definitions of "affordable housing." Coun. Parks said there was a need first to define what
constituted "housing," and then start putting affordability standards on it.
There was discussion of changing the words "home buyer's" in the proposed definitions of affordable
housing to "occupant's" in order to include availability in terms of rental housing in any definition
adopted by Council. There was discussion of whether Council would focus its attention on all price
ranges of housing or focus on a primary target.
Ms. Baker-Latimer distributed a handout for the second worksession, and the Council discussed
possible dates for the meeting.
Motion by Parks, Second by Campbell, to hold the second worksession on Affordable Housing at
5:30 p.m. on June 22, 1993.
Vote on Motion: 6-0. Motion declared carried unanimously.
RECESS: Mayor Curtis called a recess at 7:05 p.m.
RECONVENE: The regular meeting reconvened at 7:15 p.m.
INTERNATIONAL PARTNER CITIES ASSOCIATION PRESENTATION: Dennis Dietz,
International Partner Cities Association, discussed that group's upcoming trip to Enzan City, Japan,
noting Mayor Curtis would be the official head of the delegation. He said the group would take
several pieces of artwork from Ames Middle School students as gifts from the City of Ames to a
middle school in Enzan City, as well as a banner to present to Enzan City displaying the Ames logo
designed by the Convention and Visitors' Bureau. He said a paper cut by Linda Emerson was
prepared to commemorate the visit.
Motion by Brown, Second by Wirth, to adopt RESOLUTION NO. 93-182, a Resolution to Extend
Greetings and Salutations from the Citizens of the City of Ames, Iowa, USA to the Citizens of
Enzan City, Yamanashi, Japan.
Roll Call Vote: 6-0. Resolution declared adopted unanimously, signed by the Mayor, and hereby
made a portion of these minutes.
CONSENT AGENDA: Motion by Parks, Second by Hoffman, to approve the following items on
the Consent Agenda, removing items 9 and 10 for separate consideration:
Motion to approve the minutes of the regular meeting of May 11, 1993
Motion to approve payment of claims
Motion to approve renewal of a Class C Beer license for Snyder Drug, Inc., 207 South Duff
Avenue
Public Art Policy and Acquisition Commission Requests:
a. RESOLUTION NO. 93-183 approving the use of up to $500 of the $15,000 PAPAC 1993-94
budget allocation for administrative/ educational expenses
b. RESOLUTION NO. 93-184 approving the addition of two seats on the Commission and
appointments of Virginia Stafford and Joy Munn to fill two and three-year terms, respectively
RESOLUTION NO. 93-185 approving funding contract with International Partner Cities
Association for FY 1993-94
RESOLUTION NO. 93-186 approving 1993-94 Pay Plan
RESOLUTION NO. 93-187 approving preliminary plans and specifications for the 1993 Street
Reconstruction Program No. 1; setting June 9, 1993 as bid due date and June 22, 1993 as date
of hearing and award of contract (removed for separate consideration; see action at the end of
this section)
RESOLUTION NO. 93-188 approving contract and bond for Wirth Construction Company in
the amount of $63,817.20 for the Ontario Bike Path Construction Project (Removed for separate
consideration; see action at the end of this section)
RESOLUTION NO. 93-189 accepting completion of water main improvements in Lots 1 and
2 of Valley East, Plat 2
RESOLUTION NO. 93-190 accepting completion of Ash Disposal Project for the Electric
Utility Department in the amount of $51,079.50
RESOLUTION NO. 93-191 accepting completion of South 16th Street 69kV Tie Line
Relocation Project in the amount of $86,514.19
Roll Call Vote: 6-0. Resolutions declared adopted unanimously, signed by the Mayor, and hereby
made a portion of these minutes.
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SEPARATE CONSIDERATION:
1993 RECONSTRUCTION PROGRAM NO. 1: Coun. Brown noted a correction to the Council
Action Form, changing the description of the resurfacing program on Storm Street to read "from Ash
to Hayward Avenue."
Motion by Brown, Second by Hoffman, to adopt RESOLUTION NO. 93-187 approving preliminary
plans and specifications for the 1993 Street Reconstruction Program No. 1; setting June 9, 1993 as
bid due date and June 22, 1993 as date of hearing and award of contract.
Roll Call Vote: 6-0. Resolution declared adopted unanimously, signed by the Mayor, and hereby
made a portion of these minutes.
APPROVAL OF CONTRACT AND BOND FOR ONTARIO BIKE PATH CONSTRUCTION
PROJECT: Coun. Wirth said she would abstain from voting on this item, as the construction
company was owned by a relative.
Motion by Parks, Second by Campbell, to adopt RESOLUTION NO. 93-188 approving contract and
bond for Wirth Construction Company in the amount of $63,817.20 for the Ontario Bike Path
Construction Project.
Roll Call Vote: 5-0-1. Resolution declared adopted unanimously, signed by the Mayor, and hereby
made a portion of these minutes.
PUBLIC FORUM: Gay Stone, 1613 Top O Hollow, said her husband and she owned the Grove
Cafe at 124 Main Street. She said she wanted to present Council with a petition of 51 names asking
Council to reconsider their decision regarding the change from one-way to two-way traffic on Main
Street. She said she and her husband were not properly notified of this change when it was being
discussed. She said they did not receive flyers from the Downtown Betterment Association, and
were not notified of the meetings. She said if they had been notified, they could have worked with
the DBA to find less drastic ways to resolve some of the problems. She said the change as proposed
would create problems. She said she questioned how Cy-Ride and Dial-A-Ride users would benefit
from a change to a two-way street, and disagreed with the claim that the change would result in a
smoother traffic flow. She said the recent parking survey should have been conducted prior to the
Main Street decision being made. She said since the work on Main Street had been postponed due
to rainy weather, now would be a good time for Council to reconsider their action. She submitted
the petition into the record.
REQUEST FROM IOWA SPECIAL OLYMPICS COMMITTEE: Motion by Brown, Second
by Hoffman, to approve the request from the Iowa Special Olympics Committee for a fireworks
permit for Opening Ceremonies on May 27, 1993.
Vote on Motion: 6-0. Motion declared carried unanimously.
REQUEST TO MAINTAIN FENCE JETTIES ALONG SQUAW CREEK: Motion by Brown,
Second by Wirth, to deny the request from H&F Builders for public maintenance of erosion control
jetties on the east bank of Squaw Creek in the Northridge Parkway Subdivision.
Vote on Motion: 6-0. Motion to deny declared carried unanimously.
REQUEST FROM AMES TECHNOLOGIES, INC.: Motion by Wirth, Second by Brown, to
approve submittal of letter of support to accompany grant application to Iowa Department of Natural
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Resources for Ames Technologies, Inc.
Vote on Motion: 6-0. Motion declared carried unanimously.
ASSESSMENT METHOD FOR ALLEY PAVING PROJECT BETWEEN EIGHTH
STREET, NINTH STREET, GRAND AVENUE, AND HODGE AVENUE: Motion by Hertz,
Second by Brown, to adopt RESOLUTION NO. 93-192 approving the use of lot area, frontage, and
dwelling units to establish assessments for the alley paving project between Eighth Street, Ninth
Street, Grand Avenue, and Hodge Avenue.
Mitch Dillavou, 713 8th Street, said the property owners who signed the petition wanted assessments
based on the number of dwelling units using the alley, rather than the City's standard method of
determining assessments based on lot area and proximity to the improvement. He said two of the
property owners had signed the petition based on the assumption that their assessments would be
$0. He said he had been told by Staff that the assessment approach could be changed.
Coun. Hertz noted two of the properties were duplexes and would therefore pay a double amount
under the requested method. She asked if those property owners agreed to the proposed method of
assessment.
Mr. Dillavou said he didn't know if the rental property owners were aware the petition had been
circulated. He said he'd been told it was necessary to get 50% of the property owners' signatures in
order to start the petition process. He said he didn't think it was possible to get 100% approval of
any method.
Assistant City Manager Bob Kindred said although Mr. Dillavou had been informed of the City's
standard method of determining assessments, there was no legislation stating that an alternate
method could not be used.
There was discussion regarding whether it would be difficult to justify deviating from the usual City
practice for method of assessment, without 100% of residents' signatures.
City Attorney John Klaus said the State statute addresses the basis of benefit, such as the market
value of property before and after the improvement, rather than a basis of nuisance.
Mr. Dillavou said the method requested by the property owners would be based primarily on usage
of vehicles.
There was discussion about various benefits derived from paving the alley, other than actual frontage
abutting the alley.
Public Works Director Paul Wiegand said the City did deviate from its usual practice for method
of assessment in one instance that he could recall, but in that situation 100% of the property owners
agreed to the alternate method.
Ed Hendrickson, 4201 Arizona Circle, said he owned property at 805 Grand. He said he hadn't been
contacted about this petition and felt he should have. He said Methods B, C, and D all took into
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account the number of units. He said there were 18 units on the block, and he questioned how the
percentages had been arrived at. He said he was not necessarily opposed to paving the alley, but
felt they needed more signatures. He said he would prefer Method A, the City's current method,
based on lot area and proximity to the improvement.
There was discussion about the City's policy for percentage of signatures required to initiate the
process. Public Works Director Paul Wiegand said the policy was that signatures were required
from owners representing 50% of the properties to initiate a request.
Mark Redmond, 822 Hodge, said the petition was not distributed to every property owner. He said
they got only 50% of the residents in order to initiate the process. He said he knew of two other
residents on the block that would sign the petition.
It was noted that Council's action this evening was not to initiate the assessments, but to determine
the method by which assessments would be made.
Question called on the motion.
Vote on Motion: 2-4. Motion declared defeated.
Motion by Campbell, Second by Hertz, to adopt RESOLUTION NO. 93-192 approving the use of
Method A, the City's current method based on lot area and proximity to the improvement, to
determine the assessments, and to suggest to the neighborhood that if they could get 100% of the
property owners to agree on an alternative method, that alternative could be considered.
Coun. Brown said it was important that the residents contact the owners of the rental units regarding
this issue.
Roll Call Vote: 6-0. Resolution declared adopted unanimously, signed by the Mayor, and hereby
made a portion of these minutes.
HEALTH CARE STUDY COMMITTEE: Coun. Campbell said at the meeting of the Health Care
Study Committee last week, it was noted that McFarland Clinic had two representatives while the
independent health care providers had one representative to represent twelve individuals. She said
the Committee had requested the appointment of an additional independent health care provider to
serve on the Committee.
Motion by Hertz, Second by Wirth, to adopt RESOLUTION NO. 93-193 approving appointment
of additional independent health care provider to serve on the Health Care Study Committee.
Roll Call Vote: 6-0. Resolution declared adopted unanimously, signed by the Mayor, and hereby
made a portion of these minutes.
Mayor Curtis said he would solicit interest and make a suggested appointment to Council by the
June 8, 1993 Council meeting.
Coun. Campbell said the Committee also noted that the Hospital Board of Trustees had appointed
alternates to serve on the Committee in the event the regular appointees were unable to attend. She
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said the Committee had decided that other groups represented on the Committee would be allowed
to have alternates as well. She said that raised the issue of whether the citizen at-large members
should also have alternates appointed.
Mayor Curtis noted he had recommended that Council deny the request for alternates to the citizen
at-large appointees. He said he was against having any alternates appointed to the Committee.
Coun. Parks agreed. He said there was ample opportunity for people to attend the meetings, provide
input, and be a part of the process. Coun. Wirth said she questioned why alternates were needed at
all. She said the treatment needed to be equal -- either everyone had alternates, or no one did.
City Attorney John Klaus said the difference lay in the fact that the public at-large was not a discrete
number, while the other groups represented on the Committee were. He said there was no way to
select a proxy for the individuals the Mayor had appointed as citizen at-large Committee members.
Motion by Wirth, Second by Parks, to adopt RESOLUTION NO. 93-194 denying the request to
appoint alternates for citizen at-large representatives to serve on the Health Care Study Committee,
and encourage the Committee to reconsider its policy of allowing alternates for any members.
Roll Call Vote: 4-0-2, with Couns. Campbell and Brown abstaining. Resolution declared adopted
4-0-2, signed by the Mayor, and hereby made a portion of these minutes.
Coun. Parks left the meeting at 8:00 p.m.
REQUEST FROM FELLOWS SCHOOL FOR STREET CLOSURES: Motion by Brown,
Second by Hoffman, to adopt RESOLUTION NO. 93-195 approving the request from Fellows
School to close McKinley Drive (Hayes Avenue to Northwestern Avenue) and Northwestern
Avenue (McKinley Drive to 20th Street), and to waive the mandatory use of sidewalks, for the
Fellows School Book Parade on June 1, 1993 from 6:00 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.
Roll Call Vote: 5-0. Resolution declared adopted unanimously, signed by the Mayor, and hereby
made a portion of these minutes.
HEARING ON FINAL AMENDMENTS FOR FY 1992/93 BUDGET: The public hearing was
declared open.
Budget Officer Carol Collings reviewed highlights of the final amendments to the City's 1992/93
program budget as contained in the final amendment document. She said there was a General Fund
improvement of $11,600 from the February 1992 budget adoption to the present. She said lower
State revenues resulted in a total General Fund cut in State dollars of just over $97,000, and interest
earnings were almost $165,000 lower overall. She said almost $474,000 would be saved in the
current year due to the sale of the electric revenue refunding bonds, and savings on the life of that
issue would be $1,188,000. She also noted the new addition of a Developer's Trust Fund to hold
money advanced from developers for future improvements.
There being no one wishing to testify further, the public hearing was declared closed.
Motion by Brown, Second by Wirth, to adopt RESOLUTION NO. 93-196 amending the current
budget for Fiscal Year ending June 30, 1993 as proposed.
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Roll Call Vote: 5-0. Resolution declared adopted unanimously, signed by the Mayor, and hereby
made a portion of these minutes.
HEARING ON GAS TURBINE GENERATOR INSPECTION PROJECT: Mayor Curtis
declared the public hearing open. There being no one present wishing to testify, the public hearing
was declared closed.
Motion by Hertz, Second by Hoffman, to adopt RESOLUTION NO. 93-197 approving final plans
and specifications and awarding a contract to Baker/MO Services, Inc. of Cypress, Texas, in the
amount of $35,135.00 for the Gas Turbine Generator Inspection Project.
Roll Call Vote: 5-0. Resolution declared adopted unanimously, signed by the Mayor, and hereby
made a portion of these minutes.
ORDINANCE DESIGNATING HAYWARD AVENUE PARKING CHANGES: Motion by
Brown, Second by Campbell, to pass on first reading an ordinance amending the Municipal Code
to designate parking restrictions on Hayward Avenue between Chamberlain Street and Mortensen
Road.
Roll Call Vote: 5-0 Motion declared carried unanimously.
ORDINANCE AMENDING OFFICIAL FLOOD PLAIN ZONING MAP: Motion by Hoffman,
Second by Wirth, to pass on second reading an ordinance amending the Official Flood Plain Zoning
Map and Municipal Code for the purpose of enacting a revision of flood plain delineations
pertaining to the Teagarden Area Watershed.
Roll Call Vote: 5-0. Motion declared carried unanimously.
ORDINANCE ESTABLISHING MECHANICAL BOARD OF APPEALS TERMS OF
OFFICE: Motion by Brown, Second by Hoffman, to pass on second reading an ordinance
amending the Municipal Code regarding Mechanical Board of Appeals terms of office.
Roll Call Vote: 5-0. Motion declared carried unanimously.
ORDINANCE REZONING LAND GENERALLY LOCATED NORTH OF SOUTH 16TH
STREET AND EAST OF THE FORMER CHICAGO/NORTHWESTERN RAILROAD
RIGHT OF WAY: Motion by Brown, Second by Hoffman, to pass on third reading and adopt
ORDINANCE NO. 3226 rezoning approximately 38 acres of land from A-1 to G-C and
approximately 38 acres of land from A-1 to R-3, all generally located north of South 16th Street and
east of the former Chicago/Northwestern Railroad right of way.
Roll Call Vote: 5-0 Ordinance declared adopted unanimously, signed by the Mayor, and hereby
made a portion of these minutes.
AUTHORIZATION FOR SPECIFIED TESTING AT DEPOT SITE: Motion by Brown,
Second by Campbell, to adopt RESOLUTION NO. 93-198 authorizing Hubbell Realty Company
access to Depot site for specified testing.
Roll Call Vote: 5-0. Resolution declared adopted unanimously, signed by the Mayor, and hereby
made a portion of these minutes.
City Manager Steve Schainker reminded Council that heating oil traces had previously been found
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in the basement of the Depot itself, noting heating oil is not a regulated substance. He said in order
to ease the developers' minds, it would be well to remove those traces if the State does not issue a
"clean bill of health" on the site.
Motion by Hoffman, Second by Campbell, to adopt RESOLUTION NO. 93-199 authorizing the
expenditure of not to exceed $3,000 from the contingency fund for Public Works staff time to
remove the traces of heating oil at the Depot site, and also for engineering services to perform
further testing to verify that the substance has been removed.
Roll Call Vote: 5-0. Resolution declared adopted unanimously, signed by the Mayor, and hereby
made a portion of these minutes.
AWARD OF CONTRACT FOR CITY COMPUTER UPGRADES: Motion by Wirth, Second
by Campbell, to adopt RESOLUTION NO. 93-200 waiving formal bidding procedures and awarding
a contract to IBM Corporation and Help System, Inc., for purchase of AS/400 upgrades and backup
software.
Stan Davis, Director of Information Services, said there had been an error in the original
configuration for the IBM upgrade, and corrected calculations resulted in a $4,911.00 increase or
a total purchase price of $153,042 for the IBM upgrade.
Roll Call Vote: 5-0. Resolution declared adopted unanimously, signed by the Mayor, and hereby
made a portion of these minutes.
OFF-SITE IMPROVEMENTS FOR LOT 1, SECOND ADDITION TO SOUTHWOOD
SUBDIVISION (K-MART): Motion by Campbell, Second by Hoffman, to adopt RESOLUTION
NO. 93-201, approving a development agreement for off-site improvements associated with Lot 1,
Second Addition to Southwood Subdivision (K-Mart).
Director of Planning and Housing Brian O'Connell noted the development agreement stipulated that
the developer will assume financial responsibility for installation of deceleration lanes at the
intersection of South Duff and Chestnut Street and at South Duff and South 16th, as well as the
future requirement for a traffic control signal at the main driveway to K-Mart and South 16th. He
said proceeds for this future improvement had been received and in this instance, the agreement
stipulated the funds be placed in an interest-bearing account, with the interest proceeds being
payable to the developer. However, he noted only the City could draw on these funds. He also
noted a new fund had been created in the budget to deal with similar issues in the future.
City Manager Steve Schainker reminded Council there was also a financial obligation on the City's
part for these traffic improvements, and pointed out it was currently unbudgeted.
Coun. Brown suggested an off-site development policy be created to provide consistency and so
future similar instances would not have to be dealt with on a case by case basis.
Roll Call Vote: 5-0. Resolution declared adopted unanimously, signed by the Mayor, and hereby
made a portion of these minutes.
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AGREEMENT WITH ISU REGARDING BICYCLE LICENSE SALES ON CAMPUS:
Motion by Hertz, Second by Hoffman, to adopt RESOLUTION NO. 93-201 approving an agreement
with Iowa State University allowing bicycle license sales on Campus, and sharing bicycle license
revenue.
City Manager Steve Schainker noted the 50/50 revenue sharing would apply to the total amount of
revenue brought in by both the City and ISU. He said however, ISU was required to use their
portion only for bikeway construction, maintenance, and improvements, not for overhead or
administrative costs.
Coun. Hoffman noted an error on the Council Action Form which was clarified by City Manager
Schainker. He said the agreement stipulated that ISU shall be entitled to 50% of all bicycle license
revenue net of City costs, subject to the City not receiving less than $3500 in the first year of this
agreement and not less than $10,500 in the second year.
Roll Call Vote: 5-0. Resolution declared adopted unanimously, signed by the Mayor, and hereby
made a portion of these minutes.
ENGINEERING SERVICES CONTRACT FOR RELOCATION OF U.S. #30/DAYTON
AVENUE LIFT STATION: Motion by Hoffman, Second by Wirth, to adopt RESOLUTION NO.
93-202 approving professional engineering services contract for relocation of U.S. #30/Dayton
Avenue lift station.
Roll Call Vote: 5-0. Resolution declared adopted unanimously, signed by the Mayor, and hereby
made a portion of these minutes.
RESOLUTION APPROVING IOWA DOT PRECONSTRUCTION AGREEMENT FOR
MODIFYING 24TH STREET/GRAND INTERSECTION: Motion by Campbell, Second by
Wirth, to adopt RESOLUTION NO. 93-203 approving Iowa Department of Transportation
preconstruction agreement for modifying 24th Street/Grand intersection.
Daniel Stipp, 1621 Grand Avenue, said he was the Associate Pastor of Grand Avenue Baptist
Church. He said he had several questions about this item, and didn't receive any notice about the
project until yesterday. He expressed concerns about which transmission poles would be moved,
and how the bike path would affect the sidewalk. He said as a homeowner on the west side of
Murray and Grand, that would affect him as well.
Public Works Director Paul Wiegand said the transmission pole line relocation will stay within City
right of way. He said they will not infringe on the church's property. City Manager Steve Schainker
noted it was a DOT requirement that pole lines had to be moved back to the DOT standard when an
improvement was made.
Mr. Wiegand said the bikepath would probably be a combination bikepath and walkway. He said
the nearest four feet of walkway would be the homeowner's responsibility, while the outside four
feet would be the City's responsibility.
Mayor Curtis noted that while the DOT will be building a bikepath through the project area, this
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item was for approval of the 24th and Grand intersection improvements, not the approval of the
bikepath. Coun. Brown expressed concern that property owners be notified. It was noted that this
was a DOT project, and that property owners would have to contact the DOT for right of way and
access control.
Charles Nelton, 5101 Emerson, said he managed the North Grand Kentucky Fried Chicken store,
and noted the DOT claimed his sign was in their right of way. He said the sign had been there for
approximately 20 years, and asked if it had been improperly placed at that time.
Mr. Wiegand noted there were no purchases of right of way for that side of Grand. He said final
survey information will be required prior to action on the sign, and said the question of who moves
it will depend on whether or not a permit was issued originally. He said the surveying would
probably be done by the end of the summer.
Roll Call Vote: 5-0. Resolution declared adopted unanimously, signed by the Mayor, and hereby
made a portion of these minutes.
COMMENTS: Coun. Brown said she had concerns about earlier comments regarding Council's
decision to change to two-way traffic on Main Street. She said she was under the impression that
meetings had been held with the Downtown Betterment Association and with the Chamber of
Commerce and that there was agreement on the issue.
City Manager Schainker noted the request originally came from a subcommittee of the DBA and
was not Council initiated or City staff initiated. He said City staff had worked with the DBA to
make sure everyone was aware of what was going on. He said however, it now appeared some
people had not been informed, and not everyone agreed with the proposed change.
Coun. Campbell said it was important to point out that the City Staff had recommended changing
the angle of the parking to 30 degrees rather than 45 degrees, in an effort to diminish the traffic
tension problems. She said the DBA had opposed that recommendation in order to maintain the
number of parking spaces.
Coun. Brown reminded Staff she had previously asked for a report on the boiler replacement at the
Municipal pool.
Coun. Brown said she wished to recognize Coun. Campbell's leadership at last week's Health Care
Study Committee meeting. She said they had a good group of people on the Committee, and they
had their work cut out for them.
Coun. Brown asked for a report from Risk Manager Jon-Scott Johnson on workers compensation
claims.
Coun. Hoffman said she had received requests for listening devices in the Council Chambers for the
hearing impaired, and asked if Staff had done any more research on the issue.
Assistant City Manager Bob Kindred reviewed how when the auditorium improvements were made,
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money was budgeted to put in an FM transmission system which would accommodate hearing
impaired individuals. He said the original intent was to be able to use the transmitter in both the
Council Chambers and the auditorium. He said the estimated cost for a new system would be $800.
Coun. Hoffman suggested that Staff provide a report at the next Council meeting on the feasibility
of sharing the system with the auditorium.
Coun. Campbell reported on the Health Care Study Committee. She said they will be meeting in
the Council Chambers on the first and third Monday of each month, and will make every effort to
get as many individuals involved in the process as possible. She noted each meeting would be
broadcast over the City's cable access channel.
ADJOURNMENT: The meeting was adjourned at 9:10 p.m.
___________________________ _________________________________
Sandra L. Ryan, City Clerk Larry R. Curtis, Mayor
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