LARCHWOOD CITY COUNCIL MINUTES

January 8, 2008

The City Council of Larchwood met in regular session on January 7, 2008 at 6:30 PM with Mayor Leonard Vanden Bosch calling the meeting to order with the following council members present: Sharon Meffert, Dean Snyders, Mike Metzger, Ted Underberg, Josh Feucht. Also present were Verdona Kelly and Carla Manning.

Correspondence

Thank you letters were received from Betty Smith for the plaque and Larchwood Library for the furnace replacement.

Rebates

Electric Water Heater Rebates were approved on motions from Feucht and Underberg to Jenny Kerkvliet, Jordon Smidt, Ken Wulf, Keith Kramer and Nick Vanden Bosch.

Liquor License

Motion by Metzger, second by Underberg to approve the renewal of liquor licenses for Larchwood Food Center, Main Street Bar & Grill and Larchwood Quick Stop.

The Maintenance report was read by Mayor Vanden Bosch, the new video system is installed and working at the Rec Center. A new sump pump was installed in the Community Center and carpet was removed due to a water problem, ceramic tile is ordered and will be installed in the future. The sander box on the plow truck needs to be replaced, Tony is looking for a new one. Snow has been plowed and Tony is working on the streets.

Budgets Submissions

The Council reviewed budget submissions from the Library, Park Board and Betterment Club the following were approved: Library for $58,813 on motions from Feucht and Metzger; Park for $8,000 for sidewalk and landscaping on motions from Meffert and Metzger; and Betterment Club $3,000 on motions from Snyders and Underberg. The Council will have a Budget Workshop on January 29.

Fireman’s Grant

The Larchwood Fire Department has been rewarded a grant in the amount of $44,061 for fitness equipment and physicals for the firefighters. The Fire Department has graciously decided to put the equipment in the Recreation Center. They are required to match the grant by 5%, motion by Meffert second by Metzger to match $2,203.05. There has been a citizen’s request that the grant be used to complete the flooring, the grant is only for equipment, exams and immunizations and cannot be spent on anything else.

Amending Zoning Ordinance

The City Clerk and Council have been approached on changing zoning regulations and in review of past applications they have found that there has been no consistency on zoning rules and they need to be clarified. The Council on motions from Underberg and Snyders have agreed to keep the zoning the way it is, but to amend the Zoning Ordinance to allow alterations to residential property in commercial zones as long as they abide by the Residential Zoning Ordinance. If a Zoning problem would occur in the future the Council would consider spot zoning.

TIF/Urban Renewal Zone

Larchwood’s City Attorney, Lachlan Bonander has been examining Larchwood’s Urban Renewal Plan and has found that amendments to the Urban Renewal Zone in the past years were not filed properly. The City Attorney is working with Northwest Iowa Planning and Zoning and a law firm in Des Moines to get this corrected. The Council has been advised that this could be costly as it will all have to be redone. The Council will be updated as steps are taken.

Parking Regulations

The Council agreed to make an amendment to the Parking Regulations to state that no vehicle can be parked on main street for over 48 hours year round or they will be ticketed by the sheriff’s department. Citizens are reminded that parking within 20 feet of the entrance to the fire station is prohibited.

2008 Baby Boom

The Mayor has been notified of a baby boom in Larchwood. He would like to give the parents of any baby born in the City of Larchwood in 2008 a $50 credit on their electric bill. The Council approved on motions from Metzger and Meffert.

Josh Feucht would like to purchase Lot 2 of the Commercial Subdivision. The Council agreed to allow him to purchase for 5% down. Also he would like to install a 150 K.V.A. transformer on his current property to eventually be moved to Lot 2. The Council approved on motions from Metzger and Underberg to purchase the transformer according to a contract stating that the business is a separate entity, Feucht’s will pay for all dirt work and moving costs in the future and agree to use power on this transformer, no matter where it is placed for at least 7 years and will pay a monthly demand charge according to the price of the transformer.

Financial Reports and Minutes from the December 3rd meeting were reviewed and signed on motions from Snyders and Meffert. Revenue for the month is as follows: General $14,755.08; Water $9,934.69; Sewer $7,161.44; Electric $50,202.77; Garbage $5,074.24; Road Use $5,727.80; Grand Total $92,856.02. Expenditures for the month were: General $24,066.25; Water $6,695.15; Electric $36,492.94; Sewer $1,080.10; Garbage $4,691.00; Road Use $2,102.33; Grand Total $75,127.77.

The following bills were presented for payment: Aramark-Mats $137.20; DRG Mechanical-Library Furnace $2,252.00; Econo Sign-Signs $194.70; Hach-Water Test Supplies $90.35; Scott Hanson-Water&Sewer Reports $1,775.00; Hillyard-Supplies $213.52; The Shop-parts $8.40; Countryside Auto-Signs $60.00; IMFOA-Dues $30.00; Iowa One Call-locating $21.60; Hydraulic World-parts $78.90; Larchwood Community Group-Santa Day $50.00; Larchwood Lumber-supplies $469.91; Lyon Rural Electric-power $27,761.55; Lyon Rural Electric-labor $5,089.57; Lyon Sioux Rural Water-water $5,249.95; Mangold-Water Tests $36.00; Midwest Alarm-cameras, keys $3,124.55; Meyer Electric-service $707.04; Mid-Sioux-donation $500.00; Stateline Graphics-legal, advertising $700.23; Security Financial-bond $100.00; Stensland Sand & Gravel-snow removal $1,555.03; Sheehan Mack-parts $54.82; Campbell Supply-parts $19.40; Truenorth-Insurance $84.24; Tri State Ready Mix-lid $32.00; Angie Bos-cleaning $87.56; Jenny Kerkvliet-rebate $100.00; Connie Douglass-cleaning $384.75; Tony DeSmet-bonus $50.00; Sandi DeSmet-mileage, supplies, bonus $271.09; Josh Feucht-refrigerator/gym $441.44; Hoist-parts $41.00; Iowa Utilities Board-assessment $119.57; Jordon Smidt-Rebate $100.00; Ken Wulf-Rebate $100.00; Keith Kramer-Rebate $100.00; Alliance-phone $152.55; Ipers-retirement $828.00; Larchwood Library-allocation $3,388.70; R&S Sanitation $4,691.00; Security Savings-FICA $1,581.75; Treasurer, State of Iowa-State Tax $606.00; Treasurer-State of Iowa-Sales Tax $2,588.72; Tony DeSmet-phone, tools $60.00; Leonard Vanden Bosch-salary, phone $206.90; Internal Revenue Service-FICA $3,523.30. Payroll $5,309.48.