City Council — Minutes

CITY COUNCIL MEETING TUESDAY MAY 14, 2024 7:00 P.M. Mayor Jason TePaske called the Regular meeting of the Augusta City Council to order at 7:00 p.m. Present were council members Sue Troxel, Bruce Stabenow, Patricia Wessel, Bob Chaffee, and Brian Leslin. Also present were Scott Williamson, and Cynthia Anderegg. Absent: Gordon O’Brien, Kasandra Thompson, and Leslie LaRose Pledge of Allegiance ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF PROPER POSTING A notice of the meeting and an agenda was posted at the three public places and the local newspaper was notified. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Motion by Troxel seconded by Chaffee to approve the agenda. Motion carried. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Motion by Wessel seconded by Chaffee to approve the minutes for the April 16, 2024, Re-organizational City Council meeting. Motion carried. PUBLIC COMMENT None APPROVAL OF DEPARMENT REPORTS Motion by Wessel seconded by Leslin to receive the Treasurer’s Report. Motion carried. Motion by Leslin seconded by Chaffee to approve the Police Department Report. Motion carried. Motion by Chaffee seconded by Wessel to approve the Senior Center Report. Motion carried. Motion by Wessel seconded by Troxel to approve the Library Report. Motion carried. Motion by Chaffee seconded by Troxel to approve the Public Works Department Report. Motion carried. Fire Department Report: received March 13, 2024 DISCUSS AND CONSIDER APPROVING AMENDMENT TO ENGINEERING AGREEMENT WITH DAVY ENGINEERING Motion by Wessel seconded by Chaffee to approve amending the engineering agreement with Davy Engineering. The amended agreement includes adjusting time and budgets, and updates to the 2023 Water System Projects for additions. This will be a net reduction of $30,730. The amendment is also necessary to complete closing the DNR loan for phases #2 and #3 of the project. Roll call vote: Ward 1, yes; Ward 2, yes; Ward 3, yes; Ward 4, yes; Ward 5, yes. Motion carried. UPDATE ON CITY IMPROVEMENT COMMITTEE AND RECREATION COMMITTEE’S CITY PARKS IMPROVEMENT PLAN • The Senior Center Director, Kasandra Thompson, has organized some volunteer groups who will start painting pavilions as weather permits. • The disc golf baskets will arrive on 5/15/24. The landscaping and trails at the course are about half done. The signs still need to be done. • Park signs are at the printers. • The Water Street Park repaired equipment has been reinstalled. • The trusses for the Senior Center pavilion are in. • Old signage displaying businesses is in bad shape at the Iron Brigade wayside. Katie Warner will look into who was involved in originally placing the signs and structure. • Brian Leslin is working on restoring the grills at the parks. DISCUSS AND CONSIDER QUOTE TO REPLACE CITY HALL AND POLICE DEPARTMENT’S SHARED SERVER Motion by Wessel seconded by Troxel to Table until the June Council meeting. Motion carried. The Council has requested more information and detailed specifications on the server. Collin Pomplun will send a revised quote. CONSIDER FORMING AND APPOINTING MEMBERS TO A STRATEGIC PLAN COMMITTEE Motion by Chaffee seconded by Troxel to Table until the June Council meeting. Motion carried. DISCUSS AND CONSIDER CITY COMMITTEE APPPOINTMENTS Motion by Chaffee seconded by Leslin to make the follow appointment changes the committee’s as follows: • Library Board: Affirming appointing Korinne Wiese to the Library Board as legal counsel confirmed there is no issue for her to serve on the Board while her child is an employee of the library. She will need to abstain from direct action that would affect her child’s employment. • Personnel Committee: to appoint Patricial Wessell and to remove Bruce Stabenow. • Plan Commission: to appoint Bruce Stabenow and to remove Patricia Wessel. • City Improvement Committee: to appoint Bruce Stabenow and to remove Brian Leslin. Motion carried. *Recommend appointing 2 alternate members to the Plan Commission. Need to review number of members needed. APPROVE AUTHORIZED SIGNERS FOR THE SALE OF CITY OWNED PROPERTY TO PALMER PLACE, LLC. THE COUNCIL APPROVED THIS SALE AT THE OCTOBER 10, 2023, CITY COUNCIL MEETING Motion by Chaffee seconded by Wessel to appoint Jason TePaske and Clerk-Treasurer Cynthia Anderegg as authorized signers for the sale of City owned property located on Colfax St to Palmer Place LLC as approved at the October 10, 2023, Regular City Council meeting. Roll call vote: Ward 1, yes; Ward 2, yes; Ward 3, yes; Ward 4, yes; Ward 5, yes. Motion carried. DISCUSS AND CONSIDER AMENDING CITY ORDINANCE 2.02(2), CHARTER ORDINANCE NO. 117 CITY CLERK-TREASURER POSITION FROM AN ELECTED TO AN APPOINTED POSITION Motion by Chaffee seconded by Troxel to refer the matter to the Personnel Committee. Motion carried. The Personnel Committee will meet on Monday, June 10th at 10:00 am. DISCUSS AND CONSIDER ADOPTING RESOLUTION 2024-0514A: LIMITED ENGLISH PROFICIENCY PLAN (LEP) Motion by Chaffee seconded by Leslin to adopt Resolution 2024-0514A: Limited English Proficiency Plan (LEP). Motion carried. The Limited English Proficiency Plan (LEP) is designed to assist Augusta staff to identify and better assist individuals with limited English proficiency. CONSIDER PROPOSALS FOR PREPARING FUNDING STRATEGY PLAN Motion by Wessel seconded by Chaffee to Table until a Strategic Plan Committee has been appointed. Motion carried. APPROVE BARTENDER LICENSE APPLICATIONS Motion by Leslin seconded by Chaffee to approve the bartender license application as follows: • application for Mulligan’s: Cortneay Busby • applications for Express Mart: Kayla Julian Motion carried. Application for Carrie Amo was denied due to lack of motion. ANNOUNCE AND DISCUSS UPCOMING MEETINGS AND EVENTS a. IDC Meeting – May 15th at 5:30 pm b. Board of Review – First Meeting – May 30th at 5:30 pm c. Joint City Improvement & Recreation Committee – June 19th at 5:30 pm d. Personnel Committee – June 10th at 10:00 am ADJOURNMENT Motion by Chaffee seconded by Troxel to adjourn the meeting. Cynthia Anderegg, City Clerk