by Mari Radtke
During consideration of a bid for 317 S Maple Street, Dennis Werkmeister questioned how to know if a bid is reasonable. Discussion with City Clerk Michelle Wilson explained that she would have no way of knowing if council was approving inflated costs. Mayor Marlin Sjaarda tried to move the conversation along by noting that questions about claims procedures should be considered. Wilson added that such questions should be brought to her attention before a meeting so that she could have time to find answers to the questions. That kind of procedure would bring up concerns for openness to the public. Claims did get approved.
Nelda Werkmeister opened the TCA presentation as the At-Large representative. Larry Schweback remained the Paullina representative. She gave a brief history of TCA and Paullina.
DJ Weber took the floor and opened with an invitation for questions. He then outlined the services offered to the 4 community members of the 28E that makes up “The Community Agency” and updated them on project status, primarily fiber installation. Larry Schweback next reminded council that TCA is a municipal utlity. “This is ours,” he said.
Amber Ebel and Lauri Struve spoke on behalf of the Ambulance Service. Ebel expressed concern about EMT training reimbursement. She explained that the County will no longer pay training expenses for new EMT training from the development fund but will give the service a larger amount of money. She expressed concern about not being able to get new EMTs if a student would have to pay for the class and wait until passing the test before reimbursement. Councilperson Carol Honkomp asked how many ambulance team members Paullina has and how many are EMTs. Instead of anwering with a number, Struve listed the EMTs and excluded member nurses because of the difference in the training requirements. Ebel clarified that the test being passed in a different fiscal year is presenting a concern. She also explained how the ambulance service budgets its income from both county and city to on-call payroll to the volunteers. Call staffing was discussed and how payroll worked for that circumstance. In an effort to understand what is a good policy and budget request, it was noted that last year’s budget was very close, “but okay,” according to Wilson. She suggested a quarterly or every couple months budget check. Discussion of passing the test and how to handle it with regard to getting licensed and for course cost reimbursement outlined a desire for a balance between a hard test for an EMT to know their stuff and a student being able to pass the test.
The termination of lease request by MercyOne was discussed. Issues were the days without service and the days of notice to terminate. Dennis Werkmeister moved with Steve Heeren seconding to allow the termination of the lease after 45 days following the removal of all Mercy One equipment. The motion passed.
Council approved use of the Laue Room by the South O’Brien CAPS program for specific hours during the first semester. Conflicting scheduling will be decided in favor of other users.
A public hearing date was set for approval of a requested perpetual easement by NIPCO for installation, operation, maintenance, repair and replacement of an electric transmission line. The current switch is outside town and in the middle of a section. NIPCO is willing to move the switch into the city at their own cost with an easement. Top explained that they company has been waiting a long time for approval of the easement. Mayor Sjaarda asked why, if they’ve been waiting so long, why it was the first he had heard of it. The answer was due to the search for 1974 documents. The agenda item was not approved for lack of support.
Consideration to seek bids for the removal of a structure at 430 S Main Street was filled with explanation of the necessity of removing the structure. The owner passed away more than a year ago. The motion passed.
A resolution to accept a change order form King Construction submitted for installation of additional equipment was approved. The change order added $476,571.94. The equipment and work was not part of the original bid due to confusion between the city ordering installing the blowers prior to the original project and the engineers caused this part of the project to not be bid originally. Sludge removal will be an additional $154,000. The removal is in just cell #1. Werkmeister asked if the other cells could pick up the work for cell #1 to delay the expense for a year or so. Top explained that all waste first comes into cell #1. Bacteria and oxygen treatment was asked about. That treatment is good for the inside of the ponds but does not do anything to the outside. It is an insufficient fix for cell #1. Wilson will meet with the new city treasurer, Maureen Thompson about the city’s finances and ability to bear this cost.
A one-year Town & Country contract was presented to council. It asks for 6-months notice of the city is going to go out for bid for disposal services. There was some confusion with Town and Country Corporation about using the correct contract that delayed and created confusion with the Paullina City Council. Attorney review identified some issues with the coprorate contract, resulting in the proposal of a one-year contract. The contract was approved to end with the current fiscal year, June 30, 2025.
The third reading of the utility rate changes approved starting with garbage rates, then to sewer rates, electric rates and water rates. Each third reading was approved unanimously.