By Mari Radtke
Following formalities, the Paullina Council heard from Steve Hallgren of Planning Solutions Iowa at their February 18 regular council meeting. Hallgren has presented to the Paullina Council in the past. He came to discuss his services as a grant writer and his abilities to assist with city administration at the invitation of Councilperson Carol Honkomp.
After learning the wide scope of the Council’s interests in his services, he spoke to a few specific grant opportunities that his business can help with. He discussed planning grants from the State of Iowa. That discussion was followed with descriptions of downtown improvement/nuisance property grants or loans. In addition to sharing grant information he also talked about how he works with different cities on contract or hourly basis to do a variety of functions including nuisance abatement, zoning administration and more.
April 7 was set as the date to hold the Property Tax Levy Public Hearing at City Hall at 5:30pm.
The Council received a letter from Ahlers & Cooney, a law firm serving many governmental bodies across Iowa. Ahlers & Cooney have represented both the City and South O’Brien School District. The letter sent to the City of Paullina requested a waiver from the City to represent the South O’Brien School District on the issue of Swanson Sports Complex. The history of working with both entities in the past could cause a conflict of interest for the Des Moines law firm.
At the City’s last meeting, the council approved studying withdrawal from the 28E with the school district. According to the letter, the school district reached out to Ahlers & Cooney to represent their interests in the Swanson Sports Complex matter. City Clerk Michelle Wilson alerted the council to the fact that Ahlers & Conney is also used as the bonding attorney by D.A. Davidson, the company Paullina uses for its borrowing activity. She also noted that a DNR grant exists on the Swanson Sports Complex but did not yet have the details. She only added that transfering the grant may not be that simple.
Mayor Marlin Sjaarda explained the document, noting that if the city signs, it is relieving Ahlers & Cooney of potential conflict of interest in the Swanson Sports Complex matter if they represent the school district. The conversation moved back to the grant. It is perpetual and in the amount of $75,000. After Councilperson Dennis Werkmeister asked if that grant was any concern to the city, Superintendent Kelly Top spoke about the rules of the grant. He explained that withdrawal by the city could result in the city having to pay DNR back the current value of the land. Councilman Steve Heeren asked if that gets paid to the school. Wilson said the school district would have to pay Paullina and then Paullina would have to “re-spend it on city stuff.” Top clarified the spending would have to be on items that fell within the grant guidelines. Discussion of the grant led to Wilson saying that the school would have to pay the city for the grant (at yellow book price) and the city would then have to reinvest the money into a different qualifying project. An assessment of the complex would be required to determine the value for repayment, should the city cease to own the property.
Sjaarda returned the discussion to signing or not the waiver to conflict of interest by Ahlers & Cooney. Before any motion was made it came out from Councilperson Nicole Jacobs said that new lighting is a coming project for the ballfields. Sjaarda noted that the city needs to study their responsibility to the complex if they get out of the 28E. Jacobs initially wanted to sign the waiver thinking that that would prohibit Ahlers & Cooney from representing the school district. Her thinking was changed by others at the table once the meaning of the letter was explained to her. The agenda item died for lack of a motion. Council members are interested in pursuing discussion with the school and through the Swanson Sports Complex Commission.
Council approved funding advertising not for profit organizations based in Paullina. After a great deal of discussion of who can participate, what constitutes a not for profit, staff disallowing a request and requirements to be considered for the mailing and other details, council voted 4-1 to allow the benefit. Werkmeister opposed doing so. They are allowing flyers to go into the city’s quarterly mailing under specific circumstances.
January financials will be presented for approval at the March 3 meeting.
In looking at the coming budget, Wilson reported revenue from property tax is anticipated to be around $284,000 at a little over the maximum levy rate. That is the money available to fund 5 departments. She said serious cuts would be necessary to make it work. Department requests were not manageable with levy limits. A budget workshop was set for Tuesday February 25 at City Hall at 5:30pm.
An email was sent to the city by DGR Engineering providing 3 options to finance the electric generation project. The electric generation is a program with MRES (Paullina’s electric current provider) to establish a diesel generator and use it at least during peak uses times. MRES reimburses the city for the cost of purchase and installation of a generator and then pays for power generated by the city for a set number of years. The city would have to fund the initial estimated $2.1 million project until it was up and producing electricity. MRES would pay for 5 KW of power each month at $5 per KW hour. The cost for DGR to create plans and specs and solicit bids is $35,000. Council opted to approve funding the plans and specs not to exceed $40,000.