by Mari Radtke
Champions of the proposed “Little Critters Splash Pad” in Paullina, Krayton Struve and Brett Nelson gave a status report to the Paullina City Council on Monday March 3. A key need for them was the passage of a resolution to develop outdoor recreation. The resolution supports an Iowa DNR grant, Iowa’s Water and and Land Legacy (IWILL), to assist with funding the splash pad. The potential from this grant is up to 50% of the project and is a $1 for $1 match. The grant uses a reimbursement method. After project completion, receipts will be reimbursed. The deadline for submission is March 14. A grant to Taylor Farms is also prepared and ready for submission. The application amount to Taylor Foundation was for $100,000. The total project cost is currently $529,070. Approximately $150,000 in pledges have already been secured. The resolution was approved unanimously.
The Council approved City Clerk Michelle Wilson to solicit bids for garbage service. The action is timely enough to provide required notice to Town & Country, the current provider.
City departments submitted budget requests totally more than $1 million. Wilson reported that the departments were notified of the need to reduce the budget. The city’s general property tax levy is expected to raise just $284,000.00. The only additional levies that a city can impose are for employee benefits, and liability and property insurance. Townships will contribute approximately $42,000 to the fire department. A complete review and budget workshop was set for Monday March 24 at 5:30pm.
The city received a proposal from Rajrup Mitra, a graduate student at Iowa State University in the Electrical and Computer Engineering school. He requested to do a drone inspection of the runway. The last inspection of the runway was 2019. Mitra has experience in drone assessments. The procedure is part of a long term study to evaluate the reliability and establish best practices of using drones to determine the needs of airport runways. Councilman Dennis Werkmeister said that he felt it was money the government shouldn’t be spending. He also took issue with the use of pronouns as DEI. The study is funded by FAA. The Council vote was 2-2. A tie vote fails the motion. Werkmeister and Heeren opposed. Heeren reasoned that his opposition was due to not enough information to make an informed decision. He said there was an inspection in 2019 by Applied Pavement Technology Inc. and Robinson Engineering Company. He did not respond to a question about how often an inspection is required. Werkmeister wants to work with the appropriate committees to answer why transportation infrastructure inspection shouldn’t be funded by FAA. As of press time he has not given a counter proposal for inspecting the runway or who might pay for it.
The engineer’s estimate to do design work for 2 different water projects was considered. One project, the hydraulic model, is to map water hydrants and pipes and examine their condition. It can help give information about water flow to the hydrants and the available pressure. That work is $9500.00 The second project is to develop plans for a water treatment facility. Water into Paullina is sometimes to often close to established limits of manganese. Manganese is not a major contaminant but it is possible that it may be a controlled element in the future. The facility design cost is $12,500.
A joint meeting of the Swanson Sports Complex Commission and school and city council representatives is set for Tuesday March 11 at 9:00am. The City has been looking to find out if possible and how they can withdraw from the 28E, leaving the operation of the sports complex to the school district. The move appeared to have been initiated from a sentiment best expressed by City Councilperson Nichole Jacobs during a city council meeting, “they didn’t give us what we wanted why should we pay for it?”