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City Council Meeting Minutes June 20, 2016

City of Fulton
Regular Council Meeting Minutes
June 20, 2016

Mayor Russell called the meeting to order at 5:30 PM and directed the city clerk to call the roll. On roll call Ald. Barbara Mask, Gene Field, Margaret Crosthwaite, Sue VanKampen, Wes Letcher, Dan Nederhoff and Howard VanZuiden answered, “present.” Ald. M. VanZuiden was “absent.” Also in attendance were, Ed Cannon (City Administrator), James Rhoades (Police Chief), Regina Lehman (Tourism Director) and Amanda Fosdick (City Treasurer).

The pledge of allegiance was recited. Pastor Royann Mathews gave the invocation.

During the communication from visitors everyone was present regarding a matter on the agenda except Chuck Dykstra. Mr. Dykstra asked an item to be added to the next agenda, township money to be spent on city roads. Present as visitors were Warren Amman, John Amman, Barb Suehl-Janis, Clink Kettler, and Jane Orman-Luker.

Mayor Russell asked if there were any questions regarding the items listed on the consent agenda. Items for consideration are the June 6, 2016 City Council Meeting Minutes, Treasurer’s Report, and Bill List. Administrator Cannon pointed out a correction to the meeting minutes, should have stated, “Regular Council Meeting Minutes” instead of “Continuation.” Ald. Mask asked about the WiFi marina fee, Ald. Crosthwaite said it is an added feature marina slip renters have access to, they are the only ones with access to the password. With no further questions or concerns Ald. Letcher motioned, seconded by Ald. VanKampen to approve the consent agenda. Roll call vote (7 yes, 1 absent).

Unfinished Business:

The first item for consideration is the Drives Building Roof. Admin. Cannon explained the three bids they received from different contractors. Ed’s recommendation would to be going with Beckwith to repair necessary section and spot repairs. Ald. VanKampen believes the city needs to replace the roof. Ald. Letcher would like to see the city repair the roof as well and suggested putting off the bike path sealing until next year. Ald. Nederhoff thought the city needs to cut their losses or find an option for the building. Is there really a purpose for the building? He suggested the city spending no more than $34,000 to replace the roof now, if fundraising is completed, after 1 year the city will replace the rest of the roof. After discussion on the most the city is willing to spend on repairs Ald. Letcher motioned, seconded by Ald. VanKampen to have the city spend no more than $34,000 to replace necessary portions of the Drives building roof. Roll call vote (5 yes, 2 no, 1 absent).

The second item for consideration is Dangerous Building. Barb Suehl-Janis checked out the property the dangerous building is located on 4th Street. Barb says, “The home is still in the owners name, the lender has not tried to claim interest, the garage could be salvaged but not the home.” Come to the consensus the city needs to move on with the process to clean up lot. With no further questions or concerns the council moved to the next item on the agenda.

The third item for consideration is Heritage Residential Bid. The council needed to decide whether or not they would like to accept or reject the Groh’s bid. The council would like the lot to be used to build a new home instead of sit empty. With no further questions or concerns Ald. Crosthwaite motioned, seconded by Ald. VanKampen to reject the bid from the Groh’s. Roll call vote (7 yes, 1 absent).

The fourth item for consideration is the Amman Agreement. Admin. Cannon suggested waiving the requirement for Mr. Amman to reimburse the City of Fulton $1739.85 in engineering fees relating to the project. The Amman’s paid their own engineer and attorney to move forward with the project. With no further questions or concerns Ald. Letcher motioned, seconded by Ald. VanKampen to accept the Amman Agreement and waive the engineering fee cost. Roll call vote (7 yes, 1 absent).

New Business:

The fifth item for consideration is the Miscellaneous Street Patching recommended for year 2017. The attached document provided by Dan Clark) Public Works Director) is a list showing where the money should be used to repair city streets. With no further questions or concerns the council moved to the next item on the agenda.

The sixth item for consideration is the Geertz Annexation. Admin. Cannon briefly when over Mr. Geertz’s plan to have new homes built on property he owns as long as the city zones the property single family residential. Mr. Cannon came up with a summary to give an estimate how much it would cost the city and how much the city could possibly make. Council members expressed a need to sit down with Mr. Geertz to make sure he has the funding to make this annexation happen before continuing with the process. With no further questions or concerns the council moved to the next item on the agenda.

The seventh item for consideration is Windmill Donation Agreement. Hank and June Hielema wish to donate 13 more historic replica windmills to the City of Fulton for display in the Windmill Cultural Center. With no questions or concerns Ald. Mask motioned, seconded by Ald. Letcher to account the donation of the 13 windmills. Roll call vote (7 yes, 1 absent).

The eighth item for consideration is the Budget amendment for Route 84 water main loop grant expenditures. This would amend the FY2017 municipal budget to allocate $6,335.00 from Fund 58, for grant writing and engineering costs. If the city would receive the grant, it must be used within 3 years or given back. With no final decision needing to be made Ald. Mask motioned, seconded by Ald. Letcher to suspend the decision of Fund 58 until a future meeting. Roll call vote (7 yes, 1 absent).

Reports:

Mayor Russell included his written report.

Administrator Cannon included his written report.

Chief Rhoades included his written report.

Tourism Director Regina Lehman included a report on the zombie crawl. The event was a huge success and was able to make a net income to be split between the EAC, Andresen Nature Center and RFCC.

With no further business Ald. Letcher motioned, seconded by Ald. Crosthwaite to adjourn. With voice agreement the meeting adjourned at 7:14 PM.

Minutes recorded by,

Lindsey Renkes
Fulton City Clerk