The Perry City Council met in regular session last night.
At the meeting, questions were asked of Police Chief Eric Vaughn in regards to a bring your own beer and wine after hours club at 1006 26th Street. El Parrandero LLC wants to be open after bar close. There is no liquor license required since they will not be serving alcohol and access to the other portion of the building, where they currently have a liquor license at 1008 26th Street, has been closed. The Council did not need to take action on the item as it does not fall under the liquor license requirements.
City Administrator Butch Niebuhr then recapped the Bike Tourism Conference that was held at the Hotel Pattee Thursday. He said attendance was down slightly but this year’s program was more in-depth than last year’s. Niebuhr also talked about the 41 Drake University students that were in town Monday to tour Perry as part of the pilot program with the college and Iowa Economic Development. He also added that final steps in fall projects are being completed this spring and new projects will be starting soon.
Assistant City Administrator Sven Peterson then introduced Parks and Recreation Director candidate John Anderson, who was later approved as a new hire, effective April 20th with an annual salary of $45,000.
Alliant Energy Key Account Manager Annette Renaud then shared their annual report with the Council. She stated that energy efficiency is going on in Perry, which is something they continue to promote. Alliant plans to make an investment of roughly $15 million in the next few years with their new substation and other expansion projects. Renaud said there will be some outages in the future as they switch customers from one substation to another, but individual customers will be notified in advance and the outages are not expected to last long. The new substation is expected to be up and working by June or July. The location of the soon to be “old” substation will be accessed next year or in 2017, as Alliant decides if they want to retain ownership of that property or sell it.
The Perry Residential Housing Task Force then gave a special presentation. Matt McDevitt outlined the meetings they held between December and February. The task force is a joint effort between City officials and Council members, along with representatives from the school district, Perry Industries, the Chamber of Commerce and Dallas County Alliance. Other community members also attended meeting to share their input and expertise. McDevitt mentioned that the City of Adel has a 7 year tax abatement program, which has spawned about 40 residential units per year since approved in 2011. The task force has made 13 different recommendations, including a 10 year tax abatement for new homes, a five year tax abatement for remodels and repair to current homes, hiring a professional company to develop a marketing plan, applying for housing grants, assembling an amenities package and forming a Perry Housing Study Group. In addition to bringing more people to Perry, McDevitt said it’s also important for current residents to not be their own worst enemy and take pride in their community. Councilman Dr. Randy McCaulley, who is a member of the task force, stated that McDevitt did a “tremendous” job in heading up these efforts and having passion for the project. He said this is a plan that needs to be implemented and not just sitting on a shelf without action. He said this could have a huge impact on Perry’s future and he wants see this pushed forward. Councilman John Andorff, another task force member, agreed and said it would be a shame for this plan to not be put into action. Councilwoman Barb Wolling said it’s also important to improve the current housing stock and encourage people to invest in their properties. Councilman Phil Stone said he’s very much in support of any housing development coming into Perry. He said Perry has said they need more tax base for years and it’s important to be concerned with the long range future of the City of Perry’s budget. No formal action was taken by the Council.
A few residents then stepped up to address the Council during open forum. One said Perry has a bad history of dishonest business and the only part that has worked in the past is housing, though he feels the rental inspection ordinance is set to destroy that. Other citizens expressed concerns about the inspections being “excessive” if they are done every two years, instead of each time they are vacated or if there are concerns.
Next a public hearing was held in regards to the disposal of unclaimed, outdated or unused property. Finance Officer Susie Moorhead said the list of items needs to be published for 90 days before they can disposed of. Items on the current list include 60 bicycles and a variety of items obtained by the police department or outdated equipment that has been used by city departments. Chief Eric Vaughn provided clarification that items such as drivers licenses, social security cards and other personal items will be destroyed and not sold, though they too have to go through the publishing process. The Council approved the disposal of property.
Group dental and vision insurance renewals were then approved with Bernie Lowe and Associates, with no change in the policy. A public hearing in regards to re-zoning of annexed property was then set for the next Council meeting on April 20th. The reporting supervisor for the maintenance IV position was then changed from the City Administrator to the Parks and Recreation Director. The April 20th City Council meeting was then moved from 6pm in the Clarion Room of the Security Bank Building to 4pm, in order to accommodate the schedules of staff members.
Next, John Cruit was appointed to the Perry Tree Board and Loy Anthony Luna Jr. was added to the Volunteer Fire Department roster.
The first reading of an ordinance repealing and replacing the City’s rental code was then discussed. The purpose of the change is to provide safe and healthy living requirements for the rental community. Council members Schott, Andorf and Wolling have been working with Building Official Steve Tibbles over the past year to revise and propose the ordinance as written. Concerns were brought up in regards to whether or not other, more stringent, inspections (such as those completed by the Southern Iowa Regional Housing Authority) that landlords have completed would work as a substitution versus the City’s inspections. Niebuhr and City Attorney Duwayne Dalen will be looking at changes to the fee structure and replacement inspections meeting requirements. They will be bringing a possibly amended ordinance to the Council for consideration at the April 20th meeting. The ordinance will still need to have three readings approved in order to go into effect.
Finally, the first reading of an ordinance amending the official zoning map was approved. This updates the map to reflect the zoning change for property owned by Bruce Thoroughbred farms. The Council also suspended the rules to approve both the second and final readings of the ordinance as well.
For more on last night’s meeting and things happening in the City of Perry, tune into today’s Let’s Talk Dallas County when we speak with City Administrator Butch Niebuhr during the 9am, noon and 5pm hours on AM 1310 KDLS.