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OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD

Record of Proceedings

Mason City Council Regular Meeting - March 21, 2023

City Council — Tuesday, March 21, 2023

BodyMason City, Iowa

SessionCity Council

DateTuesday, March 21, 2023

StatusFILED

Video Record

0:00 / 20:24

Transcript — VerbatimClick a timed line to jump · ⧉ to share it

1:26

Lee.

1:26

Present.

1:27

Adams.

1:28

Present.

1:28

Yeski.

1:29

Here.

1:29

Ms.

1:30

Here.

1:31

Simmons.

1:32

Present.

1:33

Councilmember Toma.

1:37

Is absent.

1:38

Let the record reflect that we do have a quorum present.

1:41

The next item of business is the adoption of the agenda.

1:44

Is there a motion to adopt the agenda?

1:46

So moved.

1:47

Second.

1:47

You have a motion and a second discussion.

1:51

All those in favor signify by saying aye.

1:53

Aye.

1:54

All those opposed, same sign.

1:56

The motion carries.

1:58

The agenda is adopted.

2:00

We have a special item of business now.

2:02

It's Mason City Youth Hockey's 50th anniversary, and I've got a special proclamation, and we're honored to have from the board of directors of Mason City Youth Hockey with us this evening, Melissa Fabian.

2:12

Melissa, would you uh step forward, please?

2:24

Uh Melissa, good evening and welcome.

2:26

It's an honor to uh present this proclamation at this time and recognition of uh fifty years of outstanding service by Mason City Youth Hockey, and I know there's a big event coming up at the arena uh this Saturday at eleven as well.

2:42

So I'll go ahead and read the proclamation.

2:45

Whereas a half century ago, the Mason City Exchange Club was instrumental in the birth of Mason City Youth Hockey with physical and financial support, starting an organization that early on operated on outdoor ice.

3:01

And whereas Mason City Youth Hockey from 1980 to 1983 joined with area organizations, including the North Iowa Fair Board, uh Saragoda County, and others to raise funds to build a facility that would serve ice and fare activities for the next nearly 40 years in North Iowa.

3:22

And whereas Mason City Youth Hockey operated during this time without public aid and grew enrollment by 100%.

3:30

And whereas Mason City Youth Hockey has operated with an outstanding volunteer staff and board of directors to achieve its goal of supporting youth and community enjoyment in ice sports.

3:42

And whereas Mason City Youth Hockey has provided opportunities for young people from numerous cities and counties in North Iowa and provided ice for North Iowa figure skating, public skating, and the adult hockey league.

3:57

And whereas Mason City Youth Hockey partnered with Mason City in planning and the fundraising for the building and the operation of the now state-of-the-art multi-purpose arena.

4:09

Now therefore, I Bill Shickle, Mayor of Mason City, do hereby proclaim Saturday, March twenty-fifth, twenty twenty-three, as Mason City Youth Hockey Day in honor of this fiftieth anniversary milestone and invite all to enjoy in the festivities in on Saturday and extend our congratulations.

5:04

Mayor, no one seeks to be recognized.

5:09

Next on the agenda is the city administrators' monthly report.

5:13

Aaron, go ahead.

5:17

Thank you, Mayor.

5:18

Following up on one of the council's uh goal setting priorities, we the city's been working on nuisance abatement with the assistance of the city administration internal city departments.

5:32

There's been meetings and a lot of action working with uh city attorneys to follow up on all the different uh places that might uh exert a blighting influence in neighborhoods.

5:44

There's been quite a few filings recently, and we're looking forward to providing a report later on, but I just wanted to uh state that we are taking action with that task force, and uh there are a lot of good outcomes already uh starting from that work.

6:00

Spring is uh is upon us, and yard waste collection will be resuming soon.

6:05

Uh those there are restrictions on that.

6:07

All that information can be found online, either about yard waste or recycling and trash.

6:12

Uh the website has a ton of information, but we will be starting that collection very soon.

6:18

Another thing to be aware of is with spring weather.

6:22

We have uh obviously sometimes some severe weather, and with that, I would encourage people to sign up for the Alert Iowa uh app and that'll allow them to be notified when there's severe weather or any other alert that can uh relating to Mason City and uh provide a great method of communication with the citizens in Mason City.

6:43

And then lastly, on the spring front uh Earth Day is coming up around the corner.

6:47

There's an ability to sign up for Earth Day uh picking up garbage in the neighborhoods or around the community as the snow melts.

6:54

We start to see some of that trash that might have been uh underneath the snow, and so just a reminder for people to sign up for Earth Day, get their groups together.

7:02

You can sign up online and and tag what area you're planning on cleaning up.

7:06

Uh it's a very uh interactive map that we've got uh available through the city website.

7:12

One of the recognitions that was received by a city facility was the Margaret McIn Margaret McNider Campground was recently named uh one of the best campgrounds in the state of Iowa by RV magazine.

7:25

Is that what it is?

7:27

RV Magazine.com.

7:30

But uh great recognition.

7:31

A lot of hard work went into uh making that facility what it is.

7:35

Uh having it in the middle of the town and and just so many friendly faces there is really elevated that and provided a great customer service to the people who use that campground.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting

Procedural█████████████████████████████████████████████57%

City Administrator's Report█████████████████22%

Youth Programs██████8%

Engineering And Infrastructure█████6%

Budget Equity Analysis█████6%

Historic Preservation█1%

Summary of Proceedings

Mason City Council Regular Meeting - March 21, 2023

At the March 21, 2023 regular meeting of the Mason City Council, held at 7:00 PM in the Mason City Public Library, Mayor Bill Shickle presided with Councilmembers Adams, Yeski, Massan (spelled 'Ms. Son' in roll call), Simmons, and Lee present; Councilmember Toma was absent. The council adopted the agenda, heard a special proclamation, received the city administrator's report, approved the consent agenda with three items pulled for separate discussion, and passed two ordinances on second reading. All items were unanimously approved.

Special Items

Mason City Youth Hockey 50th Anniversary Proclamation – Mayor Shickle read a proclamation recognizing the organization's 50 years of service, noting that enrollment grew by 100% and that the organization partnered with the city to build the new multi-purpose arena. March 25, 2023 was declared Mason City Youth Hockey Day. Melissa Fabian from the board of directors accepted the proclamation.

City Administrator's Monthly Report

Aaron Burnett reported on several items: progress on a nuisance abatement task force with multiple legal filings; yard waste collection resuming soon; encouragement to sign up for the Alert Iowa app for severe weather; Earth Day clean-up sign-ups; recognition of McNider Campground as one of Iowa's best by RV Magazine; airport terminal construction and a grant for a jet bridge; North Iowa Day in Des Moines on March 22; and a stormwater planning grant for Mason Creek and Ideal Creek to improve detention and flood mitigation.

Consent Calendar

The consent agenda included approval of minutes from March 7 and March 15, claims dated March 9 and 16, February 2023 financial report, reappointments to the Housing Authority Board and Electrical Examiners Board, hiring of Chris McKibben as Swing Worker, and multiple resolutions related to capital projects, contracts, and public hearing notices. Items 9, 10, and 18 were pulled for separate discussion. The remaining consent items were approved unanimously by roll call vote.

Discussion Items

Item 9 – Purchase of Dump Body (Resolution) – The council voted to approve the purchase of a new dump body from Highway Truck Equipment of Fort Dodge. Councilmember Yeski asked about a worn-out truck; City Operations Manager (likely Bill Stangler) explained that due to long delays in new truck deliveries, the existing truck's box must be replaced to keep the snowplow in service. The resolution passed 5–0.
Item 10 – Electronic Signatures (Resolution) – The council authorized the mayor, city administrator, or city engineer to electronically sign contract documents through the IDOT Doc Express system. Councilmember Massan clarified that any one of the three may sign, not a combination. The resolution passed 5–0.
Item 18 – Budget Hearing Date (Resolution) – The council set April 4, 2023 as the date for a public hearing on the proposed 2023–2024 city budget. Councilmember Adams noted that the proposed budget shows a slight decrease in the property tax levy despite inflationary pressures, and thanked staff. He asked about pending state tax reform; Finance Director Brent Hinson responded that no firm information is available and any changes would likely apply to FY25, not this budget. The resolution passed 5–0.

Action Items

Ordinance A (Second Reading) – An ordinance amending Title 2, Chapter 12 of the City Code to add a definition and revise the Historic Preservation Commission's review powers, to provide more flexibility. Councilman Adams asked about feedback from downtown property owners; city staff member Stephen responded that no feedback has been received but notifications will be sent after enactment. The ordinance passed unanimously.
Ordinance B (Second Reading) – An ordinance amending Title 12, Chapter 13 of the Zoning Regulations to revise the Interpretation of Standards for the Central Business District. No additional discussion. The ordinance passed unanimously.

Key Outcomes

All agenda items were approved without opposition. Roll call votes for each pulled item and both ordinances recorded 5 ayes (Adams, Yeski, Lee, Simmons, Massan) and 0 nays; Toma absent.
A public hearing on the 2023–2024 city budget will be held April 4, 2023.
The two historic preservation and zoning ordinances will take effect following second reading publication.
The next regular council meeting will likely occur on April 4, 2023 to include the budget hearing and other scheduled hearings.

Meeting Transcript

Lee. Present. Adams. Present. Yeski. Here. Ms. Here. Simmons. Present. Councilmember Toma. Is absent. Let the record reflect that we do have a quorum present. The next item of business is the adoption of the agenda. Is there a motion to adopt the agenda? So moved. Second. You have a motion and a second discussion. All those in favor signify by saying aye. Aye. All those opposed, same sign. The motion carries. The agenda is adopted. We have a special item of business now. It's Mason City Youth Hockey's 50th anniversary, and I've got a special proclamation, and we're honored to have from the board of directors of Mason City Youth Hockey with us this evening, Melissa Fabian. Melissa, would you uh step forward, please? Uh Melissa, good evening and welcome. It's an honor to uh present this proclamation at this time and recognition of uh fifty years of outstanding service by Mason City Youth Hockey, and I know there's a big event coming up at the arena uh this Saturday at eleven as well. So I'll go ahead and read the proclamation. Whereas a half century ago, the Mason City Exchange Club was instrumental in the birth of Mason City Youth Hockey with physical and financial support, starting an organization that early on operated on outdoor ice. And whereas Mason City Youth Hockey from 1980 to 1983 joined with area organizations, including the North Iowa Fair Board, uh Saragoda County, and others to raise funds to build a facility that would serve ice and fare activities for the next nearly 40 years in North Iowa. And whereas Mason City Youth Hockey operated during this time without public aid and grew enrollment by 100%. And whereas Mason City Youth Hockey has operated with an outstanding volunteer staff and board of directors to achieve its goal of supporting youth and community enjoyment in ice sports. And whereas Mason City Youth Hockey has provided opportunities for young people from numerous cities and counties in North Iowa and provided ice for North Iowa figure skating, public skating, and the adult hockey league. And whereas Mason City Youth Hockey partnered with Mason City in planning and the fundraising for the building and the operation of the now state-of-the-art multi-purpose arena. Now therefore, I Bill Shickle, Mayor of Mason City, do hereby proclaim Saturday, March twenty-fifth, twenty twenty-three, as Mason City Youth Hockey Day in honor of this fiftieth anniversary milestone and invite all to enjoy in the festivities in on Saturday and extend our congratulations. Mayor, no one seeks to be recognized. Next on the agenda is the city administrators' monthly report. Aaron, go ahead. Thank you, Mayor. Following up on one of the council's uh goal setting priorities, we the city's been working on nuisance abatement with the assistance of the city administration internal city departments. There's been meetings and a lot of action working with uh city attorneys to follow up on all the different uh places that might uh exert a blighting influence in neighborhoods. There's been quite a few filings recently, and we're looking forward to providing a report later on, but I just wanted to uh state that we are taking action with that task force, and uh there are a lot of good outcomes already uh starting from that work. Spring is uh is upon us, and yard waste collection will be resuming soon. Uh those there are restrictions on that. All that information can be found online, either about yard waste or recycling and trash. Uh the website has a ton of information, but we will be starting that collection very soon. Another thing to be aware of is with spring weather. We have uh obviously sometimes some severe weather, and with that, I would encourage people to sign up for the Alert Iowa uh app and that'll allow them to be notified when there's severe weather or any other alert that can uh relating to Mason City and uh provide a great method of communication with the citizens in Mason City. And then lastly, on the spring front uh Earth Day is coming up around the corner.

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