Mason City Council Worksession and Regular Meeting – August 15, 2023
Mason City Council Worksession and Regular Meeting – August 15, 2023
On August 15, 2023, the Mason City Council convened at the Mason City Public Library for a 6:00 p.m. worksession to review the Highway 122/Mercy section design and schedule, followed by a 7:00 p.m. regular meeting. Mayor Bill Schickle presided; Councilmembers Lee, Adams, Simmons, and Yesheski were present, and Councilmember Thomas was absent. A quorum was confirmed.
Worksession – Highway 122/Mercy Section
- Per the agenda, the worksession reviewed the design and schedule for the Highway 122/Mercy section. City Administrator Aaron Ross Powell reported that WHKS provided a project update, and that city staff and community leaders had presented to the Iowa Department of Transportation Commission on the Mercy corridor and continued funding needs; the presentation was well received.
Consent Calendar
- Councilmember Yesheski moved approval; the motion was seconded and passed unanimously. Items included:
- Approval of the regular meeting minutes of August 1, 2023
- Claims dated August 3 and 10, 2023
- Permits
- Appointment/hire of Steve Kopp as Water Distribution Worker
- Contract award to Dixon Engineering, Inc. (Greenfield, WI) for Water Tower Maintenance Program inspection services
- Purchase of two dump bodies, removal/installation of one existing RDS body, and three reversible plows from Highway Truck (Fort Dodge, IA); and purchase of two single-axle and one tandem truck chassis from Freightliner Truck Center (Clear Lake, IA) for the Operations and Maintenance Division
- Loan agreements authorizing $9,050,000 General Obligation Corporate Purpose Bonds, Series 2023A and $5,000,000 General Obligation Local Option Sales Tax Bonds, Series 2023B
- Tax Compliance Procedures relating to tax-exempt bonds
- Temporary closing of public ways for the Chamber of Commerce "Chamber Cup" on Thursday, September 14, 2023, from 12:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. (Note: the agenda lists September 4, 2023, but the mayor stated September 14, 2023, which is the Thursday matching the agenda's weekday; no minutes were available to resolve the discrepancy.)
Public Comments & Testimony
- The mayor opened the public forum for comments on agenda items. No in-person attendees or Zoom participants sought recognition, and the public hearing was closed with no public testimony.
Discussion Items
- City Administrator's monthly report:
- Recapped the Highway 122/Mercy worksession and the presentation to the Iowa DOT Commission.
- Reported that Mason City was not selected for the Iowa Thriving Communities designation (20 of 37 applicants were asked to present), but the city received a workforce housing tax credit, securing funding for the Dev Partners project on Delaware.
- Cited the city's housing study showing a need for 100+ new housing units per year.
- Discussed industrial development, including the New Energy Freedom project, noting utility usage estimates were still early-stage and would be refined during budget season.
- Announced the August 16 ribbon cutting for the Birch Drive Scrip Road trail, a Destination Iowa project milestone.
- Councilmember Lee asked about the pedestrian bridge timeline. Powell said WHKS is working on permits, including a required no-rise finding, and the pre-fabricated bridge is expected to go out to bid in spring/early next year without delaying the Destination Iowa project.
- Councilmember Adams asked about the impact of the workforce housing tax credit on the Delaware project schedule. Powell responded that construction could begin around summer 2024 if design and additional funding streams, including Greyfield/Brownfield tax credits, come together.
- Railroad quiet zone update (presented by staff member Mark): the Federal Railroad Administration approved the city's application for the Sixth Street crossing; the notice of establishment was sent, and the 21-day waiting period ends August 31, 2023, when the quiet zone will be formally established. Mark noted train horns may still sound at the engineer's discretion and on rail lines outside the quiet zone.
Action Item: Municipal Securities Disclosure Policy
- The council considered a resolution authorizing adoption of policies and procedures regarding municipal securities (continuing) disclosure. Finance Director Brent Hinson explained SEC oversight, the EMMA reporting system, and materiality standards, noting the SEC has become more aggressive in enforcement. He described this presentation as satisfying the policy's biennial governing body training requirement. Councilmember Yesheski asked about omission-based violations; Hinson confirmed the policy is designed to prevent material omissions, and that it replaces informal practice with a new written policy drafted with bond counsel Dorsey & Whitney. The resolution passed unanimously.
Key Outcomes
- Consent agenda approved unanimously by roll call (Yesheski, Simmons, Lee, Adams all voting yes).
- Municipal securities disclosure resolution approved unanimously by roll call (Yesheski, Adams, Lee, Simmons all voting yes).
- Public forum closed with no comments.
- Next steps: final quiet zone establishment effective August 31, 2023; Birch Drive Scrip Road trail ribbon cutting on August 16 at 10:00 a.m.; continued Highway 122 advocacy and 2024 budget planning for industrial utility needs.
Meeting Transcript
Good evening, everyone. This is the regular meeting of the Mason City City Council. Mayor Bill Schickle. We're delighted to have you with us this evening. Recording in progress. And this is the meeting for August 15th of 2023. The first item of business is the roll call. Diana, would you call the roll? Lee? Present. Adams. Present. Here. Simmons. Present. Councilmember Thomas 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 we have a motion and a second discussion. All those in favor signify by saying aye. Aye aye. All those opposed, same sign. Next we'll go to the public hearing. This is your chance to comment on any agenda item. If there's an item on the agenda that you would uh like to speak on, the floor is yours, or if you are tuned in uh online this evening, you can use the raised hand feature. Mayor, no one seeks to be recognized via Zoom. We'll close the public hearing and we'll move to the uh city administrators monthly report. Aaron Ross Powell Thank you, Mayor and Council. Uh as you know, we just had the the work session on the Highway 122 project. Uh great update from WHKS on that Mercy section and then also uh the other DOT projects that are going around are going on and are going to be going on in town and and kind of the schedule on those those uh those projects. The city staff uh presented city staff and several several community leaders, the mayor presented to uh the Iowa Department of Transportation Commission on uh this work on the Mercy corridor on 122 and also the need for continued funding on the 122 uh improvements and and it was well well received. That is uh the second time we've presented on that 122 uh the 122 projects, and I think important that we continue to communicate those investments that the city is making and asking for continued investment from the Iowa Department of Transportation. Um City Staff also had the opportunity to present to uh the Iowa Economic Development Authority on the Iowa Thriving Communities uh designation. Unfortunately, we were not selected for that designation. Twenty uh communities were asked to present for the Iowa Thriving Communities designation out of 37 applicants, uh and those were just recently announced, but we will be meeting with them to get some feedback and hopefully we're able to secure that designation again next year. Uh the upside of that though was the fact that the city was designated with a workforce housing tax credit, so we were able to uh secure funding. Uh while we didn't get the designation, we did get funding. So I I guess uh you know we'll take the funding every time. So that was a great uh step forward for the Dev Partners Project on Delaware. I think that is uh an important. It's important to keep these these projects moving forward, knowing that every year we really need to add you know a hundred plus units. Uh if you look at our housing study, the demand is just uh astronomical, and I think we'll see those units get picked up very quickly when they come online with River Two, and then the federal row home project, and then uh moving forward with the Delaware project with dev partners. Um industrial development, we continue to work with uh the prospects that are interested in the community, the new energy uh freedom project and trying to look at the utility needs of those uh companies and and make sure that we're getting those planned out. We're having a little bit of a difficulty on you know nailing down exactly what the usage is because these companies are still in the early stages, but uh a lot of uh planned investment there. We've seen that in the CIP, and we'll continue to make sure to get that dialed in as we enter in the next uh budget season. And lastly, I just wanted to uh put a plug in for the fact that we have the ribbon cutting tomorrow for uh Birch Drive Scrip Road uh trail. That is incredibly busy, it's a beautiful section of our community and uh exciting step forward in the destination Iowa projects as we continue to close out each step forward in uh in completing that vision. So with that, I'll answer any questions. Thank you.
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