Mason City Council Regular Meeting - May 21, 2024

The Mason City Council held its regular meeting on May 21, 2024, at the Mason City Public Library with all council members present. The council adopted the agenda, recognized several proclamations, received an information technology presentation from RSM, heard the City Administrator's monthly report, approved the consent agenda, and unanimously approved all public hearing and action items.

Special Items and Proclamations

• The council proclaimed May 2024 as Memorial Day, honoring fallen service members and noting that the community has more than 5,000 soldiers honored at Elmwood St. Joseph Cemetery and Memorial Park Cemetery. In the past year, 24 veterans were added at Elmwood and 39 at Memorial. The proclamation was presented to Diane Castow with the Veterans Memorial Association.
• The council proclaimed May 2024 as Support Law Enforcement Month, recognizing that 24,000 law enforcement officers have been killed in the line of duty since 1786, including railroad police officer Timothy O'Brien, killed on October 2, 1893. Appreciation was expressed to Sergeant Prohaska and all law enforcement officers.
• The council proclaimed May 2024 as Tourism Month, highlighting the future River City River Walk, the High Line Trail, the Destination Iowa Bike Park, Mason City's downtown renaissance, the Main Street Iowa Game Changer Award, and being the only Iowa city named an All-America City finalist. The proclamation noted $100 million in tourism last year and was presented to Lindsay James of Visit Mason City.
• The FY23 Annual Comprehensive Financial Report presentation was not given; Councilman Massan noted the presenters were unable to attend due to weather.

IT Network Refresh Presentation

• Scott Hermanson and Aaron of RSM presented a multi-year IT Network Refresh plan for the city. The first phase would upgrade the existing fiber ring from 1 gig to 20 gig capacity, providing a 20-times speed increase while reusing the original fiber infrastructure.
• The proposed phases cover network foundation upgrades, critical control environments such as water treatment and water reclamation, interior building connectivity, hybrid cloud and data center security, and continued optimization. Costs were presented as yearly rough-order-of-magnitude estimates, with phase one estimated at $91,000.
• City staff stated phase one would be funded with bank interest from the general capital projects fund, while future phases would be incorporated into the capital improvement plan. Current annual IT spending was estimated at $40,000 to $50,000 per year, and equipment lifecycles were described as roughly seven years, with security controls recommended on a three-year cycle.
• Council members asked about the courthouse connection, whether phases could run concurrently, service continuity during replacements, county cost-sharing, and the last significant infrastructure upgrade. RSM responded that phases could run concurrently but recommended staggered implementation, and that replacement work could be done using maintenance windows and existing redundancy.

City Administrator's Monthly Report

• The City Administrator introduced a new, more summary-oriented format for the monthly report and asked council members for feedback.
• He reported on a Washington, D.C. trip involving meetings with the U.S. Department of Transportation twice, once on essential air service and once on Highway 122 and other North Iowa transportation projects, as well as meetings with USDA and Iowa's federal delegation. A countywide housing project request for $2.5 million was submitted with the Housing Development Corporation.
• Destination Iowa project updates included: the Scrip Road conversion completed; the Illinois bridge improvement moving forward because the Murphy Park Trail and Bridge bid came in competitively; the Prairie Land Connector Trail delayed pending the Taft water main loop; the High Line Trail nearly complete with access-control work ongoing; the River City Riverwalk bid and underway despite the groundbreaking being delayed; the bike park underway; single track trails under construction, with some areas potentially opening by fall; the bouldering area under construction; and a lit pedestrian crossing on 12th Street already implemented.

Consent Calendar

• The consent agenda was approved unanimously by roll call, including:
  • Minutes of the May 7, 2024 regular meeting
  • Claims dated May 9 and 16, 2024
  • Permits
  • Resolution approving property owner applications under the 2023 Downtown West Home Pilot Program and authorizing bidding of improvements; the mayor noted a $1 million Iowa Finance Authority grant and two rehab properties on North Jefferson and North Madison under the Sparkling Neighborhoods initiative
  • Resolution approving changes to the boundaries of the Corridor Revitalization Loan (CoRL) area
  • Resolution approving the purchase of a Track Loader from Mason City Red Power for the Water Supply Division
  • Resolution rescinding prior encroachment permits for the parking lot at the northwest corner of 1st Street Northeast and North Delaware Avenue, and resolution approving an Encroachment Permit for River City Sculptures on Parade, LLC for a sculpture pedestal in the right-of-way in front of Brick Furniture

Public Hearings

• A public hearing was held on Budget Amendment #3 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2024. With no public comment, the council unanimously approved the amendment.
• A public hearing was held on the "22-1011 Murphy Park Trail and Bridge Project," including plans, specifications, form of contract, estimate of cost, bid tabulation, and award of contract. The bid came in at approximately $1.6 million, about 30 percent under the engineer's estimate, and will be paid for with local option sales tax and the Destination Iowa grant. The council unanimously approved the resolution and awarded the contract to Peterson Contractors, Inc. of Reinbeck, Iowa.

Action Items

• The council unanimously approved the second and final reading of an ordinance amending City Code Title 6, Chapter 2, Sanitary Sewers, Section 3, Schedule of Rates, Subsection A and B, regarding sanitary sewer rates.
• The council unanimously approved the second and final reading of an ordinance amending Title 6, Chapter 3, Storm Sewer, Section 1, Definitions, and repealing and replacing Article A, the Stormwater Utility Policy.

Key Outcomes

• All votes taken during the meeting were unanimous.
• No members of the public spoke during the public forum or the public hearings.
• The meeting adjourned after the mayor reminded the community of the 85th North Iowa Band Festival starting Thursday with the parade Saturday morning, and of Memorial Day on Monday.