Mason City City Council Regular Meeting - July 16, 2024
Mason City City Council Regular Meeting - July 16, 2024
The Mason City City Council met on July 16, 2024 at 7:00 PM in the Mason City Room of the Mason City Public Library. Mayor Bill Schickle presided. Councilmembers present: Latham, Simmons, Yesky, Adams, and Mason; Councilmember Lee was absent. A quorum was established. The meeting included a proclamation, consent agenda action, and discussion and votes on a bond issue, a housing program, an EPA grant, and a refuse ordinance.
Consent Calendar
- Approved minutes of July 2, 2024, claims dated July 3 and July 11, 2024, and permits.
- Approved hiring Brandon VanHorn as a Police Officer at a starting wage of $34.93/hour.
- Approved Resolution authorizing notice to bidders for the Pierce Avenue NW over Willow Creek Bridge Railing Replacement Project.
- Approved Resolution approving a Sidewalk Service Area Permit for Main Street Mason City for “Friday Night Live” events (through August 16, 2024). (Note: items 6, 9, and 10 were removed from the consent agenda for separate discussion.)
Public Comments & Testimony
No public comments were made during the public forum.
Discussion Items
- Proclamation for Park and Recreation Month: Mayor Schickle read a proclamation designating July 2024 as Park and Recreation Month, highlighting Mason City’s 37 parks, 880 acres of parkland, over 140 miles of biking and walking trails (four times the average for comparable cities), and recent additions including the 12th Street kayak launch and the largest outdoor pickleball complex in Iowa. The proclamation was presented to Park Board members Melissa Fabian, Annie Hansen, and Chair Jay Lala.
- Item 6: General Obligation Corporate Purpose Bonds: Finance Director Brent Hinson reported that the bonds were sold at an interest rate of 3.3023% with a small premium of approximately $180,000 (less than recent years due to higher interest rates). The city’s A3 rating remains stable. Factors for upgrade include economic development; downgrade could occur if fund balances decline below 35%. The budget assumed a 4.5% rate. The resolution approved unanimously.
- Item 9: Downtown West Home Pilot Program: City staff (Aaron) reported that 24 projects have been rehabilitated through this program (funded by $500,000 in ARPA funds). About 60% committed. Posters sent recently increased applications. The program improves housing stock, reduces blight, and increases property tax revenue. The resolution approved unanimously.
- Item 10: EPA Community Change Grant (“River City Resilience”): City staff (Aaron) outlined a $16 million grant request (no match) covering: $3.4 million for housing improvement, $7.6 million for Willow Creek flood mitigation (retention/detention), $3.1 million for ReTree Mason City (emerald ash borer removal on private property), and $1.2 million for traile connectivity (Pierce Avenue to 12th Street and Monroe area). Grant writing led by Communication Impact 7G. Council members expressed strong support for flood mitigation and trail development. The resolution approved unanimously.
- Item 11: Final Consideration of Ordinance Amendments to Garbage, Refuse, Recyclables and Yard Waste: The ordinance updates City Code to conform to current practices. It was noted as final consideration (not second reading). The ordinance approved unanimously.
Key Outcomes
- Consent agenda approved (excluding items 6, 9, and 10 which were discussed separately).
- All four action items (6, 9, 10, 11) were approved unanimously (5-0 votes each, with one councilmember absent).
- The proclamation for Park and Recreation Month was presented.
- No other business; meeting adjourned.
Meeting Transcript
This is the meeting for July 16th, 2024. I'm Mayor Bill Schickle, and we're delighted to have you with us this evening. The first item of business is the roll call. Diana, would you call the roll? Latham. Here. Simmons. Present. Yesky. Here. Adams. Present. Councilmember Lee 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 move. Motion by Councilman Mason, a second by Councilman Yusheski. Is there discussion? All those in favor signify by saying aye. Aye. All those opposed, same sign. We've got one item of special business tonight. It's a great honor to present a proclamation recognizing park and recreation month in Mason City. We have some distinguished members of the park board along with our recreation director with us this evening. If you would please step forward uh at this time to uh receive this proclamation, I'd be honored to present it to you. And I'll go ahead and read it uh at this time. Whereas Mason City is a showcase for 37 parks featuring eighty uh eight hundred acres of parkland and more than one hundred and forty miles of biking and walking trails. And whereas this is four times as much parkland as many comparable-sized cities. And whereas from the beautiful aquatic center to our community gardens, from the ball fields to the skate park, the city provides healthy recreation options for the entire community. And whereas Mason City's most recent addition is the popular 12th Street and East Park kayak canoe and fishing launch, along with the largest outdoor pickleball recreation complex in Iowa. And whereas the Mason City Parks and Recreation Department is governed by an outstanding board represented by the members that are with us this evening, uh Melissa Fabian and Annie Hansen, chaired by Jay Lala. And whereas now therefore I Bill Shickle, mayor of Mason City, do hereby proclaim the month of July 2024 as Parks and Recreation Month in Mason City, and gratefully extend appreciation to the outstanding services just enumerated provided by the Mason City Parks and Recreation Department. Can we show our appreciation? Next, we'll move the public forum. Seeing no public comment at this time, we'll close the public forum and I'll move to the regular consent agenda. You have the agenda before you it's a minutes, followed by the claims, followed by the permits, then a recommendation to hire Brandon Van Horn as a police officer in Mason City. And the next item is awarding uh general obligation corporate purpose uh bonds, uh resolution awarding those general obligation bonds. And nine item number seven is authorizing a notice to bidders uh setting a public hearing and establishing costs for construction of the Pierce Avenue Northwest uh over Willow Creek Bridge railing replacement. Item number eight is a resolution approving a a sidewalk service area permit for uh Main Street Mason City. This is for a portion of Federal Avenue in the north of the principal pavilion. Uh this is for Friday night live events, and Friday night live uh will be this Friday and extends all the way to Fridays through August uh 16th. And item number nine is a resolution approving a property owner's application under the downtown West Home Pilot Authorization and Building Improvement Program. This is for uh fixing up and making beautiful properties at 109 North Jefferson Avenue and 309 North Adams in Mason City. This brings to 24 the total number of projects rehabilitated uh in that downtown west neighborhood. And item 10 is a resolution authorizing submission of a grant application to the environmental protection agency. The name of this grant is um River City Resilience. This would be money targeted at uh the Willow Creek flood mitigation project, uh energy efficient buildings in Mason City, tree replanting, along with linking our trails, among other things. It's a big grant. It could range between 20 and uh between ten and twenty million uh dollars, and we have our people working on that right now.
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