OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

Sioux City City Council Meeting Summary - January 12, 2026

Council Meetings — Monday, January 12, 2026
BodySioux City, Iowa
SessionCouncil Meetings
DateMonday, January 12, 2026
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 2:30:37

Transcript — Verbatim
0:21

Bertrand.

0:22

Here.

0:23

Rayford.

0:24

Here.

0:25

Here.

0:26

Scott.

0:26

Here.

0:27

Here.

0:28

Stand for a moment of silent curve followed by the pledge.

0:35

Congratulations to the flood.

0:48

Christine Nathaniel.

1:00

Hi.

1:02

Proclamation.

1:03

It reads, whereas the United States was founded upon the principle that all people are created within inalienable right of freedom and added the 13th Amendment to the Constitution, making slavery illegal.

1:14

Whereas slavery within the United States States today is most often found in a form of forced labor and sex trafficking, which weakens our social fabric, increases violence and organized crime, and debases our humanity.

1:28

And whereas this problem is found even within our community, whereas every business, community, organization, faith community, family, and individual can make a difference by choosing products that are not made by forced labor by working to protect our young people from sexual exploitation by addressing the problems of internet sex trafficking and pornograporion.

1:53

And by becoming more aware of the problem and possible solutions.

1:58

Now therefore, I Robert E.

1:59

Scott, mayor of the city of Sioux City, Iowa, and be after the City Council to hereby proclaim January 2026 as human trafficking prevention month, and encourage our citizens to become more familiar with the problem and to work towards solutions.

2:15

Thank you for all your work.

2:17

And say a few words, please.

2:19

Okay, thank you.

2:23

Thank you, Mayor Scott, and members of City Council.

2:26

Welcome to the three new ones.

2:29

Thank you for allowing us to present this proclamation, and thank you for um if you don't know, the clock tower is lit up in blue in observance of this month.

2:38

And for the new city council, Bernadette Rixner, who I actually just really want to honor, um, is going to hand out brochures about what we do.

2:49

We are a nonprofit the 501c3 located here in Sioux City.

2:55

This coalition was founded in July of 2014, and our purpose is to work toward abolishing all forms of human trafficking through education, advocacy, and collaboration, focusing on but not limited to the three states of Iowa, Nebraska, and South Dakota that comprise Siouxland.

3:13

I do want to let you know about Bernadette Rixner.

3:16

She has been with us from the beginning.

3:19

She's actually uh started, I think in 2014, and she was actually awarded last year the outstanding anti-trafficking service award last year.

3:29

And she also is our outreach coordinator, but not only that, she's on the board of Iowa Network Against Human Trafficking and Slavery.

3:37

And I thought it would have just been not okay if I did not honor her because Bernadette is just a huge role model for me and an inspiration, and I just wanted our even our new city council members to know who Bernadette is because she is incredibly a life changer.

3:53

So thank you guys for this and thank you for all you do.

3:57

Thanks for that patient.

3:58

That was nice.

3:59

Bernette congratulations.

4:03

All right, we'll go to the consent agenda today.

4:06

Items two through ten beak constitute the consent agenda.

4:10

Items will pass unanimously unanimously unless a separate roll call vote is requested by a council member.

4:16

If you want to speak on an item, please come up as I read that item.

4:19

If you want to speak on an item not on the agenda, please come up under citizen concerns.

4:24

Please remember to always state your name for the record.

4:27

I'll move the consent agenda.

4:30

Two is a reading of the January 2nd and 5th council city council minutes.

4:34

Mayor, can I ask for one slight change on the last page of the minutes under council concerns?

4:43

Could I just ask that my name's Barenstein Bernstein?

4:46

The third time it's Bernstein.

4:48

Could I just ask that that be changed?

4:49

Thanks.

4:51

Okay.

4:52

Three, our resolution approving a schedule of peas for slips and lifts at the marina.

4:58

Can I ask what's our occupancy rate there?

5:02

Not very good.

5:03

That's why I'm asking.

5:05

Matt Salvatore Parks and Recreation Director.

5:07

This last summer is about 25 percent coming off uh the year where the marina was not in operation.

5:15

Uh big reason for the occupancy uh being that low is we did not have gas due to some uh mechanical issues.

5:22

Those were addressed last year.

5:23

We will have gas first thing this spring.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Water And Wastewater Management███████████████15%
Homelessness██████████████14%
Building Permits█████████████13%
Procedural████████8%
Public Safety████████8%
Engineering And Infrastructure███████7%
Public Engagement██████6%
Budget Equity Analysis█████5%
Personnel Matters█████5%
Summary of Proceedings

Sioux City City Council Meeting Summary - January 12, 2026

The Sioux City City Council convened on January 12, 2026, to address a wide array of municipal issues ranging from a proclamation on human trafficking to complex infrastructure planning and public safety strategies. The meeting featured significant discussion on the efficiency of the city's building permit process, the financial implications of the upcoming wastewater treatment plant overhaul, and the city's multi-agency approach to homelessness. A notable portion of the session was dedicated to navigating labor relations regarding a new EMS position and the legalities of potential loitering ordinances.

Consent Calendar

  • The Council unanimously passed items 2 through 10, including the approval of January council minutes (with a minor name correction for Councilman Barenstein), a schedule of payments for slips and lifts at the marina, and the reappointment of Todd Hageman to the building and housing code board.
  • Appointment of Michael Wingert: A resolution was passed to appoint Michael Wingert to the Woodbury County Law Enforcement Center's authority board. Mayor Scott commended Wingert's 30-year career and expertise. Councilman Bertrand abstained from the vote due to a conflict of interest, stating he currently represents Wingert as a client.
  • Fiber Optic & Airport Projects: Resolutions were adopted for plans and specs regarding the fiber optic project, Pulaski Park drainage, the Floyd PLC upgrade (LNS Electric), the Art Center HBAC replacement (Thompson Solutions Group), and the jet power ground power unit at the airport (Oshkosh AeroTech).

Public Comments & Testimony

  • Human Trafficking Prevention Month: Representatives from a local nonprofit coalition honored the proclamation for January 2026 and highlighted the "Clock Tower" lighting in blue. They specifically paid tribute to Bernadette Rixner, an outreach coordinator and board member of the Iowa Network Against Human Trafficking and Slavery, for her longstanding dedication and recent award.
  • ASME Council 61 (Firefighters Local 2796): The union president expressed concern that the firefighters' union president had violated AFL-CIO Article 20 by attempting to claim jurisdiction over a proposed EMS Training Officer position previously designated as a unionized ASME role. The union stated they would consider filing a peremptory practice complaint if the council moves forward with the "alternative" option of hiring a Lieutenant Paramedic from a different bargaining unit without prior negotiation.
  • Firefighters Local 7 (President Paulson): Responded to the ASME complaint, stating they supported the alternative position option solely for potential cost savings (upwards of $27,000) and asked for a deferral to allow for legal review of the collective bargaining agreement violations alleged by ASME.
  • Brett Waltron (Citizen): Requested a change to the meeting start time to 5:00 PM to accommodate working residents and raised concerns that enacting stricter loitering laws could expose the city to Eighth Amendment liability regarding substance abuse detainees.
  • Greg (Citizen): Proposed the formation of a healthcare task force to drive economic development and requested a report on parking meter revenue and maintenance needs.

Discussion Items

  • EMS Training Officer Position: Fire Chief Ronnie Collins presented two options for a vacant position: Option 1 (current) involves an EMS Training Officer (ASME unit) with a $33,000 budget increase. The alternative involves reclassifying the role to a Lieutenant Paramedic (Firefighters unit) to potentially offset overtime costs by roughly $10,000 annually, though it carries an additional $18,000 cost increase. Due to the union's allegations of a jurisdictional violation and the potential legal risks, Councilman Rayford moved to defer the item to January 26, 2026, to allow for legal clarification.
  • Building Permit Process Reform: Councilwoman Craig and others criticized the perception that Sioux City is "tough to build in," citing long delays, rigid processes, and poor customer service. Staff (Marty, Henry, Brian) explained the current two-to-three-day plan review goal but acknowledged the bottleneck lies in coordination with the Development Review Committee (DRC), engineering reviews, and the manual mailing of deficiency documents. The Council directed staff to present a new plan aimed at a 3-5 day permit issuance cycle, utilizing the new software and adopting a more customer-service-focused, "red-line" digital review process similar to other communities.
  • Wastewater Treatment Plant Upgrade: Public Works Director Tom Pingle presented the Facility Plan for upgrading the aging plant. Key points included:
    • The plant is 65 years old and currently operating at 100-110% capacity despite the recent loss of South Sioux City industries and the upcoming loss of the Jolita industry.
    • Phase One and Two are estimated at roughly $300 million, with an "off-ramp" clause allowing the city to bid out the contract if the Guaranteed Max Price exceeds this target significantly.
    • Councilman Bertrand emphasized the need to hold the $300 million cap strictly to avoid scope creep into Phase Two, citing recent failures in similar projects elsewhere.
  • Homelessness Task Force Progress: Police Chief Rex Mueller and Captain Chris Groves reported a 50% decrease in police contacts regarding 62 tracked individuals since the task force's inception in October. The discussion highlighted challenges such as hospitals releasing patients too early, jail medical liability regarding detoxification, and the city serving as a "dumping ground" for homeless individuals from other communities.
  • Property Tax & Budget Analysis: Finance Director Teresa Fitch detailed that while the total budget is $487 million, property taxes cover only approximately $62.5 million (part of the $35 million General Fund). Mayor Scott noted that a 10% reduction in city property taxes would require finding $6 million in savings across the budget but emphasized that reducing the tax burden requires collaboration with the School District and County, who also control portions of the levy.
  • Parks and Recreation Strategy: Director Matt Salvatore reported that Sioux City has 11.7 parks per 1,000 residents (above the 10.2 average) but suffers from aging infrastructure. The Mayor directed staff to identify "low-hanging fruit" for repurposing underutilized parks for affordable housing development and to outsource mowing for non-park grounds to improve staff efficiency.

Key Outcomes

  • Abstention: Councilman Bertrand officially abstained from the vote on appointing Michael Wingert to the LEC authority board.
  • Deferral: The EMS Training Officer reclassification item was deferred to January 26, 2026, following a 4-1 vote (Councilman Rayford voted Yes to defer; others voted No) to seek legal guidance on union jurisdiction.
  • Directives:
    • Staff were directed to develop a new building permit process targeting a 3-day residential and 5-day commercial turnaround time.
    • Parks and Development staff were directed to identify specific parks for potential affordable housing repurposing and to propose outsourcing mowing for non-park lands.
    • The Public Works Director was instructed to ensure the Wastewater Treatment Plant contract maintains the $300 million cap for Phase One, with a clear understanding of the "off-ramp" option.
  • Proclamation: January 2026 was officially proclaimed as Human Trafficking Prevention Month.

Meeting Transcript

Bertrand. Here. Rayford. Here. Here. Scott. Here. Here. Stand for a moment of silent curve followed by the pledge. Congratulations to the flood. Christine Nathaniel. Hi. Proclamation. It reads, whereas the United States was founded upon the principle that all people are created within inalienable right of freedom and added the 13th Amendment to the Constitution, making slavery illegal. Whereas slavery within the United States States today is most often found in a form of forced labor and sex trafficking, which weakens our social fabric, increases violence and organized crime, and debases our humanity. And whereas this problem is found even within our community, whereas every business, community, organization, faith community, family, and individual can make a difference by choosing products that are not made by forced labor by working to protect our young people from sexual exploitation by addressing the problems of internet sex trafficking and pornograporion. And by becoming more aware of the problem and possible solutions. Now therefore, I Robert E. Scott, mayor of the city of Sioux City, Iowa, and be after the City Council to hereby proclaim January 2026 as human trafficking prevention month, and encourage our citizens to become more familiar with the problem and to work towards solutions. Thank you for all your work. And say a few words, please. Okay, thank you. Thank you, Mayor Scott, and members of City Council. Welcome to the three new ones. Thank you for allowing us to present this proclamation, and thank you for um if you don't know, the clock tower is lit up in blue in observance of this month. And for the new city council, Bernadette Rixner, who I actually just really want to honor, um, is going to hand out brochures about what we do. We are a nonprofit the 501c3 located here in Sioux City. This coalition was founded in July of 2014, and our purpose is to work toward abolishing all forms of human trafficking through education, advocacy, and collaboration, focusing on but not limited to the three states of Iowa, Nebraska, and South Dakota that comprise Siouxland. I do want to let you know about Bernadette Rixner. She has been with us from the beginning. She's actually uh started, I think in 2014, and she was actually awarded last year the outstanding anti-trafficking service award last year. And she also is our outreach coordinator, but not only that, she's on the board of Iowa Network Against Human Trafficking and Slavery. And I thought it would have just been not okay if I did not honor her because Bernadette is just a huge role model for me and an inspiration, and I just wanted our even our new city council members to know who Bernadette is because she is incredibly a life changer. So thank you guys for this and thank you for all you do. Thanks for that patient. That was nice. Bernette congratulations. All right, we'll go to the consent agenda today. Items two through ten beak constitute the consent agenda. Items will pass unanimously unanimously unless a separate roll call vote is requested by a council member. If you want to speak on an item, please come up as I read that item. If you want to speak on an item not on the agenda, please come up under citizen concerns. Please remember to always state your name for the record. I'll move the consent agenda. Two is a reading of the January 2nd and 5th council city council minutes. Mayor, can I ask for one slight change on the last page of the minutes under council concerns? Could I just ask that my name's Barenstein Bernstein? The third time it's Bernstein. Could I just ask that that be changed? Thanks.

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