In a busy, one-hour meeting Tuesday evening, Dec. 1, the West Liberty City Council sold a property, hired an interim chief of police, heard updates on community projects, got an update from the new WeLead director, passed a resolution updating the city’s organizational chart and job descriptions and more.
The city appointed Sergeant Dave Lira, who has been with the police department for years, as the interim Chief of Police for the next six months, replacing Jeremy Burdess, who decided to pursue a different career.
Lira served as the interim chief of police after the resignation of Kary Kinmonth late last year. Burdess was hired in late March and served the city until his resignation in late November.
Lira reported on trying to fill part-time staffing positions, noting he had been conducting interviews with candidates and said, in the meanwhile, he’s available for 12-hour shifts if necessary to fill the void after recovering from COVID-19 himself, which put Lira in quarantine for two weeks.
He said officers are handling all the needs of the community, including the vehicle inspections city revenue source, which totaled 37 in November. He reported 267 service calls during 24 days in November including making one arrest for a domestic assault and other charges. Lira also said there were 26 traffic citations/warnings issued from Oct. 1-28.
City sells lot
The city also held a hearing in opening public bids for a city-obtained lot at 505 E. First Street, a property they’ve been trying to sell the past few months.
Ken Morrison of West Liberty purchased the property for $9,000 from the city, $250 more than the minimum bid, and said he plans to build a three bedroom, two bath single-family home on the property beginning this Spring. Morrison said he is working on details after getting the project approved.
Council meets WeLead director
The council was introduced to new WeLead economic development director Joe Taylor who gave a report on his first weeks in the position including “getting the word out” to businesses on a new Urban Renewal Program grant program to update buildings in the business community.
Taylor said he’s looking into the prospects the city has for housing development, especially on the north end of the community and said West Liberty is positioned to be in a “prime situation to capitalize” on growth.
Mayor Robert Hartman said he had a good meeting with Taylor on Tuesday morning on “how things are coming along” and Taylor looks to be adapting to the community and getting more and more involved, building relationships in the county as well as with the Quad-City Chamber of Commerce.
“I’m trying to hit the ground running,” he said, noting he’s ready to provide help when needed to businesses and economic development needs.
Learn some history
In other public correspondence, councilwoman Cara McFerren said she came across an old copy of the Iowa Journal of History and Politics that talked about when West Liberty first decided to create a city manager position back in 1920 at $2.000 a year, a “useless expense” according to some critical of the move. There was also information on some of the city services including the water and electrical plants.
The city also approved a $1,440 change order requested by city engineer Leo Foley of Veenstra & Kimm on the Oak Ridge Cemetery Columbarium project for additional cement work to be done by All-American Concrete of West Liberty. The additional work is for a 36-foot long curb around the base of the statue that is the centerpiece of the project.
The council also named the West Liberty Index as the official newspaper of the city.
A class C liquor license for Sunday sales was approved by the council as well for Maria Garcia, owner of Palenque Bar at 321 N. Calhoun Street.
Organizational chart
The city also approved an organizational chart and job descriptions for city employees, something that apparently had not been done previously. The job descriptions were provided by Midwest Municipal Consulting of Ankeny, which is the company operated by interim city manager Elizbeth Hansen. With the change, the city can maintain and update descriptions when duties change and during the annual evaluation process.
Reasons for the change included improving recruitment results, help determine salary levels, encourage employee training and development, boost employee productivity and to enhance workforce sustainability. The process included looking at comparable cities and drafts of job descriptions were shared with department heads at meetings.
Regarding organizational chart changes, consultants recommended the fire chief and building inspector positions be designated as full-time from part-time and the Parks and Recreation Director to include communications specialist. Administrative positions were also reorganized.
Changes in the draft evaluation form were also made and follow-up action was proposed.
A four-page update on the city’s “Infectious Disease Administrative Policy” was also approved by the council, setting guidelines for preventing spread of an infection in the workplace.
The council also approved a four-age administrative policy on remote work from home policy, setting expectations for things like employees working from home when the city hall is closed due to a virus quarantine situation, equipment an employee is allowed to use from home and responsibilities as well as having access to controls.
Table business expansion
The city also tabled a right of way request by Benji and Maria Gonzalez of West Liberty Acapulco Bakery on 213 N. Calhoun Street, regarding an extension of the rear of their building into an alley area. The city building inspector, Terry Goerdt, said the owner was requesting a permanent use of the city’s right-of-way in creating a 12 x 10-foot wooden deck structure in the rear of the building to place a walk-in freezer which is now inside the business. The business, which has been in West Liberty for about 12 years, says they have no other options to grow their building, noting the construction was estimated to cost about $1,500.
The council had a lot of questions about the proposal and decided not to make a decision at the meeting until more information could be obtained.
The city also approved sewer credit requests for three local residents including Carol Crook at 110 S. Park Street, Peggy Eichelberger of 412 E. Seventh Street and Sam and Mary Schneider of 403 W. 16th Street, totaling over $2,000.
In the city clerk’s report, Lee Geertz said the state auditor continues requests with the city’s financial software company, Incode, which has yet to notify the city of setting a meeting. She said the situation “continues to delay the process to have the state release the city’s 2018-19 financial statement.”
City manager's report
In the city manager’s report, Hansen reported on Zoom meetings with the city engineer, Geertz and a residential developer to discuss a timeline with a residential developer.
She said the proposed property was presently zoned for agriculture and would need to be rezoned for mixed R1-R3 residential development.
The city is also asking for a preliminary plat and plans for the property. Hansen also said the developer may seek tax increment financing as an incentive, which would require a change to the city’s Urban Renewal Plan, which would require a public hearing. The city would set a timeline for the developer to complete tasks to move forward on the project.
Hansen also said the city’s Capital Improvement Plan is in the works following a Nov. 17 work session, with feedback provided by department heads for the Dec. 15 council meeting. The plan is scheduled to be finalized by Jan. 19. The plan would be placed on the city’s website in the near future once it is finalized.
In a meeting with WeLead officials on economic development, Hansen said the group talked about membership drive efforts, taking stakeholder surveys and getting the Ripple Effect video launched.
She also reported a committee that included council members Robbie Rock, Jose Zacarius, Mayor Hartman and Clerk Geertz met Nov. 24 to discus the county’s all-terrain off road ordinance, fire and ambulance department personnel, the organizational chart, job descriptions and the police chief position.
The city staff will get information at their Dec. 15 meeting regarding the ATV/UTV ordinance for council review. At that meeting, Lira was appointed interim chief of police and Josh Houser was given a position as interim Sergeant. The group also talked about adopting budget requests from the departments.
The interim city manager also said all training events have been postponed until the new year.
The next meeting of the council is set for Tuesday, Dec. 15, beginning at 7:30 p.m. from the Community Room of the West Liberty Public Library.