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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2005-09-21-Work Session MinutesWAUKEE CITY COUNCIL MINUTES WORKSHOP MEETING SEPTEMBER 21,2005 Call to Order -The workshop meeting of the Waukee City Council was called to order by Mayor Pro Tem Mertz at 7:10 PM.Mr.Mertz stated he would like to close the meeting at 9:00 PM. (1)City of Clive I City of Waukee Issues Future plans and needs of Clive for the area now within the borders of Clive were discussed.The ease of providing service to the area currently in Clive would improve if the border between the two cities was more manageable.Council members interested in further discussions with Clive stated that it would be the responsibility of Clive to visit with Waukee residents adjoining the Clive border to determine interest or motivation for joining Clive.Council members Jeff Mertz,Darlene Stanton and alternate Nick Gruber,once approved by resolution,will continue discussion with the City of Clive. (2)Policy,Process &Procedure for Gifts,Contributions or Waiving of Fees for Charitable or Public Purposes The discussion began with a restatement of the current Code Section 301.28(B),Building Permits Required where the last sentence reads:"The Council may,for good cause shown waive the fee required herein where the building, structure,accessory building or fence is constructed by a charitable,educational,or religious organization for public purposes."Three out of five Council members thought this sentence should remain in the Code Book and the Building Permit Fee should be the only fee to be waived.Because of the method of calculating the Building Permit Fee,the actual dollar amount to be waived would be in the $800 to $1,500 range.As discussed in the meeting,staff members preferred not to waive fees of any kind,especially building permit fees.It was staff preference that a separate account or a separate source of funds for contributions/donations be established,which would provide for the occasional request for contributions/donations.It was suggested that the sentence identified above be removed from the Code Book and a separate entry describing a policy and procedure be included in Code Section Ill.This would permit a written policy for contributions/donations from a different source of funds.Council member Stanton suggested there were a number of ways to fund a 'gift'account such as requesting donations from residents.It was also suggested that funds be given only to those groups or individuals requesting funds that are to be expended within the City of Waukee.After further discussion,Council member Mertz indicated he would support,along with Council members Peard and Stanton,deleting the last sentence in Code Section 301.28(B)as referenced above.This resulted in a majority of the Council agreeing to place an ordinance on the October 3,2005 agenda deleting the last line in Section 301.28(B).City Attorney Steve Brick will write the ordinance.City Administrator Mark Arentsen stated that a request had been received from Davis Homes,Inc.to waive the fees for two homes being constructed,the profit from the sale of which would be donated to the American Cancer Society.A majority of the Council suggested that staff determine where those funds would come from and place the item on the October 3,2005 agenda. (3)Public Works New Building(s)Construction Plans Public Works Director John Gibson distributed an initial design of the proposed Public Works Facility,which would, at first,replace the function of the some of the existing buildings.Location of the new facility,use and tentative future plans to re-locate all of the facility and tum the current space into a park area was also mentioned. (4)Merit Pay Plan,Process &Procedure The current pay plan and method for review was discussed.The Closure Plan,now three years old,needs to be reviewed and revised using a current comparison with comparable cities.Jody Gunderson,Community Development Director,suggested that those cities could be cities located closer to Waukee than some of the communities originally selected three years ago.General consensus of the group is that this should be reviewed and done by staff so as to determine where the City pay scale is in relationship to its neighbors.Council,in general,supported the concept of Merit Pay.Merit Pay would be distributed as a result of a favorable staff review and would be given to those deemed most worthy.One definition identified the Merit Pay as bonus money only.Another viewed Merit Pay as being a certain percentage of the overall wage increase,which could be given to some; but not all based on work performed.As part of the discussion staff were asked to state their view on Merit Pay.Five out of seven staff viewed Merit Pay as a good thing, especially when rewarding those who work harder and longer than their co-workers.The other two staff members stated they were not in favor of merit pay because it tends to be subjectively administered,creates more ill will amongst workers and tends to destroy teamwork rather than improving it.Mayor Pro Tern Mertz requested information about the Clive Personnel Program for wage increases.Although this issue was not resolved, due to the closeness to nine 0'clock,the group moved to the next topic. 1 (5)Full Time Fire Chief Position Mark Schmitt,Assistant Fire Chief,discussed the budget and lack of funds for this year when discussing the Fire Chief position.Under budgeting of the Fire Department has occurred in,minimally,the last two or three years. From that and other expenses the department has a short fall of approximately $20 or $30 thousand for this year.Ass't Fire Chief Schmitt,who has been serving as the Acting Fire Chief since Terry Sesker left earlier this year stated the general consensus of the Fire Department was that an appointment of a volunteer Fire Chief would provide structure and direction to the Fire Department,Staff will research the method for hiring a Fire Chief and provide to Council. (6)Comprehensive Plan Revisions,Update This item will be placed on the agenda for the next workshop. (7)Alice's Road Interchange and Road south from University -Financials,Plans, Timeline,Update This item will be placed on the agenda for the next workshop Mayor Pro Tern asked for a motion to adjourn.Nick Gruber moved.Darlene Stanton second.Ayes:All.Nays:None.Motion carried 5-0. Meeting Adjourned at 9:17 PM. C.Paardekooper,Deputy Clerk Attest: