CITY OF LENOX

A regular meeting of the Lenox City Council was called to order by Mayor Douglas on August 8, 2016 at 5:30 p.m. at City Hall with the following council members answering roll call: Bowman, Adams, Vogel and Borland; Custer was absent. Staff present included City Administrator, Allison Kitzman, City Clerk, Dawne Bowman, Public Works, Ryan Brown and City Attorney, James Varley. Other visitors were Angela Green, Kevin Kain and Ben French.

Bowman made a motion to approve the agenda, seconded by Vogel, all aye, motion carried. Adams made a motion to approve 7/25/16 meeting minutes, seconded by Borland, all aye, motion carried. Vogel made a motion to approve the payment of the bills, seconded by Borland, all aye, motion carried.

There were no officers present; however, a report was furnished to all council members.

Kevin Kain, with DCI Group presented the council with information regarding his organization. DCI Group is a firm that assists in construction management, such as understanding needs, prioritizing, soliciting engineers and architects, and design procurement. Kain discussed the condition of city properties and the desire to move the City in the right direction as far as City Hall and other properties owned by the City. Vogel expressed his concern for more internal work needing to be done by the building committee (Vogel and Custer) and the desire to possibly put a "cap" on the dollar amount to be spent on the project. It was the consensus of the Council that direction and structure is needed. The council would like to see some financial scenarios put together showing both the wastewater treatment project and the City Hall building project. We need to determine what affect spending different dollar amounts would have on the city budget and the citizens of Lenox. This will be on the next agenda.

Angela Green, Taylor County Sanitarian, was present to discuss the inspections completed on the exterior of trailers #5 and #19 and the interior of trailer #6. There is currently a family residing in #6, Green mentioned seeing several health hazards in trailer #6 such as exposed fiberglass insulation, buckets to hold rain due to roof leaking, and visible mold growing. There was discussion among council members regarding relocating this family during renovation of their home. It was reported by Catherine Trail that she does not have a habitable trailer for the family to move into at this time. Varley discussed the possibility of adopting a code that requires landlords to have their property inspected every 3 years and prior to anyone moving in. This code could be complaint driven as well. Varley has been in contact with the City Attorney at Centerville, IA as they recently had an issue with their trailer court. In the meantime, it was decided to continue inspecting the exterior of the trailers and file nuisance abatement notices on the owners of the trailers. This will be on the next agenda.

Adams made a motion to approve Shilo Leonard to the Library Board to fill an unexpired term ending in July 2017, seconded by Borland, all aye motion carried.

Kitzman discussed speeding issues she has been notified about regarding Lakeshore Drive. Ryan Brown discussed the possibility of customizing signs relating to speed bumps. Bowman made a motion to move forward with speed bumps and traffic signs near campground area to control the speed on Lakeshore Drive, seconded by Borland, all aye, motion carried.

Kitzman discussed funding options for the Wastewater Treatment Plant. The City of Lenox has been awarded a CDBG grant in the amount of $500,000, while other approved funding options are a USDA Loan or SRF Loan. Due to all the rules and regulations of a USDA Loan, Kitzman relayed that it is the suggestion of Snyder and Associates to move forward with the SRF Loan in amount of $2.1 million. Adams made a motion to approve funding through SRF Loan for the Wastewater Treatment Plant, seconded by Vogel, all aye, motion carried.

Vogel made a motion to approve Resolution 16- 24 Applying for the SRF Sponsored Project, seconded by Bowman, all aye, motion carried. This project is anticipated to improve water issues, by creating a place for water to go to take pressure off the sewer system. Ryan Brown discussed areas in town such as West Michigan Street, East Temple Street and Dallas Street.

There was nothing new on the repairs to City Hall; however, it was noted by Mayor Douglas that Paul Maynes had offered the City his property to the west of City Hall for $9,000. It was mentioned that this property would possibly not be of much use to the City as it crosses an alley and has a sewer line running through it.

Douglas discussed the tree planting at Dalton Ag. There are some dead trees at this time; however, there are several trees that are planted according to the contract. There will be more trees planted in the fall.

Vogel discussed the Depot, as Lange Construction is currently there to fix the flooring. It was reported that termites have been present in the kitchen countertop area and this issue needs to be resolved prior to the flooring being completed. Kitzman had contacted Lincoln's Lawn Care to check on termite extermination. Borland questioned the experience of Lincoln's dealing with termites or if the current exterminator, Green Valley has more experience with this.

Adams moved to adjourn the meeting, Vogel seconded, all ayes, motion carried. Meeting adjourned at 7:00 P.M.