CITY OF LENOX

A regular meeting of the Lenox City Council was called to order by Mayor Douglas on April 14, 2025 at 5:30 p.m. at City Hall with the following council members answering roll call: Huffman, Tull and Cruz; Peterson and Hodges were absent. Staff present was City Clerk, Dawne Bowman and City Administrator, Allison Kitzman. Visitors were Colleen Larimer and Jeff Tull.

Tull made a motion to approve the agenda, seconded by Cruz, all ayes, motion carried. Tull made a motion to approve 3/24/25 special meeting minutes, seconded by Cruz, all ayes, motion carried. Huffman made a motion to approve 3/24/25 regular meeting minutes, seconded by Cruz, all ayes, motion carried. Huffman made a notion to approve payment of the bills, seconded by Cruz, all ayes, motion carried. Tull made a motion to approve March 2025 Clerk Treasurer Report, seconded by Cruz, all ayes, motion carried.

There was a discussion on a possible easement or selling a parcel of land for a driveway located off Lakeshore Drive for Landon Maynes. Jeff Tull, with LMU, was present and stated his board is recommending an easement on the property, rather than selling any of this property. An easement would follow the property, so if the property sold, the easement would still be in place. Tull also talked about 2 water mains in the area. It was the consensus of the council that the land be surveyed and an exact drawing of what is going where on the property. This survey would be at the landowner's expense. Kitzman mentioned that if the property is not surveyed, we would use our GIS mapping, which may not be exact. Kitzman will reach out to Landon.

At 5:40 PM Tull opened the Public Hearing on Budget Adoption FY26, seconded by Cruz. There were no comments heard from the public. At 5:42 PM, Cruz made a motion to close the Public Hearing, seconded by Huffman, all ayes, motion carried.

Kitzman presented the council with a Budget power point, discussing levy rates, tax rates and roll back amounts. A list of upcoming projects was also discussed.

Tull made a motion to approve Resolution 25- 19 FY26 Budget Adoption, seconded by Cruz, all ayes, motion carried.

Kitzman discussed the Archeological Phase 1 RFP results for the Walking Trail project. Bidding for the walking trail had to be suspended as the Office of the State Archaeologist believed there was a need for a Phase 1 archeological survey needed for the project and the State Historic Preservation Office agreed. RFPs were sent out to multiple companies that perform Phase 1 surveys. There were 3 proposals returned for the archeological study, all with a May 30, 2025 completion. University of Iowa for $5,483, Bear Creek for $5,890 and Tall Grass for $9,468.48. It was noted by Kitzman that Bear Creek offered a few good bullet points, such as they can start sooner, they can expedite the report if needed and they maintain an open relationship with the landowners and continued communication with the City of Lenox. Tull made a motion to approve Bear Creek Archeology, Inc. in the amount of $5,890 for the Phase 1 archeological survey, seconded by Cruz, all ayes, motion carried.

Tull made a motion to re- appoint Bob Ryan and Nick Custer to Zoning Board for a term of 5 years, expiring May 2030, seconded by Cruz, all ayes, motion carried.

Cruz made a motion to approve Casey's General Store Retail Tobacco License application, seconded by Tull, all ayes, motion carried.

Tull motioned to adjourn the meeting, Cruz seconded, all ayes, motion carried. Meeting adjourned at 6:13 PM.