City Council - Regular Meeting

Thank you and welcome, everybody. I'll point out that Councilman Davies brought popcorn for everybody if you'd like to have some. Help yourself. Help yourself. First thing, I'd entertain a motion to approve the agenda as posted and sent to the news media 24 hours prior to the meeting. So moved. I'll second. Commissioned by Ms. Fay. Seconded by Ms. Griefe. All in favor? Aye. Opposed? Motion carries. Thank you. Next is the mayor leadership statement. The city of Hampton endeavors at all times to promote and model the principles of professionalism, trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring, and citizenship. In conducting this evening's meeting, we expect that all participants will act in a respectful manner consistently with these principles. Thank you. Next item is a council workshop report from Monday the 24th. I'm not going to read that to you, but it is available online if anybody would like to review that. Next item up is the public comment section, and just a reminder that we do like to limit the comments to three to five minutes, so if anybody's got some public comment this evening, please step up to the podium.

Good evening. My name's Pat McDonald. I live at 12 3rd Street Southeast in Hampton. I was here in April and had a full written out agenda for me to talk about. Since then, I feel like I've been neglected. What I'm talking about is the barn behind me that has graffiti wrote on it. I don't know if you're aware of it. Everybody else in town is because they've been up and down the alley a thousand times. I disapprove. I would hope you would too. I would like to sell my house at some point. I know that's going to affect my property value. And I don't think the city's probably going to make up the difference because of lack of knowing your job, the job of public works director, code enforcement officer, and the magistrate judge of the second district of Iowa. Nothing seems to be happening with this. It's been five months now. The first time it took 50 days to do a 25-day process from the dates it was given to me. Now we're 100 days out for the second time. After the 50 days, the garage was painted for 30 minutes. Then it was updated or decorated again. It stays in that situation. A lot of people aren't upset with it. I am. I live next to it. I see it every day. I talk with other people that see it every day. I see people driving up and down the alley every day. A lot of people are watching this. The only thing that has actually improved on it is the banner that was hanging out front. That was about a week, two different times. First time the city did have something to do with getting that taken down. And the second time, God did it. He blew it down. We need God's intervention again, I believe. I think you can understand how upset I am. I think you can see how upset I am. Thank you for your time. I hope something gets done.

Thank you. Thank you. All right. Any other public comment this evening? Hearing none, we will move on. Old business, we don't have any extra of that to take care of, so we'll move on to our new business. And we have Caleb Hayes with ISG regarding the change requests for the pharmacy building. Evening, everyone.

We talked about the change requests on Monday, so I wanted to come in today, see if there's any other additional questions on any of those change requests or any other comments that anybody wanted to discuss before we proceeded with them.

well the only comment I would have the design committee met and reviewed particularly the one with the storefront changed the windows and they thought it was excellent and really appreciate that it will be hopefully a part of this project

And one comment, we did get updated scheduling as well. If these do proceed, it will push the completion date out to October 26th. So not too far out. The biggest factor in that is the lead time on those storefront windows. Otherwise, the contractors, they're ready to go. They'll start demolition right away. We actually met with them today prior to this. And they'll start getting demolition done, get those new windows framed in, and then they'll board it up for the time being. So there will be some plywood out there for a couple of weeks until those windows come in. So I don't know if you guys just want to let the community know that. It's not gonna stay like that, but there will be plywood sitting up there for a few weeks.

Okay, appreciate that. Any other questions for Caleb?

Is there a way to save that glass?

The primary panes?

Yeah.

They could pull them out and save them. Most of them are broken.

We just spent money painting it, so if we could take them somewhere and save them and still display them, so...

Yeah, we could ask them to salvage it. I know they're going to salvage some of the other stuff.

It's a shame that we spent that money and it's gone.

Yep. What are you going to do with the transom windows?

I mean, there's transom windows on the one that I think. The decorative windows that are on the upper level?

Yeah, just above, yeah.

Those are actually, we talked about that today. The contractor is having, he's got another partner that does historical renovations that is going to come and pull those and use those on a different project. Unless you guys wanted them, but we didn't want to leave anything for the city to deal with.

What value would you put on those?

Typically, we don't put a value on old materials. They just use them for.

It's historic. It's priceless to me.

Yeah, as an architecture firm, we can't put a value on them because we don't put materials like that back into buildings.

What is the city's policy on if they're pulling things out and they were going to keep it?

Well, we don't really have one. But if it's something that the council feels strongly about, we can talk to the contractor.

It's in the AIA contract that all owners have right of first refusal. So any materials that are removed, the owner has the rights to before the contractor takes them.

Okay.

I have to do some brainstorming.

Okay.

Thank you.

Thank you. Any other discussion?

Get her done.

If not, might I entertain a motion to approve? Change request 2, 3, 4, 8, and 14R for 4 and 6 First Street Northwest.

I'll make a motion to approve the change request.

Motion by Mr. Lamos.

I'll second.

Second by Ms. Rohde. All in favor? Aye. Opposed? Motion carries. Thank you. Thank you, Caleb, for coming down tonight. Next item up, we got a request from Norseman Lobster to park a food truck on the west side of Frederick Street across from the library on September 23rd. Mr. Nunn, you got information on that one?

Yeah, you have the pink pages with their letter of request. to park on the west side of South Federal across from the library, September 23rd, from 3.30 p.m. until 8 p.m. with serving hours from 4.30 p.m. to 7.30 p.m. We've approved of this in the past. Their serving window would be facing the park. Food truck is self-sufficient with a generator and water on board. And then they've supplied a map with the general area.

Any questions about that? They have their own generator?

Yes.

I don't have a question, but I do have a comment. Why do they have to be there? And as I've said before, I don't think it's right to approve food trucks in the downtown district on the street. That's all I got to say.

Got you. I would just add that if anybody's ever tried that, it's really good stuff. So, I mean, that's worth the effort.

If we let one, we got to let them all.

That's right. That's why we have an ordinance for it.

All right, any other? I just have a question. Was there, like, the library, or did someone ask them to be here, or are they just on their own? Becky knows.

I asked the library personally, and Susie had no interest.

But they did not ask them to be there. I mean, they are coming on their own.

But once they were asking if they could be there, I spoke with the library to make sure that it didn't cause any issues previously.

OK, thank you.

Yeah, because they were there before. Right, that's what I thought. It went very well.

I'd rather see them there than on First Street. Exactly.

I mean, a lot of people park there.

Or they could be in the library parking lot.

Anything else? If not, I would entertain a motion to approve the request for a Norseman Lobster to park the food truck on September 23rd.

I'll make a motion to approve Norseman Lobster.

Motion by Mr. Lamos. Second? I'll second. Second by Mr. Davies. All right. All in favor?

Aye. Aye. Aye.

Opposed?

Nay.

OK. Two nays. Yep. Motion carries. Thank you. Next item, consider a request for Matthew Meyer, 1208 Central Avenue East, requesting permission to keep sheep on the property. Step up to the podium and...

I didn't see you hiding back there. Hello, Matt Meyer. Thank you all for allowing me to speak in front of you today. And thank you for putting this up to a vote and considering this. I know this has been a long, hard process. And I appreciate your time and everything that you've put into this. And that's all I have to say to it. Thank you.

All right. I believe you have Jim's letter in your packet. So if you have any other questions, discussion around that? If not, I would entertain a motion to approve the request from Matt Meyer requesting permission to keep sleep sheep on the property.

I would move we approve.

With the stipulation. I'm sorry. The stipulation that the council permission will expire at such time when the owner changes hands again.

Yeah, I would move that motion.

OK.

I'll second.

That's that motion by Mr. Davies. Seconded by Ms. Robies. All in favor? Aye. Opposed? Motion carries. Thank you. Next we have a request from Franklin REC for street closures for light up the night on November 28th. We heard from them on Monday with the details. So if anybody's got any further questions on that, otherwise I would entertain a motion to approve the request from Franklin REC.

I'll make that motion. I'll second.

Motion by Mr. Holmstrom. Second by Mr. Lamos. All in favor? Aye. Opposed? Motion carries. Thank you. Next, we have a quote. Consider a quote by Niacob for general assistance for the comprehensive plan amendment and zoning ordinance regarding data centers. Mr. Dunst.

Thank you, Mayor. And this is in your packet, basically a cover letter from John Robbins, senior planner with North Iowa Area Council of Governments. Cover letter and then an agreement. Let's see, per your request to provide a quote and description for the subject services, NICOG is able to assist with preparing comprehensive plan amendment and zoning ordinance amendment regarding data centers for a cost of $2,500. The purpose of the comprehensive plan amendment will be to support the decisions you make regarding adopting requirements in the zoning ordinance and identify appropriate locations, sightings, issues that need to be addressed in addressing the potential impacts of data centers in the community this quote includes assistance with research and analysis related to the use preparing the draft policy and amendment to the comprehensive plan and put a potential future land use map amendment to the plan work shopping with the Planning and Zoning Commission assistance with navigating the amendment process Preparation of needed materials and attendance at required public hearings. Additionally, NIACOG staff will assist with the preparation of a draft amendment to the zoning ordinance to establish proper minimum requirements for data centers proposed to be located within the community and processed for review by the City of Hampton. This quote includes any needed research, drafting of the zoning ordinance amendment, workshopping with PNZ Commission, meeting with staff, assistance with navigating the amendment process, preparation of needed materials, and attendance at required public hearings. Thank you.

All right, thank you. Any discussion around that? Any questions?

I think we're going to need some help.

Yes, we are. All right. Hearing none, I would entertain a motion to approve the city partnering with NACOG and their quote for the assisting with the zonus ordinance amendment.

So moved. I'll second that.

Motion by Ms. Creepy. Second by Mr. Lamos. All in favor? Aye. Opposed? Motion carries. Thank you. Next, we have considered city partnering with Windsor Theater for an emergency community catalyst grant application. Mr. Davies.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Before I get started in my presentation, I have a sample of the ceiling that fell down in the Windsor, and I'll be talking about that. Okay, just to start out, my name is Jim Davies. I'm the manager of the Windsor Theater and president of the Windsor Theater Development Corporation. And I would like to start out by explaining what is an emergency catalyst grant. A State of Iowa Emergency Catalyst Grant refers to funding through the Community Catalyst Building Remediation Program administered by the Iowa Economic Development Authority, and it's for cities facing sudden structural threats or unique immediate opportunities. The purpose is to help Iowa cities rehabilitate damaged buildings to spark downtown economic growth and improve safety. Now while standard grants follow a strict annual pre-application cycle, cities facing unexpected emergencies such as structural collapses, fires, and storm damage can apply for funding outside the normal timeline. Now there is a funding limit. Maximum standard and emergency grants reach up to $100,000 per project. And the city and the building owner together provide a matching amount. Now the requirements, the city must provide matching financial or in-kind resources and execute a formal development agreement with any private building owner before the funds are released. Now what is the emergency? On two different dates in July, it was July 18th and sometime between July 26th and the 29th, sections of the Windsor Theatre Auditorium ceiling fell. There were no injuries and there were no witnesses. Inspections revealed there's no obvious cause, such as water damage, for the ceiling failure. Now we attribute the deterioration primarily due to age of the plaster ceiling, which is 114 years old, compounded by decades of sound vibrations from years of playing movies in the theater. Now unfortunately, insurance does not cover this as it is considered a maintenance issue. Nor is business interruption coverage available because it was a maintenance issue. Now immediate action was taken. Additional cracks in other areas of the ceiling can be seen. And because of the potential for more falling plaster and to ensure patrons are safe, seating has been limited to the 116 seats located beneath the balcony until repairs or replacement of the ceiling can be completed. Now movies continue to be shown on a regular schedule. However, all live performances and other events that require use of the stage have been suspended until further notice. Now next, the Windsor Theater Development Corporation Board of Directors met and discussed options whether to repair or replace the ceiling, and then they voted to replace the entire ceiling. I reached out to contractors and received three proposals. Pro wall construction was awarded the project at a cost of $113,645. The emergency catalyst grant would be for 50% of that total cost of the project or approximately like $56,822. Now, the scope of the work would include covering the floor and the seating, putting up the scaffolding by pro wall, tearing off the existing plaster, and this is an example of what would be torn off that fell, that's on the ceiling in the auditorium. They would attach five-eighths-inch sheetrock. to the ceiling lath, they would tape and finish it smooth through a level four finish. There would be a dumpster and then access to the side door to the dumpster. There was also a spot on the east wall that they would patch. Now what's excluded is there's crown molding on the walls around like the stage area, and then no work would be done on the insulation and the vapor barrier above the lath and the ceiling joints. There's about maybe six foot between the ceiling and the actual roof. Then they would also paint the ceiling, and then they would remove and reinstall four speakers that are on the ceiling above the balcony, as well as cover the other speakers that are on the walls. Now, the estimated project duration is five to six weeks, which would require the Windsor Theater to be closed. Now, Pearl Wall indicated that they could start the project just after Labor Day. Now, the start date depends on the fundraising, particularly on the receipt and terms of the emergency catalyst grant. Now, keep in mind that the only way the Windsor Theater can receive a grant from the city is that the city does provide some funding. If there's no funding, there's no catalyst grant. Now the fundraising campaign is underway, with donations being received from individuals, businesses, and organizations. Grants are also going to be pursued. The design committee of the Chamber Main Street program has awarded a $3,000 grant. Radio on the Go Media, which includes KLMJ 104.9, 99 the Wave, and the Hampton Chronicle, is supporting the effort by providing public service announcements and promoting the fundraising campaign at no cost. First Bank Hampton is the Windsor Theatre Corporation's banking and lending institution. Now what is the significance of the Windsor Theatre? The Windsor Theatre, a local landmark for more than a century, serves as a vital cultural and economic anchor for Hampton and Franklin County. In 1912, construction began on a modern, splendidly constructed and handsome opera house. The building was made possible through the efforts of members of the Knights of Pythias Lodge, providing community members of that time with entertainment including road shows and plays traveling to and from Hampton using the railroad. And movies were first shown there in 1917. Now, after the theater closed in May of 1996 and facing an uncertain future, residents and students organized the nonprofit Windsor Theater Development Corporation, which purchased the building in December of 1998. Now, following extensive renovations, the theater reopened on May 28, 1999. And in addition to showing first run movies, the historic theater hosts live performances, hoedowns, and a variety of community events. Now I have been manager since March of 1998. 76 students and adults have been employed at the Windsor Theater in my tenure. Now just think of the number of employees that have been employed at the Windsor Theater over all the years since 1913. The attendance at movies from reopening in 1999 through 2025 has been 530,306. Now that does not include Franklin County Arts Council and other movie events. Again, think of the number of people that have attended events and movies at the Windsor Theater prior to when the theater was closed in 1996. I don't know that number, but it's staggering to me. As I said, the Windsor Theater serves as a vital cultural and economic anchor for Hampton and Franklin County. It is the only first run movie theater in Franklin County and hosts Franklin County Arts Council events. The theater brings local and surrounding county residents to downtown Hampton. Moviegoers frequently patronize local restaurants, convenience stores, and shops before and after showtimes. Low ticket prices make the venue accessible, encouraging local spending rather than traveling to larger regional cities for entertainment. Now movies have continued to be shown on the regular schedule at this time. However, all live performances, as I said, and other events that require use of the stage have been suspended until the ceiling can be replaced. Now this is significantly impacting the theater's revenue stream and options available for community members, businesses, and organizations to use the facility. The ceiling replacement will allow the theater to return to full operation, including showing movies and utilizing the stage for a variety of community events. Now these include, the community events include a monthly old time country hoedown, the Franklin County Arts Council plays and events, the annual and evening like it used to be vaudeville show, haunted theater, and private rentals. Again, those are examples. Now past private events have included the Iowa Main Street Downtown Forum, the Greater Franklin County Chamber of Commerce $10,000 raffle drawing, and most recently, the Hampton High School class of 1963 reunion was there to watch a movie. Now, First Security Bank's fraud prevention event that they have scheduled for September was gonna be at the Windsor Theater, but it has to be relocated because events using the theater stage are temporarily suspended, and we don't think we can get it repaired by then. With all of that said, I now ask the Hampton City Council to partner with the Windsor Theatre Development Corporation to save the Windsor Theatre. And the Windsor Theatre Development Corporation requests that the City Council provide a matching financial amount of $20,000. And to avoid the perception of a conflict of interest, as a member of Hampton City Council, I will abstain from any vote taken. I guess I wanted to thank you for your attention. I would be glad to answer any questions that you have.

Thank you, Mr. Davies. Any questions for Mr. Davies?

I just would state that if the council wishes to grant this request that we of course it isn't budgeted because it's an emergency but it would I would recommend that it come out of a local operating sales tax fund which would be able to handle a request we would just make it part of our amendment when we do an amendment I am not too concerned about it setting a precedent for future that would you know generate future requests because it's it's unusual in the fact that what Jim mentioned a couple things it's a local historic community landmark not operated by nonprofit and so that it's unique it's a unique community entity. And like he said, they do not qualify for the Catalyst Grant unless the city participates. So thank you. Any questions?

CHRIS JERRAMSEN. So if we donate 20, then the state will match 20? MIKE BOYLE.

Well, we're not quite sure exactly what they would match. They don't. Go ahead.

Well, the city has to contribute something, and basically, it was my understanding, it would be like a 50-50. So, like I mentioned the amount, like the city gives something, the theater is also a partner and would have to make up the difference, but it's my understanding it could be that we'd get a grant from the city for 56,822. So, But I don't know if it like if you gave less if they would maybe give a lesser percentage or not but it's sort of my understanding was like a 50 50 grand and so whatever they don't give between the theater and the City Council the city we would have to make up that other half of the of the cost If that makes sense

And that would be through fundraising events and stuff that are already underway.

Jim, do you know where the number sits for the GoFundMe at this point?

When I looked this afternoon, it was around 7,000, just over 7,000. And so far to date, I have contributions, pledges, and I haven't really had a chance to start with some of the grants, but we have $23,000 raised.

Would that loan, if it's a private loan, would it be through First Bank?

Yeah, we would, I'm planning on going to First Bank and establishing a line of credit that we could, if we need to, we could draw from and then use whatever future contributions would come in, then we would pay that loan back as soon as we could.

So you don't have any idea what interest rate they'll charge you?

No, I don't.

Any of the other banks interested?

I haven't talked to any of the other banks and none of the other banks have contacted me. We do have all our accounts at First Bank. Them and like the Sailor Foundation, they have been very supportive of the Windsor.

Does the Barcoma have any emergency grants?

I'm planning to contact Barcoma. I just haven't had time to do it yet. And I think their regular deadline is the end of September, but I think they do have maybe the option of an emergency grant.

I think my first thought on this, when this all came around, is that this is not a city structure. However, Ron hit it on the head. It's got historical value. And it's been a landmark in Hampton for 113 years. So I'm not opposed to putting some money with it. Just going to determine how much we want to put in. And I think the $20,000 is a fair amount.

i think it's vital to save the theater i i think it's terribly important we don't want to sit leave it sitting there deteriorating right and maintenance issue it's always going to be something yeah you got to take care of it yeah that's one of those

maintenance things that you just don't anticipate because every year I usually we write grants to bark of my and Community Foundation and pretty much I'd say 95% is for the building any other discussion around this

I think it's important that it's addressed soon because the longer you wait, the worse it's probably gonna get.

I agree with that.

Have any of the seats been damaged from the plaster fumbling?

Yes, we do have some extra seats. When we first put those seats in, they over-counted, and then since we had put the seats in, we built a stage extension and took the front row out. So we do have some seats that I think we would be able to put in there, but I haven't gone through and assessed all the, but big chunks of it fell, and yeah, some of the seats were damaged. They'll have to be removed or repaired, whatever, replaced.

All right. Nice thing is that Prowall can get to it right away. Right. And they're a local company.

Yep. All right. If there's no other discussion, I would entertain a motion. And a second to approve or deny the city partner with the Winter Theater for the emergency community catalyst grant application, including a $20,000 financial assistance.

I would make the motion to approve the application with a $20,000 stimulus from the city using the local option sales to fulfill that fund. All right.

Thank you. I'll second. I have a motion by Mr. Hellmstrom, second by Ms. Fay. All in favor?

Aye.

And I'm abstaining. And opposed? Motion carries. Thank you. Next up, we have a public hearing on a vicious dog involving a dog owned by Jody Valas at 302 First Street Northwest. Mr. Chief Morrison, would you like to fill us in with the details?

And I think you have the pictures and a little bit of a narrative in your packets tonight. But the Hampton Lakes Department took a report that Jody Vallis' dog, a five-year-old female lab named Heidi, attacked the neighbor's 13-year-old, Terry Mixed, named Jacob, causing major puncture wounds and bruising. Vallis' dog got out while being taken outside by a child. when it ran over and attacked the neighbor's dog. An uninvolved witness reported the valise's dog picked up the neighbor's dog and shook it violently when he approached the dog, then released the small dog. The neighbor's dog was taken to Ames for emergency treatment initially. The neighbor's dog was eventually treated at the Eldora Vet Center. The Vales dog was impounded at the Hampton Vet Center. The Vales dog had current vaccinations, but was not registered with the city at the time of the incident. One of the Vales' dogs have previously been picked up by HPD for running at large. And we've had calls before in reference to welfare of the dogs in the past. Jody Vales was cited for dog at large and failure to register dog. And I have attached photos of the dog's injuries in your packets. And then I know both dog owners are here to address the council and request to be heard.

All right. First, is there any questions for Chief Morrison?

I had a couple questions for you, Chief. Sure. One is I just don't understand the sentence, we have had more than one call reference to the welfare of the dogs. Can you go into the detail of that?

We've had more than one call about it. They're often tied outside, and the chains get, or cables get wrapped up in various things, and so they're on a short leash. That's typically the call.

Okay. In the report, in the police report, it talks about the shots for the aggressive dog. Yes. I didn't see anything about vaccination or registration for the victim dog.

I do not, I don't recall whether I did or did not at the time of the incident, but maybe they can answer that for us here shortly.

Okay.

And I can follow up with that.

Thank you.

And the victim dog, I believe, was tied up in the yard at the time of the incident.

Is the injured dog, is it still alive?

Yes. What's the status of that? I think they can fill you in a little bit more, but it went to the Eldora Vet Center. They did treatment there, and then later, had follow-up injuries to the wounds, but then was found not to have infection, so I think the dog is fine at this point.

All right. Well, we'll give the victim's dog, victims, it's kind of interesting because it's a dog, but we'll give the victims a chance to address the council if you'd like.

Hi, everyone. My name is Stephanie. I'm talking on behalf of my parents because they do currently reside here in Hampton. Long story short, I know you guys have the statement, everything that happened. But to answer some of your questions, Jacob is vaccinated up to date. And then what was another question about?

Whether he was registered with the city?

Yes, yeah. I guess after everything that happened, my mom is very scared to go out again with, because you know Jacob was tied up outside with, so it was unprovoked. He was in our property. We're still very emotional about his, sorry. She does request that the dog is no longer placed in Hampton. That is, again, she's scared. And I'm assuming a lot of people have called already about these said dogs, so.

All right.

Yeah, but that's, she understands it's not the dog's fault. Sometimes animals can be the owners, so we'll just go from there.

All right. Thank you.

Thank you so much.

All right. Anybody with the other dog here would like to step up?

My name is Jody Valas. We recently had moved here. We're typically lived on a farm. So my dog's been exposed to, Heidi's been exposed to multiple dogs. She's been lugged around with the kids all over town. over on her leash. There's always food and water. If you don't count a pool as water, then I'm confused. It's a baby pool. Yes, they get tied up and tangled. We're wanting to put a fence up for them. Because I have... Heidi and then another dog that's named Honey. She's a smaller one. I've never had issues with Heidi. She's been exposed to multiple dogs. We've had people come over to her house. I just had a social worker today come over to the house. She wasn't scared to approach her. The mailman's have approached her. They haven't been scared of her. You can take the pictures up to them. Pass them over. I don't know if you want to hear him. He's the one that I accidentally had got. He was in the process of taking and putting her out on the leash with my other son. But my other son has autism, so he has the smaller one that he plays with all the time. But I've never once had a problem with Heidi. Never.

Is there any other discussion around this incident?

It's up to you if you want to set up to the podium so we can hear you. Okay. Well, I let it go.

There you go.

I let it go of my dog, and she just ran over there. I don't know why. And the dogs were barking at her, and I don't know why either. So when they barked at her, they got her attention, and she went over there and bit her. And the other dogs were trying to bite her too, but not like really.

Okay, all right, thank you.

All right, is there any other comments? I have a question for the owners. If we allow you to keep the dog, what will you do to help, I guess, to prevent something like this happening again?

like a fence in one spot or something that'll just be fenced in. Because I know that the tie-in bump is not ideal. We just got here and stuff, so that's only been our option. So that's what I wanted to do. But we don't need to see what's gonna happen.

Okay. Thanks. Okay.

And that's the other thing, too. When I got here, when they did get loose at one time, I didn't even have any problems. My autistic son, Ed, just put them outside. However, their chains broke because they got wrapped up so much. So then it broke. However, well, so Tara, the officer came and noticed that and grabbed the dogs over. Well, of course, the officer was calling my phone and calling me over. And I didn't have, my son had the phone. And he didn't want to answer. He was scared. And then he didn't want to answer the door. So he answered the phone while he was hearing the voice or something. And then he didn't want to use the door. And then later he told me that it was too late and it was a holiday, so they had to stay longer at the vet. So, yeah, it was a bit more of a deal.

All right, Mr. Lamos.

When your dogs were, the first time they were, when the PD came and looked at them and said that somebody complained, were they aggressive to the officer?

I mean, the one officer, when you pick them both up over, you know, the one day, then you grab them, and you're a second thing. And like I said, I've had duplicate different social workers. This is my adoptive grandson over. So we've had workers coming out, and we used to foster our other great kids. Different workers constantly coming up to the house. Never. And the kids take the dance all the time. They took them down to the park and everything. I know there's a neighbor lady guy. She walks by with a little Yorkie. I used to have a Yorkie with Heidi. Heidi's been exposed. We have cats. She's loose in our house. Heidi's loose in our house. We have two cats and then the other dog. So she's been exposed. I don't know why she did that. I just don't.

So the chain has only been broken once.

Yeah.

That's when the first time the PD showed up.

Yeah. Yeah. Of course, my son didn't want to tell me because he was like, oh, my gosh.

All right. Anybody else?

Was the dog on any kind of leash at the time that it got loose?

I wasn't home when it happened, so.

I was in the basement and she was in the cage. And when she was in the cage, she kept barking and barking. I knew she wanted to go outside. So I turned around and she got loose.

Did she have a leash on when you took her outside, honey? No. Okay. And were there any adults home at the time? No.

Okay.

I think somebody hit on this about the owner's responsibility to control their dog. I mean, the dogs don't know any better, unfortunately. They're animals. So, I mean, part of the visual, it's just animal ordinance states that you need to control your dogs. I understand that this is the second time that Heidi's gotten out. And given the prop case where you live, it's going to be really important that they stay on their leash because you're right downtown. There's people, there's dogs, there's stuff. But the bottom line is that somebody's got to be responsible for controlling that dog. Sounds like he did a great job being there.

he's not he's not the responsible adult so we gotta remember that so that's what's my two cents anybody else we just discussed a case very similar to this what a year ago and dog had never done this before and ran out and grabbed the dog and shook it violently and the whole thing and we gave that family permission to keep the dog provided they put up a fence and I think a fence or a kennel would be appropriate and I think it would alleviate the neighbors fears too knowing that the dogs were kenneled or fenced I think I agree with that and it's it's not a human bite but it still is serious and stressful for everyone and

Basically, it's a first offense. Right.

All right. Anybody else? If not, that would entertain a motion of one or the other to declare the dog in question as vicious and follow the order of the city council ordinance to have it removed or destroyed. Or I would need a motion to declare the dog in question as non-vicious. with the incident documented as a first report of a run for a vote attack. And I think we should require offense be installed.

Within the timeline. Timeline?

Yeah. So what's a good timeline? 30 days? 30 days. Anybody good with that? I've got a question. Go ahead.

Are you helping out with the vet bills?

No, we're trying to figure it out.

OK. All right. I'll make a motion, too.

Hold on, Barry. One second.

Yeah, come on up here so we can hear you.

As a neighbor, I did approach them and gave them copies of all bills and invoices and stuff. And I even said that we could even do it like two payments, right? And they said that they wanted to go to small claims court. So something about maybe their insurance, I'm not sure. So that is our next thing. We will be doing small claims because it was like $1,000. Right. I mean. That's $1,000. But I wanted to talk to them first as a neighbor because I didn't want to. They're new. I don't want to create, what do you call it, just like malicious or, you know, because they're new neighbors. But I don't know how that's going to go with them with the insurance. But that's where we're at right now. All right.

Well, it sounds like you guys are communicating, which is the first step to get something taken care of and make everybody end up where they want to be. All right. Thank you.

I have a question. If we have a fence in 30 days, what about the dog? Will the dog have to stay out of town? Or do we allow the dog to stay at the residence?

Until the fence is up.

Until the fence is up. I mean, I'm just asking. That's a good question.

What are you going to take? What would we do? Mark, what would we normally do in a situation like that?

I think the last one, I can't remember.

I think they had to keep it out of town. I believe his parents, yeah.

Which I think, yeah. I talked to Joni about that, and she said she had a place for it to go until it was done.

You can get the fence up. Yeah. That was just. So they would have a place to take the dog. Yes, that's what she had. While you guys will get a fence up, because that's going to be crucial. All right.

And then if they don't meet the timeline? Sorry, this is my first time.

Then we'd have to come back, probably get them back in here.

Because I think what we learned over the last thing is that's not enforceable. Is that correct? Right. We're kind of hoping to keep them at their word, but if they don't, it's not enforceable.

Can I say something? Come up to the microphone so we can hear you.

Thank you for letting me speak. Where we're trying to put the fence, it's already like a square thing, the fence there by the house. It's only needed like six foot to put it connected to the house. So it won't take that long to put it in there. Go ahead. Yeah, just like, Jody, the door, once you come out, And then there's the, I don't know how long that is, but it's right there, the fence. It's only needed just to connect to the house and that's it.

So there's a partial fence already.

Is it like fence panels, like a kennel panels? Yeah. So once you attach it to the house, is it going to be a situation where the child will take the dog out and then have to go 20 feet to get to that? See, the thing is about a fenced-in backyard, the back door could come open and the dog gets out and it's not going to be loose.

We have two doors to come out on the same spot.

I'm just saying, is there a distance where a child may have to take the dog to get it into the fenced kennel?

No. As soon as you open the door, it will be the fence. Okay. If we got another door, right, besides to go outside. Thank you. Okay.

And I know we said it wasn't going to take long, but is there a time frame? What? I think that would be a question.

The quicker the better. We're going to give you 30 days to get the fence in there. I think it's going to be crucial that there is a place, like you said, where you can bring the dog out right into the fenced area, not having somebody helping it because that's kind of where we started. All right, any other questions, discussions? I would entertain a motion to either declare the dog vicious or declare that not vicious and allow 30 days to fix the fence so the dog cannot get out again. And as we talked, the dog's gonna have to be out of town until you get that fence in. So if you can do it tomorrow, great. So that's gonna be part of the motion. So I'd entertain a motion for either one of those.

I'll make a motion to declare the dog non-vicious and have a fence within 30 days.

All right, we got a motion by Mr. Lamos.

I'll second it.

Seconded by Ms. Griefe. This can be a roll call vote. Ms. Fay? Aye. Mr. Lamos? Aye. Mr. Holmstrom? Aye. Ms. Griepe? Aye. Mr. Davies? Aye. Ms. Rohde?

Aye.

And a vote of six to zero. We declare the dog as not vicious. He will put in a vote or an offense so that we can keep him contained. All right? Thank you. Next, I entertain a motion to approve the claims as submitted by staff in the amount of $227,960.13.

So moved.

I second.

I have a motion by Ms. Griefby and Mr. Lamous on the second. All in favor? Aye. Opposed? Motion carries. Thank you. Next item up. This is the consideration of approval of an ordinance. This is ordinance number 1413, an ordinance amending chapter 5505 livestock municipal code of Hampton by deleting the existing section 2505 and replacing with the new section 5505. Municipal Code of Hampton. Mr. Dunt.

Thank you, Mayor. The new 55.05 would read livestock. It is unlawful for a person to keep livestock within the city except in compliance with the city's zoning regulations. Thank you.

Any discussion around that? I know we've talked about this for a long time. Oops. There's no discussion. I'm going to entertain a motion. I'm going to give you two options here. A motion that we dispose of the first and second reading of this ordinance and move right to the final reading. Or a motion to approve the first reading of ordinance 413. I would make the motion that we approve and we bypass the two readings and go directly to the third reading I'll second that Thank you Motion by Mr. Holmstrom second by Ms. Griefe to bypass the first two readings and go right to the final reading For that motion, this will be a roll call vote to pass that. Ms. Fay? Aye. Mr. Lamos?

Aye.

Mr. Holmstrom? Aye. Ms. Griefe?

Aye.

Mr. Davies?

Aye.

Ms. Rohde? Aye. All right. So we will go right to the final reading. So I would now entertain a motion to approve Ordinance 413 for the final reading.

I'll make a motion to approve ordinance 413.

I'll second.

Got a motion by Mr. Lamos, second by Ms. Fay. We're also going to do a roll call vote on this one. Mr. Holmstrom? Aye. Mr. Davies? Aye. Ms. Fay?

Aye.

Ms. Griefe?

Aye.

Mr. Lamos? Aye. And Ms. Rohde?

Aye.

All right. Ordinance is adopted. Thank you. Approved. Next item, this is the consent agenda. This is to approve the previous minutes from Thursday, August 13, 2026, regular session, and to schedule the next regular session as September 10, 2026, at 6 PM in the city council chambers. I would entertain a motion and a second to approve the consent agenda.

I'll make a motion to approve the consent agenda.

Second motion by mr. Lamos second by mr. Davies all in favor aye opposed Motion carries. Thank you brings us to our staff report chief Morrison

Yeah, I would just like to welcome Officer Jose Aragon Mendez to the Hampton Police Department. He was unable to attend tonight due to a prior engagement with the National Guard, and I will bring him back after he gets back from the academy in person to meet you guys. The academy for him starts on Monday, so we'll see him back here on December 18th. We're close to having our third position filled. I'm hoping to have that filled by the end of September. And then the last thing I have is that we're finishing up on the e-bike ordinance, hoping to have that on the next workshop. So that's what we're working on the last couple weeks. All right.

Any questions, discussion for Chief Morrison? Sorry. Hearing none, thank you, sir. Mr. Tarr, Public Works Director.

Thank you, Mayor. No report this evening. I'll entertain questions.

Mr. Lamos. We have a house on South Federal and we have the the house on First Street Southwest. What's the status of those?

Right, so the one on South Federal is ready for demolition, and the one on First Street Southwest, I believe, Kelsey's not here, but I think that the asbestos abatement bids just came in. The theory is we wanted to potentially rent a little bit bigger excavator than what we have to do a demolition and then knock both those out at the same time. So that's why the one on Federal we're not moving on. But as soon as the asbestos abatement is completed on that first street one, then we want to get at both those.

Will all that refuse have to go to the landfill?

Yes. We're not doing the controlled burn as they're pretty close to some other houses.

Okay, so how many little dump trucks will that take?

Well, it won't take little dump trucks. What we will do is get those big roll-off dumpsters, and I'm going to guess that maybe five roll-off dumpsters per house. Neither one of them are very big. There might be six or seven for the one on First Street, though, because the garage is also coming down. Okay. Okay.

Can you comment on the graffiti?

I cannot, but if you want to meet with me individually, that'd be great. I can explain to you, but there's been plenty that's been done, I assure you.

That's all the questions I have.

That was going to be my question.

Any other questions for Mr. Carr? Marianne? Thank you, sir.

Thank you.

Mr. Dunn, city manager.

I would just encourage everyone who was not able to attend the planning and zoning meeting last night to take some time to view the YouTube video of that meeting, which can be found on the City of Hampton's YouTube channel. It's an informative video, so if you can't be here in person, I encourage you to watch the video to get factual information on the process that the the city is going through with regard to the planning and zoning, working through research and for ordinances and comprehensive plan updates for data centers. And that's all I have. I'd be happy to answer any questions any council has.

Mr. Lamos. Can you give us a status on the empty lots that are going to be for sale?

Yeah, those kind of got put on the back burner because of some of the other things that flamed up. So we need to reassess where we are.

So can we put them on Zillow or realtor.com?

Well, I think that we still need to determine the, we went into closed session. So I don't really want to talk about what we need to determine. But there's still a couple of items we need to determine before we can release it.

How about excess vehicles? Is there a plan to sell them?

Yeah, we, disposing of personal property like vehicles, we have been talking about them and we had tried to prioritize the real estate first to make progress on disposing of the real estate that we have. So we anticipate that that'll come after the real estate.

Any idea when Heartland's going to start?

Doug would have that.

I reached out to the project engineer this morning same thing I anticipated the original schedule they were supposed to start on the 14th however that subcontractor hasn't shown up some of the feedback got back to me is that the catch basins pre-stress catch basins are way behind schedule on getting some of those made and the first steps is the curb and gutter and the concrete work that goes before heartland so Now, having said that, I still asked the engineer this morning, I said, please prime them up a little bit. Let them know we've had great weather. However, we have a deadline. We have good weather. We'll be tracking our weather. So if someone does have to come in and say, hey, we need extra time, we're going to say, well, there are a number of days here that we didn't utilize correct. So we're keeping track of those things. But we'll see. I don't have an updated schedule, and I asked for one. So as soon as I get that, I'll try to get that out to you guys.

Thank you. All right. Thank you. All right. Down to council reports. Ms. Rohde.

I don't have any comment tonight. All right.

Thank you. Mr. Lamos.

You know what? We're all humans. Fortunately, that dog didn't bite a human, and I'm a dog lover. I hate to see a dog put down. My wife and I have put two dogs down because of cancer, and it's stressful. It's bad, so that's all I gotta say.

All right, thank you. Mr. Davies.

I want to thank the council for partnering with the Windsor Theater Development Corporation. And I just want to invite everyone in the audience, I brought popcorn tonight, so grab a sack on your way out. It's free, no charge. And just a couple other quick things. I did attend the design committee meeting of the chamber, as well as the tourism board meeting.

then the Hampton Main Street committee we've been meeting and that's moving along too so I'm very positive about that and that's all I have All right thank you sir Miss Bay I have an update on the hospital the Brad Shoup the director of operations facilities at the hospital came on July 9th and told us, gave us an update on where things were at with the solar field. And as of today, the solar field is 100% operational. So that is powering 100% of the wellness center and assisted living and about 80% of the hospital nursing facility so that was exciting news and I told Brad today that he should be proud that was that was a big deal and took a lot of work and a lot of planning and and it's pretty exciting what that will do for the hospital and the community in the future like Barry I've lost dogs recently even at the end of January and big dogs are not for small children to handle So I would encourage you to make sure the dog can go long enough without needing to be let outside if you're not home to do it yourselves. My dog was a golden retriever and he was strong as all get out. In fact, I ended up with shoulder surgery because he yanked so hard. So I know how strong those dogs can be and how easy it is for them to pull an adult off their feet. So just be really careful with those precious kiddos you've got and with the dogs and hopefully you'll be able to keep your dog for a good long time once you get that fence up.

That's all I got. Thank you.

Mr. Holmstrom. I'd just like to thank Ron and Doug and the Planning and Zoning Board for their efforts to keep the public informed of the discussions on the data centers, possible data center for our community. Transparency on an issue like this is extremely important. So I would recommend anybody and everybody to take advantage of those opportunities like on YouTube to listen to the discussions and find out what's actually going on. So I really appreciate that, Ron.

All right, thank you. Ms. Grapey.

I would like to encourage the two families to maintain an open, respectful conversation as far as the vet bills go. There is a responsibility there that has to be taken care of, and I hope the fence does get put up, and I hope everything works out well for you. also want to encourage continued open conversation about data centers I want to encourage people to continue to learn about them no decisions have been made if Hampton is going to have a data center we're just looking at setting up city codes in case that decision were made affirmative that we would be taken care of but there is no decision at this time on the table that we're going to allow a data center so i don't want people jumping to conclusions let's keep an open conversation about it we are in the home stretch as far as the downtown flower baskets they're going to come down labor day weekend the people that volunteered to water those baskets faithfully every week thank you very very much for all your hard work with that and learned at our last chamber meeting that we had enough sponsors to pay for every single one of those flower baskets which i think is just phenomenal for the community um you're going to think this is goofy but I was doing an estate sale on the north side of town. I had to drive by the school 100 million times a day. And I was so impressed with our school grounds. They are kept meticulous. It's really impressive. I just wanted to tell the school how proud I am of our athletic fields and the school's appearances, all of the schools. And then last but not least, Arnold. Everybody knows Arnold. He joined the Air Force and dropped him off for his basic training last week. And he got to have one phone call, three-minute phone call. And I asked him how he was doing and what it was like. And he said, I'm not going to lie to you. It's just like school, except they yell at you a lot. That's all I got. All right.

Thank you. Well, for the mayor report, I'm just going to piggyback on the data center. made a couple points out of that on that number one we're at the very beginning of the process to create an ordinance and protect ourselves as a city for if and when we ever get a data center so I just ask that the residents be patient with us let us for us work through the process and get that taken care of so we end up in a where we want to be and not where we shouldn't be There's also, there's going to be opportunities for you to have your voices heard. I've had people ask me, when can I talk, when can I say something? There's going to be plenty of opportunity through this process. So just know that it's coming and keep your ears up and listen to the radio and they'll tell you when you can come in here and talk to us. And the last thing, again, kind of a redundancy. There's a lot to learn. for everybody as we work and move through this. So we're going to put our thinking caps on and get it done and get it taken care of. And that's all I got tonight. And with that, I would entertain a motion to adjourn the regular session of the city council.

So moved.

Motion by Mr. Creepy.

Second.

Second by Mr. Holmstrom. All in favor?

Aye.

Opposed? We're adjourned. Thank you.