Council - Regular Meeting

I think it should be short. Sounds risky.

It's actually a different chair. Maybe I should grab a different one. It's just It's just loud. It's like just don't move.

Yeah. Maybe that I was going to say there's nobody sitting there. It does go up higher too. I don't think you know. Okay. At 6:30, uh we will call this meeting to order and uh do roll call. Council person holds here. Council person Bendle here. Council person Basking here. Council person Huber here. Council person Johnson

here. To the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for it stands. One nation under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all. Okay. Do you have a motion to approve the consent agenda? Make a motion. Exactly. I second. Been moved and second to approve the consent agenda. Any more discussion? We'll vote. Council person House.

Yes. Council person Basking. Yes. Council person Benol. Yes. Council person Johnson. Yes. And council person. Yes. Looks like in the staff reports we have everything has been is a written report. Uh do we have an update from the city engineer on anything then too or is it just all written?

It's pretty much all in the written report and just I guess a brief summary that the water tank they finished up the water tank. They do have a little bit of um there's like a rock surface around the outer ring. had to come back saying there's a couple concrete pads so they'll come back in the spring and finish that up. Um the little less has to be put on it that'll be done in the spring. They did um they get all back filled for the winter for frost purposes and they put about 4 foot of water in there for frost purposes as well. So the tank contract will come back in the spring. That's minor work to do disinfectant and bacteria testing also in the spring and then it's done. Um the pump house contractor installed a couple pipes up in the area of the tank. Did that work last week. They're off this week and next week. I got kind of wait to see what the weather is after the new year. Maybe doing some work during the winter if the weather's good. But otherwise, they may be off until spring, but they may be doing some pipe work in winter to allow us the uh pollinator garden. They finish up that work and I think go by there the other day and they got, you know, not benches, but you basic benches up there. So, I think that's pretty much wrapped up. There might be a little bit of touchup in the spring, but but I think for the most part that project is finished and the asphalt holding project they uh that's done. There is a little bit of a a jointing issue. There's a little lip there catching some water. So in this spring they're going to come out and clean that up. So any questions on any of those projects or anything else?

No. Thank you. Thank you. Doug is here also. Doug, did you have anything to add to your additional report?

And then I would like to go ahead and do my verbal report, but I'm actually just going to pass it on to Council Member Bendel and Bessie because that's just the best way to put it. All right. So, as this term comes to a close, we extend our sincerest appreciation to council member Josh Holtz House, whose dedication and service to the community have made a lasting impact. Through two terms on the city council, he has shown a strong commitment to Urbana and the clear focus on strengthening our local economy. This leadership and thoughtful approach to e economic development have helped move our community forward, supporting growth, engaging investment, and keeping Urbana's long-term success at the forefront of decisionmaking. His time, insight, and willingness to serve has been invaluable. Thank you for your service, your commitment, and your contributions to our community. We are grateful for your role that you have played in helping our bandana continue to grow and thrive.

Thank you. Uh, Mayor Gary Benson, as your term as mayor comes to a close, we extend our deepest gratitude for a lifetime of service to our community. As you know, your commitment to Urbana has spanned over 50 years, serving on the police department, including as police chief, fire department, ambulance service, city council, and two separate terms as mayor. Few individuals give so much of themselves in so many ways. Your leadership has been grounded in firsthand experience, a deep understanding of our community, and a genuine desire to serve others. Through challenges and accomplishments alike, you have consistently put the needs of a mana first. Thank you for your dedication, your steady leadership, and your unwavering service. Your legacy of public service will continue to shape our community for years to come, and we are truly grateful.

Thank you.

Yeah. Okay, we'll move on to old business. Consider resolution 2025-167 authorizing demolition of the structure located at two Union Avenues. My only question on this and I actually was talking to Josh about this is um you know I actually reached out to Matt Mickey and he was very very gracious and and and gave some insight into our concern or question I guess about if we could save any cost on the back fill and from his perspective for what he gave as a bed it really isn't there isn't it's all synergies for him to back fill um if you're taking the foundation out he's bring back dirt so that it all kind of works together which made made sense. I just didn't understand that. Um and I, you know, reiterated to him that we weren't questioning his bid at all. It's a you know there's nothing to complain about it. It was just a matter of if we can find ways to recoup more money for the project post demo. So, um, and as far as the, you know, the additional cost for the, um, winter, the winter cost, he said he's having, it's just a mess out there right now and with the cold and the conditions. So, um, you know, the only other question is do we did we talk to Trend at all about if if they would be willing to do it or is it just kind of out of their wheelhouse? I don't think there's any hurry to do it. So we could table it until spring and I don't think we're going to gain anything knocking it down in January, you know, um especially from his perspective. It's harder work in the winter. So

I read through that and I think maybe part of the problem would be if if he did the work and we did back fill, how's his insurance cover it? I mean he just said that it's a timing thing. So he's he's taking out foundation hauling it away and bringing her back in. And if you have to wait on a city guy to come in dump and do some work and then he's got to do more excavate. I just wouldn't work. It made sense. It's just it's all logistics. But then too with winter coming on too, they could be busy plowing and uh not being able to get to that after the house is down and taken out of there.

Well, like this last weekend we had negative temperatures. We all know how Iowa is that frost just penetrates the ground so quickly. Yeah. I mean, we could approve it and just let them wait till spring to do it or we can table it and wait. I mean, does is there a timeline of when he would start? Um, when they would start if we

Well, we do run into, you know, the we want to bid and Shane's not here, but we do want to bid out phase two of the project, which is where the house is. And I mean, if we could do that bid and then, you know, get that started in the spring, we're under a timeline for those grant dollars. But I my only thinking would be would it with construction costs or demos, does it go up in the spring again? Because the contingency that I have in the grant was the the grant pays 12,500 of it. So, anything that goes above that is put onto the city paying. So, if we could at least approve it, I mean, that's the only that's the only thing I say because like the grant approves the 125 and now not the 1500. But, um, she said that she'd be willing to work with us like if there's a reason the city couldn't pay it or if there's part of our pollinator phase 2 that wouldn't get done because of the difference. Um, I don't know. My suggestion would be to approve it and then let Sminky decide when the best time is for them to to demo it. I I wouldn't know anything about what their time frame would be

because let's face it, it's Iowa. He could probably if we get what they're saying, he could probably come in next week, do it. It's all plain.

Yeah, it's it's with construction. It's all weather committee. So Doug and I talked about it and u he had the legion the city guys tore the legion down in center point for about half that cost just put in dumpsters and they hauled it away. So the city did it themselves cuz we have the equipment to do that. I mean, that's a twotory house. They need some sort of sort of a track or something, but they don't just take over the mini escater. Yeah. Yeah. Mini excavator. We do it. Um I've He got the front end motor, too, then.

Yeah. I mean, we could put more money in the pollinator garden if we go for half the price. I know. I I talked to my boss about it. I mean, it's up to you guys. I could have come in, but he he told me, he goes, "Scott, I go there, too, for 10 grand. So, I mean it's it's just another and usually right now we're not extremely busy, but we have the dump trailers and all that stuff to haul stuff away. It's just whatever we decide to do. But so there is options. Yeah. I mean, he's already here raised his price what 2500 2,000 or 2500

just for winter. Usually in winter work, we lower our prices just to try to get to work because the guys aren't working during the winter. So I it's just I think Doug said we use eight or six dumpsters for the big legion. So yeah, whatever. So but still probably to move this along, we would still need to approve the resolution even if we for a while. Well,

not if you're not approving Shinky to do the work, which I I don't know. I I don't know what to say. I don't know if I'm just being a little biased on this that What's the resistance to having like I mean the city guys doing it. I'm not saying I have resistance, but I certainly can't commit like the city necessarily doing that. I wouldn't do something like that without going back to Trent and figuring out the capacity with the city. What happens if we get a snowfall and then the city's busy removing snow and then

I don't think that's be done right now. Well, yeah. I don't I don't know when the timeline is for when it needs done by. So, here's my question. I guess since you said the the contingent on phase two, when does phase two have to start for the pollinator? That's Yeah.

Well, it just has to be done within that year. So I mean right now the only timeline we have uh is just a brief conversation with the engineer that we were going to put together um the competitive bid basically which we're hoping because of the price that the same contractor can come in and do phase two that did phase one. Um, so I mean it would just be like wanting to start that way like in spring just getting the I know the foundation something are or we don't have the equipment to bring that out or is it just I would just push it in once you dug and bury it. Yeah, we're not going to build anything on it.

Does it have a base? Like a rock foundation found. Yeah, you just crumble that and you you can actually just bury that. Yeah, that's what I would do. just take the top off and bury the rest. You're not? Yeah, there was no basement. It's just a slab. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. There's there's not much to that basement. So, the biggest thing is if the city did do it and then something come up, we're going to have a either a mess up there or a vacant hole until they go back to it. I think he went for a week anyway. Yeah. Oh, yeah. Definitely.

You said there's not a basement. There is. Oh, I'm sorry. I thought you said it was flat. Oh, okay. That That one is like a Okay. It's like a line rock. But yeah, usually if you have a basement, you crumble that in. You just bury the concrete. You get everything on the top. You crumble the concrete and just bury everything else. It doesn't matter. Well, then we could we could table this and and get Trent's feedback and then do a final decision in January. I don't think that's going to hurt till next month. Yeah, just till January. I don't think it's going to hurt us, is it?

No, we're you're not going to do anything right now anyways on this weather. That doesn't that doesn't put us in a bad position as far as the timing is concerned, is it? They're just you're just saying if we approved it tonight, they could potentially mean we would lock in that price that he gave us or they could come in under I mean depending on when they get to it, right? I don't think this price is going to come in under what he's already quoted because

even if he doesn't get to it and there's no window condition and I think I shared this in my email you know we have like Zinder put in a quote to remove to Union Avenue at 245. Um, so I felt I feel like Shinky came in at a competitive cost, which I kind of verbally had an idea of what he would come in on, which is what I put in the grant to cover the cost. Um, so I I can't speak to any of this. Number one, I don't tear buildings down. I don't pretend to. Um, I just in terms of a cleaner version, I brought it back. If there were more questions, I wish, you know, just that people would have sent those maybe ahead of time. Um, but it's not up to me. I'm not making the decision. So, if you guys want to table it again, um, it's up to you.

You're not You're not going to get anything done next month. No. Well, I think he was planning on doing it in the winter, correct? Yes. January. Yeah. because the fire department was going to possibly I think they were looking to do it maybe at a December meeting which I think they already had if they were going to do anything. They kind of stepped away from that. So um they had talked about the possibility of January but again I I don't know if that would still be what his goal would be. I haven't reached back out to him. I was just thinking to save you can put another six grand in your pollinator garden pretty easily.

Well, we would still have to revise the we'd have to revise the budget for the grant because we'd be changing 12,500 of the grant dollars that were to go to demo to add it to something else. So, we would have to just do an update for the grant budget. But, of course, you know, I don't know. I I hate to say that because I'd have to find out like what the schedule is for public works. There's only three of them in the spring. You know, they also start with what they normally do in their timeline. So, I hate to commit a project like this. I don't know even if they in the past demoed a structure like this. So, I I don't know the answer to those questions. Well, all I know is it's probably not an easy project, but I would think more than anything else is it's going to be a dangerous project.

Yeah,

I feel like a building, but I would think it'd be dangerous knocking it down. Yeah, I also feel that the public works department, they have other items within the grant that are considered inind in phase two of the grant. So, I mean, they're already taking on part of this. Um, I I do not feel comfortable just committing the public works department in something like demoing a structure like that. I think that if Trenton thought that was something that they were going to do, they would have, you know, put that as part of the inind. I if you're asking personally, I feel I'm I'm uncomfortable with that just because we're trying to save the dollars for that, which I I totally get. Um, but I also feel that having someone that does this regularly, came in at a very decent price, which was half the proposal of the other one, um, I feel like that should be and it was it's covered in the grant. Um, that's that's my take on it, but I I don't know

with what you're saying, like the dangerous part. It doesn't matter who does it. All gas lines, water lines have to be cut and Yeah. Yeah. I think that's that's what your dangerous part is. Well, my I was thinking the dangerous part is that collapsing or coming into a cab of a vehicle. That's the dangerous part. Oh, as far as city workers. Yes. Yeah. If you're not trained to do it right, because they we may have the equipment to knock it down, but what if something comes through the front of that vehicle? then it's on city insurance.

Yeah. Well, that's what I don't want to happen. I would just soon have somebody that has the equipment that can reach out there and touch that and knock it down rather than our guys with, you know, don't have the proper like a stuff on a for a track that has the equipment to do that. They can get away from it. Our guys can't because they don't have so much distance they can reach. No. Yeah, you're right. Well, I'll motion to approve resolution 2025.67. Second, take it.

Okay. It's been moved and second to approve resolution 2025-167. Any more discussion on that? If not, we'll vote. Council person holds. I'm a no. Okay. Council person Hubert, yes. Council person Baski, yes. Council person Vendel, yes. Council person Johnson, yes.

Item B, consider resolution 2025-168 to approve the egg lease agreement for cityowned land south of 21101 and a half F Street with John second. He's been running background for a few years now. Is that true? Three.

Make the motion to approve resolution 2025-168. Second. Been moved as and seconded to approve resolution 2025-168. Any more discussion? If not, we'll vote. Council person Johnson, yes. Council person Baski, yes. Council person Hooper, yes. Council person Bendle, yes. Council person,

yes. That's all we got on this agenda, I guess before we leave, I would like to say it's been a privilege to serve as mayor for the last two years. It hasn't been an easy two years. But we got through it and uh and I'm sure with our new mayor uh Bob Ireland and our new council person Shane Light uh with in the city council we'll make these next two years and four years a success and uh and hope nothing wish nothing but good luck to both of you and the rest of the council. Motion to adjurnn.

Second. I'll motion to adjurnn. I thought you made a motion. Been moved and second to adjourn. All in favor say I. Second, right? I have a hard time getting homework. I was home for 10 minutes.