July 2020

 Beacon City Council Minutes

Tuesday, July 7th 2020

7:00 p.m.

I.    Call to Order- Mayor Jim Hughes called the meeting to order at 7: p.m. City Council members present: Tom Van Der Veer, Richard Thomas, Dwight Teeter, and Ron Ferree. Members absent: Ron Kauffman.

II.   General Business 

  1. Review Minutes from June 4th Meeting
  2. Treasurer’s Report
  3. Claims Report

Motion made to approve the consent agenda made by Dwight Teeter, seconded by Ron Ferree. All members voted in favor, motion approved.

 III.    Old Business           

  1. Hall Rentals- The city is currently not renting out the town hall due to COVID-19.
  2. Clean-up & Animal Control- 4 stray animal intakes in the month of May, 0 stray animal intakes in the month of June.
  3. Committee Reports- Richard reported that Mahaska Co. Solid Waste has a new manager and is looking to purchase new equipment. No other committee updates.
  4. Little Free Library- Ron Kauffman has ensured there is no utilities where the Little Free Library is to be installed. Altrusa International of Oskaloosa will install the library.
  5. City Code Codification- All proposed revisions have been submitted to the codification company, copies of proposed changes/revisions have been provided to council as well.

IV.    New Business

  1. City Hall Repair/Remodel Bids- Richard contacted G&B, however the company did not have before/after pictures to provide. The company has proposed cleaning the existing foundation, filling holes in the foundation, and back plastering the stone foundation to make a uniform coating that will be paintable if desired. Richard made a motion to accept G&B’s bid for foundation repair, seconded by Tom Van Der Veer. Dwight Teeter voted against, Ron Ferree abstained. Motion did not carry.

Council discussed looking into the City Hall crawl space to assess the condition of the floor joists before any repair/remodeling begins. City hall repair/remodel tabled until next meeting after the floor joists have been inspected.

Neal Van Egmond quoted Richard Thomas an additional $1,200 to install an exit on the North side of building and kitchen counter.

Richard Thomas contacted Adam Sterrett and Adam was unable to locate a roof leak in the storage area of building.

Tom Van Der Veer made a motion to have a contractor come look at the City Hall central air unit, seconded by Dwight. All members voted in favor, motion approved.

2. FY21 Animal Control Services- Council was presented with FY21 contract for animal control services from the Stephen Memorial Animal Shelter. Dwight Teeter moved to approve, Tom Van Der Veer seconded. All members voted in favor, motion approved.

3. 412 Reid St- Resolution 070720 entitled “A RESOLUTION SETTING PUBLIC HEARING ON THE SALE OF REAL ESTATE TO JAKE GRIFFIN” was introduced. Tom Van Der Veer moved its approval, Dwight Teeter seconded. All members voted in favor, motion approved.

Public Hearing is scheduled for Tuesday, August 4th at 7:00 p.m. at the Beacon City Hall.

4. Comments from the floor- Richard from the Beacon Church said that concrete work that had been done across from the church has created more problems than it solved and that the shoulder is higher than the road. Council will have Concrete Expressions look at it.

Sheriff Russ VanRenterghem reported that Doug McMillan is retiring from the Sheriff’s Department. Russ got permission to hire a new Sheriff Deputy to replace Doug and train/work prior to Doug retiring. Sheriff’s office lost a friend from the Oskaloosa Police Department (Ian Barnhart).

V. Next Scheduled Council Meeting Tuesday, August 4th at 7 p.m.

VI. Adjournment- Motion made to adjourn by Dwight Teeter, seconded by Tom Van Der Veer. All members voted in favor, motion approved. Meeting adjourned at 8:10 p.m.