A special meeting of the Hills City Council was held on Monday, June 29, 2009 at the Hills Fire station

A special meeting of the Hills City Council was held on Monday, June 29, 2009 at the Hills Fire station.

Mayor Russell Bailey called the meeting to order at 6:30 PM. Council members present were: Steve Harris, Merle Hill, Tim Kemp, Thom Kirkpatrick, and Cathy Knebel.

Others Present: Jay Honohan, City Attorney, Bonnie Hansen, City Clerk, Ron Wolfe, Maintenance, Bruce Endris, Kevin Trom, City Engineer, Sally Stutsman and Pat Harney, County Supervisors, and Andy Chappell, Assistant County Attorney.

Kevin Trom, City Engineer, started the meeting with discussion that the amount of road that the City of Hills would be responsible for was 3,655 feet. The total project is 24,763 feet. Hills share would be about 71/2%. The distance includes the footage in front of Murphy’s power and his home which is 1005 feet.

Discussion of the bid was held.

Kemp questioned the footage for removal of curb and if this was by new addition.

Hill questioned the amount of signs in the bid, the short amount of time the Council had for the agreement. Hill also stated this was a big chunk of money for the City of Hills. Hill expected negotiation instead of being told what the bid was.

Sally Stutsman stated that this was a standard agreement; the supervisors were not doing anything different than they did with any other town, by Hills annexing the Streb property, and this made the City responsible for the portion of the road. She also stated that if Hills does not agree to help pay for the road that the repairs would stop at the City Limits. The Secondary Roads budget is the most troubled budget of the County.

Kemp referred to the recent article in the Press Citizen where it was stated the County received $250,000 a year starting about 4-5 years ago for maintenance of the roads given to the County by the State.

Stutsman stated that the State did fix the bridge on Oak Crest Hill Road SE but that this money was divided among the four roads given to the County at the time: Herbert Hoover Highway, Highway 965, Oak Crest Hill Road SE and 382 by Solon.

Kemp questioned the 7% for design costs. Some of the road repairs are designed in house by the County. The Sand Road project was, the current 965 project was but this project was not designed in house. The engineers decide which projects they want to design in house.

Harris questioned since the bid came in $400,000 over budget if there was a possibility of a rebid?

Stutsman stated the costs were high because of asphalt costs and that they would probably be higher next year.

Harney thought the costs would definitely go up if the project was postponed a year. Part of this reason is there is plenty of concrete work around,

Questions were raised about Stimulus money. There is no stimulus money be used on this year’s project. There will be stimulus money spent on the project next year which is south of the bridge south of Hills to the Washington County Line.

Questions were also asked if we could divide the contract and put part of it off for a year. Originally, when the town was approached about this project, it was divided over two years. The first year was to include Murphy’s annexation and the part beside the City of Hills to the intersection by Casey’s. The second year was to include from the intersection by Casey’s south to the City of Hills Limits and on to the Washington County Line. The reply was this was not possible.

Kirkpatrick stated that the City received the 28E agreement on June 4 and basically asked for a blank check. The City received the final numbers on June 24 and the Supervisors wanted a decision by tonight as they had moved things up on their calendar. Currently, the final vote on the project will be held on July 2 not July 9. This was a minimum amount of time according to Kirkpatrick.

Attorney Honohan stated a decision must be made tonight.

Kirkpatrick stated this compressed the time line quite a bit and by not getting the estimate did not give much time to explore it.

Attorney Chappell stated the total bid was given to the City as soon as the County had received it.

Kirkpatrick stated the City had their own problems with an aging sewer system, roads needing repairs. This project was not a priority in the City’s view and that it would tie up much of the City’s funds for some time.

Attorney Chappell stated that the City chose to annex the addition and that all of this should have been considered. This was not a threat but reality. There would be no give or take. The County would stop at the City Limits if there is no agreement. He also stated that any negotiations would have been when the County agreed to a three year payment schedule. This was the negotiation part according to Attorney Chappell.

Knebel expressed concerns about no stimulus money being available for the City. The City had checked with ECICOG for money but the earliest at this point the City could get money was 2012.

Mayor Bailey was concerned about the repairs of potholes and the plowing agreement.

Stutsman stated that the Supervisors had made an agreement with the City of Shueyville to totally pay for the road repairs for now and Shueyville will repay the County over a certain time period.

Attorney Chappell stated that this was an exception to have a three year payment schedule and that he was still checking into the legality of this part of the agreement.

Questions were raised about how close the bid actually would be to the total cost. Attorney Chappell thought that the bid would be close but probably would be higher.

Mayor Bailey stated that the road needed improvement but that the City of Hills also had a wish list.

Hill stated he appreciated the Supervisor’s and Assistant County Attorney coming to the meeting but he did not like the answers he was receiving from them.

Discussion was held on the ownership of the road. Attorney Honohan questioned the ownership as the road was built under Eminent Domain and the land was not purchased originally.

Kemp stated the cons of the project were road stays the same, new negotiations would increase the costs.

A suggestion was made annex the West side of the road and the City do the whole project.

Attorney Chappell stated either the City of Hills improperly annexed the additions or the DOT messed up when the deeds were issued. This could be corrected by reissuing the deeds. The Code has been the same since 1993- Annex the property; you annex ½ of the road.

Harris stated that it came down to a take it or leave it option. This seemed to be the consensus of the attendees.

Mayor Bailey stated the road was needed for the City of Hills.

The Council wondered how they faced the citizens of Hills if the ownership was not clarified and how to explain the spending of this amount of money.

A motion was made to accept the 28E agreement with Johnson County regarding the repairs of the road by Knebel, and seconded by Hill.

Ayes: Knebel Nays: Hill, Kemp, Kirkpatrick and Harris. Motion defeated.

Hill stated ownership had no bearing it was more the maintenance agreement.

A motion was made by Kemp and seconded by Hill to adjourn the meeting at 7:58 PM. Ayes: 5 Motion passed.

_____________________________ Attest: ________________________

Mayor Russell Bailey Bonnie Hansen, City Clerk