March 28, 2024

Fireworks, Co-op mural, council challenge

Five more things to know from April’s city council meeting

1) Fireworks

After fielding complaints from several citizens, the Prairie City City Council passed the first of three readings April 11 that would reduce the number of days residents are permitted to use fireworks within city limits during the summer months.

The ordinance change would reduce the allowed dates to an eight-day window from July 1 to July 8. The previous ordinance approved last year allowed fireworks from June 1 through July 8. This follows a trend by many cities and counties statewide that are restricting the dates people can launch fireworks allowed under a new state law passed in 2017.

The council passed the first reading 5-0, and Prairie City Police Chief and interim city manager Joe Bartello requested approval to include fireworks as a topic on a community survey to gauge residents’ interest in consumer-grade fireworks. The council will vote on the second reading May 9.

2) Co-op mural

Prairie City Hometown Pride is trying to develop a plan for the mural painted on the side of a Heartland Co-op building on the south side of Garden Square. The council voted 5-0 last week to update a lease agreement between the co-op and the city, extending the dates the city is allowed to use the wall and providing Hometown Pride more time to decide what to do with the mural.

3) Standing Hampton at Prairie Days

The council unanimously approved a $2,700 contract with the Des Moines-based 1970s and 80s rock cover band Standing Hampton for a July 27 performance during the 2018 Prairie Days celebration. The band is scheduled to play from 8 p.m. to midnight.

4) Calgon Carbon settlement

The city has come to a $16,473 settlement with the Pennsylvania-based company Calgon Carbon Crop. for electrical issues at the city’s wastewater treatment plant. According to city documents, the company has agreed to pay that sum for ballast cards which were shorting out, used as part of the plant’s ultraviolet disinfection system.

Calgon Carbon designed the system, part of Prairie City’s $4 million mechanical wastewater treatment plant built about five years ago.

The company also provided 16 replacement ballast cards free of charge. For the city’s part, the council has agreed to pay the $7,772 remaining on a repair bill that was being retained from Calgon until the issues were resolved. The council approved the settlement in a 5-0 vote.

5) A councilman's challenge

Personnel is often one of city hall’s largest on-going expenses, but talks over how to fill an empty public works position last week revealed how councilman John Lee intends to operate during the first term.

“One of the things that you’re going to see from me in the next four years is that I’m going to challenge about everything you have going on. We’re going to challenge the thought process of what we’re doing here,” Lee said.

The comment was made during a discussion on whether to re-advertise for a vacant full-time position in the public works department. The job posting listed a valid water license certification to operate the city’s water treatment plant as a requirement. Bartello recommended removing the requirement to get more applicants.

Historically, the city has offered to pay for training and certifications as a benefit of public works positions. Lee feels the salary range is too low to compete with larger central-Iowa public works departments like Des Moines and asked city staff if they would research the cost of contracting a firm to operate Prairie City’s water and sewer treatment plants.

“It’s a paradigm that this is the way we’re doing it, this is the way we’ve always done it and I’m telling you we’re going to get into a spot where Des Moines Water Works is going to pay the money and they’re going to go.”

The council voted 4-1 to re-post the position, removing the certification requirements. Lee was the only no vote. His suggestion generated some pushback from city staff and Bartello argued Prairie City can be competitive at retaining employees, citing 20-plus year public works director Karl Van Der Kamp as an example. But councilwoman Diane Taylor asked city staff to provide the council with bids from firms so they understand all possible options and to keep the conversation positive.

Contact Mike Mendenhall at mmendenhall@myprairiecitynews.com