April 25, 2024

City requests council to table HMA project contract

Field use agreements, city administrator salary increase also on docket

By Christopher Braunschweig

Newton City Councilman Steve Mullan listens to a speaker during a meeting inside the council chambers. The Newton City Council will meet 6 p.m. Monday at city hall. (Christopher Braunschweig)

City staff is requesting the Newton City Council table a resolution awarding the contract for a hot mix asphalt (HMA) resurfacing project in order to allow further review of bid prices and available funding.

A public hearing scheduled during the Monday night city council meeting will allow staff and council members to deliberate the current bids collected for the project. Only two bids were received April 4. Both were above the city engineer’s cost estimate of $622,170.

Manatt’s Inc., of Newton, bid the HMA resurfacing project at $664,882. InRoads, LLC, of Des Moines, bid the highest at $690,207.

If council tables the agenda item, it will be reconsidered for a future meeting.

Field use agreements

Local baseball and softball associations will enter into a three-year field use agreement with the City of Newton which will implement a new proposed fee of $10 per registered player in lieu of the current $50 per field per day fee.

Initially introduced to the Newton Park Board in October 2018, which had voted in favor of the motion during its January 2019 meeting, the league field use proposal includes details of each party’s responsibilities and rights when renting the facilities at Agnes Patterson Park.

Newton Girls Softball Association (NGSA), Newton Little League Baseball and Newton Area Soccer Association (NASA) met with city staff to propose a plan for field use agreements.

According to city council agenda documents, NASA has declined to enter into a field use agreement for the 2019 season at Agnes Patterson Park.

City administrator salary increase

Two weeks ago, the Newton City Council met April 1 to discuss city administrator Matt Muckler’s annual merit review and determined he would receive a 2-percent salary increase.

On Monday, the city council will decide whether to approve the action.

According to the resolution, Muckler’s present base salary would increase from $132,000 to $134,640, retroactive to March 27, 2019 through March 27, 2020.

Contact Christopher Braunschweig at 641-792-3121 ext. 6560 or cbraunschweig@newtondailynews.com