The Rock Port Board of Aldermen met Wednesday, March 23, 2022, at 6:00 p.m. with Mayor Amy Thomas presiding. Board members present were Ron Deatz, Lisa Farmer, Kelley Herron and Todd Stevens. Also present were Superintendent Brentlee Thomas, Utility Office Manager Terri McGuire, and City Clerk Emily Schulte. Visitors were Raechel Schoonover, Jennifer Geib, and Mina Hopkins.

Mayor Thomas called the meeting to order then led the meeting in reciting the Pledge of Allegiance.

The amended meeting agenda was approved.

The aldermen also voted to approve minutes for February 16, February 24, and March 9, 2022, meetings.

Special Event Permit

Schoonover, Geib, and Hopkins were present on behalf of the 4th of July Committee. A beer garden for this year’s event was proposed. Schoonover, who currently holds a liquor license for her business, offered to obtain the special event liquor license at the state level and submit a Special Event Permit to the Board of Aldermen. She has researched the special event insurance that would be necessary, no more than 5% alcohol would be sold, wristbands would be administered after checking IDs, and alcohol would need to stay in a designated area of the park. The area in which the liquor is sold will be fenced in and half the proceeds from liquor sales will be donated to the Rock Port Fireworks Fund.

Clerk Schulte joined the meeting.

It was the consensus of the board that if alcohol were to be confined in the area of adult sporting events, there won’t be an issue. The committee will come back with the special event application once it falls within the allotted timeframe for consideration (15-45 days prior to event).

4th of July Committee

Geib directed the room to the map she previously distributed to get a general idea of the tentative event layout that day. She asked if there were any questions or fencing off of areas the board would like. None were voiced. It was then inquired if the police department could have at least one officer present in the park during the day’s activities to assist in the monitoring of alcohol as well as the rest of the events. The board did not foresee this being an issue as there are typically three officers on duty that day.

The committee will keep the board updated with plans for the event. Schoonover and Hopkins exited the meeting.

Consent Agendas

The aldermen voted to approve the city financial statements, accounts payable, tax report, delinquent tax list, the City Clerk, Chief of Police, and all board reports.

The aldermen also approved the utility financial statements, accounts payable, purchased power and water statements, take or pay water use report, water loss reports, Utility Office Manager report and City Superintendent report.

Street Closure Ordinances

Alderman Herron noted having discussions with Chief Sherwood regarding three ordinances pertaining to street closures. He would like the board’s input as he believes them to need cleaning up. He is specifically concerned that events requiring street closures should be applied for through the police department at least 10 days in advance.

Herron and Sherwood will discuss further whether the changes they are wanting to present would fall under ordinance or policy changes and submit their recommendations for April’s packet.

Tourism Board Application

A board application was received from Madison Dick to join the Tourism Board. The Tourism Board currently has two vacancies. The appointment was approved.

City-Wide Clean-Up

City Hall received an inquiry regarding a city-wide cleanup. Typically clean-ups are held every other year, but exceptions are occasionally made. Budget impacts were discussed. It was decided to remain on the every other year rotation, but at some point reconsidering making the clean-up an annual event.

MPUA Master

Service Agreement

MPUA has organized a program to now offer a service agreement to their members. If the city is interested in entering into this agreement it will need to be added to the agenda and an ordinance drawn up.

AAI:22-01 –

Vacation Leave Policy

Changes to the vacation leave accrual policy were readdressed. It was recommended that upon employees reaching their limits, accrual will cease.

The employee will accumulate vacation time each pay period. The employee may carry over accrued vacation time to the next year, up to two times what is allowed for their years of service. For example, an employee with three years of service may accrue up to 160 maximum vacation hours. Accrual will cease when the maximum vacation hours are reached and resume when vacation hours are used. Vacation pay will be at regular wage. The employee must take vacation time or lose it, unless his/her employment interferes, then the employee will be paid regular wage for vacation time missed. Only one employee from each department will be allowed to take vacation time simultaneously. Action Agenda Item: 22-01 Vacation Leave Policy, Option 1 was approved.

AAI:22-02 –

Police Dept. On-Call Policy

The city is still waiting on a reply from the HR attorney. AAI:22-02 was tabled.

AAI:22-03 –

RPPD Policy Manual

Interest was voiced for having Chief Sherwood present during his policy manual discussions. AAI:22-03 was tabled.

AHEC Mutual Aid Agreement

The city is still waiting on a response from City Attorney Bauman prior to being able to pass an agreement. The AHEC Mutual Aid Agreement was tabled.

City Clerk Emily Schulte

The 4th of July Committee has been formed and they have already met twice. The board should be aware that the current city attorney has filed for a judgeship in her county. If she were to win, the city will need to go out for bid to replace her. The new website is officially live, but work still needs to be done, so it’s asked that everyone be patient with updates and changes.

The prospect of a deputy clerk position was discussed. The amount of project ideas suggested by board members and staff recently has created and increased workload in City Hall. Schulte would be interested in part-time help with a competitive wage, dependent on qualifications. Schulte will send out the pay scale with a recommendation of where the clerk should be placed to determine a pay range. A job description will then need written prior to it being advertised.

The aldermen approved advertising for a part-time deputy clerk, with a pay range to be determined.

Superintendent Thomas

Superintendent Thomas reported helping the Park Board with some of their task list, including ordering wood chips and fertilizer. Board member, Jennifer Geib, thanked Thomas for coming to their meeting and appreciates all the work he and his department have done to assist them so far this season.

Jennifer Geib exited the meeting.

Work is also beginning on the lagoons. Sewer jetting is being planned. A new park agreement could potentially need established. Stevens suggested following up with previous meeting guests as well to inquire if their issues have been resolved.

A MIRMA claim has been submitted on the 1997 white Ford and it was totaled out. Replacement options are being considered. The new pumps for the Burke Circle lift station have not yet arrived, but are currently scheduled for April. Once they’re installed, Thomas recommends having the current pump rebuilt as a backup. The power steering block on the dump truck went out and had to be replaced.

Utility Office

Manager McGuire

McGuire wanted the board to be aware that though on-call for the outside plant was recently suspended, operations have not suffered. Through the city office’s new phone system, calls after hours are directed to employee voicemails which are received by email. Office staff have access to email on their personal devices and check their messages regularly after hours and on weekends. During the last outage all three office staff received voicemails or calls to their homes and were able to make Superintendent Thomas aware of the issues.

Thomas noted receiving texts from office staff regarding updates during the outage was preferred over the office phone lines being forwarded directly to him. That method always proved chaotic during instances of performing line work from the bucket truck.

Alderman Kelley Herron

Alderman Herron has been receiving reports once again of loose chickens running in town and causing a nuisance. Herron also inquired if Rock Port Cabins plans to mow the area in front of their establishment this year. It seems to become an issue every summer and thought it might be worth a discussion prior to becoming a nuisance.

Alderman Ron Deatz

Alderman Deatz asked if there was an update regarding ARPA funds. Schulte relayed that the final rule has finally been released and once she has time to do a little more research regarding fund usage, she will ask the board for a work session to discuss how the city plans to spend its allotment.

Alderman Todd Stevens

Alderman Stevens relayed to the board that he did have plans to try and catch the Rock Port Cabins’ owners when they are in town to talk about the mowing of the aforementioned lot. Stevens agreed with Thomas’ recommendation to have the old Burke Circle lift station pump rebuilt once the new pumps are installed. Stevens also recommended Superintendent Thomas start a purchase list that can be utilized for yearly budget discussions. He also discussed staying vigilant on Big Iron for used equipment. Rainbow Drive might need evaluated to receive cold patch in a few areas.

The meeting adjourned at 7:38 p.m.