Wayland City Council sets busy schedule for May meeting

BY KARYN SPORY

Mt. Pleasant News

WAYLAND ? The evening of May 4, 2016, is going to be busy for the Wayland City Council, as two public hearings were set for that date.

The pubic hearings will be for a budget amendment for fiscal year 2015/16 and to take bids on a project to re-roof City Hall/Community Center.

City Clerk Beverly Conrad said the amendment is due in part to grants and contributions being awarded were over anticipated amounts, as well as a few expenditures like the Highway 78 flashing light replacement with beacons and painting the interior and exterior of the water tower.

In all, the ending fund balance as of June 30 will now be $1,615,054, once the amendment is passed, rather than the previous $1,590,136.

?There will be no increase in tax levies to be paid in the current fiscal year,? Conrad added.

The budget amendment public hearing will begin at 7:30 p.m., on May 4.

The second public hearing set for May 4 will include receiving bids to re-roof City Hall/Community Center.

This public hearing will follow the budget amendment hearing.

Henry County Sheriff Rich McNamee attended Wednesday night?s meeting to update the council on some of the work his office has been doing. McNamee stated that in 2015, his office received approximately 51,898 calls, 5,494 of them being 911 calls. The calls for service generated for all of Henry County was 22,308. The calls received for Wayland were 251. Of those calls, 85 were handled by the Wayland Police Department, while 124 were handled by the Sheriff?s Office. The Wayland Fire and Rescue also received 124 calls in 2015.

McNamee also briefed the council on the Henry County Jail. ?The jail is a never ending problem,? said the sheriff.

Over the past several months, McNamee has been working on several different plans for a jail expansion. He said the planning is still in its infancy, but it is progressing.

The current jail only has eight beds, but the average daily population in 2015 was 20.5 inmates. Any population over eight per day are sent to neighboring jails, costing the county $40 per inmate per day. ?That?s directly out of taxpayers? pockets,? he said. Since overcrowding became an issue in 2000, McNamee said the county has spent nearly $1.4 million on housing alone.

During Wednesday night?s meeting, the council also approved removing and selling two slides that are currently in West Park. Barry Leichty, the city?s gas superintendent, said the slides are not in good shape, especially the steps leading up to the top of the slide. ?Our insurance guy doesn?t like either one of them,? said Leichty. ?The steps are getting wobbly on the one, it?s probably time to get rid of them.?

In other business, the council:

? Authorized the mayor to apply and sign for a Walmart Foundation Grant for fire truck equipment.

? Authorized the city clerk to submit an ICAP Safety Grant application for safety gear.

? Authorized Southeast Iowa Regional Planning Commission to proceed with the Fire Department Generator Grant Application. Two years ago the city put in a letter of intent with the Hazard Mitigation Planning, that if funds ever became available, the fire department would purchase a generator. Conrad said the authorization is only to keep the letter of intent on file, as funds are still not available.

? Approved Leichty to attend OQ Gas Fusion training in Ankeny on May 3-4.

? Approved Conrad to attend Municipal Professionals Academy in Ames on July 27-29.

The next meeting of the Wayland City Council will be held on Wednesday, April 20, at 7:30 p.m., at City Hall.