City council chamber renovations approved
The Mount Vernon City Council will be moving back to Mount Vernon City Hall for public meetings soon, and improvements are slated to be completed for council chambers this winter.
City administrator Chris Nosbisch said because of coming work to the Mount Vernon-Lisbon Police Department’s conference room in that building’s next phase of construction this winter, city council meetings will migrate back to city hall.
“We started using the conference room at the police hall because it allowed us to have more space and separate easily to hold meetings in public during COVID-19 pandemic,” Nosbisch said. “We’re reaching the end of life for these chambers. “
Nosbisch said the work proposed – removing the dais in city hall, new paint, new ceiling tiles and new lighting for the chambers – comes at a roughly $30,000 cost.
Technology improvement estimates will come at the next council meeting. Those will include moving the camera and sound system at police hall to the city hall chambers to continue zoom meetings, as well as adding a large television on the wall for screen sharing elements, as well as smaller monitors.
City staff will do some of the work in the city hall improvements, which is why the estimates for some of the bids are slightly lower.
UV disinfection lights approved
The council also approved a $25,000 expense for the wastewater treatment plant for the replacement of UV disinfection lights required by Iowa Department of Natural Resources.
The UV Lights were installed as part of phase one improvements for the treatment plant and need to operate during the spring and summer months to help mitigate bacteria in the wastewater. The lights are currently burning out at a rate the plant manager doesn’t expect them to last another season. The city will salvage what lights they can to use as replacements and buy 13 new lights.
City administrator explained that the improvements to the wastewater treatment plant are roughly $3.4 million overall, and why bills increase for sewer and water bills.
“These decisions aren’t made in isolation, and these are things we as a city have to do, that we don’t have a choice in,” said council member Debra Herrmann.
Garbage ordinance changes discussion coming in December’s meeting
The council will discuss implementing changes to the waste ordinances to reflect snowbird policy and low to moderate income assistance at the Dec. 5 meeting.
City administrator Chris Nosbisch explained that the snowbirds policy is not currently codified and if the city wants that to continue compared to past practices, that needs to be spelled out in the ordinance.
Nosbisch said that the policy impacts roughly 40 citizens on an annual basis.
The LMI changes may be harder to implement, as some of the citizens impacted by the garbage costs reside in the mobile home park north of Mount Vernon. They now pay their garbage bills to the mobile home park proper.
Council member Scott Rose said even if the LMI language may not be perfect, it is definitely needed to be explored for citizens, as there are people who still have a need for that assistance.