The Lynnville City Council met in regular session on Monday, Jan. 12, at 5:30 p.m. at Lynnville City Hall. Guests included Faye Brand and Kyle Terpstra. Minutes of the December 2014 meeting were approved. Terry Fraker was sworn in as the new council member filling the seat vacated by Kevin Arment.
In old business, delinquent water bills were discussed and what protocol is to be followed when a person is delinquent and their water has been shut off. Should the city maintenance director accept cash on a Saturday night and have to go turn the water back on after hours? Extensive discussion was had on the topic but no clear decision made.
Lynnville Library Board President Kyle Terpstra was present to explain the initial library board budget for 2015-16. From his findings, to maximize the amount of money available from the county, the city needs to contribute approximately $16,000. Last year, the city contributed approximately $10,000. Currently, the library is open to the public 23 hours a week and needs to have similar open hours to continue to receive state funding. But those 23 hours of being open to the public are only 52 percent of the time wages are being paid. Based on cutting hours of the staff to only staffing the library during open hours and expenses to basic expenses, there is still a $1,700 deficiency if the city contributes $10,000 again. There is approximately $32,000 in a fund that can only be used for certain things. Terpstra's hopes are that special funds can help with the programs and materials he has cut from the proposed budget.
Terpstra became president in July, and he said his goal is to "get the budget transparent and simplify the billing process between library and city. We also need to understand the county's piece in this."
The city council thanked Terpstra for the work he has done and looks forward to hearing his findings on the state and county funding. Lynnville City Clerk Kim Harsselaar and Terpstra will work together to understand what library line items the city is currently paying are for and if that is part of the contribution the county looks at. Terpstra will return with an updated budget at a future meeting.
The second readings of 2014-01 dog licensing, 2014-02 dangerous and vicious animals, and ordinance 2014-03 municipal infractions were read and approved with Fraker voting against ordinance 2014-03.
The city approved Josh DeWitt for Lynnville's WENS (automated notification system) contact person to learn and manage the system for the community's use. This system replaces the Code Red system that was in place.
Rahn and Dori Savage were nominated as the Lynnville United Fund contact persons.
The council approved the FY2014 Annual Urban Renewal Report as a blank report with no activity.
The fiscal year budget for 2016 is currently being worked on. Some discussion was on what the city should expect for revenues for 2016 and some areas that expenses could be cut. The finalized budget will be presented at a future meeting.
In the maintenance report, Harsselaar read the report submitted by DeWitt, who was absent. Sidewalks not shoveled within 48 hours will be shoveled by DeWitt and charged to the property owner. One-third of the sump pumps have been inspected by DeWitt, and he hopes to be finished by the end of January. Actions needed from his findings will be addressed at the next meeting.
The December 2014 bills and payroll claims were approved.
Adjournment was at 7:22 p.m.
