~by Denise O’Brien Van
TheJefferson city council conducted business at its regular April 8 meeting as follows:
Tax abatement for improvements: A 100 percent tax abatement for improvements to residential, commercial and industrial properties was approved. The abatement applies only to the city’s portion of a total property tax bill. For information, call City Hall at 515-386-3111.
Property code now in effect: The city council approved the third reading of an ordinance that puts the 2012 International Property Maintenance Code into effect. The new ordinance allows citizens to complain about substandard properties. For information, call zoning officer Tom Heater at 515-386-4660.
Alley lease requires fence upgrade: The city council approved a lease that allows Brett Cranston, owner of Doc’s Stadium, 113 N.Chestnut St., on the east side of the courthouse square, to lease the alley north of his bar and grill for the next three years at no cost. The lease includes a provision that mandates replacement of an existing wood fence on the west end of the alley with iron fencing that will match fencing on other properties around the square. Cranston told the council he also plans to improve the fence at the alley’s east entrance.
City will replace Community Center’s rooftop HVAC: With a low bid of $18,500, Durlam Electric, a Jefferson firm, got the contract to replace heating and cooling equipment atop the Greene County Community Center.
City ccouncil member Shannon Black, a member of the park and recreation board, said the HVAC (heating, ventilating and cooling) equipment, installed when the Community Center was built 16 years ago, had “been in not great shape for some time.”
Requests for bids were sent to seven firms, including Durlam Electric. Bids were received from Clark Heating and Plumbing, $23,704.14; and from Drees, $20,602. Firms that did not submit bids were Des Moines Heating and Cooling, Ecklund Plumbing, Sloan Plumbing and Drain Service Inc., and Teeples Heating and Cooling.
The Durlam bid includes installation of a hail guard to protect the roof-top units at a cost of $1,300.
The installation will be funded using the city’s hotel/motel tax which will pay $10,550 of the total cost. PACE (People Active in County Exercise), a local nonprofit group formed decades ago to promote and support a recreation/community center, will contribute $9,250.
Park and recreation director Vicky Lautner said she expects to clear the cost of the hail guards with PACE.
To read the draft minutes, without the list of bills paid, click here: https://greenecountynewsonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Jeff-council-April-8.pdf
