The city of Jefferson will use a portion of its Grow Greene County funds for a study of ways to enhance the east entry to the city on Lincoln Way.
The council at its Oct. 25 meeting approved a contract with Bolton & Menk to complete a corridor enhancement study at a cost of $24,500. Jim Leiding, Bolton & Menk project manager, told the council that surveying will be done soon, before snow falls. The study will be wrapped up and recommendations given to the council in May.
The study will include E. Lincoln Way from the Raccoon River Valley Trail to the east edge of the Jefferson Municipal Cemetery.
The study will include opportunities for stakeholders and property owners affected to provide input. According to the engineering firm’s proposal, “Effective public input is at the core of Bolton & Menk’s master planning and community-based work.”
The city council named entries to the city as a high priority for the 2017-18 budget year.
In other business, the council approved a new contract with the People for Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) for operation of the existing animal shelter. The contract will be rewritten prior to opening a new shelter.
The city will pay PAWS $6,000 annually to care for the animals at the shelter, with the city continuing to pay for food and water. PAWS will maintain records and collect fees, cooperate with local law enforcement, receive animals at the shelter during regular business hours, maintain the shelter, and arrange for adoption of the animals.
The contract requires that PAWS arrange for volunteers and/or hire (and be responsible for paying) workers necessary for staffing the shelter.
Under the contract, PAWS indemnifies the city from and against all loss, costs, damage and expenses incurred out of any accident or other occurrence causing injury due directly or indirectly to the actions or negligence of PAWS or its agents. PAWS is required to carry general liability insurance and to name the city as an “additional insured” on the policy.
The new contract specifies that PAWS is an independent contractor. “Nothing contained in this agreement shall be deemed or construed by any person as creating a relationship of an employer and employee or of partnership or of joint venture or of any other association,” the contract states.
In the past, the city has occasionally paid hourly shelter employees, including required workers’ compensation insurance and payroll taxes. The new contract relieves the city of that obligation.
Council member Harry Ahrenholtz commented in voting to approve the new contract that “it will save the city some money.”
