After several meetings that lasted longer than two hours, the Jefferson city council’s March 26 meeting was finished in just more than 30 minutes.
Bryan Helmus used the open forum portion of the meeting to compliment council members for their handling of the large numbers of persons who have attended recent meetings to voice their opinions on rezoning a parcel of land west of the Elm St overpass to allow KDG Properties to build affordable rental units.
He complimented council member Darren Jackson for his comments in January about the need for transparency in council dealings.
He also called the process of determining who would be allowed to speak one of “trial and error,” helped along by some cajoling by people who wanted to speak about the project. “In my opinion, you always came to the right decision. You let everybody speak,” Helmus said.
“Not everybody left here agreeing with the decision you made… but everybody got to speak. Everybody got to say what they had to say, and they at least could leave knowing they had that opportunity,” he continued.
The council heard a presentation from Jim Unger and Nathan Muench of Unger Insurance regarding renewal of the city’s property, liability and workers’ compensation insurance.
Unger reminded the council that all insurance costs are increasing due to more frequent damaging weather events. For the year that ended March 31, 2024, the city paid $107,380 for a policy with a $5,000 deductible for wind/hail damage and a $1,000 deductible for all other perils. The blanket limit of insurance was $48.5 million.
A $1,000 deductible is no longer available. The council’s finance committee considered options for a $2,500 deductible for all other perils with a $5,000 wind/hail deductible (premium cost $116,622); a $5,000 all perils deductible with all buildings valued at $500,001 or more required to have a 1 percent of coverage limit on wind/hail damage (premium cost of $113,038); and a $10,000 all perils deductible with all buildings valued at $1 million or more to have a 1 percent of coverage limit on wind/hail damage (premium cost $103,294).
The premium for the year just ended was $107,380.
The finance committee recommended and the council approved the third option with the $10,000 deductible. The City will create a sinking fund of monies to offset the larger deductibles should buildings incur damage.
The city owns 52 buildings valued at less than $500,000; four buildings valued between $500,001 and $999,999; and nine buildings valued at or above $1 million.
Muench reported the modification factor for the city’s workers compensation insurance has gone down from .76 to .66 for the April 1 renewal. That insurance premium is decreasing from $71,691 to $58,245. City staff has said previously that automated trash pickup has played a big role in decreasing workers compensation claims.
The city’s total insurance bill, including automobile insurance, will be $248,420. The total for the year just ended was $260,417.
The council approved closing the 100 block of S. Chestnut St from Lincoln Way to the alley Tuesdays from 3 to 6:30 pm, from June 11 through Sept. 10, for farmers markets. The street will be closed July 20, Aug. 3 and Sept. 7 from 4:30 to 7:30 pm for concerts.
Amy Milligan, president of the Jefferson Matters: Main Street board, updated the council on Jefferson Matters activities. She reported that since 2013, Jefferson Matters has received $7.3 million in state grants, tax credits and other incentives. That has been leveraged into $18 million in projects.
She also reported that the board is working on obtaining national Main Street accreditation. Jefferson Matters is already accredited at the state level.
Earlier in the meeting, as part of the consent agenda, the council passed a resolution approving the publishing of city employee wages for calendar year 2023, as required by Iowa Code. That can be found posted as a legal notice in The Jefferson Herald.
