The Jefferson city council at its Sept. 9 meeting approved Studio MELEE of West Des Moines to provide conceptual design services for the Jefferson public library expansion.
The company will complete a conceptual design to take into the fundraising phase. The project is targeted at an “all-in” cost of $4 million. Studio MELEE was recommended to the city council by the library board of trustees from among three firms that submitted proposals.
The $36,600 cost of Studio MELEE’s contract will be paid by the library with funds on hand. The conceptual design phase will be completed within six months. That cost includes marketing graphics for public awareness and fundraising.
The council also approved protocols and charges for quarantine services at the Greene County Animal Shelter.
Animals that have bitten a person are to be placed in quarantine for 10 days if they’re current on vaccinations, or longer if they aren’t. The animals will be monitored for signs or illness or behavioral changes. The quarantine duration begins from the date of the bite.
The daily shelter fee is $20 per day, with a veterinarian exam at $60. That amount, $260, is to be paid prior to the animal entering quarantine. If needed, a rabies vaccination is $30 and a microchip is $40. All animals must be microchipped before being released from quarantine if they haven’t already been.
The council approved and adopted a revision to the personnel policy. City administrator Scott Peterson said an employee committee worked on the revisions for a year, with council member Pat Zmolek sitting in on meetings. The complete document is 74 pages.
The primary changes are to add family medical leave for eligible employees, and to institute drug testing (if needed) for all employees if there is a reasonable suspicion to warrant testing.
Danielle Ross and Bill Raney reported on behalf of the Thomas Jefferson Gardens board. Raney said the board didn’t hire a gardener after the retirement of Jean Walker, but that Veronica Morton volunteered her services. Morton and Ross, both of whom have professional experience in horticulture, have been advisory gardeners.
Not hiring a gardener allowed the board to put $5,000 into the Gardens’ endowment fund. Raney said the endowment is nearing the $20,000 mark. He reminded the council that a maximum of only 5 percent can be drawn from an endowment fund.
Raney said the goal is eventually to be self-sufficient.
The council passed a resolution requesting a budget revision on the Community Development Block Grant for the Centennial building located at 100 E. State St. The revision lowers the total budget for the project from $503,071 to $447,862 due to “significant cost savings” both in construction costs and soft costs. The final tally for the project is $408,035 in CDBG funding and$39,827.36 in matching funds.
The grant was applied for by the city on behalf of the investor group Why Not Us, LLC, The CDBG was used to create two upper story housing units for tenants with incomes at or below 80 percent of the adjusted median income.
