REGULAR MEETING MINUTES | November 12, 2025
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- 2 days ago
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Updated: 24 minutes ago
REGULAR MEETING
                                                          November 12, 2025
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ACKLEY CITY COUNCIL met in regular session November 12, 2025 in the Ackley Council Chambers with Mayor Michael Nuss presiding. The meeting was called to order at 6:00 pm. Council members present:  Maliah Roelfs, Mike Abbas, Judy Crawford, Dan Scallon. Absent: Chuy Flores. Quorum present.
Scallon moved, Abbas seconded to approve the November 12, 2025 agenda. Ayes-all. Motion carried.
Roelfs moved, Scallon seconded to approve the Consent Agenda by one motion: a) October 10, 2025 Regular Minutes, as written.  b) Bills approval, as listed. c) Place Reports on file:  October 2025 Clerk Bank Reconciliation/Cash Report/Treasurer; October 2025 Clerk Budget; October 2025 Deputy Clerk Utility Billing Reconciliation; October 2025 Fire; October 2025 Ackley EMS; October 2025 PeopleService; October 2025 Ackley Development; October 2025 Deputy Clerk Nuisance. Ayes-all. Motion carried.
City Attorney, S. Schroeder, needs guidance from the council on the next step for the Prairie Bridges Park Board lease/agreement. Crawford proposed sending a shut off notice with the requirement of the lease returned to the city before reactivation. Council consensus was to give a 45-day notice. The lease/agreement must be received back to the City by December 22, 2025 which is the scheduled shut off day, or water will be turned off to the park.
Crawford presented 2 bids for the ambulance building upgrades. There were 2 differences in the bids, one being the Tyvek and the other being the removal of the pole and noon whistle. Crawford moved, Roelfs seconded to approve bid to J4 Contracting in the amount of $40,840 for ambulance building upgrade to be paid out of 2020A GO Funds. Ayes-all. Motion carried.
Dennis updated council on the other street projects associated with the 2020A GO Bond funds. Funds were a part of the FY26 budget amendment. Â Â
Permission given to Dennis to remove from agenda the vacating alley between 6th Ave/7th Ave and Franklin St/Worth St.
Dennis reported K. Meyer, Public Works Supervisor, had sent photos to the owner of the Pizza Ranch showing the area where the wall is allowing rain to get into the Civic Center. More to come.
Lynch Dallas Legal would like to see changes to Chapter 51 Junk/Junk Vehicles and Chapter 50 Nuisance Abatement. Council consensus was to have Attorney draw up ordinance changes and present at December’s meeting.
Dennis presented 2 drafts for Chapter 151 pertaining to the planting of trees in the city right of way. Draft II was the consensus of the council which allowed planting to be done by the Ackley Tree Board with prior written approval by the Council. Â
Dennis presented the expense and revenue changes for the FY26 budget amendment.
Dennis updated council on the property valuation changes for the upcoming FY27 budget. Preliminary budget discussion on wages with Nuss and Crawford sharing concerns about health insurance premium costs and the cost of living. Crawford suggested freezing employee wages with follow up coming after health insurance quotes from other companies with additional option. Roelfs shared concerns with freezing wages and not giving the employees the cost-of-living leaving employees with a negative impact. Â Scallon agreed. Consensus from council for a 3% increase. The library board has not discussed library wages. Per the ordinance, the board is to determine compensation for that department. Appropriated library expenses to increase 3% which is $2,264. Airport, park, tree, pool, and emergency reserves was discussed. Discussion on town fireworks, demo funds, ADC funding, water, sewer, animal control, city hall, tree removal, and garbage funds. Dennis to start the FY27 with the recommendations. Budget worksheets will be distributed after the December payables.
Abbas moved, Scallon seconded to invest $10,482 Cemetery CD to Peoples Savings Bank at a rate of 3.5% for 48 months. Ayes-all. Motion carried.
Abbas moved, Roelfs seconded to approve Thomas Craighton as the Ackley EMS director. Ayes-all. Motion carried.
Abbas moved, Scallon seconded to set Public Hearing date for Ordinance Nos 538-542 to December 10, 2025 at 6 pm in the Ackley Council Chambers. Ayes-all. Motion carried.
Abbas moved, Roelfs seconded to set Public Hearing date for Proposed FY26 budget amendment to December 10, 2025 at 6 pm in the Ackley Council Chambers. Ayes-all. Motion carried.
Crawford moved, Abbas seconded to approve credit card listing, as presented. Ayes-all. Motion carried.
Dennis informed council on the possibility to allow a special assessment up to 10 years on a code compliance invoice for 715 Park Ave.  The assessment stays with the property. If the property sells, the buyer could take over the debt or may require the seller to pay the debt prior to transfer of property. With Flores being absent, Dennis informed council on Flores’ concern about longevity and his thoughts for the assessment, Flores would like to see no more than 5 years for repayment. If the council wanted to charge interest, Dennis would need to re-do the resolution and re-present. Dennis also informed council that the assessment needs to get filed on the property before it sells or the city may not receive the funds owed.  Crawford would like to see the city allow 10 years for repayment.  Scallon moved, Abbas seconded to approve Resolution 25-42 Authorizing a Special Assessment for Code Compliance/715 Park Ave allowing 5 annual installments of $2,575.35. Roll call vote: Ayes-Roelfs, Abbas. Scallon. Nay-Crawford. Absent-Flores. Motion carried. Nuss shared his disappoint with council on their decision of not allowing the 10 years and fears of setting the owner up for failure on the inability to repay.
Abbas moved, Scallon seconded to pass Resolution 25-43 Approving the 2025 TIF Certifications. Roll call vote: Ayes-Abbas. Crawford, Scallon. Roelfs. Absent-Flores. Motion carried.
Crawford moved, Abbas seconded to approve payment to Dorsey + Whitney, LLP in the amount of $21,352 for 2025A/B GO Bond Legal Fees. Ayes-all. Motion carried.
Scallon moved, Roelfs seconded to approve payment to gWorks in the amount of $13,000 for annual SimpleCity Accounting software. Ayes-all. Motion carried.
Abbas moved, Scallon seconded to approve payment to Hardin County Engineer’s Office in the amount of $4,394 for sand/salt mixture. Ayes-all. Motion carried.
Five depot roof bid requests were sent with 1 being returned.  Bid was presented. Abbas moved, Scallon seconded to approve bid to Cedar Valley Roofing Company in the amount of $59,350 to replace depot roof to be paid from (309) Cap Projects – LOST funds. Ayes-all. Motion carried. The bid does have the gutter replacement included but was not listed on the bid specifications.Â
Four city hall basement window replacement bids were sent with 2 being returned. Bids were presented. Abbas moved, Crawford seconded to approve bid to Schipper Home Construction in the amount of $4,999 to be paid from (313) 2020A GO Bond funds. Ayes-all. Motion carried.
M. White, PeopleService, well #2 is up and running and will run the winter season rather than alternating. There are a few repairs that need to be done on the sanitary sewer lift station pumps. Due to budgeting and that budget being tight, the fence and some zone cleaning will be pushed into the following year in order to get the repairs done on the pumps. With Electric Pump providing on-site service under the annual maintenance agreement, the removal of a pump by their technicians generally limits the ability of other vendors to access or assess that equipment which makes getting bids more difficult. Abbas moved, Scallon seconded to approve 5th Ave list station pump #3 repair to EP in the amount of $10,651. Ayes-all. Motion carried. Roelfs moved, Scallon seconded to approve 5th Ave lift station check valve (3) replacement in the amount of $19,864.64. Ayes-all. Motion carried. Roelfs moved, Scallon seconded to approve waste water treatment plant pump #2 (lagoon) lift station check valve replacement in the amount of $6,823.67. Ayes-all. Motion carried.
L. Gallentine, CGA Consultants, polishing up the plans for the Franklin St N of the RR tracks for DOT bid letting. McDowells and Sons was questioning a change order for the fence removal that is located on the north side of Traditional Meats property. Council suggested leaving the fence in the scope of the project and putting it back, upon completion of the storm sewer project. Â Â No update on the 2025 Bonded Street project.
Nuss gave Public Works monthly report. Pleva was here for the splash pad and took samples of the concrete to be tested. While getting the sample, Pleva hit a pipe that will need to be repaired.
Dennis reported the FY25 annual exam will be the week of December 1-5th with onsite being the 3-4th.
Crawford shared from the City Scape magazine, that sidewalk liability could be pushed off to the city for liability. Nuss mentioned MLA training for the newly elected officials, The Village has had a name change, Franklin County will be working on their hazard mitigation, housing demo ideas, and council committee chairs should be ready for December.
No public comment.
Abbas moved, Roelfs seconded to adjourn at 8:32 pm. Ayes-all. Motion carried.
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_______________________________________
Michael Nuss, Mayor
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ATTEST:
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 ____________________________
Malena Dennis, City Clerk
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4 COUNTY AG | 24D LV6 (2.5 GAL) | 105.90 |
ACCESS SYSTEMS | MICROSOFT 365 CONVER/COPIER MAINTENANCE/TECHÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â | 3196.27 |
ACKLEY PUBLIC LIBRARY | REIMBURSE PETTY $/STAMPS/POSTA | 82.96 |
ACKLEY PUBLISHING CO INC | WINDOW ENVELOPES (3) | 141.58 |
BLACK HILLS/IOWA GAS UTIL | UTILITIES-GAS | 390.66 |
CARDMEMBER SERVICE | 2007 TAN FORD DOOR/EMAIL/LABEL MAKER/TONER | 1533.63 |
CARSTENS PLUMBING & HEATI | RUDD HIGH EFF FURNACE | 7656.00 |
CENTER POINT LARGE PRINT | LARGE PRINT BOOKS | 409.44 |
CENTURYLINK | PHONES/FAX | 469.86 |
CGA | FRANKLIN ST N RR/DESIGN/STREET PATCH/EASEMENTÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â | 3377.50 |
CLEMONS, MARJEAN | MILEAGE-DIRECTORS ROUND TABLE | 109.20 |
DAKOTA SUPPLY GROUP | DISP GUTTER BROOM-SWEEPER | 202.84 |
DENNIS, MALENA | MILEAGE/IMFOA FALL CONFERENCE | 415.94 |
DEPOSIT REFUNDS | S.LONG/W.VANHOVE/REFUND DATE 10/27/2025 | 27.73 |
DORSEY & WHITNEY LLP | LEGAL FEES 2025A/B BONDSÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â | 21352.00 |
DUMONT TELEPHONE CO | INTERNET | 80.00 |
EBS | HEALTH INSURANC | 4987.47 |
ELECTRIC PUMP | PLC UPGRADE WATER PLANT | 12360.00 |
FEDERAL W/H | FED/FICA TAX | 5574.46 |
FORGY ELECTRIC | LED BULBS-BATHROOM UPGRADE GRA | 412.25 |
GLOBE LIFE LIBERTY NATION | GLOBE PRETAX | 217.82 |
GWORKS | 2026 SIMPLECITY LICENSE FEE | 13000.00 |
HARDIN COUNTY ENGINEER | SAND & SALT MIX 67.5 TON | 4394.00 |
HARDIN COUNTY SHERIFF | CONTRACT LAW ENFORCEMENT | 3144.90 |
HARDIN COUNTY SOLID WASTE | OCTOBER LANDFILL FEES | 1981.65 |
HARDIN COUNTY TREASURER | LIEN CERT-413 2ND AV/1118 4TH AVE/918 1ST AVEÂ Â | 20.00 |
HEART OF IOWA | 847-2222 COMMUNICATIONS | 68.50 |
HERONIMUS, SCHMIDT, ALLEN | LEGAL FEES | 975.00 |
INGRAM LIBRARY SERVICES | BOOKS/SHIPPING | 1154.41 |
INNOVATIVE AG SERVICES CO | DIESEL/GAS | 2199.50 |
IOWA EMERGENCY MEDICAL S | SERVICE DIR WORKSHOP-CRAIGHTON | 70.00 |
IPERS | IPERS - REGULAR | 5274.00 |
JOHN DEERE FINANCIAL | PAINT/PRIMER/BRUSH/ROLLR-BATHR | 539.93 |
LYNCH DALLAS LEGAL | JUNK/NUISANCE ORDINANCE REVIEW | 165.00 |
M&G TIRE SERVICE | TIRES-SKIDLOADER | 1225.88 |
MID IOWA AUTO PARTS, LLC | DEF/ANTIFREEZE-SWEEPER/SPLASHPADÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â | 81.95 |
MIDAMERICAN ENERGY COMPAN | ELECTRIC | 6587.51 |
PAYROLL CHECKS | TOTAL PAYROLL CHECKS | 21510.71 |
PEOPLESERVICE INC. | WATER/WASTEWATER SERVICE | 17899.00 |
PITNEY BOWES INC. | POSTAGE MACHINE | 539.00 |
POSTMASTER | UTILITY BILL POSTAGE | 412.97 |
ROSS CLEANING | 10/22/25 CLEANING | 175.00 |
SALES TAX/LOST | SALES TAX PAYMENT | 994.93 |
SCALLON'S LAWN CARE | SEED/GRADE CRBSTP RPR/715 PARK | 275.00 |
SHIELD PEST CONTROL | MONTHLY SERVICES | 32.00 |
STATE WITHHOLDING | STATE TAXES | 551.03 |
STRYKER SALES CORPORATION | LUCAS BATTERY | 1293.86 |
TIMES-CITIZEN CO. | 10/08/25 MINUTES/FY25 AFR/1 YR AWJÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â | 440.89 |
USDA RF | MONTHLY PAYMENT | 1151.00 |
VERIZON | PHONE/JETPACK/INTERNETÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â | 131.95 |
WATER EXCISE TAX | WATER EXCISE TAX PAYMENT | 2704.61 |
CLAIMS TOTAL | 152097.69 | |
EXPENSES BY FUND | ||
GENERAL FUND | 44636.96 | |
LIBRARY RESERVE FUND | 419.43 | |
ROAD USE TAX FUND | 21702.69 | |
CAP PROJ-GO BOND 2020A FUND | 7761.00 | |
CAP PROJ-FRANKLIN ST N RR FUND | 2417.50 | |
CAP PROJ-GO BOND 2025A FUND | 11441.00 | |
CAP PROJ-GO BOND 2025B FUND | 10676.00 | |
WATER FUND | 26986.64 | |
WATER DEPOSITS FUND | 21.96 | |
SEWER FUND | 16123.48 | |
GARBAGE FUND | 7609.53 | |
STORM WATER FUND | 2301.50 | |
TOTAL | 152097.69 | |
REVENUE | ||
GENERAL | 245902.03 | |
FIRE TRUCK/EQUIP | 500.04 | |
ROAD USE TAX | 17862.73 | |
EMPLOYEE BENEFIT TOTAL | 44334.76 | |
LOST TOTAL | 21028.46 | |
LOST - DEBT SERVICE TOTAL | 5107.11 | |
CAPITAL PROJECTS - LOST TOTAL | 5407.12 | |
WATER | 52261.47 | |
WATER DEPOSITS TOTAL | 1350.00 | |
SEWER TOTAL | 65636.86 | |
SEWER - SINKING | 35036.00 | |
SEWER - RESERVES/SURPLUS TOTAL | 32141.51 | |
GARBAGE | 12603.24 | |
STORM SEWER | 16666.30 | |
TOTAL | 555837.63 |
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