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VIENNA -- Vienna City Council met on Thursday to discuss business pertaining to the appointment of councilmember Jim Leach to the Vienna Utility Board, the sale of eligible city property and the status of the city's camera system, as well as the future of how council plans to address community feedback.
The meeting began with public forum comments pertaining to hopes for issues the newly elected council will address, ranging from flooding, the police fee and animal control to the ordinance that failed in the last council to include public comments in meeting minutes.
Vienna citizen Greg Frazier also posed concerns to the proposed appointment of councilmember Jim Leach to the Vienna Utility Board.
"I think he is probably wearing too many hats … I think it is best for the citizens of Vienna," Frazier said, as he cited Leach's role as a liaison for the Johns Manville project and his position on the Planning Commission as additional responsibilities.
During the meeting, Mayor Randy Rapp responded to the concern of the appointment as proposed.
"Mr. Leach does wear several hats for the city, but Mr. Leach will no longer be a member of the Planning Commission," Rapp said. "… He is without a doubt one of the hardest working people I have ever seen … I do believe he is the most qualified member of council [for this.]"
Leach then removed himself while council voted, which resulted in a failing vote of 2-4. Council members Mike Elam, Kim Williams and Tom Azinger and recorder Melissa Elam were opposed.
"I would like to make a motion to put Kim Williams on the utility board," Elam said.
Council will address the proposal at its next meeting.
The online auctioning service govdeals.com was addressed again for the sale of municipal property, as it failed to pass at a previous meeting and more research was needed to determine if local services could be utilized.
"With this particular platform [govdeals.com] you don't need an auctioneer … it is very easy to use and I believe we can do it in-house," Rapp said during discussion.
Leach highlighted the benefits of govdeals.com, ranging from there being no cost for the city incurred through the use of the platform and less work for the city as items can be posted on a rolling basis.
"Can you leave this [resolution] open to where it is just online auctions?" Williams asked.
City Attorney Russell Skogstad assured Williams that the city would not be "married" to the use of this particular platform.
"This allows the city to open an account with govdeals … if that goes well we can use the same account," Skogstad said.
According to Rapp, a team will be tasked with facilitating postings and handling information for sales.
The motion to utilize govdeals.com passed unanimously, and an additional motion to create the first listing, which includes a multitude of city vehicles and lawn equipment, was additionally passed unanimously.
Council was also approached by city IT specialist Chris McGrew, who addressed the camera security system issue that was previously brought to the former council.
"I came to the budget and finance [committee] this past week and was asking for a budget revision to purchase new cameras," McGrew said.
Many of the current cameras in place are from the technology company Ubiquiti Inc., which has announced that it will no longer be providing updates to the cameras the city currently has in place, according to McGrew.
In addition, approximately 50 of the cameras have failed, according to McGrew. He also said he received a letter recently stating that a third party had hacked into some of the databases of Ubiquiti.
Another primary concern includes the status of the current network video recorder system in place for these cameras.
However, the cost for a new system to have 24/7 surveillance storage would be upwards of $135,000, not including the additional purchase of new cameras, according to McGrew.
Leach raised the concern of expense for this need, and advised that McGrew continue to push for a purchase agreement or a payment plan over time for the new brand proposed in terms of a life-time warranty guarantee and quality.
"In August of last year I took over and we replaced a few of those [failing] cameras," McGrew said of the urgency of the issue. "They were up and running again and then they went out again … I have tried everything."
This is an ongoing issue that will be addressed by council in the future.
"It is a priority and I want to see something happen but for me I want to evaluate all the options," Williams said.
Other orders of business included:
* An ordinance requiring public utility to post bonds and requiring them to notify the city of work was unanimously approved on second reading.
* A general fund budget revision unanimously passed to include various projects such as the authorization for painting of light poles at Jackson Park, the repair of electrical units at Spencer Park and the completion of the ongoing Neale-Cook Cemetery project, which is the burial site for veterans from at least seven wars, according to Rapp.
* Council comments after business was finished addressed the continual public concern for the lack of public forum comments included in meeting minutes.
"I would love to put on the agenda for public forum to be included in the meeting minutes," Elam said.
Leach proposed for efficiency that the council may consider allowing a word limit entry for the official meeting minutes record. Rapp explained that his reasoning for previously voting no on the ordinance had to do with the fact that the bounds for what can be said during public forum are broad and could create additional work, as well as disrespect.
"That is my only caution for that," Rapp said. "I like the public comments and I like hearing what people want to talk about."
Elam and Williams also raised additional concepts to consider in the upcoming budget year. Elam highlighted consideration for raises for the police department and the potential formation of a committee to look into creating an outdoor youth soccer complex. Williams proposed a potential meeting for citizens to come out and vocalize their desires for the type of development that could take place on the Johns Manville property, as well as greater transparency in the publicly accessed city reconciliation of funds.
Jenna Pierson may be reached at jpierson@newsandsentinel.com