City Council Discusses Vacancy

In the latest Decorah City Council meeting, the council members conducted public hearings on plans, specs, estimate of cost, and form of contract for the Dry Run Creek WQI Wetland Project and Decorah 2024 Quarry Street Improvements and considered a resolution ordering a special election to fill a council vacancy. City Manager Travis Goedken was not present for the meeting. Public Hearings and Actions On July 11, bids were received and opened for the Dry Run Creek WQI Wetland Project. This project is taking place outside the city limits and is part of the Decorah Greenbelt Stormwater Improvement and Demonstration Project with grant funds awarded by the Iowa Department of Land Stewardship. Six bids were received for the project, with the low bid being from Skyline Construction, Inc. for $174,993.93. This bid was approximately 36% below the engineer's estimate of $272,000. The City of Decorah will serve as the administrative agent in this phase of the project. The improvements will be owned and maintained by Winneshiek County Conservation. With no comments from the public, the hearing was closed and a motion to approve the bid was made by Councilman Ross Hadley and seconded by Kirsten Olson. The motion was carried unanimously. Quarry Street Improvement The council also considered a resolution approving bids for a Quarry Street Improvements project. This project will involve pavement removals, hot mix asphalt paving, P.C. concrete paving, curb and gutter paving and sidewalk paving along Quarry Street from the intersection of College Drive northeast for 715 feet. Skyline Construction also submitted the lowest bid for this project at $167,361.54, 6% below the engineer's estimate of $179,000. Following a brief summary of the project by City Engineer John Hjelle, the council held a second public hearing. With no comment from the public, the hearing was closed and the bid approval was passed unanimously. Special Election Discussion City Attorney John Anderson was invited by the council to explain the premises of and differences between Agenda items 11 and 12, both of which pertained to notices of intent for the council to fill a vacancy. The decision comes following the recent announcement of Councilman Ross Hadley's intent to resign, effective September 1. "When there is a vacancy on the council," Anderson explained. "The council has two options: [to] either fill the vacancy by appointment or fill the vacancy by special election." If the council decides to fill the vacancy by appointment, they must notify the public of their intent. After this notice is published (or the vacancy occurs) the council can make the appointment. However, the public can still request a special election. Therefore, any appointment made is temporary until the special election takes place if one is requested. Aside from the public notice, there is no required procedure for identifying a candidate for appointment. Anderson pointed to the last resignation in 2019, when Dan Bellrichard resigned from the council, He noted that the council did have a very brief application for candidates, which included name, address, a brief biography and work history. If the council decides to fill the vacancy by special election, or if there is a valid petition filed for a special election, that election may take place concurrently with any pending election, so long as the vacancy is filled within 90 days. Anderson noted that there is an upcoming general election in November, which would belay any need for a separate election process. Councilman Randy Schissel asked Anderson about the potential for a petition to throw the election's timeline off. "If we go to an election, if we decide to do that, we could get on the November election… If we wait until we appoint, and then we get a petition, and those ballots are printed, now we have a special election which could end up costing us five to ten thousand?" Shissel asked. "I think that statute actually says that you have to provide notice to the [County] Auditor [and] the Commissioner of Elections thirty-two days out. So, there kind of still is a timing issue if you did the appointment and then somebody called for an election," Anderson responded "Just for clarity," Mayor Lorraine Borowski interjected. "Let's say you're going to go for an election. I believe Travis [Goedken] had said, or somebody had said. you have to let people know that, but they have to go up to the courthouse and fill out election papers. [This is] very much similar to anything else they were going to do." "Right," Anderson replied, "I think there's an affidavit that has to be filled out. You have to verify that you're an eligible elector, so somebody who can vote for City Council." Anderson clarified that there isn't necessarily a deadline, but rather it is up to the council to decide when the deadline for all of this takes place. Councilwoman Emily Neal responded to this point. "So, we wouldn't have to use that August 28 date? One of my concerns is that it's vacation time, that's three weeks away, I'd like to see it at least four. That's my only concern for an election. That would be a very compressed time for someone to be like, 'I'm going to run for council, and I gotta do all this stuff, and it's August.'" Neal said. Anderson quoted the statute. "The only thing it says is that the council shall give the County Commissioner at least thirty-two days written notice of the date chosen for the special election," Anderson relayed. Neal then questioned Anderson on the potential cost of the election. "Since it's going to be a special election no matter what, do we still have to pay if we're still on that November ballot?" Neal asked. "I think Travis [Goedken] said no." Mayor Borowski stated. Councilman Hadley pointed out that he had not technically given his written notice, only a verbal notice, and would still own a home in Decorah, so if his resignation became a "problematic" situation, he would be willing to "stick around for another month." Anderson was unable to give a definitive answer on whether Hadley could continue beyond his resignation, as he had never considered that situation occurring. Councilwoman Neal proposed a special council meeting on or before Friday, August 9, to discuss the matter further, noting that she would like to see an election, but wanted a fair election for all candidates. A vote to table the item was taken with Councilmembers Parker, Miculinich, Neal, Olson and Zittergrun voting "aye" and Councilman Shissel voting "no." Councilman Hadley abstained. 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