Council prepares for staff turn around

By Travis Fischer, tkfischer@charlescitypress.com

The Charles City Council discussed upcoming staff vacancies during its workshop meeting on Wednesday, May 14.

City Administrator Steve Diers has accepted a position as the city administrator in Clear Lake and anticipates having his last day in Charles City in late June. The council discussed how to  fill Diers’ position, considering reaching out to the firm that Clear Lake had hired to enlist Diers or even reaching out to the other candidates for the Clear Lake position.

Wanting to start quickly, the council will plan on a special workshop next Wednesday to discuss hiring firms.

In the meantime, City Engineer John Fallis said he would be willing to serve as interim city administrator if the position cannot be filled before Diers leaves.

“I’m good with staying on just for some continuity,” said Fallis, who has served as city engineer since 2012, but who has also been trying to retire from his position for at least five years, with the city having no luck finding a replacement.

With Diers leaving and the recent arrival of new City Clerk Brittney Lentz, Fallis said he would be willing to stay on the job until 2026 in order to make sure the city isn’t breaking in so many new employees all at once.

The council discussion on replacing Diers also prompted discussion on what the city should be looking for in a replacement for Fallis, such as whether finding a full-time engineer to hire is viable, if it would be more realistic to contract out those services to a firm, and how city code enforcement could be incorporated into the position.

“At some point we’re going to actually let you retire,” Council Member Phoebe Pittman said to Fallis.

In other business, the council discussed the latest developments in negotiating an agreement between the Canadian Pacific Railroad/Kansas City Railroad (CPKC) and T&C Machine to find a way to close the Lane Street railroad crossing.

The original proposal would be to completely close the crossing that connects Lane Street and Shelby Street, turning Shelby Street into a dead-end and leaving Lane Street to turn into the perpendicular Iowa Street.

CPKC and the Iowa Department of Transportation would offer a combined $200,000 incentive for this option.

However, closing the Lane Street crossing would have a profound impact on T&C Machine, which sits just north of the crossing. The crossing is the most viable way for large trucks to come and go from the shop, as alternate routes would force trucks through populated neighborhoods with difficult turns.

“We don’t want semis traveling around the neighborhood,” said Mayor Dean Andrews.

Soundly opposed to disrupting T&C Machine’s ability to do business, the council has been exploring other options. CPKC has proposed changing the open crossing into a private one that would be gated on both sides, however this arrangement would not qualify for the incentive funds.

T&C Machine owners Teresa and Chuck Knecht said that proposal has problems, such as limits to the size of the vehicles and how access to the gate would be managed.

“I don’t want to get an agreement in place that only has partial deliveries and then gets a bunch of trucks driving through town,” said Pittman.

The council will continue to work on finding a way to satisfy CPKC’s safety concerns regarding the crossing without compromising T&C Machine’s ability to do business.

“They’re a good business and they help out the city,” said council member Patrick Lumley.

Also at the meeting, the council considered a request from Jerry Hegtvedt of Cedar Valley Property Solutions, who has applied for a waiver for the city’s parking lot ordinance. Hegtvedt recently purchased the former Nelson Tire and Auto site, which was destroyed by fire in 2021, and intends to use it for parking and staging for his neighboring business. Hegtvedt is asking for a six-month waiver that would allow him to utilize the lot ahead of the paving work scheduled this summer.

The council also met with Police Chief Hugh Anderson, who is requesting to purchase of a 2025 Ford Police Interceptor as part of the city’s budgeted replacement schedule. Anderson has gotten a state pricing bid of $47,600 from Stivers Ford Lincoln of Waukee for the vehicle.