City of Sergeant Bluff, Iowa - City Council Special Meeting Minutes (10/28/25)

1. MAYOR/MAYOR PRO-TEM TO CALL THE MEETING TO ORDER: 5:00 PM

1. Roll Call

2. Pledge of Allegiance & a Moment of Silence

Attendee Name Title Status

Ryan Panowicz Present

Mark Reinders Present

Kirk Moriarty Present

Andrea Johnson Assistant Mayor Pro Tem Present

Ron Hanson Mayor Pro Tem Present

Jon Winkel Mayor Present

2. APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA:

Motion by Kirk Moriarty, seconded by Ryan Panowicz to Approve the Agenda. Motion Carried. [Unanimous]

3. DEPARTMENT HEAD REPORTS:

Fire Department

Anthony Gaul said that their call volume has been very high, some days have had multiple calls coming in at the same time. They are currently projecting that they will have about 675 calls for the year, which would be 100+ more calls than they've ever done. There were 247 training hours in September and 428.5 training hours-to-date in October. There have been a number of new certifications for members. They did tours with the preschools which were very fun. They will be at the 3-5 school building to work with their staff and students with their reading program. They will be escorting the Cross Country team out on Friday. There is some upcoming fire extinguisher training for the high school culinary program next week. The High School program has a great news story put out by KCAU. Justin McWilliams did Search Training, there were people from four different states that were able to attend. There will be rope and trench training funded by the state. Three members attended the FOOLS conference. They received a FEMA grant which will provide gear for new members who have Firefighter One complete. The lightning system has been ordered. The outdoor warning siren should be done by the end of the next week. Motorola has to make a fix to their comm system so that they can get properly dispatched. Tomorrow the comm center will evacuate and run out of the backup center.

Kirk Moriarty asked what the majority of their calls have been? Anthony said that it's in every category.

Ron Hanson thanked Police Chief Jereme Muller and Fire Chief Anthony Gaul for everything they do for the community. Today is National First Responders Day.

Library

Mary Torgerson said that they had 920 patrons in September. Their internet use went from 446 hours in August to 720 hours in September. They visited the daycares and did various programs. They partnered with the Fire Department as well this month for a program. The company that they purchase books from has gone bankrupt, they are working with some other companies to get books. She renewed her Library Director certification. They received Iowa Direct State Aid funding for $684 and received $600 in donations. She attended the ILA conference and connected with a variety of librarians. She is working to get braille for the StoryWalk around the Rec Trail. They partnered with Midstep this month with a craft event. They are doing SHIP appointments this year which will provide some revenue. The Age Well Zoom Lectures continue, a Girl Scout sign-up on 10/30, a Halloween Fun Day on 10/31, a Library Fundraiser with a Bob Ross painter on 10/31. There will be a Veteran's Day Story Time and Craft on 11/8. They received approximately 25 minutes of clips for The American Revolution documentary by Ken Burns which will be shown at 6pm on November 10th.

Parks & Recreation

Tyler Tweet said that they had 2 all day gym rentals, the fireside and court rentals totaled 24 hours. They hosted East High's 100 year Reunion, Big Bash, Halloween Craft, Howl-o-ween trail, Spooky Fest & Trick-or-Treat trail, and the Senior Center Halloween Party. He thanked all the businesses who participated in the Trick-or-Treat trail. Spooky Fest had about 1,200 people attendees. There are 8 teams renting court space at night. The middle school cross country meet was hosted at the Rec Complex. The pool slide report came back, the structure of the slide looks good but there are some minor repairs that need to be made. Basketball registration is open until December 7th. The Turkey Trot event will be November 15th.

Mark Reinders asked how old the pool slide is? Tyler said that it is at least 20 years old.

Police

Jereme Muller said that there were 206 reports written and 336 calls dispatched in September. They have had a considerable jump from prior years. The flock cameras have allowed them to recover stolen vehicles and children that were missing. They continue to work on an ordinance to address electric scooters, he hopes to have something in effect by spring. He is also hoping to have some education on scooter safety at the schools.

Building Inspections

Aaron Johnson said that there were 38 inspections and 19 permits were issued from September 23rd through October 24th. For the year-to-date there have been 151 permits issued, representing $19.1M in project valuations, which is ahead of the 8.6M reported during the same period in 2024. Permit fees collected year-to-date is $45,367. There are 6 new dwellings currently under construction. A new home permit was approved for Serenity Point Estates. There is a new single family home application in Old Town. Sergeant Bluff Eye Care construction continues to progress. There has been a significant increase in commercial development inquiries. He continues to coordinate with the Fire Department to maintain consistency between building and fire codes. There have been 19 project reviews this period. There is one Board of Adjustment Variance application that is pending. There have been 122 rental inspections completed year-to-date. The focus remains on safe housing and correction of life-safety hazards. They will have a follow-up inspection at the Rodeway Inn. The sidewalk program initiative resulted in 204 letters, between 10-15 percent have responded so far. He has been working on the electrical code training. The Safe Routes to School meeting was attended, Angela Drent with Siouxland District Health will be providing some tools to do ADA slop measurements. He is working on an ordinance pertaining to Home-Based Businesses and Home-Based Trade Businesses. He is evaluating the adoption of the 2024 I-Codes to align with the State of Iowa. He is developing an internal policies and procedures manual.

Mark asked about some volunteers coming from Sioux City to help with fixing sidewalks?

Aaron said that two people from Siouxland District Health Department and SIMPCO, members of the Sergeant Bluff Complete Streets/Safe Routes to School Committee, come and walk down every sidewalk in an assigned zone and annotate issues and put those on a map and submit them to the Inspections Department.

Public Works/Finance

Jason Kvidera said that the lights are up at Serenity Phase 2. Kiwanis pond is stocked with blue gill and bass. He is going to submit for the IDNR REAP grant this week for the planters. The snowplows have been started and reviewed to prepare for the season. The auditors will be coming this week. The cleanup week was a success; the site will close November 8th.

Mark said that Kiwanis Park looks very nice. He also heard positive comments this year about the people who staffed the Compost Site.

4.ADJOURNMENT:

Motion by Kirk Moriarty, seconded by Ryan Panowicz to Adjourn at 5:40 pm. Motion Carried. [Unanimous]

Mayor/Mayor Pro-Tem

Attest:

Danny Christoffers, City Clerk