General fund excess, health insurance fund is focus of proposed Cedar Falls city transfer [Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier, Iowa]

Sep. 3—CEDAR FALLS — The City Council on Tuesday will revisit its general fund excess from this past fiscal year as it considers transferring funds to cover various projects and another loss in its self-insured health insurance.

Finance and Business Operations Director Jennifer Rodenbeck is recommending that $1.2 million be transferred from the $2.2 million in surplus to the health insurance fund to erase the loss and maintain strong reserves. The meeting starts at 7 p.m. in City Hall, 220 Clay St. It has been moved from Monday because of Labor Day.

She's reporting a $1.2 million health insurance loss due to several large claims and consistent premium rates, an ongoing concern of the city. Officials have talked in the past about restructuring the insurance offered to employees, but nothing has been finalized.

The proposed transfer comes up every year when finance staff closes out the general ledger for the fiscal year ending June 30.

If approved, $1 million in remaining surplus would help pay for the expansion of the pickleball courts, recreational improvements along the Cedar River, and Cedar Falls Community Schools' new swimming facility with $100,000, $300,000 and $600,000 payments, respectively.

Rodenbeck is reporting the $2.2 million surplus is due, in part, to costs for the library as well as the engineering, parks, and public safety departments coming in lower than expected because of staff turnover and vacancies.

Additionally, the council will discuss its Future Forward Community Wide Strategic Plan in committee at 6:15 p.m.

The council will consider approving several items at its 7 p.m. meeting:

* A contract with Spahn & Rose to build a new shelter in Orchard Hill Park at a base price of $28,672 as part of the expansion of the pickleball courts.

* An agreement with Cedar Falls Partners LLC conveying 11.79 acres and offering a five-year property tax exemption for an 87,000-square-foot industrial warehouse building along Development Drive, Innovation Drive and Technology Parkway. The developer is a joint venture between Crosland Barnes Group and B&D Holdings.

* A resolution amending the agreement with the Cedar Falls Rotary Club relative to its new plaza being constructed in the 200 block of West First Street between the Little Red School House and the Behrens Rapp Station. The club is planning to install lighting as part of the project and would like the city to cover the expense, but the Community Development Department is recommending that the city not do so.

* An agreement with Grow Cedar Valley for $30,000 in base funding this fiscal year with another $32,000 possible based on its performance as it pertains to economic development.

* An ordinance, on the third and final reading, establishing temporary long-term daily permits for municipal parking lots.

* An ordinance, on the third and final reading, establishing a four-way stop at the intersection of Center Street and Lone Tree Road after safety concerns were voiced by the North Cedar Neighborhood Association about it being a two-way stop.

* An ordinance, on the second of three readings, allowing for churches, schools, and other civic and institutional organizations to have parking — an accessory use — across the street from their property's principal use in the downtown. The proposed change came about after St. Patrick's Church proposed building a parking lot at 123 W. Seventh St. and requires five votes in the affirma

* tive because of denial by the Planning and Zoning Commission.

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