Mow is less in West Liberty: Contractors will cut grass, and costs

WEST LIBERTY, Iowa West Liberty has a city manager, but officials are still working on turning that interim position into a permanent one.

Interim City Manager Lawrence McNaul, who is also West Liberty's Police Chief, was picked by the City Council on March 15 for the top administrative post, and the contract was expected to be an agenda item during last Tuesday night's council meeting but Mayor Robert Hartman reported City Attorney William Sueppel hasn't submitted the documents due to illness.

"My goal is to have a contract back next council meeting (April 15) to vote on," Hartman told the council.

The figures show West Liberty will save thousands of dollars by hiring a private contractor to mow Oak Ridge Cemetery, but the figures aren't as clear when it comes to Parks and Recreation property.

The documented cost to the city in mowing the cemetery last year was $27,500. The council Tuesday night approved a $15,400, one-year agreement with Grasshopper Lawn Care of Tipton to provide mowing services in the cemetery. But the council did not accept the $33,460 bid from Grasshopper to mow Parks and Recreation properties because the city's figures aren't as clear.

A memo from McNaul estimates the Parks and Recreation mowing cost for 2013 to range between $33,389 and $46,943. As an example, McNaul explained that a city employee mowing at the Dutton Athletic Complex might be called away to perform maintenance at a ball diamond, and the cost division between tasks hasn't been well maintained. The council accepted McNaul's recommendation for the Parks and Recreation Department to continue mowing for one more year, getting a stronger grasp of time, expenditures, and needs involved.

"We never kept a good record of time spent mowing," McNaul told the council. "It would be my recommendation this year that we keep it with Parks and Recreation."

The Bi-State Regional Commission exists to provide regional planning for the five counties it serves and to provide technical assistance for its members, the group's executive director, Denise Bulat, told the council Tuesday night.

Bi-State, headquartered in Rock Island, serves Muscatine and Scott counties in Iowa and Rock Island, Mercer, and Henry counties in Illinois. Around $380,000 of its $2 million budget comes from dues paid by members; West Liberty's annual dues are $1,080.

Bulat, a Muscatine native, told the council Bi-State was founded in 1965 to do transportation planning but expanded to do economic planning as well. "We prepare a comprehensive economic development plan for the five-county area every five years," she said. "We prepare the West Liberty Fact Sheet. We're working with WeLead (West Liberty Economic Development Agency) to update this sheet."

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Mow is less in West Liberty: Contractors will cut grass, and costs