The Waterloo City Council helped residents absorb the blow of high utility rates and narrowly voted in favor of creating a new public works position during its meeting last Tuesday night. 

There was a bout of sticker shock when many Waterloo residents opened their January utility bills to see a sharp increase for the month.

With that in mind, the Waterloo City Council OK’d a $300,000 credit toward the total natural gas bill prior to January utility bills being processed as a subsidy measure.

“We had a polar vortex that covered much of the U.S. for an extended period, and that globally increased the price of natural gas and availability,” Waterloo Mayor Stan Darter explained of the abnormally high January bill. 

The resolution approved last Tuesday night states that the mayor and city council “deem it to be in the best interest of the city and its citizens” to implement the credit. 

In other action, the council voted 4-3 in favor of amending city ordinance to create a deputy director of public works that assists the existing public works director position. 

Late last year, committee meetings were held on this topic in preparation for longtime Waterloo Director of Public Works Tim Birk’s retirement sometime in 2024. 

The city posted a job opening for a new zoning/subdivision administrator to eventually replace Nathan Krebel.

Waterloo Mayor Stan Darter explained to the Republic-Times then that Krebel is remaining with the city with plans to ultimately assist Birk as he nears retirement. 

The thinking by city officials in favor of the newly added position is that Birk acquired so much knowledge during 30-plus years in his role that with such a growing community in charge of its own utilities, a deputy director is warranted.

The amended city ordinance as approved last week calls for the public works director to possess a high school diploma and “have completed a minimum of two years of formal education in a college engineering curriculum or trade school specializing in engineering-related subjects such as drafting, surveying, blueprint reading, and the like. The candidate shall also be required to have two years of practical experience in the related fields.” 

The public works director, as stated in city code, “shall have the general management and supervision of all matters pertaining to all utilities of the city, including but not limited to the electric department, water department, sewer department, gas department and street department” and is “directly responsible to the mayor and city council for the complete and proper operation of this city’s utilities.”

The newly created deputy director of public works will be appointed by the mayor with the advice and consent of the city council and will possess a high school diploma and “have completed a minimum of two years of formal education in a college engineering curriculum or a trade school specializing in engineering-related subjects such as drafting, surveying, blueprint reading, and the like. The candidate shall also be required to have two years of practical experience in the related fields.”

The deputy director will assist the public works director “with the general management and supervision of all matters pertaining to all utilities of the city” and “be directly responsible to the director of public works for the complete and proper operation of the city’s utilities.”

The measure to create this new public works position was met with a 2-2 vote in the ordinance committee before going to the city council for official vote.

The three aldermen voting against this ordinance amendment last Tuesday were Joel Vogt, Gary Most and Jim Hopkins. 

Those voting in favor were Kyle Buettner, Matt Buettner, Jim Trantham and Tina Charron. 

Russ Row was not present for the council meeting.

“I appreciate the open dialog the council had during the process about how to best fill the public works director position when Tim Birk retires,” Vogt said about his vote. “Ultimately, when an administrative government position is created, it never goes away. I’m not convinced the job needed to be split into two positions. I think that determining a need for a deputy director should have included the input of the to-be-hired public works director. Going forward, I look forward to making sure the city is able to fill both positions with the right people.”

For Most, it was simply a matter of minimum qualifications for the public works director position going forward.

“I just felt strongly that this position should require a four-year degree with possibly an engineering degree,” Most said. 

Most stressed that despite the contentious vote on this matter, he respected the open process in which it was handled. 

“We had very good conversations about it,” Most said. “I hope residents understand that the system works the way it’s supposed to.”

Lastly, the city council OK’d the schedule for approving the upcoming fiscal year budget that begins May 1. 

A copy of the tentative budget will be presented to aldermen and the mayor on or before March 15 and also posted in the clerk’s office at City Hall by that date.

A public notice that the budget is available for review and also that a public hearing will take place at 7:15 p.m. April 1 on the budget will run March 20 in the Republic-Times newspaper. 

The next meeting of the Waterloo City Council takes place Monday, March 4, at 7:30 p.m. inside City Hall.