Dave Casotti, Boone Mayor, April 07, 2026

Today visiting with Mayor Dave Cassati who Yeah, quite the meetings going last night day.

We did I mean the first one was pretty simple, but the second one was a little long so Well, that's what happens sometimes I do having me this morning the one thing again Just so folks know yes, there were two meetings.

The first one was The mandated public hearing on the maximum tax levy rate. You didn't have anybody no written comments It had a couple people there, but Yeah, no, no comments or anything. So about a 60-second meeting Takes you a whole minute to do that.

Yeah But in and for those that don't know the city's keeping the levy rate unchanged Yep Probably the big thing on there is the fact that you do have or have included on here a very short term three years on General obligation bonds that are going to be covered over three years getting paid off and it's really to just Move on with a lot of your sanitary sewer project, right?

Yep And that's two about two two point one two point four million something like that. Yep Anyway, it you get the bids. I knows they come in pretty good.

Yeah, he's looking at all the different things He's got well, and I you don't have your big agenda to have what I thought I had So I don't know if I dropped it somewhere, but oh well. Well, I go by memory. I think I left it at home I'm sure I did you Well, we'll see.

Well, anyway, we can walk through we can walk through a lot of this. Yeah It was busy.

The biggest thing really had to be on Bragg Brian Yeah, that was for sure the biggest thing and there's a lot going on with that so well the the different issues were the first one was City gonna do any financing and things like that in and really you do have some dollars available First of all, the council really wanted a commitment to be a big sponsor Yep, that was the main thing and they're gonna do 20,000 era But the other part was you're gonna kind of serve as the banker for it, too You're gonna offer or make available like 30,000 Their startup.

I mean it cost to put everything together It's a big cost people a lot of people don't realize how much goes into that So so 30,000 for that pretty comfortable with that you think I mean I think you may get some back you may not right we're looking I think we'll get again It's a total give of 50 with the 30 being the kind of a quote unquote loan type Seed money is what we're kind of calling it.

But as long as the weather is nice, which Everybody crossed their fingers, but As long as the weather is nice, I know there probably will be no problem whatsoever getting that back The other 20 is basically, you know Giving as a sponsor.

So which we yeah We wanted to be the the top sponsor thought it would be best if the city was the best sponsor and we've got other sponsors Coming in at fifteen thousand and so and so on so they're just getting started Yeah, yeah as some of that sponsorship comes in as some of the things Yeah, people forget they got to have insurance Yeah, they got to have it and I mean obviously there will be beer sales that money will come back So there are I will be ways that they may be able to reimburse you right?

Yep, and it's work They're pretty they're pretty confident of it again weather permitting. Yeah, if it rains all day, we're in. Yeah It's a whole different thing.

Yeah I think one of the big things is is just so people just understand you are gonna have an agreement with them Yes, there will be an agreement again They got to keep track of their receipts.

What's pay, you know what they're spending money on and yep And should there be some so there it's kind of a mini development agreement Yeah, and it's yeah, they just have to be accountable which we know they will we've got a great committee Steering all that and they've got their work cut out for them.

So that's a and they're all volunteers.

So it's There's a lot and they did try to smooth out again some of the issues with vendors and things like that the most I think probably the biggest one the most discussion and definitely not not full agreement by the council itself is on the basically giving them the authority for Control of right-of-way for public safety purposes and stuff like that I I know what they do similar for pufferbilly days, but this they asked for the entire city and they had reasons for it right Uncertified or unendorsed vendors I guess we'll call them that kind of sneak in and try to try to make money off right Brian again when The vendors that are being endorsed by the city are are getting located down on the south side, right?

And it's you know, they're you know, they pay their their fee to be a vendor and yeah You have and it's happened in the past.

So it's not I you know, we hope it's not a new channel It's not a new challenge and yeah and part of the a lot of what the other part is with the street closures and so forth You've got public safety to think about and that's you know The you know chief weebold is like, you know, we've only got so many personnel We can't be everywhere at once and there's gonna be a large contingent out on the south end of town So that's so what the issue is is you've got some downtown businesses would like to have some street closures Then the chief at least at this point really doesn't have anybody to be there So that's it.

This is where the debate got going.

Yes, and that's what took the time and it's not a done deal I mean, I hate to see that because I mean it doesn't mean that they can't be a part of it Obviously they we want to get if they get on there on the map then people can go downtown It's just the street probably won't get closed unless they find more resources to be able to do that So that's we have a lot of time, but that's still kind of a hard subject.

So that was one of those and again Amongst the council and no did not really have the agreement because they can understand Yeah, getting downtown and then at the same time having the public safety for it, too So we'll see what works out. Yep, plenty of it there. Yeah All right.

We did have the audit report Kevin Houston bringing that in it kind of went through there I was entertained by his learn more about water meters and yeah, you never wanted to know but yeah The issue that was one that they kind of stumbled across was some of the commercial meters were not being billed properly Yep, so there's yeah, it's and I'm learning just like Kevin There's there's so much with water and sewer and all the different things with public works that Something a lot of people don't think about.

Yeah, and it's so we had Again, he did Basically the council did accept the audit report But it's it's available online for anybody that wants to look at it things like that Yeah, and the great news is there were no glaring issues or anything a little couple little things that we're taking care of right away and and there are some of those that just are there all the time segregation of duties and It's a constant it is it's ongoing Well, one of the others is that was interesting Brenda dryer there with Ames Regional economic Alliance and of course, she is also the executive director for our Boone County economic growth But her quarterly update if you want to look yeah, there's the one thing I did forget I mean, I had it with me.

I thought but The probably the interesting one is the Boone County economic growth has secured some land For industrial development because about the time you're coming in and you're going there is no Latin for economic, right?

but West of the know it'd be east of the airport South of south of old highway 30, right? Yep, and about 210 acres there and at least have The possibility of purchasing of the hour any idea. I work it up. Yep.

So that's probably one of the big things say is Otherwise you'd used up all year people are going. Well, what about out to the north? We're a certain as well. They bought all that up. Yeah, they've got plans for all that So that's which is great.

I mean there that was an interesting to her and I don't want to get sidetracked But it's you know, you see the building there, but don't think much about it until I went out there took a tour And that's they've gotten they've got big plans.

So Anyway, that's moving on The on the other side, I think the thrive Application she did say that they are going to try this again. This has to do with more housing Yep, and securing some additional grant money for more housing. So Again, they're working on it and it is Really?

A lot of it goes through Boone County economic growth, right? And they do a great job Brendan heard that whole team over there out of Ames regional. Yeah, they do a fantastic job with stuff I mean, that's their expertise and that's that's why we hired them.

So that's why they're there. Yep. So anyway, they We got that report and then council got a chance to meet Victoria Victoria a little late Victoria, yeah, the new chamber director you'd already met her.

Yeah, I met her a couple times So I haven't had a good chance to sit down formally I'm working on that this week just to sit down and and have a little more conversation with her But yeah, she's I think she'll do great She talked about she's working on some new programming, but just some of the things had been going on for the chamber And once again just getting started.

Yeah Got all of that happening The things that did come up some of the other things that did come up You did set your public hearing on your actual budget. Yep.

It's gonna be at the next meeting Yeah, and you did adopt following the public hearing your 27 capital improvement plan. Yep. Did you read it all? Oh I think that's that's huge. There's a lot of pages.

Yeah But it does kind of lay out basically for the next five years different plans and Different things a lot of water and sewer infrastructure in this one over the next year That stuff has to be done. So Busy. Yes, we'll keep working at it.

And hopefully we can keep working on those streets keep plugging along Yeah, yeah more of it Let me see. There were a few other things. Let's talk a little bit about spring green.

They're looking to make some changes in Something you're familiar with on the building side of thing the different building codes and restrictions but nice to see if they're looking to Well, we're gonna have a little subdivision once we get through everything but acquiring some property from Tim Reese and Building across the street for where that big enough business that need a little more facility Yeah, it's great to see them growing and needing the space But that yeah the area that they're going into is kind of a storage type area And it's once that's cleaned all up and they get their building up and the facade will be very nice on the front It'll be a nice little addition there.

They asked for a little bit of variance because Part of the city code is you got to have so much brick exposure on on the three sides right in Basically two of the three sides are really not very visible No, they're not one backs up to the railroad and the other two are kind of almost butt up to another structure So they won't even really be visible So yes, just to do 100% on the front and the council did agree that was a recommendation from planning and zoning Yeah, that one went through so so again looking forward to having them get that done Yeah, moving forward with that and again with that there were for the variance.

There were some agreements They would not apply for downtown incentive funds and things like that.

Yep, and that was agreed upon so Everybody was kind of a give-and-take ready to go forward with that Yeah, we did get a new employee hired last night council did approve Eric funk So he's gonna be we have retirements coming up and you're getting getting an employee in there That has some skills of being a diesel mechanic.

Yeah, it's a good thing to have.

It's a great thing Yeah, we've got we've got a lot of retirements coming up through Public Works and it just to me It doesn't seem like that should be happening I I know I'm getting older but I don't seem like I'm that old and I knew all the guys there and they're like My age and I like well, they're all retiring and now the young guys are coming up Which you know, that's great that we've got guys stepping in and and whaling had plenty of applicants and had a tough time deciding But I think we've got the right guy and he's gonna start out as an assistant eventually Gonna be the one that'll be moving up.

He's got some got some skills. Yeah being a diesel mechanic skills He was in the military and he's worked on diesel things.

And yep, so I think it'll be a great fit So again, that's that was approved last night And again one of the I don't remember I think it was before you came but Eduardo was hired right again like to fill and to do some training with People that were retiring and doing the jet truck and stuff like that, which by the way has been very busy.

Yeah Yes, and he's very proficient in that too. So it's that's that's been another great fit So got that done and did approve a payment for some of the work going on on the groundwater storage So we're getting there.

There's a lot going on Jim And we're not even into the heavy construction time. You know, so a couple of things that came up Nate talked to well First of all Jamie Jamie Williams from the library mentioned. Mr. Z got some recognition From American Library associations.

That was cool to see one of my favorite librarians. So he was there Or at least got that recognition Some of the other things Let's go Earth Day event. I know that Nate's looking to set up something for that He's got a variety of different things.

Plus I know Councilmember Jordan hammer keeps asking are they working with flex on different things and right and they are looking to do what they can They are trying to get something worked out there.

So yeah, and speaking of flex They've got their ribbon cutting this morning as well. So you'll be off to that here shortly We got that going on Are they gonna make you do any exercise stuff?

No, probably not not today He's still on crutches, by the way, folks if you're wondering and put that on the back burner I wish I could we'll put it that way But well, it'd be nice to get in there and see what's been done All right, and and I got to see what was done earlier a couple whatever last week.

I can't remember what day It was their own house. Yeah. Yeah, and if you haven't had a chance to get in there I would recommend going in and taking a look. They've done an amazing job.

So A lot happening there and going on with that Chief Adams did talk a little bit about the fire department pickup truck.

They plan to rotate this out Working on it not quite going originally the way that the plan was but There is an interest by the Ogden fire department to acquire that so yeah, and that would be so yeah, we would just instead of training it in we sell it to Ogden and You know the proceeds from that can go towards Outfitting the new vehicle.

So one of the other things is they did secure a grant and again this Because they start up trucks inside the garages Which is not really good for no for breathing exhaust fumes, especially when your sleeping quarters are above it Yeah, but this is to allow ventilation for that.

So they do have a grant for it That's a project people will see people over there working. Correct. That's what that's all about getting that taken care of Ventilation. Yeah, we need that amazing. It's been this long.

But since we've you know, just now getting that so well Before you have to open the doors. We don't know if the fun We don't know if the funding is there for that one or not, right? We're going ahead like it is.

It will be there one way or another Yeah, probably one that again council got from Andre Elmer quest was Daisy has kind of confirmed some of their waste numbers and this was one of those in transition where you were coming in and Okay, what's this mean? Right?

Part of it was getting the proper numbers. So you knew What well what to apply for to the DNR? Right? So we had some issues with that. They finally have confirmed that so Now we can start moving ahead more on the wastewater side, right? And that's a big part of it.

So that's we've got to get that all taken care of so that's gonna be a major project Did they tell you have you learned more about that one? I'm learning more as we go every all the time.

There's more to learn on that so it's with the different size of the mains and I think they originally were 14 and 16 and maybe there's an 18 inch not a whole main but an 18 inch the side of a whaling called it but it's The bore the bore will be 18 inches to the pipe and the pipe is like two inches thick Yeah, because it's gonna be a big force.

Yeah, very big So but it also has extra capacity for any other future growth. Yep.

That's that's That's important to plan very important Some of the things that did not happen Well for some reason or other we didn't get the advisory board for arts advisory board They'd been working on that not done yet.

It'll happen not done yet There's some things about the grant and how the whole process is supposed to work You know you start to do things and then you find out that other communities are having issues with with the state on how it's run So it's kind of good that we hadn't really got it I mean, I hate to say it's kind of good that we don't have that in place But but we've had a couple of years in yeah, and but we want to make sure it's it's done properly And Rafe's Rafe and Andre are looking into some more of those details and then we'll get it going But it'll be back for table it for yesterday.

Yeah, at least the appointments Yeah, all mayoral appointments.

Yeah And I guess one of the others that where we had a lot of discussion was two-year four-year terms Yeah, you had good inquired about that Early on but this was something that you just brought up to the council and said, what do you think and What are we gonna do? Yeah?

I just wanted to look at it explore it because I know like you and I had talked and it was even maybe before you Were here officially in town, but at the radio station and so forth But it used to be a four-year term and it got switched Supposed to be I believe temporarily to a two-year and then get switched back which it never did So just the history part of it I looked back into and I thought well, why wouldn't we look at going back it to me?

It just common sense It makes sense that all the councilmen are four years and so I would think and not all cities are that way Some of them do have two-year term So but just some it's food for thought something to look at and so at this point anyway the council Interested in at least having some research done to see what kind of process you have to go through to do this Yeah, and again, I wanted to stress I stressed it last night.

I'm not doing this for me. It will not affect my two-year term If it if it went through or if we decided to change it it would It would start for the next term.

So it's any mayor after me It's gonna be if it goes through it would be four years So yeah, it would be staged in it have to go if it's a boat or whatever Yep, when it would go into effect Which I think because you happen to mention before the meeting that you got an Elmer omen so I think it's I think it was when he decided not to run I think is when they Had looked at making that a four-year term.

Okay. Yeah, I think it that's so we're gonna first came up So 30 years ago, like I said 30. Yeah, I'm just someone said this is like 20 years around.

No, this is more like 30 Anyway, I will see what happens because no final decisions been made by the council and some time we'll have Legal counsel look into what what steps to take and you know to do.

Yep Other things going on outside of budget meeting coming up here on the 20th, right? a lot of things happening with An old park commission.

They're still working on their 10-year plan Some public meeting set up or they can go to I don't have the dates in front of me now, but I know there's two tonight Now there was at last there's two public comment times two on the 16th and one on the 21st, right?

But they do have a work session tonight. Yeah tonight's and I know on the public comment time That's the ones you had a public hearing you saw a perfect example when the public doesn't show Yep, you don't get too much input on what's happening, right?

They put a lot of work in this Yeah, I know you'd like to see the public turnout and take a look at what they're talking about for the parks and Some of the tough questions they're gonna have to ask is, you know, how do you want to pay for it?

Absolutely Yeah, we've got so many parks and limited staff. So there's a lot You know, what do we do? What do we not do?

So it's yeah, that's that's a big one I mean so folks that which is why the council asked for the Long-range plan so they couldn't start facilitating some plan. Absolutely.

Yeah, look at it But those will be coming up We'll keep reminding folks and I know we'll have another visit to before the final one which will be on the 21st So yeah, that'll be that day. Oh imagine that Promote it then yeah, yeah, we will.

Yeah a lot of a lot of other activities going on Thanks for taking time coming in and getting us updated. What's going on You've been busy. It was very busy. It's just gonna keep getting busier, which is great It's rather have a busy than bored. So alrighty.

Thanks so much for joining us mayor Dave Cassati. Yep. Thank you