Keota Council Discusses Council Member Pay

KEOTA – During the Jan. 2 meeting of the Keota City Council, Councilman Curt Burroughs suggested changing the structure for council pay raises. Council members are currently paid $35 per meeting, while the mayor is paid a $1,750 salary. Burroughs noted that the $35 rate was set in 1991 and had not been raised in thirty years, despite council meetings often being longer than they were in the 90s.

Burroughs stated that he had spoken with several former council members, who have no interest in running again, due to it “not being worth their time.” He stated that new people may not run for the council in the future, due to the low pay. Burroughs stated the council should receive “equal pay for equal work” and tie the pay rate to inflation. State law prevents changes in elected official pay from going into effect until the January after an election, meaning that any changes to council pay will not happen until January of 2026 at the earliest. Burroughs proposed raising council member pay during July of every odd year, so that the raises go into effect after each election.

Burroughs also explained that the ordinances describing what type of meetings council members are paid for are unclear and contain grey areas. This leads to a “scramble” in December to figure out which meetings councilmen should be paid for. Mayor Tony Cansler read off a list of meetings that count, consisting of city council meetings and meetings of boards council members are appointed to. Payment for all other meetings is prohibited. The council approved the new pay structure ordinances and meeting definitions. The council also approved giving the code enforcer and zoning administrator authority to call payment qualifying meetings.

Councilman Mike Bender brought up the fact that Burroughs does a lot of work outside of council meetings, most notably researching and writing new ordinances. Burroughs noted that this ordinance update took 3-4 hours of work. Bender stated that, while none of the members of the council do it to make money, Burroughs works hard and should be compensated for that time. Councilmen Matt Greiner, Keith Conrad and Heath McDonald agreed with this. Burroughs stated that state law is very clear about what council members can be paid for and that his work does not qualify. He stated that his research is “a labor of love and service to the community.”

Mayor Cansler created a new sidewalk board, consisting of Conrad, McDonald, City Clerk Alycia Horras, Lori Hammes, Rita Sheetz, Andy Conrad and Melinda Eakins.

A concerned citizen asked for an update on the wastewater plant. City employee Micah Harmsen stated that the city is at a standstill while waiting for more information from the engineer. Harmsen reported that he was in the process of obtaining a bid for sealing the basement at city hall. He noted that, according to the company he spoke with, sealing the basement will likely require temporarily taking down the basement ductwork.

The council approved a bid from Carrico Aquatics for a robot vacuum for the city pool at a price of $10,841.31. Horras noted that she had done research into similar vacuums and that other companies offered similar prices, without the training and servicing offered by Carrico.

The council approved a building permit allowing equipment and hardware to be removed from the T-Mobile cell tower south of town, which is being decommissioned. The cell tower will remain, but phone lines, antennas, and cabinets will be removed.