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HomeMy WebLinkAbout01/20/2026 Council Minutes CITY OF FAIRFAX SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL MEETING January 20, 2026 A special meeting of the Fairfax City Council was held January 20, 2026. Mayor Beer called the meeting to order at 6:00 PM. Councilmembers present were Cindy Anderson, Mike Daly, Dan Wozniak, Deb Mallie, and Marianne Wainwright. Mayor Beer noted that minutes are being taken by Councilmember Cindy Anderson and audio and visual recording are taken by Assistant Parks Director Chase Harrison. Approval of the consent agenda: Daly made a motion to approve. Wozniak seconded the motion. All Ayes. Consider Resolution to award the construction contract for the 2026 Fairfax Complex Pickleball & Tennis Courts: Engineer Shane Wicks discussed the bids received. Abode Construction, Inc. came in as the lowest bidder. Wicks indicated that the work would begin after USA Days and be completed sometime in October 2026. Anderson asked for clarification on what the city would purchase for this project as indicated in the bids. Parks Director Joe Kell indicated that if the city purchases some of the items in advance and has the company do the work, it will be a cost savings measure for the city. An audience member asked if there would be lights. Parks Director Kell indicated that there would not be lights at this time. To do so would have exceeded the $600,000 amount borrowed to do the project. Wozniak motioned to accept Abode Construction, Inc.'s base bid and bid alternate No.'s 1 & 2 in the amount of $361,324.90. Wainwright seconded the motion. All Ayes. Discussion and possible motion to post the City Clerk position and form a hiring committee: Mayor Beer presented a draft of job posting position language. Former City Clerk, Cynthia Stimson brought forth the current job description and indicated that a review should be done before posting. Stimson stated what she has been doing while mentoring, which she has done for 4 days. Stimson stated that the solution would be to re-appoint her until her retirement on June 30, 2026. Daly stated that he was going to say the same thing. Daly requested to put the re-appointment on the next agenda. Daly made a motion to table the posting and hiring committee. Wainwright seconded the motion. All Ayes. Discussion and possible motion regarding the continuation of mentoring: Former City Clerk, Stimson stated that she has been a mentor to several cities and has never had a contract. This is done based strictly on what each city needs, and she invoices them. She is there only as an instructor/mentor. Stimson stated that with Fairfax, she knows the system and knows the staff. She stated that re- appointment was best for Fairfax. Some discussion from the audience regarding mentoring vs re- appointment would be more expensive. Wainwright made a motion to continue to have Stimson mentor. Mallie seconded the motion. All Ayes. Mayor Beer will contact city council for a potential date special council meeting to discuss the possible re-appointment of Stimson. Discussion of Capital Improvements Project List: Engineer Shane Wicks stated that the numbers listed have not been updated. He indicated that items may be moved between the lists if council wanted. The water blending of Well #3 may be taken off the list as things seem stable at the moment. Will keep an eye on it. Daly asked about the library building and this will be addressed by a library board member later in the meeting. Daly requested that a recreation & aquatic center be put on the 6-10 year plan. Anderson asked about the UP & Vanderbilt Street Quiet Zone improvements - Wicks explained that there are a lot of factors involved in addressing this. Will stay on the 6-10 year plan for th now. Daly asked about moving the 80 Street expansion up - Wicks discussed the long-range plans for this. Mayor Beer asked when a traffic study might be done - Wicks said that it could be done anytime. Daly recommended it be done in the next construction season as the traffic from the data centers will be increasing. Wozniak asked about a roundabout and if we can get possible costs of this – Wicks indicated that it would be a bit more expensive to get it done, but the long-term costs would not be as high as a light. Wozniak requested a roundabout be moved to the 1-year CIP to see what the numbers would be. Discussion of FY27 budget: Fire Chief Sankot said that they do not need anything extra. Their budget is based on taxes and they get $60,000 from LOST. They have a savings account for emergencies. Did make first payment on new firetruck. It was supposed to be here in March, but has been delayed until June. Hazleton is expecting the old truck in March and Chief Sankot will honor that timeline. Library Board member, Bruce Boldt, addressed the Library budget and plans for an expansion to the current building. He explained that communities and the county use the library. They do receive money for this use. Daly asked if their community room gets rented, Boldt said it does. Boldt discussed that there is a Non-Profit Library Foundation. They are looking to secure private funding. A conversation was had with the bonding attorney and Urban Renewal may be a source of funding as well. There has been approximately $1 million in committed funds, and the board is requesting approximately $1.6 million in city participation. Boldt indicated that donors want to know that the city is committed to this project. Funding is in donations and is not grant money at this time. Public Works/Water Department head, Brian Merta, stated that they are looking to do a lot of work in-house. They have a mower rotation that is in the parks budget and will continue that process. He is asking for a concrete saw for more in-house work on streets. Wainwright asked about renting this and Merta indicated that the process was then held up if you had to arrange to rent or find a company to do the work. Daly asked about the life-span of a jetter truck and that is unknown at this time. The data center is getting water from Fairfax. Anderson asked who has CDL's and Merta indicated that he did as well as Brandon Lefebure. Parks Director Joe Kell was asked by Daly about the Honor Program. Kell indicated that there was not one in the parks. Mallie asked about cameras in the parks. Kell indicated that only the Complex has cameras – 5 of them, but will look into getting some less expensive ones for the other parks. Mallie asked for an inventory of what is FYSA owned and what is City owned. Kell indicated that nothing in the concession stand is city owned and he would get that to her when the weather gets better. Mayor Beer proposed setting up a fund for free Radon Testing Kits. She will research the numbers and bring that back to council. Daly asked if we were working to keep property taxes down. Yes, at the 8.10 levy amount. Council directed to share feedback to mayor and staff if we have budget questions. Mayor's Comments: Mayor Beer praised current employees. There were some banking issues, but those have been resolved. Dan motioned to adjourn the meeting. Daly seconded this motion. All Ayes. Meeting adjourned at 7:45 pm. Minutes respectfully submitted by: Cindy Anderson, Fairfax City Councilmember.