Much ado with mayor's first veto

FORT MADISON – A relatively minor move that would have increased the charge of a sewer meter rental, resulted in the first veto of Mayor Matt Mohrfeld’s tenure as Fort Madison mayor two weeks ago.
However, the issue was put back on the agenda Tuesday night against Mohrfeld’s direction, but at the recommendation of city attorney Pat O’Connell, a move Mohrfeld opposed.
At issue was an increase in the monthly rental charge of sewer meters that are used by property owners with pools or that spend a lot of water on their gardens and lawns.
The meters record the amount of water being used that isn’t going back into the city’s sewer system that would need treated.
As the city takes a hard look at the costs associated with services it provides, raising the fee from the current $10 per month was an option put forward by city staff to the council on April 15. However, Morhfeld, a former greenhouse owner and operator, pushed back that residents shouldn’t be charged more for watering their lawn and gardens, or filling their swimming pools.
The council however, voted in favor of the increase in April and Mohrfeld, for the first time ever, vetoed the increase.
With that veto, city council could request the issue be put back on the agenda and then a supermajority vote would be required to override the veto. But Mohrfeld said it wasn’t brought back on the agenda viably.
“What the city code, as I forwarded to everybody said, and as I outlined in my reason for objection and the process for putting it back on, didn't happen. So here we are,” Mohrfeld said.
City Finance Director Peggy Steffensmeier said the Iowa League of Cities’ guidance was to put the vetoed motion back on the agenda, and O’Connell concurred.

“I can only tell you what the League told me,” she said.
O’Connell said he spoke with staff and they didn’t know the detail on how the council wanted to proceed, so two different motions were included on the agenda, one was to override the mayor’s veto, and the other was to approve something less substantial.
“And I’m going to object to that. As per Iowa code, I described why I vetoed it and I laid out the process for bringing it back up for consideration.”
Steffensmeier said the League advised her that the motion actually passed on the 14th and was vetoed so the council has a right to override the veto and needed an opportunity to do that.
Mohrfeld said he outlined that process for putting it back on the agenda. Steffensmeier said the council had the right to put it back on the agenda. However, Mohrfeld contended that no council member petitioned to have it put back on the agenda.
O’Connell said any member of the council can request it be reconsidered. But he said, generally, staff can't put anything on the agenda.
“They often do that as appropriate, and I think they just did that because, as a matter of law, they should be able to do that because that’s what’s supposed to happen,” O’Connell said.
The council ended up voting to leave the rental fee the same, but put it formally into city policy.
“Here's what I want to happen. I would like to create a policy and then us address the price on it and so that we have a price that I think it was lateral with last year so we aren't penalizing people for having beautiful yards,” Mohrfeld said. “But if the council sees different, by golly, that's their right.”