Ian Zahren appointed to vacant Lansing City Council seat, workers’ compensation insurance issues discussed, Parks fee increases approved at regular council session

by Julie Berg-Raymond

Ian Zahren was appointed to the Lansing City Council during the council’s regular meeting Monday, November 21. Zahren takes the seat vacated by Bruce ReVoir upon his resignation, effective October 17 of this year. In his letter of resignation, ReVoir referred to “a few unforeseen health events that need my full attention.”

Zahren, a vocal music teacher at Kee High School in Lansing, has taught theatre and dance and started a non-profit in the Cedar Rapids area to support the arts. He served as executive director of Lansing RAGBRAI 2022 and led a large team of volunteers to realizing the biggest profit from the event of any participating city this year. In a text request for comment following the meeting, Zahren said, “I want to say thank you to the council for appointing me to the remainder of Bruce’s term; I look forward to serving the city of Lansing.”

WORKERS’ COMP ISSUES
Dean Schade, safety and risk improvement manager with Iowa Municipalities Workers’ Compensation Association (IMWCA), spoke to the council and offered it an ultimatum - agree to participate in what Schade described as “the opportunity to work with us over the next two years in order to develop a safety culture which will show our board of directors that you want to be part of the pool,” or lose its coverage.

In an email sent to Lansing Mayor Melissa Hammell October 26 of this year, Schade said that “during our September 2022 meeting, the IMWCA Board of Trustees adopted the High-Level Risk Management Action Plan (RMAP). This plan was created to assist members currently experiencing a high number of severe claims. By adopting this program, we hope to help identified members correct any deficiencies in their safety program and assist them to develop a sustainable safety culture. The goal is to help our members protect their employees and reduce claims, while leading to a reduction in premium paid by your city.” In his email, Schade noted that “Lansing has been identified as meeting the criteria for the High-Level RMAP program.”

According to its website at imwca.org, the organization is “a risk-sharing pool committed to partnering with cities, counties and local government entities to provide a high-quality workers’ compensation program.​” Schade told the council that there are 530 members in the pool, and that “everybody relies on everyone else to have good safety programs and keep the losses low.” He noted that while the City of Lansing has done some things to address and reduce injuries, it “hasn’t moved the needle as you’d hope it would. Lansing is well above average in claims.”

Among what Schade called the “best practices” which the council would have to observe are the following: monthly safety committee meetings, which Schade said he would attend; development of a full incident-review process; a training system for employees - an online learning program which the IMWCA would help set up; and updating of written safety policies and the safety manual, with the assistance of the IMWCA. “We want to help you be pro-active,” Schade said.

Schade told the council the deadline for agreeing to participate in the two-year training program was that night; but council members said they were not prepared to meet that deadline. “We have been kind of blind-sided by this,” council member Curtis Snitker said. Council member Zahren said he’d like to know “details about the language and requirements” of the training program.

Council member Steve Murray asked, “What happens if we do this training, and our employees still have accidents? Are you going to cancel?”

Schade said, “No. We get that, statistically, it’s going to happen - that’s why we have insurance.” But, he asked, “Did we do everything we can?”

Schade agreed to allow the council to postpone its response. This item will be added to the December 5 meeting agenda.

HAZARD MITIGATION
Allamakee County Emergency Management Coordinator Corey Snitker addressed the council regarding his work on an Evacuation and Shelter plan for the county. Snitker is scheduled to speak about hazard mitigation planning at the regular Lansing City Council meeting Monday, December 5.

PARKS
In Parks business, the council approved the following: raising summer fees to $35/child; raising pool fees to $5/day, $75 Single Season Pass, and $175 Family Season Pass; increasing pool party rental fee to $150 for two hours; setting park shelter reservations at $125 for 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. with $25 refundable deposit, effective January 1, 2023.

OTHER BUSINESS
In other business, the council approved the following: a budget line item for trail donations and expenses, and the placing of a shed for trail maintenance near the City’s swimming pool; and  reducing the sewer portion of a water bill for 2609 Main Street due to water line issues, in the amount of $988.48.

The next regular meeting of the Lansing City Council is scheduled for Monday, December 5, at 7 p.m., in Lansing City Hall.