The Waterloo City Council last week unanimously approved a “release, settlement and resignation agreement” with the second of two former police officers who had filed labor grievances under the prior mayor – sparking some contentious dialogue in the weeks leading up to the April 4 election. 

With a motion from Alderman Jim Trantham – a former Waterloo police chief – that was seconded by Alderman Jim Hopkins, the council all voted in favor of the agreement between the city and Eric Zaber.

Per the agreement, Zaber will be compensated with a severance payment in the amount of $160,000, less taxes, in addition to back wages in accordance with the Public Employee Disability Act in the amount of $56,829.31 after deductions, plus more back wages totaling $11,810.87.

In exchange for this compensation, Zaber agrees to withdraw all labor grievances and benefits claims with the city. 

Zaber had formally filed four such grievances dating between August 2022 and early January of this year.

Zaber, who last held the rank of sergeant at the Waterloo Police Department, first served with the WPD from 1995 to 1997, when he left to take a job with another law enforcement agency. 

Zaber said he was recruited by then-mayor Tom Smith and then-chief Mike Douglas to rejoin the WPD from out of the area in 2017.

In May 2022, Zaber initiated Family Medical Leave Act leave as a result of “job-related stress and anxiety.”

The issue came to the forefront when this past January, Waterloo Board of Police Commissioners  Norman Venable, Lonny Ludwig and Heather Garcia all resigned after measures were made by the city to have the police commissioners take disciplinary action – including termination – against  Zaber and Waterloo Police Officer Dan Pittman.

Pittman was also away from active duty with the WPD at that time due to a separate disability claim of a back injury.

In June, the council approved a similar “release, settlement and resignation agreement” with Pittman, who had three pending labor grievances against the city. 

 Pittman accepted a payment of $30,000 from the city in back wages as part of his agreement.   

The current police board consists of commissioners Mark “Yogi” Yeager, Corey Zavorka and Sandy Sauget, as appointed by Smith in February.

In his official resignation letter submitted Sept. 18 to WPD Deputy Chief Dane Luke, Zaber wrote that “for the sake of my family, the Fraternal Order of Police and I negotiated a settlement with the City of Waterloo, which includes my voluntary resignation in return for 52 weeks of PEDA benefits, 2023 back wages, and a lump sum payment. I do not consider the settlement a victory; it is a means to an end.”

Zaber added that law enforcement was his passion and he loved working as a police officer.

“I deeply cared for the well-being of my fellow officers, particularly those officers assigned to me as a newly promoted sergeant in 2019,” his letter states. “I enjoyed their camaraderie and fellowship, both professionally and personally. I did my best to protect this community and raise the standards at the Waterloo Police Department. My work product and overall results speak for themselves, and I only wish I could have done more.”

In other action from the Sept. 18 council meeting, aldermen approved a resolution authorizing the law firm of St. Clair, Gilbreth & Steppig to file suit for property located at 500 and 506 W. Mill Street – the now condemned Greenbrier Trailer Court consisting of a three-unit apartment complex and seven aging mobile homes. 

The city revoked the occupancy permits for these buildings on July 21 after failing to hear from owner  West Mill Properties LLC, who had not paid the monthly water bill since early in the year.

Waterloo City Attorney Natalie Steppig explained that per state statute, the city must apply with the court to file suit in order to demolish these structures. The city is also required to give the LLC a 15-day notice of its intent for those properties, which it did. 

“Nothing has been returned as undeliverable, so they’re just sitting there and not picking things up,” Steppig said. 

Steppig added the city will also send a letter to the LLC to see if there is any type of amicable resolution the two parties can reach prior to litigation. 

“If we can get them to just basically agree for us to do that, it’s easier than going through the process with the court,” Waterloo Mayor Stan Darter said. 

Steppig agreed, saying the LLC could opt to sign over the properties to the city in an effort to forego any litigation, which could be costly.

Another action taken at the meeting was approval for the purchase of two life-size soldier statues from SVJ Creative Designs in an amount not to exceed $14,500 from the city’s video gambling revenue. 

These statues, of Korean War and Desert Storm soldiers, will add to the existing soldier statues recently installed at Lakeview Park once available.

“Thanks to all the gamblers,” Alderman Hopkins said at the end of the meeting in regard to this purchase.

During his report, Waterloo Zoning Administrator Nathan Krebel pointed to a “quite low” amount of just 22 single-family residential building permits issued so far this year. 

There were 46 such permits issued in 2022, 55 in 2021 and 62 in all of 2020.

“The interest rates might have something to do with that,” Alderman Kyle Buettner said. 

Over the past 18 months, U.S. mortgage rates have soared from 2.9 percent to 7.6 percent, their highest since 2001.