What Spencer residents buy, and what they leave town to buy, are part of what could be a revealing study approved Tuesday night by the Spencer City Council.

Council members approved a $45,000 "Customers Retail Analysis Project" by the market research firm Buxton. The company typically researches buying trends for companies with an interest to locate in a specific community.

The company also can work on behalf of cities to identify retailers that would be a good fit for a community. The research goes beyond a city's population, ages and ethnic demographics. The company focuses more on spending habits through trackable credit card purchases, magazine sales and individual store tracking, where clerks make note of zip codes or phone number area codes.

The data would give the city an idea of what customers are staying in town to buy and what they travel to purchase.

"If we can see that citizens of Spencer are going somewhere else to purchase some certain thing, that gives us the ability to market toward an individual retail firm that deals in that type of retail sales," Spencer City Manager Bob Fagen said. "They create a profile of the spending habits of Spencer citizens and what they spend their dollars on."

Fagen first heard of Buxton during his time as an administrator in Pleasant Hill.

"It's a whole different theory on how you look at building your retail, keeping your retail strong and then targeting the right company for the area," he said.

Spencer's Targeted Retail Task Force, as well as the Progress & Development Committee, evaluated the Buxton proposal and are both passed on recommendations to the city council.

The normal cost for Buxton to analyze a community is $55,000. By working with other cities in the state, the city was able to reduce the cost to $45,000. Fagen also hopes to gain funding support from Spencer Chamber of Commerce and Clay County Board of Supervisors for the Buxton study.

The analysis takes about 60-days.

In other action, the city suspended the rules to get ordinance changes for fences on the books. The changes outlaw temporary fencing, such as snow fencing or construction fencing that isn't serving its intended purpose. The new ordinance outlines fencing materials, which are prohibited as well.

"It does a couple of different things," Fagen said. "One, it creates a good neighbor policy, which means: If you're going to build a privacy-type fence, the good side would face out. It also created more of a definition of what a temporary fence is, i.e., a snow fence or construction fence or something that was never meant to be a permanent structure."

Fagen also said the ordinance outlines the materials considered appropriate for the construction of a permanent fence. Existing fences that don't currently create a safety hazard would be allowed to remain, but any upgrades would be subject to the new fence ordinance.

The city council also approved a wastewater treatment agreement with the Best Egg Company of Estherville.

"They provide material that runs through our treatment plant and we have an agreement on what that would cost," Fagen said. "The contract has been expired and we've been operating month-to-month. We're just extending that contract for another three years under the same terms. We have a plant that can handle the material and treat it."

Council members also:

* Approved the $290,820 contract with Everly Construction for the new Spencer Municipal Golf Course Clubhouse. The total project cost is estimated at $400,000.

* Approved changes to the personnel policy for city employees. One of the revisions allows a dependent of a retiring employee to stay on the retiring employee's insurance plan as long as the outgoing staff member shoulders the cost of the continued coverage. Conducting exit interviews with outgoing employees also will become a standard practice in city departments.

* Approved matching funds for a $100,000 Iowa Department of Transportation/Department of Natural Resources grant for small ornamental trees on the medians along Grand Avenue in north Spencer. The city is also requesting a Community Attraction and Tourism (CAT) grant for the $1.2 million Spencer Community Theatre project.

Spencer City Manager Bob Fagen and Mayor Reynold Peterson also urged residents to attend a presentation for the Great Places Citizen Advisory Board and the Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs at 2:15 p.m. Monday, Sept. 22, at the Spencer Community Theatre.

A demonstration of community support is critical for Spencer to secure a "Great Places" designation. A grant of $250,000-$500,000 is awarded to the successful communities.

Funding for Spencer would be used for a theatre upgrade, trails enhancements, new uses for the 1914 old high school and 1937 auditorium and a remodeling project at Parker Historical Museum.