Georgetown Idaho

March 5, 2024
Those Present: Greg Kunz, Trenton Morrell, Marty Nate, Tee Steadman, Mayor Steve Waehtler, Maintenance Supervisor Shane Clark, Maintenance Hadley Wright, City Clerk Lynette Smith, Addison Ochsenbein of Sunrise Engineering, Sheriff Bart Heslington, Tyler & Katana Sorensen, Morgan & Heather Kidd, Kevin Nate, Janelle Crockett, Paul Miller, Tiffini Ricks, Mauria Teuscher, James Teuscher, Whitney Teuscher, City Attorney Adam McKenzie by phone
Meeting called to order: 7:00 pm Invocation: Mayor Steve Waechtler
The Council entertained a motion from Councilor Marty Nate to approve the published agenda and was seconded by Councilor Trenton Morrell. All were in favor and the motion carried the council.
The minutes from February 6, 2024, were read aloud by Clerk Smith. Councilor Trenton Morrell made the motion to accept the minutes as read and Councilor Greg Kunz seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion carried the council.
Police Report: Sheriff Heslington came before the council to give the police report for the month of February and stated there was 64 contacts and they worked 58.25 hours and issued 13 citations. He asked about dates for Twin Creeks and the Easter Egg Hunt. The hunt will be handled by the 2nd Ward Young Women on May 3rd or 4th.
Addison Ochsenbein of Sunrise Engineering came before the council and thanked them for signing the road contract with them. He has approached the NRCS about grant opportunities are there aren’t any out there for municipalities at this time. There is an option with the Army Core of Engineers, they will donate 75% if we do 25% for water repairs and he will look into applying. He will keep us updated with other opportunities as they arise.
Tyler and Katana Sorensen came before the Council to report on the Twin Creeks celebration. They are planning towards July 20th. They asked about if we can set up a Venmo for donations for Fireworks and for people to be able to pay for the different stations during the day. The difficulty with Venmo that Lynette has found is that it has to by tied to a phone number and generally needs to be a cell phone to accept messages and notifications to, but it also would have to be set up as a business account which charges an extra 1.9% plus $0.10 for convenience fees. Lynette will continue to look into getting it set up. Katana said that finding other volunteers besides the councilmembers is really difficult. She is going to start a Facebook group for Twin Creeks to look for others to help and wants to form a committee in case she can’t be there. Councilmembers felt it needs to go on as it is the only thing that really unifies our community. Bear Lake County Fire Chief Mark Parker has some extra fireworks he wants to contribute as well. Some ideas of things they will have this year are the breakfast, fish pond, dunk tank, etc and everyone loved the food vendors also.
The council listened to some citizens concerns about a butcher shop being in City limits. Cody Coombs has mentioned building a butcher shop on his property that is half in the County and half in the City. It would need to be rezoned to a commercial zone from agriculture and residential where it’s at and it is in our impact area. There would need to be a public hearing to rezone and we would be able to put restrictions about the smell, gut piles, sanitary, killing outside of town, etc. Citizens questioned who will enforce the restrictions and vehicles parking. Councilmember Tee Steadman said it would be controlled if it’s in the City and by USDA and FDA if he is selling out of his shop. Even the County will have to have a public hearing and rezone the property. Paul Miller said he feels there is a reason the founding fathers zoned the City the way they did. Other citizens voiced they would rather if the business was on Main Street. There is a State Statute about carcasses being left in City limits. The subdivision ordinance just adopted does not state anything about commercial zones. The council appreciated the citizens coming and for their input. Cleanliness is an issue and the council will take into consideration the neighbors concerns. Cody will still need to come to the council to present a plan and so it was tabled until the next meeting.
Mauria Teuscher and James Teuscher came to present the council with the Audit from the 2022-2023 Fiscal Year and reported that revenues are down from previous years due to the grants received other years. Gary Teuscher says that the City is doing a good job and is still bringing in enough to pay the bills and the City manages its money well. Councilmember Trenton Morrell made the motion to accept the audit and transfer funds from the water and sewer funds to the general fund to payback the general fund. Councilmember Marty Nate seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion carried the Council. The Teuscher’s also informed the council that this is the last year they will be able to audit our books because they can’t be the ones to prepare the financial statements and prepare the audit to be audited. They can continue to prepare our financial statements but we will need to find another firm to perform the audits.
The council then called City Attorney, Adam McKenzie at 8:30 pm to get an update on the shed that needs to be moved. Adam has spoken with them directly and they will be signing an agreement to have moved once the snow is melted sufficiently, hopefully by April 15th and they will remove the snow from the neighbors fence also. He also gave an update on the legal description for the property that we annexed last year. The Idaho State Tax Commission rejected the annexation last year because the legal description had the whole parcel and not just the part being annexed. Tim Christensen did the original legal description and we were waiting on him to update with a new legal description before moving forward. At the next meeting, we will need to make a motion to accept the amended map and legal description and send to the State Tax Commission again for approval.
Councilor Marty Nate rolled out the cemetery map to show everyone and it looks really good. We will place a book up there of all who are buried in the cemetery and who owns the plots. We just need a place to house the book. She has found a grant for a musical section to be put into the park. She is also looking into a grant for a gravel bike path to be put along the old railroad right of way and have benches placed at each end and it would still remain as a recreational right of way. The council suggested maybe starting past Left Hand Canyon at that parking area instead of Half Mile Lane. One of the grants is for $50,000 and the other is $47,000. She will apply and let us know how they go. She also wants to add some cornhole boards to the sand pit and add more equipment to the park slowly.
Councilor Greg Kunz asked if the County can come out to help with the ruts along Stringtown and Shane reported that we have called for the past 2 weeks and we are on their list. There was also discussion about people that continue to push snow across the road. We need to get a list to Sheriff Heslington to deliver notices throughout town for people to stop doing it because the letters that Lynette sends out haven’t worked. Greg also wanted to clarify that when Manuel Figueroa moves away or passes away that the agreement for him to have a trailer on that piece of property will go with him because the agreement is applicable to him only. The lot does have a water and sewer hookup and power to it but it’s too small for anyone else to do anything with.
Councilor Trenton Morrell will follow up with the County Commissioners about paying for the speed limit signs.
Maintenance Report: Hadley Wright gave their report for the month of February and stated that he and Shane have contacted Alice Hayes about looking at our options for more power in the park and she will get back to us in the spring when the snow has melted. They have talked to the County about winging the streets and a price on chip seal. They said it would be $25,000 for 1 mile just for the oil and $9.50 a ton for the chips plus about $2-3,000 to haul it. We have about $30,000 budgeted and will need to locate a crack seal machine. They dug 2 graves this month and plowed snow. They turned water on and off at a location for an inspection and cleaned out the fire hydrants. Lynette found and reviewed agreements that the City has with Corey Hayes and with the County for private lanes in the City about plowing. It looks like there is a trailer parked on West Street past 6th Street and someone is living in it. Lynette will send a letter with the Ordinance explaining to can’t be living in it more than 30 days.
Office Business: There are 24 delinquent water and sewer accounts for the month of February. Lynette has to have surgery next week and will be out for at least 2 weeks but can continue to do some stuff from home. She will be upgrading the website this summer to be more user friendly because Roland Smith is retiring from helping to do the updates. SICOG requested for us to compile and sign a letter to help them get a grant and so the Mayor will sign that tonight.
The chair entertained a motion from Councilor Trenton Morrell for the council to approve checks and vouchers for the month of February 2024 in the amount of $20,764.96 in the general fund, $8,404.41 in the water fund, and $20,310.40 in the sewer fund, with all funds totaling $49,479.77. Councilor Greg Kunz seconded the motion. All were in favor and motion carried the council.
The chair entertained a motion from Councilor Trenton Morrell that council adjourns from the March 2024 council meeting at 10:45 pm. Councilor Greg Kunz seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion carried the council.
Respectfully submitted,

Lynette Smith
City Clerk-Treasurer

UPDATED SPECIAL MEETING
CITY OF GEORGETOWN
CITY COUNCIL MEETING
AGENDA

Thursday, April 4, 2024 City Hall 7:00 pm

MEETING CALLED TO ORDER
PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
INVOCATION

APPROVAL OF AGENDA ITEMS:

READING AND APPROVAL OF MINUTES from March 5, 2024 regular meeting
AGENDA ACTION ITEMS OF CITY OPERATIONS AND NEW BUSINESS:

 City Attorney, Adam McKenzie –
 Ordinance #109 – Amendment for annexation proper legal description
 Bear Lake School District – Setbacks for fence around school
 Bear Lake Fire Dept – Jacob Kunz

• Cody Coombs – Butcher Shop in City Limits
   Spring Cleanup Dates
   Georgetown Irrigation Company Backhoe Agreement
   Set Budget Hearing Date – September 3rd at 7:00 pm; workshop on August 6th

Marty:
Tee:
Greg:
Trenton:

POLICE REPORT:

MAINTENANCE REPORT:

OFFICE BUSINESS: Delinquent water and sewer accounts

SIGNING OF CHECKS AND VOUCHERS FOR MARCH’S BILLS

ADJOURNMENT

Next Meeting:
• City Council Regular Meeting 7:00 pm – Tuesday, May 7, 2024, Georgetown City Building – 382 Main St. Questions concerning items appearing on this Agenda or requests for accommodation of special needs to participate in the meeting should be addressed to the Office of the City Clerk or call 208-847-2120.

CITY OF GEORGETOWN

CITY COUNCIL MEETING

AGENDA

Tuesday, April 2, 2024          City Hall                    7:00 pm

MEETING CALLED TO ORDER 

PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE

INVOCATION              

APPROVAL OF AGENDA ITEMS:     

READING AND APPROVAL OF MINUTES from March 5, 2024 regular meeting                                 

AGENDA ACTION ITEMS OF CITY OPERATIONS AND NEW BUSINESS:

• City Attorney, Adam McKenzie –
  • Ordinance #109 – Amendment for proper legal description
• Cody Coombs – Butcher Shop in City limits
• Sunrise Engineering – Addison Ochsenbein
• Bear Lake School District – Setbacks for fence around school
• Spring Cleanup Dates

• Georgetown Irrigation Company Backhoe Agreement
• Set Budget Hearing Date – September 3^rd at 7:00 pm; workshop on August 6^th

Marty: 

Tee: 

Greg:              

Trenton:

POLICE REPORT:  

MAINTENANCE REPORT: 

OFFICE BUSINESS:     Delinquent water and sewer accounts

SIGNING OF CHECKS AND VOUCHERS FOR MARCH’S BILLS

ADJOURNMENT

Next Meeting:

• City Council Regular Meeting 7:00 pm – Tuesday, May 7, 2024, Georgetown City Building – 382 Main St. Questions concerning items appearing on this Agenda or requests for accommodation of special needs to participate in the meeting should be addressed to the Office of the City Clerk or call 208-847-2120.

February 6, 2024
Those Present: Greg Kunz, Trenton Morrell, Marty Nate, Tee Steadman, Maintenance Supervisor Shane Clark, Maintenance Hadley Wright, City Clerk Lynette Smith, Addison Ochsenbein of Sunrise Engineering
Meeting called to order: 7:00 pm Invocation: Maintenance Hadley Wright
Mayor Waechtler was excused from the meeting and Council President Greg Kunz conducted the meeting. The Council entertained a motion from Councilor Tee Steadman to approve the published agenda and was seconded by Councilor Trenton Morrell. All were in favor and the motion carried the council.
The minutes from January 2, 2024, were read aloud by Clerk Smith. Councilor Trenton Morrell made the motion to accept the minutes as read and Councilor Marty Nate seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion carried the council.
Addison Ochsenbein of Sunrise Engineering came before the council to report that the City was awarded the LHTAC street grant for our roads that we had applied for in September. We received all $239,000 that we asked for and it is to be used to fix 6th, 5th, 3rd, East and Hayes Streets and completed by November 2024. Sunrise will do all of the prep for RFP’s and assist with the project. It was asked if we will widen the roads at all and Addison responded that we can add gravel shoulders to the roads. Councilor Trenton Morrell made the motion to approve Sunrise Engineering to oversee the project for $31,000, which was included in the price awarded and councilor Tee Steadman seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion carried the council. Addison also reported that the drinking water loan letter of interest was submitted for repairs and upgrades to the water system at 1.4 million and if awarded we do not have to accept but every City is encouraged to apply so the state and legislature see the desperate need for more money to be awarded.
There was discussion on need for a new power pole by the sheds and update the power outlets in the park or if we can draw enough power off the City Hall or City Shop to get power in the sheds. The outlets and power cords in the park are at capacity especially during Twin Creeks and Movies in the Park and when we have all of the lights in the park for Christmas. Lynette asked Colton Smith at Rocky Mountain Power to stop by or what it would cost for a new pole. He said he would drop by when he is in the area and a pole would be a minimum of $6,000. Shane will reach out to Alice Hayes and see if she can stop by to give us some options.
The maintenance crew reported they did some research and were able to find backup generators at Gundersen’s for about the same price as Home Depot. They will get one on order to have here for spring/summer and we will need to hire an electrician to do all of the wiring.
We have a couple of councilmembers that are not able to contribute to PERSI because of already drawing their funds for retirement or will be soon retiring. When Marty was previously on the council we gave her a lump sum at the end of her term that would have been the amounts she was able to contribute and receive. The council agree to do that again for Marty’s term and to finish out Greg’s term when he starts drawing his retirement in April.
Councilor Marty Nate asked if the council had reviewed the color-coded cemetery map and all that it looks good. She will coordinate with Clerk Smith about printing a book to have available at the cemetery but in the meantime, we need to come up with a place to hold the book up there that can be protected from the weather. Lynette also reported that she reached out to Kim Harper about selling plots back to the City and she was interested in doing that and Lynette has issued a check to her for the council to sign tonight for $100 at $25 per space. Marty asked if we needed to look at chip sealing the other roads or if this project will be enough for this year. Shane and Hadley can look into, but this will likely take up most of their spare time this summer.
Councilor Tee Steadman reported that Cody Coombs would like to open a butcher shop in town again and would like to operate within City limits but has also spoken with the County Planning & Zoning and would operate in the County if we won’t allow it. He would like to continue to operate as a part-time job and butcher about two animals a month. There was discussion about his property needing to be rezoned to do that where it is out of the commercial zone and would not be out of his home. It would affect our comprehensive plan and he should need his neighbors approval to operate and input a new business of that nature whether in city or county limits. It was proposed for him to come to the next Council meeting with a plan and his intentions.
Councilor Trenton Morrell asked if the County has paid for the speed limit signs yet and Clerk Smith reported that they have not. She has emailed County Clerk Amy Bishop about them and has not received a response. Trenton will follow up with a commissioner about that.
Police Report: Sheriff Bart Heslington sent a report for January for the Council to review. They worked for 66 hours this month and made 62 contacts and issued 5 citations. Clerk Smith ordered more ordinance violation warnings for them to deliver and they are ready to be picked up.
Maintenance Report: Shane Clark gave their report for the month of January and stated that he and Hadley have spent some time plowing, had a grave open and closing, fixed the floats at the sewer ponds that were frozen, went up to the water tanks to check on things, shutoff water services at a couple of locations, delivered overdue notices to a couple of homes, though a pain to deliver in the snow, they are effective, and they also serviced the snow plow truck. Keller Associates has sent over a contract to be approved and signed to handle the seepage tests this summer for the other lagoons. Seepage tests must be completed every 10 years. Shane collected all of the data for the previous seepage test and will assist with this one as well. Councilor Marty Nate made the motion to approve the contract for $8,500 for Keller Associates to complete the seepage tests for the wastewater and councilor Tee Steadman seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion carried the council.
Office Business: There are 12 delinquent water and sewer accounts for the month of January. The Bear Lake County Extension Office wants to come to the City Hall for a free pressure gauge testing for canning on February 27th from 1-3 pm. Lynette will advertise on the website and Facebook page for that. QuickBooks is expiring and support will be unavailable soon so Lynette will be updating and possibly doing the online version instead of a desktop version which would be a monthly fee but would have better support and storage options along with accessibility.
The chair entertained a motion from Councilor Trenton Morrell for the council to approve checks and vouchers for the month of January 2024 in the amount of $21,450.37 in the general fund, $24,267.68 in the water fund, and $66,201.12 in the sewer fund, with all funds totaling $111,919.17. Councilor Tee Steadman seconded the motion. All were in favor and motion carried the council.
The chair entertained a motion from Councilor Trenton Morrell that council adjourns from the February 2024 council meeting at 8:15 pm. Councilor Tee Steadman seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion carried the council.
Respectfully submitted,

Lynette Smith
City Clerk-Treasurer

CITY OF GEORGETOWN

CITY COUNCIL MEETING

AGENDA

Tuesday, March 5, 2024         City Hall                    7:00 pm

MEETING CALLED TO ORDER 

PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE

INVOCATION              

APPROVAL OF AGENDA ITEMS:           

READING AND APPROVAL OF MINUTES from February 6, 2024 regular meeting                            

AGENDA ITEMS OF CITY OPERATIONS AND NEW BUSINESS:

• FY 2022-2023 Audit with City Auditor, Gary H. Teuscher
• City Attorney, Adam McKenzie – updates on shed and annexation legal description
• Cody Coombs – Butcher Shop in City limits
• Sunrise Engineering – Addison Ochsenbein
• Easter Egg Hunt
• Twin Creeks Celebration

Marty: 

Tee: 

Greg:              

Trenton:

POLICE REPORT:  

MAINTENANCE REPORT: 

OFFICE BUSINESS:     Delinquent water and sewer accounts, Website

SIGNING OF CHECKS AND VOUCHERS FOR FEBRUARY’S BILLS

ADJOURNMENT

Next Meeting:

• City Council Regular Meeting 7:00 pm – Tuesday, April 2, 2024, Georgetown City Building – 382 Main St. Questions concerning items appearing on this Agenda or requests for accommodation of special needs to participate in the meeting should be addressed to the Office of the City Clerk or call 208-847-2120.

January 2, 2024

Those Present: DeLoy Kunz, Greg Kunz, Trenton Morrell, Marty Nate, Tee Steadman, Maintenance Hadley Wright, City Clerk Lynette Smith, Katana Sorensen by phone

Meeting called to order:              7:00 pm                                Invocation:         Mayor Steve Waechtler

The Council entertained a motion from Councilor Tee Steadman to approve the published agenda and was seconded by Councilor Greg Kunz. All were in favor and the motion carried the council.

The minutes from December 5, 2023, were read aloud by Clerk Smith. Councilor Greg Kunz made the motion to accept the minutes as read and Councilor DeLoy Kunz seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion carried the council.

The chair entertained a motion from Councilor Trenton Morrell for the council to approve checks and vouchers for the month of December 2023 in the amount of $28,370.93 in the general fund, $8,128.00 in the water fund, and $19,890.90 in the sewer fund, with all funds totaling $56,389.83. Councilor Tee Steadman seconded the motion. All were in favor and motion carried the council.

Police Report: Sheriff Bart Heslington came before the Council to give a report for December. He reported that the contract has been fully endorsed and is in effect. The county uses electronic citations and Sheriff has been working with the State to get Georgetown set up and it just got finished today, but they used handwritten citations in the meantime. Fines will start to be paid back to our City now also from this past quarter. They have been handling some Ordinance issues and City Attorney, Adam McKenzie has sent them formal letters and they are working together on a timeline to get things resolved. They will issue warnings to those continually parking in the right of way to enable the plows from doing their job and issue citations as necessary. They worked for 64 hours this month and made 89 contacts and issued 13 citations.

The Mayor proceeded to swear-in and recite the oath of office with incumbent councilor Tee Steadman and newly re-elected councilor Marty Nate. The Mayor and councilors all expressed their gratitude to Councilor DeLoy Kunz for his 8 years of service. The council then elected Greg Kunz to continue to be the Council President and Marty Nate will assume the responsibilities and duties that DeLoy had.

Councilor Trenton Morrell made the motion to remove DeLoy Kunz from the water accounts at Ireland Bank, sewer accounts at Zions Bank and general accounts at US Bank and add Marty Nate to all the same accounts. Councilor Greg Kunz seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion carried the council. Clerk Smith will get in touch with the banks and notify all councilmembers when new signature cards are ready.

The Mayor called Katana to discuss their privacy fence they want to install on their property. She said they did not talk to the neighbors about approval of the fence this month and just tried to be extra neighborly instead. Their property is in a C-2 commercial district and they are requesting to install an 8 foot fence, but State Statute says no taller than a 6 foot fence. The council discussed and said the refer trailers are already higher than what a privacy fence would be and they’ve said the trailers haven’t stopped the neighbor from approaching the kids because now he comes between the trailers instead. The council recommended that she take the Sheriff over with her to discuss issues and seek approval for a privacy fence. The council tabled a decision until they’ve spoken.

Addison Ochsenbein of Sunrise Engineering was unable to attend the meeting tonight but is continually working on preparing our application for a drinking water loan.

Councilor Marty Nate reported on her progress with Tyler Williamson on the cemetery map. He has color coded the map and marked the streets and just needs to mark where the flag pole is and then it’s just about finished. She needs to go and measure the board for the banner to be placed on and report back to him so he can print the banner and then we will need to get a book up there with the map.

Councilor Trenton Morrell asked if the County has paid for the speed limit signs yet and Clerk Smith reported that they have not. The Mayor had talked to Commissioner Vaughn Rasmussen about them and then there wasn’t much follow up from there. Trenton has heard that there is money available for us and will find out at the County how to get the money. He has left messages with Corey Krantz about the highway signs and for info to get approved signs and so we can move along with getting a school zone along the highway with no response back yet.

Maintenance Report: Hadley gave their report for the month of December and stated that he and Shane have cleared the roads at the cemetery and opened it up in preparation for a burial there in the next couple of weeks. They went up to the water tanks with the help of the Mayor and have been doing some maintenance on the plow and have attended some continued education trainings throughout the month. Shane also passed his Wastewater Collection exam and has received his license for that. Shane now has a license for drinking water and one wastewater.

Office Business:   There are 20 delinquent water and sewer accounts for the month of December. The Christmas light winners were 1^st place Jason & Kayla Morris, 2^nd place Marlin & Sandy Bartschi and 3^rd place Charlie & Lisa Humphreys. All winners were excited and appreciative for the gift cards. Lynette reported that W-2’s will be ready to pick up by the end of the month. Lynette has also been contacted by the title company about the sale of the Holder’s farm and questioned if the Holder’s had been granted access along the railroad right of way. Carrie Hemmert said the City was deeded the railroad right of way in 1999 from NuWest to be used for recreational purposes only. Councilor Greg Kunz and Marty Nate remembered there is a Resolution for the Great Northwestern Trail that specifies the right of way is for recreational purposes only and is not to be gated or fenced along the right of way. Lynette will report back to Carrie at the title company to pass along to the new owners.

The chair entertained a motion from Councilor Marty Nate that council adjourns from the January 2024 council meeting at 8:20 pm. Councilor Tee Steadman seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion carried the council.

Respectfully submitted,

Lynette Smith

City Clerk-Treasurer

CITY OF GEORGETOWN
CITY COUNCIL MEETING
AGENDA

Tuesday, February 6, 2024 City Hall 7:00 pm

MEETING CALLED TO ORDER
PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
INVOCATION

APPROVAL OF AGENDA ITEMS:

READING AND APPROVAL OF MINUTES from January 2, 2024 regular meeting

AGENDA ITEMS OF CITY OPERATIONS AND NEW BUSINESS:

 Sunrise Engineering – Addison Ochsenbein
 Power and outlets in Park and Shed
 Backup Generator
 PERSI for retired councilmembers

Marty:
Tee:
Greg:
Trenton:

POLICE REPORT:

MAINTENANCE REPORT:

OFFICE BUSINESS: Delinquent water and sewer accounts

SIGNING OF CHECKS AND VOUCHERS FOR JANUARY’S BILLS

ADJOURNMENT

Next Meeting:
• City Council Regular Meeting 7:00 pm – Tuesday, March 5, 2024, Georgetown City Building – 382 Main St. Questions concerning items appearing on this Agenda or requests for accommodation of special needs to participate in the meeting should be addressed to the Office of the City Clerk or call 208-847-2120.

December 5, 2023
Those Present: DeLoy Kunz, Greg Kunz, Trenton Morrell, Tee Steadman, Maintenance Supervisor Shane Clark, Maintenance Hadley Wright, City Clerk Lynette Smith, Addison Ochsenbein of Sunrise Engineering, Kari Ure of Bear Lake County Extension Office, Kevin & Marty Nate, Katana Sorensen
Meeting called to order: 7:00 pm Invocation: Maintenance man Hadley Wright
Council President, Greg Kunz, conducted the meeting since the Mayor was gone on business and didn’t make it back in time for the meeting. The Council entertained a motion from Councilor Tee Steadman to approve the published agenda and was seconded by Councilor Trenton Morrell. All were in favor and the motion carried the council.
The minutes from November 8, 2023, were read aloud by Clerk Smith. Councilor Trenton Morrell made the motion to accept the minutes as read and Councilor DeLoy Kunz seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion carried the council.
Kari Ure from the Bear Lake County Extension Office came before the council to introduce herself and what she is doing for the Extension Office. She is new to town and part of the Family & Consumer Science department and 4-H. She would like everyone to fill out an online survey to give feedback of what needs we have in our community.
Addison Ochsenbein of Sunrise Engineering came before the council to report that he submitted the grant application for the transportation plan study and funding won’t be available for at least a year. He will put in for the water loan in January and he and Kevin are looking for other funding sources too. He said it may be possible to make an amendment to our last study for just the line from the spring to the tank. He also suggested looking into other grants from the NRCS for the Irrigation Company too. There is also a TAP application he can look into for replacing sidewalks with the City having to match 7.34% in matching funds. The council appreciates all of these grants he’s looking into for us and look forward to hearing back if we are recipients to any of them.
Katana Sorensen came before the council to discuss issues she has with her neighbors and would like to put in an 8 foot privacy fence along the north side of their property to separate from their neighbors. They have had to start documenting incidents that they have with them and feel this fence is necessary for the safety of their children from their neighbor. The fence would only run east and west and not north and south and the trailers would stay on the property even with the new fence. The council said they will look more into the Ordinance #27 and regulations about fences and would like Katana to come back to the next council meeting to give them time to make a decision. Councilor Trenton Morrell asked if the neighbors would sign off on an 8 foot fence. Katana also asked if there is a noise ordinance other than the curfew for minors or jake breaks because they have been outside around 10:30 at night and told they were disturbing their neighbors and violating Ordinances and so she wanted to check on that. Lynette will dig deeper and see if there is anything for noise for businesses or adults.
The Christmas Park Lighting Event was another successful event. We planned on about 100 people and probably had about 80 people there. Santa did inform us that he is retiring this year and so we will need to be on the look for a replacement next year. This is an event that we all look forward to all year and love seeing how most of the community comes out for this event, even if it isn’t to visit with Santa.
The City will have a Christmas Light Contest again this year and Lynette will advertise and get the gift cards ready. The council will need to report back by December 20th to select the winners. Three places will be awarded and 1st will receive $100; 2nd $75 and 3rd $50.
Employee Christmas Bonus’s were discussed and Councilor Trenton Morrell made the motion to give Shane Clark, Hadley Wright and Lynette Smith $500 each and Doug Thompson $200. Councilor Tee Steadman seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion carried the council.
Councilor DeLoy Kunz asked Clerk Smith to include in the yearly end of year letter that the State Highway plow operators have requested for citizens to move their garbage cans back towards their property so they don’t get hit on the highway and to also include there’s a lot of cars still parked in the right of ways too so it’s not easy to plow. He also reported that the painting for the crosswalk along the highway is scheduled to be done but probably won’t happen until next year now. It was also requested to mark where the new curbing is by the church so people can avoid for parking.
Councilor Tee Steadman reported that Sheriff Heslington couldn’t be here tonight due to not feeling well this week and recovering. He also said if the new police contract is here to get it signed so we can get that officially taken care of. Lynette will get the Mayor to sign it in the morning so it can get to the Commissioners.
Marty Nate came to report on her findings with Tyler Williamson and their progress on the cemetery map. He has emailed a map that he has platted and she will need to borrow Shane’s map again so they can get it finished.
Police Report: Deputy Sheriff Ryan Larsen called before the council meeting to give a report for November. He was also unable to make it to the meeting due to being called out on an accident before the meeting. He reported that they worked for about 59 hours this month. They made 38 contacts and issued 4 citations.
Maintenance Report: Hadley gave their report for the month of November and stated that he and Shane have been doing some water training and putting up Christmas lights. They got the electrical outlets fixed at the pavilion to be able to plug in all of the Christmas lights. They trimmed some trees on Stringtown and reached out to DeLoy about the cattleguards at the State Highway Department but they have some other plans for those. They looked at some generators at Gundersen’s as they are the same brand and nearly the same price as elsewhere. They got the plows ready and chains on vehicles. The McCulloch’s came and removed the headstone completely at the cemetery that was not in line with the others. Lynette called and left a few messages with the contacts she had but never got a response from any of them, so we are unsure if they will be bringing the headstone back again next year or what is going on there.
Office Business: There are 16 delinquent water and sewer accounts for the month of November. Clerk Smith asked if anyone knew who is living in the home North of town in Dottie Harwood’s old place or have a way to get a hold of them. We have tried to contact them and left notes on the door with no response and no mailing address. Lynette will try the title company again in the morning and see if she can find the realtor and get ahold of them that way. She also reported that Layne DeClark has been in touch and said they came and shoveled off the roof to make sure there won’t be any leaks or damage and they are still planning to come back and fix the roof before winter gets too deep here.
The chair entertained a motion from Councilor Tee Steadman for the council to approve checks and vouchers for the month of November 2023 in the amount of $17,530.70 in the general fund, $10,271.02 in the water fund, and $21,263.50 in the sewer fund, with all funds totaling $49,065.22. Councilor DeLoy Kunz seconded the motion. All were in favor and motion carried the council.
The chair entertained a motion from Councilor DeLoy Kunz that council adjourns from the November 2023 council meeting at 8:30 pm. Councilor Tee Steadman seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion carried the council.
Respectfully submitted,

Lynette Smith
City Clerk-Treasurer

CITY OF GEORGETOWN
CITY COUNCIL MEETING
AGENDA

Tuesday, January 4, 2023 City Hall 7:00 pm

MEETING CALLED TO ORDER
PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
INVOCATION

APPROVAL OF AGENDA ITEMS:

READING AND APPROVAL OF MINUTES from December 5, 2023 regular meeting

SIGNING OF CHECKS AND VOUCHERS FOR DECEMBER’S BILLS

AGENDA ITEMS OF CITY OPERATIONS AND NEW BUSINESS:

 Swear-in New Councilmembers
 Elect Council President & Assign Duties to New Councilmembers
 Approve New Signers on Checking Accounts & Remove Old Signers
 Katana Sorensen – Privacy Fence

• Sunrise Engineering – Addison Ochsenbein Drinking Water Opportunities

DeLoy:
Tee:
Greg:
Trenton:

POLICE REPORT:

MAINTENANCE REPORT:

OFFICE BUSINESS: Delinquent water and sewer accounts, Christmas Light Contest Recap W-2’s, Signature Cards

ADJOURNMENT

Next Meeting:
• City Council Regular Meeting 7:00 pm – Tuesday, February 6, 2024, Georgetown City Building – 382 Main St. Questions concerning items appearing on this Agenda or requests for accommodation of special needs to participate in the meeting should be addressed to the Office of the City Clerk or call 208-847-2120.