April Council Minutes
April 4, 2023
Those Present: Greg Kunz, Trenton Morrell, Tee Steadman, Mayor Stephan Waechtler, Maintenance Supervisor Shane Clark, City Clerk Lynette Smith, Sheriff Bart Heslington, Tim & Merg Neuman, Garth Glenn, Addison Ochsenbein of Sunrise Engineering
Meeting called to order: 7:00 pm Invocation: Mayor Stephan Waechtler
The Council entertained a motion from councilor Greg Kunz 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 March 7, 2023, were read aloud by Clerk Smith. Councilor Tee Steadman made the motion to accept the minutes as read. Councilor Greg Kunz seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion carried the council.
Tim Neuman on behalf of Sam Holder said the City has permission to use his area to clear and pile when there is lots of snow for flood control but to take care to the soft ground in the pasture to not tear it up or make large ruts. Sam passed away on Sunday.
Sheriff Bart Heslington came before the council to discuss the contract. He has had conversations with the other cities and they don’t have the funds to employ a deputy. He has talked with the commissioners about increasing the budget to help with that. He has some contracts gathered from other areas and he and Adam are piecing one together that will include the citation revenue coming back to the city along with fines and fees on misdemeanors within city limits. He felt we could have a pending agreement so they can respond and enforce our ordinances now. Bart will be available to come to council meetings as needed and Tee requested to change up their hours as we need. We will start a trial run at no cost for a few months to see how things go. If Adam can have a contract ready before the next meeting, the council would like to have a special meeting in April to get it approved.
The council entertained a motion from councilor Tee Steadman to leave the regular meeting and move into Public Hearing for the purpose of rezoning the property that was annexed into the City owned by Kameron & Jessica Whitaker. The motion was seconded by Councilor Trenton Morrell. All were in favor and a roll call vote was taken and is as follows: Tee – yes, Greg – yes, Trenton – yes. Clerk Smith reported that the office has not received any public comment either written or verbal pertaining to the annexation. She mailed out notices of the public hearing to all landowners within 300 feet of the property. Councilor Trenton Morrell asked about if we needed to rezone and adopt a new Ordinance when it states in Ordinance #27 that all property annexed into the City limits will be rezoned as residential. Lynette reached out to Adam and he said he felt it was still necessary. Ordinance #110 to rezone the property from agricultural to residential was read and reviewed by the council and a map was passed out to show everyone where the property is located. Garth Glenn commented on the City doing a great job plowing snow down Hayes Lane and throughout the City. Councilor Greg Kunz made the motion to go out of the public hearing and move back into the regular meeting and was seconded by Trenton Morrell. All were in favor and a roll call vote was taken and is as follows: Tee – yes, Greg – yes, Trenton – yes. The Ordinance will be tabled until the next meeting when all councilors are in attendance to dispense the three reading rule.
The budget hearing date was set for September 5, 2023 at 7:00 pm and the workshop will be on August 1, 2023.
Clerk Smith had Tyler Williamson create a logo to be placed on the City vehicles. The cost to print them will be around $400-500. The council loved them and said to move forward to get them printed and placed on the City service/plow truck and side by side.
The backhoe agreement between the City and the Irrigation Company was discussed at the annual meeting and all felt that things were still working great. Councilor Tee Steadman made the motion to renew the yearly backhoe agreement with the Georgetown Irrigation Company and was seconded by Trenton Morrell. All were in favor and the motion carried.
The City cleanup day was scheduled for May 20th and dumpsters will be brought out by the park for citizens to use after this snow finally leaves.
The business license ordinance was discussed and the council agreed to not pursue issuing business licenses at this time.
The subdivision ordinance was discussed. Copies of the counties ordinance were printed and distributed for each council member to jot notes and review deeper before the next meeting. Sunrise Engineering will help add a developers agreement to be included with the ordinance.
Councilor Tee Steadman has been researching in the Twin Creeks books and found a letter about Tolo’s Fork in 1827. Lynette will forward on to TJ Budge to see if that can be used to help prove how long we have used water in the City for the adjudication.
Councilor Greg Kunz has complaints about the road that got cut last fall for the water and sewer hookups to the new homes along Stringtown. He would like to see it better maintained with road base until we can asphalt it. The Mayor will speak with the Whitaker’s about maintaining.
Councilor Trenton Morrell has received a complaint from a citizen about their neighbors trees being planted in the right of way and moving their shed. Lynette will send a letter to them with the concerns.
Police Report: The council had a retirement party for Officer Martinez and his wife at the Ranch Hand on March 29th at 1:00 pm. The Mayor, Tee, DeLoy, Alan, Lynette and spouses were in attendance to present Officer Martinez with the shadow box with his shirt inside and a cake and lunch. All had a good time honoring him for his years of service to the City. Clerk Smith has reached out to the candidate the council wanted to hire and she is no longer interested in the position. The council will see how this trial run with the Sheriff’s office goes to see how to proceed.
The Mayor brought up that Layne DeClark would like to pay for his water and sewer hookups now for his piece of property he may build on down the road instead of paying the increased rates. The council directed Clerk Smith to compose a letter denying his request since the ordinance and hearing have already been implemented since January and other homeowners have been told to pay for their building permit along with hookups and you can’t prepay for hookups.
Maintenance Report: Shane gave his report for the month of March and stated that he has been working on the Reuse Permit Classification and water reports. He thanked the Mayor and his boys for coming to help clear the snow off the roofs of the City Hall and the shed. They have still been moving snow and helped Clinton Price shut off water in his house. There will be quite a few shutoffs needing replaced this summer.
Office Business: There are 16 delinquent water and sewer accounts for the month of March. Lynette reported that the new coupon books with individual statements were mailed to every resident informing of the water rate increase. The vaccine clinic sponsored by Bear Lake Animal Hospital was well attended at the beginning of the month even though it was a snowy day. The citizens in attendance appreciated the convenience of being close to take care of their pets. They would like to continue to do each year. The back storage room has had some water damage from the ice on the roofs and Lynette will file a claim with ICRMP to cover the cost to replace the walls, ceiling, flooring, etc in the room. The county will be coming this Thursday to help citizens with property tax relief and will be in the office most of the day.
The chair entertained a motion from Councilor Greg Kunz for the council to approve checks and vouchers for the month of March 2023 in the amount of $19,640.95 in the general fund, $6,625.39 in the water fund, and $16,351.06 in the sewer fund, with all funds totaling $42,617.40. Councilor Trenton Morrell seconded the motion. All were in favor and motion carried the council.
The chair entertained a motion from Councilor Greg Kunz that council adjourns from the April 2023 council meeting at 9:05 pm. Councilor Trenton Morrell seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion carried the council.
Respectfully submitted,
Lynette Smith
City Clerk-Treasurer