December 2025 Council Minutes
December 22, 2025
Those Present: Greg Kunz, Trenton Morrell, Tee Steadman, Mayor Steve Waechtler, Deputy Wes Barnhill, Kevin Martin from Sunrise Engineering, Tony Price, Brooke Bruesch, Jordan Rasmusson, Brent Kunz
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 November 5, 2025, were read aloud by Mayor Waechtler. Councilor Greg Kunz made the motion to accept the minutes as read and Councilor Trenton Morrell seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion carried the council. Councilor Kunz wanted to follow up on the money from the water hydrants from ITAFOS and Lynette reported that it was billed and money has been received of $2770.00.
Kevin Martin with Sunrise Engineering came to give an update on the Transportation Plan. He reported that they have been working on applying for the different grants etc. They recommend we apply for the sign grant next year with LHTAC and looking for a couple more letters of support for the Tap Application due mid January and then will need the new Mayor’s signature. They are still working on the crosswalk application which will be much simpler than overhead lighting etc and hopefully we have a better chance of being granted. They will be back to report at the next meeting.
The Christmas Park Lighting Event was held on a Wednesday night and not quite as well attended as other years. It was cold but also had a ball game in town, a week night, etc. The group felt like Monday night is still the best following Thanksgiving. The Sean Bartschi Family and Lorie Bartschi gathered all of the food and supplies and there was a lot of chili left over. Everyone that attended still had a good time though.
Police Report: Deputy Sheriff Wes Barnhill came before the Council and presented their report for the month of November. He said we should get $599.40 caught up with the January check from what was previously shorted which will bring the citations current. There was discussion about lots of dog issues in town. Overall they issued 14 citations, had 45 traffic stops, and had a total of 102 incidents during the month.
The Christmas Light Contest will still go on. Lynette will advertise and have the council members vote for the Top 3 best lights in the City. Winners will be announced on Facebook and 1st place will get $100.00, 2nd place $75.00 and 3rd place $50.00.
The Employee Christmas Bonus’s was discussed and decided to do the same as last year. The Mayor asked about licenses and explained that Doug is still used as a backup operator and for his licenses. Councilor Greg Kunz made the motion to give Shane Clark, Hadley Wright and Lynette Smith a $500.00 bonus and Doug Thompson a $200.00 bonus. Councilor Tee Steadman seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion carried the council.
Maintenance Report: Hadley Wright and Shane Clark were excused from the meeting. Shane is still on sick leave and Lynette gave their report for the month of November. Hadley cleaned the port up to the tank and went to check on the spring. They took monthly samples to the lab to be tested and all came back good. He gathered and took information to Keller Associates for them to prepare the land app year-end report. He got the plow trucks ready to go for whenever we get some snow, all the lights have been checked and trucks serviced. He worked on getting the rest of the Christmas lights up and ready for the park lighting. He hauled chlorine up to the water tank and primed it into the big tank. He shut off water at homes for the winter and did a couple of utility locates. He also went and marked out by the Rasmussen’s for the County to berm snow.
Office Report: There are 25 delinquent water and sewer accounts for the month of November. Next meeting date will be January 6th and we will take care of Decembers business before swearing in the new Mayor and Council members and will need approval for new signers on the account too. Lynette was able to get the box of all 2024-2025 files to Gary Teuschers office and has spoken with Matt Regen about performing our audit again too. The money was received from Simplot for the fireworks and playground donation for $3,000.00 and $2770.00 from ITAFOS for the water hydrant use. Andrea Gumm at Simplot also reached out about setting up a meeting with the old and new Mayor to keep the relationship going. Also, the City recognizes all federal holidays and President Trump declared the 24th, 25th and 26th to be holidays this year and so all employees will be following that.
The chair entertained a motion from Councilor Greg Kunz for the council to approve checks and vouchers for the month of November 2025 in the amount of $40,713.52 in the general fund, $9,728.74 in the water fund, and $19,075.36 in the sewer fund, with all funds totaling $69,517.62. Councilor Tee Steadman seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion carried the council.
The chair entertained a motion from Councilor Greg Kunz that council adjourns from the December 2025 council meeting at 8:00 pm. Councilor Tee Steadman seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion carried the council.
Respectfully submitted,
Lynette Smith,
City Clerk-Treasurer