February 2026 Minutes
February 3, 2026
Those Present: Brooke Bruesch, Marty Nate, Jordan Rasmusson, Tee Steadman, Mayor Tony Price, Maintenance Shane Clark, Maintenance Hadley Wright, Addison Ochsenbein from Sunrise Engineering, Sheriff Deputy Wes Barnhill, Brent Kunz, Landon, Janae and Bowen McCoy, Former Mayor Steve Waechtler
Meeting called to order: 7:00 pm Invocation: Councilmember Brooke Bruesch
The council entertained a motion from Councilor Tee Steadman to approve the published agenda and was seconded by Councilor Marty Nate. All were in favor and the motion carried the council.
The minutes from January 5, 2026, were read aloud by Clerk Smith. Councilor Marty Nate made the motion to accept the minutes as read and Councilor Tee Steadman seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion carried the council. The minutes from the Special Meeting held on January 26, 2026, were read aloud by Clerk Smith. Councilor Tee Steadman made the motion to accept the minutes as read and Councilor Jordan Rasmusson seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion carried the council.
Addison Ochsenbein of Sunrise Engineering came to the council to give an update. He said he is still waiting on a draft for the Transportation Plan and hopes to have more to update at the next meeting. The TAP application got submitted for the bridge and expanded for the sidewalk to be fixed clear to the Post Office. There is also an LHTAC grant available for the matching funds we will need if awarded the TAP funding. He will report back at the next meeting.
City Attorney, Adam McKenzie, was available by phone and updated the council that the Dog Issue hearing is set for February 11th. He has not had a chance to speak with opposing council yet. He also updated the council on how he handles the speeding tickets. He is our representing council for those and said they usually reduce the speed to give a lesser ticket as opposed to going to trial for them. It reduces a $150 ticket to a $90 ticket and most all tickets are the truckers and not repeat offenders. The council approved for him to continue on as he normally has.
The council discussed a cut off for the Agenda to not be changed 48 hours prior to council. Councilor Marty Nate voiced that she wants citizens to feel like they can come to council and don’t always know the process to get put on the agenda to be heard or bring their concerns, etc. It was suggested to add a Public Comment section to the Agenda. Also noted, that anyone can always come to the meetings and discuss things, but no decisions can be made without it being an Action Item and then can be added to the next agenda. Councilor Marty Nate made the motion to add a Public Comment Section to the agenda and was seconded by Tee Steadman. After more discussion it was decided to put a two-minute time limit for the public comments. All were in favor and the motion carried the council.
Police Report: Deputy Sheriff Wes Barnhill came before the council and presented a report for January. He reported that the dog issue is out of the Sheriff Departments hands and is up to the legal system now. He encouraged citizens to call and report any issues they have so there can be a report to support the incidents. He said they issued a lot of citations in December/January and is worried that word is spreading to the truckers because they have been slowing down which means less citations will be written. He also reminded everyone that if a report isn’t started, then fines can’t be issued for violations.
The McCoy’s came to the council to convey their concerns with the dog issues and want to attend the hearing as well. They had some rabbits harmed by the dogs getting out a while back too.
Councilor Marty Nate reported that she is working on a grant for rubber at the playground and the sidewalks. It was suggested to include fixing the approach in front of the Post Office as well. She also asked to add to the list of things this summer, to do some crack seal along Stringtown.
The Mayor asked Clerk Smith to send out a letter to all citizens to get their dog licenses purchased and remind to not park in the right of ways during the winter months as we have an Ordinance to not park during November 15th to March 15th.
Maintenance Report: Shane Clark gave their report for the month of January and stated that they went up to check the water tanks, plowed snow a little, put the tracks on the CanAm, met with the IRWA circuit rider, fixed some leaks and a flush valve, turned off water to some delinquents and back on, had a grave opening and closing, fixed and filled the pop machine and did some land app training and got the year end report taken to Keller Associates.
Office Report: There are 29 delinquent water and sewer accounts for the month of January. She got the 1099’s and W-2’s and year end taxes done. The messaging service we use has been sold to another company and so Lynette is working on getting that set back up and going again.
The chair entertained a motion from Councilor Marty Nate for the council to approve checks and vouchers for the month of January 2026 in the amount of $29,925.12 in the general fund, $22,118.86 in the water fund, and $65,074.70 in the sewer fund, with all funds totaling $117,118.68. Councilor Tee Steadman seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion carried the council.
The chair entertained a motion from Councilor Marty Nate that council adjourns from the February 2026 council meeting at 8:45 pm. Councilor Tee Steadman seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion carried the council.
Respectfully submitted,
Lynette Smith,
City Clerk-Treasurer