April Council Minutes
April 8, 2026
Those Present: Brooke Bergholm, Marty Nate, Mayor Tony Price, Jordan Rasmusson, Tee Steadman, Maintenance Shane Clark, Maintenance Hadley Wright, Sheriff Deputy Wes Barnhill, City Attorney Adam McKenzie, Addison Ochsenbein from Sunrise Engineering, Mitch Poulsen Bear Lake County Planning & Zoning, Mario & Cynthia Johnson, Ed & Kathy Izatt, Greg Kunz, Doug Thompson, Brent Kunz, Cole Smith, Steve Waechtler
Meeting called to order: 7:00 pm Invocation: Councilor Jordan Rasmusson
The council entertained a motion from Councilor Marty Nate to approve the published agenda and was seconded by Councilor Tee Steadman. All were in favor and the motion carried the council.
The minutes from March 3, 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.
Addison Ochsenbein of Sunrise Engineering came to the council to give an update on the Transportation Plan Study. Councilor Marty Nate voiced her only concern is with the bridge and that had already been addressed in the Draft. Addison will complete the Draft and they will move forward with the Study. He reported that we were denied for a grant for the roads but they will continue to apply for the sign grant this fall.
Police Report: Deputy Sheriff Wes Barnhill came before the council and presented a report for March. He reported that there is an opportunity for the County to apply for a grant for a license plate reader and they would like to install it in Georgetown. It will be placed on the agenda for the next meeting to be approved for acceptance to place in the City. He reported there is an active investigation for some racers going up and down Stringtown. During the month of March, there was 1 animal issue, 17 traffic stops, 36 directed patrol warnings, 2 welfare checks, and 1 fail to register as a sex offender in Georgetown. He reviewed the report with the council and more details. Councilor Marty Nate requested for more patrol and a bigger presence from the Sheriff’s Department during Twin Creeks. She especially needs more patrolling along Stringtown during the bike race. Sheriff Barnhill said they can arrange for that with enough notice.
Mitch Poulsen from the Bear Lake County Planning & Zoning came to the council and presented a map for the council to review. All were pleased with the map and placement of the boundary lines. Mitch will let the Commissioners know and will proceed with a Public Hearing in May. The City will be notified when that hearing is and those in the impact area will be notified as well.
Clerk Smith received an email asking for support to Proclaim a Week of the Young Child in Idaho. Councilor Marty Nate made the motion to Proclaim April 11-17, 2026, as the Week of the Young Child in Georgetown, Idaho. Councilor Tee Steadman seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion carried the council. Lynette will email them back to let them know of our support.
Spring Cleanup Days were discussed where the City usually has Hennings bring their dumpsters out to help citizens cleanup their yards after the winter. Councilor Tee Steadman made the motion to set April 29th & 30th for the cleanup days and Councilor Jordan Rasmusson seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion carried the council. Mayor Tony Price will coordinate with Hennings to get a garbage and a metal bin out here on those dates and Lynette will get some flyers posted to advertise.
The Budget Hearing dates were discussed and is usually held the first Tuesday of September and the budget workshop in August. Councilor Jordan Rasmusson made the motion to set September 1st at 7:00 pm for the budget hearing and the workshop will be on August 4th. Councilor Brooke Bergholm seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion carried the council.
The backhoe agreement with the Georgetown Irrigation Company was presented to the Council. This is a yearly agreement and both parties have been happy with how things are going and no changes need to be made. Councilor Marty Nate made the motion to renew the backhoe agreement with the Georgetown Irrigation Company and was seconded by Tee Steadman. All were in favor and the motion carried the council.
Resolution #2026-01 was presented to the council for the purpose of destructing old files. Councilor Tee Steadman made the motion to accept Resolution #2026-01 to destroy the files and was seconded by Jordan Rasmusson. All were in favor and the motion carried the council. The City crew will destroy when they are burning other debris later this year.
The Public Comment Period was then opened to the citizens for comments. Citizens were anxious for an update on the dogs and City Attorney, Adam McKenzie, gave an update that the owner plead guilty to the charges today and there is a 12 month probation if the dogs get out and they must have muzzles if outside or they can be seized and destroyed. There will no longer be a trial and a resolution for restitution is still being worked out.
Steve Waechtler stood during the Public Comment period and asked what the new Mayor’s agenda and council members is for the next 6 months. He let out some frustrations he has had with the current Mayor in the past and if he will lend a helping hand when the City or neighbors are in need. Councilor Jordan Rasmusson responded he wants to clean up the City and the right of ways and make the City better. Steve asked what they are doing or going to do for employee security. Mayor Tony Price replied that he has been happy with the employees and thinks they are doing a great job and wants to keep them around. Councilor Tee Steadman said he wants to know the employees backs are covered by all because it has seemed like all of their jobs have been under attack since the new year.
The Employee Policy was reviewed and Councilor Tee Steadman asked when we usually review the policy and Clerk Smith responded it’s mostly not reviewed unless there are issues that arise or in August during the budget workshop to review wages and all expenses of the City. Councilor Tee Steadman said he is still on the council to protect and stand up for the employees because all three are irreplaceable. He said the council needs to respect the employees work areas and ask if they have questions. He expressed that he invites the public to come to the council with questions so we can address things as a council and work together. Doug Thompson explained how the job is a lot and can be a large burden for one person. He rarely left the City for family occasions or on weekends because someone always needed to be around in case something happened. The job is too much for one person and most things require a second person for safety reasons alone. With the Land App at the sewer ponds there is a need for a backup operator to be on call and available at all times and that’s another reason two people are needed for the maintenance job. Lynette explained that we didn’t have a large pool to choose from when Doug was retiring because we can’t offer the salaries and benefits that the mine can and we need employees that have ties to the community and are interested in staying here and maintaining certifications. Also, in order to get those certifications, you must work so many hours in the water and wastewater departments before being eligible to apply. Shane holds multiple licenses and still has more to take and Hadley has acquired enough hours to be able to start applying to receive the water licenses too. Shane Clark mentioned there is a company over by the lake that pays nearly $10,000 per month for backup operator assistance and someone to take care of the monthly sampling etc. He said the job works because there is someone else to rely on to be able to leave the City in capable hands and take care of the farm too, but it seems as though you’re always on the clock 24/7 because someone needs to be available if something happens. Shane said if there are questions about their job and what they are doing to come and ask them about it. Lynette also explained that just because someone isn’t in the office or sitting at the shop, doesn’t mean that work isn’t getting done either. She takes a lot of phone calls and answers emails and things at home and the guys are out and about doing a lot too. Hadley Wright expressed that before getting this job, he didn’t realize all the things that had to be done and all that Doug did and hours spent on continuing education. Councilor Jordan Rasmusson suggested for the maintenance to give more details during their report so the public can understand more of what their jobs entail. Mario Johnson commented that he thinks the three employees of the City have some of the utmost integrity and the City trusts them with the ability to be self motivated to get their jobs done and the City would be at a loss without either of them. Councilor Brooke Bergholm felt there has been some tension soon as they came on as new members and hasn’t felt like she could ask questions. Clerk Smith responded there has definitely been some tension and confusion on both sides of the table of what intentions are and how to respond because it has felt like all of their jobs are under attack, but hopes there can be more open communication and all can come together and work with each other. She said it has been a great place to work because of the people she works with and would love for it to continue to be that way. Councilor Marty Nate added to be respectful of employees time off too. Lynette asked the Council if there are any other questions about the Employee Policy and Councilor Marty Nate said she felt like 3c on the first page should be removed for timesheets being reviewed and 2c and 6b that address maintaining a CDL. She also inquired about 1d for council to approve the employees schooling. The crew knows what schooling they need and when it is and will take care of getting signed up for it to complete their CEU hours. After much discussion, it was decided that CDL’s are only required if operating vehicles over 26,000 lbs and the City doesn’t have any of those. Councilor Jordan Rasmusson made the motion to remove items 2c and 6b for requiring employees to maintain a CDL and to amend item 3c for the Clerk to review the time cards turned in and then will compile a monthly report for the council to review if desired. Councilor Tee Steadman seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion carried the council.
Ordinance #117 an Amendment to the Dog Ordinance which changes the misdemeanors to infractions was presented to the council. Infractions will be easier for enforcement but a dog barking or disturbing the peace could be difficult to prove. Councilor Marty Nate made the motion to approve Ordinance #117 Amending the Dog Ordinance and was seconded by Councilor Jordan Rasmussen. A roll call vote was taken and is as follows: Marty – yes, Tee – no, Jordan – yes, Brooke – yes. Motion passes. Clerk Smith will get it sent to be published in the News Examiner.
Councilor Marty Nate reported that she has filed for the grant with PacifiCorp and has made it through the 1st phase! She inquired about the credit cards and Clerk Smith responded that she’s been working with the gals at Ireland Bank to get them coming. They have to fill out a special application for them to be Visa’s instead of Mastercards and that is some of the delay. She asked about the cattle guards at the cemetery and the crew responded that they are finished and hope to be installed before Memorial Day. It was questioned if they want to have railroad ties or cement to install them. The guys will get a quote for both. She wondered about how Jordan Crane will be affected to farm this year and Shane reported that they met with Jordan and Kelly Bartschi last fall and it will be fall before they can move forward with the fence and moving his gates. She wants to get the map put up at the Cemetery and Lynette will send an updated listing of those in the cemetery. She would like the approach at the Post Office to be measured and wants to do asphalt on the south side to fix the holes. She asked about getting a new “End of School Zone” sign installed. She told the Mayor to get going on Twin Creek donations to pay for the fireworks. Shipping containers were discussed and if they need a building permit if they are moveable or portable. She would like to work on redoing the Commercial Zone and it extends along the highway to the edges of City limits. She would like to propose to shorten it from the Post Office to the Church. We would need a public hearing to amend the changing of the zone classification and Ordinance #27 needs to be amended to address regulating shipping containers and setbacks off the property line. She also had a suggestion that questions that come through social media should not be answered through social media and citizens should be encouraged to come to council with their Ordinance questions.
Councilor Tee Steadman said in respect to right of ways and setbacks that we can’t enforce without knowing what is accurate because we have issues throughout all the town and can’t single out anyone or any street either. Ordinance 62 has right of way widths listed at a minimum of 60 ft. Without surveying all of town, and to spare some expense, property owners will need to sign property line agreements with each other to start getting things straightened out.
Councilor Jordan Rasmusson said he is working on the right of ways throughout town and there is a bill about short term rentals that the State is addressing which is a hot topic right now and he will keep following to update the council.
Councilor Brooke Bergholm asked about building permits and pointed out that Resolution #2006-3 says that all building permits need to come before the council for approval. The council discussed the building permit applications and why they haven’t been coming to council for approval. The council wants to review the building permits and since it is not an agenda action item, there will need to be a special meeting to approve them. The council set April 14th at 1:00 pm for the special meeting to approve building permits.
Maintenance Report: Hadley Wright gave their report for the month of March and stated that he and Shane looked at the trees growing in the right of ways and inquired whether to trim or not. If they are truly in the right of way, they can be trimmed. They took samples for the monthly testing and took the tracks off the side by side for the summer. They did some locates for water to be turned on, went to the spring which is low and cleaned the injection port for buildup. They repaired some water leaks at Alan Skinners. They had a visit from the IRWA circuit rider for the sewer. They received a phone call about low pressure in a home and did a pressure test which was at 70 psi which still falls between the required levels.
Office Report: There are 19 delinquent water and sewer accounts for the month of March. She reported the Bear Lake County Circuit Breaker Taxes were in the office today helping the elderly in the community to get a break on their property taxes for the year and it was well attended. She is working with Ireland Bank to get the new credit cards set up still. She has reached out to Gary Teuscher’s office to find out where they are at compiling our Financial Statements for the last Fiscal Year so we can get our annual audit finished up. Gary was under the weather recently and in the hospital which has pushed their timeline back but she will stay in touch with them to ensure this gets completed soon. The young women have helped put on a May Day Activity/Easter Egg Hunt in May the last couple years and she wondered if we wanted to continue with that. The council approved to spend $300 on candy for it again this year if the young women are interested in putting it on again. Lynette told the Council there are webinar trainings available each month that all need to sign up for and complete to get discounts for our ICRMP Insurance.
The chair entertained a motion from Councilor Marty Nate for the council to approve checks and vouchers for the month of March 2026 in the amount of $38,515.66 in the general fund, $10,574.51 in the water fund, and $22,365.28 in the sewer fund, with all funds totaling $71,455.45. 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 April 2026 council meeting at 11:00 pm. Councilor Tee Steadman seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion carried the council.
Respectfully submitted,
Lynette Smith,
City Clerk-Treasurer