February Council Minutes
February 4, 2020
Those Present: DeLoy Kunz, Greg Kunz, Marty Nate, Tee Steadman, Mayor Steve Waechtler – came late, Maintenance Supervisor Doug Thompson – excused sick, City Clerk Lynette Smith, Valerie Ross of News Examiner, Bret Kunz of Insurance Advisers
Meeting called to order: 7:00 pm Invocation: Councilmember Marty Nate
Council President Greg Kunz called the meeting to order in the absence of the Mayor. The Council entertained a motion from councilmember Marty Nate to approve the published agenda and was seconded by councilmember DeLoy Kunz. All were in favor and the motion carried the council.
Clerk Smith proceeded with reading the minutes from January 7, 2020 and councilmember DeLoy Kunz requested to have the word river replaced with creek. Councilmember Greg Kunz would like to add drug testing to the employee policy which will be discussed in more detail later in the meeting. He also inquired about if the City has money in the fire budget to add a lien-to to the shed to put the brush truck on the City property. Lynette mentioned that maybe there is room in one of the bays of the shed already. Councilmember DeLoy Kunz then made the motion to accept the minutes as read. Councilmember Tee Steadman seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion carried the council.
Bret Kunz of Insurance Advisers came before the council and would like a paper signed to designate him as our ICRMP agent. He has broken away from Nield, Inc and without this paper being signed we would revert back to Bryan Nield to be our agent. Council President Greg Kunz relayed from speaking with the Mayor that he was really disappointed that Bret didn’t help represent us better with the sewer building. Lynette called and spoke with ICRMP and was told that we do need to select an agent, but we could also go with the next closest agent in Soda Springs if we are unhappy. Bret was surprised to hear that ICRMP did pay a claim on the sewer building under the earthquake policy but also said he would have had to stay out of the conversations anyway and underwriting would have decided what to do with our situation. The Mayor will call and speak with Bret and Mark Andreasen to compare and then decide which agent to go with and get the paper signed so Lynette can submit.
Kevin Martin of Sunrise Engineering was unable to come and give an update of the water project but Lynette had spoken with the Mayor and relayed that he, Doug, Adam, Kevin and Dennis Sudweeks met last week at the City Hall to discuss how to move forward with our Easement for the power. It was decided that it would all mostly be postponed until the weather gets better and is more easily accessible and so they can get up there with Rocky Mountain Power as well to decide if the pole needs to be moved and what our options are.
The Dog Ordinance was tabled until the next meeting because Tami has been sick and hasn’t been able to get the ordinance to Lynette or Adam to be reviewed.
The Backhoe Agreement was also tabled until after the new person is hired to be added to the list of approved operators and Matt Raczak was removed.
The Employee Policy has not been looked at for a while and needs to be updated. Lynette emailed the current policy and vehicle use policy to all councilmembers to review before the meeting. Not all councilmembers had a chance to review so no decisions were made til next meeting, but it was discussed to implement a drug policy and can get up to a 5% discount with Workman’s Comp if the City were to implement. Lynette will add into the policy and get more info from Workman’s Comp about it. It was also discussed to update the going per diem rates to the current IRS rates and to require a physical be passed before hiring and that the new hire will be on a probationary period until he gets his licenses and then will be eligible for an increase in pay for each license received. Lynette will update and bring back to the next meeting.
Councilmember Marty Nate reported that the election dates held in the City Hall will be March 10th and May 19th and the City will be closed for regular work on those days. Lynette also added that the County Circuit Breakers Tax Service will be held in the City Hall on March 12th from 1:00-3:00 pm. Marty asked for opinions on dates for Twin Creeks Celebration. Dates will be either June 27th or July 11th and Marty will decide what works for her and her committee best. She would also like to have Movie in the Park a couple of times throughout the summer months with a popcorn maker and projector.
Police Report: There were 11 contacts for the month of January. He has been having trouble with his new cameras and radios not working with each other of the County dispatch. He is working on getting fixed.
Maintenance Report: Doug’s report for the month of January was tabled as he is excused for not feeling well this evening.
Office Business: There are 20 delinquent water and sewer accounts for the month of January. Clerk Smith also reported that there is a home up Stringtown that has had water services turned off due to delinquency and moving away but there is reason to believe that the people are back in the home and have possibly turned the water services back on. It was decided to have Officer Martinez go and investigate and give them a fine for tampering with City property if they have done so. Councilmember Marty Nate made the motion to donate $500 to the Bear Lake Senior Center and councilmember Greg Kunz seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion carried. The councilmembers engaged in signing the signature cards for each of the banks. The Mayor reported that the radios he has purchased will work from his house up to the chlorinator building. He will get with Lynette about which radios they are so she can purchase the Cities own set on Amazon which are important for all parties to have when going up into the canyon without cell phone service. The Mayor also mentioned that the City should be looking to purchase a side by side or other equipment to use as a new hire should not be expected to use their personal equipment. The council then reviewed each of the applicants that have applied for Doug’s job and they would like to extend an invite to all applicants to participate in an interview for the position.
The chair entertained a motion from Councilmember DeLoy Kunz for the council to approve checks and vouchers for the month of January 2020 in the amount of $11,458.99 in the general fund, $49,355.51 in the water fund, and $64,107.40 in the sewer fund, with all funds totaling $124,921.90. Councilmember Marty Nate seconded the motion. All were in favor and motion carried.
The chair entertained a motion from Councilmember DeLoy Kunz that council adjourns from the February 2020 council meeting at 9:45 pm. Councilmember Greg Kunz seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion carried the council.
Respectfully submitted,
Lynette Smith
City Clerk-Treasurer