October Council Minutes
October 6, 2020
Those Present: DeLoy Kunz, Greg Kunz, Marty Nate (by phone), Mayor Steve Waechtler, Maintenance Supervisor Shane Clark, City Clerk Lynette Smith, Kathy Ray of 4 County Coalition
Meeting called to order: 7:00 pm Invocation: Mayor Steve Waechtler
The Council entertained a motion from councilmember Greg Kunz to approve added agenda item of Kathy Ray from the 4 County Coalition. Councilmember DeLoy Kunz seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion carried the council.
The Council entertained a motion from councilmember Greg Kunz to approve the published agenda and was seconded by councilmember DeLoy Kunz. All were in favor and the motion carried the council.
The minutes from September 1, 2020 were read aloud by Clerk Smith. There was a correction on spelling of Katana Sorensen’s name. Councilmember DeLoy Kunz made the motion to accept the minutes as read with the correction. Councilmember Greg Kunz seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion carried the council.
Kathy Ray of the 4 County Coalition came before the council. She serves as the Regional Economic Professional for Southeast Idaho. She recommended the City go online and register/apply for a Community Review. There are usually only 2-3 communities selected per year and takes place during the summer. If we were selected, the committee would conduct surveys and listening sessions to put together strategies and suggestions of improvements for our community. Our small city would be only a 1-2-day event and the application costs $3-4,000. If the City needed, we could reach out to nearby businesses for sponsors for the application process. The council agreed that we should look into and apply.
Resolution #2020-01 for new building permit fees was discussed. It was clarified that the purpose for building permits is to ensure that buildings are adhering to the Ordinances in place. After much discussion it was determined that a basic permit consisting of sheds, decks, carports, patios, greenhouses, etc. will be proposed at a $50.00 fee; Additions which would be described as square footage added to a home or shops, garages, barns, storage buildings, etc. will be proposed at a $150.00 fee; New Construction of homes, apartments/duplex/townhouses, business buildings, business additions, etc. will be proposed at a fee of $250.00. Lynette will get the public hearing advertised for the next meeting.
Lynette and Shane had a question about headstones being placed in the Cemetery. Both had been told when hired on that all headstones installed needed to be flat but wanted clarification on if that is just in the new part or if that is all headstones no matter where the graves are located. Also, there is no where to be found an Ordinance or a Resolution stating this, and Lynette hasn’t went through the minutes to see if that’s where it’s at. Councilmember Greg Kunz remembered that being discussed when he served on Council previously. Lynette wanted clarification on if it should be made into an Ordinance/Resolution or to leave it alone. The pros are it definitely makes things easier for the maintenance at the cemetery and cons are that no one wants to put extra stipulations on how people want to remember their loved ones. It was discussed to maybe look into a provision of headstones being mounted on a 1” flush mounted base and was tabled for further discussion later.
Lynette and Shane have had some concerned citizens that would like to encourage a City sponsored Trunk or Treat to eliminate kids going door to door trick or treating on Halloween. The council agreed to promote a Trunk or Treat. Marty will help Lynette to work out the details. We will get flyers posted and sent home with the kids at school.
The next meeting date has a conflict with Election Day on November 3rd. Typically the elections are held in the City Hall but this year because of the need for social distancing, the City Hall is not large enough. Voting will be held in person at the LDS Church in the gym instead. Even though the building will now be available, we still don’t want to conflict with Election Day. The next meeting date was rescheduled for the following Tuesday, November 10th.
Councilmember Marty Nate brought up that the lack of parking in front of the church during the week is a problem, mostly for funerals. The car pool people seem to spread out and create very little space for parking. Bishop Smith is wondering if the City could put some “No Parking from 10:00 am – 2:00 pm” signs up. We need to find out if the area in front of the church is City property or church property. The parking is only going to get worse. It was suggested maybe we could ask Simplot to help install a Park & Ride. She has also been getting the run around from the State to help pay for speed signs so she will contact DeLoy Romrell at the local shed and go from there.
Councilmember Greg Kunz would like to see some lines painted down Stringtown since it has been chip sealed to help with visibility and people staying on the correct side of the road. DeLoy will look into and see if we can get the company doing the road at the Summit to paint some lines while they’re in town doing the highway.
Councilmember Tee Steadman sent some concerns to Lynette about a White Chevy being parked along Stringtown. It’s in the way for plowing snow and an eye sore and needs to be moved. We will send Officer Martinez to go and visit with them about it.
Police Report: There were 28 contacts for the month of September. Officer Martinez’s radios are outdated, and he needs new ones. Because of this, the County can’t get ahold of him to check on him when he is in Georgetown. Chief Roper at Montpelier just got new radios for his squad and got an extra one through a grant. He has donated that one to the City and Officer Martinez. We will just need to pay for it to be installed. It was also requested that Martinez come during school hours because there are a lot of speeders and hunters.
Maintenance Report: Shane gave his report for the month of September and stated that he and Alan have dug 3 graves, they put up new flags around town and new signs and the handicapped sign in front of the City Hall. They have been doing some fencing up around the water tanks. Shane contacted Kevin Martin at Sunrise about some SCADA alarms for the water tanks to alert when levels are low. Kevin would like to come and present to Shane, Alan and a council member or two some mapping options for the City to be able to find all water valves, pipes, etc. more easily. Shane will get it set up and notify the councilmembers when. He would also like to look into consolidating some trucks to get a 1-ton dump truck and plow. The old dump truck will take a lot to keep going and is infested with mice.
Office Business: There are 13 delinquent water and sewer accounts for the month of September. For the first time in a long time, she has been able to cross off everyone on the monthly shut off list because they each came and made a payment to be removed from the list for the month. In the spring we had talked about doing a Fall cleanup as well. It was decided to have Henning’s bring out some dumpsters on the 17th for a Fall Cleanup Day before the weather gets bad. She also reported that she needs another new printer because Shane could use one at the City Shop since theirs quit working and because the one she ordered doesn’t do 11×17 legal size paper and she needs that for the Cemetery Deeds. She got a bid from Bear River Electric to secure this building with some security camera’s, key fob entry on the door instead of metal keys, and a secure entry system with video doorbell and buzz entry to the main door. The bid also included a cell phone signal booster for the City Hall since the reception is very poor now that we have metal siding on the building. The total bid was around $16,000. Lynette will keep looking into options with a smaller security camera system and video doorbell that can be found cheaper on Amazon. Shane also had the idea of installing a 2nd door inside the entry way with maybe a half door and the top part could be of bullet proof glass. Chief Roper at Montpelier said he would donate the glass from the Old City Hall if we could use it for something. Lynette will look more into cheaper options to secure the building.
The chair entertained a motion from Councilmember Greg Kunz for the council to approve checks and vouchers for the month of September 2020 in the amount of $13,456.19 in the general fund, $8,783.89 in the water fund, and $22,132.36 in the sewer fund, with all funds totaling $44,372.44. Councilmember DeLoy Kunz seconded the motion. All were in favor and motion carried.
The chair entertained a motion from Councilmember Greg Kunz that council adjourns from the October 2020 council meeting at 9:15 pm. Councilmember DeLoy Kunz seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion carried the council.
Respectfully submitted,
Lynette Smith
City Clerk-Treasurer