January 4, 2023 Minutes
January 4, 2023
Those Present: DeLoy Kunz, Greg Kunz, Trenton Morrell, Tee Steadman, Mayor Stephan Waechtler, Maintenance Supervisor Shane Clark, City Clerk Lynette Smith, Kevin & Marty Nate, Sheriff Bart Heslington, Chief Deputy Ryan Larsen
Meeting called to order: 7:00 pm Invocation: Council President Greg Kunz
The Council entertained a motion from councilor Greg Kunz to approve the published agenda and was seconded by councilor Trenton Morrell. All were in favor and the motion carried the council.
The minutes from December 7, 2022, were read aloud by Clerk Smith. Councilor Tee Steadman made the motion to accept the minutes as read. Councilor Greg Kunz seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion carried the council. Clerk Smith made note of a correction about when the Public Hearing will be for the annexation and water rate increases as well as water and sewer hookups. The date will be January 25th because the news examiner didn’t publish a paper during the week of December 28th so the notices didn’t get in for the time restraints.
Sheriff Bart Heslington came before the council with a proposal for the County Sheriff’s Office to have a contract to patrol and enforce our Ordinances in Georgetown. Sheriff Heslington was appreciative to be on the agenda and the Council’s consideration with Officer Martinez retiring. He said he has prepared similar proposals for St. Charles and Bloomington. Their proposal would hire a separate deputy to patrol all the cities but may not be the same deputy each time, but this would allow them to hire another full-time deputy. Their office would handle all the certifications, POST, etc. and they would attend regular council meetings. This contract would enable the deputies to enforce our Ordinances as well; at this time, they are not authorized to enforce but only help to keep the peace now because we are incorporated City. He handed out a report to all the council members to review about calls being made to Georgetown in the last calendar year. The council asked if we would be able to have an officer on weekends or holidays when we want and Sheriff responded that we would be able to discuss and set a schedule for the contracted 55 hours a month. How much will it cost? Georgetown’s share would be about $30,000 a year which would be equivalent to the other cities also. The Mayor questioned a specific incident happening a year ago and was told if we have any issues to call the Sheriff’s Office but what does that do if they can’t enforce anything? Sheriff explained that they can come and assist to keep the peace among the neighbors but can’t issue citations but they can still collect info and then pass along to our police department and attorney. The Mayor worried about the summer months and the lake and that end of the valley taking precedence over us. Sheriff assured that we would get our hours we are contracted and scheduled. Council questioned how do we get ahold of the officers on duty and Sheriff said we would have a direct line of communication and his office would handle all the scheduling. Kevin Nate thinks it would be of benefit to have 10-12 different personalities to handle the people that always think they’re above the law and said that Georgetown has been known as a speed trap and we don’t want to lose that. Marty Nate asked if the City would still get their percentage of citations issued in Georgetown and Sheriff said that would have to be included in the contract. Sheriff explained that each City would have its own contract and would be renewed annually and ideally each City needs to participate to make this work, but if in a year a City doesn’t renew, then the Sheriff’s Office would assume all risks. Sheriff will work with Adam for a template on the contract. Shane asked if there is any benefit of having our own vehicle with all the upgrades that we’ve made to the vehicle lately and Sheriff said that could be negotiated in the contract or the county could add it to their inventory, or we could sell it. Question was also asked what happens if for some reason they don’t get their 55 hours in, what would the consequences be; Sheriff said maybe the next month they would do more than 55 to offset. The council decided that they would like to see a contract written up by Adam before making any decisions.
There was only one silent bid received for the old Ford service truck. Lynette confirmed with Adam that the City is not required to accept the bids and can advertise in the classifieds to sell. Councilor Tee Steadman made the motion to reject the bid and was seconded by Councilor Trenton Morrell. Councilor Greg Kunz abstained from voting. After some discussion Councilor Greg Kunz made the motion to accept the bid to Jacob Kunz and was seconded by Councilor DeLoy Kunz. Voting was tied and the Mayor broke the tie by voting to list the truck on FaceBook and KSL for $2,150.00.
The public hearings for the Whitaker Annexation, water rate increase and sewer and water hookup increases will be held on January 25th and has been published in the paper.
Councilor Tee Steadman is concerned about who will enforce our Ordinances now since Officer Martinez has retired and until we get someone new hired. He said there are still a lot of people that are plowing their snow and carrying it across the road and not getting it cleaned up. He would like Lynette to send out letters to them telling them to stop since the post on FaceBook hasn’t helped.
Councilor Greg Kunz asked who plows the snow at the cross walk on the highway so that the kids can use the crosswalk and the flags that we’ve put up. He also commented that the cars parked in front of the Church, from all the mine workers, are awful because we can’t get it plowed. Need to find out who has jurisdiction; City or Church. Need to post signs for no parking and can talk to the mines about it or have them towed.
Police Report: There were 32 contacts for the month of December. Officer Martinez sent a letter for the councilmembers, officially giving notice for his retirement and how much he enjoyed working here.
Maintenance Report: Shane gave his report for the month of December and stated that he and Alan did some work to the SCADA system, he got a new pump ordered, and did lots of snow removal. He helped Gail Hayes with a sewer issue. There was lots of discussion on where the bus can turn around up the canyon and who is responsible for keeping it plowed. Shane was told to track all of his hours of time spent plowing county roads. It was suggested to get in touch with the County to have them install a sign for no parking so the bus can get turned around. Shane also said that they will need to do some chip seal this year and was told to contact the County and see if they can drop it in Georgetown instead of hauling all the way to town and then we have to find a way to haul it back.
Office Business: There are 14 delinquent water and sewer accounts for the month of December. The winners of the Christmas Lights contest were 1st Tony & Chris Price, 2nd Doug & Shellie Thompson and 3rd Matt & Tiffany Argyle. She will inform the Police applicants that the Council isn’t ready to make a decision on who to hire yet and want to explore all options with the Sheriff’s department before making a decision. Lynette will get the W-2’s prepared for everyone to have before the next council meeting. She asked about if people can pre-pay for their water and sewer hookups. One family would like to get them installed in order to get one load of asphalt to go on all properties. The council decided that hookups can’t be paid for without a permit first.
The chair entertained a motion from Councilor DeLoy Kunz for the council to approve checks and vouchers for the month of December 2022 in the amount of $15,105.12 in the general fund, $6,066.50 in the water fund, and $20,396.00 in the sewer fund, with all funds totaling $41,567.62. Councilor Trenton Morrell seconded the motion. All were in favor and motion carried the council.
The chair entertained a motion from Councilor DeLoy Kunz that council adjourns from the January 2023 council meeting at 9:30 pm. Councilor Trenton Morrell seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion carried the council.
Respectfully submitted,
Lynette Smith
City Clerk-Treasurer