February Minutes
February 7, 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, Chris Banks, Brandee Wells, Kevin Martin & Addison Ochsenbein of Sunrise Engineering, Lori Chapman, Neiko Waechtler, Gary & James Teuscher
Meeting called to order: 7:00 pm Invocation: Council President Greg Kunz
The Council entertained a motion from councilor Tee Steadman 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 January 4, 2023, were read aloud by Clerk Smith. Councilor Trenton Morrell made the motion to accept the minutes as read. Councilor DeLoy Kunz seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion carried the council.
Chris Banks and Brandee Wells came before the council to discuss some options that they help to write grants for landowners and municipalities. They worked with our city previously on our wastewater project and did a conservation project. He wanted to know exactly what we’re looking to do and the council told him we need to upgrade our lines since most are very old and cast iron lines and we would like to look at adding another line from our tanks because we don’t have room for growth with our current system. We need to replace probably 25,000 feet between the spring to the tank and from the tank down to the City. Chris will email a form to Lynette to fill out so he can help us get a couple of grants that are available right now.
Kevin Martin of Sunrise Engineering and his partner Addison Ochsenbein, came to the council to discuss our new requirements from DEQ to test every home for lead and copper. He has submitted an application for us for help to get a grant to pay for that. They will want all homes to be documented in the city and to have all galvanized pipe removed. Upstream galvanized pipe will be ok but downstream will need to be replaced. Inventory will need to be taken by October 2024 and we have a 4 year window to address issues. If we haven’t had any hits ever for finding lead and copper before then that could be taken into consideration for our inventory. Kevin also had a suggestion to implement a developer’s agreement with our subdivision ordinance which could include a cost analysis. He will forward that on to Lynette.
Neiko Waechtler asked the council for some guidance on making the shadow box for Officer Martinez. It was requested to make the box out of blue pinewood and to spend up to $500.00.
Gary and James Teuscher came before the council to present the Fiscal Year 2021-2022 Audit. The city continues to be in good shape and all accounts are in order. Councilor Greg Kunz made the motion to payback the General Fund from the Sewer Fund in the amount of $15,740.05 and from the Water Fund in the amount of $21,362.69. Councilor Trenton Morrell seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion carried the council.
The city needs to submit a claim to adjudicate our water used throughout the city with the Bear River Basin Adjudication. TJ Budge in Pocatello is willing to help the city file the claim. Clerk Smith will setup a conference call with him on February 22nd from 2-4 pm for those that can make it to help get our claim going.
The Business License and Planning & Zoning Ordinance Drafts will be tabled until the next meeting.
Councilor Tee Steadman said to reach out to the other cities and get a feel for what they are thinking on going with a contract with the County or if we should move on and do our own thing. He would like to see a contract by our March meeting.
Councilor Greg Kunz would like the city to consider selling the welder/generator if it’s not being used. It’s practically brand new with 4 hours on it and since we have a bigger generator. Shane does start it and run it once a year to keep it in good working condition. Councilor Tee Steadman said he thinks its good to have it even though it’s not being used much so that we have it when we need it and not getting rid of useful equipment. Greg also asked about the snow pile by the post office and wondered where we can put snow throughout the city because the intersections are getting hard to see past.
Police Report: No report for January.
Maintenance Report: Shane gave his report for the month of January and stated that he and Alan have a grave coming up this month. Shane is worried about graves in the winter and damaging headstones in the snow when you can’t see where they are at and trying to dig around them. There are some other cemeteries that wait for the snow to leave. He will check into and find out more details before the next meeting. The plow truck clutch was readjusted and fixed by Troy DeClark and they have been able to do more snow removal this month. He thanked the Mayor and his family for helping to pull the plow truck out and provide a way to plow snow when the truck was down.
Office Business: There are 13 delinquent water and sewer accounts for the month of January. Lynette inquired about the Employee Holiday suggested list for the maintenance workers. It was decided to follow the federal recognized holiday. Marty Nate would like to use the City Hall for a greenhouse class on February 18th. Bear Lake Animal Hospital wants to do a pet clinic in Georgetown and offer a discount for vaccinations and come to the community. They will take care of all of the advertising and such if we will provide the location in an enclosed building such as the City shop. The council agreed to let them come and Lynette can get dogs licensed and sell dog tags at the same time.
The chair entertained a motion from Councilor Tee Steadman for the council to approve checks and vouchers for the month of January 2023 in the amount of $16,124.00 in the general fund, $23,475.83 in the water fund, and $66,560.92 in the sewer fund, with all funds totaling $106,160.75. Councilor DeLoy Kunz seconded the motion. All were in favor and motion carried the council.
The chair entertained a motion from Councilor Tee Steadman that council adjourns from the February 2023 council meeting at 9:30 pm. Councilor DeLoy Kunz seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion carried the council.
Respectfully submitted,
Lynette Smith
City Clerk-Treasurer