Georgetown Idaho

November 7, 2024
Those Present: Greg Kunz, Marty Nate, Tee Steadman, Mayor Steve Waechtler, Maintenance Supervisor Shane Clark, Maintenance Hadley Wright, City Clerk Lynette Smith, Addison Ochsenbein of Sunrise Engineering, City Attorney Adam McKenzie, Councilor Trenton Morrell absent
Meeting called to order: 7:00 pm Invocation: Mayor Steve Waechtler
The Council entertained a motion from Councilor Tee Steadman to approve the published agenda and was seconded by Councilor Greg Kunz. All were in favor and the motion carried the council.
The minutes from October 1, 2024, were read aloud by the Mayor. Councilor Tee Steadman made the motion to accept the minutes as read and Councilor Marty Nate seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion carried the council.
There are no votes to canvass from this election as it wasn’t a City Election.
Addison Ochsenbein, from Sunrise Engineering came before the council to report on his findings. DEQ has opened for accepting applications for loans, the City would like to keep applying to show we are still in need for a project. LHTAC only has sign grants available and he will look into if crosswalk signs are applicable. He is still working on putting together a scope for the transportation plan and we were awarded $30,000. Plans for safety to the school could be about $36,000. He will get a copy of the scope to Lynette and she will distribute to the council.
Our City Attorney, Adam McKenzie reported back that he has spoken with Mark Parker at the Fire District regarding our lease agreement. He said they don’t have the funds to build and don’t foresee being able to within the next 5-10 years. There is no sense in a lease agreement at this point and there is still concern about them owning the building and the city owning the land if we were to ever part ways. Councilor Greg Kunz is concerned if in 5-10 years we have a whole new council and they may not want to move forward with this if we lose the convenience of having a fire truck and such out this way. Adam recommended selling them the land to try and ensure keeping them in our area and the City could have the first right to buy back if it ever came to that.
Ordinance #96 and encroachment on the roads was discussed and Adam said if we are increasing our fees more than 5% we have to hold a public hearing and the fees can’t be revenue funding but needs to be sufficient to cover our costs. As reported at the last meeting, the last repair was nearly $2500 to fix on Stringtown. Concern about a $900 fee not being enough as costs continue to increase. Adam said that if the applicant doesn’t pay the fee or fails to make the repairs then the City would file a lawsuit. Councilor Greg Kunz is concerned about if the road repair sinks 5 years down the road and it was decided that someone like an Engineer or the City maintenance crew would need to sign off on the repairs to be sufficient with a 1-year warranty before any refunds would be granted. The maintenance crew would also supervise what goes back in beneath the asphalt and ensure it is brought back to existing conditions. A breakdown of requirements will be included with the application. It was decided that the Public Hearing will be held on January 7th with a fee of $3,050 and $3,000 being refundable within 60 days following approval and repair must be completed within 30 days. Applications will be approved by the council or in emergency situations can be approved by the maintenance guys
Fees at the cemetery were discussed. Clerk Smith did some research with some surrounding cemeteries to compare our prices. Adam suggested to better define our geographic area in an updated Ordinance which has been from Smith Lane to Georgetown Summit and Nounan. Councilor Tee Steadman made the motion to follow Montpelier’s fee schedule of $250.00 per space for residents, $2,500.00 per space for non-residents, limiting to 4 per household, opening and closing a grave will be $250 from Monday-Friday before 4 pm and $400 after 4 pm on weekends and holidays and cremations are the same price. We will have a public hearing on the same night to finalize these new fees.
The parking situation in front of the church was discussed. Adam suggested creating an Ordinance to prohibit parking in front of the church on City streets or installing a no parking zone with no overnight parking or longer than 3 hours, if violated, they would be cited and subject to towing. Councilor Tee Steadman has been in touch with a couple of the mines that didn’t realize the problem we had with their employees and contractors parking there. We will wait to hear back what they come up with.
It was brought to the councils attention that a citizen may be in violation of an agreement had about not packing a firearm in his vehicle where he can threaten people. Adam will look into our agreement to see about terms and was also stressed that when citizens see these things, they need to call in and report it.
The council approved giving a donation of $500.00 to the senior citizen center.
The council approved Keller Associates to prepare our Annual Land Application report again this year but we will shop around for next year because they weren’t very responsive when we needed their help during our sewer pond crisis.
The Christmas Park Lighting Event will be held on Monday, December 2nd and the Bartschi’s have reached out about doing the food again this year. Tee will line up someone for Santa. Lynette has had a photographer reach out about coming to the event and the council agreed that she is welcome to come but wouldn’t be hired by the City.
Councilor Marty Nate reported that for the Trunk or Treat next year she would like to offer hot dogs and hot chocolate. The trunk or treat was well attended again this year despite the cold. It was noted to either shut down the road or move off the road to the baseball field or even the church parking lot and use that pavilion for the food. She asked about fixing the entrance into the post office from 2nd Street and the hole off the highway by the sidewalk. She has done some research about the splash pad in Paris and found out the City got the cement donated from Parson’s from their leftover jobs and the water is recycled and is used to water the park. The city bought the holding tank and said they need a bigger tank but it was expensive. They haven’t had any trouble with vandalism or abuse. She wondered about using a rubber mulch instead of concrete. She will continue doing some more research.
Councilor Tee Steadman brought an idea of somehow motivating/incentivizing citizens to input a sprinkler system as a way to conserve water. He stated that we need to find a way to make improvements to our infrastructure or move in a different direction to prevent installing water meters. For example, even if we were to give a kickback to our 128 connections it could still be cheaper than getting a $2 million loan for our infrastructure.
Police Report: Sheriff Bart Heslington was unable to attend the council meeting but emailed a report for the council to review. They completed 60.5 hours and had 201 contacts resulting in 5 citations and 32 warnings and 28 traffic stops. He also said they can put the police car up for surplus auction and we just need to set a minimum price for it. The Mayor suggested a $3500 minimum with the equipment. Lynette will work with Bart for the information. The council reviewed the amounts coming in from citations each month.
Maintenance Report: Hadley Wright gave their report for the month of October and stated that he and Shane have been busy at the sewer ponds putting it back together, finalized the seepage test on the pond, serviced the backhoe and had to replace a fuel pump. Alice is almost done with the power at the park and shed, they got a new fuel storage tank, winterized everything at the land app site and all hoses, etc, and took the samples for the month.
Office Business: There are 21 delinquent water and sewer accounts for the month of October. Lynette reported that she was able to use the messaging service for a couple of messages this month and was able to send separate messages to each of the delinquents directly. Lynette has a conflict with the date of our next meeting since she will be out of town for a week. After discussion it was decided that the meeting will remain on Tuesday, December 3rd and councilor Marty Nate will take the minutes. The Mayor requested that she send out a message to citizens that UPS has the city on a deferment delivery service and will only deliver packages 2 days a week. Unless we all call customer service and complain it will be permanent as of the first of the year.
The chair entertained a motion from Councilor Marty Nate for the council to approve checks and vouchers for the month of October 2024 in the amount of $30,221.79 in the general fund, $12,816.82 in the water fund, and $34,218.90 in the sewer fund, with all funds totaling $77,257.51. Councilor Tee Steadman seconded the motion. All were in favor and motion carried the council.
The chair entertained a motion from Councilor Marty Nate that council adjourns from the November 2024 council meeting at 9:50 pm. Councilor Tee Steadman seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion carried the council.
Respectfully submitted,

Lynette Smith, City Clerk-Treasurer

October 1, 2024

Those Present: Trenton Morrell, Marty Nate, Tee Steadman, Mayor Steve Waechtler, Maintenance Supervisor Shane Clark, Maintenance Hadley Wright, City Clerk Lynette Smith, Addison Ochsenbein of Sunrise Engineering, Sheriff Bart Heslington, Councilor Greg Kunz absent

Meeting called to order:               7:00 pm                               Invocation:         Mayor Steve Waechtler

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 September 3, 2024, were read aloud by Clerk Smith and the Mayor. Councilor Marty Nate made the motion to accept the minutes as read and Councilor Trenton Morrell seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion carried the council.

Police Report: Sheriff Bart Heslington came before the council to give their report. They completed 59.5 hours and had 115 contacts resulting in 9 citations and 13 warnings and 21 traffic stops. He reported that they have been out patrolling in the evenings and have ran into citizens out and about checking on things as well but have not been calling things in. He asked the council to spread the word to encourage people to call in and report things of importance so a record and history can be started.

Addison Ochsenbein, from Sunrise Engineering came before the council to report on the roadway projects. The project is completed and he reported on the issue at 6^th Street but it was too late to fix as it was missed during the final walk through. The Mayor needs to sign the final pay application and notice of completion. He also reported that the grant he was thinking of to fix our bridge, LHTAC isn’t doing this year so he is looking into other options. He asked for some direction on the Transportation Plan and what our top concerns are. The council responded our main concerns are with kids safety getting to and from school, the sidewalks, crosswalk, signs for a crosswalk/flashing lights, etc. Parking is another major issue. The city owns the street in front of the church but we need some guidance on how to enforce who can park there and when, because it is always full and it affects when there are funerals, church on Sundays and the school parking during the school year. Sheriff Bart recommended using citations vs. towing. Was suggested that we can put up no parking signs unless on Sundays or for a funeral or can issue permits for park and ride. Bart is going to a meeting with Bayer shortly and will bring up the parking issue and the County can put up a vehicle counter on the edge of town and Stringtown to get a better idea of the traffic we have from spring to fall. Councilor Marty Nate made the motion to sign the final pay application for Avail Valley and Councilor Trenton Morrell seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion carried the council.

Our City Attorney, Adam McKenzie, recommended not holding a public hearing for the road permit fees until we can publish exactly what we’re doing. It has been discussed to charge $1,000.00 with $50.00 being for the permit fee and $950.00 being a refundable deposit if the work gets completed in a timely manner. Councilor Trenton Morrell also suggested a $500.00 fee for disturbing the right of way to be charged to whomever pulls the permit if it’s the homeowner or the contractor. The No Dig policy is from November 15^th to March 15^th. Was suggested to issue a fine if anyone digs without a permit, even to gas companies and have a way to pull the permit and pay for the fee online. It was $2,500.00 to fix and asphalt Stringtown this year so maybe $1,000.00 isn’t enough and was discussed if we could set the fee on a case by case basis. Councilor Marty Nate is concerned of how to enforce and was tabled until the next meeting and we will invite Adam to attend.

Fees at the cemetery were discussed. Funeral homes have asked if we have different fees on the weekends as other cities double fees on Saturday’s. Was recommended to say no funerals on Sunday’s or Holiday’s. Our plot fees are also super cheap compared to other areas for our residents and we need to look at increasing those fees as well. It was decided to table until the next meeting and to call around to other cities to compare.

UpAhead Messaging Service was discussed. The company did another demo with Marty, Shane and Hadley present and was able to ask more questions. The Remind messaging service that we use now is limited with how many people can be in the group and is meant for schools, at some point we will be told we can’t use the system anymore. We can use the service for water and sewer service shutoff notices and not have to use personal phones, and can use for more things if we have it, since it is more like a phone and can also log in anywhere and send a message. It was suggested to ask if the Irrigation Company would be willing to share some of the fee for use during the summer months. Councilor Trenton Morrell asked if it would be better to purchase a cell phone that can send messages, the cons to that are that no one wants to pack around an additional phone. Councilor Marty Nate made the motion to move forward with the UpAhead Messaging Service and was seconded by Councilor Tee Steadman. All were in favor and the motion carried the council.

The Trunk or Treat will be held on Halloween which is on a Thursday this year and we will start at 5:00 pm. Lynette will get flyers put up and handed out at the school.

The council discussed what to do with the old police car and that we need to sell it before it depreciates more. Sheriff Bart said he could check around if another small city needs it or we can strip all of the police stuff before it goes to auction. Lynette will send an email to Bart with the cars information, and he will report back at the next meeting.

Councilor Marty Nate reported she’s had some citizens concerned about when the cows will be coming down Stringtown from Slug Creek and Tee responded that he thinks they will truck the cows home and not trail them this year. She also said she would like to do a splash pad in the Park and wants to start planning towards that. Tee mentioned to reach out to the Mines about coming to a meeting and discuss help with funding for a splash pad and the parking issues.

Maintenance Report: Hadley Wright gave their report for the month of September and stated that he and Shane have been busy with mowing, checked on the spring, dug two graves, been helping with the power at the park and power to the shed is almost done. The service missionaries are scheduled to come on the second Tuesday of every month to help with projects. They have also been busy at the sewer ponds still and have installed a bypass line since the transfer structure is completely plugged. They will update all drawings with what they find and will tie it all in and have back to normal operating by tomorrow hopefully.

Office Business:   There are 18 delinquent water and sewer accounts for the month of September. She completed and distributed the CCR Water Report for the year. Our next meeting has a conflict with the elections and use of the building so the meeting was moved to Thursday, November 7^th.

The chair entertained a motion from Councilor Marty Nate for the council to approve checks and vouchers for the month of September 2024 in the amount of $262,792.85 in the general fund, $8,584.60 in the water fund, and $28,066.41 in the sewer fund, with all funds totaling $299,443.86. Councilor Trenton Morrell seconded the motion. All were in favor and motion carried the council.

The chair entertained a motion from Councilor Marty Nate that council adjourns from the October 2024 council meeting at 9:35 pm. Councilor Trenton Morrell seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion carried the council.

Respectfully submitted,

Lynette Smith

City Clerk-Treasurer

September 3, 2024
Those Present: Greg Kunz, Trenton Morrell, Marty Nate, Mayor Steve Waechtler, Maintenance Supervisor Shane Clark, Maintenance Hadley Wright, City Clerk Lynette Smith, Addison Ochsenbein of Sunrise Engineering, Sheriff Bart Heslington, Councilor Tee Steadman absent
Meeting called to order: 7:00 pm Invocation: Mayor Steve Waechtler
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 August 6, 2024, were read aloud by Clerk Smith. Councilor Marty Nate made the motion to accept the minutes as read and Councilor Greg Kunz seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion carried the council.
Police Report: Sheriff Bart Heslington came before the council to give their report. They did an OHV class at the Mayor’s place and it was well attended and the citizens appreciated having it. They completed 58.5 hours and had 184 contacts resulting in 13 citations and 7 warnings. Councilor Marty Nate questioned how the calls happen, and the process and timeline followed for how things are followed up on if a call in is made and Sheriff explained and stays in contact with our liaison Councilor Tee Steadman.
Addison Ochsenbein, from Sunrise Engineering came before the council to report on the roadway projects. The project is basically complete and they made it to 3rd, 6th, East and West Street. We ran out of money before they could do 5th Street or Hayes Lane. The Mayor will need to sign a notice of completion and waiting for a final pay application from Avail Valley. Addison inquired about applying for a grant to fix the bridge and will need ITD to come look and sign off on it. We did receive the Transportation Grant and he is working on putting together a scope for that and will present at the next council meeting.
Councilor Trenton Morrell made the motion to leave the regular meeting and move into public hearing for the purpose of accepting the proposed budget for Fiscal Year 2024-2025 and to reopen the 2023-2024 budget to accept and expend the road grant. Councilor Greg Kunz seconded the motion and a roll call vote was taken and is as follows: Marty – yes, Greg – yes, Trenton – yes. Motion carried. The Mayor then opened the floor to the public for discussion, comments or concerns. Clerk Smith reported that the office has not received any comments, written or verbal pertaining to the proposed budget. Councilor Marty Nate made the motion to leave the public hearing and go back to regular meeting. Councilor Trenton Morrell seconded the motion and a roll call vote was taken and is as follows: Marty – yes, Greg – yes, Trenton – yes. Motion carried. Councilor Trenton Morrell made the motion to accept the proposed budget for Fiscal Year 2024-2025 as printed and to accept and expend $239,000 for the roadway grant. Councilor Marty Nate seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion carried the council.
Ordinance #114 the appropriations ordinance for the proposed budget for Fiscal Year 2024-2025 was presented and read to the council. Councilor Greg Kunz made the motion to approve Ordinance #114 and was seconded by councilor Trenton Morrell. All were in favor and a roll call vote was taken and is as follows: Marty – yes, Greg – yes, Trenton – yes. Motion carried.
Ordinance #96 was discussed for clarification on the wording and a deposit, raising the fee and having a separate permit fee. Anyone that cuts the road, bores under the road or does anything with the road should get and fill out the form and submit a fee. Shane will ask Kam Whitaker how much a trench would cost. Discussed to get a bill from Kam for Intermountain Gas to fix the patch on Stringtown. The Gas Company should be responsible to pay for the patch and should have gotten a permit to dig also. Questioned moving the no dig policy back to October 1st. Councilor Trenton Morrell brought up we are already charging $5,000 per utility hookup so we should keep the permit fee down to lower to $50 and refund the deposit. We will have a public hearing at the next meeting to raise the fees from $800 to $1000 and $950 would be refundable.
City Attorney, Adam McKenzie, revised our deeds for the cemetery to give to those that purchase plots. Councilor Greg Kunz made the motion to accept the new form and was seconded by Councilor Trenton Morrell. All were in favor and the motion carried the council. It was discussed to raise the fees at the next meeting as well for the purchase of plots and that no trees can be planted throughout the cemetery or by citizens.
UpAhead Messaging Service has reached out to Lynette and seems to be a better way to get word out to a community. We are currently using our website, Facebook and the Remind app but where we aren’t a school we probably technically shouldn’t be using the app. This service would have a set up cost and then $100 per month. The council decided to hold off for now and to have some other members come in for a demo with them to see how the messaging service works before we make a decision.
Councilor Marty Nate brought up her concerns with big trucks traveling on Hayes Lane and wondered why they can’t turn off of Stringtown instead. The Mayor said that the traffic will stop or at least slow down once the construction of the home is completed.
Councilor Trenton Morrell reported that he and Councilor Tee Steadman have found another guy to communicate with for the State Highway and they have talked about moving forward with our school zone along the highway to get traffic to slow down during the hours that kids are traveling to and from school. The State is currently working on updating their templates and then we can move forward with an agreement between the City and State to complete the school zone. He also inquired about some senior projects the City would need done. One suggestion was to paint the playground equipment. He will find out more criteria to see if we have more projects we could use help with.
Maintenance Report: Shane Clark gave their report for the month of August and stated that he and Hadley have been busy with the road project, marked utilities and had a grave opening. They have gotten their monthly samples and the spring has a lot of water right now. The weeds at the cemetery have been sprayed. The service missionaries have came and painted the pavilion. We need to do one more seepage test at the other lagoon and have had issues there with it being plugged; there must be a leak or a pipe broke somewhere. They are continuing to work on that and get issues resolved there.
Office Business: There are 15 delinquent water and sewer accounts for the month of August. Lynette asked if the Mayor is interested in participating in the Mayor’s Walking Challenge again this year and if he walks 10,000 steps the month of October, we can get $1000. He will participate again but needs a new watch. Lynette received an inquiry about doing a 3-year contract for the fireworks at Twin Creek Days. Concerns were that the Mayor and Sorenson’s are the primary ones that receive donations for the fireworks and once his term is served, we would still be locked into that price. If nobody continues to do the leg work to raise the funds, is the City willing to still pay for that service each year. The City opted to stick to a year to year basis.
The chair entertained a motion from Councilor Marty Nate for the council to approve checks and vouchers for the month of August 2024 in the amount of $28,855.47 in the general fund, $10,623.48 in the water fund, and $23,897.51 in the sewer fund, with all funds totaling $63,376.46. Councilor Trenton Morrell seconded the motion. All were in favor and motion carried the council.
The chair entertained a motion from Councilor Marty Nate that council adjourns from the September 2024 council meeting at 9:00 pm. Councilor Trenton Morrell seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion carried the council.
Respectfully submitted,

Lynette Smith
City Clerk-Treasurer

August 6, 2024

Those Present: Trenton Morrell, Marty Nate, Tee Steadman, Mayor Steve Waechtler, Maintenance Supervisor Shane Clark, Maintenance Hadley Wright, City Clerk Lynette Smith, Addison Ochsenbein of Sunrise Engineering, Mike Carr, CPA Gary H. Teuscher

Meeting called to order:               7:00 pm                               Invocation:         Council President Tee Steadman

The Council entertained a motion from Councilor Tee Steadman to approve the published agenda and was seconded by Councilor Marty Nate. All were in favor and the motion carried the council.

The minutes from July 2, 2024, were read aloud by Clerk Smith. Councilor Tee Steadman made the motion to accept the minutes as read and Councilor Marty Nate seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion carried the council.

Mike Carr came before the council and had some questions about Ordinance #96 and asked if it is a permit or a deposit? He is putting power to a building and may have to go under the road for it. He thinks he’s came up with another plan to move the power to the shop where he needs it another way, but wanted some clarification anyway. The council decided it is a deposit and not a permit fee, but maybe there should be a separate permit fee.

Mark Parker, the Bear Lake County Fire Chief, came to the council to discuss the 99-year lease agreement. Adam has not gotten anything to Lynette in regards to that yet, but Mark will talk to Adam about how to move forward with the agreement when he sees him at the County Office. He stated if they can secure the land it could be easier to get grants because they can’t afford to put up a building right now. He also passed on some information for Fire Insurance and needs some data for the insurance rating bureau of water usage, lines installed, annexations, flow test hydrants, commercial building inspections etc. and thinks he can save everyone money on their insurance with these ratings. He stated they appreciate the donations that have been made by the City and that equipment does stay in Georgetown and they like being involved with the fireworks for our Twin Creeks Celebrations.

Addison Ochsenbein came before the council to report on the roadway projects. They are planning to get started on the streets next Friday and there will be a pre-construction meeting on Tuesday or Wednesday. Councilor Tee Steadman made the motion to approve and have the Mayor sign the Notice to Proceed and was seconded by councilor Marty Nate. Clerk Smith will get a notice ready to send out after the meeting to let citizens know about the coming construction.

The Mayor reported on the Twin Creeks celebration and said he raised almost $6,000 in donations for the Fireworks and got a lot of good feedback from the community. He said we need more community involvement and it was suggested to reach out to get the wards more involved again too. Not sure if they will do the fish again because there are too many left over each time and we need more patrolling along Stringtown during the events of the day. Breakfast had probably less than 100 people. A survey will be coming out for any changes the community would like to see for next year.

Elder and Sister Porter have reached out about having the service missionaries come to help with any little projects our maintenance guys need. They have been going to Grace, Bancroft, Soda Springs, Montpelier and surrounding areas to help out as well. The maintenance guys think they could use their help on some small projects and would be great to have them. Clerk Smith will double check with our Insurance Agent to make sure we are covered and then we can get them scheduled to come. Councilor Trenton Morrell made the motion to Sign the Memorandum of Understanding with them and approve them to come help out. Councilor Marty Nate seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion carried the council.

The Council then engaged in the budget workshop for Fiscal year 2024-2025 with Gary H. Teuscher from 7:45 until 8:45 pm. Councilor Tee Steadman made the motion to reopen the budget to accept and expend $239,000 for the road grant. Councilor Trenton Morrell seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion carried the council. Clerk Smith will get the proper notices ready to have along with the public hearing for the new fiscal year budget. Gary said he will still prepare our financial statements but can’t do our audit. Lynette has reached out to a few other firms and waiting to hear back from one to get on their schedule.

Councilor Marty Nate asked if we can get the cemetery and weeds by the church sprayed this fall and she has some big plans for the City Park and will work with Councilor Trenton Morrell.

Councilor Tee Steadman asked when the road on Stringtown was going to get fixed. Kam thought it was supposed to be on the schedule before and not sure why it got missed, but says it should be fixed on August 19^th now. Was suggested to work on updating the wording in Ordinance #96 and to increase the fee of $800 when cutting across the road and to add a fine if it’s not repaired in a timely manner. Tee also suggested putting something historical in the gravel by the church.

Police Report: Councilor Tee Steadman has been in touch with Sheriff Bart Heslington and they were unable to make the meeting tonight.

Maintenance Report: Hadley Wright gave their report for the month of July and stated that he and Shane have been busy getting the monthly samples and lead and copper samples, getting the gas line installed for the new generator and helping to get the new power in the park installed. It has been brought to our attention that we need to do a seepage test on Lagoon 1 this year as well and Keller Associates has agreed to do it for $5,500 and can complete this year. Our other seepage test was just completed and we passed and got the report accepted.

Office Business:   There are 16 delinquent water and sewer accounts for the month of July. The guys took around shut off notices to citizens and all that received a door warning, caught up their accounts.

The chair entertained a motion from Councilor Marty Nate for the council to approve checks and vouchers for the month of July 2024 in the amount of $27,125.99 in the general fund, $22,541.96 in the water fund, and $73,202.01 in the sewer fund, with all funds totaling $122,869.96. Councilor Trenton Morrell seconded the motion. All were in favor and motion carried the council.

The chair entertained a motion from Councilor Marty Nate that council adjourns from the August 2024 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

July 2, 2024
Those Present: Greg Kunz, Trenton Morrell, Marty Nate, Tee Steadman, Mayor Steve Waechtler, Maintenance Supervisor Shane Clark, Maintenance Hadley Wright, City Clerk Lynette Smith, Sheriff Deputy Ryan Larsen, Deputy Jack James, Morgan & Heather Kidd, Kevin Nate, Zach Crockett, Paul Miller, Tiffini Ricks, Cody Coombs, Jacob Kunz
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 Tee Steadman. All were in favor and the motion carried the council.
The minutes from June 4, 2024, were read aloud by Mayor Waechtler. Councilor Greg Kunz had some follow up questions about the minutes and the road being fixed by July 1st. No one has heard when it’s happening. He also asked about the junkyards and fences. There were no decisions made about what to do about the situations and the citizens in question were not approached about installing fences. Councilor Tee Steadman suggested they look into putting up a fence so the mess is behind and not where the public can see. Katana Sorensen was present and said that dealership laws have to have vehicles out and at the front of the property and keep rotating inventory. The sidewalks were looked at but not measured. The whole thing isn’t in too rough of shape but the worst part is in front of Alice Anderson’s near the post office. Councilor Marty Nate pointed out to the Council Ordinance #18 about sidewalks. It needs to be repealed or updated. Councilor Trenton Morrell made the motion to accept the minutes as read and Councilor Greg Kunz seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion carried the council.
The minutes from June 12, 2024, special meeting were read aloud by Mayor Waechtler. Councilor Greg Kunz made the motion to accept the minutes as read and Councilor Trenton Morrell seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion carried the council.
Katana Sorensen came to the council to give an update on the Twin Creeks Celebration. The breakfast will be at 8:00 – 9:30 am and the bounce houses will be available in the morning with the foam, water activities and bike race towards the evening. The fireworks are $7500 and the Mayor has worked on getting a lot of donations. The fish pond will be about $500 and she will have a sand treasure pit for little kids to play in. The Sheriff’s department will be around to patrol and take care of the flag ceremony.
Police Report: Sheriff Heslington came before the council to give the police report for the month of June and stated there was 81 contacts and they worked 50.75 hours. Most of their contacts were ordinance violations related.
Addison Ochsenbein of Sunrise Engineering came before the council to give an update about the road project. The Notice of Award was sent to Avail Valley and they are waiting on a certificate of insurance from them. The Mayor signed a couple of pages for change orders to get our costs down to budget. Addison will be in contact for a schedule and there will be a pre-construction meeting with a start time sometime in September. He will let us know for sure so we can let citizens know the construction is coming. He reported back about the DEQ Drinking Water loan that we applied for and didn’t get awarded. We were 55 out of 59, but it showed the state that there is a need for more funding.
City Attorney, Adam McKenzie, was present at the meeting and discussed with the Council about drafting an Ordinance for signage in town or if it will be more of a headache to try and enforce than what it’s worth. Adam also discussed preparing a lease agreement with the County Fire District. He is concerned about the City owning the land and the County owning the building. He can put into the agreement that if we were to ever cut ties, the building would be the cities. He will work on putting a draft together.
Councilor Marty Nate asked Adam about our cemetery deeds and how far back does “heirs” go? He recommended not having that wordage and will work on revising our cemetery deeds to take that wordage out. Marty also reported that the display case is all set at the cemetery and the City has bought 15 flags from the Georgetown 1st Ward to use for the upcoming holidays. She also said we need to replace some cement at the pavilion.
Councilor Trenton Morrell asked about the speed limit signs and Clerk Smith reported that $2800 was sent from the County for one speed limit sign.
Maintenance Report: Shane Clark gave their report for the month of June and stated that he and Hadley have marked utilities, and mowed, trimmed and helped with the display case at the cemetery. Intermountain Gas Company came and took out the old meter already at the City shop and we probably need to make a cover for the whole thing. They got a bid for putting a cover over the backup generator from KJ’s Welding and the council approved it for less than $1,000.
Office Business: There are 22 delinquent water and sewer accounts for the month of June and Lynette reported that her and Shane were able to get the new computer up and running.
The chair entertained a motion from Councilor Marty Nate for the council to approve checks and vouchers for the month of June 2024 in the amount of $29,612.03 in the general fund, $35,651.09 in the water fund, and $37,969.53 in the sewer fund, with all funds totaling $103,232.65. Councilor Tee Steadman seconded the motion. All were in favor and motion carried the council.
The chair entertained a motion from Councilor Marty Nate that council adjourns from the July 2024 council meeting at 9:00 pm. Councilor Tee Steadman seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion carried the council.
Respectfully submitted,

Lynette Smith
City Clerk-Treasurer

June 12, 2024
Those Present: Greg Kunz, Trenton Morrell, Marty Nate, Mayor Steve Waechtler, Maintenance Supervisor Shane Clark, Maintenance Hadley Wright, Addison Ochsenbein of Sunrise Engineering, Alta Jean Neuman, Tim & LeRoy Huffaker
Meeting called to order: 7:00 pm
The Council entertained a motion from Councilor Marty Nate to approve the published agenda for the special meeting and was seconded by Councilor Trenton Morrell. All were in favor and the motion carried the council.
Addison Ochsenbein of Sunrise Engineering came before the council to discuss the roadway project and brought some information for the council to review and expressed that the important item of topic is that we are over budget for the project. The grant amount is $239,000 and the engineering fee is $31,000 leaving us with $208,000 to use of the grant money towards the project. He suggested there are a couple of options and asked if the City has any funds to use towards the project separate from the grant or if we need to cut the scope of the project back to be closer to $208,000. The City does have $25-30,000 saved up to do chip sealing/patching for roads for the year that could be used towards this project instead. Lots of discussion on where to make cuts at and was decided to cut out Hayes Lane and just do patches there and the portion of the road down to Mario Johnson’s to not have to widen that road at this time either but to fully reconstruct East Street, 3rd Street, and 6th Street. Also took off the sealing because typically you wait and seal the road a year after it’s been laid down. Shane talked to the State and they will save the chips for us to use another year and we are able to get out of the cost of the oil and we could look at chip sealing Hayes Lane next year instead.
Two bids were received from Avail Valley and Idaho Materials Construction at the bid opening last week on June 6th. Avail Valley came in with the lower bid at $270,195. Councilor Greg Kunz made the motion to have the Mayor sign the notice to award the bid to Avail Valley and then do a change order to remove the sealing on 3rd, 5th, Hayes and 5th street reconstruction and get the project down to budget and try to fit in patching on Hayes. Councilor Trenton Morrell seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion carried. Hoping for a start time of late summer.
The chair entertained a motion from Councilor Marty Nate that council adjourns from the special council meeting at 7:25 pm. Councilor Greg Kunz seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion carried the council.
Respectfully submitted,

Lynette Smith
City Clerk-Treasurer

June 4, 2024
Those Present: Greg Kunz, Trenton Morrell, Marty Nate, Mayor Steve Waechtler, Maintenance Supervisor Shane Clark, Maintenance Hadley Wright, City Clerk Lynette Smith, Addison Ochsenbein of Sunrise Engineering, Mayor Bob & Kelli Van Cleave
Meeting called to order: 7:00 pm Invocation: Mayor Steve Waechtler
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 May 7, 2024, were read aloud by Mayor Waechtler. Councilor Trenton Morrell made the motion to accept the minutes as read and Councilor Greg Kunz seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion carried the council.
Mayor Bob Van Cleave came before the council and would like to take down some of the old buildings along his property and input a storage unit in it’s place. He won’t be adding any sheds and the existing sheds are in poor shape. This storage unit will help the place look better anyway. The Council approved him to do so.
Addison Ochsenbein reported that they had a pre-bid meeting last Thursday and one contractor came for the pre-bid meeting to see the scope of the project but they do have a couple of other contractors interested. The bid openings will be on Thursday the 6th at 11:00 am and then they will need a couple of days to review and then have a special meeting with the council to approve and award the bid.
A citizen came to the office and requested for the sidewalks to be fixed along the highway to the post office. The council decided to do some more research and the guys will grab a roller and walk the sidewalks to see what needs we really have. It was also suggested to keep looking into fixing the bridge also.
Updates for the Twin Creeks Celebration were tabled until the next meeting.
Councilor Marty Nate reported that the City of Hagerman has a Disorderly Conduct Ordinance and wondered if we should adopt something similar for the signage throughout town. Lynette will talk to City Attorney, Adam McKenzie, about what we can do to enforce because even the freedom of speech has some limitations. She also has been approached about the junkyards on both sides of the highway. Our Ordinance says there needs to be a 6’ fence around it. She also reported that we did not receive the grants that she applied for. She also asked when Stringtown road is getting fixed from being cut and it should be by July 1st because been waiting for when a hot plant will be opened.
Councilor Greg Kunz reported that he heard the cemetery map looks nice at the cemetery and was helpful over the Memorial Day weekend.
Police Report: The Sheriff’s Department was not in attendance for this meeting.
Maintenance Report: Hadley Wright gave their report for the month of May and stated that he and Shane have cleaned the cemetery, trimmed the trees on Stringtown, helped setup for the Seepage Tests. They went with Addison and a contractor for the roadway project pre-bid meeting. They purchased a crack sealer for the roads instead of renting one.
Office Business: There are 18 delinquent water and sewer accounts for the month of May. The legal description for the annexation that was recorded with the County and sent to the Idaho State Tax Commission was returned for a typo that said Franklin County vs Bear Lake County. Lynette has fixed but will need to be re-recorded with the County and then sent to the Tax Commission again for approval. The new computer came and she will hopefully have it set up and ready before the next council meeting.
The chair entertained a motion from Councilor Marty Nate for the council to approve checks and vouchers for the month of May 2024 in the amount of $27,812.02 in the general fund, $8,224.38 in the water fund, and $21,489.23 in the sewer fund, with all funds totaling $57,525.63. Councilor Trenton Morrell seconded the motion. All were in favor and motion carried the council.
The chair entertained a motion from Councilor Marty Nate that council adjourns from the June 2024 council meeting at 8:20 pm. Councilor Trenton Morrell seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion carried the council.
Respectfully submitted,

Lynette Smith, City Clerk-Treasurer

May 7, 2024
Those Present: Greg Kunz, Trenton Morrell, Marty Nate, Tee Steadman, Mayor Steve Waechtler, Maintenance Supervisor Shane Clark, Maintenance Hadley Wright, City Clerk Lynette Smith, Sheriff Deputy Ryan Larsen, Addison Ochsenbein of Sunrise Engineering
Meeting called to order: 7:05 pm Invocation: Maintenance Supervisor Shane Clark
The Council entertained a motion from Councilor Marty Nate to approve the published agenda and was seconded by Councilor Greg Kunz. All were in favor and the motion carried the council.
The minutes from April 4, 2024, special meeting, were read aloud by Clerk Smith and Mayor Waechtler. Councilor Tee Steadman made the motion to accept the minutes as read and Councilor Trenton Morrell seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion carried the council.
Police Report: Sheriff Deputy Ryan Larsen came before the council to give the police report for the month of April and stated that they responded to about 16 different calls in the city from citizens of a wide range. He also said their department would like to be on standby for any water and sewer shutoffs and that any threats made to employee’s need to be documented. It was suggested to record conversations but would need to get advisement from Adam McKenzie about that. They had 53 contacts for the month and gave 8 citations. Sheriff Bart will contact Corey Krantz about getting our speed limit signs put up on the highway and installing a school zone along the highway to slow the speed down. He also reported that the shed has been moved from the property we have been dealing with for a while.
Addison Ochsenbein of Sunrise Engineering came before the council and reported that there is a WaterSmart Grant out there that he will look into for the future but DEQ is not making any decisions at this point. We have received the grant money to move forward with our roadway project for the 4 streets needing construction on East Street, 5th Street the west side, 6th Street and 3rd Street. Councilor Greg Kunz questioned if painting lines on the roads is included and it is not. It was discussed about the surveys done and if fence lines need to be moved back to improve the road and make sure it’s done right. We will have to have a closer look at the surveys for right of ways and property lines to extend the roads to be 20 feet wide. Addison will be in touch for when bids go out and such.
The council engaged in reviewing the City’s Impact Area and should be reviewed every 5 years. It extends 1000 feet around the city limits. There hasn’t been much going on in our area of impact with no development, etc. So far it’s still mostly just farm ground. Councilor Marty Nate is going to talk to Mitch Poulsen and Albert Johnson about better communication about anything that comes into our area of impact that we would like to know about it and how it affects us. It was also noted that anything that comes into our area of impact is zoned as residential. Councilor Tee Steadman made the motion to accept our Impact Area as it stands now and councilor Trenton Morrell seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion carried the council.
Councilor Marty Nate reported she is still working on putting up the map and coming up with better ideas and options to put the book at the cemetery. She also inquired about the bridge by Doug Bradts and said we need to do something with it and replace it because it looks awful. Addison said that he would look into getting a grant for that.
Councilor Trenton Morrell said to just invoice the County for their portion of the speed limit signs and see if we can get the money back that way. He also inquired if we need to hire some trucks to get the chips out here before they get used somewhere else in the County and Shane reported that he is keeping an eye on it.
Maintenance Report: Shane Clark gave their report for the month of April and stated that he and Hadley have taken the tracks off the side by side and put a new rope on the flag in the Park. They have mowed the park and serviced the lawn mowers and harrowed at the cemetery. They are going to look at locking the gate at the West end of the cemetery to help keep the cows out. They’ve been working with Keller’s to get ready for the seepage tests at the sewer ponds this year. They got the yellow plow truck fixed that was in desperate need of some repairs. They inquired if we want to sell the police car because it’s mostly in the way and the batteries are always dead. They turned water services off at one location and monitored the dumpsters throughout the week for the spring cleaning days. They received a bid from Alice Hayes to upgrade the power in the Park and in the sheds. Councilor Tee Steadman made the motion to move forward with Alice and upgrade the power and was seconded by Trenton Morrell. All were in favor and the motion carried the council.
Office Business: There are 15 delinquent water and sewer accounts for the month of April. The office will be closed for regular business on May 21st due to the City Hall being used for voting. Lynette ordered a new computer for the office and it should be here soon. The Annexation and Ordinance was sent off to the appropriate places for approval and recorded at the County and was approved by the State Tax Commission. She received a call asking if we were interested in a vending machine and it was decided that we are not.
The chair entertained a motion from Councilor Marty Nate for the council to approve checks and vouchers for the month of April 2024 in the amount of $39,230.49 in the general fund, $8,624.80 in the water fund, and $22,340.50 in the sewer fund, with all funds totaling $70,195.79. Councilor Tee Steadman seconded the motion. All were in favor and motion carried the council.
The chair entertained a motion from Councilor Marty Nate that council adjourns from the May 2024 council meeting at 8:45 pm. Councilor Tee Steadman seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion carried the council.
Respectfully submitted,

Lynette Smith, City Clerk-Treasurer

April 4, 2024 – Special Meeting

Those Present: Greg Kunz by phone, Trenton Morrell, Marty Nate, Tee Steadman, Mayor Steve Waechtler, Maintenance Supervisor Shane Clark, Maintenance Hadley Wright, City Clerk Lynette Smith, Sheriff Deputy Ryan Larsen, Deputy Jack James, Morgan & Heather Kidd, Kevin Nate, Zach Crockett, Paul Miller, Tiffini Ricks, Cody Coombs, Jacob Kunz

Meeting called to order:              7:00 pm                                Invocation:         Councilor Marty Nate

The meeting was cancelled from the 2^nd and rescheduled to the 4^th due to a lack of a quorum.

The Council entertained a motion from Councilor Trenton Morrell 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 5, 2024, were read aloud by Clerk Smith and Mayor Waechtler. Councilor Tee Steadman made the motion to accept the minutes as read and Councilor Trenton Morrell seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion carried the council.

Police Report: Sheriff Deputy Ryan Larsen and Deputy Jack James came before the council to give the police report for the month of March and stated there was 63 contacts and they worked 62.5 hours and issued 14 citations and had 36 traffic stops. They issued warnings about a parking problem up Stringtown that was taken care of and had an arrest at a traffic stop. They also explained that they can give multiple warnings during a stop which is why that number can be higher than the citations issued.

Ordinance #113 an Amendment to Ordinance #109 for the Annexation of the Whitaker’s property into city limits to give a proper legal description of the property being annexed was read aloud and councilor Greg Kunz was available by phone to dispense the three-reading rule. Councilor Trenton Morrell made the motion to approve Ordinance #113 with the proper legal description and was seconded by Councilor Greg Kunz. A roll call vote was taken and is as follows: Greg – yes, Trenton – yes, Marty – yes, Tee – yes. All were in favor and the motion carried the council.

Cody Coombs came before the council with his plans of building a shop on his property to use as a building and an apartment on top and will install a septic tank as well. He wants to continue to cut up meat to help friends and family and cut between 15-20 a year. He expressed that he does not want to turn it into a business but just to help friends and family. He doesn’t use Wayne’s meat shop anymore because the hair and snakes and doesn’t drain well. He also said the place is priced too high to buy and he feels like he can build something cheaper plus it’s difficult to keep clean and too many rodents, etc. He wants to put the apartment above to house visiting family and wants to add 3-phase power for his power tools which takes a while to get approved from Rocky Mountain Power as well.

Some concerns expressed by the citizens in attendance if it ever does turn into a business:

• Where will the blood drain?
• How to control the flies build up and smell.
• Gunshots in town – can they be brought in already killed which would help with the hair build up too.
• Animals need to be disposed of in a timely manner and can’t dump by the creek either.

Councilor Tee Steadman pointed out that there are a lot of home businesses in town and we can’t focus on just this particular one and we need to compromise. The Mayor also expressed to get along with neighbors and to be considerate of others. Cody responded that it isn’t an ideal location for a business and if he decides to move forward, he will have plans for a building and sanitation and will bring to the council for approval and apply for a building permit. It was noted that the City’s impact area is within 1000 feet of city limits.

Jacob Kunz came before the council representing the County Fire District. He wanted to discuss moving forward with the lease agreement for the property on Main Street by Gary Thompson’s that had been discussed at previous meetings. They are interested in the City donating the property to the County or doing a 99-year lease. At the end of the lease, the property would be returned to the City or released to the Fire District. If they were to build a shed, it would have 2 bays. The council would like to see some plans and we need to find out what the building on the property is or was used for and it was confirmed that the City does own the land. Lynette will contact Adam about getting papers ready for a lease agreement. Jacob also asked for a donation for more air packs. The ones they have are 18 years old and won’t recertify. One air pack is $8,000 and it’s about $14,000 to outfit 1 firefighter. The city donated for some new turnout gear previously and we have at least 4 volunteers from our City. Councilor Marty Nate made the motion to donate $5,000 to the fire district to use for an air pack and councilor Tee Steadman seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion carried the council.

Superintendent Gary Brogan sent an email to the City about installing a fence line on the North, East and West sides of the Georgetown Elementary School property. They want to update the fence and install a taller fence around the playground to help keep kids better protected during the school day. The school doesn’t want to pay for a survey to be done on the property if we can agree where property lines are. Shane and Hadley will meet with Mr. Brogan and get the property lines agreed upon in order to get the fences installed before the next school year.

The spring cleanup dates were set for April 29^th – May 3^rd. The Mayor will contact Hennings about bringing dumpsters and check with the landfill for dates that work best for them.

The Georgetown Irrigation Company Backhoe Agreement with the City is due to be signed for another year. There have been some changes in the company this year and Greg Kunz is now the President and Nic Higgins has been hired as the new water master replacing Doug and Bryce Thompson. The council agreed to add Nic Higgins and Hadley Wright as approved operators of the backhoe and remove Bryce Thompson. Councilor Trenton Morrell made the motion to renew the backhoe agreement with the Georgetown Irrigation Company with the changes made and was seconded by Tee Steadman. All were in favor and the motion carried the council.

The budget hearing dates were set for August 6^th will be the budget workshop and September 3^rd will be the budget hearing. Clerk Smith will report the dates to the County.

Councilor Marty Nate would like to reinstate having movies in the park during the summer months and confirmed we still have all the equipment, and the popcorn machine still works too. She was able to apply for the bike path grant and moved it to the lower end of town and she will find out in May if we are awarded the grants. She also inquired if the council is happy with the service from the Sheriff Department and our Attorney.

Maintenance Report: Shane Clark gave their report for the month of March and stated that he and Hadley have got the new backup generator here from Gundersens. Alice Hayes will come and see what we need at the park for power options now the snow is leaving. They went up to check the tanks a couple of times and took chlorine. They did the water samples for the month and all were returned ok. There are about 250 ton of chips available for free for us in the state pit and it will cost about $25-30,000 to crack seal we just need to find a machine and we can do some roads this summer. Shane will get finalized so we can move forward this summer.

Office Business:   There are 18 delinquent water and sewer accounts for the month of March and now the snow is gone, some will be shutoff if not caught up. The office will be closed for regular business on May 21^st due to the City Hall being used for voting.

The chair entertained a motion from Councilor Tee Steadman for the council to approve checks and vouchers for the month of March 2024 in the amount of $22,034.13 in the general fund, $12,896.22 in the water fund, and $22,171.93 in the sewer fund, with all funds totaling $57,102.28. Councilor Marty Nate 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 April 2024 council meeting at 10:30 pm. Councilor Marty Nate seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion carried the council.

Respectfully submitted,

Lynette Smith, City Clerk-Treasurer

March 5, 2024
Those Present: Greg Kunz, Trenton Morrell, Marty Nate, Tee Steadman, Mayor Steve Waehtler, Maintenance Supervisor Shane Clark, Maintenance Hadley Wright, City Clerk Lynette Smith, Addison Ochsenbein of Sunrise Engineering, Sheriff Bart Heslington, Tyler & Katana Sorensen, Morgan & Heather Kidd, Kevin Nate, Janelle Crockett, Paul Miller, Tiffini Ricks, Mauria Teuscher, James Teuscher, Whitney Teuscher, City Attorney Adam McKenzie by phone
Meeting called to order: 7:00 pm Invocation: Mayor Steve Waechtler
The Council entertained a motion from Councilor Marty Nate 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 February 6, 2024, were read aloud by Clerk Smith. Councilor Trenton Morrell made the motion to accept the minutes as read and Councilor Greg Kunz seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion carried the council.
Police Report: Sheriff Heslington came before the council to give the police report for the month of February and stated there was 64 contacts and they worked 58.25 hours and issued 13 citations. He asked about dates for Twin Creeks and the Easter Egg Hunt. The hunt will be handled by the 2nd Ward Young Women on May 3rd or 4th.
Addison Ochsenbein of Sunrise Engineering came before the council and thanked them for signing the road contract with them. He has approached the NRCS about grant opportunities are there aren’t any out there for municipalities at this time. There is an option with the Army Core of Engineers, they will donate 75% if we do 25% for water repairs and he will look into applying. He will keep us updated with other opportunities as they arise.
Tyler and Katana Sorensen came before the Council to report on the Twin Creeks celebration. They are planning towards July 20th. They asked about if we can set up a Venmo for donations for Fireworks and for people to be able to pay for the different stations during the day. The difficulty with Venmo that Lynette has found is that it has to by tied to a phone number and generally needs to be a cell phone to accept messages and notifications to, but it also would have to be set up as a business account which charges an extra 1.9% plus $0.10 for convenience fees. Lynette will continue to look into getting it set up. Katana said that finding other volunteers besides the councilmembers is really difficult. She is going to start a Facebook group for Twin Creeks to look for others to help and wants to form a committee in case she can’t be there. Councilmembers felt it needs to go on as it is the only thing that really unifies our community. Bear Lake County Fire Chief Mark Parker has some extra fireworks he wants to contribute as well. Some ideas of things they will have this year are the breakfast, fish pond, dunk tank, etc and everyone loved the food vendors also.
The council listened to some citizens concerns about a butcher shop being in City limits. Cody Coombs has mentioned building a butcher shop on his property that is half in the County and half in the City. It would need to be rezoned to a commercial zone from agriculture and residential where it’s at and it is in our impact area. There would need to be a public hearing to rezone and we would be able to put restrictions about the smell, gut piles, sanitary, killing outside of town, etc. Citizens questioned who will enforce the restrictions and vehicles parking. Councilmember Tee Steadman said it would be controlled if it’s in the City and by USDA and FDA if he is selling out of his shop. Even the County will have to have a public hearing and rezone the property. Paul Miller said he feels there is a reason the founding fathers zoned the City the way they did. Other citizens voiced they would rather if the business was on Main Street. There is a State Statute about carcasses being left in City limits. The subdivision ordinance just adopted does not state anything about commercial zones. The council appreciated the citizens coming and for their input. Cleanliness is an issue and the council will take into consideration the neighbors concerns. Cody will still need to come to the council to present a plan and so it was tabled until the next meeting.
Mauria Teuscher and James Teuscher came to present the council with the Audit from the 2022-2023 Fiscal Year and reported that revenues are down from previous years due to the grants received other years. Gary Teuscher says that the City is doing a good job and is still bringing in enough to pay the bills and the City manages its money well. Councilmember Trenton Morrell made the motion to accept the audit and transfer funds from the water and sewer funds to the general fund to payback the general fund. Councilmember Marty Nate seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion carried the Council. The Teuscher’s also informed the council that this is the last year they will be able to audit our books because they can’t be the ones to prepare the financial statements and prepare the audit to be audited. They can continue to prepare our financial statements but we will need to find another firm to perform the audits.
The council then called City Attorney, Adam McKenzie at 8:30 pm to get an update on the shed that needs to be moved. Adam has spoken with them directly and they will be signing an agreement to have moved once the snow is melted sufficiently, hopefully by April 15th and they will remove the snow from the neighbors fence also. He also gave an update on the legal description for the property that we annexed last year. The Idaho State Tax Commission rejected the annexation last year because the legal description had the whole parcel and not just the part being annexed. Tim Christensen did the original legal description and we were waiting on him to update with a new legal description before moving forward. At the next meeting, we will need to make a motion to accept the amended map and legal description and send to the State Tax Commission again for approval.
Councilor Marty Nate rolled out the cemetery map to show everyone and it looks really good. We will place a book up there of all who are buried in the cemetery and who owns the plots. We just need a place to house the book. She has found a grant for a musical section to be put into the park. She is also looking into a grant for a gravel bike path to be put along the old railroad right of way and have benches placed at each end and it would still remain as a recreational right of way. The council suggested maybe starting past Left Hand Canyon at that parking area instead of Half Mile Lane. One of the grants is for $50,000 and the other is $47,000. She will apply and let us know how they go. She also wants to add some cornhole boards to the sand pit and add more equipment to the park slowly.
Councilor Greg Kunz asked if the County can come out to help with the ruts along Stringtown and Shane reported that we have called for the past 2 weeks and we are on their list. There was also discussion about people that continue to push snow across the road. We need to get a list to Sheriff Heslington to deliver notices throughout town for people to stop doing it because the letters that Lynette sends out haven’t worked. Greg also wanted to clarify that when Manuel Figueroa moves away or passes away that the agreement for him to have a trailer on that piece of property will go with him because the agreement is applicable to him only. The lot does have a water and sewer hookup and power to it but it’s too small for anyone else to do anything with.
Councilor Trenton Morrell will follow up with the County Commissioners about paying for the speed limit signs.
Maintenance Report: Hadley Wright gave their report for the month of February and stated that he and Shane have contacted Alice Hayes about looking at our options for more power in the park and she will get back to us in the spring when the snow has melted. They have talked to the County about winging the streets and a price on chip seal. They said it would be $25,000 for 1 mile just for the oil and $9.50 a ton for the chips plus about $2-3,000 to haul it. We have about $30,000 budgeted and will need to locate a crack seal machine. They dug 2 graves this month and plowed snow. They turned water on and off at a location for an inspection and cleaned out the fire hydrants. Lynette found and reviewed agreements that the City has with Corey Hayes and with the County for private lanes in the City about plowing. It looks like there is a trailer parked on West Street past 6th Street and someone is living in it. Lynette will send a letter with the Ordinance explaining to can’t be living in it more than 30 days.
Office Business: There are 24 delinquent water and sewer accounts for the month of February. Lynette has to have surgery next week and will be out for at least 2 weeks but can continue to do some stuff from home. She will be upgrading the website this summer to be more user friendly because Roland Smith is retiring from helping to do the updates. SICOG requested for us to compile and sign a letter to help them get a grant and so the Mayor will sign that tonight.
The chair entertained a motion from Councilor Trenton Morrell for the council to approve checks and vouchers for the month of February 2024 in the amount of $20,764.96 in the general fund, $8,404.41 in the water fund, and $20,310.40 in the sewer fund, with all funds totaling $49,479.77. Councilor Greg Kunz seconded the motion. All were in favor and motion carried the council.
The chair entertained a motion from Councilor Trenton Morrell that council adjourns from the March 2024 council meeting at 10:45 pm. Councilor Greg Kunz seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion carried the council.
Respectfully submitted,

Lynette Smith
City Clerk-Treasurer