Georgetown Idaho

January 2, 2024

Those Present: DeLoy Kunz, Greg Kunz, Trenton Morrell, Marty Nate, Tee Steadman, Maintenance Hadley Wright, City Clerk Lynette Smith, Katana Sorensen by phone

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 December 5, 2023, were read aloud by Clerk Smith. Councilor Greg Kunz made the motion to accept the minutes as read and Councilor DeLoy Kunz seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion carried the council.

The chair entertained a motion from Councilor Trenton Morrell for the council to approve checks and vouchers for the month of December 2023 in the amount of $28,370.93 in the general fund, $8,128.00 in the water fund, and $19,890.90 in the sewer fund, with all funds totaling $56,389.83. Councilor Tee Steadman seconded the motion. All were in favor and motion carried the council.

Police Report: Sheriff Bart Heslington came before the Council to give a report for December. He reported that the contract has been fully endorsed and is in effect. The county uses electronic citations and Sheriff has been working with the State to get Georgetown set up and it just got finished today, but they used handwritten citations in the meantime. Fines will start to be paid back to our City now also from this past quarter. They have been handling some Ordinance issues and City Attorney, Adam McKenzie has sent them formal letters and they are working together on a timeline to get things resolved. They will issue warnings to those continually parking in the right of way to enable the plows from doing their job and issue citations as necessary. They worked for 64 hours this month and made 89 contacts and issued 13 citations.

The Mayor proceeded to swear-in and recite the oath of office with incumbent councilor Tee Steadman and newly re-elected councilor Marty Nate. The Mayor and councilors all expressed their gratitude to Councilor DeLoy Kunz for his 8 years of service. The council then elected Greg Kunz to continue to be the Council President and Marty Nate will assume the responsibilities and duties that DeLoy had.

Councilor Trenton Morrell made the motion to remove DeLoy Kunz from the water accounts at Ireland Bank, sewer accounts at Zions Bank and general accounts at US Bank and add Marty Nate to all the same accounts. Councilor Greg Kunz seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion carried the council. Clerk Smith will get in touch with the banks and notify all councilmembers when new signature cards are ready.

The Mayor called Katana to discuss their privacy fence they want to install on their property. She said they did not talk to the neighbors about approval of the fence this month and just tried to be extra neighborly instead. Their property is in a C-2 commercial district and they are requesting to install an 8 foot fence, but State Statute says no taller than a 6 foot fence. The council discussed and said the refer trailers are already higher than what a privacy fence would be and they’ve said the trailers haven’t stopped the neighbor from approaching the kids because now he comes between the trailers instead. The council recommended that she take the Sheriff over with her to discuss issues and seek approval for a privacy fence. The council tabled a decision until they’ve spoken.

Addison Ochsenbein of Sunrise Engineering was unable to attend the meeting tonight but is continually working on preparing our application for a drinking water loan.

Councilor Marty Nate reported on her progress with Tyler Williamson on the cemetery map. He has color coded the map and marked the streets and just needs to mark where the flag pole is and then it’s just about finished. She needs to go and measure the board for the banner to be placed on and report back to him so he can print the banner and then we will need to get a book up there with the map.

Councilor Trenton Morrell asked if the County has paid for the speed limit signs yet and Clerk Smith reported that they have not. The Mayor had talked to Commissioner Vaughn Rasmussen about them and then there wasn’t much follow up from there. Trenton has heard that there is money available for us and will find out at the County how to get the money. He has left messages with Corey Krantz about the highway signs and for info to get approved signs and so we can move along with getting a school zone along the highway with no response back yet.

Maintenance Report: Hadley gave their report for the month of December and stated that he and Shane have cleared the roads at the cemetery and opened it up in preparation for a burial there in the next couple of weeks. They went up to the water tanks with the help of the Mayor and have been doing some maintenance on the plow and have attended some continued education trainings throughout the month. Shane also passed his Wastewater Collection exam and has received his license for that. Shane now has a license for drinking water and one wastewater.

Office Business:   There are 20 delinquent water and sewer accounts for the month of December. The Christmas light winners were 1^st place Jason & Kayla Morris, 2^nd place Marlin & Sandy Bartschi and 3^rd place Charlie & Lisa Humphreys. All winners were excited and appreciative for the gift cards. Lynette reported that W-2’s will be ready to pick up by the end of the month. Lynette has also been contacted by the title company about the sale of the Holder’s farm and questioned if the Holder’s had been granted access along the railroad right of way. Carrie Hemmert said the City was deeded the railroad right of way in 1999 from NuWest to be used for recreational purposes only. Councilor Greg Kunz and Marty Nate remembered there is a Resolution for the Great Northwestern Trail that specifies the right of way is for recreational purposes only and is not to be gated or fenced along the right of way. Lynette will report back to Carrie at the title company to pass along to the new owners.

The chair entertained a motion from Councilor Marty Nate that council adjourns from the January 2024 council meeting at 8:20 pm. Councilor Tee Steadman seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion carried the council.

Respectfully submitted,

Lynette Smith

City Clerk-Treasurer

December 5, 2023
Those Present: DeLoy Kunz, Greg Kunz, Trenton Morrell, Tee Steadman, Maintenance Supervisor Shane Clark, Maintenance Hadley Wright, City Clerk Lynette Smith, Addison Ochsenbein of Sunrise Engineering, Kari Ure of Bear Lake County Extension Office, Kevin & Marty Nate, Katana Sorensen
Meeting called to order: 7:00 pm Invocation: Maintenance man Hadley Wright
Council President, Greg Kunz, conducted the meeting since the Mayor was gone on business and didn’t make it back in time for the meeting. 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 November 8, 2023, were read aloud by Clerk Smith. Councilor Trenton Morrell made the motion to accept the minutes as read and Councilor DeLoy Kunz seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion carried the council.
Kari Ure from the Bear Lake County Extension Office came before the council to introduce herself and what she is doing for the Extension Office. She is new to town and part of the Family & Consumer Science department and 4-H. She would like everyone to fill out an online survey to give feedback of what needs we have in our community.
Addison Ochsenbein of Sunrise Engineering came before the council to report that he submitted the grant application for the transportation plan study and funding won’t be available for at least a year. He will put in for the water loan in January and he and Kevin are looking for other funding sources too. He said it may be possible to make an amendment to our last study for just the line from the spring to the tank. He also suggested looking into other grants from the NRCS for the Irrigation Company too. There is also a TAP application he can look into for replacing sidewalks with the City having to match 7.34% in matching funds. The council appreciates all of these grants he’s looking into for us and look forward to hearing back if we are recipients to any of them.
Katana Sorensen came before the council to discuss issues she has with her neighbors and would like to put in an 8 foot privacy fence along the north side of their property to separate from their neighbors. They have had to start documenting incidents that they have with them and feel this fence is necessary for the safety of their children from their neighbor. The fence would only run east and west and not north and south and the trailers would stay on the property even with the new fence. The council said they will look more into the Ordinance #27 and regulations about fences and would like Katana to come back to the next council meeting to give them time to make a decision. Councilor Trenton Morrell asked if the neighbors would sign off on an 8 foot fence. Katana also asked if there is a noise ordinance other than the curfew for minors or jake breaks because they have been outside around 10:30 at night and told they were disturbing their neighbors and violating Ordinances and so she wanted to check on that. Lynette will dig deeper and see if there is anything for noise for businesses or adults.
The Christmas Park Lighting Event was another successful event. We planned on about 100 people and probably had about 80 people there. Santa did inform us that he is retiring this year and so we will need to be on the look for a replacement next year. This is an event that we all look forward to all year and love seeing how most of the community comes out for this event, even if it isn’t to visit with Santa.
The City will have a Christmas Light Contest again this year and Lynette will advertise and get the gift cards ready. The council will need to report back by December 20th to select the winners. Three places will be awarded and 1st will receive $100; 2nd $75 and 3rd $50.
Employee Christmas Bonus’s were discussed and Councilor Trenton Morrell made the motion to give Shane Clark, Hadley Wright and Lynette Smith $500 each and Doug Thompson $200. Councilor Tee Steadman seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion carried the council.
Councilor DeLoy Kunz asked Clerk Smith to include in the yearly end of year letter that the State Highway plow operators have requested for citizens to move their garbage cans back towards their property so they don’t get hit on the highway and to also include there’s a lot of cars still parked in the right of ways too so it’s not easy to plow. He also reported that the painting for the crosswalk along the highway is scheduled to be done but probably won’t happen until next year now. It was also requested to mark where the new curbing is by the church so people can avoid for parking.
Councilor Tee Steadman reported that Sheriff Heslington couldn’t be here tonight due to not feeling well this week and recovering. He also said if the new police contract is here to get it signed so we can get that officially taken care of. Lynette will get the Mayor to sign it in the morning so it can get to the Commissioners.
Marty Nate came to report on her findings with Tyler Williamson and their progress on the cemetery map. He has emailed a map that he has platted and she will need to borrow Shane’s map again so they can get it finished.
Police Report: Deputy Sheriff Ryan Larsen called before the council meeting to give a report for November. He was also unable to make it to the meeting due to being called out on an accident before the meeting. He reported that they worked for about 59 hours this month. They made 38 contacts and issued 4 citations.
Maintenance Report: Hadley gave their report for the month of November and stated that he and Shane have been doing some water training and putting up Christmas lights. They got the electrical outlets fixed at the pavilion to be able to plug in all of the Christmas lights. They trimmed some trees on Stringtown and reached out to DeLoy about the cattleguards at the State Highway Department but they have some other plans for those. They looked at some generators at Gundersen’s as they are the same brand and nearly the same price as elsewhere. They got the plows ready and chains on vehicles. The McCulloch’s came and removed the headstone completely at the cemetery that was not in line with the others. Lynette called and left a few messages with the contacts she had but never got a response from any of them, so we are unsure if they will be bringing the headstone back again next year or what is going on there.
Office Business: There are 16 delinquent water and sewer accounts for the month of November. Clerk Smith asked if anyone knew who is living in the home North of town in Dottie Harwood’s old place or have a way to get a hold of them. We have tried to contact them and left notes on the door with no response and no mailing address. Lynette will try the title company again in the morning and see if she can find the realtor and get ahold of them that way. She also reported that Layne DeClark has been in touch and said they came and shoveled off the roof to make sure there won’t be any leaks or damage and they are still planning to come back and fix the roof before winter gets too deep here.
The chair entertained a motion from Councilor Tee Steadman for the council to approve checks and vouchers for the month of November 2023 in the amount of $17,530.70 in the general fund, $10,271.02 in the water fund, and $21,263.50 in the sewer fund, with all funds totaling $49,065.22. Councilor DeLoy Kunz 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 November 2023 council meeting at 8:30 pm. Councilor Tee Steadman seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion carried the council.
Respectfully submitted,

Lynette Smith
City Clerk-Treasurer

November 8, 2023
Those Present: DeLoy Kunz, Greg Kunz, Trenton Morrell, Tee Steadman, Mayor Stephan Waechtler, Maintenance Supervisor Shane Clark, Maintenance Hadley Wright, City Clerk Lynette Smith, Addison Ochsenbein of Sunrise Engineering, Deputy Sheriff Ryan Larsen
Meeting called to order: 7:00 pm Invocation: Mayor Stephan 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 October 4, 2023, were read aloud by Clerk Smith. Councilor Greg Kunz made the motion to accept the minutes as read and Councilor Tee Steadman seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion carried the council.
Addison Ochsenbein of Sunrise Engineering came before the council to report on grants and funding opportunities that are available and that letters of interest for water funding will be coming due soon. Loans are at 2% interest and no grants are available at this time. Our last water study was completed in 2017 and could use an update. The more updated our plans are, the better it looks on applications. Addison will submit a letter to update our facility plan and apply for a loan to update the spring to the tank by January 12th. We can always apply but don’t have to accept the terms or get another loan right now. He will apply for a facility planning grant with a 50% match. We were previously denied for a lead and copper inventory grant and they are accepting applications again because there is more funding available but our inventory is mostly done so probably won’t be needing that. There is another grant available to update our transportation plan with $30,000 available. The last time we had a study done was in 2012 and we are due for an update. The application is due at the end of the month and the funding would be available in a year. Addison will apply for all grants and an infrastructure loan and see what offers we get.
Police Report: Deputy Sheriff Ryan Larsen came before the council to give a report for October. He reported that they worked for about 34 hours last month. He explained that they are down deputy’s. They responded to an Ordinance Violation about the shed needing to be moved and have responded to some other complaints about some mental health issues and have done some welfare checks. We need to get the contract signed after it has been reviewed by the other attorney and changes made. The contract says July 12, 2023, through September 30, 2028, but needs to be changed since that was in a previous fiscal year now. Once changes are made, Adam will get a contract to Lynette to have the Mayor sign and then the Sheriff.
Elections were held in the City Hall last night and we had 4 people run for council member seats and had 168 people come out to vote for County and 133 for City. Incumbent Tee Steadman received 98 votes, Marty Nate 91 votes, Stacy Christensen 47 votes, Jeff Crane 38 votes and Tyson Boehme for the Fire Marshall. Tee and Marty will take their seats at the January 2024 meeting.
The Christmas Park Lighting Event was scheduled for December 4th at 6:00 pm. Lynette will make arrangements with Santa and Sean Bartschi for the food and get flyers posted and delivered to the school.
In the past, the City has made a donation to the Senior Center for the Meals on Wheels program and to keep them operating. Councilor Tee Steadman made the motion to donate $1,000.00 to the Bear Lake Senior Center and Trenton Morrell seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion carried the council.
Councilor Greg Kunz wanted a follow up on the snowplow that Shane and Hadley were going to go look at in Ogden and they reported that it got sold already. There was also discussion about a backup generator for the City Shop. If the power goes out, the shop door won’t open and the truck will freeze up. Greg suggested we could use some of the money set aside for the fire department to purchase a generator. Shane said that Mick Merritt could help us to hook it up to propane or even natural gas. Shane will watch for sales and report back about his findings so we can move forward.
Councilor Trenton Morrell reported that Marty Nate has been working with Tyler Williamson in town about the cemetery map and he can digitize the map so that we can update it and cost will be around $600.00. The council approved for her to continue working with him on it. He also reported that the County is working on an Ordinance for Air BnB’s and we should look at following it. He is still trying to follow up with Corey Krantz about the school zone along the highway too.
Maintenance Report: Shane gave his report for the month of October and stated that he and Hadley have been working on the sand spreader, serviced the backhoe and service truck, they’ve cleaned up and winterized at the cemetery and park, replaced a valve at the cemetery, replaced a light on the city shed, put tires on the backhoe that we purchased a year or so ago and got the block heater working. They also rented a dozer to widen the roads at the diversion and turn arounds. They got information to Keller’s to get the annual report ready for the Land App. They have some concerns at the cemetery with cattle getting in and vandalizing the headstones. They’ve tried to keep the gates shut but it makes it hard on the elderly to open and close gates all the time. It was suggested to install cattle guards at the entrances and some other cemeteries use them too. Shane will call around and get some prices. Also, the headstone that got brought in for Devin McCulloch needs to get moved. They have been notified that because of it’s location, it could get damaged from plowing this winter but have not been back to move. Lynette will send a letter to the family and try the phone numbers she has and other family members to get in contact with them to get it moved back in line with the others before snow comes.
Office Business: There are 15 delinquent water and sewer accounts for the month of October. The Trunk or Treat event was still well attended. There were a lot of people from Nounan that came to participate as well. There’s always a lot of division when it comes to the Trunk or Treat; some love it and some don’t. It was decided that as long as there are a lot of people attending still, we will continue to hold it. Next council meeting will be held at the usual date and time of Tuesday, December 5th at 7:00 pm.
The chair entertained a motion from Councilor Tee Steadman for the council to approve checks and vouchers for the month of October 2023 in the amount of $21,434.87 in the general fund, $15,773.28 in the water fund, and $22,796.06 in the sewer fund, with all funds totaling $60,004.21. Councilor Greg 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 November 2023 council meeting at 8:45 pm. Councilor Greg Kunz seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion carried the council.
Respectfully submitted,

Lynette Smith
City Clerk-Treasurer

October 4, 2023

Those Present: Greg Kunz, Trenton Morrell, Tee Steadman, Maintenance Supervisor Shane Clark, Maintenance Hadley Wright, City Clerk Lynette Smith, excused were DeLoy Kunz and Mayor Stephan Waechtler

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 September 5, 2023, were read aloud by Clerk Smith. Councilor Trenton Morrell made the motion to accept the minutes as read and Councilor Tee Steadman seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion carried the council. Minutes from the special meeting on September 14, 2023, were read aloud by Clerk Smith. Councilor Trenton Morrell made the motion to accept the minutes as read and Councilor Tee Steadman seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion carried the council.

The City will host another Trunk or Treat for those wishing to participate on October 31^st at 5:00 pm. Clerk Smith will post flyers and get some ready to hand out to all the students at the Elementary school.

Discussion on whether to close the cemetery or not, depending on year or set a limit? Was decided to wait each year and maybe once it gets around two feet of snow to close it. Shane and Hadley will start to let the Mortuary’s know that it is a possibility we will be closed during the winter months depending on snow and frost each year so they can be prepared.

Marty Nate has been following up on ways to list who is buried in our cemetery and to utilize the board that Jake Smith made for his Senior Project. She can get a banner made to put in between the glass and wood and would be sun proof for about $180. She can also get the map digitized but is concerned about taking the only copy out of the City Hall. It was decided to get it digitized since we do have a backup copy at Shane and Hadley’s office too. She suggested having a binder up there to alphabetize and keep in a weather proof box. The only concern is how to keep the banner or binder updated. Marty is going to continue to look into options of how other cemeteries handle things and will keep the council updated.

There was discussion on getting a plow truck for the City before winter comes and how another big plow truck would help to save on the little truck and since we have two full time employee’s each can be in a truck and utilize their time better. Ordinance #113 – Mayor’s Salary cannot be passed at this time for him to forego his salary for the rest of his term due to the Ordinance must be published 75 days prior to a General Election. The next option for that would be the May election and we would need a new plow truck before then. Shane has been looking on the classifieds and the council approved for him and Hadley to go and look into it.

Fall cleanup dates were set for October 24^th-26^th. Council President Greg Kunz will contact Hennings about bringing out 2 dumpsters and 1 bin for metal on those dates.

Police Report: Sheriff Heslington was not available for the meeting.

Councilor Tee Steadman asked if we can enforce citizens to clean up or rebuild their buildings once they have been demolished if it’s something they have gotten a building permit for. Needs to be looked in to.

Councilor Trenton Morrell would like to get Corey Krantz email to follow up with him about writing an Ordinance to input a school zone along the highway like they have in Montpelier. The school zone would go from 5^th Street to 3^rd Street along Main Street and would be required to slow down in the morning, lunch and afternoon when school is let out. He would also like to talk to Sheriff Heslington about grants and will follow up on the citation funds coming back to the City.

Maintenance Report: Shane gave his report for the month of September and stated that he and Hadley have installed water services to Con Vouros barn, Prestige Technologies came for the annual maintenance and have ordered some internal parts for the smaller PRV’s. They had to replace the brass valves and do some plumbing. They winterized the land app, got approval for Keller’s to do the annual report, did some road patch and placed some sod at the cemetery. They serviced the side by side and cleaned up the old chlorinator building. He spoke with Chris Banks about grants for the water system and Chris has been unable to find us some at this time. He also spoke with Addison Ochsenbein and he didn’t have any new news on the grant but there is $50 million available to small cities so we are hopeful. He also recommended that we update our transportation plans as it helps to have newer ones available for grant applications.

Office Business:   There are 15 delinquent water and sewer accounts for the month of September. Next meeting date has a conflict with the elections being held in our building so it will be moved to the following evening on Wednesday, November 8^th. There was an incident when shutting off a citizens services due to delinquency and the Sheriff was notified. Councilor Tee Steadman will follow up with the Sheriff to see what was done.

The chair entertained a motion from Councilor Trenton Morrell for the council to approve checks and vouchers for the month of September 2023 in the amount of $17,102.43 in the general fund, $12,494.77 in the water fund, and $19,290.24 in the sewer fund, with all funds totaling $48,887.44. Councilor Tee Steadman 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 October 2023 council meeting at 8:35 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 14, 2023
Those Present: DeLoy Kunz, Greg Kunz, Trenton Morrell, Tee Steadman, Mayor Stephan Waechtler, Maintenance Supervisor Shane Clark, Maintenance Hadley Wright, City Clerk Lynette Smith, City Attorney Adam McKenzie by phone
Meeting called to order: 7:00 pm Invocation: Mayor Stephan 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 Council entertained a motion from Councilor Trenton Morrell to move into Executive Session pursuant to Idaho Code 74-206: (d) To consider records that are exempt from disclosure as provided in chapter 1, title 74, Idaho Code; (f) To communicate with legal counsel for the public agency to discuss the legal ramifications of and legal options for pending litigation, or controversies not yet being litigated but imminently likely to be litigated. The mere presence of legal counsel at an executive session does not satisfy this requirement. Councilor DeLoy Kunz seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion carried the council.
The council engaged in training with City Attorney Adam McKenzie starting at 7:05 pm and ending at 8:15 pm.
Councilor Greg Kunz made the motion to leave executive session and back to the regular meeting and councilor Trenton Morrell seconded the motion. A roll call vote was taken and is as follows: DeLoy – yes, Tee – yes, Greg – yes, Trenton – yes. Motion carried.
The chair entertained a motion from Councilor Tee Steadman that council adjourns from the September Special Meeting 2023 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

September 5, 2023
Those Present: DeLoy Kunz, Greg Kunz, Trenton Morrell, Tee Steadman, Mayor Stephan Waechtler, Maintenance Supervisor Shane Clark, Maintenance Hadley Wright, City Clerk Lynette Smith, Sheriff Bart Heslington, Addison Ochsenbein of Sunrise Engineering
Meeting called to order: 7:00 pm Invocation: Hadley Wright
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 August 1, 2023, 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.
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 2023-2024. Councilor Greg Kunz seconded the motion and a roll call vote was taken and is as follows: DeLoy – yes, Tee – 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 Greg Kunz 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: DeLoy – yes, Tee – yes, Greg – yes, Trenton – yes. Motion carried. Councilor Tee Steadman made the motion to accept the proposed budget for Fiscal Year 2023-2024 as printed and councilor DeLoy Kunz seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion carried the council.
Ordinance #112 the appropriations ordinance for the proposed budget for Fiscal Year 2023-2024 was presented and read to the council. Councilor Greg Kunz made the motion to approve Ordinance #112 and was seconded by councilor Trenton Morrell. All were in favor and a roll call vote was taken and is as follows: DeLoy – yes, Tee – yes, Greg – yes, Trenton – yes. Motion carried.
Addison Ochsenbein of Sunrise Engineering came before the council to report that he and Lynette and Shane worked on getting the LHTAC grant application ready to be submitted. He will let us know if there is any further correspondence about the grant.
Police Report: Sheriff Heslington came before the council to give a report for August. He reported that Adam had another attorney review the contract just to make sure to remove any bias or conflicts and a couple of edits were suggested. He will review that with Adam next week. Bart conducted some investigations of ordinance violations. They responded to some animal complaints and handed out dog letters and citations will be next. He has followed up with Irene Sorenson and her neighbor issues. He handed out a report for August where they worked 56 hours which resulted in 96 contacts and 14 citations.
Councilor DeLoy Kunz reported that he’s still working on getting the crosswalk done for the school.
Councilor Trenton Morrell inquired about the speed limit signs along the highway. Shane has a meeting with Corey Krantz about getting them installed on Friday.
Maintenance Report: Shane gave his report for the month of August and stated that he and Hadley have dug a couple of graves, fixed a water valve on Hayes Lane, A+ Contractors came back and fixed the curbing in front of the church and the leak at the water tank old chlorinator building. They painted the curb, mowed the parks, dropped off notices for overdue accounts, did some maintenance on the heaters, got the school flashing signs turned back on and fixed the PRV’s which they found had a rock in it. They got some sod ordered to put on the graves from this year and it should be ready this week.
Office Business: There are 13 delinquent water and sewer accounts for the month of August. The LHTAC grant was submitted and letters that were received were sent with the application. DEQ responded to the letter sent about the tires on property up Stringtown and said there is nothing they will do about it at this time. The purchase of the new snowplow has been canceled and money for the sale has been returned. City Attorney Adam McKenzie would like to schedule a training meeting with the council and Mayor on Thursday, September 14th. The Mayor and councilors have conflicts with the next meeting date so it will be rescheduled for Wednesday, October 4th.
The chair entertained a motion from Councilor Tee Steadman for the council to approve checks and vouchers for the month of August 2023 in the amount of $47,212.03 in the general fund, $25,964.54 in the water fund, and $23,396.73 in the sewer fund, with all funds totaling $96,573.30. Councilor Trenton Morrell 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 September 2023 council meeting at 8:00 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 1, 2023
Those Present: DeLoy Kunz, Greg Kunz, Trenton Morrell, Tee Steadman, Mayor Stephan Waechtler, Maintenance Supervisor Shane Clark, City Clerk Lynette Smith, Sheriff Bart Heslington, City Attorney Adam McKenzie, Bear Lake County Fire Chief Mark Parker, Addison Ochsenbein of Sunrise Engineering, City Auditor Gary Teuscher, Kevin & Marty Nate, Barry Bergholm, Irene Sorenson, Katana Sorenson
Meeting called to order: 7:00 pm Invocation: Mayor Stephan 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 July 5, 2023, were read aloud by Mayor Waechtler. Councilor DeLoy Kunz 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 July 12, 2023, special meeting was read aloud by Mayor Waechtler. Councilor Trenton Morrell made the motion to accept the minutes as read and Councilor Tee Steadman seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion carried the council.
Councilor Trenton Morrell made the motion to leave the regular meeting and move into public hearing for the purpose of discussing a new subdivision ordinance. Councilor DeLoy Kunz seconded the motion and a roll call vote was taken and is as follows: DeLoy – yes, Tee – yes, Greg – yes, Trenton – yes. Motion carried. The Mayor then opened the floor to the public for discussion, comments or concerns. City Attorney, Adam McKenzie mentioned a few changes from the County Subdivision Ordinance such as we don’t have a formal Planning & Zoning Committee so people that apply for a subdivision will need to come straight to the council for approval but can appoint an administrator. The County permits mobile homes but we will not approve based on previous ordinances. Fire Chief Mark Parker expressed concerns to have an engineer be involved for subdivisions to have appropriate fire hydrants, services, pressure, size of pipes, etc. and the contractor would be required to install. Mark said the Bear Lake County Fire Department would work directly with the contractor and engineer to make sure that everything is up to code. The City’s infrastructure cannot handle a subdivision right now so the contractor would have to come before the council to be approved or denied and can be denied due to infrastructure or the contractor would have to provide the adequate infrastructure. Adam responded that the City does have the ability to deny or accept but growth will happen and we need to be prepared for it. Clerk Smith reported that the office has not received any comments, written or verbal pertaining to the subdivision ordinance. Councilor Trenton Morrell made the motion to leave the public hearing and go back to regular meeting. Councilor Tee Steadman seconded the motion and a roll call vote was taken and is as follows: DeLoy – yes, Tee – yes, Greg – yes, Trenton – yes. Motion carried.
Ordinance #111 a Subdivision Ordinance and Summary was presented to the council and the three reading rule was suspended since all council members were in attendance. Councilor Trenton Morrell made the motion to accept the Ordinance #111 for subdivisions and the summary to be published in the newspaper and Councilor Tee Steadman seconded the motion. A roll call vote was taken and is as follows: DeLoy – yes, Tee – yes, Greg – yes, Trenton – yes. Motion carried.
Police Report: Sheriff Heslington came before the council and since the last special meeting, the contract was forwarded to Adam to review and it is now ready for signatures from the Mayor and the County Commissioners and they will ratify and sign on Monday. Sheriff reported that in July they had 53 hours and 115 contacts with 22 resulting in citations and 1 was a misdemeanor. There were different complaints about noise, open containers, ATV contacts, and disturbances. The Mayor requested reports to be emailed to Lynette so they can be handed out at the meetings. Irene Sorenson had some complaints about her neighbors wanting the shed and trees moved; the Sheriff will follow up with them. Lynette has already sent them two letters to move the shed and trees. Marty Nate asked about complaints about ordinance violations and was told to call dispatch and they will get handled by the deputy on duty and follow ups will be included in the Sheriff’s monthly reports.
City Attorney, Adam McKenzie, reported that he is still waiting for Tim Christensen to get an updated legal description so we can finish the annexation for the Whitakers.
Twin Creeks Update, the Waechtler’s and Sorenson’s brought in about $5600 for Firework donations and spent about $3200 on top of the fireworks. It was a great day and lots of fun. Katana also reported that they will be moving the building on their property for where they had originally planned and got the permit for due to where they can bring in power to, but they will keep the council updated for what they plan to do.
Addison Ochsenbein of Sunrise Engineering came before the council and brought information for a grant that is due September 1st through ITD and LHTAC. Some roads need full restoration, some chip and sealed, and paint lines along Stringtown. He said it is not a fast process. The City had a transportation plan done in 2011 and should be updated. There is a $30,000 grant available for that to redo the study and Sunrise will help pursue that for us.
The Council engaged in the budget workshop with City Auditor and CPA Gary Teuscher from 8:00 pm to 8:45 pm. There was discussion about keeping in mind to plan on a 3% increase for employees each year.
Councilor DeLoy Kunz would like to see a list of building permits in the books each month.
Maintenance Report: Shane gave his report for the month of July and stated that the sewer pumps have been serviced. They got the new speed limit signs installed and have the applications to install the signs along the highway too. They are waiting to meet with Corey to see where those can be installed. Trenton mentioned to speak with Corey while he’s here about making a school zone along the highway. Shane said the spring is running and producing and they’ve done some maintenance at the cemetery and park. They have some leaks to repair on Hayes Lane. Next week they have a reuse permit inspection with DEQ for the land app. Tee asked about what Chris Banks and Addison Ochsenbein have been able to find for grants for our water infrastructure and Shane said he would follow up with Chris.
Office Business: There are 16 delinquent water and sewer accounts for the month of July.
The chair entertained a motion from Councilor Tee Steadman for the council to approve checks and vouchers for the month of July 2023 in the amount of $35,741.76 in the general fund, $23,419.23 in the water fund, and $68,553.58 in the sewer fund, with all funds totaling $127,714.57. 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 August 2023 council meeting at 9:10 pm. Councilor Tee Steadman seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion carried the council.
Respectfully submitted,

Lynette Smith
City Clerk-Treasurer

July 12, 2023 – Special Meeting
Those Present: Greg Kunz, Trenton Morrell, Tee Steadman, Mayor Stephan Waechtler, City Clerk Lynette Smith, Sheriff Bart Heslington, Deputy Ryan Larsen
Meeting called to order: 7:00 pm Invocation: Mayor Stephan 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 Sheriff came to discuss the police contract with the council. They came out to Twin Creeks to patrol and made a lot of contacts and there were a lot of comments throughout the city about it being one of the best firework shows ever. In the contract, the City will retain all of their equipment such as the vehicle and the County will have their radio tech people look over the radios and recommend if they should keep it in their inventory or if we are better off to sell it. The council agreed to hold on to the vehicle for now. The contract dates were set to go into effect today, July 12th through September 30, 2028. Compensation was set at $27,500.00 increasing 3% each year and payable at $6,875.00 per quarter. A percentage of all citations, fines, etc. will come back to the City as defined in section 1.d. The City will designate Councilor Tee Steadman, since he is the councilor assigned to those duties, as the point of contact/administrator and the County designates Sheriff Bart Heslington as their point of contact/administrator. Councilor Tee Steadman made the motion to accept the contract as discussed and Councilor Trenton Morrell seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion carried the council. Clerk Smith will update the contract with the blanks filled in as discussed and email it over to City Attorney, Adam McKenzie to review. Once it is ready he will acquire signatures from Sheriff Bart Heslington and Councilor Tee Steadman.
The chair entertained a motion from Councilor Tee Steadman that council adjourns from the July Special Meeting council meeting at 7:30 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 5, 2023

Those Present: DeLoy Kunz, Greg Kunz, Trenton Morrell, Tee Steadman, Mayor Stephan Waechtler, Maintenance Supervisor Shane Clark, Hadley Wright, City Clerk Lynette Smith, Sheriff Bart Heslington, City Attorney Adam McKenzie

Meeting called to order:              7:05 pm                                Invocation:         Mayor Stephan 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 30, 2023, were read aloud by Clerk Smith. Councilor Tee Steadman made the motion to accept the minutes as read. Councilor Trenton Morrell seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion carried the council.

Sheriff Bart Heslington came before the council to discuss the police contract and brought some statistics for the month of June and reported that they were out here for 57 hours and made 97 contacts and issued 24 citations. Most of the contacts were for off highway vehicles and had a lot of discussions with kids and parents about wearing helmets while operating those vehicles. They did some foot patrol around City Hall and the church and will be coming out for traffic control this Saturday for Twin Creeks. Councilor DeLoy Kunz requested for more patrol up Stringtown on the weekends for the campers. The Mayor asked Shane to get out the police vehicle and move it around through town.

There was a meeting on June 22^nd with the County Commissioners, Sheriff’s Department and 4 cities within the County. The county is not willing to spend any extra money to employ another officer at this time. The other 3 cities want the Law Enforcement on their end of the valley and just in the summer months and feel that their taxes should already be paying for the man power and they’re not willing to pay anymore right now either.

City Attorney, Adam McKenzie, was present to discuss the contract and brought for review. We need to set a fee. The county has all of the equipment and vehicles they need for their guys and won’t need ours. We can put it up for auction if we don’t need it and may be a good idea before it becomes obsolete and not worth anything and we can always buy another car if we ever needed. The contract is for 55 hours of patrol time each month with compensation to increase by 3% each fiscal year. The citation fees issued within the city will come back to the City. The county can have their communications people evaluate the radio and equipment and can incorporate into their inventory and give the City fair market value vs sitting on the equipment and it depreciate to not worth anything as technology updates. The Sheriff mentioned an example of their contract with the Forest Service which includes the vehicle, fuel, equipment, etc. at $45/hour for 55 hours would total to be $29,700 a year. The Mayor mentioned his concerns with reports getting lost and the Sheriff and Attorney both assured him that having a direct agreement with the Sheriff’s Department will eliminate the extra hands and agencies that the previous paperwork had to go through and it all should be well taken care of. Adam also recommended to use Best Practice Judgement in instances of trying to stop traffic or stop wrongdoings from happening.

Adam discussed the subdivision ordinance with the Council and reported on the Tax Commission rejecting the annexation of the Whitaker’s property due to the legal description of the property being of the whole property and not just the parcel that needs to be annexed since the parcel has half in City limits and half in the County. Adam has spoken with Tim Christensen about getting a new legal description for the parcel being annexed and then we can resubmit. The council reviewed all of the question areas in the subdivision ordinance and Adam will attach the developer’s agreement from Addison Ochsenbein at Sunrise Engineering and he will include only what will pertain to us.

Twin Creeks schedule will include the dunk tank, a foam party, bike races, cornhole tournaments, bounce houses and kids karate lessons. There may be a vendor come that has axe throwing and if so, we will need to get a liability waiver form filled out for each participant.

Duke & Coy Smith came and reported on their trip to the National Jr. High Finals Rodeo in Perry, Georgia and said that they had a good time and represented the City well and expressed their thanks to the City for their donation.

Councilor DeLoy Kunz asked about who has purchased building permits and listed some that need to have a permit application mailed to them since they are doing some building.

The Mayor reported that at Con Vouros’s barn, the water valve can’t be located. Councilor Tee Steadman will call the previous owner Reed Clark to find where it was disconnected at and see if we can get his water back to him. Con will pay for parts but the City will not charge a hookup fee and will install a shut off valve. It was discussed to put up some concrete barriers in front of the church until the asphalt gets replaced. Shane will get in touch with A+ Contractors to get an ETA. The council agreed to sell the service truck but to keep the sander for future use and needs a new drive chain. Councilor Trenton Morrell made the motion to purchase the backup plow truck that was used this winter and Councilor Tee Steadman seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion carried the council.

Maintenance Report: Shane gave his report for the month of June and we have officially hired a second full time maintenance man which is Hadley Wright. They have been busy at the cemetery and watering at the land app. There is a water leak under the old chlorinator building at the tanks. Shane has called Cody at A+ Contractors to get a bid and see what he can do to get the building moved and leak repaired. They did some repairs on water lines at Jason Morris and Cody Coombs and will start mowing the right of ways starting next week.

Office Business:   There are 16 delinquent water and sewer accounts for the month of June. Lynette reported that the next meeting will be for the budget workshop and all should be in attendance and we should budget to rebuild some of the back roads. Lynette will get in touch with Addison about seeing if there are any grants available for that to the City right now. The City did not get approved for a grant to help with the Lead and Copper inventory. The 4-H want to bring a trailer on July 18^th to the park and will take care of their advertising.

The chair entertained a motion from Councilor DeLoy Kunz for the council to approve checks and vouchers for the month of June 2023 in the amount of $15,727.36 in the general fund, $14,894.20 in the water fund, and $24,109.56 in the sewer fund, with all funds totaling $54,731.12. Councilor Tee Steadman 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 July 2023 council meeting at 10:05 pm. Councilor Tee Steadman seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion carried the council.

Respectfully submitted,

Lynette Smith

City Clerk-Treasurer

May 30, 2023
Those Present: Greg Kunz, Trenton Morrell, Tee Steadman, Mayor Stephan Waechtler, Maintenance Supervisor Shane Clark, City Clerk Lynette Smith, Sheriff Bart Heslington, Tyler & Katana Sorensen, Kevin & Marty Nate, Con Vouros, Addison Ochsenbein of Sunrise Engineering, Duke & Coy Smith
Meeting called to order: 7:00 pm Invocation: Mayor Stephan Waechtler
The Council entertained a motion from councilor Greg Kunz to approve the added agenda items of Tyler Sorensen, Con Vouros and Executive Session I.C. 74-206(a) to discuss hiring employes to the published agenda and was seconded by councilor Trenton Morrell. All were in favor and the motion carried the council. Councilor Greg Kunz also made the motion to approve the published agenda and was seconded by Trenton Morrell. All were in favor and the motion carried the council.
The minutes from May 2, 2023, were read aloud by Clerk Smith. Councilor Tee Steadman made the motion to accept the minutes as read with corrections to Ordinance #96 to prevent digging up the road and Councilor Greg Kunz seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion carried the council.
The Sheriff reported that he and City Attorney, Adam McKenzie are reviewing a contract to bring to the Council and he brought along some statistics for the month of May and showing that there were 62 contacts made for various reasons and 18 citations were issued. Most of the contacts were primarily speeders. Councilor Tee Steadman requested that the officers be here to patrol on weekends and Sunday afternoons for campers and some early mornings. If the council has concerns they can call Bart directly. For funeral escorts we can call the dispatch and give some notice. In our contract, it will designate the primary points of contact mainly between Sheriff Bart and a council member.
Tyler Sorensen came before the council to discuss putting a building behind their house and currently the water line runs through there and only has one shutoff for all three connections, so if anyone becomes delinquent, they all would be shut off and not just the one that is delinquent. If someone else were to purchase Sylvia Miller’s place there needs to be a second valve installed. When the building goes in it should have a separate valve installed too and the City will replace the valves sooner than later when the City workers can get to it. Since there are three connections when the valves get installed it will be considered an existing hookup and not have a fee except for when the water gets turned on and is being used.
Twin Creeks will be on July 8th and the fireworks are coming along with some food trucks in between the activities and fireworks. Katana is having trouble getting help for the activities and she is raising money for donations for the fireworks with a budget of $7500 including the cost of the fireworks.
Con Vouros would like to get water to his barn that is in City limits and used to be a dairy barn and has a hydrant so it would have had water at one time. Not sure if it was capped at some point because it being a dairy should have it’s own line. He would like some help to locate the valve and then turn it back on and will pay a separate bill for it.
Addison Ochsenbein of Sunrise Engineering came before the council and stated that he went over some funding options with Amanda at SEICOG but we don’t qualify because our weather was not extreme enough to have caused the issues that we had. There is an option to get a loan through USDA or LHTAC for traffic or mudslides or transportation impacts but he doesn’t think that we have a strong enough case for it.
Marty Nate commented that the merry-go-round is damaged, looks like it got dented from the snow; maybe can get powder coated and rebuild it. Katana will look into available grants for playground equipment but will need to be careful so we don’t lose the use of the old equipment we have.
Councilor DeLoy Kunz is concerned about renting out rooms, but we don’t have anything in the Ordinances against it or having multiple families in one dwelling. It’s not a lot different than other home-based businesses we already have in town either.
Councilor Tee Steadman has some concerns with the trailers coming back into town. The Mayor has been called and made aware that the trailer is here but they are going to use it for a storage for now. They will have 30 days and then it will need to be moved if they are using it for more than just storage.
Councilor Greg Kunz said he and Joe went and looked at the turn around up the canyon and think with a CAT that you could make a big turn around area to accommodate all that go there through the year. He says to ask the County to come and move some gravel around. Greg will talk to them about widening it.
Police Report: None
Maintenance Report: Shane gave his report for the month of May and stated that he has been busy at the cemetery with 3 graves and 1 exhumation. He has been doing the Land app sampling and got up to the tank. He and Alan got a lot of the lead and copper inventory done. He mowed at the park and the cemetery and they got the water line fixed to Rusty Dimick’s/Eric DeClark’s place. The City will pay for the pipe and it is still way cheaper than digging up the road and the whole section will be taken care of now.
Office Business: There are 15 delinquent water and sewer accounts for the month of May. Lynette reported that some of the delinquents are repeat offenders and that we will be resuming shutoffs for those not catching up their accounts. The next council date is a conflict with the 4th of July and so it will be moved to the following evening on Wednesday, July 5th. The Mayor asked if we want to do a breakfast at Twin Creeks and it was decided that the council will host the breakfast and the food trucks will be there in the afternoon to evening. Katana is still looking for help with the bike race, cornhole, parade and flag ceremony.
Duke & Coy Smith came before the council as they have both qualified for the National Jr. High Finals Rodeo in Perry, Georgia and would like a monetary donation to help with their expenses to get there to compete. Councilor Greg Kunz made the motion to give them each $350 and to come back and report on their trip at the next meeting with videos. Councilor Tee Steadman seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion carried the council.
Councilor Greg Kunz made the motion to go into Executive Session at 9:00 pm for the purpose of discussing situations and hiring employees and was seconded by councilor Tee Steadman. All were in favor and the motion carried the council. Councilor Tee Steadman made the motion to leave Executive Session at 9:30 pm and was seconded by councilor Trenton Morrell. All were in favor and the motion carried the council. Councilor Tee Steadman made the motion to increase wages for Shane Clark and Lynette Smith and to hire another full-time employee and split the job requirements. Councilor Greg Kunz seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion carried the council.
The chair entertained a motion from Councilor Greg Kunz for the council to approve checks and vouchers for the month of May 2023 in the amount of $12,884.94 in the general fund, $48,718.48 in the water fund, and $16,872.27 in the sewer fund, with all funds totaling $78,475.69. Councilor Trenton Morrell seconded the motion. All were in favor and motion carried the council.
The chair entertained a motion from Councilor Greg Kunz that council adjourns from the June 2023 council meeting at 9:45 pm. Councilor Trenton Morrell seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion carried the council.
Respectfully submitted,

Lynette Smith
City Clerk-Treasurer