Georgetown Idaho

September 21, 2022 – Special Meeting
Those Present: DeLoy Kunz, Greg Kunz, Trenton Morrell, Tee Steadman, Mayor Stephan Waechtler, Maintenance Supervisor Shane Clark, City Clerk Lynette Smith, Kameron Whitaker, Kevin & Marty Nate
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.
Kameron Whitaker came before the council to discuss his building plans on the property he purchased up towards the top of Stringtown and annexing the property into the City limits.
• Councilor Greg Kunz asked if his intent is to annex one or both of the properties?
• Kam responded that if the water line is brought down that road (old railroad right of way) then he would just as soon annex both properties now and he is willing to help with whatever is needed to make that happen.
• The Mayor commented that if he builds in the County then it is to no benefit to the City but they still get to use our roads, etc. If his property was annexed then the City will get the property taxes etc.
• Option to add a water line down the south side of Stringtown but depending on how soon he starts to build that could be a long time before that happens.
• Councilor Tee Steadman clarified that he has been granted for one line for one home on the property now without annexing, but he would be in favor of annexing just where the house will sit for now.
• Kam said that eventually there could be 7 homes at the most between the two properties.
• Mayor suggested he may need to drill a well for the other homes.
• Councilor Trenton Morrell understood that if an owner is subdividing they are responsible for the infrastructure and the City would maintain. If the City were to annex the property then we should provide the water and sewer and he would provide a way to pump sewer.
• Concern that the pipes we have now have already exceeded their life expectancy.
• Concern is if we can supply enough water to those already in City limits let alone more homes going in within City limits and potentially an extra 7 homes to be annexed.
• Councilor Tee Steadman asked if we have ever annexed before and if not, why not? Marty Nate answered that we have not and because there hasn’t been the need for it because there has been land within the City limits for people to build on and farmers haven’t sold property before for the City to consider needing to annex.
• Example of Fish Haven and the extra well house that was installed and everyone had to pay an impact fee over 2 years to pay for it.
• Discussion about the snow removal and garbage pickup, there would need to be an easement agreement
• Mayor suggested annexing the 5 acres for now and then get a bid from Sunrise about how much it would cost to split the line at the top of the canyon and it would need to run through a chlorinator to come down to the citizens on the south side of Stringtown. We also need to check the statistics from our water study to see what our system can handle.
• Councilor DeLoy Kunz said it’s hard to expand very much where we know other houses could be coming and are inside of City limits and we’re obligated to provide services to them first.
• Option to run a water and sewer line through a 30 foot easement off of Stringtown
• There is a need to look at increasing our water fees anyway because they haven’t been increased in over 12 years. The City could be saving that money now before we need loans to do upgrades. The cost to upgrade the system was estimated to be about $3 million back in 2017 and now how everything has increased so much it will probably be closer to $6 million instead.
• Marty Nate thinks that it’s a good idea to only annex the 5 acres for now. She’s concerned about the traffic going down Hayes Lane if that is used as an access to the other homes, but if the property stays in the County that traffic may happen anyway.
• Question was asked about using the old railroad right of way as an access? Agrium gave it to the City to use for recreation. May need to look into how we could use that road as an access.
Councilor DeLoy Kunz felt that just the 5 acres would be best right now to annex; Councilor Tee Steadman agreed as long as it is just the house and barn on the property annexed; Councilor’s Greg Kunz and Trenton Morrell were in favor of annexing the property now as well. Trenton suggested maybe having the well and chlorinator building be by Hayes Lane instead of up the canyon and update that line, but would still need to upgrade the line up the canyon in time. The Mayor expressed that the City can build a great relationship with Kam and that all of this is going to take time and we will probably have to increase the water fees soon as well.
Councilor Greg Kunz made the motion to annex Kameron Whitaker’s 5.5 acres matching the legal description of the property into the City limits. 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 council expressed their appreciation to Kam and his willingness to work with us and his patience as we figure all of this out.
The chair entertained a motion from Councilor Greg Kunz that council adjourns from the Special Meeting at 8:10 pm. Councilor Tee Steadman seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion carried the council.
Respectfully submitted,

Lynette Smith
City Clerk-Treasurer

September 6, 2022
Those Present: DeLoy Kunz, Greg Kunz, Trenton Morrell, Tee Steadman, Maintenance Supervisor Shane Clark, City Clerk Lynette Smith, Kevin & Marty Nate, Katana Sorensen
Meeting called to order: 7:00 pm Invocation: Council President Greg Kunz
The Mayor was excused from the meeting and Council President Greg Kunz conducted. 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 2, 2022, 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. Councilor Greg Kunz had some follow up from the minutes about people living in their trailers at the properties. Lynette did not send any letters yet because she and Shane felt there was some confusion in Ordinance #100 and Resolution #2021-01 that she was going to send about the fee’s associated and what circumstances you can live in a trailer for. It was decided to send them a letter anyway and invite them to council to explain their plans and to update the Ordinance and Resolution to make it clear that it is not allowed to live in a trailer if you are not building.
Councilor DeLoy Kunz made the motion to move into the public hearing for the purpose of approving the proposed budget for Fiscal Year 2022-2023 and to increase the fee for delinquent water and sewer users. Councilor Trenton Morrell seconded the motion. All were in favor and a roll call vote was taken and is as follows: DeLoy – yes, Tee – yes, Greg – yes, Trenton – yes. Clerk Smith reported that the office didn’t receive any correspondence and there was no public comment, written or verbal for the proposed budget or the delinquent fees. There was discussion on the delinquent fees to be raised from $50 to $100 when their services are turned off and/or to charge $25 for when notices are delivered by the maintenance guys. Councilor Trenton Morrell made the motion to move out of public hearing and back into the regular meeting. Councilor DeLoy Kunz seconded the motion. All were in favor and a roll call vote was taken and is as follows: DeLoy – yes, Tee – yes, Greg – yes, Trenton – yes. Councilor DeLoy Kunz made the motion to approve the proposed budget for Fiscal Year 2022-2023. Councilor Trenton Morrell seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion carried the council. Councilor Tee Steadman made the motion to raise the delinquent fee to $50 when it is turned off and an additional $50 when it is turned back on and $25 to deliver notices. Councilor DeLoy Kunz seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion carried. Clerk Smith will get put into a resolution to be approved at the next meeting.
Ordinance #107 – An Appropriation Ordinance for the budget for Fiscal Year 2022-2023 was presented to the Council. Councilor Tee Steadman made the motion to approve the Appropriation Ordinance #107. Councilor Trenton Morrell seconded the motion. 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 the council.
Brief discussion on whether or not to annex property up Stringtown. Councilor Trenton Morrell thinks it’s worth it; Greg would have him put in the street, etc to the property being annexed; Tee commented that growth is coming and going to happen, so how do we accommodate it?
Resolution #2007-2 for home based businesses was reviewed by the council. Clerk Smith questioned if it needs to be updated to include parking, noise, signage, etc or to just leave it alone. It was decided to leave the Resolution how it is and that those wanting to have a home based business should acquire a business license at $25 per residence and when applying for a business license they will describe their business and what they are doing so that we know what businesses are in Georgetown. Clerk Smith will prepare a resolution and business license for the next meeting.
Building permits were discussed and their expiration terms. It was decided to leave it at 120 days for regular projects and homes will be the same because the permit doesn’t fully expire unless there has been no progress made or started on the project for those 120 days.
Councilor DeLoy Kunz noticed that there has been a lot of building going on throughout the City and asked if everyone has purchased a permit. Lynette will mail some applications out to those that have not gotten a permit for their building. He also asked Shane if they could locate the fire hydrant by Forest Christensen’s and it was suggested in the spring to put roundup around all of the hydrants so they are all visible and easy to find all year.

Councilor Tee Steadman suggested we hire somebody in the spring to spray the whole town along the right of ways and to look at updating other sections of our water pipes where they have exceeded their life expectancy and that we should look into grants out there to help us to update again before we get into a bind.

Police Report: There were 34 contacts for the month of August and his new radios have been delivered and installed.

Maintenance Report: Shane gave his report for the month of August and stated that he and Alan have fixed a water leak in town and will be boring under the road for the water line up at the top of Stringtown tomorrow. They noticed that the main line needs to be fixed and repaired for leaks in other places. They have been working on the shed with Kevin Nate and will need more help when they get to the sheeting and other things to finish the shed. Alan’s mother passed away over the weekend and so he will not be working for the week to get that taken care of. The council told Lynette to get a card and $50 for them all to sign and give to Alan.
Office Business: There are 22 delinquent water and sewer accounts for the month of August.
The chair entertained a motion from Councilor DeLoy Kunz for the council to approve checks and vouchers for the month of August 2022 in the amount of $55,725.63 in the general fund, $9,407.83 in the water fund, and $21,011.11 in the sewer fund, with all funds totaling $86,144.57. 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 2022 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