Georgetown Idaho

May 6, 2025
Those Present: Greg Kunz, Trenton Morrell, Marty Nate, Mayor Steve Waechtler, Maintenance Supervisor Shane Clark, Maintenance Hadley Wright, Addison Ochsenbein of Sunrise Engineering, Clerk Lynette Smith
Meeting called to order: 7:00 pm Invocation: Mayor Steve Waechtler
The Council entertained a motion from Councilor Trenton Morrell to approve the published agenda for the regular meeting and was seconded by Councilor Greg Kunz. All were in favor and the motion carried the council.
Minutes from the regular council meeting held on April 3, 2025, were ready aloud by Clerk Smith. The chair entertained a motion from Councilor Greg Kunz to approve the minutes as read and were seconded by Councilor Marty Nate. All were in favor and the motion carried the council.
Addison Ochsenbein of Sunrise Engineering came before the council to discuss the Transportation Plan. LHTAC would like some more things included but overall approved the scope presented. The funding is still frozen for now but should be available in June or July. Addison suggested to sign the contract and can still decide when to start. He said we can also cancel the contract if the funding doesn’t come through. Councilor Greg Kunz made the motion for the Mayor to sign the contract with Sunrise Engineering to move forward with the Transportation Plan Study. Councilor Marty Nate seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion carried the council. He also said there is a lot of money coming in from DEQ for infrastructure and he will keep on it. He followed up with Marty’s questions to replace the water lines as we can afford and he thinks it is possible to do different portions at a time.
The Impact Area map was discussed. Clerk Smith had a conversation with Attorney, Adam McKenzie about including our cemetery and sewer ponds where the City owns the property and he felt that was a good idea. Lynette will email Mitch Poulsen at the County, the changes we are requesting.
The agreement for snow placement between the City and Kameron Whitaker and Jessica Whitaker was drawn up by Attorney Adam McKenzie and presented to the council to review. The agreement needs to include the physical address and not just the PO Box. Councilor Trenton Morrell made the motion to approve the agreement and have the Whitaker’s sign in agreement also. Councilor Marty Nate seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion carried the council.
Councilor Marty Nate reported that the bridge by the highway and creek is in rough shape. She asked the maintenance crew to trim the bushes going into Hayes and Whit Lane. She has some kids coming to help place the bricks in the last leg of the wagon wheel at the Veterans Memorial. She would like to purchase more bricks to finish it all up and can get 35 bricks for $75/brick. Councilor Trenton Morrell made the motion to purchase the bricks and finish the Memorial. Councilor Greg Kunz seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion carried the council. She also reported that she’s found Bayer has a grant available we can apply for to help for ground cover at the playground. She is also getting the map ready to go back up at the cemetery before Memorial Day.
Matthew Regen came before the council to present the 2023-2024 Fiscal Year Audit. The IRS requests that the auditor and preparer be independent from each other to ensure no bias in the audits. He is happy to come and explain anything at future council meetings or attend the budget hearing if the council feels necessary. He reviewed the audit with the council and reported that the City continues to be in good shape. He will email over his final draft. Councilmember Trenton Morrell made the motion to transfer money to payback the general fund from the water and sewer funds for funds used for wages, etc throughout the year. Councilmember Marty Nate seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion carried the council.
Police Report: There was not a report sent for the month of April and Sheriff Bart Heslington was not in attendance.
Maintenance Report: Hadley Wright gave the report for the month of April and stated that he and Shane have been busy opening and closing 4 graves this month. They serviced the lawn mowers and took the tracks off the side by side and plow off the service truck. They did some repairs at the land app site and worked on some graves that had settled. They mowed and raked the park and cemetery and turned on services at a few locations. The spring cleanup was well attended again and the garbage bins filled up quickly. We only got back $36 in metal this year and it was decided to only do garbage bins and not a metal bin next Spring.
Office Report: Clerk Smith reported that there are 17 delinquent water and sewer accounts for the month of April. There is a luncheon with the commissioners and Simplot scheduled for Monday at the Ranch Hand if anyone wants to attend with the Mayor and Lynette. Lynette asked at what price does the city buy back cemetery plots for. Is it the going rate or what they purchased them for since the rates just increased. It was decided to buy them back at what the owners purchased them for but to confer with Adam to be sure. She also asked about the ground being leased at the sewer ponds and cemetery. If one party is leasing, then the other should be also. She will advertise in the paper this fall for both pieces of ground. It was also discussed about when to expand at the cemetery. We are out of room in the winter for snow storage to be able to keep the cemetery open better throughout the winter. It was discussed to open the fence and expand to the survey stakes. Lynette will prepare a letter to Kelly Bartschi about the expansion.
The council entertained a motion from Councilor Greg Kunz to approve checks and vouchers for the month of April in the amounts of $12,597.50 in the water fund, $28,884.99 in the sewer fund, $21,987.07 in the general fund, with all funds totaling $63,469.56. Councilor Trenton Morrell seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion carried the council.
The chair entertained a motion from Councilor Greg Kunz that council adjourns from the May council meeting at 8:50 pm. Councilor Trenton Morrell seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion carried the council.
Respectfully submitted,

Lynette Smith
City Clerk-Treasurer