Malad City works on plans for July 4 celebration

At the City Council meeting held on Wednesday, April 12, Malad City mayor and council worked on plans for the July 4 celebration. On hand to help with planning were four members of the Mayor’s Youth Council, Adi Schow, Aubrey Corbett, Katie Marble and Aubree Palmer. The youths provided some ideas for the council about what kids their age might enjoy for activities during the day.

A theme for the celebration, suggested by Councilwoman Jamie Olsen, was approved of “Peace, Love and Fireworks”. Several people have already committed to help with activities explained Mayor Joan Hawkins. It was decided to place an ad in the paper to see if other organizations would be interested in sponsoring an activity. Events will be planned for the late afternoon and evening of Monday, July 3, and for Tuesday, July 4.

Soil and Water 

Conservation 

District

Representing Oneida Soil Conservation District were Chairman Loyd Briggs, Secretary/Treasurer Cory Daniels, and Office Administrator Staci Tripp. The council unanimously approved a Lease Agreement with the Oneida Soil Conservation District for a small area by the city’s maintenance building to store equipment owned by the district.

In addition, the council unanimously approved funding for the fiscal year 2024 of $1,500, provided funds are available, as a donation to the district.  

Information was provided for the council on the activities of the district for their fiscal year 2022. The Oneida SWC District Board consists of Loyd Briggs, Doug Mills, Cory Daniels, Nathan Eliason, Jaclyn Nielsen and Doug Fuhriman.

Oneida County Road Department

Road and Bridge

Foreman of the Oneida County Road and Bridge Dianna Dredge informed the council that with the city and county growing, the county does not have room to continue to store salt and sand for the city. For the last seven or eight years, the two entities have shared the county’s salt shed. In the last two years, they have run out of salt and sand before the winter season was completed and had to have it hauled in. It is harder to get quality products during the winter season. She requested that the city provide their own storage area. Mayor Hawkins explained that this issue had been brought to the council a few years before, and the council at that time had approved pouring a cement slab and providing a cover. 

Superintendent Tyler Webster recommended that the council approve the request. The city’s salt shed would be located on the southeast side of the city’s maintenance shop. The council requested that bids be collected for the project for possible approval at next month’s meeting.

YESCO Signs

David Lee from YESCO Signs provided a design and request that Ace Hardware/Ward Feed & Seed use the sign at the approach to 50 South that was formerly owned by the Malad Area Chamber of Commerce. After discussion, the council determined that they needed to find paperwork on the sign to determine ownership, and to check with the State of Idaho to see if they would approve of such a change in the signage. 

Ordinance No. 492

The council unanimously approved waiving the first two readings of Ordinance No. 492, and then subsequently unanimously approved Ordinance No. 492 which sets forth requirements for boring under city streets. This ordinance will be published in The Idaho Enterprise as required by state law.

Fair Housing 

Proclamation

Resolutions 

Mayor Hawkins presented to the council a Fair Housing Proclamation, which calls for April as Fair Housing Month. The Proclamation is required to comply with the State of Idaho’s fair housing laws.

Resolution 20230412, Adopting Hazard Mitigation Plan

Because Malad City joined with Oneida County for the update of the County Hazard Mitigation Plan, the City was required to adopt The Oneida County Multi-Jurisdictional All Hazard Mitigation Plan by resolution. The plan identifies possible hazards to Oneida County and Malad City. With those hazards identified, if there is an incident, the city and county would be able to apply for federal mitigation funds.

The council unanimously approved the Resolution.

Arbor Day 

Celebration

The council set a tentative date of Saturday, April 29, for Arbor Day. Following a suggestion received by the mayor, the event will be held on Saturday and provide a xeriscaping class for trees and plants that are conducive to the area. 

Park Fire Ring

Harold Carey requested that the council provide a fire ring at City Park. He indicated that he works with scouts to teach them outside cooking and would like to have access at the park. He also believes others would enjoy the fire ring during evenings at the park. The council discussed the possibility of resurrecting the old fire ring that is near the pavilion or provide a new fire ring.

Councilman Lance Tripp, who is over parks and recreation, will check into both possibilities and report back to the council at the May meeting. 

North Main Street Lights

The supplier of light bulbs for the streetlights on North Main Street only has a small supply of bulbs left after which they can no longer be purchased. The poles are aluminum and when hit can easily fall, and they also need to be repainted. For this reason, Mayor Hawkins asked the council if they wanted to investigate purchasing new poles with LED lights for replacement when the road is worked on later this summer.

The council debated the request, and no final decision was made. Superintendent Webster will check to see if the current poles can be converted to LED. He also had a concern because he has had difficulty finding someone to weld the aluminum poles after they are damaged. By the meeting end, a name was provided to the Superintendent of someone to weld the poles. It has also been suggested that a barrier be placed around the poles to prevent hitting them and knocking them over.

Malad Valley 

Renn Faire & Baby Animal Days

A request was made for the city to provide support for the Malad Valley Renn Faire & Baby Animal Days. After a discussion, the council unanimously agreed to make a one-time donation of $500 for the event.

City Maintenance Shop Custodian

Mayor Hawkins requested that the council consider providing custodial services for the meeting room, offices and restrooms at the city’s maintenance building. The decision was tabled until the May meeting while the council considers solutions.

Business License

A business license was unanimously approved by the council for Complete Property Care, LLC, owned by Pamela Harris, located at 301 South Main, Malad, Idaho, for commercial/residential property care, maintenance and repair and handyman services.

Sheriff Report

Deputy Dallas Jones reported for Sheriff Arne Jones. He asked if the city had received any notice regarding a grant for school signage. The signage on South Main Street for the schools does not meet state code. Superintendent Webster had earlier provided a bid to bring the signage to state code for $14,000. A discussion was held regarding signage for the high school and middle school and for the elementary school. Mayor Hawkins will check to see what grants may be available.

Deputy Jones asked about the painting of the curbs on 50 South, which is a State Highway. The State is requiring that the city paint these curbs; however, they will not allow them to be painted red, but require that they be painted yellow. As the discussion was left last year, the state said they would leave it up to the city whether to paint.

The condition of the dog pound was discussed. It had previously been stated that there was no heat in the dog pound. However, a new heater had been installed higher on the wall where the dogs could not reach and chew on the cord. Concern had been expressed that the dog pound was still too cold, and they would like the runs covered. That would make the inside too hot during the summer. Superintendent Webster indicated that he would check into installing a cover that could be removed for summer. It was requested that the Alder family be contacted about the water tank and a fence be provided around the building to protect it from cattle.

A question was asked of Deputy Jones about “Jake” brakes and if there was an ordinance against them. He indicated that it would fall under the city’s “Noise” ordinance or under a state ordinance. 

Planning & Zoning

Chairman of Malad City Planning & Zoning, Shelly Williams, reported of the past month’s activities. The commission is continuing to review the Zoning Ordinance and make changes as they find ambiguities or questions. Several of those areas were discussed with the council for clarification.

Williams reported that they received an inquiry on vacant property on Bannock Street located behind the homes that abut onto Depot Road for the building of apartments. He was told by the commission that he would have to access the property from Depot Road, which is a county road and then cross the railroad tracks.

A resident has been denied a letter of occupancy because their construction does not meet code requirements.

Another developer has requested building a four-plex in an area where there is not sufficient frontage, and that was denied by Planning & Zoning.

Superintendent Report

Superintendent Webster reported that the snow in the new city lagoons has completely melted. There were fears that waiting for the snow to melt would delay the lining of the ponds, but contractors believe they will be able to move forward with the project.

The SCADA system should be completed by the end of the week.

The new city sweeper was not distributing water correctly. The men did sweep the roads one day, and the company is coming to repair the sweeper.

Superintendent Webster thanked Councilwoman Jamie Olsen for maps she provided of the cemetery.

The Superintendent reported that there is a new federal requirement that all copper and lead pipes must be removed from city systems. The city has until October 2024 to inventory all water pipes in the city, including those leading from the city lines to individual homes, and determine which are lead or copper. They will then be provided with another deadline to replace those lines. The Superintendent has a plan of action ready to start the survey of the lines this summer. He would like to have it completed by this November. Any home built after 1986 would not have lead or copper lines, so those properties can be easily identified.

Asphalt plants will be open next week, and the Superintendent will order hot mix to start repairing potholes. There are also five or six trenches that need to be filled. 

At the cemetery, the winter was particularly hard. For those buried during the winter, the graves have sunken and need new fill dirt and sod covering. Other older graves have sunken, and sod will be taken in to fill those graves. The crew will be moving into the cemetery as soon as it is dry enough to do this work, and to clean up graves of old flowers.

A bid was provided to mill two inches and overlay North Main Street from Bannock Street to 100 North for $153,695. A second bid was provided to chip and seal the east side of North Main from 100 North to 400 North for $156,900. This totals more than the entire road budget for the fiscal year. The council discussed whether the work from 100 North to 400 North is necessary. That area was not included in the work last year because of the way the driveways are built out onto the street. The alternative would be to hand patch the holes and fog seal. However, Webster indicated that the hand patches would not last, and he considers it a waste of money. If the work is done, the Superintendent said that homeowners need to be made aware that they are responsible to clean out the culverts under their driveways because the pooling of water is causing the breakup. 

The city of Firth wants to purchase the city’s old garbage truck. The council unanimously approved that the 2001 Peterbilt Model 320 garbage truck be declared as surplus, and that the city no longer needs it. The council provided approval to the Superintendent to sell the truck for whatever is a fair price to the City of Firth.

Webster suggested that the city consider a Capital Improvement Project to save funds for large and expensive projects in the future.

Mayor Hawkins asked the Superintendent about the condition of the walking path. He indicated that there are some very large cracks, and that it should be cracked sealed with a slurry.

Treasurer Report

Treasurer Terrill Schwartz presented the financial statements for the month ending March 31, 2023. A total of $2,343,993.90 is deposited with the State Treasurer where the city is earning 4.32 percent. Other funds are transferred to local banks for payment of bills as needed. 

Noted by the treasurer is that the city purchased a used Elgin Broom Badger street sweeper mounted on a 2018 Isuzu NRR chassis. The purchase price was $198,000. The General Fund made a down payment of $48,000. The remaining balance of $150,000 was paid by the Water and Sewer Accounts. The General Fund will repay the Water and Sewer Accounts in annual payments of $50,000 plus interest at the rate of 3 percent. The current principal balance owing is $150,000.

Attorney Report

Attorney Dustin Smith reported that a Gift Deed received from the Elden Dattage Trust will correct the boundary overlap on the south side of the walking path. The Deed has been received and recorded.

Smith received a call from an attorney representing a company that was supposed to remove the chlorine tanks from the old wastewater shed and failed to do so. He replied to the attorney that the city disputes their claim, and since that call, he has not heard back from the attorney.

Council Reports

During the discussion on the Chamber sign, Councilman Tyrell Neal explained that the electronic sign is not working. He indicated that he would wait to see what decision is made with YESCO before proceeding to investigate repairing the sign.

Councilwoman Jamie Olsen reported on an issue regarding the city building permits. The building inspector wants the city to take care of their own building permits, but the city does not have access to the county’s program. The Mayor indicated that she would request to be on the county’s agenda for their next meeting to discuss the matter with the county commissioners.

Councilman Lance Tripp reported that the pavers for the Path to Splash will start being laid and should be completed within the next two weeks. He also indicated that regarding the Age Friendly Community Committee, he would like representatives from each generation to be on the committee and asked the council to think of names for that committee.

Other

Bills totaling $118,765.17 were unanimously approved to be paid. The minutes of the meeting held March 8, 2023, were unanimously approved.