Firemen

Chief John Blaisdell and Vice Chief John Williams spoke to the council on behalf of the Fire department.  The topic of fire hydrants was raised.  Blaisdell mentioned that some of the hydrants in town were not in working order.  Blaisdell suggested that the city and the fire department needed better communication going forward.  A recent housefire in town brought the issue of hydrants to the fore.  The first hydrant that the fire department used was not in prime working order, and by the time the hose had been attached to another hydrant, several minutes had passed, hampering the firefighting effort.  

The mayor suggested that she and Tyler Webster had been in discussion about the bidding process for fire hydrant inspection/repair/replacement.  Webster stated that there was a process in progress, although at present it had an unclear timeline.  The cost of a new hydrant is around $2300.  There are 22 hydrants in the city limits, according to Webster.  Councilman Tyrell Neal asked Blaisdell to clarify what the issue with the non-functional hydrants was.  Blaisdell explained that there are various issues with different hydrants.  Blaisdell asked the council whether they would prefer to exercise the hydrants (that is, to open them up and test the water flow and operation of the valves), or have the city do it.  Webster said that he would like the Fire Department to do it, so that they would also have an inventory of the status of the hydrants.  

Mayor Hawkins stated that she had not been aware of the extent of the problems with fire hydrants in town.  There was a discussion about whether the fire hydrant connected to the fire at 180 E had been working on its last inspection.  There was not a consensus on the point, and it was stated that the inspection records would need to be consulted.  The condition of the fire hydrants on Main Street—which had been noted as leaking in the past—was also discussed. The mayor would like to see bids for having flow tests and then moving forward with repairs as possible.  John Blaisdell talked about increasing calls from insurance companies about status of the firefighting infrastructure in the valley as development and home sales increase.  

Bannock Street Road Agreements

Mayor Hawkins discussed a series of agreements related to the Bannock street project, including a construction agreement for $453,000.  The question of where the storm water drain started with regard to the project was raised, and determined to be 300 West.  Phase 2 is the development project from 300 W to the railroad tracks. A motion to approve the mayor to sign the construction agreement, and the 7.34% payment from city was approved by the council.    

Personnel Policy

Jaime Olsen spoke to the council about changes to the personnel policy.  One element had to do with the official recognized holidays for employees.  A few of the conventional days that the office is closed, like the day after Thanksgiving, are not officially noted in the policy.  Olsen also suggested updating the Policy manual to include a Rules and Responsibilities section.  Susan Wittman would like to change the cutoff dates for timecards to provide more time for payroll processing.  A question about whether to add a CDL requirement to the job posting for city jobs on crew was discussed.  The changes to the Personnel and Policy manual were approved after discussion.

Code Enforcer

The council discussed the job posting for a Code Enforcement officer position.  The pay for the position was discussed, but not fully settled on.  The sheriff agreed that the position would require a fulltime schedule for the employee hired into the position.  There was clarification needed about whether the position would be hourly or salaried.   An ad will be placed in the paper announcing the position as soon as the details are clarified.

Oneida Recreation

Lance Tripp spoke to the council about the Oneida Recreation program. City Council Representative to the program board Tripp explained how the program is currently organized.  Oneida County Recreation supervises and administrates many youth athletic programs in the city and county, including soccer, baseball, softball, and others.  The program is planning to begin a pickleball program in conjunction with the newly finished court.  There are separate categories which exist inside the overall account, tied to the individual sports.  The individual accounts for each sport are reinvested in the sports themselves, with an eye toward making each one self-sustaining.  Operations in the red are covered by the general fund, which becomes the case when a large outlay of funds for new equipment, repairs, or other large expenses occur.  Travis Arnout, who managed the summer baseball program, needs to be paid $3,840 out of that account for his work over the summer.  The city gives $3,000 annually to the program, and the county gives $1,200.  

Surpluses to the programs are placed in the general fund, which is used to grow the program, which in turn should increase the overall financial health of all the programs.  The initial stages of figuring out what the shape of the pickleball program within the Rec program will look like are underway.  A question about whether the city wants to continue to budget money toward the program was raised by Tyrell Neal, given the funds in the general account.  Lance Tripp felt that using the money for projects that will grow the program in the future was the best course forward.  One goal is for each sport to be able to support itself.  The issue of fee schedules for various sports was discussed.  A motion to approve $3,840 to Travis Arnout, and approve Melissa Firth at $15 per kid for soccer was passed with Councilman Tyrell Neal voting no.  A motion to approve pickleball court benches, water fountain, and path passed, with Councilman Tyrell Neal voting opposed.  Bobbi Summers mentioned that she would be leaving the board soon, as would many of the members.  The possibility of seeking a Recreation director instead of volunteers was raised by Summers as something that might be helpful for continuity and efficiency.  

Industrial Park Well

The mayor reported that she had been contacted by the Dept of Water Resources following a request by Hess Pumice for an emergency well to allow for continued operations during any times that City water is unavailable.  The mayor was informed that the current moratorium that would be relevant in this case is on licenses rather than wells.  The question of whether an unused well license could transfer to an industrial park well was discussed, but no action was taken.  

Sheriff Report

The sheriff shared that the department had been very busy lately, with another large drug bust recently, and search warrants served for felony gun violations.  Animal calls have become a low priority that is difficult to respond to as a result of increased call volume in other areas.  The sheriff reported that the severity of the calls in general was going up.  The money to fund a city enforcement officer will partly come from the existing city budget arrangement with the sheriff’s office.  The exact figure of the difference has not yet been determined, though the sheriff requested that the entire salary line for a code enforcement officer not be taken directly from the sheriff’s budget from the city.  

PZ Report

Shelly Williams spoke to the council about upcoming public hearings.  A rezone request for the area behind the former Burger Shack was in the works.  Williams mentioned changing the meeting time of Planning and Zoning week to the 1st Thurs of the month instead of the 3rd.  This would decrease the wait time for those with requests before the board, which must then be approved by the City Council, who meets the second Wednesday of the month.  There are three public hearings for variances on Thurs.  The school is meeting with the PZ to discuss some of the process elements of the baseball/softball field projects across from the school, which is hoping to begin construction with the completion of the bidding process.

Budget

A tentative budget for the city was accepted, and the public budget hearing scheduled for Sept 6.

Superintendent

City Superintendent Tyler Webster mentioned that the booster pump for the water system needs to be rebuilt.  A secondary booster is currently not operating correctly.  The estimate was for $23,000 the last time it was looked into.  

A bid for painting Main street (striping) is being sought.  The potential to possibly cross stripe the parking sports in front of the lights was made, which would help them from being hit by behicles.  Terrel Schwartz did not think the damage to the lights warrants it, as it would result in the loss of several parking spots.  Tyrell Neal suggested a more limited approach to the spot blocking stripes, or designing the placement of the stripes in a way that offsets the light posts.  Some paving issues with the job on Main Street were noted, with some unevenness and bumpy areas.  The City is in contact with the contractor to ask for repairs/improvements to the job. 

Larry Thomas

Thomas mentioned a plaque created for the cemetery for suicide prevention awareness.  Suitable locations within the cemetery for its placement were discussed.  

Tyrell Neal

Neal reported on the Just Serve Meeting, which he attended.  Sept 9 has been set as this year’s  Day of Service, and the organization is still looking for projects.  The Day of Service is a community wide volunteer action day, where community members give their time to improve and beautify the city/county.  One project mentioned was to clean planter boxes behind Veterans memorial.  Another was to fill in trenches behind big baseball field.  On Sept 13, a Glow in the Dark walk around Malad walking path will be held.  A walking audit will be taken the following day, which will create an inventory of issues with walking areas around town and potentially allow for grant applications for city improvements.

Jaime Olsen

Olsen was interested in suggestions for new website pictures.  She also reported on the Planning and Zoning Impact zone meeting with county.  Olsen suggested that people who have city services should be annexed into the city.  There are around 35 homes in that situation.  

Lance Tripp

Tripp reported hearing complaints that people renting the pavilion have been leaving a mess.  Some have noted that the pavilion needs more garbage cans.  Tripp asked whether a deposit would be helpful, and a discussion was had on the topic.  The question of whether the slogan “Everybody’s hometown” had been trademarked was raised.  It was determined that it had.  It was reported that the bathroom doors near the splash pad were often blowing open.  Automatic closers on bathroom doors were discussed, as well as another set of outlets in pump shed.  The stake young mens group requested permission to use the city's projector and screen for an event in the park.  It was decided that as long as the parties in charge of the event were deemed to be responsible that would be fine.

Mayor

The mayor reported that Jean Thomas had sent the city a thank you letter for its work on behalf of the Welsh Festival.