The Malad City Council met for a regular meeting on September 4.  The meeting was moved from its conventional time in order to allow for a hearing on the budget to be completed by an early enough point in the calendar.

Sheriff

Sheriff Arne Jones spoke to the city council about the sheriff’s budget.  The budget for the Oneida County Sheriff’s Office is divided between the county and the city.  A service contract is in place for the city.  The sheriff noted that the department is down two employees at the moment, but that the contract is for services rather than a particular number of employees.  Sheriff Jones also stated that a percentage of the total budget would be significantly higher on a per employee basis.  

Sheriff Jones presented data regarding the amount Aberdeen pays the Bingham County Sheriff’s department to provide fewer services for fewer hours at a higher rate.

The exact amount of the total budget paid by the city was discussed.  A percentage of the total of around 25% of the department’s budget was considered by the city and the sheriff.  The county portion of the budget is set separately, and there was some discussion of making the process more streamlined in the future.

The salaries for employees not currently on the payroll is included because it is necessary to have the money allocated before hiring for a position into a fiscal year.  Brett Evanson examined the contract between the school district and the Sheriff’s Office, and explained that a similar arrangement could be made with the city, such that any unexpended funds would be returned to the city.

The way that tickets are recorded from infractions on the electronic ticketing system was discussed.  The system requires the officer to indicate the agency to whom the infraction is assigned.  The default setting of “Oneida County” resulted in many citations being assigned to the county rather than the city, and vice versa.  The problem is being examined, and it is believed that a solution is in place, and the citations will be double-checked by the sheriff’s office in the meantime as an added measure.   

Doug Williams spoke to the council about some of the issues raised by the sheriff.  Williams won the Republican primary for the office for Oneida county, and is running against Dave Murphy in this November’s general election.  

Williams has been working to present a monthly report to the city council detailing the nature and number of cases that are being worked by the office.  He discussed some of the trends he was seeing in local crime, which included internet based crimes involving children, among others.

Brett Evanson 

During the last meeting, potential compensation for the chair of the planning and zoning commission was discussed, and Evanson was asked to look into it.  After examining the statute and asking other representatives in other counties, he was unable to find evidence of a stipend, or similar mechanism for compensation, but he did find examples of per diem pay for meetings and other events, at a rate of $60, which is below the IRS rate of $65 for per diem expenses.  Evanson suggested that a stipend might be more problematic, but that city could pursue a route of per diem or other compensation.  The PZ Chair position was recently provided with a phone, which is designated for the specific use of the PZ Chairperson.

Over the last few meetings, the city council has discussed an excavation ordinance, which would require anyone digging under city roads to do a bond in order to protect the city against any damage.  The first draft of a city ordinance is being worked on by Evanson.  In researching the issue, City Clerk Susan Wittman found a similar ordinance recently proposed by the city of Soda Springs.  Evanson used the same amount, $1500, as the bond amount.  

The grant administration contracts were reviewed by Evanson, who found Forsgren and SICOG’s grants related to the trees and pathway through the park to be good.  Trevor Robinson’s contract as the city’s arborist for the purposes of the grant was also considered to be in good shape.  Robinson will be paid out of the grant funds, and will specifically work with a tree committee established for the purpose of overseeing the tree project in the park.

Notice letters for ordinance violations were sent out from the city attorney, responding to situations noted by Code Enforcement Officer John Christophersen.

Code Enforcement

John Christophersen noted that the letters sent out by Evanson were generally very effective at getting ordinance violations attended to, though there were still some properties in the city that had become ongoing issues with regard to compliance.  The steps for the city’s remediation involve a verbal warning, a letter, and then an infraction citation.  Beyond that, the remedies are more serious, and Christophersen hoped that it would not come to any further action beyond the issuing of infraction citations.  

Violations can be appealed to the city if the recipient feels they have been improperly issued.    

A grant to potentially fund a new dog pound for the city is currently being pursued.

An MOU between the Sheriff’s Office and the Code Enforcement Officer about sharing information between the two departments was discussed.

Reports of raccoons on the east side of town have been received a number of times.  

Lance Tripp 

A recently approved Recreational Board member did not take the position, leaving a vacancy in need of appointment, though that was not possible in time for the meeting.  Soccer has started, and the rosters are reported to be full, with around 16-18 teams involved.  Scott Ray reported that the meetings will be the first Thursday of the month.

Tripp informed the Sheriff that the cameras in the park would be in place soon, and a meeting would be held between stakeholders.  

Tyler Webster

Webster reported that the wastewater treatment plant is nearly completed, and just awaiting some final adjustments.

Summer help will be over by the end of the month, and Webster congratulated them on the good job they’ve done.

Webster reported that the city had failed a bacteria test in the water system.  The last time the city encountered a failure, it turned out to be an issue with the way the sample was taken.  Webster stated that the process for testing the tanks can last up to a week.  Webster asked whether the city was interested in pursuing a drone inspection of the tanks, which are much less disruptive.  The tanks are supposed to be drained and cleaned every five years, but Webster was unsure exactly how long it had been, as he had only been in the position for three years and could not locate records regarding it.  In the meantime, Webster will be shadowing the testing company to make sure the city is performing the testing correctly.  

Ed Jones

Ed and Wendy Jones spoke to the city council about a drain problem on Bannock street near the hospital.  After examining the water runoff from first street, and some of the trees surrounding the ditches that complete the drainage system, Ed discovered a pipe that potentially was out of place, allowing vegetation to occlude some of the flow-through area.  The Joneses suggested that cleaning out that ditch area might at least help mitigate the problem.  City Superintendent Tyler Webster was surprised that the drainage involved a ditch at all, as he was under the impression that the collection led to the city park.  The split to the lots behind Bush avenue was not on the crew’s radar.  Webster said that given that information, cleaning out the ditch and alleviating the problem should be fairly easy, and would be eliminate an ongoing headache.  

Kay and Gene Caldwell

Kay Caldwell spoke to the city council about the need for a speed limit sign on 70 E.  Caldwell told the council that cars drive much too fast on the road, and that the traffic was dangerous on the road.  At present, there is no posted speed limit.  While there was some agreement that the sign may not make a difference, it was also agreed that it couldn’t hurt the situation.  Caldwell reported that there were often situations where families were walking the street with small children, and that the driving was at times unsafe.  

The city council encouraged the public to contact the Code Enforcement Officer to report ordinance and code violations, including traffic issues as well as nuisance issues.  

Tyler Webster said that he would check to make sure putting the sign up was okay with the relevant authorities and move forward to install it.

Molly Besaris

Besaris explained that during a recent weigh-station closure officials were in the area weighing trucks to make sure they were on the correct routes for their weight.  Trucks in the category up to 129,000 pounds require specific routes.  The officials who were weighing trucks during the recent period found that the number of trucks needing the 129,000 pound route was large enough that the issue required further exploration.  She approached the council with a proposal to pursue a grant to cover a $10K traffic study of a possible 129K route, which would be the first necessary step toward pursuing one.

The areas of the city that the largest trucks utilize, which goes from Bannock out to St. John area.  

In 2009, legislation was passed that gave the counties time to submit a freight route but the process had not been completed.  As a result, some of the routes through the county have been approved, but others have not.  Keller is the only local company can perform the study and design the route 129 plan, and provide the information needed to get the city and county roads within compliance.  

During the recent period in which DOT was in the county, they held up a number of vehicles for inspection as a result of compliance issues, which resulted in lost time and revenue.  As some of the county roads are not in compliance, according to Besaris, this will continue to be a problem until it is corrected.  

Besaris is one the freight advisory committee for the state, which has an allocation of funds for the state.  Funds should be available in 2027 for road and construction upgrades, but will not be available unless the city and county are on the freight plan.

Besaris asked for approval to fill out an application for funds to pay for a study for the 129K route plan.  The application would result in a study by an engineer, but should not result in any drawbacks for the city and county.

Tyler Webster asked what the study would look at specifically.  

Besaris stated that she believed the study would perform core samples of the road and the aprons and culverts, as well as weight capacity on bridges.  

Councilmember Tripp motioned to approve Molly Besaris to pursue an LHTAC grant to study the route.

Grants

Grants related to a gravel walking path around the north part of City Park, as well as a sprinkler system, and trees, was discussed.  The walking path will go east to west.  The south half of the south part of the park will be reserved for ball diamonds.  Grass for the north park and the south part of the park are not included in the grant, and the city council needs to determine whether they will plant grass or not, though not as a part of the grants in question.

The contract with Forsgren to engineer the walking path for the Forest Service grant was passed, with Tyrell Neal voting nay.

The contract for the SICOG administration of the funds was approved, with Neal again voting nay.

The contract with the arborist Trevor Robinson was also approved, with Neal a nay.

Misc 

Lance Tripp updated the council on progress toward acquiring an app for the Recreation Department to facilitate registration, scheduling, and other necessary elements of the program.  A motion to approve a one year trial of the “Team Sideline” app was approved for up to $768 annually.

The Hungry Heifer applied for a roadside business license, which was approved.

The question about when the pallet operation would be fully moved to the new location south of town was raised.  The city council was not completely sure, but it was noted by a number of people that downtown traffic related to the pallet operation had significantly decreased as a result of the move.  

The issue of painted arrows for race direction was raised.  Tyrell Neal suggested that temporary marking, such as chalk, would be a better alternative than paint that can last many months before it fades or weathers away. 

Speed limit signs on 100 West were in stock and ready to be installed.

Possibilities for projects to qualify for city beautification grants were discussed.