The City Council met for a regular meeting on November 13.  

Mayor Youth Council

The Mayor’s Youth Council was represented by Emma Bird and Paisley Smith.   Every year the members are approved by the council, according to the bylaws.  The mayor asked the members of the council to introduce themselves and explain what they do.  Lance Tripp, Council Pres, explained that “the council is first and foremost responsible for the finances of the city; we also have responsibilities that we focus on—for example, I’m over the parks, but that doesn’t mean I have more power over them than the rest of the council.  We all share in those responsibilities.  We have to make those decisions as a group, and we have to do it in an open meeting like this.  We also have to make laws, ordinances.  We have employees—the mayor is the boss of those employees.  We are elected by the citizens to represent them.  Every time we have to make decisions for the city it would be too hard for everyone in the city to do that, so we get together on making them in the best interests of what we think people want.” 

Councilmember Thomas explained that, “I’m Larry Thomas, and I’m Emma’s favorite bus driver.”

Mayor Hawkins added that “The mayor is the executive officer.  The council is the legislative portion.  I can bring things to the council that need to be addressed and break ties, but they make the rules.”  

There are twelve members of the youth council: Chair Aubree Palmer, Tatum Hess, Emma Bird, Kelty Thomas, Jeanetta Jacaway, Abbie Cox, Jason Spencer, Paisley Smith, Emry Hanks, Lindee Nimer, BreElle Ferree, Myriam Teeples.  

Councilmember Tyrell Neal encouraged the youth council that “anytime you have something to say, get on the agenda.”  

The youth council was approved.

Fuller and Fuller Contract 

Brett Evanson contacted Fuller and Fuller to speak to the council about their services to the city.  Lyle Fuller introduced himself to the council.  Fuller and Fuller was contracted by the council after Brett Evanson was hired on to handle the city’s civil matters.  Fuller and Fuller serves as the city attorneys for a number of towns in Idaho.  As of January 1, 2024, the firm has taken on the county’s civil legal work.  As a component of that, the firm has taken on prosecution for the county, which involves Malad citizens and city prosecutions as well.  Felonies are county matters regardless.   For the city, the firm prosecutes misdemeanors and infractions.  These are things including DUIs, speeding, some assault and other issues.  Many times the cases involve misdemeanors and felonies.  Lyle Fuller explained that the relationship with the sheriff’s office has been good.  

Ethan then spoke to the council about the recent statistics.  According to him, the number of prosecutions within the county have been down.  From a historic number around 1000, the numbers have been down the last 4 years to closer to 600.  A large number of the cases happen in the city, but any felonies are recorded as happening in the county.  Most all infractions in the city have been initiated by the sheriff, with just one by the state police.  Juvenile cases are also not within the jurisdiction of the city, but the county.  

Brett Evanson asked whether the attorneys had noted any trends that the council should be aware of or concerned about.  Ethan and Lyle stated that the crimes in the county were pretty much in line with what is experienced in other Idaho towns of similar size and demographics.  

PZ

John Williams requested some follow-up on the new exemption list for the Zoning Code.  The hospital owns several houses near the hospital, and Williams would like the hospital to be included on a list that would permit changes to the structures in order to provide housing for prospective doctors.  The exemption would allow remodeling to convert housing into multi-unit buildings without going through the variance process.  Brett Evanson explained that he felt that any change in the ordinance would require the full process.  

Tyrell Neal requested more information about the houses in question.

Recreation

Melissa Firth spoke to the council on behalf of the Rec board.  She would like approval to put shelving in the storage shed, and approval for refs in the fall soccer league.  They would also like permission for a spring soccer clinic/league with a 4-4 scrimmage type setup with a smaller scale field, in order to build the program for the fall.  

Lance Tripp thought that the city could build the shelves themselves more cheaply than buying them.  He suggested the funds should come out of the city budget, rather than the rec budget, as it is city property.  The council approved funds for the shed, up to $500 for shelving.

Spring soccer 5th-12th grades will be finishing up in May.  The rec board evaluated the calendar to avoid conflict with other sports.  They propose 4/14-5/24.  Spring track practice is the biggest conflict.  The program was approved.

Superintendent

City Superintendent Tyler Webster noted that the city had received its new tractor and truck.  The tractor is a replacement for the originally ordered one, which was not going to be ready
in time.  

The project between the elementary and the church building took a little longer than expected to replace the water line and service line, and then redo the asphalt.  

Webster explained that a sign survey for the city could be added into the sign grant being sought.  This would allow the city to keep a consistent inventory of the signage in the city, along with the GIS information on the sewer and water connections.  

$5000 for Forsgren to approve a sign survey was approved.  

Webster discussed some of the issues related to safety at some of the city’s intersections, and more generally to signage within the city.  The issue of crosswalks near school zones led to some of the concerns related to some of the city’s more dangerous areas.  The difference between right of way versus the reality of the potential fallout of accidents was at the heart of the discussion.  While Webster agreed that signs near crosswalks were well-intended, they might create a false sense of security in place of mitigating the actual potential problems.  

For the specific intersection in question—on 100 West 400 N—Webster suggested that flashing lights, a crosshatched crosswalk, and signs in the leadup to the intersection.  “Before we jump in to do stuff, there is a wrong way and a right way to do things.”  

Webster is concerned about signs with clearview issues, and reflectivity issues.  

The mayor explained that the highschool middle school grant for signage would be available soon.  The grant is for $30K.  

The signs that were purchased last month are here, but there is not a crosswalk yet to install them for.  Two flashing beacons, and an approach sign School Limit 20 mph.  The exact requirements for setting up a school zone were not known, though apparently a sign inventory needs to be in place first.  The council suggested that having the study done as soon as possible was important.  100 West will require a series of signs.  

Webster and the Council had a discussion about the need for improving safety in the school zones, which everyone agreed to.  Some differences about the means of funding and achieving those goals were discussed.

Brett Evanson said he would look into how school safety zones are designated.  The bus route will change with the new school, which may affect what the best approach to the signage is.  He recommended contacting the superintendent and the bus supervisor to find out what they think.  

“It’s amazing what we see with kids and people driving their cars, and some of the dumb things they do,” Larry Thomas noted, in his capacity as a bus driver.  He noted that his vantage point in the high seat let him witness a lot of potentially dangerous driving behavior. 

“Things have to be done right, and this school zone is one of those things,” Tyler Webster said.  

It was a point that was broadly agreed to, though the exact steps forward remain to be determined.

Code Enforcement

Picking up on the topic, John Christophersen noted “One thing I noticed as a deputy—it surprised me at how many people in this community did not yield to pedestrians.  That’s something that I noticed in my patrol.”  

Christophersen stated that he had received calls from the sheriff’s office regarding parking issues.  He explained that he is not equipped to do traffic stops, and his purview includes 48 hour parking and abandoned vehicles.  

“Since I’ve been back—I’ve had a lot of dog complaints in the last couple months.  I had one the other day that was vicious.  It was even aggressive toward me,” he noted.  In consultation with the local vet, a tranquilizer gun was recommended.  “He said ‘You throw a net on a dog, and it can still bite you.’”

The solution was deemed to be a vet administrated gun, where the doctor fills the darts. The estimated cost is between 300-1000 dollars for a full kit.  The downside is that it can take
8-10 minutes.

Christophersen was asked about the frequency of vicious dogs.  “I’ve had three the last month.  They had one at the school where they kept kids in from school.  A recent one was on notice, and has been marked as a vicious animal.  I’d use some discretion.  I wouldn’t use it on just any dog,” he said.

Lance Tripp stated, “I feel like you know more than anyone what you need to do your job.”

Christophersen said,  “I’m getting to where I know which dog people are calling about.  I give them 5 days to come to the city office to pay their fine and what they need to do, then I issue a fine.”

A motion to approve up to $1000 for the equipment was passed.

Christophersen has been in communication with Brett about ordinance violations, especially abandoned vehicles on properties.  He mentioned that there were some things that were ordinances, but had originally been passed to allow the sheriff authority to enforce some laws such as loitering, curfew, etc., but which were not really the appropriate things for the CO to be policing.  

Attorney

Waived the first two readings for the Excavation ordinance.  Waived.

Ordinance 493 concerning excavations on city property.  The ordinance requires people to seek permit to dig under city property. 

A presentation on water rights then followed, based on information Brett Evanson received from a specialized water rights attorney.

Maps were displayed to the council showing the Malad City Water right no 15-4078 (spring) north of town, 15-4165 (spring, ne of town, and usable by the cemetery), 15-4166 (north of town, usable in city limits), 15-7151 (3 wells inside the city, usable inside CL), 15-7299 (wells within city limits).

The discussion proceeded to explore which water rights were currently being used, whether they could be used immediately if they were not currently being used, what would happen to the water claims if they were not in use, and what the laws regarding the claims were.

It was communicated that if the city doesn’t start using them, it will definitely lose them.

A recommendation to claim the fourth well under 15-7151 as a point of diversion was made.  

The two ground water rights combined can pump 651/min 4 794/min.  

Authorized place of use for all is within the city limits, other than the one by the cemetery.  

The question was raised about whether the city has annexed any property since the rights were secured.  A piece on Bush avenue and near the Fairgrounds were cited as fitting that description.   

PZ Per Diem

A per diem for expenses incurred by the Planning and Zoning chair was discussed.  It was unclear by statute whether any sort of pay structure was allowed.  There were no PZ chairs around the state that Brett Evanson could discover that were not listed as volunteers, however, a few examples were found of per diem payments.  Various options for some sort of compensation were discussed.  A bonus was also considered.  They talked about it for a long time when I really needed to go to the bathroom.  A motion to give Shelly Williams a bonus of $750 for the year as an appreciation check was moved and approved.  

Bannock Street

The mayor and Tyler would like to replace the water line on Bannock from the hospital to Sinclair.  Tyler Webster will get the relevant figures.

Business License

Business Licenses were granted for the following businesses: Bear River Animal Hospital on 100 Wass Avenue which took over the space from Canyon View, and Let’s Play Music with
Maggie Lund.  

Idaho Community Foundation

A change to the way funds from the ICA were used was discussed.  The Malad Community Foundation Board has not met recently.  The ICA gave a check to the city for Playground equipment.  Lance raised the idea that putting aside some funds a year to buy features one or two pieces at a time.  The idea is to replace the existing equipment first.  Perhaps replacing the middle feature and moving it to the location near the pickleball court.  

Playground

The issue of the city park’s playground equipment was raised.  Many members noted that they had heard people complaining about that playground.  Lance Tripp is going to move forward with a committee to start figuring out what to do with the park situation.