It was a busy City Council meeting last week, with a number of issues on the agenda.  Several of them—the new playground at the City Park and the FEMA grant that would create a water runoff area at the north side of the park, as well as a bid for contracting on Bannock street—resulted in a need for a special session this week.  The issues are presented here, with the understanding that they are ongoing.

Youth Council

The mayor reported that the youth council has been recruiting and seven new members have joined the council, bringing it to the full number.

As part of their bylaws, youth council members are required to attend at least one council meeting a year, which many of them did last week.

SICOG

Crystal Denny is taking over as the Sicog liaison with Malad.  “It’s great to see young faces at city council,” she said, to the assembled youth council.  She explained her experience with working in the public sector, adding that “If this is something you like, keep going.”  She has been the main point of contact on the wastewater project.  

Her main reason for attendance was to discuss a potential March 13 deadline for bond language if they want to put it on the ballot for voters this spring.

In short, the bond would allow the city to maintain a funding package that has been offered, which would be used to begin the work of bringing the water system up to current needs.  The Letter of Intent that was used to seek the funding detailed the uses as performing a leak survey, “looping the lines,” upgrading a well, repairing leaks, updating equipment, and other ideas.  It has a June 1 deadline for paperwork.  The very latest that it can come in late May.  Her recommendation is to do it now, rather than postpone it, or schedule it for a November election.

Water is of greatest importance in Oneida County, as has been proven to be the case many times over the years.  It has been noted many times that the current infrastructure is old and in serious need of repair.  One estimate that was received is that the city system may lose up to 20% of its water due to leaks and other structural issues.  The costs to repair and update the system are quite significant, and the current funding package of over 4.4 million dollars includes a grant to account for a full quarter of that cost.

The deadline for candidate and bond election filing is quickly approaching, so the decision needs to be made soon about pursuing that course.  Due to the timeframe, another option is called “judicial confirmation,” which gives a judge the chance to determine whether the expenditure is warranted. 

Crystal Denny said that in her experience, with the money available, they will likely lose the loan dollars.  In other words, the city may not be able to do the project if a bond fails.  She suggested that they move forward with judicial confirmation.  They would lose a quarter of the money/grant otherwise.  

Councilman John Williams noted that there wasn’t a lot of community support for bonds right now, though it would only require a simple majority.  

Judicial confirmation could be as quick as six weeks.  

 Faced with a decision about how and whether to pursue a vote or bond, Denny noted that it is common to use judicial confirmation now.  Sicog has only done those (rather than bond elections) since 2018, mostly because cost escalation is unpredictable.  The language in a judicial confirmation order uses  “ordinary and necessary” as a limiter to limit the scope of what can be done under its authority. In a bond election, the limiting language is much looser.  

Webster said that this would fix a lot of the problems in the system.  He notes that the pipes are in very poor shape.  

 “What if we don’t do it?” Councilman Tripp asked.  “They’re not going to get better.”

 Councilman Tyrell Neal stressed the need to be specific and clear with residents about what they were planning to do.  [The special session this week will seek to do exactly that.]

 Crystal Denny stated, “I think you can be transparent in whatever you do, and have some good front facing information.”

 Councilman Tripp noted, “we were elected to make these decisions for things that are needed.”

 Final decisions about what to pursue and how will be made during this week’s special meeting.

Engineer

The city council was informed that the replacement pipeline for the Bannock street project had received a bid after the agenda had been released.  The council will need to have a special session in order to hear the bid.  Normally, for a bid of this size the council needs to hear from multiple bidders.  There are two options—Idaho Code 67.28-5 says that if the political subdivision thinks it is impossible to secure multiple appropriate bids they can skip it and document records for 6 mos;  2) IC 67-2802 allows for one sole bid for a project that has a sole source, if there is only one source reasonably available without being disadvantageous to others.  A notice has to be published in order to do it.  Because the issue was not on the agenda, it could not be voted on, though the notice could be posted.  If an additional company wants to pursue the bid, they would reopen the bidding process.  The 14 day clock would start at publication.  

Recreation 

The new playground at the city park is nearing its final push, but some late developments to funding will be discussed at a special meeting this week.

Councilmember Lance Tripp stated that the excavation and gravel fill has been put in.  The only thing that is up in the air, so to speak, is the concrete.  The total contribution from all sources was stated as $287, which was over the anticipated need.  Concrete is around $10k.  Later in the week, it was found that some of the equipment/materials/and labor donations would not be possible, resulting in a reduction of the available funds and a need to move some of the funding (several thousands of dollars) into the next budget cycle, as the current budget has already been passed.  The special session (which had not occurred yet as of press time) would help to determine the specifics.

Code Enforcement

Code Enforcement Officer John Christophersen spoke to the council about several issues. The most frequent calls he has received lately have been on the topic of feral cats.  He has purchased some more live cat traps, which can be used to capture animals and then determine the next course of action.  The number of cats has been reported to be increasing, especially in the area of the city behind city hall and around the park.  The warmer weather has likely led to an earlier spring, in terms of kittens, and has allowed the population to experience less mortality over the winter months.

A spring rabies clinic is planned for March 7.

 Christophersen has discovered that he still needs the Sheriff’s Office to help with the tagging and removal of abandoned vehicles, due to the wording of a recently passed law.  It was hoped that the change would allow Code Enforcement to manage the entire process, but the changes are primarily designed to aid the work of tow companies.  

Water Issues

A private seller notified the city that they were selling water shares for $7k each, and would potentially sell 50.  This would cost $350k.  

It was noted that there was $1.2 mill in the water/sewer fund.

The potential effects of the FEMA grant for the storm water drain, and the potential for it to put an additional strain on the city’s water needs was discussed.  The FEMA grant has faced a lot of uncertainty and pressure from changes to the federal government’s funding apparatus over the last two years.  The storm drain component is a part of making the Bannock Street project more coherent as a longer term management idea, but it has created a number of unforeseen byroads in the process.  The current status is that the funds for that part of the project are still held up at the federal level, and there is not a clear path to releasing them as yet.

Treasurer Schwartz expressed his dissatisfaction with the project, considering that the main part of the city park is still unfinished and the storm drain area is more than the park’s usage needs at the moment.

The council noted that the purpose of the field is a storm water drain.  So if the grass doesn’t go in, it still serves its purpose.

Councilman Tripp made a motion to buy the 50 water shares.  If there is a problem, Councilman Neal noted that they can sell them.  The total is $350K, and they rights were approved for purchase with a unanimous vote.

Superintendent

Superintendent Tyler Webster stated that they ran into an irrigation line while digging in the park.  He thinks it might be time to redo the sprinkler system at the park, as it’s an older galvanized system.  “We could save a bit of water if we replace it,” he said.  Councilman Tripp noted that due to the setup of the playground they will probably have to make changes anyway.  Webster asked whether there was any documentation about the pumps in use, as they need to find the depth of the booster pump.  “They’re both leaking pretty good,” Tyler said.  

 He would like to bring in additional help at the cemetery to get things ready for Memorial day.  New signs will be coming, stating the cemetery rules to visitors.  They would like to have signs about the rules, but also stating a schedule or time date for cleanup.  March 2 is the date they would like to schedule one.  

 A rebuild bill has been received for one of the motors on the aerators at the wastewater treatment facility.  The aerators are what keep the ponds operating correctly, and help to prevent odor from building up at the location.

 Attorney

Attorney Brett Evanson is working on putting together an annexation for the property south of town.  He is anxious to get it going.  

The park ordinance has not officially been approved by the council, although it was discussed at recent meetings.  It will be finalized as an action item soon.  The ordinance provides clear rules for behavior at the City Park.

Jace Johnson —
Resurface BB court

Jace Johnson spoke to the council about a proposal for resurfacing the basketball court at the City Park.  He works as a med lab tech at the hospital, and recently started a business with his father, where they resurface various rec courts.  

He is proposing the same type of surface as the pickleball court.  It is a sanded acrylic paint.  “This Saturday I was able to spend time with my family at the park,” he said.  During that time, he observed at least 15 kids playing on the court.  They were frustrated by the lack of grip on the concrete.  The surface has 30% more grip.  There are various options for colors.  What he would like to do is offer the city a proposal—it would add in quite a few discounts and uncharged things, because “ultimately we want to create a really cool court, and also a good showpiece for us.”  

 The product should last from 3-5 years before it needs attention.  The surface can be put right over the top of the older one.  Sometimes, it can get up to 8-10 years of use.  

In addition to the paint, they will add in work, and other incentives.  

He was clear to point out that this would also be used as an ad.  He said the pricing would be good for 30 days, after which they could probably still get it or close to.  

Jean Thomas will apply for a grant for the resurfacing as a first step.  

EMTs—Andrea Bleazard

Last year, the city gave $500 to the EMTs for the Easter Egg hunt.  The council approved the same amount for this year.  

4th of July

Justin Schwartz and the Fire Department put extra money toward fireworks last year, but they don’t have extra this year.  They had $26k last year, but they have $21K this year.

The city said they would work with the FD to raise money.  

Councilman John Williams said that part of the money went to a better timing system, which they still have.  

 The theme is going to be
America250.

Treasurer

Terrill Schwartz raised the issue of the concession stand at the park, and whether the city should hire someone to do it (rather than contract for a percentage of the profits).  

 With regard to a sidewalk project under consideration, Schwartz said that the LID will cover 640+ feet.  $55 a foot would bring in $350K.  To cover the full cost, it would take $62.79/foot on the LID.  The money has been paid, this would just be the reimbursement.  

An LID is a local improvement district. Attorney Evanson explained the concept of an LID to the youth council.  “Some of the grants require matches.  Because they are improving the street which will increase the value, they are passing some along.  LID is a mechanism where homeowners can be charged for improvements.  There are hoops to jump through in order to pass a tax of that sort.”  

Business Licenses

Flavortown, Custom Acoustics and Drywall, On the Hook Fish and Chips.  All were approved.