August 3, 2023 – Council Minutes

The Council President Harrison called the meeting to order at 7:00 pm Thursday, August 3, 2023.   The pledge of allegiance was given by Mike Wilder and the prayer given by Roarke Burke.          

The chair asked the clerk to call the roll:

Councilwoman King                         Present   enters -7:05pm   

Councilman D Burke                        Present      

Councilman Orme                            Present

Councilman Wilder                          Present       

Councilwoman Harrison                Present

Councilman R. Burke                      Present      

Also in attendance:  Mitch Bradley, Attorney Angell, Chief Fullmer

Public Hearing – Increase Council and Mayor Salary:

The council is considering raising its monthly salary from $300 per month to $500 per month and the mayor’s salary from $1,000 per month to $1,250 per month.  A public hearing is required prior to any increase in salary for the council and/or mayor.  The chair then opened the comment to the public for their comment.

Marie McLean: Stated she felt the council provides a community/civic service and pay should not be the driving force to encourage patrons to run for office.  Her brother serves on a council roughly the same size as Rigby at a monthly fee of $40 per month.

No other patron stepped forward.

Council discussion:  Councilwoman King felt department heads and others were under paid and to continue to forgo incremental increases would overall will cause any increases significant to equal time spent.  She’s in favor of the increase.

The council decision on the ordinance is later on the agenda.

Public Comment:

Jeff Francon – stepped forward and commented on campers, boats and work vans parking 24/7 on the streets.  In one instance a individual is living in the camper.  The campers, boats and work vans are creating a traffic hazard wherein children riding bikes must move to the traffic lane to maneuver around the parked vehicle along with cars coming in the opposite lane.  The CCR has restrictions on the subdivision about continuous parking on streets and the city needs to enforce those CC&R’s.

Robert Smith – stepped forward and wanted to know why the executive session about acquiring real property was not being discussed in the public session.

Taco Stand on City Streets:

Gaby Solano is requesting permission to operate a taco stand on city owned streets and parks.  They are looking at the times Monday through Saturday from 10:00am to 6:00pm. 

The council discussed various items:  safety, garbage collection, operating during other events at the rodeo grounds, and where the stand would be located.  They also discussed establishing guidelines to be followed in the future on similar requests. 

Councilwoman Harrison moved to allow the stand to operate in Scotty’s South Park on the east side of the parking lot, to have garbage cans for trash, operate hours from 10:00am to 6:00pm, without city utilities, and to not operate with other competing vendors during special events at the rodeo grounds.  Motion seconded by Councilwoman King.   

The chair asked for a voice poll: all in favor none opposed.

Waiver of City’s Portion of Building Fees on Courthouse Remodel:

Rebecca Squires from Jefferson County and Ione Hansen stepped forward and explained the county was remodeling the courthouse, adding mobile storage units, and repairing the road bridge building hit by car.  The county has waived the building fees for the city on the wastewater treatment plant and in cooperation between entities the county is requesting the city waive their portion of the building fees.  The council felt working cooperation is needed and felt it would be worthwhile to waive the city’s fees.

Councilman Orme moved to table the decision until the city gets resolution on the “other” item the city is having contention with the county. The general comment was the two items are not similar.  Motion died for lack of a second.

Councilwoman King moved to waive the city’s portion of the 6 permits (23-0311, 23-0092, 23-0212,

23-0215, 23-0216, 23-0273) seconded by Councilman D Burke.

The chair asked for a voice poll: all in favor with Councilman Orme opposed. 

Upgrade of Rodeo Grounds PA System:

Carl Anderson representing the Rigby rodeo board has obtained a quote to redo the PA system at the rodeo grounds.  The current system has for the past few years been inadequate for many of the events.  The board has replaced many of the components over the years with no change in hearing quality.  The bid obtained from Perfection Data Solutions is to replace the entire system: speakers, amplifier, audio mixer, remote mic, wide-band antenna, wireless microphones at a fee of $29,809.50.  The company has installed other sound systems elsewhere.  The board did receive a bid from Phase Four for around $35,000 a couple years ago but feel Perfection Data is superior to Phase Four. 

Councilwoman King moved to approve the purchase of the PA system from Perfection Data seconded by Councilman D Burke. 

The chair called for a roll call poll:

Councilwoman King                         Yes      

Councilman D Burke                        Yes      

Councilman Orme                            Yes

Councilman Wilder                          Yes       

Councilwoman Harrison                Yes

Councilman R. Burke                      Abstained

Amend Rodeo Budget:

Being the time of the year, the project would most likely be done next year therefore this item is not needed.

Allowing Beer Sales Entire Rodeo Areana:

Carl Anderson, is requesting council permission to allow beer sales not only in the north grandstands but to allow it to be sold in the south grandstand.  Many people are requesting beer in the covered grandstand and do want to walk to the north to buy a beer and leave their family in the south grandstand.  Anderson went off topic and began discussing how the event was handled for the Tiquana concert regarding security and other items that they required them to have in place.  Council discussed the fee to be charged to have the police monitor the grounds and other security concerns.  Being the discussion was moving off the agenda topic, the attorney mentioned there should be determined listing of fees for everything on one sheet that could be checked off if needed or not with the associated fee shown. With that suggestion the chair then asked the attorney if he would come back with such a checklist at the next council meeting. 

Councilwoman Harrison moved to table the discussion and have the rodeo board along with two council members to come back with a proposal that addresses all the items discussed, motion seconded by Councilman Wilder. 

The chair called for a voice poll:  all in favor none opposed.  Council member D Burke and King indicated they would like to participate in the policy formation.

Change in Performance Bond – Excavation and Boring Permit:

Mitch Bradley stated he and the mayor have met with several boring contractors who complain about the cost of obtaining a $500,000 performance bond in addition to having to issue a check that is held for 12 months (the same term as the performance bond) before any refund is given for successful completion of the project.  With that he would like to have the excavation permit performance bond reduced from $500,000 to $10,000 and the boring permit performance bond reduced from $500,000 with the wording “at the discretion of the public works director and size of the project” a performance bond may be required. 

Councilwoman Harrison moved to allow the public works director and attorney change the amounts of the performance bond required for excavation and boring permits seconded by Councilwoman King. 

The chair asked for a voice poll: all in favor none opposed.

Summary Tally/Ranking of RFQ – Engineers:

Mitch Bradley reviewed the process of the committee that reviewed and ranked the proposals the city received from various engineers for various categories of engineering work.  Six firms were ranked according to their work resume, work experience, staffing and location. 

	SERVICE CATEGORY
SERVICE CATEGORY	TRANSPORTATION TRAFFIC	STORM WATER	STRUCTURAL	DRINKING WATER        SUPPLY	WASTEWATER       COLLECTION	WASTEWATER TREATMENT	ELECTRICAL	MECHANICAL
HLE	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
HORROCKS	15	16	12	12	14	11	0	0
FORSGREN	4	12	6	9	14	8	0	0
CONNECT ENG	8	5	2	8	9	0	0	0
CIVIL SCIENSE	0	0	13	0	0	0	0	0
KELLER	20	16	0	21	13	15	4	0
S&A	0	0	0	20	14	0	0	0
CONSOR	0	0	7	0	0	0	0	0
JUB	13	11	0	14	10	6	0	0
GREAT WESTERN	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

From the above list, the city can now begin selecting firms for the upcoming projects.

Review of 2023/24 Budget:

After the last council meeting the clerk said the state tax commission confirmed the maximum dollar that the city could assess.  With the revised tax levy, the clerk made minor changes in the budget.  The copy of the budget for revenues and expenditures were presented the council.  However, with the changes made this evening on the rodeo PA system the expenditures for the rodeo would need to be increased $30,000 from $96,100 to $126,100 and the cash carryover changed from $5.470 million to $5.500 million.

Councilman Wilder moved to tentatively adopt the budget as presented and amended and to publish said budget with a scheduled public hearing for August 17, 2023.  Motion seconded by Councilwoman King. 

The chair called for a roll call poll:

Councilwoman King                         Yes      

Councilman D Burke                        Yes      

Councilman Orme                            Yes

Councilman Wilder                          Yes       

Councilwoman Harrison                Yes

Councilman R. Burke                      Yes

1^st Reading Ordinance #2023-627:     

Councilwoman King moved to read in title and summary only ordinance #2023-627 seconded by Councilman Wilder. 

The chair reads the title and summary of ordinance #2023-627.

Councilwoman Harrison moved to publish ordinance #2023-627 seconded by Councilwoman King. 

The chair asked for a voice poll: all in favor none opposed.

Donation of Police donation to Police reserves fund:

The county issued a check to the Rigby Police Dept for $500 for assistance provided during the 4^th July fireworks in traffic control.  The chief would like those funds donated to the police reserve fund.

Councilwoman King moved to authorize the issuance of the $500 donation to the Rigby Police reserve fund seconded by Councilwoman Harrison. 

The chair called for a roll call poll:

Councilwoman King                         Yes      

Councilman D Burke                        Yes      

Councilman Orme                            Yes

Councilman Wilder                          Yes       

Councilwoman Harrison                Yes

Councilman R. Burke                      Yes

Police Department Surplus/Junk Equipment:

Chief Fullmer has inventoried all the department’s equipment and would like to dispose of the items listed (copy attached). 

Councilman Wilder moved to authorize the chief to sell or otherwise dispose of the equipment as listed seconded by Councilwoman King. 

The chair asked for a voice poll: all in favor none opposed.

Police K-9 dog:

The chief said the German Shepard and officer Durkin are in training and working well together.  He expects both to be back at the end of August or first of Sept.

Library Elevator:

No one present – item tabled.

Other Council Business:

Councilwoman King -began discussing the issue of parked campers and boats on city’s streets.  Other council members began talking and voiced their opinions.  The attorney strongly cautioned the council against discussing the topic being it was not on the agenda.  Councilwoman King wanted it discussed along with other issues that she has been complaining about.  The attorney indicated the place for those discussions would be on the scheduled agenda.  With Councilman Orme would like to have an agenda topic on vendors on city streets.  Councilwoman King would like to have an agenda topic on the weed ordinance, home base businesses, and parking of campers/boats on city streets and individual living in campers. The attorney felt “other council business” should not appear as an agenda item to avoid further off agenda discussions.

Approval of Minutes:

Councilman Wilder moved to approve the minutes of July 27, 2023, seconded by Councilman Orme. 

The chair asked for a voice poll: all in favor none opposed and Councilman R Burke abstaining.

Review and Approval of Bills:

The clerk said three changes/additions were needed to the bill list:  the addition of the bill to Idaho NCPES for $16, Jefferson Star $96.80 and a change in payee in the Idaho Child Support.

Councilwoman Harrison moved to approve the bills with the addition/correction as noted seconded by Councilwoman King. 

Executive Session:

Councilwoman King moved for the council to enter executive session per Idaho Code 74-206(c)

Seconded by Councilwoman Harrison. 

The chair asked for a voice poll: all in favor none opposed.

Council enters executive session: 9:05PM

Council exits executive session: 9:25PM

Adjournment:

Councilman D Burke moved to adjourn seconded by Councilwoman Harrison.

The chair asked for a voice poll: all in favor none opposed.

City of Rigby

                                                                ____________________________

                                                                Richard Datwyler, Mayor

ATTEST:

 _____________________

 David Swager, Clerk

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