Grace City Council meets
GRACE CITY – The Grace City Council held a regularly scheduled meeting on January 17 at the City Hall building. Councilmembers Larry Allen, Kathy Tillotson, Colleen Fluckiger, Curtis Toone and Superintendent Riley Crookston and Clerk Shelley Reeves.
After an invocation by Kathy Tillotson and the pledge led by Shelley Reeves, the minutes from the previous meeting were approved.
Bills in the amount of $94, 725.96 and payroll in the amount of $11,525.21 were reviewed by the council and a motion for approval was seconded and passed.
City Superintendent Crookston presented two permits, which had been approved. Jesus Mejia had permit #2024-03 approved for Home Repairs, and Matt Loertscher had permit #2024-02 approved for a storage building.
Zoning Commission
Zoning Commission Chairman David Pristupa presented a change to the Zoning Mapp for the Grace School District. The district had asked for its zoning to change from R1 to Commercial in order to move a stage container on the property. The container had been placed on the property prior to the passage of the ordinance that prohibits containers in R1 zones, which means that the container is grandfathered into the ordinance in its current location. However, as soon as it is moved it would become in violation of the ordinance. The issue was researched by the Zoning Commission, and County Attorney Doug Wood was present at the most recent Commission meeting. He related that most school districts in the state of Idaho are zoned as Residential property, and that changing the zoning for the Grace School District would constitute “spot zoning,” which is something that planning and zoning boards across the country are trying to prevent.
Attorney Wood advised the city to consider denying the zone change and instead recommending that a conditional use permit be applied for by the school district when the time comes to move the container. PZ recommended denial of the permit. Councilmember Allen moved to deny the Zoning Map Amendment Change 2023-02, and the city council unanimously agreed.
Chairman Pristupa also presented Conditional Use Permit #2024-227 to allow storage of junked vehicles in the Industrial Zone. Chairman Pristupa stated that Mr. Anderson told the zoning commission that he was waiting for the services of a crusher, which would be crushing the cars to allow them to be moved out of the city. Some of the vehicles are also in need of titles or release forms before they can be removed. Anderson stated that he was willing to build a landscaping feature to block the view of the vehicles from the public. The Zoning Commission recommended a three year time period by which the cars needed to be removed from the property. The council discussed the issue, but did not take any further action pending a motion to table the discussion until the next meeting by Councilmember Fluckiger.
New Citizen Handout
The New Citizen handout (which is being worked on by the city for distribution to new residents of the city) was discussed. Councilmember Allen requested that it be translated into Spanish for Spanish-speaking citizens. Councilmember Tillotson made a motion to approve the handout. It was seconded by Councilmember Fluckiger and passed unanimously.
Superintendent Crookston reported that they have been clearing snow. Thye got the sander on the snowplow fixed and were able to get started clearing out the fire hydrants. He reported that he had received many compliments from citizens on snow removal. He reported that he needs to order new garbage cans, which will be on the next agenda.
Mayor Barthlome thanked the employees for all their hard work. It was reported that snowballs had been thrown at the new sign. The potential for installing cameras to oversee the location was discussed.
Councilmember Allen discussed snow removal. He reported that plows from the city and state have been pushing snow onto the sidewalks in front of businesses. He suggested that the city contract with someone to clear the sidewalks. A city ordinance clarifies that the sidewalks are the responsibility of the property owner to deal with. Councilmembers Tillotson and Toone expressed the opinion that the city needed to take care of its citizens. Business owners Wade Rigby and Dana McCurdy stated that the snow on their property is being plowed from the street, which places the burden of clearing it on them despite it coming from city and state plows. A discussion was held about how to best clear the snow and meet the interests of all the involved parties. No formal decision was made.
Councilmember Allen stated that he would ask Gil Wright from the Idaho Transportation Department to come to the next meeting and discuss the state’s role in snow removal on Main Street.
The meeting was adjourned at 7:16 p.m.
