Grace City Council
The Grace City Council met for a regular meeting on February 21. Present for the meeting were Mayor Jackie Barthlome, Council Members Larry Allen, Kathy Tillotson, Colleen Fluckiger, Curtis Toone, Superintendent Riley Crookston and Deputy Clerk Loy
Raye Phillips.
Following the invocation by Councilman Toone and the Pledge led by Deputy Clerk Phillips, the minutes from the February 7 meeting were approved, as well as bills in the amount of $55,626.19, and payroll of $10,417.87.
Sheriff Mabey
Mayor Barthlome turned the floor over to Sheriff J. Adam Mabey to discuss a potential contract with the city. In Mabey’s opinion, the City of Grace does not need a traditional contract that would stipulate the number of hours and days the department would provide patrol services in the city. “As I look at it, historically, Grace does not have the type of Law Enforcement workload that would require a formal contract requiring officers for a certain amount of time,” Mabey said. He further explained that the sheriff’s office was not trained to enforce zoning issues and specific city codes, but that they were willing to help with public safety issues, such as traffic violations, animal issues, alcohol issues and others.
The Sheriff suggested entering into a contract for $1 a year for services, although since the agenda had the topic as a discussion issue, no action was taken. The details will be worked out in subsequent meetings. Sheriff Mabey acknowledged that it would be important to put a clause in the contract stipulating that if things change and there is a need for a lot more LE, the contract that allows for that kind of increased presence.
“I’m interested in keeping everyone happy, so that’s what I’m going to throw out here tonight,”
Mabey said.
It was explained that contracting would have a couple of direct results—it would firstly make the ambiguity of the situation go away, according to Mabey. A contracted arrangement would be publicly acknowledged as the case. The other thing the sheriff explained was that under a contract, 90% of the fines would go to the city, and 10% go back to the state. “Right now, if I pull someone over, those fines all go to the state, just like I was on a state highway, and not the Sheriff’s Office or the city or county.” Under the contract, anything that happened within the city limits would result in any paid fines accruing to the city of Grace. The Sheriff speculated that the result might be “a max of maybe 5-10 tickets a month. Maybe $400/mo or $4000/yr.”
The sheriff explained that his priority was that “the officers to be able to go where they want, and the people feel safe.” He noted that “I haven’t had too many complaints that the deputies aren’t where they need to be. The contract issue has been nothing but a hot potato since I’ve been here. I want to address it while I’m still sheriff.”
Sheriff Mabey also noted that a contract with the sheriff would allow the city to pursue some grants tied to
law enforcement.
Code Enforcement
As the sheriff’s would not be taking over Code Enforcement issues, those would primarily be the responsibility of City Superintendent Crookston. The codes in question are primarily related to nuisance/”junk” ordinances, animal control, and vehicle parking.
Crookston reported that “9 out of 10 times when I go talk to somebody, it gets done.” Most of the violations are addressed with warnings to begin with, though repeated violations will eventually result in the city calling in the sheriff’s office to intercede. Crookston was advised by the sheriff that any situation that seemed as though it may become a public safety issue should be referred to his deputies.
Conditional Use Permits—Planning and Zoning
Planning and Zoning reported that a permit for a solar panel on a roof was submitted and approved as 2024-04 for Kyle Page. If a panel is not on a roof and is above 3 feet, it has to have a permit. This will be the second home in Grace with one. The panels are good for about 10 years. You have to buy batteries to store the power. The landfill won’t take them.
Scott Rasmussen, representing the Planning and Zoning Commission, reported on a recent hearing for Conditional Use Permit 2024-228 petition to allow seat cleaner and bins, with 65 foot tall grain elevator for Agtura, Inc. Planning and Zoning recommended the approval of the conditional use permit, with 6 different conditions that needed to be met, mostly related to safety.
Copy of Safety Data Sheet
Fire Chief inspection of cleaning chemicals and dust
Grain going from bins into cleaning, treating, or drying of seed
Wires attached to building and posts. An explanation of how stabilization of the binds in high winds will be accomplished
Securing a State of Idaho electrical permit
Find out whether a State of Idaho plumbing inspection was required.
Fire Chief Peck reported that he has been in contact with the State Fire Marshall about the issue. The State Fire Marshall has a copy of the blueprints, and will be working with Agtura to make the inspection fair for both Agtura and everyone else involved. The Marshall recommended that the issue be tabled until he and Agtura could get the remaining iues resolved. He was reported to be optimistic that everything will be worked out to the satisfaction of all parties involved.
Mayor Barthlome asked Mr. Thomas, the Agtura representative, to explain to the city council what his business will be doing, specifically. He explained that the business was a seed company that was devoted to helping farmers around the area produce and sell their seed. He stated that they were able to get a dealership with the IFA stores, and would be able to provide feed and other things that people may need without having to go out of town for them. He noted that there would be an open house March 5, from 11 to 2.
Some of the issues remaining to be determined involved the ability of the Fire Department to enter the building and provide fire suppression. Due to the nature of the business, a sprinkler/water system was not possible, as it would potentially destroy the product if deployed for any reason. A key box to allow Fire Department
was discussed.
Thomas asked whether the motion being tabled would halt progress on the building’s preparation, and was told that he would be able to keep working on the building in the
meantime.
Mayor Barthlome mentioned the fact that any structure over 50’ was required to have a light on top as part of a FAA and other regulations.
Thomas further stated that his son would be putting in a machine shop, which would allow the facility to machine parts for farmers who need specialized orders. Agtura would also be able bring in anything that the IFA store has within a week. BKR Farms is a partner in the project.
The open house will alllow growers and farmers to find out what is available and how to place orders.
Councilmember Fluckiger moved to table the Conditional Use Permit 2024-228 for Agtura, Inc until all of the necessary paperwork is completed and recorded. The motion to table was passed unanimously.
Superintendent
Superintendent Riley Crookston asked for approval for the employees to attend training for water and wastewater issues. A motion to approve the training passed unanimously. The training will result in additional licensing for employees, and take place in March, and then May.
Superintendent Crookston also reported that the wing had broken on the grader, but that it was fixable.
He also reported that the company building the garbage cans has completed them, and they should be available by March.
Some code reader issues were reported on the Mac truck, which will need to be fixed. Crookston reported that city employees had been cleaning slush throughout the week.
Wastewater Treatment
Wastewater Treatment Plant operator Jake Wright requested the purchase of another algae inhibitor for the effluent clarifier tank. He purchased one last year and put it on one side of the tank to test whether it would really help control the algae growth. He stated that last year the side with the device was running roughly 75% cleaner than the control side. He explained to the council that reductions in algae result in lower phosphorus and ammonia levels, which is something the plant has had issues with in the past. The cost of one algae inhibitor is $4460. A motion to approve the purchase of a second device was passed
unanimously.
Mayor
The Mayor updated the council on the progress of additional dwelling units and short-term rentals within the city limits. The city’s Planning and Zoning Commission had developed ordinances concerning additional dwelling units and short-term rentals (Air BnB style private rentals) and sent them to be examined by Attorney Doug Wood. Wood reported that he had discovered that the Fair Housing Act created a situation in which cities were not able to disallow such dwelling units easily. He had found one city in Idaho that had been sued over its ordinances regarding the issue.
The City of Grace has not to date had any requests for such dwellings or rentals, but they are becoming increasingly common across the state and country. The city would like to remain proactive in its approach to growth, and developed the ordinances in order to be prepared for the inevitable requests. However, legislation currently in the state legislature to address the issues is as yet unresolved, and the city was advised to see what develops at the state level before making or changing relevant ordinances.
Misc
Ordinance 2024-1 was passed unanimously, designating the Enterprise the official paper for the city after a motion to waive the three readings. Ordinance to allow Enterprise to begin publication of legal notices in paper starting March 1, 2024.
Fire Chief Peck reported that the fire department had escorted the State Champion girls’ basketball team into town with the sheriff’s office. He also reported that the fire department and city employees would be conducting joint training sometime in the spring.
