City donates Spark! photos to Caribou Historical Society; New clerk Haderlie sworn in

The Soda Springs City Council met for a regular meeting on Wednesday, April 3. 

The new equipment, recently installed in the City Council Chambers, appeared to be up and running for the meeting, which allowed Council President Mitch Hart to attend remotely.  Other than some audio issues, the meeting was able to be conducted with minimal technical issues.  During the course of the meeting, the wall-mounted monitor and individual member tablets were used to good effect during the meeting to facilitate conversation on a number of topics.  City Superintendent Alan Skinner found the display very useful in discussing current projects within the city, including construction related to the new Maverik location.  

Mayor Austin opened the meeting with some reflective comments in tribute to City Attorney Gregg Haney, who unexpectedly passed away on March 17.  The mayor paid respect to Haney’s contributions to the city, and honored his life as a man.  He reminded those in the room that life is finite, and advised them not to take it for granted. 

Newly appointed City Clerk Andrea Haderlie was then sworn in by Mayor Robinson, and officially took on the mantle of an often difficult job.   Councilmembers expressed their appreciation for her well prepared minutes from the last meeting, at the end of which she was officially offered the position.  Haderlie is a life-long resident of Soda Springs, and has worked in the city office for the last five plus years.

The photo displays created for the Spark! Innovation Smithsonian exhibit were officially donated by the city to the Caribou Historical Society, which, along with Chelsey Davids, Andrea Haderlie, Robin Thomas, and others, was involved in their creation and display.  The Spark! exhibit, which was covered by the Caribou County Sun during its stay at Enders, was designed to highlight the often ingenious innovations created by small towns and cities in order to solve problems that are often spent out of existence by larger municipalities.  Of particular interest to the CHS was the Last Chance Canal, a story of using a combination of craftiness and hard work to adhere to the letter of the law when the spirit alone wouldn’t suffice.  

The photos were received by Bill Horsley and Jerry Stoor representing the CHS, and will be displayed at the Caribou Historical Museum in the
future.

Debbie Dumont updated the Council on the progress of a draft document for a public interest survey concerning Enders Hotel.  The Council has been in discussions about the hotel in the majority of its meetings this calendar year (and before), and it was felt that additional input from the public on the subject would be a matter of due diligence.  The issue has been discussed many times in open public meetings, but the planned survey would be distributed to as many residents of the city as possible directly.  The wording of the questions on the survey, as well as the mechanism for delivering and collecting them, are issues yet to be resolved, and it is likely the process of finalizing the survey will be a slow one out of an abundance of caution and a desire to do it to everyone’s satisfaction as much as can be possible. 

The upcoming Main Street project was discussed, and it was stated that a contractor should be in place by the end of April.  

Councilmember Rod Worthington expressed gratitude to Mitch Hart, Alan Skinner, and Gregg Haney for their work on the donation of 608 acres of property from Nutrien.  A motion to permit the mayor to sing the final agreement was passed.

Plans for the Spring Cleanup were discussed, including the scope and duration of the event, as well as potential restrictions on what types of material will be suitable for consignment to the landfill.  When the details are completed, they will be made publicly available.