City of Bancroft, Minutes for May 13 Bancroft City Council

A regular meeting of the Bancroft City Council was held to discuss and resolve a number of topics.  The following council and staff members present: Council President Rick P. Hatch, Eric Christensen, Nate W. Eiman Mayor Spencer, and Clerk Swensen.  Councilmember Jessica Vawser was absent.

Others in attendance: James Ackerman, Mike Ackerman, Nate Mortimor/SICOG, George Hulse/Airport, Aaron Swenson/Forsgren Engineers 

Mayor Spencer called the meeting to order at 8:00 p.m. and led the pledge, after which an invocation was offered by Council President, Rick Hatch. 

Andrea Christensen

Andrea is the assistant emergency communications director for the Grace, Idaho Stake. She will be the contact person for the Bancroft community in the event of an emergency with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Andrea provided the councilmembers with her contact information.

Forsgren Engineering

Aaron Swensen explained to the council that the city has received state grants to repair the streets.  The city started by working on the west two blocks of First South in 2007-2008.  The project cost was approximately $100,000.  Eight or nine years later the city completed the east blocks with another grant.  The city required another $40,000 to complete the project.  A few years ago, the city worked on the Main Street intersection, and had to come up with approximately $40,000 to complete that project.  The next project the city council hopes to accomplish is the area between Main Street and 1st West.

The city has received a grant for $100,000, but Aarin is concerned that with the recent rising costs, the grant money will not come close to covering the costs.  Aaron estimated that the city would need to come up with an additional $80-90,000 in street funds to do the project.  The council can look at the list of future projects that are within the grant range.  Aaron reviewed a few of the possibilities from the list.  One project within the range is road overlay or drainage to help with flooding on the west side of town.

Aaron suggested possibly installing infiltrators similar to the project on Main St.  Councilmember Rick Hatch asked how many infiltrators would need to be installed.  Aaron stated that the pooling on the west edn of town would require twice as many infiltrators as the Main Street project, which would take the entire pool of grant money to complete.

Mayor Spencer stated that some dirt work on the west side of town would also be effective with the drainage.  Aaron suggested the city make a swell on the west side of town so the water can drain into the triangular piece of property by the city’s sewer ponds.

Mayor Spencer suggested installing a drain pipe in the lower area located by the Mabey residence if they would agree to the project in that location. Mayor Spencer suggested contacting the Mabey's to discuss the idea and get their inout.  Aaron informed the council that they would need to file for an extension if they were not ready to start on a project by October 2024. Council would like to go and physically look at that area and discuss the idea more thoroughly.

Councilmember Eric Christensen asked whether the city could apply for another grant and then combine the two in order to complete the street rehab project.  Aaron commented that unfortunately the state requires that each project is completed before another grant can be applied for.  Aaron asked the council what they thought about hiring a grant writer named Ted Hendricks.  He has been hired by multiple cities and organizations to assist with writing grants due to heavy workloads.  Aarons has done some research with rural development grants and found that Bancroft was at the 50% income threshold but must be just under that threshold to qualify.

Aaron suggested that the city have Ted come in and do a door-to-door survey regarding household income. The survey tends to give a more accurate result and allow communities that are close to the threshold to qualify for the grant. Aaron will contact Ted and set up a meeting if one of the councilmembers is willing to meet. Councilmember Hatch stated that he was willing to meet with Ted and the engineers to move forward when school is out for the summer. 

Kyle Mills

Kyle and his father, Scott Mills presented a building permit to put a trailer house on a piece of land on the north side of the city limits. The Council had the city attorney join the meeting by phone to answer legal questions.  The Council had concerns abut the zoning being Industrial, the trailer being an older model, the the issue of whether it needed to be placed on a foundation. Kyle and his father informed council that they are planning to put the trailer on a foundation. Kyle's father informed the council that there is currently water on the property and that there was a trailer on the property at some point in the past. They intend to put in a sewer system as soon as possible.

Councilmembers Eric Christensen and Hatch asked about the trailer being a 1970's model. The attorney's only concern about the age of the trailer is if the citizen will be able to get a loan to purchase the trailer. The resident stated that the trailer purchase is a cash purchase. The attorney stated that the council can do a rezone, but the applicant needs to be the current property owner. Kyle's dad Scott informed council that the property owner is family and will be willing to do a Quit Claim if necessary.

The city attorney pulled up the city boundary map and codes. In l0-6-2 of the city code it states that Agricultural (A-1) does permit dwellings and other uses per city council approval. The attorney suggested that since the parcel across the street is already zoned Agricultural, this would be the most reasonable option.

The attorney reviewed the special provisions in Title 10-6-7 stating that all buildings used for human occupancy must keep the walls of the structures twenty feet apart and if this is the case then homes are allowed in Industrial zones or this code is out of place. The attorney mentioned that it could be argued that there was a trailer on this properly at one point and that this could be a grandfather issue unless the trailer has a different owner. In 10-3-22 there are stipulations regarding mobile homes the council can use for a guide if necessary.

Resident Mike Ackerman, asked if the city could do a variance. The attorney explained that a variance only regulates setbacks, building heights, and other items of that nature.  The attorney informed that if special permit options were used in this situation; it could be considered spot zoning and the city would need to update the codes first. In any event, the city will have to hold a public hearing with public notice in the paper. The attorney suggested that council is within their rights to do a re-zone from Industrial to Agricultural given that the rest of the land is already in Agriculture. The attorney noted that this is the cleanest and most practical solution for the situation.

Council agreed to accept a re-zone application. Council informed the applicant that he will be responsible for the cost of publishing the public notices. 

SICOG

Nate Mortimer is a representative of SICOG (Southeast Idaho Council of Government.) SICOG serves seven communities with community development and works to provide funding for wastewater, parks, drinking water, etc.

Clerk Swensen met with Nate a few weeks ago to discuss the needs of the city including wastewater issues and the need for upgrades to the computer systems and software.  Nate suggested that there may be a grant available through Team Mobile.

Clerk Swensen has collected letters of support and will send them back with Nate for the application process.  The next step is to do an income survey using the mail system and door to door questioning.  One of the requirements is doing a survey with 80% of the citizens. SICOG is contracted by the USDA, Congress, and DEQ. Their service is free to the communities in Idaho.  Council members are interested in using SICOG's services and approved Nate to continue working on the computer systems and sewer grant. Nate asked if any of the council members would be willing to go door to door in the community assisting with the survey. 

Clerk Swensen gave Nate the letters of support for the grant. Nate will need the city to fill out an application for Technical Assistance which is approved through their association. Nate mentioned that the city wasn't very high on the DEQ list for grants when he checked it recently. 

Airport Maintenance/George Hulse

George explained that sterile weed spray would be a great option and last longer killing weeds around the airport grounds. Council agrees that it would be a good option and last longer than other sprays.

Councilmember Eric Christensen made a motion to approve spending up to $4,000 for the sterile weed spray.  The motion passed 3-0. 

Kennel License-Casey Moreland

Councilmember Eric Christensen made a motion to approve the kennel license application for Casey Moreland, with councilmember Nate Eiman seconding the motion. Motion passed 3-0. 

10 Gravel for Memorial Park

Maintenance would like to gravel the entire road at Memorial Park. Casey stated that they need 5 loads of gravel maximum. Mayor Spencer informed council that the five loads were already approved and paid for at a previous meeting. Clerk Swensen asked if council would like to approve a couple extra loads while the item is on the agenda. Maintenance and Mayor stated that 5 loads should be plenty for the project. 

Business License Fees

Council would like to set the business license fee at $50 to be paid annually. Council would like to give a $10 discount if the license is paid early or before the deadline, making the fee $40.00 annually. Council would like to have the city attorney draft the resolution and put the topic back on the agenda for June 2024. 

Airport Grant-Nate Eiman

Councilmember Nate Eiman informed the council that he left a message with the representative at the state agency over the airport grant, asking if the city could just update the previously submitted application and verify that the information is still correct. As soon as Nate gets a response from the proper authorities, he will update the city council. 

Council and Staff Reports

Mayor Spencer informed council that the railroad ties along the railroad tracks are free to the public. Clerk Swensen asked the council to decide when they would like to schedule the pre-budget hearing. Council would like to have the hearing the same day as the July council meeting.

Maintenance is going to take the street sweeper to Soda Springs for repairs. Maintenance worker Casey informed the council that his son has started racing motorcycles and they will be gone quite a bit on the weekends this summer.  Mayor Spencer asked the maintenance workers to figure out a schedule between themso that the weekends are covered in the event of an
emergency.

Mayor Spencer informed council that the city will have a free roll-off dumpster during the Spring Cleanup.  He asked maintenance to watch the bins closely and crush them down as needed.  

Resident Mike Ackennan would like the city to fix the damages to the asphalt along his property.  The damage was caused by the city street sweeper and then the gravel was piled in his driveway.

Resident James Ackerman heard that there was a bad water sample taken from a resident’s home in town.  He wanted to know why the city didn’t contact the residents or follow legal standards.  The Mayor informed Ackerman that no reports of that sort were ever turned in to the city, though he ordered an emergency water sample out of caution.  The sample came back with no contaminants.  The city clarified that if a poor sample inside the city limits were taken, it would have been contacted by the DEQ and a number of other agencies.

The mayor advised citizens to contact the city with questions in the future, but to be wary of rumors.