City Council Soda Springs 9/18

The "Please Just Stay" slogan was explained by Bannock County coroner Torey Danner to the council. The slogan is desinged to promote Suicide Awareness and Prevention throughout the region.
Review/Approval minutes, payroll
The payables and minutes were approved after questions about some of the items were clarified.
One of the question was about a charge from EnviroChem for $2200, for two samples of an underground storage tank discovered during the Main Street project.
“When you open sarcophagus, you find surprises,” Council President Mitch Hart remarked. “We found a barrel, and we had to test the soil.” In order to avoid delaying the Main Street project, the tests had to be expedited, which was the origin of the charge. Luckily, the test was clean and the project will not be affected any further as a result.
Citizen Input
Debbie Dumont spoke during the early Citizen Input section of the meeting. “You guys are going to decide about the water and sewer. Just keep in mind how much these increases are going to affect businesses on Main Street and citizens.”
CMC CEO Kent Loosle introduced Erika Dannelly from CMC as the new communications director. He also reported that the first three surgeries using the hospital’s new DaVinci surgical robot were done earlier in the week. Members of the city council asked about some of the specifics of the robot’s surgical capabilities.
Dannelly explained that she and her husband moved here about 4 years ago in conjunction with his work at Kiewit. She has worked in marketing since she graduated college. It turns out that she was already acquainted with Councilmember Rod Worthington, as a result of a medical emergency experienced by her son at Thirkill. As reported in a previous City Council report, a child had broken an arm at the school and was in need of medical attention, for which Dannelly expressed gratitude to Worthington, the Resource Officer, the school staff, and a local parent who stepped in to help. “We love small towns because of just those kind of things.”
Public Hearing Resolutions Sewer and water increase in excess of 5%
A public hearing on the rate increase for sewer and water was opened to discuss a 5% increase in rates and a new fee schedule.
There were no written comments submitted to the city, and the public hearing closed, without any public comment.
Council President Mitch Hart explained, "Whenever we increase fees above 5%, we are obligated to hold a public hearing. The way that rates are set is that we have a base rate depending on the user. Then we have an additional fee to cover the groundwater well we added a few years ago.” The formation well portion was deemed by the council to be not standardized between customers. About 31% of the base rate will be set as the amount paid toward the well.
Outside the city, the rates are roughly 1.5 times higher. Hart suggested adding “unless the rates are established by contract” to the resolution language to allow for the Cedar View and Bayer arrangements, which were described as “a little more complicated than the other customers.”
On Power rates, Hart commented “as a municipality and Power city [meaning that the city supplies the infrastructure], we have the ability to purchase power from anywhere we desire. We buy power from Bonneville at the lowest avail rate in country. It is delivered through lines owned by PacificCorp and RMP at our substation that provides power to the west and east sides of town. We charge the cost for it to be delivered. We’re providing it for 9.9 cents, or 12/kwh range outside.” Hart further stated that in the past there was a residential and a commercial rate. Since then the rates have been standardized.
“In a general sense, we’re raising water and sewer about 5%, and power by 3%,” he concluded.
Resolution 2024-1 regarding Sewer rates, Resolution 2024-2 regarding Power rates, and Resolution 2024-3 regarding Water rates passed unanimously.
Resolution 2024-5 to update fee schedule. Licenses, airport fees, zoning, liquor, burn permit, library, land lease, excavation, individual park leases, pavilion rentals and misc. led to a discussion linked with a record request from a previous meeting made by Debbie Dumont.
Record requests from the city operate under state statute regarding fees and redaction.
City Attorney Tom Smith discussed some of the issues involved with members of the council. He explained that the statute was generous to the public, and limited costs on the first 100 pages of printed material. The city also has discretion over the material that can be redacted to protect privacy.
It was determined that the policy would need to be adjusted to align with state law. Smith stated that for his part, “I’ve asked for any information requests to be submitted in writing. I’d like to look at it, because there are some things that are exempt, such as personnel records. I like to review those so I can make the redactions. That helps protect the city too. Some of these exemptions are really obscure, and some are pretty clear, but there’s a lot of them. It helps if it’s in writing, so that there’s a paper trail. A person can file a lawsuit to force disclosure. The general rule is that everything [conducted by public entities] is public record and should be disclosed, unless it’s one of these exceptions.”
Additional questions about the phrasing and scope of the disclosure rules were discussed. Hart asked how “blanket requests” of recurring material should be handled.
Smith replied that “the appropriate response is that if the records haven’t been generated yet, they can’t be requested.” This means that records can only be requested after they have been generated. In other words, a “standing order” for recurring records can only be made after the recording itself happens.
It was determined that the city could not inquire about the purpose behind any record request, outside of clarifying that the request was not related to data collection by an outside entity such as an advertiser.
A motion to approve the fee schedule resolution was withdrawn until the language could be changed to reflect necessary changes to the record request fees.
Debbie Dumont Public records
Following up on the previous discussion, Debbie Dumont spoke to the council regarding a public records requests during a previous meeting.
Dumont asked whether the recently installed TV monitor in the chamber was intended to display documents being discussed by the council during action items, and noted that often the opportunity to display such documents was not taken.
Councilmember Ryan Carpenter stated that the council and staff were still getting used to the system, and there was no intention to avoid making that information available. He further noted that “there is some privileged info on the documents.”
A discussion about whether the city was required to post the minutes was held. It was noted by Attorney Smith that the city was required to post the agenda prior to the meeting, but that the minutes were not required in the same way. The minutes are posted to the city’s website for public review.
President Hart stated with regard to some of the documents involved in decisions that “We have to protect the documents. We hold them back, and then if people request them they go through the process.”
Following up on an abstention by a councilmember on a vote, Tom Smith reminded the council that if they knew they were going to abstain from a vote, they should not participate in the discussion leading up to it. That was not violated in this case, but Smith wanted the council to be sure to adhere to that guideline.
Project Updates
City Engineer Alan Skinner updated the council on a number of projects.
On the Main street project, all 25 sewer connections are done. 12 water connections are done. The water lines have been disinfected, pressurized, and have been prepped.
Storm drains on the west side are next up. The crew will put in conduits for streetlights, then put in concrete for repour.
Councilmember Worthington noted,“I just want to compliment you Alan for your updates. It’s been great to have those.”
President Hart noted that “The business owners have been great.”
Maverik’s new building is nearing completion. They have about 15 ft of concrete left to pour, which should be done during the week. They’re working on signing off plumbing and electrical and mechanical, and should have a certificate of occupancy by Friday Sept 20. The oblong areas on the roadside will be planted with mowable grass. Skinner received an email from corporate saying that both stores would stay open.
Engineer Skinner reported that the Ledger Creek Trails would need about 15K yards of silica sand. He would like a signed agreement to accept the silica sand when they are ready, “Contingent on attorney approval of donation agreement from Bayer/P4, authorization to sign it.”
The city received $130K of a wastewater grant, which Engineer Skinner would like to have Forsgren examine. A motion to authorize Skinner to inform DEQ of acceptance of Wastewater planning grant was approved.
The city has an easement under the tracks at the north end of Main street for direct burial of the water/sewer pipes. It’s about 8 feet under the track. A discussion was had about the need to dig that up and replace it. Sunrise is not responding very quickly. Alan sent an email asking them to hurry, and explaining that they were as much at risk as the city. The process will not affect the timeline of the Main Street project. 2nd East is another location where this will need to be decided. New PRV (pressure reducing valve) need to be put in.
Department Head Reports
Hope Hansen--Library
Hansen spoke to the council about the library. The library is getting new furnaces, which will be done tomorrow. She noted that recently, “there was a recording breaking 46 kid storytime.”
She also announced that a surprise visitor would be coming to the library in October. [Randy’L Teton will be speaking at the library on October 7.]
Dan Squires
Squires discussed PFAs, which are a concern for the EPA and DEQ right now. About a year-two ago, the DEQ had funds available, but the city opted out. Squires called them and asked if they had any more funds, and they agreed to perform the testing. The city came back “Non-detect” for 11 chemicals the tests looked for.
President Hart noted that, “The selenium issue at the mines is a former best practice. All of them were great ideas at the time, but now you’re being punished for them.”
Justin Hansen
JH spoke to the council on a number of issues. The geyser restrooms got an estimate from Pocatello Amazing Masonry, LLC. Repair total was just over $3K, and should be done before the end of Sept. The flooring will be purchased before the end of the year too.
New city shop will have concrete poured soon, which is in the budget. Engineer Skinner wants a change order to get the insulation on the way.
It was noted that there will be a substantial bill from RMP on maintenance contract. Those are for new businesses and will be billed back. $54K of the $66K are for the new businesses.
Discussion of a potential tubing hill at Hooper was briefly had.
CJ Golightly
The SSPD was represented by Officer Golightly, who stated that “I’d like to thank Casey and the coroner’s office for their work with suicide prevention and mental health.”
He also reported that the SSPD should be getting a grant for bulletproof vests.
The department will be attending legal update training in conjunction with the county prosecutor's office and sheriff.
The Coroner's office will host drug overdose training.
Casey Batterton
The recent “Please Just Stay” was discussed by Casey Batterton. Bannock County Coroner Torey Danner spoke to the council over the phone. “I was asked to start an anti-suicide campaign for our area. The efforts have been segregated and not focused. There are a lot of resources that are available,” Danner said. “The goal of Just Stay is to coordinate and advertise those resources. We’re looking to widen our reach, and put together something for counties. It’s not a one-sized fits all solution. We want to put something together to put all the resources together in one place. We’ve asked anyone with a useable space to promote the slogan. We want to grow this to more of a regional concept. “Every year we kick off event in Sept. In Bannock, we all sign a proclamation. Help us advertise. Let us get stuff listed on websites.”
Paul Gritton remarked, “I would suggest that the city take some active involvement in this. We could put the slogan on the website, and potentially the building.”