CeJay Golightly sworn in as Chief of Police for Soda Springs

Following the retirement of former Chief of Police Scott Shaw, Cejay Golightly was appointed as the acting COP.  On 12/4, he was officially given the oath of office and made the official COP.  Mayor Austin Robinson spoke before the swearing in: “Most everybody knows Chief Shaw has retired from his years in law enforcement, and we’re going to miss him, but CeJay came highly recommended from him.  He’s highly respected in the community, and I think he’s the perfect face to represent Soda Springs law enforcement to our citizens and those that travel through the area.  I have a lot of respect for the man, and I’m going to appoint him as our new police chief.”

CeJay took the oath of office as follows: “I, CeJay Golightly, do solemnly swear to obey the orders of my superior officers, to abide by the Law Enforcement Professional Code of Ethics, to support and defend the Constitution of the United States, the State of Idaho, and the Laws of my community.  I affirm my allegiance to the people of this city, who have appointed me as the guardian of their property and lives, and take this oath knowing full well the responsibility of my office, the great personal peril at which I shall serve, and promise to act at all times with integrity, honesty, vigilance, and honor as chief of police for the city of Soda Springs according to the best of my ability.”

Golightly then took a few minutes to pose for pictures with other members of law enforcement, and his family.  The police contingent was excused from the meeting to attend to their regularly scheduled business.

Golightly has been an important part of the law enforcement effort in the community for years, and comes into the position with a thorough and active knowledge of the city itself, its areas of strength and areas of concern.  The Enterprise wishes him well as he takes on the mantle of a very challenging job.

The City council continued with its regular meeting at that point.

Nikki Hansen

Recreation Director Nikki Hansen spoke to the council about some of the changes that will be coming to the recreation department, the most significant of which concerns a new group called the Soda Springs Explorer Foundation, which will potentially be helping to organize and facilitate competitive and team sports. The focus for Hansen’s position would be in development of the program, and increasing the outreach to a wider range of ages as far as promoting recreational activities within the city.

Together with Hope Hansen, she is looking at adding an outdoor explorer program.  “We’re moving to make it more generational recreation, rather than just younger kids. We need to do marketing with it and videography.  We need a way to catch the people coming through—all these people that are passing through, let’s give them a reason to stop.”

Another issue raised by Hansen was the need for a rec center, which has been in discussion for a long time.  She noted a number of other smaller communities that do have rec centers.  

City Council members inquired further about the Explorers, and how they would work with the rec department.  “They’re taking over the competitive part.  I’m doing the development part. The whole goal is to get more people active. We’re at the fork in the road where either we change something, or we just don’t offer it,” Hansen said.  “I can’t teach everybody everything.”  

Hansen explained that the role of the rec director in her opinion was to teach skills and activities to participants, rather than serve as a commissioner of sports leagues, which is what she felt the position had become.  She expressed the opinion that the best way to grown the program was to increase the scope of the those who might be attracted to its activities.  “We’ve got a lot more people volunteering to teach kayaking, etc.  There’s more out there than team sports.”

Hansen stated that “It’s for the whole community.  I’ve got some ideas going forward to bring more activity to the community.”

ENDERS

Council President Mitch Hart gave a slide show presentation on options for Enders.  Terah Jones decided against renewing her lease on the building in light of the increased cost, and the narrow operating margins.  The city is now faced with the decision of what to do with the building once again.    

According to Hart, over the past 6 years, about half a million total has been spent on the building, though some of that money was spent on appraisal and other acquisition costs.  Maintenance, utilities, repairs and ongoing service have run about $400K plus.  

President Hart presented the options which have been discussed over the last few months: selling the building to another party, leasing the building, or retaining the building and occupying it to serve as a city hall.

With regard to selling the building, Hart noted that there was a prescribed process to dispose of city properties, in which a public auction would have to be the route.  About $1.1 million was the estimated value as a middle ground of past appraisals.  A new appraisal would cost $1200-1500, but might find an increased value.  

For all the components of a sale to be in place--appraisal, public hearing, auction, advertising, etc. Hart estimated that 10-12 weeks would be the soonest it could be completed.

 With regard to leasing, a price structure would need to be developed.  At present, an estimate of .30-.60 per square foot was suggested.--slide with sq ft by floor.  Potentially, this could generate as much as $8,500 month from a full lessee.  

Moving City Hall to the location was the most dramatic suggestion.  Hart estimated the cost at around $1 million to move city hall, which would include the placement of an elevator, as well as remodels to a number of rooms and features as suggested by architect.  As a government building, City Hall would be required to follow ADA guidelines. Hart presented information on using the funds balances to pay for it.

Some additional considerations included possibly selling the current city hall, or police station, or both.  The estimate was to sell the parking lot + bldg. for $500K.  The old Maverik, right across the street, is selling for around that much.  $150K is the value of the police station, which could be offered up to county.

Following the presentation, discussion was taken up by the council.

Various issues related to leasing were discussed.  What portions of the building would be leased out, and would the leases need to be open for bids?

City attorney Tom Smith stated that the city can lease property under terms that are just and equitable.  “It’s pretty open.  You could just set an amount, or put it up for bid.  I think the council would have a lot of discretion.  Unlike selling, there aren’t a lot of details.”

Tamara Henesh, owner of Main Street Diner, commented on the potential for leasing the restaurant area: “I think you would have a difficult time renting out the café.  It’s hard to be under somebody’s thumb.  But if the price is fair, heck I’ll rent it out.”

The council members each took some time to present their current thoughts.  Perhaps most surprising was Rod Worthington.  “We have been working on this for a long time.  I have wavered back and forth and tried to make the best decision.  When I first became a councilmember I took a tour of the building and it was an eye-opener…The first three months we were in office, it was close to $300K dollars we spent on it.  When [Terah Jones] was in the building, I saw it start to come back to life.”  

“The survey showed us that we had a very split community about where they wanted to go.  And I get both, back and forth.  But it comes back to, that is a centerpiece of our community.  If the city sells that and it goes into disrepair, then what?  I’m glad we went through this journey.  Those things that have happened to our city are not happening to us, but for us.  At this point, I am not comfortable selling that building.  I would have 4 years ago, but I see the value in our city now.  The discussion is going to be—the county is close to 3 million redoing the courthouse three times.  Why would they have an old building and just keep putting money in it?  Because that building is an icon in our community.  I’ve taken a journey on this and changed my mind.  How this is going to look, I don’t know.  I think we can do more as a city to make it more open, more inviting.  I think we really need to consider those options, and what that’s going to look like right now, I don’t know.  I saw it become a place where people gathered.  It gave me a little bit of hope. I am grateful to Miss Jones, and what she did there.  It gave me some hope going forward.  I’m open for those options.  I am not comfortable selling the Enders bldg.”

Councilmember Ryan Carpenter said,“I echo councilman Worthington.  When I started—trim the fat, get rid of it.  But it is an anchorpoint of our town.  We have just invested in our downtown to the best of our ability.  Is this something that will bring people to our downtown and revitalize it?  If we sell it, we lose the control over what happens—is the money worth it?  I’d love to sell city hall, but Golitghtly would love to be here.  The Cop Shop is five years away from needing a total remodel.  I don’t want to see something bad happen to the Enders.  There’s a ton of stuff in there that nobody in the city wants to see us lose control over.  Whether auction it, or cram it into the historical society--those are dead ends.  I’m also leaning toward not selling it.  Strictly by the numbers, is it a good investment? There is a need for meeting spaces.  I went to a wedding at Enders, and it was amazing.  Terah did a great job.  So, are we getting a return on our investment?  I’d love to see something where people congregate and utilize the
building space.”

Councilmember Paul Gritton has been the most vocal about the cause for selling the building, and held firm.  “What to do with Enders?  We have four options, and I feel it is in the best interest of the Enders and the city to have a single direction to work toward.  How does the city decide who to lease the building to?”  Gritton articulated the point that the leasing situation could create some issues with public access and fairness to the community.

“If taxpayers are paying for something, it should be for the use of the community.  Is the city in business if it leases buildings?  Business owners [already] felt that the city is competing with them.”  Gritton opposed moving city hall to the Enders building, partly for the cost to taxpayers.  He and made the case that the current city hall is sufficient, and is itself a historic building, dating back to 1976.  “Can our taxpayers shoulder even more of a tax burden?  My intent is to carefully consider the fiscal climate we are in.  I’ve had numerous people tell me we need a community center.  I was contacted by a businessman who thought we should have pickleball courts, new firestation, basketball courts, etc.  I visited many homes in 2023.  Many voiced the opinion that the city should sell the building.”  He stated that 80% of people he had spoken to felt that the city should sell the building.

Grottin proposed a new building that housed city hall, comm center, meeting room, etc.  The project should be funded by the sale of city property [Enders and other properties] and donations.  “Selling will eliminate current monthly bills involved, plus add it to the tax rolls as a property.  The city should also seek out and find other properties to sell.”

Council President Hart noted that a combined city hall and community center had been proposed before, under the name Phosphate Legacy Center.  “A few years ago, we had an idea of putting together something like that,” Hart said.  “It would have Firestation storage, etc.  Similar to the middle school gym addition.  At current costs, it would be about 11 mill to construct a facility of that size.”

The discussion was not an action item, but more of a rangefinding session to see where the council generally stood.  Ultimately, the balance of the quorum seemed in favor of retaining the building in some form or fashion.

Dan Squires

Squires discussed the new waterfill station, which is almost set up for taking cards.  As far as rates, Director Squires said “The whole intent was not a big revenue stream.  It was more accountability of water and where it was going.  At our current rate, it won’t pay for itself.”  Squires suggested a rate of  would like $5/thousand gallons to make it break even.  

President Hart affirmed that he found 5$ is a fair rate.  The council will work on getting a resolution done on it.  It will be on year-round.  

Squires noted that “The initial year will be a learning curve for the regular people, but they’ll get used to it before too long.”  The same fillstation will operate the same way the county fill station is set up now. 

Justin Hansen

The city crew has not used snowplows to plow snow yet, but they are ready.  The park bathrooms are shut down except for the geyser.  The Christmas lights are up.  Some options down the road for lights during other times of the year were mentioned.  Director Hansen stated that it takes about five minutes per pole to set up lights.  

The sled hill/tubing hill has signage up telling people to be careful.  

Hansen was able to get numbers on new sweeper.  Current one is 14 years old in 2025.  “If we need to stretch it out we could.”  The quote is for a TimCo 500X, which is a highdump model.  “In my 7 years, we have not used the high dump feature.”  A quote for a regular non-high dump was TimCo Regenerative Sweeper 600. $400K was the estimate.  The current one is $20K in trade, which Hansen thought would be better kept as a backup.  A municipal lease on the machine would result in it being owned by the city.  

A number of things will be put up for auction, including some heavy machinery from the departments.  A lot of cities in area are using service.  Resolution 2024-7 was passed, allowing an auction of surplus items.