Grace City Council May 21
This report is adapted from the official minutes recorded by City Clerk Shelley Reeves
Present: Kimi Lowe, Curtis Toone, Kathy Tillotson, Kyle Bingham, Riley Crookston, Shelley Reeves, Karen Kladis, Jake Poulsen, James Ackerman, Laura Radke, David Assan, Curtis Peck, Jim McCulloch, Tallon McCulloch, Brett Smith, Chris Gonzales
Bills in the amount of $82,409.94 and payroll in the amount of $15,600.92 were approved.
Fire Chief Curtis Peck requested that the council pay a warranty from Motorola for the radios for $740. He explained that it is a 3-year warranty. Councilmember Tillotson moved to approve the payment for the warranty. Councilmember Bingham seconded the motion, which passed.
Jake Poulsen with Keller Engineering presented the bid advertisement and cost estimate for the Center Street bridge project. The project will go out to bid on June 5 and the bids will be open at the June 18 meeting. He stated that the construction is planned to begin around October 15 and the road will be detoured for 3-4 months. The final paving will probably be done in the spring.
Laura Radke and David Assan from Sunrise Engineering introduced themselves and their business to the city council. They explained that Sunrise Engineering started in other states by now has an office in Pocatello and they would be happy to do business with the city.
Councilmember Tillotson motioned to approve a $100 donation to the Pocatello Rural Transit bus. Motion passed.
Councilmember Bingham motioned to change the date the city observes the Juneteenth holiday from Thursday to Frida. The office will be closed on Friday, June 20. The motion passed.
Jim McCulloch, Chris Gonzales, Brett Smith, and Tallon McCulloch introduced a new group that they have started called GOAL—Get Outside and Live. It is a group dedicated to helping people get outside and get healthy. They have planned four activities for this summer, a clean up at Kelly Park in Soda Springs, a disc golf tournament, floating the Bear River, and a bike rodeo in Grace during fair week. They asked if they could clock off the road on the east side of the park August 6 from 2:30 to 4:30 while they held the bike rodeo. The request was approved.
Councilmember Lowe moved to hire Paden Lester for the summer part-time position, which was approved.
Superintendent Crookston reported that the school highway cleanup had been canceled due to not being able to get the proper permits and waivers in time, they may still do some cleanup around the school. The employees have been busy hauling dirt from the wastewater treatment plant to the landfill. The landfill agreed to take the dirt at no charge since they needed it for fill. They have also been spraying weed and mowing the city properties. He asked the city council to get any addresses that need to clean up to him so that courtesy letter ca be sent next week. He ordered the radar signs, they should be here at the beginning of June. Cows will be put in the wastewater treatment plant property this weekend to keep the weeds down.
There was a discussion about renting trucks to citizens for them to load junk or lawn debris into. There have been some big changes made to the landfill, and it’s getting harder for and taking more time for the employees to dump the truck at the landfill. If the loads aren’t sorted correctly, the employees are having to take the time to sort the truck before dumping them. Councilmember Bingham moved to stop renting trucks to the citizens, and the motion passed unanimously.
Mayor Barthlome thanked the employees for their hard work. She reported that the chamber of commerce will be planting flowers if any councilmembers wanted to help.
Councilmember Tillotson asked that the garbage cans on Main Street be emptied. She suggested that the summer help employee be given the task of checking and emptying them weekly. She also had a complaint about the safety of the employees while using the bucket truck.
Councilmember Bingham presented a letter of resignation due to getting a new job and moving out of city limits. Mayor Barthlome thanked him for serving on the city council.
