Bancroft City Council
July 14,2025
This report is adapted from the official minutes recorded by City Clerk Debbie Swensen. Full minutes are available by contacting the city office.
Sheriff’s Department
Sheriff Mabey informed council that the sheriff s department put a speed reader by cemetery road approximately 20 days ago to slow traffic due to resident complaints.
ORDINANCE NO. 308 TITLE 4 CHAPTER I - NUISANCE & PENALTIES
Council reviewed a final draft of Ordinance No. 308 amending title 4, repealing chapter l, passing a new chapter l, listing the definition and enumerations of the nuisances, modifying provisions regarding abatement procedures and penalties.
Ordinance passed 3-0.
ORDINANCE NO. 309 TITLE 6 CHAPTER 3 - ABANDONED VEHICLES & PENALTIES
Council reviewed the final draft of Ordinance No. 309 amending Title 6, Chapter 3, as it relates to abandoned vehicles, provides abatement of the same as a public nuisance and provides for penalties. Ordinance passed 3-0.
Jim McCulloch
Jim McCulloch is part of a non-profit group called “Get Outside & Live”. Jim explained that the ending goal is to get people in the habit of going outside for social connection and exercise. They have planned an agenda and will be doing activities with service projects that help out in the communities. Somc of the activities they have done include cleaning Kelly Park and a disc golf tournament. They plan to float the Bear River, starting at Bailey Creek Bridge going to Alexander. They will have a bike rodeo to promote bicycle safety at Grace City Park on August 6th. A new activities calendar will come out this fall.
Jim reviewed some of the goals relating to public safety, He has had personal experiences on busy roads that brought his own safety awareness as he saw how so many people are using the busy, unsafe, public streets for walking and biking. Jim read off a list of some of the hike/bike trails in the valley that they would like to put on the calendar. The vision is to add outdoor events that will encourage physical activity. There are committee members from each community that residents can get in touch with if they would like to join or get more information on events.
Mike Ackerman-Fireworks Donation Request
Resident Mike Ackerman requested a donation from the city to help cover the cost of fireworks for the July 2nd celebration. Mike would like to propose moving the fireworks to the baseball diamond behind the football field due to being more safe and open area. Mike asked if the city would be willing to assist him on-site with a fire truck. Council doesn’t have a problem with the request for assistance of a fire truck but voiced concerns regarding how dry it is this year.
Mayor Spencer informed council that he visited with Mr. Ackerman previous to the meeting regarding the dry and hot windy conditions and recommended that the council approve the requests contingent on weather conditions due to city liabilities.
Council asked Mr. Ackerman if he would change his written proposal to state that approval is contingent on weathcr conditions on July 24th.
Mike informed council that several members of the community would like to have the dance in the street again and not down by the school.
Council agreed to make a donation of $1,000 towards the cost of the fireworks.
CM Eric Christensen made a motion to donate $1,000 for fireworks and allow the fireworks to proceed contingent on the weather July 24th.
Generator Purchase
There were no quotes for a generator. Mayor Spencer explained that the secondary well behind the school does not have a generator so when we had the fires and the power was shut off, it cut the power to the wells. We were able to run the primary well but had issues with the breaker; which had to be replaced.
Without that one running we could have had more serious issues with no water running. The Mayor will contact Eric Hobson and see if they will add these items to the county emergency needs list. Council would like to get some bids and table the purchase.
Sidewalk Repairs on Main Street
Council reviewed the quotes submitted by three contractors and agreed to accept the lowest bid.
CM Eric Christensen made a motion to accept the bid from Four Trax for approx. $7,200.
Motion passed 3-0.
Building Permits
Austin & Keedrin Vawser- Mayor Spencer informed the Vawsers that he did not have time to meet with them regarding their permit. Mayor Spencer advised that the city would need to go through the legal process to do a rezone before reviewing or approving the building permit. Mayor Spencer would like to review maps and information regarding the rezones that were done on the adjoining properties. Tabled for the present.
Karen Kofoed-Mayor Spencer went to project location and met with the residents. They would like to redo the water line to the meter where the old trailer house was. They will have to cut out part of the sidewalk in order to reach the meter so they can replace the water line. The contractor will replace the concrete, leaving it the same or better than it was.
Cm, Jessie Vawser made a motion to approve the permit for Karen Kofoed. Motion passed 3-0.
Justin White-Mayor Spencer met with the resident regarding his application. The resident is planning to take the roof off his house and build a story up. They will add onto the back of the house next year which will require the resident to remove and replace the gas meter and sewer line. Those items will be on another permit when they are ready to start that phase of the project. Approved.
Kelly Christensen-Kelly would like to tear down the back porch and replace it. She has hired contractors to complete the project. Mayor Spencer visited the site and has no problems with Kelly’s request. Resident Trevor Parsons asked if the resident needed a permit if she is not changing the square footage. Council explained that code states that a permit is needed for demolition. Approved
Airport Rd. Damages
Mayor Spencer will contact the county and find out when they are available to help out. The city will need to get a price on renting a roller. An invoice for the cost of the repairs will be going out to the farmers.
Attorney Advice
Council asked the city attorney for advice regarding what topics and items should be in open meetings vs. executive session. The attorney explained that if a topic is or will become a legal litigation it should be in executive session but items or discussions regarding amending ordinances and other decisions regarding setting laws should be in open meeting.
CM Vawser asked the attorney for advice regarding residents in the city limits living in campers. Council has been informed that a resident on Main Street has brought in two campers and is living in one of them. They have also placed a portable toilet beside one or the trailers. The individuals have been seen coming in and out of the trailers throughout the day and night. Council reviewed the city codes relating to RV’s and Mobile Homes in city limits.
Council read section 10-3-22 which states that residents are not allowed to live in RVs at all and mobile homes must be located in a designated trailer court. Council would like to follow the codes and issue citations and fines due to previous warnings being ignored. The city attorney advised that the city can go forward with enforcement of the new codes once they are legally passed and proof of publication is back.
CM Vawser asked what route the city should take with the properties in code violations that are occupied by someone other than the owner. The attorney suggested contacting both parties as they both have a legal responsibility.
CM Vawser asked the attorney about council group texts and emails outside of meetings. The attorney advised council that there are going to have unexpected situations arise and they have to be dealt with.
Some items will require immediate attention and discussions regarding course of action and others will need to be settled in planned meetings with posted agendas. These items will require scheduling through text, email, or both. Agendas have to be set and items discussed in order to keep the daily operations and functions of the city going. The city has an obligation to continue utility services which will require discussions to decide if it is an emergency or if a meeting should be scheduled. Council can discuss factual issues and plan what course of action needs taken as long as there is no deliberating towards a decision.
CM Vawser asked about situations that arise unexpected like a sewer or waterline breaks. The attorney advised that this is a public service that has to be maintained and would need immediate emergency attention. This does not require putting together a full quorum and posting a meeting. If purchases need to be made it is advised to put them on the next agenda or call a special meeting. The Mayor has the authority to determine an emergency situation. A non-emergency scenario would be if the council decided to use this repair as a good opportunity to repair the whole line at the same time and not just a section to get services up and running. That would constitute a special or emergency meeting with legal posted notice.
CM Vawser thanked maintenance for filling the pothole by the church. Mayor Spencer advised that they are going to dig it back up and figure out what ring is needed to fix it properly.
CM Vawser was approached by a hostile resident for a second time regarding airport road conditions. She advised the resident to come to the city council with his complaints.
CM Vawser asked if the resident in the trailer house beside the city shop has registered their dogs. The dogs are not on the city register. Mayor Spencer asked maintenance to advise the resident to register the dogs.
Mayor Spencer will contact the city engineers regarding the upcoming project on 3’d West. The city will be completely taking out the intersection to do repairs and then fill it back in with black top.
Maintenance Moreland advised council that they will be very busy the next few weeks and would some help getting ready for the July 24th celebration.
Maintenance Page advised council that the big tree in front of city hall is cracking and needs to be cut down before it falls down. Mayor Spencer asked resident Trevor Parsons if he would cut the tree down.
Trevor advised that his 40-foot lift is not tall enough so the city would need to rent a sixty or eighty-foot manlift.
Maintenance Moreland informed council that they cannot put up the Christmas lights until the light pole by the Lion’s Club is replaced.
Mayor Spencer informed council that he had maintenance flush the fire hydrants north of the tracks.
Memorial Fence
Mayor Spencer informed council that he met the city surveyor at Memorial Park recently due to multiple complaints from the adjoining property owner regarding the city encroaching on her property with mowers etc. The surveyor was able to locate the boundary markers in the tall grass and has determined that the adjoining property owner is actually encroaching on the city’s property by 6-8 inches from stake to stake on the no(h side. Mayor Spencer will contact the property owner with the survey results and request that she move her boxes back off the cities property.
The city is willing to allow the resident to maintain her side of the fence and put up lights and decorations as she has requested. The city attorney is preparing an agreement that will be sent to the council for final review before sending it to the adjoining property owner. The agreement states that the city will allow the resident to maintain her side of the fence and put up lights and d6cor and if she decides to stop maintenance the city would have the right to do the maintenance. Mayor Spencer informed council that the arch will need to be moved to the east due to being placed in the cul-de-sac.
Standpipe
Mayor Spencer contacted DEQ due to previous discussions regarding the use of a fire hydrant to build a stand pipe. DEQ does not have any issues with the city allowing the installation of a stand pipe where it is the cities fire hydrant as long as the city agrees to it. DEQ recommended either using an air-to-air gap, so that from the time it fills to the time it hits the tank there is a gap so nothing can get back in the pipe. The other option is to install a check valve or back-flow preventor. We would be able to manually shut it down to prevent freezing. Either way works to stop the water. The hydrant is always
pressurized so we won’t have anything getting back into it unless we lost our whole system. It is up to the city if they want to allow the use of the hydrant for the stand pipe.
Mayor Spencer got a quote for $80,000 from a company that would come in and bury the lines underground then there would be hoses coming up with multiple hose size options. The ending purpose it to be able to allow for quicker water fill up, the standpipe option installation cost without labor would be approximately $ 1,000 to $ 1,500 and paid for by the users of the water services. The hydrant is pressurized and there are no concerns about water getting back into it. They can build a stand pipe at one of the fire hydrants that is already pressurized. The stand pipe would be a faster way to fill up the city tankers. There would be a valve that could be opened and closed not using the hydrant itself. It can be set up to where the city could fill up the tankers and fire trucks. The city could fill up the fire trucks as well.
CM Eric Christensen asked about the railroad using the water. Mayor Spencer mentioned that the railroad hasn’t used much water and they fill up tanks not trucks. Council likes the idea of being able to fill the fire trucks quickly. It’s possible the farmers would fund the project if they were allowed to fill up there.
CM Vawser asked about the fire chief position. Mayor Spencer informed that they are still working on that and until someone agrees or volunteers the position is still open.
CM Christensen asked about public comment. Mayor Spencer informed that the meetings have been long and it docs not have to be allowed at this time.
Resident Mike Ackerman thanked maintenance for painting the parking lines on the street. He would like to paint his curb blue for handicap parking.
