Soda Springs City Council Report November 19
A regular meeting was held on the 19th, during which a new SSPD officer was officially sworn in, an SSHS student presented his patriotic essay, and various items of city business were discussed.
At the outset of the meeting, a discussion about the accounts payable notice from an engineering project to bore under the rail line was had. Some questions about the billing were presented by councilmembers and explained by Alan Skinner. The contractor had several equipment breakdowns during the process, which was part of the cost total. Safety and flagging costs on the roadway and requirements related to personnel on site were noted as contributing to the total cost.
Officer Bench sworn in
New SSPD officer Bransen Bench was sworn in, with his parents and a contingent of SSPD officers present, including Chief of Police Cejay Golightly.
Voice of Democracy
Konnor McWilliams presented his Voice of Democracy essay. McWilliams’ essay was published in full in the previous edition of the Enterprise as the Voice of Democracy essay winner from Soda Springs.
Chris Robinson—Highland Way Waiver for Sidewalk
Robinson has taken over on the project at Highland Way. He requested that the council waive the ordinance requirement that holds that sidewalks need to be in place before a certificate of occupancy is issued. In the case of the home that has recently been completed, the house is in between unconstructed lots, and pouring sidewalks would create a problem in the future as construction began on those empty lots.
Councilman Gritton asked Director Squires if he had issues with the idea, and he said no.
A motion to allow for the Highland Way to be treated on a completed structure by structure basis (that is, when a home is complete, it will require a sidewalk to be built first before a certificate of occ is issued) was started.
A final motion to grant the city engineer authority to grant Certificates of Occupancy contingent on the approval of street, water, sewer dept heads’ inspections was made by Council President Hart and approved.
SSPD
Chief of Police Golightly noted that the department “is going to be full staff now.”
He added that new officer Bench is a certified officer from the Rigby PD, and will be a valuable part of the city’s police force.
The City’s Melissa McDowell is working with the department on ordinance enforcement.
“A lot of things going on workwise for us, but that’s just normal,” Golightly said.
Project updates—Alan Skinner
Two pads that needed to be poured (by Dinkey engine on Main Street and one other spot nearby) were paved.
3rd E sidewalk is poured—all that’s left to do is landscaping.
Industrial Park Lease
The lease rates for the Industrial Park were discussed at the prior meeting. There was some concern that the rates vary somewhat significantly due to the formula in place to determine them. This is also a result of the lack of assessment value data for comparable homes to determine them.
One way is to set a rough assessment without the data, and use that as the basis.
Another way is to move away from an assessed value metric and move to one that is based on a per sqft/acre one. This would be more equal throughout the park.
“The intent of the revenue from the leases is to dump that back into the park itself. Roads, etc. other things that may be required. There are six or eight leases that have recently expired, and the lessee are now on a monthly basis,” President Hart noted.
An updated version of the proposed lease will be sent out to members of the council.
The council discussed the least disruptive way to approach the rates.
“It’s not a cash cow, by any means,” Councilman Carpenter said.
Soda Springs State Park
Councilman Gritton discussed the effort to attract a state park here locally. “As that process has played it grew to a proposal that had significant ties to economic stimulus and our local economy. As such, I wanted the council to be aware that I have by and large turned that effort over to Molly Besaris.” The committee felt that it was an appropriate thing to do, and that she was well place to do it. Besaris has worked with the city (and many surrounding entities) for a number of years on grants and other funding opportunities.
President Hart said, “I totally support the delegation of that project to Molly to lead that into the future.” He said that the state is likely looking for a specific proposal and a clear understanding of how a state park would be made and made solvent. “What I would assume Molly is going to do is to put together a proposal to seek funding.”
Gritton affirmed that indeed, she is seeking a grant to fund a feasibility study. “I would like to say that our new rep Mike Veile participated and his comments were particularly helpful,” Gritton said. He noted that Senator Harris has also been very involved in a positive way.
President Hart noted that for over 7 years, the city has invested about $600K in the Enders bldg. to bring it into working order. The actual carrying cost is around $40K a year just to maintain the bldg. as is, he noted. “My question is,” Hart asked, “ how long are we willing to wait for the state to act? 2 yrs, 5 yrs? I think it’s a prudent question, how long?”
Gritton noted that “I’ve been very concerned about the cost of that bldg. since being on council. I think it’s a significant resource for our community…My tolerance level would start to wear real thin in two years.”
President Hart suggested that he thinks the earliest chance any official action by the state could be taken is the legislative session 2028, since it would be unlikely to be in legislation by the upcoming session. He added for reference that the maintenance costs will be potentially $100K over that time.
Councilwoman-elect Paige Byram, from the audience, asked whether the bldg. had ever been put up for sale? The answer, basically, was that it had not officially been put up for public sale.
Councilman Rod Worthington said, “My fear is that a business we bring in trashes the place.”
President Hart observed that a longer discussion on the topic would need to be on the next agenda.
Councilman Gritton said, “I feel inclined to comment that as I’ve worked on this park proposal and talked to a lot of smart people, the potential economic impact to our community is extremely substantial. It’s something I’ve looked at long and hard. Another thing that has weighed on me is being in that building. and realizing that people from all around the world can go into that building. and see the legacy that Rex Maughan and his family have left for the community.” Gritton added that, “A lot of people may not know this, but Rex Maughan was on Ronald Reagan’s National Park committee.” “I am of the opinion that if we proceed on this path it could be a substantial benefit to our community.”
Dept Heads
Recreation—Jessica Thurman
Thurman spoke to the council about the ice rink, which was set up Friday. It took from about 8a to 730p. The layer will eventually be about 4-5 inches at its thinnest point. “It went great,” she said.
Councilman Carpenter asked about the life span of the tarp. Thurman said about 3 years. The outside (support structure) should be 20 years. The cost of the tarp is about $1400. “Just waiting for it to freeze.”
Rather than a modded side by, she will be using a garbage can with PVC pipe, and drag it around to re-ice the rink. Even with the entry door, there is about 6 inches to get over, which is too much for a vehicle.
Gritton encouraged Thurman to tell High Country Travel Council about the rink for tourism purposes. They are in Lava.
The department obtained some sticks and some rental skates.
The grand opening will take place sometime after the freeze. She thinks they should cut it with an ice skate.
Basketball games were held on 15th at the HS and MS. “We’re super grateful to be able to use the HS and MS. It would be super awesome if we had even just one court. That would solve so many problems,” Thurman noted. A rec center has been a long standing agenda item for the city.
Registration is open for 3rd and 4th graders.
Library--Hope Hansen
Hansen spoke to the council. “Right now I am working on the public library survey, which is mandatory data submission.”
Last 2 Fridays they have had FAFSA night. Erica Goode came up with the night. This Friday is the last one. They provide pizza.
The Memorial tree will be happening on Dec. 1 at 6. She thanked the city for putting up the lights on the tree.
Festival is this Sat. “We are just hoping for a good turnout.” They sold 75 tickets to the Storytime with Santa event.
President Hart asked “how does the festival work?” and Hansen provided those details. The big raffle item is a Jazz ticket package. “We hope you make lots of money,” Hart said.
Fire/Water--Dan Squires
Fire Services of Idaho will come and do FE inspections on Friday for the more than 100 extinguishers in city facilities.
The Enders hood was going to be involved, but it may not be accessible at the time. “If it’s not being used, it doesn’t have to be done,” Squires said. The kitchen is not a part of Enders rental agreements.
President Hart said that they may want to defer some of those things until after the big events.
“On the water side, the valve for the trailer court has been installed,” Squires said. This was discussed at the prior meeting, and involves a water shutoff valve that affected residences nearby the trailer park.
The clarifier has been inspected and is working great. Still working on a backup operator.
ICRMP Board of Trustees Nomination
Due to the fact that Brian Blad was not re-elected, the city will have to nominate someone else. President Hart said that one of the problems is that all the larger cities nearby will have new mayors. The nomination has to be for a mayor. Since the city is effectively at a transition between mayors, they opted to wait on the nomination.
Citizen Input
Brock Byram
Byram reminded the city that, “A year ago, we talked about the street at our business and we never had anyone show up.” A sidewalk at Point S tire location was the subject of several city council meetings over the last year.
