Soda Springs City Council 2/18
The invocation to the meeting was given by visiting County Commissioner Bryce Somsen, who prayed in the aftermath of Tuesday’s accident.
Motion to accept the wastewater facility study.
The planning study was accepted by the council. The plan has to be updated every five years in order to qualify for state funding.
Friends of Library Approval
Beth Cheirrett, president of the Friends of the Soda Springs Library, spoke to the council. “First of all thank you for approving our proposal. My purpose today is to announce that we have chosen a contractor for phase 2 of the plan. We are here to announce the contractor and clarify the next steps.” The F.O.L. had chosen Drew Erickson of Woodeye Industries as the contractor. Details on the project included in a separate report for this week.
Chapter 17 Code Amendment Final Revision Next Steps
Clerk Haderlie explained the Code amendment, which has been under review by City Planning and Zoning for a while. Ch 17 contains the entire zoning ordinance, and is therefore a significant undertaking for revision. There have been a lot of work done “to make it more user friendly,” it was stated. Council President Mitch Hart noted that “Planning and Zoning worked a long time on this. They wanted to make sure the council was ok with the direction they were going before they do more.” He also noted that there are five or so bills in the legislature right now that might affect the ordinances.
There was a discussion of snow load for roofs on manufactured homes. The city requires 60 lbs of snow load, while the code tolerance from HUD is 30 lbs. Issue of that sort were noted, and the councilmembers will examine to amendment before voting on it next meeting.
Project Updates
Director Dan Squires reported that the city “did not utilize all the funds that were allocated for a DEQ study.” He wondered if they should use it to engineer for a project to repair or upgrade things that would qualify for use, since DEQ resources can be difficult to acquire. President Hart and Councilman Carpenter encouraged Squires to pursue the match and get a shovel ready project ready with the study.
Squires stated that on a separate note, they might be eligible for energy efficiency funds for streetlights.
The dates for the beginning of the street project on second south have not been finalized by the state yet, and will be announced when they are. Mayor Gritton noted that the bid will be awarded on the 24th, and there should be more info at that time. A meeting with the contractor, city, and ITD, at that time should make the timeline clearer.
As a part of the Hispanic Access Grant/Ledger Creek Trail project, the city has signed an agreement with the county for the hauling of the silica sand to create the trail surface. They will look at what’s available with trees and trails through the grant, but Squires thinks they may have more options than they originally thought. “The people have been great to work with so far. Open and great to work with.”
Fee Schedule Review—Proposed Building Permit Fees and Rentals
A revision to the city’s fee schedule has been produced, but could not be voted on because approval requires a public hearing for an increase of more than 5% requires one. The above 5% increase is specific to building permit fees, which directly affect developers, though the fees can become part of home sale negotiating. The council noted that “If we don’t do this, basically the taxpayers will subsidize people’s building fees.”
Paul Gritton gave a shoutout to the county commissioners for being willing to help with an arrangement for building inspections through the county. The issue will continue to be discussed.
A liability waiver for kayaks was discussed. Mayor Gritton wanted to make sure that the council was onboard with it.
“I don’t think liability for things like ice skates is a bad idea, but kayaks is a whole different thing,” Councilwoman Byram stated.
President Hart made the case that a kayak rental will not lead to use at a city property, and so it wouldn’t have the same liability as equipment which did.
“I don’t know that I’m opposed to kayaks. It’s kind of a local pastime to float from X to second bridge,” Councilman Larsen said. He pointed to the similarity in risk in sponsoring a shooting complex. “There’s probably similar risk of a fatality, and we’ve accepted that for years,” he said.
Clerk Haderlie said that people have called to see if the kayaks were available.
Attorney Smith said that there was an activity waiver that has been drafted, and that it should cover the city for liability. Clerk Haderlie suggested requiring that renters have to take a life jacket too.
Some concern was voiced about people potentially taking the kayaks out of the area to use them, though it was felt that a deposit and the fee would make abuse of that unlikely.
Clerk Haderlie noted that they would not rent to kids.
Additional concern was raised over whether the city would potentially be in competition with local retailers, though it was not felt anyone directly occupied the kayak rental niche.
USS Commissioning Tickets
President Hart spoke about tickets to the commissioning of the USS Idaho. There are two tickets to the ceremony, which is on Sat 25 April in Connecticut. “Do we want to utilize them?” The tickets themselves permit attendance at the commissioning, but not travel, hotel, food, etc. It was determined to table the question for the present.
Dept Head Reports
It was clarified that city council meetings will be planned with the understanding that the first meeting of the month will involve department head reports, with the second one of the month treating them us supplemental.
Mayor Gritton noted, “I’ve had an opportunity to spend a fair amount of time at city hall lately, and I have a whole new appreciation for our city staff and what they do.”
Recreation Director Thurman was out of town, but it was reported that it looks good for the ice rink to possibly re-open next week due to falling temps. It was also reported that the rotary club acquired a Zamboni, but it will have to be stored at the shed by Thirkill. More on that to come!
A Rec Board has been formally nominated and will be sworn in next time.
2026-1 Resolution GSSCDB
Mayor Gritton spoke about the Greater Soda Springs Community Development Board, which city code specifies. That board has lost some organization in recent years, and participation has waned. “I feel that board could be a significant asset,” he said. “There is a bit of confusion about who are members.”
The resolution removed any current appointments in order to facilitate a more efficient recruitment of a new board in its place. President Hart moved to adopt the res, which rendered invalid all current appointments on the board. The City Council is authorized to reorganize the Greater Soda Springs Community Development Board under statute.
“In this situation, the only funding mechanism is an actual city account that the clerk oversees,” President Hart said.
Chapter 5 Business License Review
The council discussed possible changes to the Business License language in the code. “Make sure you’re aware of the content and language, and that it does direct the requirement of those in business to obtain a license. It does not specify any consequences for the lack of a license,” Gritton stated. “A brief reading of this code would show that it is a bit archaic.” Theverbiage includes items like “menageries, circuses, telegraph poles”, etc.
There are a number of things pointed to in the code that everyone agreed could and should be changed via ordinance.
Building Inspector MOU
An agreement with the county for the services of a building inspector was discussed by the county commissioners earlier in the month. A motion to allow the mayor to sign the agreement was approved. Under the agreement, 70% of the inspection fee goes to the county, and 30% to the city. The city retaining that amount will offset a staff member’s time to handle the paperwork.
Councilman Carpenter said, “I just wanted to show appreciation to the county, and our intention is to have a city member become a licensed building inspector.” The MOU is only good for this calendar year, and the hope is that the city will find someone.
