Airport Open, Freshly Paved
On Tuesday, October 14th, the City Council meeting for Council took place at the Council Town Hall. Mayor Bruce Gardner called the meeting to order and the Council approved the agenda for the evening.
First on the agenda was a report on the airport. Kayla Brown said via Zoom that the airport was paved and reopened. They decided to wait on permanent paint application until next year when the weather warms up. Budget-wise, they were under budget by about $25,000 with the city’s share expected to be $0.00.
Council President Mendy Stanford asked if the paint will use up the extra fund. Brown said no, it was projected already. She shared some drone photos taken by Kathy Hughes of the new pavement taken while the airport was closed (you are not allowed to fly a drone over an airport otherwise, she noted.) The contractors also made pads for future hangars with excess excavation.
For the lighting project, they will be submitting the 60% design to the city. Brown said there isn’t really an option for LED vs quartz lights because manufacturers are moving away from quartz. LED is a little higher cost up front but less cost from electricity in the long run. Lights are pilot controlled. Brown said the current windsock system is currently inoperable and outdated, and is an unanticipated cost they are looking at adding to the project. They could replace the windsock and trench to the runway so that when the lights come on the windsock will come on, or they could replace it with a solar powered windsock. She said she would get a side by side comparison of price. So far, solar was looking at around $30,000.
Council Member Dave Tubridy asked if they had info from other airports with solar windsocks and if there were any issues and how they were working. Kathy Hughes said she would reach out and ask. Stanford asked if there were any grants for solar. Kayla Brown mentioned they may be able to use the Gem State Grant. They discussed whether it would be better to have the windsock be pilot controlled with the rest of the lights or on all the time.
Kathy Hughes said she could not thank everyone enough for all their help and the project has gone very smoothly. She said that they would like to plan for an open house in spring and a take off and landing clinic. NIPIAS survey count was 13 airplanes. They will make sure they keep those because they do not wish to lose classification. She said thank you to Murry Carter for finishing his term on the Airport Commission. The next Airport Commissioner meeting is scheduled for October 27, at Hangar 5 at 6:30 p.m. There is a Zoom option and everyone was welcome to attend.
Ashley Scott, City Clerk, gave some updates next. She said business liquor license reminders will be mailed the first weekend in November. The janitor position for the city park and airport bathrooms was awarded to James McQue who has already held contracts with the city. He took a three year contract this time. Scott said tomorrow was the last in-person meeting for the Idaho Community Health Academy for Idaho Blue Cross Foundation. She was planning on attending with Mayor Gardner. This was for a $20,000 grant directed towards the health of the community. The city was planning on saving it for the comprehensive plan updates in case they fall short of the funds. She said she also spoke with another city about things the funds could be used for, possibly updating the downtown city bathrooms. The city’s annual budget information was approved by the state of Idaho. The Comprehensive Plan meeting was scheduled for Wednesday, Oct. 22 at noon. There was an LTAC Funding workshop at 8:00 a.m. in McCall on Thursday the 23rd and she would like to close City Hall to attend. The Industrial Subdivision plat has been resubmitted to the county for review.
Caleb Shumway with Public Works reminded the council about requesting a budget for extra parts to have on hand. He said before the extra parts showed up they ended up having to ‘MacGyver’ a repair using all the hose clamps and pieces of PVC pipe. They received the new parts now and should be stocked up for a while. “Well, I applaud your ingenuity,” said Mayor Gardner.
Shumway said they finished flushing all the hydrants around town. One wouldn’t shut down all the way and unfortunately there was no isolation valve so they ended up having to just remove it. It is up for replacement next year and they informed the fire department. Someone broke a lamppost across from Shy Simon’s, backed into it. They laid millings left over from the airport project in the alley coming out of Shy Simon’s. Shumway thanked Adams County for lending their roller and water truck. DEQ approved the plans and specs for the water project. They will start advertising for bidding by the end of the month and are hoping to begin construction spring of 2026.
Next, there were two public hearings. The first was for Resolution 2025-11- reserving forgone amount. Ashley Scott explained the city did not take it’s full allotted property tax increase that the state limits. She forgot to change the number on one ordinance and they have to take the amount on the ordinance, so there was $13,044 that they were reserving that they could take it in a future year if they need it. There was no public comment.
The second hearing was concerning the house at 310 Brady Street. The owners wanted to change the front porch as the current one was falling off, but the house doesn’t not meet the setbacks. They didn’t want to extend the new front porch any further than the current one, but they would like to extend the roofline to match the current footprint of the front porch. They were requesting a variance as the design did not meet the current setbacks due to the way the house was originally built. They said the neighbor was supportive of the variance. They thought if they tried any other design it wouldn’t really be functional and would also not add to the curb appeal of the house. Council Member Dan Huter asked if there were any thoughts from the building inspector. Kody Williams said that they had been in conversation already, had a plan, and this was not one of the contractors he was worried about. No one else submitted a comment.
The city council approved Resolution 2025-11 and the variance application. Council President Mendy Stanford said she drove by the house and Council Member Dave Tubridy wanted to make a distinction between this variance application and some others in the recent past. He said for this one they followed the process, they got a permit, and they did everything right. The council appreciated that.
Kathy Hughes said that Chip Walter has volunteered to serve in the airport commission. He doesn’t live locally but he has property up here and a hangar at the airport and has been very involved already. She recommends approving him for the airport commission. The city council approved William “Chip” Walters, replacing Murry Carter on the Airport Commission.
Next Dave Tubridy gave an update on the Stibnite Foundation and Advisory Committee. In August, Stibnite donated $52,000, mostly in New Meadows and McCall, he is meeting with them so that organizations here can help receive that in the future. He thought that next year there could be an increase in funds. He went to a ceremony in September for the Stibnite Foundation where they have completed all the permitting and have been given the okay by the Forest Service to proceed. They are starting ground preparation and have contracted to build prefab housing for 1000 workers. There is still a pending lawsuit from the Nez Perce Tribe, but the Forest Service thinks that won’t be an issue. Going forward, they are going to start using a lot of local contractors as available and there will be huge needs for employees, contractors, subcontractors, and more. He said as soon as a link becomes available he will make sure to share it locally because these will be good paying jobs. A lot of the workers will be living up there 14 days on and 14 days off. The ceremony celebrated going through Phase One, which is all the permitting and cleanup. The Undersecretary of Labor was there and a Major General because they will be mining antimony, which is present in all artillery shells. They will also be mining gold and copper, but because of the antimony this has been fast-tracked with DOD because it will be the only domestic antimony production in the United States and is a big deal for national security. Tubridy said they want to contribute to the communities, hire local people, and start programs for locals to get kids into welding and mechanicing because they will be needing that for years to come. He said he would bring more updates as they become available.
Finally, Council Chamber of Commerce President Katie Church was present to talk about the America 250 in Idaho Celebration Fund, which is a grant that could be applied to for funds for the 4th of July Celebration. The City is the one who has to administer it and apply. The Chamber would really appreciate it and would use the funds for the fireworks. The funds are up to $2,500. The Council agreed to apply for it. Katie Church said they are still looking for more funds for the fireworks, and anyone looking to donate can contact the Chamber. They are trying to raise $15,000 this year but need it by December. They are currently about $4,000 shy and the grant would help. They are trying to go big for the 250 year celebration of America next year.
