Comprehensive Plan; Cost Increases
The Council City Council held their monthly meeting on May 12, at City Hall. Mountain West Engineering gave a quick update on the water project, they said that 2300 ft of pipe have been installed and things are progressing. They are also working on verifying easements with a surveyor and making them official.
Kathy Hughes gave a report on the Airport and said they had a great open house and received $3,700 in donations, which they think will cover the cost for the pergola with the aid of a volunteer. She said they already have a date for next year’s open house, May 1, and want to add a parachute jumping demo. She thought the runway lights would be finished to start runway operations on Friday. Final paint has been installed and looks ‘fantastic.’ The next Airport Commissioner meeting is June 22 at the airport at 6:30 p.m..
City Clerk Ashley Scott said the public restrooms are nearing completion. There was a delay with the internet so fiber could be installed. The new cameras will cover the city park, bathrooms, the new city hall, and some of the museum. She will be attending a budget and levy training in May. City Hall is scheduled to be closed June 11 and 12 for training. There is a budget workshop on June 9. City cleanup was set for the weekend, 18 or 19 violations had been served and the cleanup flyer was included with the violation so there were resources to help. Caleb Shumway with Public Works said that Justin passed his Drinking Water Distribution Test and they expect the license to be finalized shortly. Public Works and Adams County Road and Bridge got the downtown corridor crack sealed in preparation for chip sealing, which will probably happen in July. Water backflows were going to be tested Thursday. They borrowed the county’s roller and rolled the grass strip at the open house for the airport. They have been working on the water project.
Next, Addison Coffelt, with Great West Engineering, presented on the final draft of the city’s Comprehensive Plan, which was developed in accordance with state statutes. It was a collaborative process, including the input of a citizens advisory committee which met on three separate occasions. There were also opportunities for public input along the way. They felt this was a good framework for the city moving forward. There was a Public Hearing on the Comprehensive Plan. Public comment was centered around making online surveys more accessible to seniors and mobile phone users.
Adams County Sheriff Ryan Zollman gave an update on policing within the city limits. He said in the past year they added a school resource officer, had 470 calls in the city limits, 605 traffic stops, 44 written warnings, and 487 citations issued. The majority of that was coming through the bypass. He hoped to have better staffing next year and would like to start addressing “rumored” drug problems, which he did believe was there. City population has risen to over 1,000, and he hadn’t come to ask for an increase since 2014, despite the growth and cost increases. “Our costs are just astronomically increasing,” said Zollman. He wanted to increase the contract price from just over $57,000 to $62,000 a year. He is also asking New Meadows for an increase. “I know you guys are short, I didn’t want to ask for a lot, but we do need some help” said Zollman.
“I think we need some help too,” responded Mayor Wilson. Some things he wanted to see, if they went forward with the increase, was a way to keep track of what services they were getting, especially with things like vandalism, burglary, and loose dogs in town.
Zollman said he can talk to the guys about more enforcement on the things that were most important to the city or things they would like him to look at more. Council Member Dave Tubridy said he would like to see statistics on a more regular basis.
Next the council addressed several items of business. They approved the findings of fact and conclusions of law regarding the ACHC parking lot. The city attorney said that because the original application was submitted with a privacy fence on it, they had to build a privacy fence, which, in his mind, was at least five feet tall. The council discussed some bids for the new City Hall remodel. Ashley Scott said they need to be in the new location by the August meeting because the budget meeting location was already published and has to be there. They also discussed new garbage receptacles for downtown and approved the purchase of five new bins not to exceed a total price of $5,000.
