Huter Appointed by Mayor, Filling Vacancy Left by Mahon Resignation
At the Council City Council Meeting on June 11th, Mayor Bruce Gardner appointed Dan Huter to the council to fill the seat vacated by Kim Mahon, who resigned last month. He also asked that Huter be the liaison between the city and law enforcement. Huter will serve the remainder of Mahon’s term and may choose to run for election in 2025, when Mahon’s term would have been up.
Andrew Kimmel, the city engineer from Great West Engineering, reported the water upgrade project would go out for bids in the spring of 2025.
He also said that he continues to hear from people living across from the Adams County Health Center about the problem of water flooding their yards and again said it’s a problem that Idaho Power is responsible for, and they are searching for a workable solution.
Adams County contracts with the City of Council to allow County Prosecutor Chris Boyd to handle disputed infractions or misdemeanors. He met with the council because they had asked for more information on each case that was handled.
The city has a standard contract with the county and pays the county the same amount each month, no matter how many cases Boyd handles for the city. He said his office typically handles from eight to fifteen cases per month.
He explained to the council members that for his office to give more information on each case each month would not be cost effective for either him or for the city. He said that he would speak with his paralegal to determine whether it would be possible for her to give a yearly disposition of the cases handled for the city, and that he would provide the city with case names, numbers, and outcomes, but that it would not be efficient to give all the details on each case.
He said in the past, sheriff deputies had mistakenly put the city down as the jurisdiction, when in fact an infraction or misdemeanor took place in the county. He said the county clerk’s office had gone through and checked all past cases and had reimbursed the city for those cases that had been entered into the system incorrectly.
In other business, Kimmel thought the city would be in a better position for grant funding for various projects if they created a comprehensive plan. The plan could cover five years and be updated as needed. Two employees, also from Great West Engineering, Courtney Long and Jerry Grebenc, land use planners who just completed such a plan for a city in Montana, attended the meeting remotely to answer questions.
Grebenc said, “Having an updated comprehensive plan can help cities be competitive in seeking non-profit funding. It’s not a guarantee, but it helps.”
Kimmel said that having city residents complete a survey was one way to get started. It was also suggested that to encourage citizens to fill out the survey and return it within a certain period, a drawing for a $50 gift card, to be spent at a local business, could function as an enticement to get people to fill out and return the surveys.
Council Chairwoman Mendy Stanford asked how much it would cost to hire Great West Engineering to create a comprehensive plan. Kimmel said it would probably be between $20,000 and $30,000.
The council will consider the matter further at their budget meeting, which is scheduled for 5:30 on July 9th, before their regularly scheduled meeting.
Kayla Brown, with JUB Engineering, who is heading up the Council Airport Runway Repaving Project told the council that construction is still slated for the summer of 2025.
She said they have resubmitted the plans several times to the FAA and have finally received FAA approval, however the FAA made alterations. She said they will need to expand the airport apron by thirteen feet. The FAA will not pay to use the runway millings to improve the airport access road because they do not consider doing so to be part of the project. She said the millings will have to be removed, however, for if they sit in a pile for a year, they will meld together and be impossible to move.
They will also have to reconstruct the turnarounds because there is not enough gravel underneath them. She added that doing the things the FAA required in their approval report would make the overall project more expensive but said they will be looking for grant funding for the additional cost.
City Clerk Ashley Scott reported that City Hall would be closed on June 19th and 20th so that she and deputy clerk Julie Pate could attend trainings. She also reported that a budget hearing would be held on August 13th, at 6:30 p.m. She added that letters had been sent to city residents about cleaning trash and removing old vehicles from their yards.
Caleb Shumway reported that he would meet with the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) on June 12th to inspect the city lagoon.
Cheyenne Bennion, representing the Council Chamber of Commerce, reported to the council that she and other members of the chamber would start putting up cones on Illinois Ave. and part of Michigan Street at 5:00 a.m. on July 4th, so that the streets would be free of vehicles. She said the goal was to have the streets vehicle free for safety reasons. “We don’t want some child to rush out in front of horses or a float,” she said. She added that she had received positive feedback about not having vehicles parked on that portion of the parade route.
Kathryn Hughes, Airport Commission Chairwoman reported that Hillcrest Aviation operated their helicopter for an additional two weeks in May, staking mining claims on Cuddy Mountain. They are paying the 20 cents per gallon fuel flow fees to the city.
She said the Short Take of and Landing Clinic, held on June 1st, was a success. She thanked Shumway for his efforts in preparing for the event and also thanked the many volunteers.
She said many local residents, hanger owners and visitors attended the event and that nine planes flew in from Joseph, Oregon, Nampa, and Caldwell and that the pancake breakfast was popular. They collected $325 in donations and those donations were deposited in the newly established Adams County Pilots Association, a non-profit group to help support the airport and in the future, raise money for an aviation scholarship for local students.
Hughes said that she gave a presentation to a Nampa pilot’s group called Top Fun Flyers in May and promoted the airport and local recreation, businesses, and restaurants to encourage pilots to fly to Council.
She reported that the runway edge lights were repaired by Danny Beachy and said she would contact ITD-Aero to ask if funds would be available to cover his services, since the lights are an aviation safety issue.
1015 gallons of fuel have been sold since Jan. 1st, netting the airport $690 in revenue. About 1,000 gallons remain, so the tank will need to be refilled within three to four weeks.
The fuel card reader wasn’t working over the weekend and Hughes was able to contact the service representative to make it operational again.
She also reported that the city has received $210 for use of the courtesy car since January 1st.
The next Airport Commission meeting will be held June 24th, in airport hanger number 5, at 6:30 p.m. and all are invited to attend. For those wishing to attend via Zoom they can join the meeting at http://us02web.zoom.us/j/(813) 647-47167?pwd=NmVEdlcrdk.JybzBLRidgeFhJT2R2UT09
Meeting ID: 813 6474 7167 Passcode: 146514 or by phone 1-(669) 444-0171.
