Financial Plan, Youth Center Updates
The New Meadows City Council held their regular meeting on Tuesday, October 15, 2024. Council members Jeff Parnett, Shiloh Ryker, and Josh Carr were present, along with Mayor Julie Good, city staff and community members.
After the pledge of allegiance and reading of the city mission statement, Mayor Julie Good began her report. The Mayor thanked the Farmer’s Market group and New Meadows Parks & Recreation department for kicking off the fall season with the very successful Fall Festival. She noted the City’s Trunk or Treat event is scheduled for Saturday, October 26 from 2:00 - 4:00 p.m..
The Mayor continued stating that the second community meeting for the Mehen Memorial Skatepark was well attended and that she was very impressed with how the design incorporated all comments from the last meeting. She also described the beautiful proposed memorial piece that will be in the shape of Idaho with a golden heart to honor Rory and Sara Mehen. The next step in the process for the skate park will be City Council and City Engineer review and approval of the park design.
The Mayor noted that she and City Clerk Kyla Gardner attended the Payette, Adams, Washington, and Gem County meeting for county and city roads supervisors. She said they received helpful information that they would share at the first New Meadows Road Committee meeting on Tuesday, October 22.
Staff reports were received by the City Council and they had no questions or additions.
A note was added to an action item on the agenda regarding a heater for All Seasons Refrigeration and HVAC that the tenant had delivered a 30 day notice of intent to vacate their building in the Industrial Complex.
The council then moved on to discussion items beginning with Brown’s Mountain Recycling. The mayor introduced the topic stating that Bill Brown had called the City and requested to be put on the agenda. Willy Brown began with comments and questions about projected timing and potential fine amounts if the property is not cleaned up. W. Brown expressed concern about available time to get the property in compliance with zoning ordinances and ordinance details. The Mayor noted some ordinances include clean up of weeds, garbage, metal, and solid waste.
Much back and forth occurred between the Browns and City Council members noting questions of timing on reception of 30 day notice from the city to have the property in compliance and what was considered a reasonable amount of time for clean up. B. Brown noted that they will be hiring United Metal to clean up the property but that it will be another two to four weeks for this work to be completed.
Council member Shiloh Ryker reset the conversation requesting they move forward with goal focused statements. She noted the position of the council in needing to give answers about the progress and resolution of the project to their other constituents. Ryker stated the Council understands that the Browns want more time for the project and said they would like to see some proof of the agreement with United Metal. The conversation concluded with an agreement that if the Browns have a copy of the agreement with United Metal delivered to the city by October 23, 2024, then the City Council will add additional discussion with the Browns as an action item to the October 28, 2024 meeting agenda.
The next discussion item was an update on the Childcare and Youth Center mainly given by Joe and Kim Dalrymple. They discussed recent soil testing with the Special Inspector and noted that samples of the soil and various fill were sent for testing to ensure once they were compacted they would hold the building up. Once the fill is in the ground, it needs to sit for seven days before any pressure is put on it and then there will be another test.
R. Dalrymple noted that Pacific Mobile would return to lower the building between October 25 and the end of the month. They will set the building back down on the foundation. R. Dalrymple stated that the anterior footings and setting of outside concrete on the East end of the building will then be started. He noted this may be the only concrete they can get in before the snow comes.
Once the building is on the ground, construction of the building envelope will move forward with a huge crew including John Rhodes crew, another crew from Council, and a framer and his crew from Weiser. R. Dalrymple said Mountain Metal will also come in and strip the old roofing. They will then sheet and put on the new roof.
The Mayor also noted changes to the sewer connection plans and that they will now cut in from Peterson Memorial near the new Meadows Subdivision. Additional updates were also provided regarding functional improvements to interior plans. The city staff, the Dalrymples, and the architect have been meeting weekly. The Mayor has asked the architect to come to a council meeting in November to give a virtual walk through of the building.
Next, the City Council discussed rates and fees on water and sewer. They will be reviewing these to consider any updates or adjustments. Gardner recommended they include building permit fees from the Adams County commissioners and the mayor noted they also hope to receive inspection fee information from the fire department so that everything can be included in a comprehensive information packet from the city for people seeking permits.
The council then moved to agenda action items beginning with a bill estimate from Mountain Mud Concrete to put in 120 feet of valley gutter on the East side of the post office on S. Heigho Street to fix a small dip in the ground that causes water to not drain properly. This was approved unanimously and the mayor noted that Mountain Mud would begin the project immediately so it could be finished before winter.
The next action item was for a heater replacement for the building occupied by All Seasons in the Industrial Park Complex. They offered an estimate for this themselves, but since one of the owners is also a city council member, the council agreed they needed an additional estimate. A bid estimate was requested of YMC, but they had not been able to access the building for assessment. The council agreed to give notice of entry and then work directly with YMC so that they could get the estimate and finalize the project.
Next up, Cameron Arial the president of Clearwater Financial presented an overview of the Comprehensive Financial Plan they put together for New Meadows. Arial noted that the city has done an amazing job of acquiring grant funding. He stated it is a big achievement to accomplish the work involved in seeking grants and also be successful in acquiring them. He gave an overview of the Executive Summary, current, historical and projected demographics, and overview of the current projected city improvements and existing projects. Each improvement plan or project notes a general budget, project description, and proposed timeline for completion. Arial stated that this is intended to be a living document that will act as a resource for the city in years to come.
Some of the included projects are the new Youth Center, Streets, Stormwater, and Sewer Improvement, Wells, City Parks and the Skate & Bike Park. The mayor requested they add in a possible local option tax and that each council member review the document on their own. At the next council meeting, Arial plans to be in attendance again to provide input on how the city can use the financial plan in the future to better inform their own planning. This item became a discussion item rather than an action item.
The next action item was for approval of requested building improvements for new tenant Seed Woodworking in the Industrial Complex. The previous tenant had some removable walls put in to make a private office and the new tenant would like to put those additions back in place. Gardner noted a walk through of the building showed it had been incredibly well taken care of and she expects the new tenant will give similar care. Seed Woodworking also requested approval for a sign outside their door and addition of their business to the sign board in front of the community center. The requests were unanimously approved.
An action item for payment of the GMCO bill for dust abatement and road oiling was approved after discussion. The mayor noted that she did ask for the 10% discount requested by the city council and GMCO came back with an offer of a $500 discount. A motion was made to approve payment of the GMCO bill minus the $500 discount, and the motion was seconded and approved unanimously by present council members.
A motion was then made and approved for the council to go into an executive session regarding ‘acquiring an interest in real property not owned by a public agency’ and ‘to communicate with legal counsel for the public agency to discuss the legal ramifications of and legal counsel options for pending litigation, or controversies not yet being litigated but imminently likely to be litigated’.
After returning to the public meeting, a roll call was taken and the consent agenda including September 2024 payroll, meeting minutes from May 13, 2024 and September 23, 2024, as well as paid & pending claims for October and November 2024 were approved unanimously after a short discussion.
Future meeting topics may include Brown’s Mountain Recycling if a contract is received from United Metal as well as further conversation and review of the Comprehensive Financial Plan by Clearwater Financial with Cameron Arial. The next city council meeting is scheduled for Monday, October 28 at 6:30 p.m..
