Licensing and Position Appointments
The New Meadows City Council met on Monday, January 13, 2025 with four council members present, Traci Foster was excused. Mayor Julie Good began her report noting they finished and submitted the Federal Rural Aid Transportation grant application for $1.8 million and included three support letters received from the Library, Brown’s Mountain Market, and from the West Central Mountains Economic Development Council (WCMEDC). Mayor Good gave a special thank you to Grae Harper and his firm for their work on the application.
The Mayor also noted that they are starting work on the Wastewater Master Facility Plan. A grant was received from the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) for this. The Mayor also said they are still looking for new Parks & Rec committee members. She also said she has been working with City Clerk Kyla Gardner on finishing the water rates study. They are working on fixes to the billing software as they found issues with it.
Three applications came in for the Deputy Clerk position and interviews will be occurring.
Mayor Good said that at the recent Youth Center meeting their timeline showed they are working ahead of schedule. Framing is visible from outside the building. Dalrymple Construction, who is heading the youth center project, will be the construction supervisor for the skate park project, which will help with fluidity between projects. The skatepark design review will happen at the next city council meeting.
Next, the Mayor noted that she asked the City Attorney to look into what would be needed to make the Roads and Streets Committee an official long term city committee rather than the short term committee it was created as. The Council was in favor of moving forward with putting together an ordinance for this committee and discussed a few qualifications for members.
Next up, the Council looked at action items to approve Alcoholic Beverage License Applications for The Intersection Bar & Grill, Kuzns Kahili Club, and Brown’s Mountain Market. All three had already received licenses from the state police and county departments. A motion was made to approve all three and the vote was passed unanimously.
The Council then went into Executive Session 74-206(c) to acquire an interest in real property not owned by a public agency.
After the session, the Mayor introduced the need to appoint or reappoint representatives to a few local organizations beginning with the Stibnite Foundation. Mayor Good has been on the Stibnite Foundation since the beginning of the council and stated she would like to continue to represent the City there. She is also the Treasurer of the Stibnite Foundation. The Mayor explained that since Perpetua Resources has received their record of decision, the Stibnite Foundation will be receiving $100,000 from Perpetua Resources. They will receive another $250,000 once construction on the mining project begins. Then every year they are still in construction, the foundation will receive another $250,000. She noted that the Stibnite Foundation has “been very generous to a lot of organizations in our community” and that they have “potential to bring back some wonderful resources for our community.” Mayor Good’s reappointment to the committee was approved unanimously.
Next, Mayor Good introduced the Stibnite Advisory Council Representative Appointment. This Council looks at potential impacts of the mining project on the community and just finished an economic impact study. Currently Mayor Good acts as the Media Spokesperson for the Stibnite Advisory Council. The Mayor’s reappointment to the committee was approved unanimously.
Next up, the annual appointment of City Council President unanimously reappointed Council Member Shiloh Ryker as City Council President. This person is responsible to sign paperwork and take care of pressing matters in the Mayor’s stead if she is out of town. She would run council meetings if the Mayor is absent.
Clerk Gardner was then appointed as the City’s Social Media Representative. She has been acting in this position already, so this now gives her an official title.
Mayor Good was unanimously appointed as the City of New Meadows Representative to the WCMEDC. She is currently the Treasurer of that council.
The city council then discussed a potential new appointment for City of New Meadows Representative to the West Central Mountains Housing Trust. Clerk Gardner is currently the representative. The Council decided that Gardner will remain the representative for now, but the council will revisit the appointment in the future as she would like to step down from this role.
An appointment of Traci Foster as City of New Meadows Representative to the McCall Area Chamber of Commerce was approved unanimously. Foster stated outside of the meeting that she was already involved with the chamber up there and would be happy to be the New Meadows representative.
The consent agenda minus the November 25 minutes was approved unanimously. Future meeting topics may include the Volunteer Policy, a design review for the New Meadows Skatepark, an update on Brown’s Recycling, and review of three more Alcoholic Beverage License Applications. The Roads and Streets Committee Ordinance and a report from their most recent meeting could also be on the agenda. The next City Council meeting is scheduled for Monday, January 27, 2025 at 6:30 p.m..
