Subdivision Field Trip, Park Ordinance and Payment Discussions
The New Meadows City Council meeting opened with roll call and Pledge of Allegiance on Monday, September 9, 2024. Four attended on Zoom, including one councilmember, and seven community members attended in person along with the other three council members, the mayor, city clerk, and deputy clerk.
A field trip to the location of the proposed Meadows Subdivision on Peterson Memorial took place next. The original preliminary plat for the 28 lot plan was approved, but phase 1A construction plans will start with eight lots. Nora and Colt Streets will extend out to the new Railroad Street which will run parallel to Peterson Memorial. Angie Ellsworth (Owner) with R & A Construction Management and Rob Ellsworth with Finite Concepts (Developer) also attended. A Public Hearing about the development is scheduled for September 23rd at the P. & I.N. Depot.
Back at City Hall, the meeting was opened to public comment. Doug Buys asked about paid and pending claims related to the $25,000 GMCO bill for dust abatement and if a new written agreement has been made. Mayor Julie Good stated that the bill will not be paid until the council approves payment. A further discussion followed later in the meeting.
Councilmember Troy Black asked about the closing of the second entrance at the Blue Tick Coffee Stand. The Mayor said that property is not within the City limits and most likely ITD made the change.
The Mayor then began her report stating that during discussions regarding the Developer’s Agreement, she encouraged the Peterson Memorial subdivision developers to set up a local improvement district to cover the cost of items like paving. Good stated the details of that district will be presented to the City Council for possible approval later.
The old recycle center has been lifted about seven feet so the new foundation can be put in under the building. The Mayor stated the company gave the City a 35% discount off usual costs for lifting the building. A groundbreaking ceremony for the new Youth Center was scheduled for Monday, September 16 with free shaved ice and cookies.
On October 3 at The Depot, Grindline will hold another community meeting regarding future skatepark design.
Mayor Good noted the Stibnite Gold project received their draft record of decision and are expecting to get a final record of decision before the end of this year.
August numbers from the Goldline bus were higher than expected at 211 riders. High ridership numbers help keep the project funded.
The Mayor recently met with Curtis Blum with the Heartland Apartments and said she was told the fence will be moved behind the sidewalk as per the approved design review and landscaping will be improved with hydroseeding and new trees.
The Mayor has a meeting scheduled for Wednesday, September 18 with representatives from Adams County Health Center to discuss the mobile clinic. A grant was approved to fund services in New Meadows and she is hoping to schedule times for that.
The Parks & Recreation Committee minutes were reviewed. A softball tournament on September 28 and Fall Festival on October 5 are some current involvements.
Staff reports were distributed.
The meeting moved to discussion items starting with new Youth Center name ideas. Councilmember Jeff Parnett put forward Mountain Meadows or Syringa Youth Center. More ideas may be discussed at future meetings.
A unit in the Industrial Park Complex will be vacated October 1st by Brad McGarry. Prospective tenant Sam Thompson with Seed Woodworking presented his application for review. Thompson started his business in custom cabinetry and woodworking in 2019. Thompson said the current set up of the building would be ideal for his needs and that he ‘wants to serve this community as much as possible and see it thrive.’ The City Council agreed to move forward with preparing a lease for review.
City Clerk Kyla Gardner explained that council members will need to decide where to add park use ordinances since a park use section does not exist in the City’s ordinances. Gardner suggested adding to the section on trees and shrubs. The City Council will come up with stated purposes for park use related to the City’s mission statement and detail definitions. The Council agreed the playground should remain open to the public and not be privately rented.
A Basketball Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between Meadows Valley School District and the City of New Meadows Parks & Rec committee stating that in order to provide a youth basketball program, the school will provide the gymnasium, insurance, scheduling & communication while Parks & Rec would provide registration forms, distribution of information to parents and players, advertisement and marketing. This was approved unanimously.
The Dalrymple Construction Contract for the new Youth Center was next for action. A contract was seen and approved by City Attorney Richard Stubbs, City Engineer Grae Harper, and the architect and needed approval by the City Council. Councilmember Parnett asked about the project’s current timeline and Mayor Good stated they are looking at full completion in June 2025 with the daycare hopefully opening in February 2025 and the preschool hopefully being ready by mid November 2024. The council moved to approve the contract and the roll call vote was unanimous.
In an effort to maintain all city funds and make sure they are insured through FDIC, the Mayor noted they keep funds in a Public Money Market account, but could receive additional interest if funds are placed in a Certificate of Deposit (CD) account while interest rates are higher. The council unanimously approved an action item to move $250,000 from a Money Market account into a CD to secure a 5% interest rate.
Next was action on a contract with Clearwater Financial who was hired to make a comprehensive financial plan for the City. The plan would help with making decisions and future plans. Mayor Good stated Clearwater has spent 82.5 hours on the plan and the City has paid $17,000 plus an annual $10,000 retainer for the last two years. The stated concern is that the City has not received anything back on the project and is wanting completion by the end of October 2024. The Mayor noted negotiations had been made on fees for project completion and since the retainer offers up to 50 additional hours of work each year, the council moved to ask to use the retainer hours rather than paying further fees. An update will be given at the next meeting.
The Council agreed to discuss the Consent Agenda next starting with paid and pending claims. The Council decided to hold the GMCO bill until the suggested solution from GMCO was tested on City streets. Once the results of that test are complete, the next step will be discussed with the Council. If the test fails, a written agreement for restitution or a discount on the current bill for 2024 services will be requested.
The discussion continued to consider the City doing dust abatement of the roads themselves rather than hiring an outside service. Several of the City Council members felt this would likely be a cost savings. The historical reason presented for contracting was that the City’s truck is smaller and can hold less product, needing to do the project over multiple days. The proposed road test is planned to be done this week, but will be dependent on weather. The Consent Agenda for August 2024 payroll, paid and pending claims excluding the GMCO bill, and the August 12 and August 26 meeting minutes was approved unanimously.
The City Council then moved into executive session to discuss acquiring an interest in real property not owned by a public agency. The next meeting of the city council is scheduled for Monday, September 23 at The Depot.
