Water Project Flowing Along; City Hall Moving
The Council City Council held their monthly meeting on Tuesday June 9, 2026 at City Hall.
Kasey Ketterling, from Great West Engineering had updates about the water project. He said they have put in a mile of pipe in town and also did some of the water services. So far there have been two water quality tests, which have passed. The tank will be coming soon. They are taking out an old tank and putting in a new one, the new tank will be 200,000 gallons. There has been some surveying in town for the easements and the surveyor is now putting together the documents.
Kathy Hughes, with the Airport Commission said fuel sales were still going well despite the fuel prices, they sold almost 450 gallons in the last month. The airport lights were completed. There were $2,500 in donations from the old runway lights and the money was handed back to the city. The commission would like to use it, along with other donations, to build a pergola at the airport. The Idaho Aviation Passport Program has kicked off, it is a program to encourage pilots to visit different runways around the state, so they have installed a plaque for selfies at the airport for pilots participating in the program. A new pilot contacted the commission who wants to move out of McCall and build a hangar in Council. Hughes gave him the information and told him to contact the FAA for the certification and then come to the City Council for approval. He is very motivated and would like to build this year. The next Airport Commission Meeting is scheduled for June 22 at 6:30 p.m. at hangar #5.
Kayla Brown said the airport pavement project and permanent paint was completed and the final payment is waiting for release. They are around $25,000 under the projected budget, the remainder of the state grant is over $38,000 and they can draft a letter from the city so they can request for those funds to be spent on other aviation projects. Some of it will be used for the lighting project, since the wind cone was an unexpected cost. Total city cost will be $0. The airport lighting system was completed with the edge lights, threshold lights, the taxiway lights, and the wind cone. Brown said it looks great. They are under budget on lighting projects as well, and have discussed getting some spare parts for electrical components to have on hand with some of the extra funds. After that they will ask for any remaining fund to be used for another project, such as the fuel system upgrades.
Ashley Scott, City Clerk, said the city bathrooms were completed and cameras have been installed. They opened last week right before the Farmers Market. They are now closed at night until they finish the rest of the cameras. They are scheduled to move into the new building the week of June 22. She is hoping to move June 24 and be closed on June 24 and 25. Everything should be up and running to reopen the next week. They are also closed for June 19 for Juneteenth, which is a federal holiday. With all of the closures, they were thinking of holding off on observing the holiday for 4th of July, and taking an extra day closer to Thanksgiving, otherwise there would be over a closure a week for a month.
Caleb Shumway, with Public Works, said they attended a meeting with ITD on projects and anticipated projects but there wasn’t a lot near Council. A section of Main Street was installed by the city in 1997 that they never hooked anything to, they tested it and it passed chloroform and a pressure test. They have been doing work on the pond and trimmed up the trees by the pond and mowed by the banks. They found a wedding ring in a manhole and were able to track down the owner of the ring, who was very happy.
Next, Curt Naser appeared via Zoom to talk to the city council about a plaque for the steam engines in the park. He said his father grew up in Council and had etched the brass plaque on the engines. He and his sister were worried the plaques were no longer legible, and they would like permission to put in a new plaque next to the engines about their history. They offered to cover all the cost associated and are planning a trip to Council the first week of August when they could organize installation. They proposed a 24 inches by 18 inches sign, they worked with Dale Fisk on the text and it was basically a reduction of what Fisk had written years ago. Fisk also provided some images. The sign would be made of fiberglass. He wanted to know if the city would be okay with this and where exactly they should put it. It needs to be put in cement. He also wasn’t sure what to call the name of the park, Old Railroad Park or City Park. The City Council was all in favor and said the city could handle installation. They said it was called City Park.
Next, Shane Ogden wanted to install a new Flagpole at the Council Museum. Ogden wanted to give back to the community, and had a 30 ft flagpole, with a 10 ft Flag with solar lights. He said all the cost and labor are taken care of. The City thanked him and motioned to approve the donation and installation of the flagpole.
The Council Chamber of Commerce had the final plans for road closures for the 3rd and 4th of July celebrations. They were basically the same as last year and the City Council approved the closures.
The City passed Resolution 2026-11, updating City Hall hours and location. The address will change to the new location at 100 Michigan St. They also would like to update the hours of operation to Monday through Thursday 8-4 with no lunch. Ashley Scott said they are usually too busy at lunch time to take lunch anyway and they rarely see someone after 4:00 p.m..
They passed a resolution allowing open alcohol containers in certain areas during the Fourth of July celebrations that will include the area for the Loggers Jubilee. Scott said she spoke with the Sheriff about them. The Chamber President said they would put up signs saying “No Alcohol Beyond this Point” and the Logger’s Jubilee is doing the same.
The City passed an ordinance changing the City Council meeting date and time, and changing the location. Scott said they would like to move forward with changing meeting time from the second Tuesday of the month to third Wednesday, which will help with processing bills and also the city attorney will be in town already for court so the move will save the city money.
Before ending the meeting with an executive session, the City Council awarded a bid to update the Airport Fuel system, and updated an ordinance about discharging weapons in town to incorporate the state code exceptions pertaining to lawful self defense.
