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HomeMy Public PortalAboutMinutes_City Council Work Meeting_08172021 CITY COUNCIL WORK MEETING IONA CITY HALL AUGUST 17,2021 6:00 P.M. PRESENT: Mayor Dan Gubler, Council President Rob Geray, Council Member Michael Thompson, Council Member Kathy McNamara, City Attorney Andrew Rawlings, Public Works Director Zech Prouse (via teleconference), City Clerk/Treasurer Keri West and Office Assistant Rylea Farrens (via video conference). ABSENT: Council Member Peter Wadsworth. VISITORS: Allison John, Jolyn Louk, Chris Williams and Kevin Casper. ITEMS OF BUSINESS: Discussion of City Events, Rylea Farrens — Allison John connected a video call to Rylea Farrens to discuss City events. Assistant Farrens stated she conducted a public survey regarding Iona Days and received valuable feedback from the community. She mentioned items that people would like added to future events including: activities for older kids, movies in the park and the community dinner. Assistant Farrens requested Clerk West to go over the revenue/expenses incurred for this year's Iona Days Celebration. Clerk West stated the City did not spend any money from the general fund and actually spent less money than was donated. She continued and stated the City currently has a credit of approximately $3,300 from Iona Days donations and sponsorships. Council Member McNamara stated she was happy the vendors were not charged and said they all had a great turnout. Assistant Farrens also stated the parade fee was only $25 for businesses and was free for non-profit organizations. She continued and stated she received a lot of positive feedback about the parade from participants and residents. Assistant Farrens requested feedback from the Mayor and Council regarding future Iona Days. Council McNamara agreed there needs to be more activities for teenagers. Council President Geray stated he thought it felt about perfect for Iona. He continued and stated it was small enough to feel like a home town celebration, as opposed to a large commercial event that draws in people from all surrounding areas. Council President Geray stated there can be minor improvements, but overall this year's event was very well done. Assistant Farrens agreed. Assistant Farrens proposed setting the dates for next year's Iona Days Celebration and other events to take place during the upcoming year. Clerk West encouraged setting the dates early to allow the City to book activities and volunteers sooner. Assistant Farrens proposed July 23, 2022 for next year's Iona Days Celebration, which is the fourth Saturday in July. Council President Geray stated over the next few years, the fourth Saturday in July will be closest to Pioneer Day. Clerk West stated this year's Iona Days Chairperson had problems booking vendors on the fourth Saturday due to a conflicting event in Idaho Falls. Mayor Gubler stated he is not worried about what other cities are doing and is not concerned about hosting events the same day. Mayor Gubler agreed to July 23, 2022 for next year's event. All Council Members agreed also. Assistant Farrens then proposed hosting a City Halloween event in the afternoon on Saturday, October 30, 2021. Mayor Gubler and all Council Members agreed. Assistant Farrens then proposed to host the City Easter Egg Hunt on Saturday, April 9, 2022. She continued and stated Easter will be Sunday, April 17, 2022 and she received positive feedback this year regarding holding the event the week before Easter. Assistant Farrens stated this allows families to attend multiple events to celebrate the holiday. Mayor Gubler reiterated he is not concerned with IONA CITY COUNCIL WORK MEETING—AUGUST 17, 2021 scheduling events on the same day as other communities. Council Member Thompson agreed, but stated he liked the idea of having the City Easter Egg Hunt the week before Easter to allow residents to enjoy family time together on Easter weekend. Mayor Gubler and all Council Members agreed to Saturday, April 9, 2022 for the City Easter Egg Hunt. Council President Geray asked what the City has planned for Veterans Day. Assistant Farrens stated she can contact Thunder Ridge High School (TRHS) if the City is interested in hosting another program there for all City veterans. Clerk West asked if this should be held on Veterans Day, or another day. Assistant Farrens stated she will contact them to see what days the auditorium is available. Council President Geray stated he liked the personal deliveries the City Office staff did last year to all the veterans in the City of Iona. He continued and stated he feels this sends a stronger message of gratitude than a program. Mayor Gubler stated the programs were not well attended in the past, but the City has been compiling a list of veterans in the City to send personal invitations to, if a program is held. Clerk West acknowledged Mayor Gubler and Council President Geray as veterans and advised them to discuss and direct the City Office staff on the best way they feel is appropriate to honor the City's veterans. Council President Geray stated he will think about it further, but advised Assistant Farrens to book TRHS if it is available. Council President Geray also suggested combining efforts with TRHS for a Veterans Day Celebration. Assistant Farrens began discussion of the City Halloween event. She is proposing that going forward, this event will be held the Saturday afternoon prior to Halloween. This allows for better weather and less chaos for families with younger children that also go trick or treating on Halloween Day. Mayor Gubler and all Council Members agreed to this change. Assistant Farrens instructed Allison John to discuss some options to change up the Halloween event this year. Allison John introduced herself as a Thunder Ridge High School student that is actively involved in many clubs and sports. Allison continued and stated Assistant Farrens contacted her after she received a lot of feedback to incorporate more activities for teenagers and older kids at City events. Allison proposed changing the Trunk or Treat to a Halloween Carnival with many activities throughout the City Building and the City Park. She continued and shared ideas such as a chili cook-off, carnival games, a pumpkin carving contest and a chalk throwing competition for older kids in the park. Council President Geray stated these suggestions sound good, but is worried about inclement weather. Assistant Farrens stated they will have alternate plans if the weather does not allow for certain outdoor activities. However, the carnival games and chili cook-off would already be planned to take place in the City Building. The only outdoor activities would be for the older kids and teenagers. Assistant Farrens stated the carnival games will all be organized and managed by businesses and volunteers. Council President Geray stated he thinks the consensus from the Council is this activity is a good idea and to give the City Office staff the approval to continue with the planning and execution. Assistant Farrens proposed having a garage door or yard decorating contest throughout the City during the Halloween season. Mayor Gubler stated he does not have a problem with this idea and suggested having an online voting form for residents to vote for their favorite Halloween decorated garage door. Council President Geray expressed hesitation with this activity. Mayor Gubler stated he thinks the City could donate prize money for the garage door with the most votes. Other Council Members agreed. Clerk West requested the Council to discuss their thoughts on the idea of starting "Movies in the Park" again. She continued and stated in the past this activity ended because there were no 2 IONA CITY COUNCIL WORK MEETING—AUGUST 17, 2021 volunteers interested in being in charge. However, Assistant Farrens has offered to be in charge of this ongoing activity. All Council Members agreed. Discussion of Fiscal Year 2022 Final Budget — Clerk West stated the major change on this budget from the preliminary budget is the increase in property tax revenue to include the new construction numbers from Bonneville County. She continued and stated there was also an increase in the Equipment Replacement expense line item after Director Prouse requested to purchase a new pickup truck during the next fiscal year. Director Prouse stated the truck Bryce Stucki is currently driving is a 2006. Mayor Gubler also stated he understands the City sold the police truck to Bonneville County last year, but it was not set up to use as a Public Works vehicle. No other questions brought up by the Mayor or Council on the Fiscal Year 2022 Final Budget. Discussion of Fiscal Year 2022 Law Enforcement Contract with Bonneville County Sheriff's Office—Lieutenant Casper from Bonneville County Sheriff's Office (BCSO) stated the flat fee for the Fiscal Year 2022 proposed City's Law Enforcement Contract will remain the same as the current fiscal year. He continued and stated all materials that have been purchased by their department this year have seen a solid 7% increase in cost. Lt. Casper continued and explained measures BCSO has taken to try and minimize cost increases, despite supply chain delays. Council President Geray asked what the City can expect the contract increase to be for Fiscal Year 2023. Lt. Casper stated he believes a realistic expectation would be a 5%-7% increase, which would be approximately $10,000. Mayor Gubler asked if anyone had additional questions for Lt. Casper. Jolyn Louk asked why there has been much less police presence this summer as opposed to last summer. She continued and stated last year the City had a more visible police presence and there was very little crime reported. However, this summer she has not seen any evening patrol and has heard of a lot more crime happening. Lt. Casper stated they are experiencing hiring & retention issues and are currently down eight full-time deputies as a department. He continued and stated he understands there is not as much patrol as he would like, but confirmed BCSO has been in the City when crimes have happened and are actively investigating recent incidents. Council Member McNamara expressed concern regarding the continued speeding on 55th East. Lt. Casper stated this is an ongoing problem on all county roads. He explained that if a deputy parks there and issues tickets, it will only solve the problem for a short period of time. This is a common problem found everywhere on these types of roads, where the speed limit reduces so drastically in a short distance. Lt. Casper continued and stated they have run the data from the speed radar signs on 55th East and found most people are going 7-8 mph over the speed limit. Council Member McNamara continued and stated she knows people are continually speeding, but she never sees officers there to enforce it. Mayor Gubler asked if the Council had any other questions. No questions were raised. Discussion of Upgrading City Building Network and Council Chambers Digital Recording Capabilities —Mayor Gubler stated the City had DB Tronix bid the cost to upgrade the network in the City Building. He continued and stated the cost was significantly higher than expected. Clerk West explained the total for the network upgrade is approximately $6,600 and an additional bid of approximately $3,200 to enable digital recording at all City meetings. Mayor Gubler stated the upgrade will benefit the City to enable better Wi-Fi service in the Council 3 IONA CITY COUNCIL WORK MEETING—AUGUST 17, 2021 Chambers and throughout the City Building. However, this will still not allow the public to access the City's Wi-Fi. Council President Geray asked if the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds could be used for this expense. Clerk West confirmed. She also stated she has another company coming next week to bid also, to ensure a fair price is paid for the services. All Council Members agreed to this course of action. Council Member Thompson suggested also adding an access point on the back of the building to enable City Wi-Fi in the park for events such as "Movies in the Park". Clerk West agreed and stated security cameras in the park would be easier to connect to if the City had an access point in the park. She also asked if we would want to put public Wi-Fi in the City Park. Mayor Gubler and Council President Geray both rejected Wi-Fi in the park for public use. Discussion then began regarding security cameras in the City Park. Council President Geray suggested giving approval up to $10,000 to upgrade the network and enable digital recording in the Council Chambers. All Council Members agreed. General Water System Discussion—Mayor Gubler stated the water system was predicted to be completed by August 1, 2021. However, it is still not complete. He continued and stated all the large items have been installed and are completed. The City is waiting for Rocky Mountain Power to set the transformer. But they are not able to do that until they hear from the State of Idaho because an electrical inspection is required prior. The new tentative date for the completion of the entire project is now September 1, 2021. Mayor Gubler then stated the possibility of using ARPA funds to add a new generator to the water tank. Council Member Thompson asked about the well problems that happened on Iona Day. Mayor Gubler stated it was an electrical problem caused by corrosion and it was fixed by Director Prouse that day. Meeting Adjourned: 6:58 p.m. COUNCIL APPROVED: September 28, 2021 Dan Gubler, Mayor ATTEST: /AVM Keri West, City Clerk/Treasurer 4