HomeMy Public PortalAboutMinutes_City Council Work Meeting_03152022 CITY COUNCIL WORK MEETING
IONA CITY HALL
MARCH 15,2022 6:00 P.M.
PRESENT: Mayor Dan Gubler, Council President Rob Geray, Council Member Peter
Wadsworth, Council Member Michael Thompson, Council Member Evan Mann, City Attorney
Andrew Rawlings, Public Works Director Zech Prouse and City Clerk/Treasurer Keri West.
ABSENT: None.
VISITORS: None.
ITEMS OF BUSINESS:
2022 City Events — Office Assistant Rylea Farrens approached the Council and stated she has
been organizing a plan for all the 2022 City events and would like to go over them all tonight,
rather than coming back for each event.
Assistant Farrens stated the Easter Egg Hunt will be held on Saturday, April 9th at 1:00pm. She
continued and stated we have had a lot of volunteers come in to help fill the eggs already and
they are almost done. She also stated she is coordinating with the 4-H group to bring animals to
the event, in addition to the chicks and miniature ponies that are already confirmed. Assistant
Farrens stated the animals will be in a separate area of the park, away from the Easter Egg Hunt.
She also stated there have been scooters, miniature cars and other toys donated by various
businesses. She continued and stated there will be a couple of food vendors also.
Assistant Farrens then discussed the Iona Days Celebration that will be held Friday and
Saturday, July 22nd & 23`d. She stated she is coordinating the volunteers and there is a volunteer
over each part of Iona Days. She has already gathered them together for a meeting to start
coordinating and organizing. Council Member Mann asked if the Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter Day Saints was doing the dinner again. Clerk West stated they stopped participating in the
dinner 3 years ago. Assistant Farrens said she and Clerk West discussed the possibility of having
the City do the dinner, but came to the conclusion there are too many non-residents that attend
that would make it too difficult for the City to do. She also stated there will still be a free
breakfast and many food vendors here for lunch. Assistant Farrens stated there will be a talent
show on Friday night and Saturday night with free popcorn and other snacks available. She
continued and stated there will be bounce houses on Saturday and the Army National Guard will
be bringing their obstacle course for free. There will also be games and the dunk tank. Assistant
Farrens also stated she has discussed incorporating an adult softball tournament with Director
Homer and they are currently working out those details. She then stated the car show will be
back this year at Iona Days and they are anticipating approximately 80 cars.
Assistant Farrens then discussed the sponsorships and budget for all 2022 events. She stated this
year she wrote sponsorship letters with amounts and incentives that she sent out in January. She
continued and stated the City has already received over $17,000. Assistant Farrens then stated
she has calculated expenses and only anticipates spending approximately $12,000 for all of the
events this year. She continued and encouraged the Council to share ideas on other things that
IONA CITY COUNCIL WORK MEETING—MARCH 15, 2022
can be done at events to use money from the sponsors.
Assistant Farrens then discussed the Christmas event the City held last year and asked whether
the Council would like to do it again this year. She continued and stated it was a small event last
year and not well attended, but it was only planned within a few weeks. She stated there would
be little cost to do the event again this year. Council all agreed to have another Christmas event
this year.
Assistant Farrens then stated the Council had said previously they were interested in starting up
Movies in the Park again this summer. She continued and stated she is willing to run it and the
City already has all of the equipment necessary. However, she has researched copyright laws and
they cost approximately $275 per movie. Council President Geray asked if that was still required
if the movie is shown without profit. Assistant Farrens confirmed payment is still required.
Council Member Wadsworth stated he does not think enough people will attend to justify the
cost. Council President Geray asked what the average attendance is. Mayor Gubler stated it
hasn't been done in a few years, but the average then was approximately 40 people per movie.
Assistant Farrens stated she thinks there will be a higher turnout now that the City utilizes more
ways to advertise. She continued and stated there are also volunteers that are willing to run those
events. She also stated the movies wouldn't be starting until after 9pm, so the City could do other
themes such as a "date night" with food trucks, etc. Council President Geray suggested hosting
1-2 movies to see how many people attend before committing to more. All Council Members
agreed.
Council Member Wadsworth expressed concern regarding each food vendor for Iona Day being
required to bring their own generator to avoid blowing circuits during the event. Director Prouse
stated the City does have a few spider box splitters that have 5-6 outlets that vendors can hook up
to. He continued and stated they are already planning on upgrading the electrical in the South
Shelter to increase the expansion capability. Assistant Farrens stated there should be enough
power for them to connect to, but she is still recommending the vendors bring their own
generator to avoid any potential problems that occurred in previous years with power. Council
Member Wadsworth stated he is concerned with how loud generators are. Clerk West agreed, but
stated they could be there as back-up if any problems arise.
Discussion regarding Bathrooms in City Park — Director Prouse stated he has requested to
discuss this item again to make sure all Council Members are on the same page before they take
down the existing bathrooms. He continued and explained the current plan is to remove the
existing bathrooms and replace them with double vault bathrooms. Director Prouse stated they
have been paid for and are expected to arrive by the end of June. Mayor Gubler stated he does
not want the current bathrooms removed until the new ones are scheduled to arrive. Council
Members all agreed to move forward with this plan of action.
Discussion regarding Comprehensive Plan — Clerk West stated the current Comprehensive
Plan was completed in 2007. She continued and stated she believes it needs to be updated but
would like to make sure the City moves forward with it correctly. She explained various
components of a Comprehensive Plan, including a resident survey. Clerk West also stated there
is no state statute that sets a requirement for how often a Comprehensive Plan be updated, but
they do recommend every 5-10 years. She continued and asked the Council if this is something
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they would like the Planning & Zoning Commission (P&Z) to begin working on now, or wait
until the next budget cycle to have more available resources. Mayor Gubler stated he recognizes
the value of an updated Comprehensive Plan and thinks the City should pursue the process.
However, he recognizes it is not an inexpensive project. Mayor Gubler advised having the P&Z
start gathering questions to include in the survey for residents that live within City limits. Clerk
West stated there are firms available for hire that will do the entire Comprehensive Plan, or
individual aspects of it, depending on what the Council chooses. She continued and stated she
would like to be able to give P&Z clear direction regarding when and how they need to get
started on the update. Council Member Wadsworth suggested including it in next year's budget
and being ready to move forward as soon as that budget cycle begins. Clerk West stated she can
do some research on various cost options associated with the update to the Comprehensive Plan
to bring back to Council for consideration. Mayor and Council agreed.
Discussion regarding path forward for Fiber Internet—Mayor Gubler stated he has discussed
this with Director Prouse and they have determined that a formal Request for Proposal (RFP)
process is necessary to advertise this project. He continued and stated this will allow companies
that are capable of completing the work to bid on the job in a format that makes it easier for the
City to compare. Mayor Gubler explained the City has received two bids previously, but they are
difficult to compare because they are different approaches to the project. Council President
Geray agrees to the RFP process to allow the City to outline the parameters needed in the bids.
He continued and suggested having the RFP specify the desire for the City to own the system
after a negotiated time period, the number of houses required and a low connection fee per
household. Director Prouse asked Attorney Rawlings if he had insight on this matter. Attorney
Rawlings stated he has tried contacting other City Attorneys that have worked with fiber
companies and he has been unsuccessful. Council President Geray reiterated the benefits of the
RFP process. He then asked if anyone had perspective on the amount of money the City would
be willing to allocate towards this project. Mayor Gubler stated if the residents are highly in
favor of this project, he is not opposed to using some of the funds from reserves. Council
Member Thompson stated the project can be structured to spread the cost over multiple fiscal
year budgets. Mayor Gubler asked how much is left from the American Rescue Plan Act
(ARPA) funds after the tennis court and park improvements are complete. Clerk West stated
there is approximately $365k remaining. Mayor Gubler then asked how much the City has in
reserves for the General Fund. Clerk West stated there is approximately $450k in General Fund
reserves. Council President Geray stated $400k would not be too much of a hit from reserves to
complete this project. Mayor Gubler stated his threshold would be approximately $500k to
complete a project of this size and value. Council Member Wadsworth suggested not including a
price point in the RFP, but specifying the other parameters the City requires to see which
company can meet the parameters at the lowest cost. Director Prouse stated the City Engineer
will draft the RFP. Council President Geray asked the Council to discuss the specific parameters
to include in the RFP. He suggested including a restriction that the installing company cannot
exceed 7 years of sole ownership of the system before turning it over to the City and allowing
other companies to access the fiber system. Mayor Gubler stated he didn't think it was necessary
to be that specific and encouraged further negotiation with the winning company. Director
Prouse stated from his experience the more detail the better in drafting an RFP. Council
President Geray stated the fiber discussion has already taken too long, so he would like to walk
away from this meeting with all the parameters decided and ready for the RFP to be drafted by
the City Engineer. Mayor Gubler stated he would rather state the company has a minimum of 5
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IONA CITY COUNCIL WORK MEETING—MARCH 15, 2022
years as the sole provider, rather than a maximum of 7 years. Council Member Thompson stated
the company cannot increase their service fees by more than 1% per year. Council agreed.
Director Prouse stated he would talk to the City Engineer and would have him get started on
drafting the RFP. Council President Geray encouraged immediate action and stated if a Special
Meeting is required prior to the next City Council Meeting to finalize the RFP, he would be open
to that decision to expedite this process.
Discussion of Impact Fees — Mayor Gubler stated the City of Idaho Falls has recently been
discussing implementing Impact Fees. He continued and explained that an impact fee is designed
to offset the cost of growth for specific services provided. Mayor Gubler stated this
implementation by the City of Idaho Falls will push development into surrounding areas because
it is less expensive to build without paying the impact fees. He continued and encouraged the
Council to think about impact fees and consider using them as a tool to slow down rapid growth
in our area. Mayor Gubler also stated the water connection fee was raised 5 years ago as the
result of an appraisal on the water system. He continued and stated it is time to review that value
again. Director Prouse encouraged the impact fee discussion to be ongoing because the water
connection fee charged to developers can only be used for the water system and cannot be used
for other items affected by growth, such as roads.
Meeting Adjourned: 6:58 p.m.
COUNCIL APPROVED: April 19, 2022
Dan Gubler,Mayor
ATTEST:
Keri West, City Clerk/Treasurer
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