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HomeMy Public PortalAboutMinutes_City Council Work Meeting_01232024 CITY OF IONA CITY COUNCIL WORK MEETING IONA CITY HALL JANUARY 23,2024 6:00 P.M. PRESENT: Mayor Daniel Gubler, Council President Robert Geray, Council Member Michael Thompson, Council Member Evan Mann, City Attorney Andrew Rawlings, Public Works Director Zech Prouse and City Clerk/Treasurer Keri West. ABSENT: Council Member Peter Wadsworth. VISITORS: Rylea Farrens, Diana Estrada, Frank Estrada, Trina Stumpp, Kirsti Cook, Brooke Allen, Daniel Parrish, Tony Glenn, Bill Koester and Kathy Koester. ITEMS OF BUSINESS: General Fiber Project Discussion with Direct Communications — Brooke Allen with Direct Communications (DC) approached the Council and gave the construction update on the fiber project. He stated DC has confirmed 50% of Iona residents have signed up for their service and they expect that number to increase as they open more zones. Mr. Allen stated Zones 1 and 2 are currently being connected and there are a total of 109 customers that have been connected and are online. He continued and stated Zones 3, 4 and 5 are in the slicing phase of the project. Mr. Allen confirmed DC will still be offering free installation for Iona residents, until construction is completed. He stated installation is normally $100. Mr. Allen then introduced the "Empowering Parents" program that DC is certified in which allows parents with school-aged children to receive free or reduced rates on their interne bill. Mr. Allen then stated DC also has an"Upgrade Your School" program that allows new customers to donate the amount of their first bill to a school district of their choice. He continued and stated with that program DC just donated a total of$1,758 for the last 2 quarters of the fiscal year to Bonneville Joint School District#93. Mr. Allen stated DC just added a 2GB speed package. In addition to that, they have also increased their speeds and dropped their prices. He confirmed these new prices are active now and existing customers can call to be switched to the new package pricing. Mr. Allen distributed papers that show the upgraded package pricing as follows: •300 Mbps - $34.95 •600 Mbps - $49.95 • 1 Gig- $69.95 •2 Gig- $99.95 The previous package pricing is as follows: • 100 Mbps - $39.95 •250 Mbps - $59.95 •500 Mbps- $79.95 • 1 Gig- $99.95 Mr. Allen continued and stated this change occurred yesterday, so they have not begun advertising it yet. He stated existing customers will be contacted soon to switch the upgraded IONA CITY COUNCIL WORK MEETING -JANUARY 23, 2024 packages. He also stated they have a new product called, "Direct Protect Plus", which enables parents to have full control of their router remotely. He further explained this is an app that parents can use whether they are at home or not to control access of their internet service, in addition to malware protection. Mr. Allen asked if anyone had questions on their update. Council Member Mann asked what a typical speed is for non-fiber internet services. Mr. Allen stated cable internet companies average speeds of 100/20MB upload and download speeds,but those speeds are not reliable. Council President Geray stated he has been connected to DC for a few weeks and he started with the 100MB package. He continued and stated it has been more than sufficient for his needs and he believes 100MB will be fast enough for most customers. Mr. Allen agreed and stated DC has some smaller school districts that are running their entire school district on 500MB. He also stated larger school districts are running on 1GB-2GB. He further explained that at that speed, a customer can download a full 4k movie in about 90 seconds. Mr. Allen also reminded the Council DC does not cap their data. In addition, DC does not harvest and sell customers' metadata. Council President Geray expressed his satisfaction in the quality product and process of Direct Communications and stated he knows the City chose the right company for this project. Daniel Parrish from DC approached the Council and stated the motive for their price changes is their way to be the best fiber partner and them staying ahead of the trends and competition. Mr. Allen agreed and stated he is proud of DC and what they give back to the communities. Mrs. Farrens stated DC donated to City Events last year for Iona and she is hoping they donate again this year. Mr. Allen stated he will be in contact with the City and DC is planning to start attending the monthly Work Meetings to give updates and answer questions. Discussion of Future Annexations —Council President Geray stated he brought this discussion up last month and determined after reading the state statutes that annexations over 100 parcels should be initiated by the development. He continued and stated there are other situations where the City could consider annexations, including non-residents that are already connected to the water system and parcels that are landlocked by the City. Mayor Gubler stated the City was just approached by a non-resident that would like to be connected to the water system. He continued and stated this can be done by contract and the updated contract will include a "Consent to Annexation" once they are contiguous to the City limits. Council President Geray suggested adding that wording to the City Code so that it is transparent for anyone considering this request. Mayor Gubler agreed. Council President Geray then stated at this point, he does not feel the need to continue the annexation discussions regarding the Green Valley and Nu'R Subdivisions. Council President Geray also stated he would like to research and pursue a multi-tier taxing approach for county residents that do not live within municipalities. He continued and stated if there is not already something in place, there should be a higher tier of taxes for county residents because they utilize a disproportionate amount of services to those that live in municipalities and pay the same county rate. He continued and stated this would reduce the disparity in taxes between those residents that live in municipalities and those that do not, which would also incentivize more county residents to be annexed into cities. Council President Geray also said the statutes illustrate the state's intent to have the majority of residents living within municipalities. Mrs. Farrens agreed and stated county residents do use a disproportionate amount of county services including snow removal, street maintenance, etc. Mayor Gubler asked how county 2 IONA CITY COUNCIL WORK MEETING -JANUARY 23, 2024 ei4) residents use services disproportionately. Council President Geray stated city residents pay the same county taxes that non-city residents pay, but the county is not plowing the snow and providing other services that county residents are receiving. He continued and stated city residents are paying additional taxes for those services because they are provided by the city, but their county taxes are not reduced even though they are not receiving those services. Mayor Gubler stated all Council Members are representatives of the community and should be able to defend their policies and opinions to anyone that asks. Council President Geray agreed and asked Attorney Rawlings if this type of tax structure exists. Attorney Rawlings stated he hasn't researched it much, but he does not believe it currently exists in Idaho. He continued and stated he does want to look at other states to see if this situation has been addressed. Mayor Gubler requested Clerk West to make a list of topics to discuss with our local legislators. Clerk West agreed and offered to contact the Association of Idaho Cities (AIC) for their input. Bill Koester from the audience asked how the City would handle annexations for residents that are on Falls Water. Mayor Gubler stated they would remain on Falls Water. Mrs. Farrens stated the water fees are a separate line item on the City's budget, so a resident that is annexed and on Falls Water would not be paying taxes towards the City's water system. Mayor Gubler stated no taxes are involved in either water system. He continued and stated each water system is maintained and paid for by their own customers. He further explained they are enterprise funds, which are all service-oriented. Clerk West displayed the City boundary map and outlined numerous parcels that have not been annexed but are either surrounded by the City or are on the water system and contiguous. She continued and asked if the Council would like to pursue annexation of these parcels. Council President Geray stated he would recommend annexation of any parcels that are landlocked by the City. Clerk West identified 3 parcels. Director Prouse recommended annexation of parcels to the east of the City limits that are currently connected to the City's water system. He continued and stated in the updated Area of Impact Agreement with Bonneville County, that is an area that was identified as growth for the City. Council President Geray asked how long the process will be for annexation if someone is already connected to the water system. Attorney Rawlings stated it should only take a couple of months to complete that type of annexation. Council President Geray stated he doesn't feel the need to annex those parcels until there is the potential of growth in that area. Mayor Gubler disagreed and stated if a parcel is already contiguous and connected to the City's water system, they should be part of the City. Discussion continued from various perspectives regarding annexing properties already connected to the City's water system. Mayor Gubler stated his priority right now is to annex those properties that are surrounded by the City. He continued and stated annexing properties on the peripheral of the City can be discussed at a later date. Council President Geray agreed. Clerk West stated she will work with Attorney Rawlings on moving forward with the annexation of the 3 parcels that have been identified as being surrounded by the City. Discussion of FY2024 Amended Budget—Mayor Gubler explained the City started the process last year where we amend the budget after the prior year's fiscal year has ended to better account for rollover funds, etc. Clerk West stated she would like to approve an amended budget in February and has provided the spreadsheets tonight as a discussion of what line items need to be amended. She continued and stated she understands there may be additional grant monies 3 IONA CITY COUNCIL WORK MEETING - JANUARY 23, 2024 awarded later in the year, but would like to open the budget in February to start working with accurate financial statements now. Mrs. Farrens asked about the decrease in Recreational Fees on the proposed amended budget and asked if $20,000 is the expected decrease in revenue this year. Clerk West confirmed. She continued and stated they had set a high amount for Recreational Fees because our previous Recreational Director had been promoted to full time and was expected to grow the programs this year. However, once he left, the City decided to retain the same number of programs this year as previous years. Clerk West further explained this reduction in revenue for Recreation also required a reduction in expenses in Recreation to maintain a "zero budget". Mrs. Farrens then asked about the increase in engineering costs. Mayor Gubler stated as the City grows there will always be an increase in engineering costs. He continued and stated there is another grant the City is seeking for additional sidewalks, but grants do not cover the cost of engineering. Council President Geray asked if the proposed budget includes the grant funds for the road rehabilitation project on Denning, Scoresby and Free. Clerk West confirmed the $2,000,000 grant for that project has been added to the "Grants" line item for General Revenue and the "Capitol Improvements" line item for the General Expenses. Clerk West stated there are a lot of projects that have been discussed and planned this year and she would like to go over those specific numbers to assign priority. She continued and stated the Road Rehabilitation project on the South side of town has a total expected cost of$2,100,000. She stated the grant will cover the first $2,000,000, but the City will need to pay the additional 11140 $100,000 out of the General Capitol Improvements budget. Clerk West then stated the survey for the park has already been approved for a cost of$12,000. She continued and stated that leaves approximately $40,000 in the Capitol Improvements budget of the General Fund. Council President Geray asked if there are other projects that have been discussed. He continued and stated the South side road project is a large enough project that he doesn't believe there needs to be any other projects scheduled for this year. Director Prouse stated the other project that has been discussed is the Child Pedestrian Safety Grant to extend the sidewalks on Main Street from Rockwood Avenue to Freedom Field Estates. Clerk West stated if the City is awarded that grant, there would still be a potential cost to the City of$250,000. Mayor Gubler stated the City can complete as much of that project with grant funds this year as possible and apply again next year to cover the remaining cost and finish the project. He also stated they could scale the project back to reduce the cost. Clerk West stated the City should be notified by April if we have been awarded this grant. Clerk West then stated there is $425,000 available in the Capitol Improvements budget of the Water Fund. She stated there will be a discussion in the Regular Meeting tonight about purchasing a piece of equipment that costs approximately $100,000, which would still leave $325,000 available in this budget. Clerk West then explained as they discuss the South side road project, those funds can be used to replace the water lines that cannot be paid for by the grant funds. She also stated if the total cost of the water lines exceeds $325,000, there is additional money available in the Water Fund savings. Director Prouse stated he believes the $325,000 is sufficient to replace the water lines while the roads are being rebuilt for this project. Clerk West stated she would like to have the budget amendment on the February agenda for approval. She explained an increase on the Water Hook-Up Fees line item to account for new 4 IONA CITY COUNCIL WORK MEETING -JANUARY 23, 2024 building permits that are expected in Countryside Estates. She then asked if anyone had questions or concerns about any of the line items on the proposed budget. No concerns mentioned. Staff Reports —Clerk West stated the City's annual dinner for staff and elected officials will be held this Friday at 6:30pm at Johnny Carino's. She stated nothing else to report. Captain Glenn from Bonneville County Sheriff's Office (BCSO) stated the law enforcement reports should be in the Council packets. He stated there has been a significant increase in traffic stops from 2022 to 2023. He then explained other categories of calls. Council Member Thompson expressed his appreciation for BCSO and the good job they do in our community. Meeting Adjourned: 6:58 p.m. COUNCIL APPROVED: February 27, 2024 Daniel Gubler, Mayor ATTEST: ./la (.. /(d/f eri West, City Clerk/Treasurer •