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HomeMy Public PortalAboutMcCall, Idaho: Politics and Government ICity Council Notes by Martha Chitwood The 1917 City Council was comprised of John Berry, P.C. Reams, Charles Arnold, Robert Montgomery and Mr. Brothwell. This was the year in which the City was incorporated. In that year, they also had a clerk, and they appropriated $100.00 to pay for the services of the town attorney for one year. One motion proposed was to make it a misdemeanor to place manure, rubbish or wagons or anything that might obstruct the highway within the City. The motion passed and still stands as an ordinance. Another ordinance passed in 1919 was from a motion made by Ted Geelan to prohibit any person under the ago of 18 from carrying firearms within the City limits. Penalty was $10.00 and confiscation of said firearms. In 1919, the City Council approved the hiring of a City Marshall for the salary of $25.00 per month. In the spring of the same year, they passed an ordinance that provided for the building of wooden sidewalks on some of the streets in McCall. The fiscal year 1919 City budget was $2455.00, broken down as follows: Salaries of Officers and Employees $650.00 Street Lighting $200.00 Printing $150.00 Building crosswalks and sidewalks $200.00 Street fund $250.00 Water works fund $480.00 Deficiency Warrants $500.00 The budget for the fiscal year 1979 totaled $644,657.00 and the breakdown would be a long list. Another example of growth can be seen in school figures: The first school in McCall taught by Flora McCall had four students and met in the York home and then the Heacock home. The present school has over seven hundred grade school, junior school and high school students. Much of the early growth in McCall can be attributed to the railroad's arrival in 1914, which did bring people and jobs. But most can be attributed to the beauty and resources of Long Valley. In 1920, the City Council moved to extend the lake water intake pipe further out into the lake. It still rests there in 1979. -7y Fire house, dock bids accepted, recreation study okayed MCCALL— Apparent low bids for city fire house and city dock construction and a new police car were accepted by the City Council Monday night, and an okay for a proposed recreation development study by a Boise firm given. Kenney Construction of On- tario was awarded the fire house contract for a low base bid of $57,724, less estimated redwood siding costs, for a net amount of $50,924. Two other base bids, of $66,146 and $64,943, were also received. Completion date of the project, foi which the Council budgeted $50,000, is expected 150 days after construction starts next to the public library. Grangeville submitted an ap- parent low bid of $3,879, one of five received, for a new police department vehicle, and the city dock construction contract went to H & W, Inc. of McCall for $5,057, the only bid received. A planning and development study go -ahead was given to Jack G. Peterson and Associates, a Boise planning firm. The proposed plan will deal with recreation facility development within the city limits of McCall. It will encompass the specific project only, as compared to the already completed proposed general development plan for both McCall and surrounding area, which is scheduled for a May 21st public hearing. The Peterson firm indicated it would begin its project June 1st and complete it within 30 days. Its cost of $4,500 will reportedly be paid by the Economic Development Administration through its Ore -Ida District. To meet government requirements for the municipal airport improvement grants, the Council agreed to offer 30 shares of Lake Irrigation District water in exchange for air easement on lands directly south of and ad- jacent to the present runways, owned by Warren Brown. The easement woUd be necessary for aircraft glide patterns and would restrict heights of obstructions on the land involved. They also adopted minimum standards for fixed base airport operators and tenants, which contain requirements including set charges for space used. In other business, the nece: -iry procedure for relocation of the Warren Wagon Road at its intersection with Hwy. 55 was discussed, and it was noted that hospital roof repairs have been completed. Finally, the Council tenatively adopted a requirement that a 30 day waiting period would be necessary between the time of application for a city beer license and the date it could be granted. Move'' on to recall McCall's Mayor Recall petitions against McCall Mayor Bill Evans charging him with "misusing his position" are expected to be circulating throughout the city this week. Ken Kuhne, owner of Blue Lotus Books and Goods, McCall, presented a proposed recall petition to Margaret Fogg, city clerk; Tuesday afternoon, and said he planned to resubmit it in proper form Wednesday afternoon. It had not been resubmitted by press time Wednesday. The petition states that the un- dersigned demand that Evans be recalled for six reasons. They include allegedly misusing his position by It jurisdiction over areas of city business which are beyond his control," staining the reputations of local businesspeople by displaying loss of self -control in front of others, discriminating and procrastinating in filling positions on the city's planning and zoning commission, violating city code by calling the fire department to a home outside the city limits, going "against the tide of popular, majority decisions and desires" and taking a stand for the city leash law and then disregarding the law himself. When presented with the proposed petition Tuesday, Fogg turned it over to the city attorney, Robert Remaklus, who responded that it was not yet in proper form for review by the city clerk. It lacked signatures of electors, he said. Wednesday morning, Kuhne said he had discovered his error and would resubmit the petition to the city clerk with the proper number of signatures, 20 registered electors. Once the petition is in proper form and is so designated by the city clerk, Bill Evans the petition circulators must collect signatures of registered voters equal in number to 20 percent of the number of voters registered for the last general city election. Fogg said she did not have time to figure how many signatures that would be at this time. If the proper number of valid signatures are gathered, the clerk would have to call a special election on the recall issue. The election must be held 3040 days after the signatures are declared sufficient. Mayor Evans said he had no com- ment on the recall attempt except that it is "one of our democratic rights; everyone has the right." Evans' seat is due up for election in November. Should he be recalled, his successor would be appointed by the city council. The new mayor could then seek election in November. I'm still waiting To the editor: f 719 In my letter two weeks ago, I asked Mayor Bill Evans for a public apology regarding his disreputable behavior in my store - Blue Lotus Books & Goods. I haven't heard a word. The public memory of this circumstance may be short, but mine is not. I think it's deplorable that the situation ever occurred. I regard it as rude that I haven't received an answer in any form. Fire trucks and poison darts Condos and then ravings How long do we let it slide? Whose actions need enslaving? I'm still waiting Mayor. Ken Kuhne 7- 77 Recall Mayor .7 To the editor: There are times in the history of politics when our elected leaders fail to maintain their integrity and trustful control. In the history of McCall politics, this is such a time. Since my first letter to Mayor Bill Evans was published a month ago, I have been inundated by phone calls and personal appearances from people whose feelings are the same as mine and who desperately want to see a change in the leadership of our city. I am not alone. It appears that the mayor continues to amaze people with his lack of con- cern for the desires of McCall's populace and business community. We cannot wait until election time in Wiovember to see a reversal in a*..,% ministrative format. It must happen >itrnbw, before valuable summer months pass by and more intolerable policy decisions are effectuated. We cannot allow ourselves any longer to be governed by a man whose ego overwhelms his ability to say "I'm wrong, I'm sorry" in public. I'm sorry Mayor Bill Evans, but I, and an ever - growing group of folks in this city, want a recall. According to Idaho Code, Chapter 17 on Recall Elections, section 34 -1702, article 4 - The recall petition must be signed by registered electors of the city equal in numbers to 20 percent of the number of electors registered to vote at the last general city election held in the city for the election of officers. Everyone register. Everyone vote. Thank you for all the support. Ken Kuhne Blue Lotus Books & Goods McCall 57Z,-,-r ,z - I\/uvs �a -c�) - -7 9 Mayor's OK sends-fire trucks, from city y v � by Tim Novoselski Do persons residing outside the Mc- Call city limits have fire protection? The answer, technically, is no. But in the aftermath of a recent out- of -the- city fire, in which Mayor Bill Evans authorized the use of the city's fire equipment, the answer could be maybe. Evans was a guest at the Mike Compton residence on Warren Wagon Road when a fire broke out in the basement. The mayor called the fire department and initially the volunteer firemen responded on their own time and with their own personal fire ex- tinguishers, said Fire Chief Don Fitz- water. "We went out there on our own and the mayor authorized the fire truck at the last minute," said Fitzwater. "It just took a little water. It would have been a total loss. That's a $200,000 or $100,000 home. "It's hard to sit there and watch a house burn down when you know you can save it with a few gallons of water. I hate to say no (when persons outside the city limits request fire department assistance)." Evans said he makes a decision on whether or not to send city equipment outside the city after he has taken a variety of things into consideration, such as, how far out is the fire, would the city be in danger because a fire truck left it, or how far along is the fire? In the case of the Compton fire, Evans said the fact the fire truck left the city limits would have no effect on insurance rates because the city's second fire truck and other volunteers were on alert inside the city limits. "We never take two trucks out at the same time," he said. Evans said he did not have to be contacted to make a decision con- cerning the Compton home because he was at the residence at the time of the fire. Asked about a fire that destroyed the Jim and Judy Kirkland home on Warren Wagon Road last October, Evans said he did not remember being contacted. "The individual (property owner) or the value of the proberty has nothing to do with" the decision whether to send the fire equipment outside the limits, said Evans. Asked if it would be a good suggestion for those outside the city limits with houses on fire to give the mayor a call, Evans replied: "I wouldn't encourage it. My responsibility is to the city." The mayor added that if he was contacted by someone with a fire outside the city limits, he might have a "glint of sympathy" for them. However, he said, "If you print for them to call Bill Evans, you would have, in effect, made the decision.. . The decision would be no... I won't be put in a position like that. Evans said those residing outside the city are in more danger during the winter months because the Southern Idaho Timber Protective Association trucks are not serviced then. "Its job is to protect the timber," said Evans, adding that the trucks are kept ready in the summer. The mayor said the fire protection problem is growing because of the increasing number of homes outside the city that are occupied year around. "Take Rio Vista," he said. "Because there are fire hydrants out there people think they have fire protection. They don't ...It behooves those outside the city limits to get fire protection organized." Evans added that "I'm quite con- cerned" what is printed in The Star - News. "I don't want anybody misled, Tim. You and I are going to be here a long time." Downtown plan sent back to P &z BY JEANNE SEOL The Star-News The McCall Downtown Master Plan - a 32 -page document that took seven people two years to write - has gone back to the drawing board. After being heavily criticized by the public at a hearing three weeks ago, the plan was sent back to the City of McCall Planning and Zoning Com- mission by the McCall City Council last week. Planning and zoning officials will now most likely send it back with recommended changes to the Down- town Planning Subcommittee, a seven - member body appointed by the council to write the plan. City council members recom- mended several changes be made to the plan, including an elimination of proposed districts, such as a financial district or marina district, and to not rezone several residential Payette Lake lots into commercial property. Council members also disagreed with a recommendation in the plan that recommended the city lift its cur- rent parking requirements and instead build city -owned parking lots and garages. "I'm not prepared to make down- town parking a general obligation," Mayor Bill Killen said. But subcommittee Chair Rick Fereday said the plan never intended to make the public pay for parking structures. Instead, Fereday said the commit- tee envisioned the city applying for block grants to purchase parking lots and then for downtown business own- ers to develop a small taxing district that would pay for parking structures. "We had some miscommunication on that concept," Fereday said. Dave Peugh, a professional plan- ner hired by the city to assist the subcommittee, said the plan was merely "a wish list of what we would like to see happen downtown" and urged council members not to scrap the plan. "There was no planning in the past. We're just trying to catch up," Peugh said. "We misjudged how some of the proposed changes would be accepted by the public, but now we're aware of them. At least we have a start." No deadline has been set for how soon changes in the plan should be made. The plan must be adopted by the city council before it can be imple- mented. 7S 77 717 3-l� /mss' The merchants .Business owners say tax wrong, hurts McCaU s image By Randall Brooks The Star -News Ever since 1978, when the idea of allowing Idaho's small resort cities to tax certain items used by visitors passed the state legislature, the motel and tavern industry has been at odds with the concept. So it's no wonder that when McCall city officials first broach- ed the idea in the spring of 1982 as a way of curing its then suspected $70,000 budget deficit, motel and bar owners were vocal in their opposition. Despite a changing pattern of issues that brought the McCall City Council to once again put the measure before McCall voters on Tuesday, the opposition to the so- called bed - and -booze tax has not changed. Most of the 32 businesses who have been collecting the tax from their patrons agree on several points: • The tax is discriminatory on their particular businesses. • The tax hurts the economic 'outlook of their businesses by scaring away potential tourist dollars. • Methods in which the city spends the tax money do not specifically help the tourist economy. • The city's budget is too large for its population base. Motel owner Ernie Woods said he typifies what he called the plight of the motel owner under the 4 percent tax local- option tax. "I'm down 20 percent in four years," he said. "In outlying areas, business has picked up some as McCall's has decreased." Getting the city to listen hasn't been easy for the motel -bar. group, which is yet another facet of the complicated and con- troversial election. The merchants first banded together in an unsuccessful at- tempt to defeat the initial election on the 4 percent tax in 1982. They bought newspaper and radio ads and campaigned for voter registration. But the tax was voted into law by an overwhelming 2 -1 margin. Businessmen felt the city had un- fairly represented the budget shortfall, saying a later audit ac- tually found a surplus. But several council members have pointed out a property tax override that was on the same 1982 ballot was defeated, which shows the voters were not misled. That election has been a sore point with businessmen since, leading them to come before the council as a group several times asking for repeal or reduction of the tax on their businesses. Ever - increasing pressure from the group finally convinced city council members in March to put the measure to the latest vote on Tuesday. The election to repeal McCall's taxing ordinance has been an emotional one with businessmen. Fuel was added to the arguments when legal problems with the 1978 Idaho law that allowed the tax surfaced last November. A judge ruled the law unconstitutional in a case involv- ing the Sun Valley resort and the city of Sun Valley. Suddenly, motel and bar owners were not only saying the tax was discriminatory, but that it also appeared to be illegal. The legality issue was argued statewide in the I985 Idaho Legislature, where resort cities tried to have possible flaws in the law corrected. That process failed due to lobbying efforts by the state motel -bar industry. The legality issue remains and the Idaho Supreme Court will hear an appeal of the Sun Valley case this month. How that would affect McCall is pure speculation, City Attorney Bob Remaklus has said. But regardless of the legalities, McCall businessmen want voters next week to decide whether they want the tax in McCall. When ci- ty council members and Mayor Clyde Archer couldn't get a com- promise from the businessmen, they finally agreed to the repeal vote. In town, the talk is of economic gloom for the McCall business community and the community as a whole if the tax isn't lifted from their backs. While the city's available figures for state sales tax collec- tions show a 14 percent increase, businessmen are seeing empty storefronts, and at least two motel owners have sold out or are trying to sell their businesses. "We're looking at a decrease in tourist dollars here," said Louie Howard, owner of the Lar- do Grill and Saloon. "Everybody has had to cut back. I don't see where the city has cut back." Councilman Cliff Lutes disagrees, saying that, except for grant money brought in by the ci- ty administrator, the city has been on a "bare -bones budget" all but two of the 10 years he has been on the council. Lutes has been at the forefront among council members in point- ing out that losing the tax will cause the city to cut its operating budget during the next fiscal year, when federal revenue shar- ing might be cut. "I don't buy the need for this money," Woods said. "Ketchum has 3-4 times as many people as we do, but the budget is half. Why do we need so much ?" Howard agreed. "I dispute the need," he said. "Maybe that will change by next fiscal year, I don't know." Howard said McCall took off with a boom in the late 1970s and all of the city's businesses looked good. However, he said the town has been in a recession the past two years while the bed -and- booze tax has been in place. Howard said prices at his establishment probably wouldn't go down if the tax were repealed. "When the tax went on, we us- ed it as an excuse to bump our prices," he said. "Now, I'm get- ting behind where I really should be." (Yacht Club operators sue McCall over tax A Nampa attorney represen- ting owners of the Yacht Club tavern has filed legal action against the City of McCall in Fourth District Court asking that the city's bed - and -booze local - option tax be declared invalid. A summons declaring the ac- tion was delivered to City Clerk Caren Beckler on Thursday. The suit, brought before the court by attorney Randolph E. Farber in behalf of Arnell- Pearson Enterprises, also asks for temporary and permanent in- junctions restraining the city from collecting the tax. Furthermore, it asks for recovery of $821 paid by the Yacht Club to the city since November under protest on li- quor, beer and wine sales. The tax was paid under McCall's 4 percent tax on overnight lodging and liquor -by- the - drink. The suit also seeks reasonable attorney's fees. The suit claims 'the city or- dinance passed by the city under current Idaho laws is unconstitu- tional because it: • "... unconstitutionally delegates to a municipality an unrestricted and unguided taxing authority." • ... that the Idaho law allow- ing resort cities to levy the non - property tax are "overbroad delegations of the legislative power to levy taxes." • "...that the state statutes em- powering municipalities to enact such a tax lack any procedural or statutory safeguards for pro- viding due process in the ad- judication of disputed tax liabilities," contrary to both U.S. and Idaho constitutional law. Farber said Tuesday that he did not want to comment specifically on the case, but refer- red to a decision last fall by Fifth District Court Judge George Granata Jr. Granata struck down a similar local- option tax in Sun Valley in a suit filed by Sun Valley Com- pany against the City of Sun Valley. That decision is currently under appeal in the Idaho Supreme Court and should be heard next week. "It's my opinion that Judge Granata's opinion is well written and well thought out," Farber said. "Certainly, I think a similar suit is justified in Valley County." Attorney Bob Remaklus said Monday that copies of the lawsuit had been delivered to both he and the city's insurance carrier, but he declined to com- ment on what action would be taken by the city. The court sum- mons requires a written response by May 22. Larry Arnell and Dautis Pear- son, who took over operations of the Yacht Club in November 1984, are the partnership bring- ing suit in behalf of the Yacht Club, the suit says. 4% Tuesday vote to settle fate of McCall tax McCall residents will be asked on Tuesday to consider whether a current city ordinance allowing the city to levy a 4 percent tax on overnight lodging and sales of li- quor by the drink should be repealed. Information voters should know regarding this election in- clitdes: • Explanation of ballot ques- tion: A "yes" vote means bed - and -booze tax collection by motel and bar owners will stop. The city will stop receiving tax receipts from those business owners. A "no" vote means the city will continue collecting the tax and spending it on city services until the law expires in September 1987. • Who can vote: Any United States citizen age 18 years or older who has lived in the city limits of McCall for over 30 days and is registered to vote in a city election. If you voted in either the 1981 or 1983 city elections, you are already registered. How to register: Voters can register by completing a registra- tion form on or before Friday at McCall City Hall. The city clerk's office will be open until 8 p.m. Friday to register voters. Anyone voting in the two previous city elections need not register' again. To find out if you are a registered voter, call 634 -7142. • Where to vote: Voting will take place on Tuesday from noon until 8 p.m. at the McCall Depot Building at Third and Lenora Streets. Probeplanned City backs Chief Lyon By Randall Brooks The Star -News Disagreements still remain this week between the McCall Police Department, the McCall City Council and a group calling themselves the Citizens Action Group, but the council has gone on record in support of Police Chief John Lyon. Pat Ward, a spokesman for the group who lashed out at Lyon's performance at a heated council session last Wednesday, said the council's vote of support had done little to clear the air. Council members recessed after hearing citizens' concerns that were balanced both in favor and against current police tactics in McCall. Members then return- ed to say they would move into closed session. Lyon listened to both allega- tions of wrongdoing and praise for his department's traffic en- forcement on Davis Street that was marked with verbal attacks among the various parties. He then urged the council to make a decision. "I'd like to ask the council to do me a favor now," he said. "Either fire me or let me do my job." For over an hour, citizens waited outside for an answer. After the executive session, council member Bill Crowley spoke for the council, supporting a motion giving complete support to the chief's policies and his cur- rent department, but advising the audience that concerns of Ward's group would be answered. "At this time, we have no in- tention of consolidating with the Valley County Sheriff's Depart- ment," Crowley said. "We, as a council, will address an investiga- tion and come to a conclusion on the concerns that were expressed here tonight. "We will begin immediately to address some of the problems and come up with remedial action if required of all these concerns by -a certain date," Crowley said. Mayor Clyde Archer said Tues "This is not a trial or a hear- Lyon answered by saying that day that Lyon, council members ing," Ward said. "It's strictly for cars were allowed to leave the city Larry Craig and Cliff Lutes, City information. Let's get it out, let's on training trips and during Attorney Bob Remaklus, and Ci get it out in the open, special events or emergencies. ty Administrator Jim Smith "The unhappiness is that there! Broughton asked about Lyon's would join him this morning to knowledge of laws concerning go over the group's list of allega- was a review, the Christensen warrant service and if he knew tions, which were not available report," she said, referring to a warrants were to be returned to Tuesday. 1983 evaluation of the police the court if not served after two The police department was department that has not been years. again scheduled for discussion on made public. "That was supress- "There is a number of war - the agenda of Monday's city ed." rants currently still in your files," council meeting scheduled for Others who expressed concerns Broughton said. "The court is 7:30 p.m. at McCall City Hall. about Lyon's performance in- without those files now." Ward had begun the controver- cluded Shore Lodge manager He cited a specific instance sial meeting Wednesday, which John Edwards and former Me- where he had been denied access, was once again overcrowded by Call policeman Don Broughton, as an officer working for McCall, concerned residents, as a who is now a Valley County to serve a warrant issued in 1980. spokesman for a group which Sheriff's deputy. "You're lying," Lyon said. had met informally on June I l "The way he's run his depart- "You're a bald -faced liar." with Archer and Craig. She asked ment in the past few months has Lyon said Monday that the Archer if a list of questions raised raised a lot of dissension," Ed- warrant in question had been at that meeting had been wards said. "Whether it's deserv- issued based upon false informs.' answered. ed or not, we're still getting a rot- tion and was not a valid warrant: Archer said he had made ten name in the valley." During Wednesday's meeting,., several calls, but Craig said that Edwards also complained that Randy Hickman and a a number: because members of the council McCall policemen did not visit of other residents living on.Davis had been attending an Associa- the Shore Lodge regularly and Street gave iheir support, in,' tion of Idaho Cities Convention that he had heard stories about c in Coeur d' Alene, they had not the "Mexican cop," referring to olic es andphistenfor cement or Officer Elias Leija but had never had enough time to address the problems as a group. Archer said his notes made at the meeting were vague and asked Ward to write out a list of the questions. Ward, however, said citizens had come to the meeting to talk about the problems. Lyon agreed to respond to questions from the floor. Ernie Woods of The Woodsman Motel began by ask- ing Lyon if it were true that the citation rate in McCall had risen from 20 per year to 120 per month earlier this year. "Astronomical jumps like that are just not true," said Lyon, who also said he could not im- mediately provide the actual figures. "I think a 30 percent in- crease is about right." Sensing the tone of questions to come, City Attorney Bob Remaklus immediately advised the council that if the meeting was an informational hearing leading to discharge of Lyon, then due process of the law would have to be followed. met him. "I haven't met him, I speeding laws on Lick Creek he Road. don't know what he's about," Others who spoke included said.- He said that if you want to see Kathy Rife, Tom Francis, Toni John Callahan, Judy the McCall police, you have to go Van Ko Van men, Jack Elliot, Doriaq� to the The Pancake House. C Judy aBill Lyon countered by saying he Both Hardin and Dean' and his officers had contact with Hagerman spoke in favor of a the Shore Lodge often and that it balanced approach to the police was a nightly patrol stop. issue rather than what they called Something he had been criticized mass hysteria. for in the past was policing it too "This is a good way to really heavily, h� said. And lie added throw a lot of mud on yourselves that his officers had coffee at the and bury the town," Hardin said motel often. "If you're going to have a witch "You haven't spoken to me for hunt against John Lyon, this is a two years, John Lyon," Edwards said. great way to do it." Hagerman said he felt severe Broughton began by cross- unlikely groups had merged over examining Lyon about his police the police issue. Those groups 40 credentials, philosophy of law en- cluded those who had supported forcement, and about how many resigned McCall Sgt. Larry, Olson, those who favored current McCall officers are city taxpayers. removal of the city's local- optioll property He also questioned if Lyon tax, or who had been arrested.. knew that police cars were leav- He said the tactic of calling ock ing the city limits. media attention had not been productive for the town. Le ♦ Mis McCall could be 600 acres smaller soon if a recommenda.* tion to de -annex that amours; from the McCall Planning and Zoning Commission .is, ;approved by the McCall City Council. At their July 2 meeting, com- mission members echoed an earlier recommendation by the McCall Impact Area P &Z that the city continue with recent con- siderations to de -annex 600 acres of land on the west side of the ci- ty. The land had been annexed to the city during the 1960s, Chair- man John Allen said, to comply with requirements of Interna- tional Telephone and Telegraph, Inc., which hoped to develop the land, which was once owned by the Brown family. Commission members argued that since the development never materialized and the land has since been resold and subdivided into 10 -acre parcels, there is no reason to keep it in the city. City officials worry that the potential cost of providing im- provements such as streets, water, sewer, police and fire pro- tection to the mostly undeveloped area outweighs the revenue it brings the city. Another reason the city council began looking at the possibility of the de- annexation of the 600 -acre parcel this spring is the possibility of annexing already developed,areas such as the Rio Vista and Carrico subdivisions. Because of Idaho law that limits the amount property tax revenues can be raised, bringing those subdivisions into the city would not be financially viable without reducing the overall value of the city's land, officials Star /VetC5 Tut L+ /0,1gY5 have said. If the 600 acres is de- annexed, it would still lie within the current boundaries of the McCall Impact Area, and the city would have almost the same controls over future development as is now the case, a commission report said. The matter now goes back to the city council for further con- sideration. JTA2 No ws 9V y/ 8s McCall rec to teach outdoor cooking The McCall Recreation Department will sponsor a course in Dutch oven cooking Sept. 11 -12 at 7 p.m. each night at the Ponderosa State Park picnic shelter. The course is designed for the active outdoorsmen and campers who want to expand their cook- ing skills. Focus will be on the skills of cast -iron Dutch oven baking and cooking techniques. Campfires and charcoal brickets will be used to produce amazing results, said Hugh Cooke, recreation director and course instructor. The class will involve demonstrations, handouts and menu suggestions. Students will participate in the preparation and cooking of assorted meals each evening, with all necessary equip- ment available at the site. However, students are encourag- ed to bring their own Dutch ovens if possible. Those interested can register for the class by calling the recrea- tion department at 634 -7280, or McCall City Hall at 634 -7142. Cost for the two - session course is $5. 5 �-O fe. - I l --Pr .2 S mccalimufls elmdidates By Randall Brooks The Star -News A field of 62 applicants for the job of McCall city administrator - clerk was narrowed to six finalists Monday night by members of the McCall City Council during a three -hour closed session. Mayor Clyde Archer on Tuesday declined to name the finalists, saying he would prefer the matter remained confidential until after interviews have taken place. He said the selection of the six finalists and four alternates was made by council members Larry Craig, Cliff Lutes, Marion Johnson and Aloa Stevens, as well as City Attorney Bob Remaklus and himself. All had been asked to look through the applications and choose the best applicants to be interviewed. The successful applicant will assume the duties of both former city administrator Jim Smith and former city clerk Caren Beckler, both of whom resigned last month to take jobs out of the area. The jobs were combined because of budget constraints, Archer said. He said there was some discus- sion Monday night on keeping the jobs separate, but plans to fill the combined position would continue. "There were some highly qualified applicants," Archer said. "At least half of them had master's degrees. The ones we'll be calling all have had city managerial experience either as a city manager or an assistant." He said the process of inter- viewing the finalists would begin as soon as possible. Archer said the group agreed unanimously with the top three choices, while four of the five voting agreed on the subsequent three candidates. McCall's new city ad- ministrator likely will assume Smith's duties as city airport manager, Archer said. "We'll see what his background is and go from there," he said. The council voted last week to wait until an administrator was hired rather than fill the airport manager position as had been recommended by the city airport committee. Ernie Woods, owner of The Woodsman Motel, told the coun- cil last week he felt he was entitl- ed to the position, which he held prior to Smith's appointment. Archer said other duties of the administrator clerk would in- clude: • Run the city day -to -day. • Supervise department per- sonnel • Report to the mayor and council. • Make short, intermediate, and long -range plans for the city. • Write and seek out grants. • Act as a liaison between the city and other government bodies. • Public relations vc5 I')— McCall chamber renames Larson as president Kay Larson was elected on Monday to a second year in a row as president of the McCall Area Chamber of Commerce. Larson, owner of K &L Jewelry and Gifts, was unopposed in the balloting, which was held among about 60 chamber members at a meeting at Si Bueno restaurant. Also elected on Monday were: Bonnie Allen, The Pancake House, vice president; and Aloa Stevens, Contel, treasurer. Six members of the board of directors were elected as well. They included Larry Bouck of Shaver's, Dave Cram of the Mc- Call Job Service, Allan Chandler of Payette Lakes Sports and Marina, Joyce Goodman of Treasure Valley Bank, Dean Hovdey of Home Town Sports, and Greg Jones of Idaho Power Co. The officers will be sworn in during an installation and awards banquet scheduled for May 16 at Shore Lodge. Larson, 53, said he sees this summer's retail season as a strong one for local merchants. Tourism should be up due to lower gasoline prices, traffic heading to Expo '86, and the curious wanting to visit the home of NASA Teacher -In -Space Bar- bara Morgan, he said. "The feeling throughout the travel industry is that our tourist and recreational visitors will travel more and stay longer in the resort areas," he said. Kay Larson "Too, I feel we can expect an early summer, with our summer people opening their homes earlier than in prior years," he said. Larson owns Brundage Office Supply in addition to K &L. He also is a gold and silver broker and is involved in a business that recovers gold and silver from film and other items. He was raised in Twin Falls, served in the National Guard, has worked as a corporate pilot, and served in various management positions for gold and silver recovery companies. ar NE w+ s McCall OKs attorney contract BY TOM GROTE The Star -News The McCall City Council Thursday night approved its first - ever contract with City Attorney Robert Remaklus for legal ser- vices that Remaklus provides to the city. The contract sets a $7,200 re- tainer for Remaklus to perform basic services such as advising the council, preparing ordinances and contracts and issuing legal opinions. That figure is down from the $10,000 retainer currently paid to Remaklus, who has been city at- torney for more than 35 years. In addition, the council set a rate of $50 per hour for Remaklus to perform additional services, such as prosecuting city criminal cases. Also, Remaklus will now sit in on the twice - monthly council meetings for no more than six hours per month. He currently stays during the entire meetings. Council members brought up the idea of cutting the city's legal costs and drafting a contract dur- ing this summer's budget - drafting sessions. Overall, legal costs are pro- jected to be about $25,100 in the 1987 -88 fiscal year that starts Thursday, compared to $27,900 budgeted for the current year. Remaklus said that the $50 rate to which he agreed is far below what other attorneys charge, and that he was making around $30 per hour for time spent under his flat -rate retainer. However, he said he wanted to continue to be city attorney because the city was "an old and valued client." Also, cutting his hours on the Thursday meeting nights would allow him to be fresher in his Cascade office on Friday mornings, he said. PAGE A-- 3 - -THE STAR - NEWS -- WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 20, 198 Allen, McCall council sworn in John Allen was sworn in as mayor of McCall Thursday night, assuming a new office at an age when most politicians have long since retired. Allen, 88, took the oath of of- fice for the post for which he was elected in last November's city election. His accomplishment has been widely noted since his elec- tion, but a special bit of praise was read during the installation cere- mony. Allen received a personal note of congratulations from former President Gerald R. Ford, with whom Allen served in the U.S. House of Representatives in the late 1940s and 1950s. "Betty and I are proud of your recent success in the political arena," Ford wrote from his home in Rancho Mirage, Calif. "We know you will do a first -class job, as you always have." Allen also received letters of congratulations from officials in the U.S. Department of Transportation. Under the Eisenhower Administra- tion, Allen served as undersecretary of transportation when that office was still under the Department of Commerce. Also sworn in Thursday night were three members of the McCall City Council. Bob McCarty and Richard Moltke were sworn in for new terms, while former council member Francis Wallace was re- turned to a seat he held in the 1970s. The three also were elected in November, and they joined council member Gary Van Komen, who was not up for re- election. Wallace replaced Marion Johnson, who de- cided not to run for a new term. McCarty also was elected council president by his fellow members. Johnson was presented with an award for her service to the city, as was outgoing Mayor Clyde Archer, who finished 19 years of service as either mayor or city council mem- ber. Archer was unsuccessful in November in his bid to move from' the mayor's post to the city coun- cil. John Allen takes the oath as McCall mayor Thursday. In other business by the council Thursday night: • Council members approved a city ordinance which bans animals in city parks. A new version of the proposed ordinance was passed after questions were raised on the language of an earlier version. The earlier version banned animals in any park within the city, but questions were raised whether the ban included Ponderosa State Park. Council members decided to ex- clude the state park, which operates under state rules. The ordinance was passed in response to complaints by citizens of safety and health hazards from dogs, horses and other animals in city parks and on city beaches along Payette Lake. Violations of the ordinance are punishable by a fine up to $300 or up to 30 days in jail. by E6. B. • City Administrator B Schmidt said he believes co plaints by some city employ over smokers in McCall City F had been resolved. Schmidt said a broken fan in room designated for smoking 1 been repaired, and that city h employee Alta Pierson had been located to another office in building to help ease her reactii from breathing cigarette smoke. 9113 X-1- Moltke to resign again BY TOM GROTE The Star -News Dick Moltke, who has been ap- pointed twice, elected once and re- signed once on the McCall City Council, now wants to quit again. Moltke told council members in a letter last week that he wants to be replaced by the middle of October because he expects a new overseas assignment early next year from the International Executive Service Corps. Mayor John Allen said he did not know when he would nominate a successor to Moltke. Moltke, a former sawmill owner and swimming pool manufacturer, had quit the council in June when he received an earlier assignment by the IESC, a non - profit group, to go to Barbados in the West Indies. Moltke had expected an ex- tended stay to draft economic de- velopment programs for locally - owned businesses, but the trip was cut short after just a few weeks due to unusual circumstances, he said. Meanwhile, city council mem- bers could not agree on a replace- ment for Moltke, with one nomi- nee, Dan Krahn, rejected by the council. Moltke was then asked by Allen to take his old job back. Moltke originally was ap- pointed to the council in 1987 and was elected in his own right in last November's city elections. In his latest resignation letter, Moltke urged the council to ask vot- ers to adopt a 1 percent local sales tax to fund capital improvement projects in the city such as bicycle paths, parks and bathrooms. "The future of McCall lies in these improvements," Moltke's let- ter said. "Sure, we can cut a few dollars out of the budget here and there, but get going on putting the question to the people on a ballot of the real issues and needs." Council members have tenta- tively set the city's operating bud- get for 1988 -89, but a discussion on possible capital improvement proj- ects has been scheduled for Sept. 8. Paving fund falls short BY TOM GROTE The Star -News McCall will receive $80,000 less for street paving this year than the city was led to believe, McCall City Council members were told Thursday night. During its regular meeting, the council was informed by City Ad- ministrator Bud Schmidt that only $30,000 would be received from a new countywide property -tax levy for roads and bridges. Previously, Schmidt said he be- lieved that the city would receive up to $110,000 under the new levy, which was authorized by the 1988 Idaho Legislature. That was the amount put into the current year's city street budget, and a variety of street- paving projects were planned based on a $96,700 paving fund, Schmidt said. But on Thursday, Schmidt said he had met with Valley County Clerk Leslie Irwin earlier in the week, and Irwin told him the actual amount from the new levy would be closer to $30,000. That would draw the street- paving budget down to $22,000. As a result, just two paving projects will be performed by the city this year, Schmdit said. Those projects include new paving on Deinhard Lane between Idaho 55 and Samson Trail, and paving the only unpaved section of Boydstun Street between Idaho 55 and the Rio Vista subdivision. Schmidt said he had based his original, higher projection on a conversation with Irwin last sum- mer during the city's budget plan- ning sessions. But Irwin said on Monday that Schmidt and other city officials apparently did not properly understand the nature of the new levy. The levy, which is dedicated only for roads and bridges, is al- lowed to be levied by all counties. But six counties, including Valley County, had not levied the tax when property -tax restrictions were imposed in the late 1970s as the result of the One Percent Initiative, Irwin said. The 1988 legislature allowed those six counties to levy a portion of the total allowed under the tax, with half of the total to be dis- tributed to cities within those counties. Irwin said that McCall officials must not have properly divided out the amount to be received by the cities. Also, the assessed valuation of the county turned out to be less than original projections, which also could have affected the total dollar amount of the road levy, she said. Despite the reduced revenues, other non - paving projects planned by the street department this year will go on, Schmidt said. Those projects include seal coating of Mather Road, dust oiling of dirt streets, storm drain repair in Art Roberts Park, and drafting of a master plan for storm drains. In other action Thursday night: • Council members sent com- ments to the Idaho Department of Lands saying they had no objec- tions to the proposed expansion of a log boom in Payette Lake oper- ated by Millpond Construction of McCall. Millpond is seeking a state per- mit to extend its log boom and breakwater used to store logs for the company's dock - building opera- tions. McCall sets June 6 vote BY TOM GROTE The Star -News McCall voters will go to the polls on June 6 to judge a proposed $1.1 million package of park and recreation projects. The proposed bond issue would build a new waterfront parr on Payette Lake, develop a path be- tween downtown McCall and the McCall Airport, build a recreational bridge over the North Fork of the Payette River, and make other im- provements. The McCall City Council on Thursday scheduled the election, which would ask voters to levy a new property tax on themselves. The $1.1 million park bond will appear on the same ballot on June 6 as a $450,000 revenue bond pro- posed by the city to finance a new clubhouse at the McCall Golf Course. The clubhouse issue would not be paid with property taxes, but would be financed through fees paid by golfers. The council's vote to propose a bond issue for parks and recreation comes nearly a year after a public meeting in June 1988. At that meeting, nearly 100 people told council members that improve- ments to the city were needed and that they would be willing to pay more taxes to fund those improve- ments. Several ways of financing the improvements were discussed, in- cluding a city sales tax, but council members chose to seek a new property tax. Council member Richard Moltke abstained on Thursday's vote, say- ing he still believed a sales tax should fund part of the improve- ments. Council members Bob Mc- Carty, Gary Van Komen and Fran - cis Wallace voted to send the mea- sure to an election. Only registered voters living in- side the city limits of McCall may vote in the June 6 election, and a two -third majority will be needed for passage of both the park and clubhouse bonds. The $1.1 million package ap- proved Thursday night would fund the following: • Waterfront Park: Funds would be allocated to buy private land and develop improvements along the Payette Lake shoreline between the McCall Mall and the city's Lake Street water station. The city already has made several improvements to city -owned land on park bond between the water station and Sports Marina, including installing sod on part of the land and expand- ing the city boat ramp. The funds from the bond issue would buy two parcels of land now owned by Brown Tie and Lumber Co. and Century 21 -AA Realtors, which would bring the entire vacant lakefront under city control. Cost of those parcels has been estimated at $400,000. An additional $120,000 would be spent to complete the parcel into a usable park, including building public restrooms. • Railroad Pathway: A total of $280,000 is allocated in the bond issue to buy and develop the aban- doned Union Pacific Railroad right - of -way between Idaho 55 and the McCall Airport. Part of the the right -of -way is still owned by Union Pacific, but other parcels reverted to adjacent or former property owners when the railroad pulled up the tracks in the early 1980s. The old roadbed would be paved to provide a scenic recreational walkway or bike path that also would be used by snowmobiles in the winter. McCall officials have been negotiating with the railroad to buy a separate section of railroad right - of -way between Idaho 55 and the McCall Golf Course, but that land is not part of the June 6 bond issue. • River Bridge: The bond is- sue lays out $35,000 to build a recreational bridge over the North Fork at the end of Deinhard Lane near the airport. Council members have eyed such a bridge to serve as a second access over the river for walkers, cyclists and snowmobilers who must now use the Idaho 55 bridge over the river. Legs from the dismantled Mc- Call water tower would be used as the base for the bridge, which would not be large enough to carry car traffic. The city already owns land ap- proaching the river from the east, but the bond would provide funds to buy land on the west side now owned by Keith Stein of Boise. The Stein land would provide the link to snowmobile trails on Red Ridge, an area that has been diffi- cult to reach following the closure of the Sheep Bridge by its private owner two years ago. • Other Projects: Several other smaller projects would be ac- complished with the bulk of the money from the proposed bond is- sue. A total of $20,000 is dedicated toward building a picnic shelter at Mill Park to expand the uses at that park. The shelter would require the demolition of the burner from the former Boise Cascade sawmill. City officials have said the old burner is a safety hazard and struc- turally unsound, and cannot be saved. A total of $7,500 would be used to rebuild four tennis courts at Mc- Call- Donnelly High School, and $7,000 would be used to rebuild the courtyard in front of the McCall Public Library to encourage more public use. Other unspecified money would be spent to designate and build bi- cycle paths other than the path pro- vided by the railroad right -of -way. Finally, $100,000 would be spent to buy the existing golf course clubhouse site on Davis Street. Although the clubhouse is city- owned, the golf course operates on a separate non -tax fund that must support itself, City Adminis- trator Bud Schmidt said. Tax money would be put into the golf course fund, and the city would hold the land as a possible future park site or tennis courtq. kf `M Carla Donica will work the late shift as newest McCall off This cop ' s alia YTOM GROTE Star -Newt Carla Donica will hit the streets on Jan.] as the first female police officer hired in the history of the city of McCall. Donica, 34, will become the sixth officer on the city police force and will plug a hole in po- lice coverage late at night. She will work the "graveyard" shift, between 10 p.m, and b a.m. Those hours are not now covered by city patrols on most nights. With her hiring, Donica joins 192 other women who serve as law enforcement officers in Idaho, said Bill Overton, public affairs officer for the Peace Officers Standards and Training Academy. There are 1,510 male officers in the state, Overton said. Donica's position was autho- rized by the McCall City Council during budget deliberations -last summer. Chief Ed Parker re- "I wanted to do something in the community that made a difference." F - Carla Donica quested the patrol officer as well as an officer devoted to drug en- forcement, but the drug officer was denied due to budget re- straints. Donica is a Boise native who worked for five years managing an automotive paint store in Boise. She moved in,1985 to McCall, where she sold insurance and served for two years as office manager of Alpine Insurance. Her husband, Rocky, is a sawmill worker, and the couple have a son, Clint, 10. Donica said she always has had an interest in law enforcement. "I wanted to do something in the community that made a differ- ence," she said. She started on the road to her full -time position last April, when she joined the McCall Po-.,; lice Deparunent Reserves, a ir0 unteer corps of citizens who a0 a, city officers. She got her baptism of fire`" during last summer's Independence Day weekend, when she worked in shifts of 10 to 14 hours control- ling the crowds of youths that de- scend on the town each year. In addition, she has ridden alongside an officer on patrol at least on$l, day per week. When the new position bccam o available, she decided to put in for (See "Cop," Back Page) it. "I ,thought 'why not try it.' Donica said. "There's a place for a woman in the police department." She believes the feminine touch can be useful at times, especially when interviewing female victims Of sex crimes. "A woman can com- municate differently," she said. "If I were a victim of a sex crime, I would want to give- my report to a woman." But Donica is ready. to take on the tasks that any male officer'must face. Even though she is slight, at 5- feet -10 and 122 pounds, she is skilled in self - defense and is taking lessons in karate. She also is fully qualified in shooting her department - issue 9 mm pistol. Donica already has completed 160 hours of training as a reserve officer, but she will enter the state police academy in March for more intensive training. Her starting pay is $13,200 per year, which will go up to $14,600 if she graduates from the state academy. During her patrols, Donica will be on the lookout for drunken drivers following the closing of area tavCM; Parker said. She also will pl ice regular security checks on the Lity's businesess and serve as a late - night fire watch. G Donica also hopes to become in- "wolved in education in the schools, 'especially in preventing drug abuse. Parker said that Donica was se- Iected strictly on her qualifications. She came our on top in both the written exam and physical test, .which includes running 1 -1/2 miles, Parker said. "Women are finding n placg:i "law enforcement," said PA,k�..'.' ommanded women when he, police sergeant in Fountain' ,�' `Calif. "They've proven they,' heyc h be effective." He said the other male officers unanimously endorsed Donica's se- lection, and he has heard nothing but praise from citizens and busi- ness owners. "She's expected to do the job, Parker ,said. "There will be no spe- cial considerations." Other officers on the force are Parker, Lt. Mike Tambini, investigator Dean Mu- chow and patrolmen Pat Patterson and Clay Bright. Donica said her family has sup- ported her decision. In fact, the job may improve her family life, I since she now will get home about the same time as her husband, who of- ten works the late shift as well. "I enjoy the work and enjoy the change," she said. "It's a good way knn­ what's going on the com- iti.S �� ��, / 99d e ! ( �d - G° T cCall 0 s K Payette pen:,s - trout BY TOM GROTE The Star -News A project to raise cutthroat trout in a net pen for release into Payette Lake has been given the support of the McCall City Council. Council members last Thursday endorsed the project, which is a joint effort between the Idaho De- partment of Fish and Game and VALUED, Valley County's eco- nomic development task force. The plan calls for construction of a dock to house two fish- rearing pens on the lake adjacent to Sports Marina in an area occupied by Millpond Construction. F &G will stock, feed and release into Payette Lake a special strain of cutthroat trout brought from Canada, said Larry Smith of Mc- Call, chairman of VALUED. The docks would provide access to the public as a tourist attraction, Smith said. The F &G already has given $10,000 toward the project, with the rest of the $18,600 cost to be gained through donations of materials or cash, he said. One pen already has been in- stalled at the site and about 10,000 young trout have been planted there, said Don Anderson, fisheries biolo- gist for the F &G in McCall. The F &G already also has planted about 13,000 of the cut- throats in tributaries around Payette Lake, and the -net pens will add to the effort to enhance the fishery in the lake, Anderson told council members. After their release, the trout will mature in three to five years, wit h mature fish of up to 15 inches lon g expected he said. The mature fis hSmith agreed, saying local vol- unteers would maintain the board- walk. A similar project in Kettle Falls, Wash., has resulted in a dra- matic increase in visitors to that area at no cost to the city, he said. In other action last Thursday night: • Trash Dumpster: Council members declined an invitation by Valley County Commissioners to pay for a trash dumpster at the corner of Idaho 55 and Warren Wagon Road during the summer months. will return to the area of the pens, Commissioners asked the city to which should lead to an increased pay the $241.92 per month cost to catch for anglers close to downtown help in a program to increase the McCall, he said. number of public dumpsters in the Several areas around the lakecounty. were studies for the fish pens, but The county will continue to the site near the marina was chosenmaintain a dumpster near the inter - because of its closeness to traffic bysection of Eastside and Lick Creek the general public, Anderson said. roads on the east side of Payette Council members agreed to ac -Lake and is considering placing an- cept ownership of the project andDther dumpster near North Beach, a provide liability insurance coverageletter from commission chairman through the city. But council mem -Adolf Heinrich said. hers said they did not want to be Council members said most of held responsible for maintenance orthe trash that would be placed in a operation of the site. Warren Wagon Road dumpster would originate from outside the city, and that it would not be appro- priate to spend city funds. The city already maintains a dumpster at Ro- tary Park. • Census Figures: Council members decided to write a letter of protest to the U.S. Department of Agriculture after a preliminary U.S. Census count showed the city had lost population. Preliminary figures sent by the Bureau of the Census set McCall's 1990 population at 1,991. That is down from the 2,188 people counted in the 1980 census and the 2,670 population estimated in a 1986 up- date. • Appointments: Council members approved the following appointments made by Mayor John Allen. All appointments are for three years: McCall Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee: Max Williamson, Kathy Killen. McCall Transportation Advisory Commit- tee: Tom Kerr. McCall Airport Ad- visory Committee: Gordon Col - burn. Hearing set on Payette The McCall City Council tonight will air plans for the pro- posed Payette Lake Lodge on Payette Lake. A public hearing is set for 7:30 p.m. tonight in the multipurpose room at McCall - Donnelly Elemen- tary School. The lodge plan is the only item on the agenda of the spe- cial city council meeting. Council members will consider the request of San Diego developer Douglas Manchester for certain waivers and requests to build the 150 -room Payette Lake Lodge on the former site of the Boise Cascade Corp. sawmill. The site was previously zoned commercial by the city to allow the combination lodge and convention center to be built, but Manchester said he needs the variances for the lodge to be a success. The council will hear the rec- ommendations of the McCall Plan- ning and Zoning Commission that were issued following a 3 -1/2 -hour hearing on Aug. 7 that drew more than 100 people. The public will then be allowed to speak in favor or against the proposal. P &Z members recommended against part of Manchester's request, and Manchester has since accepted some of those changes. Manchester has said he hopes to begin construction on the lodge next spring, but he also said the project may be delayed by several factors, including worsening economic con- ditions in the nation. %r tonight Lake Lodge Here is a summary of Manch- ester's requests to be heard tonight and the P &Z action on them: • Height Limit: Manchester has asked for a variance on the city's 35 -foot height limit so that the top of the four -story lodge can rise up to 85 feet tall. The P &Z approved the variance as long as Manchester pledges to buy a fire truck with lad- ders that could reach to the top of the four -story building. Manchester said he hoped he wouldn't have to finance the fire truck entirely, since the city would use the truck for other purposes. • Waterfront Setback: Manchester also is asking for a vari- ance from the city's 50 -foot setback requirement from the Payette Lake waterline. A restaurant had been planned for the edge of the lake, but P &Z members said the building should be moved back 15 feet to al- low public access to the beach. Manchester has since agreed to that change. • Residential Lots: Manch- ester also wanted special -use permits to build on the residential lots that he owns within the 15 -acre sawmill parcel. Two lots toward the rear of the site were proposed for part of a small -scale golf course or guest cot- tage, while a third lot fronting the lake would be partly covered by a swimming pool and health club. P &Z members rejected the re- quest on all three of the lots after hearing complaints from residents of Sunset Subdivision, which is adja- cent to the sawmill site. Manchester said he would accept the P &Z recommendation on the rear residential lots, but that the lakefront lot was essential for the project. He said the lakefront lot slopes down toward the lake, and that a line of trees buffer the view from Sunset Subdivision. Those factors should soften the effect of the project on nearby residents, he said. • Street Vacation: Manch- ester's final request is to have an ex- tension of East Lake Street that pokes into his property turned over to him to allow development on it. The city has the power to vacate streets to surrounding property own- ers, and the P &Z recommended granting that request. A/e, w s McCall OKs apartments The McCall City Council last Thursday approved a request by a Boise man to build 20 apartments at Washington Street and Idaho 55. Ronald C. Yanke asked the city council to grant a variance to its zoning codes that say no more than 12 units per acres are allowed on commercially zoned property. In his application, Yanke notes that the city approved a building permit in 1981 for 24 units on the one -acre site. Since then, foundations for 20 units have been built and sewer and water service are in place. Council members approved the variance despite opposition from neighboring property owners Lyn Clark and Jean Odmark. The city council required con- struction to be completed within two years, and said that Yanke must provide the necessary water flows to fight a fire if it should occur. - /— &(j / /9qv e ZQ f2 `V,,e� S McCall gets outbid on bike path route BY TOM GROTE The Star -News A Boise man on Friday outbid the City of McCall for a key section of land that the city has designated as part of a cross -town bicycle path. A city official said steps would begin immediately to acquire the land, either through condemnation or a negotiated purchase. Richard Hoyle, through a repre- sentative, bid $40,000 for the half - mile strip of state -owned land that runs along the former railroad right - of -way between Deinhard Lane and the McCall - Donnelly school com- plex. The auction was conducted on Friday by the Idaho Department of Lands at the request of McCall offi- cials. Under law, the state cannot sell public land directly, but must put it up for auction. The city wants the land as part of a planned cross -town bicycle and walking path between the McCall Airport and downtown McCall us- ing the former Union Pacific Rail- road right -of -way. A $1.1 million bond issue passed by McCall voters in 1989 contained funds dedicated toward purchase of the right -of -way and development into a path. The state regained control of the MD School Path. • • cn 0 =3 ■ c em cD � Z Ln 01 Deinhard Ln. Airport Color shows area of land auctioned; dotted line is railroad right -of -way. 100 - foot -wide strip of land after Union Pacific pulled out its tracks in the early 1980s, said Bill Petzak, McCall -area supervisor for the lands department. A clause in the original agreement with Union Pacific said the land would revert back to the state if the parcel was ever used for (See "Path," Back Page) (Continued from Page 1) anything other than a railroad, Pet - zak said. At the auction, McCall City Administrator Bud Schmidt opened the bidding at $37,000, which was the appraised value of the land. Then Boise real estate agent George Mack, representing Hoyle, bid $40,000. No other bids were entered and Hoyle was declared the success- ful bidder. Schmidt said he did not place a higher bid because he was under in- structions from the McCall City Council not to run up the price on the parcel, which contains about six acres. Schmidt said the city will now begin condemnation proceedings to acquire the land or attempt to nego- tiate a purchase. How much addi- tional cost will be paid by the city E —)b— (qqt will depend on the difficulty of the proceedings, he said. Hoyle operates Hoyle and Asso- ciates Insurance Inc. in Boise. In an interview on Monday, Hoyle said he for the land at the time of the auc- tion. "I'm kind of surprised," he said. "We had just seen the ad in the Boise paper." Hoyle, who owns a vacation home in McCall, said he had hoped to develop the land, perhaps build- ing condominiums on it. "It's a beautiful area, and if Valbois goes through, it will be a real nice area for future development," he said. Hoyle said he might be willing to negotiate a sale to the city with- out the need for condemnation, but that he was confused by the auction process. "It seems kind of strange that you put it up for public auction and then let the city take it away from you," he said. STAR NEWS - THURSDAY, SEPTMEBER 24, 1992 Law drafted to restart P &Z BY TOM GROTE The Star -News A hearing will be held on Tuesday, Oct. 6, on a law to for- mally establish the McCall Area of City Impact Joint Planning and Zoning Commission, even though McCall officials say such an action is not necessary. The hearing, before the McCall City Council, will start at 7 p.m. on Oct. 6 in the lower level of McCall City Hall. The proposed ordinance was drafted following the declaration last month by Valley County Prosecuting Attorney Jamie Shropshire that the impact area P &Z was not properly formed 12 years ago. The commission was formed in 1980 to screen planning and zoning applications for areas surrounding the McCall city limits that one day may become part of the city. A sep- arate panel, the McCall Planning and Zoning Commission, hears ap- plications for property within the city limits. Following Shropshire's declara- tion, McCall Mayor Larry Smith temporarily halted the meetings of the impact area P &Z until the dis- pute could be resolved. Since then, seven applications have been put on hold, McCall Planning and Zoning Clerk Sue Harley said. More applications likely are pending, but applicants are holding them back while the controversy is settled, Harley said. In 1980, Valley County com- missioners agreed to give up control of zoning matters in the impact area to the McCall City Council. No formal ordinance was adopted by the city council at the time, which Shropshire contends was a mistake and which put all decisions of the panel over the last 12 years in jeop- ardy. Smith and City Attorney Ted Burton argued that the agreement be- twen the city and county was suffi- cient to allow the panel to be formed, but Smith agreed to negoti- ate an ordinance to ensure no ques- tion remained. On Sept. 9, council members and county commissioners met in a spe- cial joint meeting and agreed to the ordinance that will be considered on Oct. 6. The proposed ordinance includes language that ratifies the actions of the impact area P &Z since 1980, and also says that the ordinance should not "be construed as an ad- mission by the City of McCall" that the commission was not legally formed 12 years ago. The proposed ordinance says the impact aera P &Z must have three members who must live within the city and two who must live within the impact area. The previous commission had the same split, but one impact area seat is vacant and the holder of the second seat, Mike Anderson, has moved within the city limits. The other three members, Chair Julie Eddins, Joe Johnson and Johnny Boydstun, all live inside the city. Smith said that to ensure a bal- ance, one of the curent four mem- bers would have to resign voluntar- ily or be asked to quit. He said he hoped to receive a resignation so he would not have to force out a mem- ber Once the new commission is formally re- established, one of its first tasks will be to resume the re- view of a consolidated zoning ordi- nance to cover both the area of im- pact and the city, Smith said. A joint review of a draft of the consolidated ordinance was underway by the impact area P &Z and the city P &Z when Shropshire declared the impact area P &Z to be illegal. Currently, the impact area and the city are governed by separate zoning ordinances that have grown different over the years. Smith said he hoped the consolidated ordinance could be put into final form and adopted by the end of the year. One idea Smith would like to see in the new zoning ordinance is the combination of the two five -mem- ber zoning panels into a single, nine -member body. The mayor has said that combin- ing the two panels would produce consistency in recommendations to the city council, but opponents of the idea have said that one commis- sion would be overworked during periods of growth. Smith still seeking members McCall Mayor Larry Smith said this week that he is still seeking members to serve on a blue- ribbon committee to study whether McCall should change its form of govern- ment. Smith said that his search has been made more challenging by his decision to seek only city residents to serve on the five -member panel. Several qualified candidates live out- side the city limits, he said. The mayor announced on Aug. 27 that he would form a study committee on the city's govern- ment, and that the members would be appointed in three weeks. Smith has missed that self -im- posed deadline by two weeks, but he said on Monday that he hoped to have a panel appointed as soon as panel for . C14, possible and assigned to their task. The blue - ribbon committee's task will be to examine whether another system of government is preferable to the current 10- year -old system in which a paid administrator reports to a non - voting mayor and four council members. One system that has been sug- gested is the council - manager form of government used in Lewiston and Twin Falls. In that arrangement, a five - member city council hires a city manager to handle day -to -day duties of the city. A mayor is se- lected by council members among themselves, but the post is largely ceremonial. A vote of the people would be required to convert to a council - manager form of government. 16I 1I6Y ,3tan - lU e w S McCall council OKs hiring of planner BY JEANNE SEOL The Star -News McCall City Council members last Thursday approved advertising for a city planner to replace recently -re- signed planning technician Sue Davidson. "We can serve a lot of community concerns right now by hiring a city planner," council member Lance Eck- hardt said. The council's approval came after City Manager Gary Shimun made the recommendation for the change, partly in response to citizen requests by the McCall Vision 2020 group for the city to hire a full -time planner. Such a planner will also act as a zoning administrator, Shimun said. In other business last Thursday, the council: • Learned recruiting for the posi- tion of McCall Golf Course superin- tendent will have to be redone after the applicant who was originally of- fered the job declined the position. Shimun hopes to find a qualified can- didate within 30 days. • Appointed Rick Fereday and John Russell to fill two of three open posi- tions on the McCall Redevelopment 311� /i99 3 Agency. Fereday is co -owner of May Hardware and Russell is a surveyor. • Received a report outlining Win- ter Carnival costs from Public Works Director Bill Keating. Public works crew compensation and equipment costs totaled $7,030 for the carnival, which was held Feb. 2 -11, Keating said. Services provided included deliv- ery of snow for ice sculptures, clear- ing parking lots and walkways, filling boxes on the railroad right -of -way for the Idaho State Snow Sculpting Cham- pionship, sanding the downtown area for foot traffic and setting up and removing barricades and burn bar- rels. 1. McCall council to put manager fonn on ballot BY TOM GROTE The scar -News The day -to -day operations of the McCall voters likely will soon city would be handled by a city be voting on whether they want to manager, a full -time employee hired' change the way the city is governed, by the city council. The manager according to McCall City Council would have broad powers and could members. only be removed by a vote of the All four council members council. interviewed by The Star -News this Council members Gary Van week said they would vote to place Komen, John Larson, Cindi Le on the ballot a proposal to change Brett and Francis Wallace all said the city's form of government to this week that they would vote to one run by a weak mayoi, a five -" put the proposal before the people. member city council and a full -time "We're at a point that we need to city manager. shake up something somewhere," The council - manager form of Larson said. government was unanimously "If the committee said that's recommended to the city council by what they want, and the people the Mayor's Select Committee, a showed interest, then I`would put it six - member panel appointed last fall out to a vote," Wallace said, by Mayor Larry Smith to study the Le Brett said that she personally structure of city government. opposes any change in the current A report listing the panel's government, in that any problems recommendations was delivered to can be worked out within the council members at a special existing structure. But Lc Brett said meeting on May 12. However, the she would not oppose polling the council could take no action on the people. plan because there was a lack of a Van Komen said he has always quorum. been an advocate of changing the The issue will be taken up at the current system, either by adopting a council's next meeting on May 27 city manager system or by allowing at 7 p.m, in the lower level of a full -time mayor to run the day -to- ' McCall City Hall. day duties of the city. . The panel said that both The committee held its fir$t strengths and weaknesses exist in meeting on Dec. 17, 1992 and met switching to the city manager form I several times over the next five of government, but that the largest months. The panel read reference threat to a new system is lack of materials on varying forms of political support. government and met with a graduate' The community must be ready assistant of the Boise State to allow a manager to manage and to listen to new ideas with open University Public Affairs Program minds," the report's summary said. in February. "The ultimate factor in a well - The recommendation was formed functioning government is the desire from deliberations among the of the elected officials to serve the committee members. The panel's people efficiently, effectively and chair was Dan Krahn of Krahn's openly." Home Furnishings, and members Currently, the city is governed were former city clerk Margaret by a four - member council, an Fogg, surveyor Tom Kerr, Shaver's elected mayor and a hired city manager Larry Bouck, Washington administrator. Under the council- Federal Savings manager Dennis manager form of government, a Carlson, and former Girl Scout five- member council would be official Marilyn Arp, elected, which in turn would pick a If the council votes on May 27 ,mayor from among themselves. to place the measure on the ballot,; The mayor's role would be largely an election would be held within the ceremonial, and the mayor would next 60 days. If the system is have no administrative powers. adopted by a simple majority, an election for all five new seats on the .5 f a 1^ n%e W S 5I) 3/93 council would then be held 60 days after the first election. The new council would then appoint the new mayor and hire the city manager. The mayor's committee listed several strengths and weaknesses of the city manager system:' Strengths included: • The plan, by state law, would have to stay in effect for at least six years. This fact also was listed as a weakness. • The duties of the manager are listed in state law and cannot be easily changed by the political whims of the mayor or council. • The manager would be hired based on training, education and background, and the day -to -to day functions of the city would be placed in the hands of a trained professional. • The manager, likely, would stay on board even after elections, unless the council fires him or her. • The council would have more time to concentrate on the city's overall mission, goals and policies. Weaknesses of the manager system outlined by the panel included: • The community would feel lack of direct participation. • The need for the manager to enforce city codes would lead to citizens believing the manager is not interested in citizen's comments. • Factions and small -town politics could make for a short tenure for the manager. 4PV064T E 5/19193 Strengths and weaknesses of Council /Manager form of government MCCALL — In addition to the recom- mendation and issues studied working up to it, the Mayor's committee also included in its report a listing of the strengths and weak- nesses associated with the Council /City Manager form of government. Listed as strengths of a CounciVMayor form of government are: It promotes cooperation, with legisla- tive and executive functions residing with the full council, which includes the mayor. • The mayor would continue to perform ceremonial functions, preside over council meetings and represent the city, and would have equal voting power with other council members. • The council, including the mayor, would have time to concentrate more on overall mission, goals and policies for the city. The duties and responsibilities of the manager reconnuends and carries out that policy. • The manager would be hired by the council based on training, education, and background experience, and world answer to the council. The manager could also be fired by the council at any time for any rea- son, thus promoting responsiveness. The manager, unless fired by a major - ity of council members, would continue in the post regardless of election changes. Political patronage is eliminated and hiring is done on merit. • The council should feel free to com- ment on the work and effectiveness of the manager, thus improving the quality of tnan- agement. • Administrative and routine operational duties are in the hands of a trained profes- sional, and department heads would have a clear understanding of the chain of authority. ticipation as the council is between the city manager and the public. • The requirements of the manager to enforce code and other regulations could lead to citizen perception that the manager is not interested in citizen input. • Factions and small town politics could make for short tenure of the manager. • Hiring a qualified city manager may require a higher salary than is currently paid to the city administrator /city clerk. However, the report suggests that the salary of the mayor could be reduced to slightly above that of council members. • In addition, to avoid conflict of interest and for efficiency, the committee suggests hiring aseparate city clerk. • The expertise of the manager may al- so be intimidating to elected or appointed of- ficials. manager are defined by Idaho Code and can- Weaknesses of a Council /Manager form Listed as both a strength and a weakness not be easily changed due to political fluctu- of government listed by the committee in- is the fact that should the council vote to ation. elude: adopt the council /manager fi .)rm of govern- - Politics and administration remain sep- merit, it would remain in place for at least six arate — council determines policy and the • Citizens may feel a lack of direct par- years under Idaho Code. JWt Y L /.4,A McCall delays vote on manager system, BY JAMES L. KINCAID The SLrNews The McCall City Council last week delayed adoption of a report prepared by Mayor Larry Smith's Select Com- mittee recommending a council -man- ager form of government for the city. Council members said they hoped to make a decision on adoption of the suggested new form of government in time for the scheduled city election in November. The mayor committee, formed last fall, suggested the new form of gov- emment, which would include a sepa- rately elected mayor from the coun- cil, in order to serve current and future needs of the city. According to Idaho code, the coun- cil could select one of its members for the mayor's position for two years, or the public could elect a mayor for a two -year or four -year term, McCall City Attorney Ted Burton said. "The mayor would not have a veto, but would serve as a ceremonial head," Burton said. The six - member committee re- leased its recommendations last month, after which all four council members said they supported placing its recommendations before the people. An initial vote would have to be held to see if the public wanted to change from the current form of gov- ernment, which features a strong mayor, four city council members and a hired city administrator. If the public approves the change in government, then a second election would be held to elect new officials. Those new officials, in turn, would hire a city manager whose duties are specifically set down in state law. McCall mayor proposes resort tax for 1994 budget MCCALL — McCall Mayor Larry Smith has proposed a 1994 fiscal year budget to the McCall City Council that antici- pates no increase in the existing tax levy rate to city residents, but that calls for enacting a .75 percent Resort City Tax that would generate an estimated $200,000 per year in additional rev- enue. The proposed budget, which was presented to the Council at its meeting last Thursday, also proposes the creation of one new, position in city government, a legal /executive secretary to be shared by Smith and City Attorney Ted•Burton. Also included in the budget proposal is a 4.5 percent cost of living salary hike for all city employees. The heads of the vari- ous departments have also recommended merit increases for sev- eral city employees. But the proposal also defers all of those in- creases until Jan. 1, 1994. The total general fund budget proposed for next year is near- ly $2.4 million, about $250,000 more than the current year budget of $2.15 million as it was amended. The 1993 fiscal year budget was originally about $1.87 mil- lion, which was, in turn, up from about $1.4 million for 1992. Among the general fund areas that would see significant in- creases from the current budget are: • Culture and recreation, which would see an increase from the current year's budget of $129,490 to $427,250 under the may- or's proposed budget. "Additional park developments will be requiring additional funds," Smith said in his memo accompanying the proposed bud- get. "Completing the Legacy Park plan, development of the Riverside area for park purposes, bikepath developments and mi- The Advocate 41 /6; /,?V nor improvements in existing parks all must be accomplished." The Resort City Tax would be allocated only to capital improve- ments such as park facilities, public safety equipment as well as street and road improvements, he said. He said the $200,000 that could be generated from such a tax would fund "critically needed programs and services which are not addressed in this operating and mainte- nance budget." But he said revenue from the tax could also be allocated to pub- lic safety equipment as well as street and road improvements, in ad- dition to the park facility improvements. Approval of the tax would have to come through a proposition placed on the November general election. • The police budget will also see an increase of from $341,840, as amended, to $375,920. The bulk of that increase is in salaries, which would see an increase of from $149,490 to $186,375 under the pro- posed budget. Other departments are in for increases in the $10,000 to $15,000 range. Smith said that capital outlay for equipment is mostly being han- dled on a lease - purchase basis. Equipment that is slated for acquisition includes a snowplow /dump truck for the Public Works Department; a patrol unit for the police department; and a retrofit of fire engine #7. Other equipment slated for acquisition includes computer equip- ment and software for the City Treasurer and Police Departments; an alcohol sensor, weapons, hand held radios and other law enforcement equipment; meter reading equipment and software for the water de- partment, which will be paid out of the water fund; and a greens roller and radios for McCall Golf Course. Projects that will be pursued under the proposed budget include the bike path connection; McBride Street Water Line Replacement; Septage Management System; Airport Sewer Line; Kasper Street Sewer Line Replacement; tree replacement at the golf course; Golf Maintenance Facility Improvements; rebuild the #6 green at the golf course; Fairway Park renovation; and airport/taxiway construction, which is to be paid for with a Federal Aviation Administration grant. Smith said that hiring a city planner, additional police officers, a city engineer, and accomplishing various park improvements and oth- er projects requested by the various departments are not included in the budget. Business owners rap proposed 1% sales tax BYTOMGROTE The Star -News Business owners told the McCall City Council last week that a pro- posed one percent local sales tax would hurt their businesses. The businessmen appeared before the council in the first of two forums scheduled to hear comments on the proposed local - option tax. The sec- ond forum will be held at the council's next meeting next Thursday. The council wants to hear com- ment on putting a measure on the Nov. 2 ballot to levy a one percent general sales tax. Estimates say the tax could raise about $300,000 per year. Council members have said the tax could be dedicated to capital improve- ments such as parks police and fire protection, and the building of the Deinhard Lane - Boydstun Street Connector. Dan Krahn of Krahn's Home Fur- nishings said a local sales tax would discourage customers from shopping in McCall, especially on expensive items where the tax would be espe- cially visible. "It would give people one more reason to go elsewhere for purchases," Krahn said. If a general sales tax is levied, then exemptions for high- ticket items should be allowed, he said. Local residents would not escape a sales tax, which has been promoted as a way to tax visitors and non -resi- dents, Krahn said. "It is just shifting it; another way to get it from the same pocket," he said. Krahn urged another look at the motel and liquor -by- the -drink tax that the city imposed between 1982 and 1987. Such a tax would more directly target visitors, he said. Rick Fereday of May Hardware said he did not oppose a new tax to raise revenues, but that a sales tax would make businesses uncompetitive with those located outside the city. "With a room tax, you would hit people during our peak season," Fereday said. Brundage Mountain Co. President Judd DeBoer said that a sales tax would "put them (businesses) at a complete disadvantage." DeBoer, former president of Pay- ette Lakes Lumber Co., now Lumbermen's Building Supply, said McCall would get a bad reputation from a local tax. "It would label McCall as an expensive place to stay or shop," he said. He suggested seeking a change in state law to allow a countywide tax or levying a tax on real estate transac- tions. DeBoer read a letter from Brund- age Mountain Operations Manager Larry Shake, who also opposed the tax. Shake said that selling season lift tickets for Brundage Mountain would become complicated if an extra one percent had to be charged at the area's office in McCall, but not on the ski hill, which is located in Adams County. Henry Dalrymple of Lumbermen's said that one percent could make the difference in winning or losing a bid on a large order. "Has McCall become so elite that we think people will come no matter what we charge them ?" Dalrymple asked. Support for the general sales tax was also expressed at last week's meeting. Ernie Woods, owner of The Woodsman Motel, said he would not be opposed to paying an extra tax if it did not discriminate against one class of business owners. "If it's for the good for everyone, then everyone should pay," said Woods, who was a vocal critic of the now - expired bed- and -booze tax. Richard McChrystal of McCall also favored the sales tax, saying that the Deinhard Lane connector was im- portant for public safety. "I can't believe one percent will l e Slat- News Aq i443 make any difference in the minds of purchasers," McChrystal said. Alison Nelson of McCall also sup- ported the tax, noting that those who live outside the city would help pay for city services. Nelson said that the use of the tax should be broad - based, and not lim- ited to a single project, such as the connector. McCall City Administrator Bud Schmidt said that the Idaho State Tax Commission will collect a local op- tion sales tax for the city as long as it does not vary from the general state sales tax. Any variation would require the city to collect the tax itself, and ad- ministration costs likely would match or exceed the revenue from the tax, Schmidt said. k7-7 a� Z��64Z- s /,Af�3 McCall Council hears views on proposed 1- percent sales tax MCCALL — Raising extra money for some much- needed projects around McCall is a good idea. But those attending last week's meeting of the McCall City Council weren't so sure that a proposed I percent local option sales tax, allowed resort communities in the state, was the best way to do it. During what the Council hopes was the first of two public sessions on the idea, which the city hopes to place before voters in November's gen- eral election, several speakers warned that passage of the resort sales tax may prompt new businesses to locate outside city limits. Such a problem would be particularly bad for businesses that sell large ticket items or those involved in competitive bidding, such as building supply companies, where the l percent sales tax could swing the bid toward the firm that wouldn't have to collect it. That was particularly true with Lumbermen's Building Center, within the city limits. and its relationship with Franklin Building Supply, locat- d outside the city. "I think you're giving people a reason to go elsewhere to make their purchases." McCall businessman Dan Krahn said. He said he wondered if maybe the local option "bed and booze" tax that was at one time in force in McCall wasn't a better option. Perhaps the reason with that tax's unpopularity was that the money generated by it �Nasn't going where citizens thought it was going, he said. Rather than removing some of the tax burden on locals, which the bed and booze tax did. lie said the proposed sales tax keeps it on those who do Council member Gary Van Komen asked if those at the meeting thought the Boydstun - Deinhard Connector was important, and if so, how they would fund it. As proposed, some of the revenue generated by the sales tax would go toward that project, with some of it going to public safety, and some to city parks. Van Komen said he wanted to see all of the money generated by the tax dedicated to the connector pro-. ject. That v* isn't shared by others on the council, however. ZtioY' Others at the m tin , weve�n't keen on the bed and booze tax. Ernie Woods, owner of The Woodsman Motel, said he would oppose a tax that was just on beds rented to .visitors. He did say, however, that the connector pro - i: r�ect was worthy of support with revenue from an addi- tional tax. % ,_, 1_ fg93 "I could cooperate if everyone paid," he said. Visitors don't notice the additional sales tax on a drink, he said, but they do see it on a motel or hotel bill. Several, including DeBoer and Krahn, said the city ought to look toward impact fees charged to develop- ers to pay for some of the additional infrastructure need- ed by the city. City Administrator Bud Schmidt reminded those who wanted the city to pursue establishment of a citizens committee to look at the issue that the city must pass a resolution by Sept. 9 to place the matter before voters at the November election. The Council will conduct another public session on the issue at its Sept. 9 meeting. In other action, the Council decided to reschedule the sale of the surplus McCall Golf Course Clubhouse, and delete the minimum bid requirements that were in a prior solicitation for bids. A recent offering resulted in no bids being made for the property. He reminded members of the council that the city's 1994 budget is premised on the sale of the clubhouse to generate matching funds for a bikepath grant. most of their shopping in McCall, local residents. Krahn, who operates Krahn's Home Furnishings, said such a tax might work if something could be done to limit the tax to smaller items. Rick Fereday, another downtown businessman who didn't necessarily agree with the blanket sales tax, thought that voters ought to be given a choice that might consider some sort of bed tax. He suggested a citizens' committee that might con- sider the options available to the city. He also said the sales tax might promote strip development along some of the roads leading into McCall that are outside city limits. Another McCall businessman, Judd DeBoer, also said he thought more public input on the matter ought to be sought. He said that McCall business operators are the backbone of the community. "It's unfair to put them at a competitive disadvan- tage," he said. He also noted that by adopting such a tax, McCall would join only three other cities in the state. "That's not a good image," he said. That position was echoed by Henry Dalrymple, of Lumbermen's. "Has McCall become so elite that people will come here no matter what the price ?" he asked Council mem- bers. "I think it'll be very damaging to the city's image." DeBoer, who is the president of Brundage Mountain Company, also read a letter from the ski area manag- er Larry Shake, who said the tax would deter tourism, besides creating additional bookkeeping problems for the ski area and other businesses. Brundage would col- lect the optional sales tax on season passes sold at the McCall office, but not on daily lift ticket sales made at the ski area, which is outside the city limits and actu- ally in Adams County. Those who spoke at the meeting were also concerned about what the money raised by the tax would be spent on. McCall voters say YES to government change MCCALL -- By an overwhelming been influenced by the Blue Ribbon necessarily see it that way. margin, voters here said Tuesday that they Committee being for it, and the editorial "I don't know that it was any want to see a change in their city position of the Star -News was for it. It against current administration " he government. Though the turnout was relatively light, voters said they wanted to try a City Council /City Manager form of government by a more than 3 to 1 margin. Of those casting ballots, 336 voted for the change of government, while 101 voted to retain the current Mayor /Council form of government. City Administrator Bud Schmidt said about 1,530 voters were eligible to cast ballots. McCall Mayor Larry Smith said, "I'm not too surprised. I think they may have was something left for the citizens to decide for themselves." He said there was no real campaigning for or against the change of government. "I guess if they want a city manager government, they should have it," he said. "I don't know that the people know any more than what they observed and read about," he said. Asked if he viewed the vote as a mandate against the current administration in City Hall, Smith said he didn't $10 million water bond gains strong support of McCall voters MCCALL -- Voters, and not very many of them at that, voted to bring the City of McCall's water system into compliance with new Environmental Protection Agency regulations regarding drinking water standards. By a 276 to 161 vote, voters gave their approval to the issuance of nearly $10 million in revenue bonds to fund construction of a new water system. The bonds, which will be repaid with revenue from increased city water rates, will allow the city to construct a new water treatment facility and upgrade the city's water system improving water pressures throughout the city. "I'm ecstatic," City Administrator Bud Schmidt said Tuesday night. "I think this is a clear signal to all of our citizenry that the city's battling with its future and is ready to meet it." He also said the success of the measure should also hold out a light for the rest of the cities around the country struggling to comply with the new regulations. He said the message is that if it needs doing, better do it yourself. The measures passage comes on the heels of word Tuesday that some areas of the city and surrounding area should boil the drinking water they draw from Payette Lake because of presence of cryptosporidium, a bug that can cause serious intestinal distress, and is particularly serious for infants and senior citizens. McCall Mayor Larry Smith said he was also pleased with the outcome. "That `s a situation where I think the needs were identified, well studied, a good plan was come up with, and it was the right thing to do." mandate said. Asked if his plans included running for Mayor or member of the City Council, Smith said he hadn't given it much thought. "But I feel I've got quite a bit invested in trying to help the government and I may well consider wanting to continue," he said. He also said he believes the current administration has been working well for the citizens of McCall. With the measure's passage, the entire City Council, of Gary Van Komen, John Larson, Cindi LeBrett and Francis Wallace, will have to stand for re- election in the November general election. The present Council will have to decide when it sets that election if voters will cast a separate ballot for the position or if they take no action, the Mayor will be selected from the five successful candidates for seats on the City Council. In order for the vote for Mayor to be a separate issue, the Council would have to take action by ordinance. The vote: Should McCall adopt a Council /City Manager form of government? Yes......................... 336 No.......................... 101 Should McCall issue $9.5 million of water revenue bonds to a new water treatment facility? Yes.......................... 276 No........................... 161 ��71_41V3 MCCALL Voters elect to have manager run city; water bond passes The resort community of Mc- Call is moving to a city manager form of government. McCall residents voted 336- 101 last week to change from the current mayor - council govern- ment. All council members will be up for election in November. The current City Council will decide whether voters will elect a mayor, which would have mostly ceremonial duties, in No- vember or whether the new may- or will be picked from the five people who win City Council seats. Voters also approved a $10 million bond to fund a new wa- ter system by a 276 -161 vote. 9 /z /v3 ivicuall UKs city manager, water bond BY TOM GROTE The Star -News McCall voters on Tuesday gave resounding approval to changing the way the city governs itself and to spending $9.9 million to improve the city's water system. Voters cast 336 ballots in favor and 101 against converting the cur - rent mayor- council form of government to the city manager form of government, for a margin of 77 percent. On the question of a $9.9 million revenue bond to fund water - system improvements, voters gave approval on a vote of 276 in favor and 161 against, for a 64 percent majority. A total 437 voters cast ballots out of 1,536 voters registered, or a 29 percent turn -out. The number of vot- ers was more than the 400 people who voted in the last city council election in 1991. The vote on reorganization of gov- ernment means that the current form of government will be changed to one to that is run by a city council, a weak mayor and a full -time city manager. Currently, the city is governed by a four - member city council, a sepa- rately elected mayor with broad administrative powers, and a city ad- ministrator whose powers are set by the council. The city manager form of govern- ment is used by two other cities in Idaho, Lewiston and Twin Falls. The passage of Tuesday's measure means that all four current council members and the mayor must stand for election on Nov. 2. The current council still must de- cide whether to call for direct election of the mayor, which was recom- mended by a citizens' panel that called for the change in government. If the council chooses not to di- rectly elect a mayor, five council members would be elected, and they would then appoint a mayor from among themselves. The powers of the mayor would be the same no matter how he or she is selected. The council will take up the matter of direct election at its meeting set for next Thursday. Nominating petitions for anyone wishing to run for the city council are now available at McCall City Hall. The first day signed petitions will be accepted is Sept. 23, with the final day for filing being Oct. S. The new council elected on Nov. 2 will then be charged with hiring the city manager. The water bond issue will com- pletely rebuild the way the city draws, treats and distributes its drinking wa- ter, and will put the city well on the way toward accomplishing the goals in its master water plan. The work will be funded by monthly water fees now paid by city water users. There will be no increase in property taxes. The following events are expected to take place over the next 18 months to two years: • The largest part of the plan will be to build a water treatment plant re- quired by new federal regulations. The plant will filter diseases that could be present in Payette Lake, from which the city draws its water. Current chlo- rination .methods do not kill those diseases. • The money also will be used to replace inadequate water lines as a way to increase pressure and water supplies. That supply is especially important during hot summer days when irrigation use is high. • Other funds will install water meters in all homes in the city to encourage water conservation, build aground-level water- storage tank and remove the McCall Golf Course irri- gation system from its current hookup into the domestic water supply. The city's master water plan would take about $17 million to fully fi- I nance, but council members decided to limit the bond issue to under $10 million in order for the measure to be more salable to the public. McCall will contribute 9 -1 -1 funds BYTOMGROTE The Star -News McCall City Council members last week reversed themselves and agreed to levy city property taxes to help pay for the countywide 9-1 -1 emergency dispatch system. Council members last Thursday rescinded their earlier decision not to pay the $19,726 fee levied by Valley County commissioners to help fund the 9 -1 -1 system. The reversal came after pleas were made to the council by county Com- missioner Bonnie Allen and Cascade MayorTad House, who said the city's decision last month to hold back fund- ing came too late. "If you were discussing it five months ago, we didn't know," Allen said. "This is the first we've received any notification." "The entire program would be jeop- ardized" if the city withdrew its support, House said. Council members restated their objection to being billed separately for the city's allocation of the 9 -1 -1 system. The system is funded through acombination of $1 per month charges on telephone lines, general Valley County property taxes and fees charged to agencies for which the 9- 1-1 system handles calls. The proposed 1993 -94 budget for the system is $146,600, of which about $67,500 would be paid through line charges, $28,000 is charged to agen- cies, and $51,00 is paid with county property taxes. Council member Gary Van Komen said that he and other council mem- bers strongly support the 9 -1 -1 system, but that they felt it was unnecessary for the city to directly levy taxes to pay the county's fee. "It is still easier for the county to do the taxing," Van Komen said, not- ing that the county could increase its general property tax levy to cover their costs. Both House and Allen said they were willing to discuss changes in the funding formula with the city, but that the budgeting process had progressed too far to be changed now. The county will hold a public hear- ing on its 1993 -94 budget on Tuesday, and the budget is set to go into effect on Oct. 1. Council members said they thou;; h; the county had been informed monl h s ago of the city's objection to the 911 t' 1 fee, but Allen said the first the commissioners had heard about Me objections was when they receive d -a letterdated Aug. 13 from MayorUrry Smith. In a memo to the council, Sn011 noted that concerns over the 9-11 funding were raised as early as last November in a joint meeting held between the city council and the cc,mvi- missioners. Also, the county's 9 -; t advisory committee was told in Jvii( of the city's concerns, Smith sakcgf l Smith's memo said that the clr" has requested that an agreement* be drafted outlining the mission of the 4- 1-1 system, but that agreement hoq' not yet been completed. Also, the c i Y has not received any financial repo -rs on the 9 -1 -1 system, the memo sr1i4 i ?"he_ Sf d r (ve- w s x¢ri,, I?f3 me Call annexes Rio Vista BY TOM GROTE The Star -News Despite strong opposition to the idea, the McCall City Council last week voted to annex the Rio Vista subdivisions located southwest of the current city limits. The annexation of the Rio Vista area means that residents of the area may now run for the city council and vote in the city elections set for Nov. 2. But the annexation also means in- creases in property taxes to support city services and to correct problems with streets, and water and sewer lines within the area. Council members Gary Van Komen, John Larson and Cindi Le Brett all voted to annex the area with its estimated 365 residents. Council member Francis Wallace was absent due to illness. Eleven of the 40 people attending the hearing spoke on the proposed annexation, and most were in opposi- tion. Two letters received were split on the issue. Stan Sears said he could find no one in favor of the annexation in a survey of his neighborhood. Sears called the annexation "a totally un- reasonable burden for the people to the point that many people would have to leave the area." Ralph Colton said he could be con- vinced to 4upport annexation if he could clearly see the benefit of city services. . "I'd like to find out what you are going to do for me for my buck," Colton said. "Just saying I'm from McCall is of no benefit to me." Ray Smith said he also saw little value from being annexed. "We don't need street lights, curbs and gutters . ..it's going to cost a ton of money," Smith said. Brian McMahan said the city should not take over an area which has so many problems. "Why would the city want an old, substandard de- velopment if it wouldn't accept any other old, substandard development ?" McMahan said. Speaking in favor of annexation, Richard McChrystal said he valued the improved police response from being within the city. Currently, Valley County Sheriff's officers can require more than 30 minutes to re- spond to a call, McChrystal said. McCall attorney Bill Killen, who is not a resident of the area, said there was value in being able to vote and run for elected office in order to influence city affairs. "We need as many competent, valu- able people in McCall as we can get, and if it means we have to do it kick- ing and screaming, so be it," Killen said. Council members said that annex- ation was appropriate, and challenged residents to support the city parks, library and other amenities they now use. Council memberGary Van Komen said he would drop his support for annexation if residents would be will- ing to give up city water and sewer service that is now provided in much of the area. Color shows Rio Vista Subdivision. McCall Council reverses ground on funding for 9 -1 -1 i MCCALL — The McCall City Council, at the urging of Valley County Commissioner Bonnie Allen and Cascade Mayor Tad House, did a turnabout on funding the county's emergency 9 -1- 1 telephone system at the council's meeting here Thursday. The decision to contribute nearly $20,000 toward the rough- ly $146,600 1994 operating budget of the county -wide dis- patching program came following discussion about when the council decided not to contribute to the program, and about how and when the county was notified of the council's decision. When and how that notification was made to the county proved to be the key point in the reversal. But Council member Gary Van Komen emphasized several times during the discussion that he believes the current method of funding is inefficient at best. "I still think it's easier for the county to levy the tax," he said. Van Komen's position is based on the fact that the money the city would ante up for the program passes through the county any- way. He said the county might as well levy and collect it, rather than having the city levy the tax, have the county collect it and pass it on to the city, which then turns around and pays it back to the county for the program. And though the Council decided at a May meeting that it would not support the program, it was until mid - August that County Commissioners were notified in writing of that decision. However, McCall Mayor Larry Smith said both during the meeting and in a memorandum presented to Council members prior to last week's meeting that he had notified McCall Fire Chief Dale Points in early June that "the Council had formally adopted a position that agency participation should be placed on the County property role for the 93 -94 budget." But Allen told the Council that Commissioners first learned of it at their August 23 meeting when they received Smith's let- ter. "Our budget has been advertised, it's been set," she said. "We can lower the budget, but we can't raise it." The county would have had to find a way to make up the budget deficit had McCall not reversed its stance. "My concern is it's so late in the game," House told the McCall Council. "I don't want to see this program jeopardized. I'd like to ask the Council to reconsider." Allen said County Commissioners want the issue taken before the 9 -1 -1 advisory committee, which includes representatives of the three communities and emergency agencies that use the system for dispatching services. "Everyone needs to agree on this," she said. "If McCall is going to pull out, we all need to come to the table and discuss it." Van Komen said several times during the meeting that he'd asked last May and.June if the county had been notified, and that he'd been assured that it had. Smith also said the city's position of no support was also based on the lack of completion of a memorandum that outlined pro- tocol and how the system would be managed. "When it came up to budget time, I advised the council that nothing had happened" regarding the policy and procedures document, he said. "The city wants to support 9 -1 -1, " Smith said. `But there heeds to be a total expression of what's going to be done, who's going to do it." Allen said she agreed that those documents need to be com- pleted, but said the changeover inzthe Valley County Prosecutor's Office, among other things, have slowed that process. "Are we being reprimanded for not issuing the Standard Operating Procedures on time ?" she asked-,She noted that McCall If City Police and government officials weren't too excited about 9 -1 -1 being in the control of Valley County Sheriff Lewis Pratt's control anyway. , But shy emphasized that the service has been good and is get- ting better, and that adZlitional staff have been hired for the 24- hour- per -day service. Additionally, she said McCall accounts for more than 40 percent of -the system's usage, and that $20,000 is no where near that percent of the system's total budget. About $60,000 is generated from a'$1 per month charge on each tele- phone line the county, and the balance comes from other agen- cies, including the Valley County Sheriff's Department, and from county taxpayers as a whole. "The city has been in a posture of expectancy," Smith said. "I'm sorry, I though we all agreed how it was going to be run and funded last November," Allen said. "I think we're beating a dead dog here," House said. "The rea- son I came here is the issue of public safety." Council member Cindi LeBrett said that in light of no paper- work noting official written notification, the Council had to reconsider making the appropriation. McCall City Administrator Bud Schmidt said he was asked by the Council on May 28 to draft a letter to the county stating its position on the issue. He said he drafted that letter and delivered it to Smith June 4, and didn't see a final version of it for mailing to the county until Aug. 12. Three McCall council members call it quits "It's a thankless job. There is a lot of unfinished business, in sewer, water and growth." BY TOM GROTE The Stu -Ncws Three of the five elected members of McCall city government said this week they will step down from their posts, while the remaining two said they would seek new terms. McCall City Council President Gary Van Komen and council mem- bers John Larson and Cindi Le Brett all said they would not seek re -elec- tion to the council in the Nov. 2 city election. McCall Mayor Larry Smith said he would seek one of five council seats to be filled on Nov. 2, and coun- cil member Francis Wallace said he also would seek re- election. Today is the first day candidates for the city council may file nominat- ing petitions for the Nov. 2 vote. Petitions maybe turned in until 5 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 5. Five council seats will be elected under the new council -city manager form of government approved by city voters on Aug. 31. The mayor's job will be reduced to a ceremonial position, and the five new council members will name a mayor from among themselves. The new council also will hire a city man- ager to nin the day -to -day affairs of the city. Any qualified voter who lives within the city limits is eligible to run for the city council. Residents of the recently annexed Carico and Rio Vista subdivisions also are eligible to run if they have been residents of the city for 30 days by Nov. 2, City Adminis- trator Bud Schmidt said. A total of 21 signatures from quali- fied city voters are needed on the nominating petitions, Schmidt said. The petitions may be picked up at McCall City Hall. Residents of Carico and Rio Vista who were registered to vote as Valley County residents are automatically qualified to vote within the city, Schmidt said. — Councilman Gary Van Komen Van Komen, a certified public ac- countant, said he was weary after spending eight years on the council. "It's a thankless job," he said. "There is a lot of unfinished business, in sewer, water and growth." Larson, owner of Old Town Mar- ket, said his single four -year term was enough for him. "It just isn't fun any more," he said. "You need to feel like you can accomplish something." Le Brett, who has served two years, said she decided to "table my political energies at the moment." "I don't feel government allows a council person an effective commu- nication process, and I refuse to be restricted from speaking to the con- stituency," she said. "I will find another arena to work in." Smith, who was elected mayor two years ago, said he likely would seek a seat on the new five -member council. Smith, a retired corporate man- ager, noted that he recently was elected to the board of directors of the Asso- ciation of Idaho Cities and serves on the AIC's legislative committee. He said he would like to stay involved in AIC activities as well as continue to address city matters. "We have unfinished business for the city, and I want to ensure there is continuity in ourgovernment," he said. Wallace said he will run again even though he recently suffered a heart spasm which put him in the hospital. Wallace also cited the need for conti- nuity between the current council and the council that will take office in January. Wallace, a mechanical inspector for the Payette National Forest, has served on the council for 12 years, including the past six years and six years served in the late 1960s and early 1970s. For information on candidacy re- quirements, call McCall City Hall at 634 -7142. McCall Council race attracts large field Cascade, Donnelly don't Those wanting a change in city government at McCall will get their wish as only one member of the present City Council, Francis Wallace had filed a petition to run for the Council in November's general election. In addition, McCall Mayor Larry Smith had filed a petition to run for one of the five seats up for grabs. But McCall City Administrator Bud Schmidt said shortly before noon Tuesday that there was some question about whether Smith would run. He declined to elaborate. The other members of the current council, Gaff Van Komen, John Larson and Cindi LeBrett, all decided against running for a spot on the new council. Btsides those two, nine other candidates had filed petitions and been certified as candidates as of noon Tuesday. They are: • Lance Eckhardt, owner of Heartland Travel. • Kirk Eimers, owner of Lake Fork Lodge. • Wayne Gutowski, a McCall construction work- er. • "Travis Hatfield, a McCall business manager. • Bill Killen, a McCall attorney. • Dean Martens, a Forest Service employee. • Richard McChrystal, a retired corporate exec- utive. • Tom McReynolds, owner of Shear Performance. • James (Woody) Woodson, owner of W.W. Enterprises. Candidates had until 5 p.m. Tuesday to submit their candidacy petitions to City Hall. The entire Council is up for grabs in the wake of last month's overwhelming vote to change the struc- ture of McCall's city government from a Mayor /Council form to a Council /City Manager form. /r0 {1q Ud1Iey A�U0Gdfe- C� DC-1- G, 1993 In addition, Council members last month voted to have the Mayor, largely a ceremonial position under the Council /City Manager form, selected by Council members from among the newly elected Council. The top five vote getters will be named to the new Council. In Cascade, where the seats of Terry Ford and Jackie Williams will be up for election in November, p',only two candidates have filed. Ford, a Cascade Forest Service employee, has filed again for his seat, and Chriss Jordan, an Idaho Power employee, has filed for the seat now held by Williams. Louise Roberts, Donnelly City Clerk, said she had received only two nominating petitions by noon Tuesday — one for Mayor and one for one of the three council seats up for election. There are two four -year council seats and one two -year seat up for election. The Mayor's post has been since the death ear- lier this year of Mayor Don Coski, who was killed in an automobile accident near Spokane, Wash. The Council has conducted business under the direction of Tom Penry, council president. Dan Jones is the only person to have. filed for that seat up to that point, Roberts said. Roy Motichka, who was appointed to former Council member's Dan Donica's seat a year and a half ago, has filed for a full -term in that seat. Penry's seat is also up for election as is that of Candy Anderson, who's seat is the two -year seat up for election. Anderson moved from within the city limits. 4.0 h$ l/Jley Ad afe OCf /3, 1993 October 13, 1993 McCall Council votes to dedicate sales tax revenue to Deinhard- Boydston connector MCCALL — The McCall City Council, in a special - "I think the public wanted this very defined and they meeting here Thursday night, voted to dedicate the rev - -,. wanted one item to cope with," she said. "One item, five enue from a proposed I percent local resort option sales' years for x- number of dollars." tax to building the Deinhard - Boydston connector. i But the concern was also raised that as a single issue, The Council also set the term that the tax would be in, there might not be enough of a constituency to gain approval effect at seven years. for the tax. The action came after the Council considered a Capital "There are other constituencies who might feel shut Improvement Plan proposed by Mayor Larry Smith that out," Smith said. would have seen revenue generated by the tax, should, City Administrator Bud Schmidt agreed and said an voters approve it Nova 2; pay for things like video cam- approach that would offer something to a number of dif- eras, a police car, parks improvements, carpet and paint ferent constituencies might enjoy better support from vot- for the library, and some money for engineering and map- ers. He also said the Council could adopt the Mayor's list ping of the connector. as the genesis of a capital improvement plan, but within Included on that list were a $15,000 police vehicle, that plan state that the connector would be the only pio- and radar and video cameras for city cars estimated to ject that gets revenue from the sales tax. cost about $6,400; an animal control vehicle at an esti- Schmidt also said there is a concern relative to the mated cost of $17,550; sprinklers and a shed to be built' state's recent announcement that it is delaying funding a{ at Fairway Park and a cost of nearly $9,000; docks for bypass for McCall, and that some citizens may view the Davis Beach, $5,500; a fence and sidewalk for Legacy connector as the bypass, and that truck traffic will be Park, $6;200; and $25,000 for the design of Riverfront .diverted around town on that connector. Park. "My concern is how much of a constituency there is Also on the proposed list were public works sheds, $12,000; a compressor f?rpvlic works, $8,000; engi- with a single issue," Schmidt said. Van Komen said he didn't hear anything about that at meetings of the neering and mapping for the connector, $85,0 traffic two previous Council at which members signals, $5,000; replacing fire fighting apparatus, $25,000; public had a chance to comment on the sales tax. and carpet and paint for the library renovation, more than ` . "There again, we had a public meeting and we're ignor- I $18,000. ing it," he said. "You had a public meeting and most there The revenue estimated from the first year of the tax, said they wanted the road. " which would 1,-- a shortened year extending from Jan. 1 to Sept. 30, 1994, was estimated to be about $237,000. There was also some concern raised over That revenue would be expected to increase to about the cost and need ' some of the equipment included on Smith's s list. $338,000 in 1995, and to more than $361,000 the year "We've been buying $5,000 (police) cars, after that. Over the 7 -year life of the tax, the city could expect and here you've got $15,000 for one," Council member Francis Wallace said. to generate about $2.8 million toward the connector pro- Council members also discussed the pos- ject. Councl member Gary Van Komen said he couldn't sibility of divvying up the money based on Percentages — dedicating percent, for exam - support the tax unless a specific, single use of the funds ple, to police equipment, or 15 percent for t, was designated. He also said most of the public opinion upgrading fire�,e nt. gathered at previous Council meetings was in support of ed B urton said "that would City Attorney Ted B dedicating sales tax revenue to the connector. He also said that the connector is the only project that probably pass muster as far as legal require - is too big for the city to handle just as a matter of course. meats for designating the use of the revenue Council member Cindi LeBrett also asked Smith if the generated by the tax. As adopted for funding in the event the tax proposed sales tax was a way to address some things that gains the support of voters the scope of the should have been included in the 1994 fiscal year budget project would include the actual road, a bridge the council adopted in September. She agreed with Van Komen's reading of public sen- across the North Fork of the Payette River, and other amenities like a pedestrian way/bike timent on the proposed tax at previous meetings. - - • - path/snowmobile trail, and stop signals where needed. Under Idaho law, any money generated by the sales tax in excess of what is appropriat- ed by the Council, is used for property tax relief the next year. McCall councilin, 1% blown out Four new faces and one familiar name will lead the city of McCall as the result of Tuesday's city election. Dean Martens, Bill Killen, Francis Wallace, Lance Eckhardt and Ralph Colton emerged as the top vote -get- ters in the field of 16 candidates on Tuesday's ballot. McCall voters heavily defeated a proposal to levy a one percent general sales tax in the city. The vote was 69 percent opposed to levying the tax, which would have funded the pro- posed Deinhard - Boydstun Connector. Martens, Killen and Wallace will serve four -year terms, while Eckhardt and Colton will serve two -year terms. Martens is a soils scientist with the Payette National Forest, Killen is an attorney, Wallace is an incumbent council member and mechanical in- spector with the Payette forest, Eckhardtowns aMcCall travel agency meetings and have other ceremonial City elections also were held Tues- and Colton is director of special edu- duties. day in New Meadows and Donnelly. cation for the McCall - Donnelly The council also is charged with In New Meadows, Bryan Kellar School District. hiring a city manager who will oper- defeated Caryl Fausett for a two -year A total of 783 ballots were cast, ate the day -to -day affairs of the city. seat on the New Meadows City Coun- which city officials said represented a The current council authorized adver- cil. The vote was 77 for Kellar and 55 47percentvotertum- out. Hand- count- tisements for applications, and 151 for Fausett. ing the paper ballots was not applications had been received this In the two unopposed races for completed until 5:30 a.m. Wednes- week, Mayor Larry Smith said. four -year seats on the New Meadows day, City Administrator Bud Schmidt Smith said 33 of the applicants council, Kathy Barnett received 111 said. appeared to be fully qualified, with votes and Brad Dreyer received 107 The new council will implement many having served as city managers votes. thecouncil- city managerformofgov- or who are currently holding such In Donnelly, Daniel Jones received emment approved by McCall voters posts. 24 votes in his unopposed bid for in August. The date that the new coun- Advertisements were placed in the mayor. Karen Ellis had 26 votes and cil will be seated will be the topic of Wall Street Journal and in the bulle- Roy Motichka earned 22 votes in their the next meeting of the current coun tins of the Association of Idaho Cities uncontested races for four -year terms on the Donnelly City Council. cil on Nov. 11. and the International City Manage- Frances Coski, widow of former M Once the new council is seated, ment Association. Cost of the hey will elect from among them two- advertising was about $600, Smith ayoear seat r Don Coski, was elected u a selves a mayor who will conduct said. 0 the Donnelly con- _ cil, receiving 30 votes. McCall City Council (Top Five Elected) .g5.9 t raids Wal�ae Richard McChrystal ..... 296 Travis Hatfield ............. 222 Wayne Gutowski .........156 Cheryl Hickman ...........155 Daryl Ann Yandell ....... 143 Kirk Eimers .................12.1 Tom McReynolds ........113 Scotty Davenport ...........90 James W. Woodson .......77 Stan Sears ......................57 Warna Sears ................... 56 1% Local- Option Sales Tax (60% in favor needed) Yes .................... 242(31%) No .....................535 (69 %) a1r c/yocc� - / / / /o1, 3 Veteran vote counters have seen changes in polling Ray Stout The Long Valley Advocate MCCALL — In 80 years of elections in Long Valley, it's not just the races between the candidates that have the ups and downs. Those who have mon- itored those elections have had plenty themselves. Julie Eddins, 64, and the current McCall Precinct election judge, has served about 35 of those years as a member of the election board. "It's always fun to watch the people," she said. "They have a tendency to walk around behind the booths to try and enter them instead of lifting up the curtains in front. "Sometimes it seems like the minute they get to the polling place, their brain goes out to lunch." But even for the election board, lunch can often seem like a long, lost vision, said Margaret Fogg, 73, who has been on election boards for about 45 years. Though the board members would often have restau- rant meals delivered to them, they wouldn't get a chance to eat them for several hours. They soon decided to have their own potlucks and keep their food behind the voting booths until they could get to it, she said. "But one time, we had one voter who went back there and helped himself to the food," she said. One of Eddins' favorite memo- ries of booth folly is the Catholic minister who had also been a football coach and who happened to have a hot temper. When he couldn't figure out how to get into the booth, the election constable jokingly told him to "crawl under." To the surprise of the board, he crawled under. Upon discovering the futil- ity, he fumed. "He looked like his collar was going to pop off," she said. "He didn't appreciate that we were joking with him." Others who show emotional reactions don't even get to vote at all, she said — those who find out at the polls that they are no longer registered. "We've had them get mad, and we've had them cry," said Eddins. "You try your best to soothe their feelings or take their embarrassment away." And it's not always the voters who get the sur- prises. Eddins recalls one election day spent in a depot which had been used for the Winter Carnival: just a short time before. There'd been no plumbing problems, so why think to check the pipes? The pipes froze. Even the restrooms'. "After a while, you start looking for any container in the room," she said, laughing. Fogg laughs at how often a conscientious voter will often sign his name to the ballot — to a "secret" ballot. But she doesn't get the last laugh every time. A day which starts out sunny and beautiful may end up entirely different, said Eddins. "You're ready to go home, and you open the door and there's 12 inches of snow on the ground," she said. And you've still got to load up all those sup- plies and equipment. Protecting themselves from the cold has been a challenge indoors as well, said Fogg. She remem- bers winter days when they would wear long draw- ers, snow boots and wool socks to help the electric heaters and blankets keep them warm. As if that weren't enough of a trial, "Several times we blew the fuse," she said. Eddins remembers that too — per- haps the very same place and time as Fogg does. It was a Veterans' build- ing, said Fogg, or an American Legion Hall, said Eddins, where Eddins said their "three crockpots, a couple of cof- feepots and a couple of heaters" all going at once were just too much for the ancient wiring system in the building. Fuses notwithstanding, it must be some comfort to know that voters can be even more careless than they. Eddins told of a lady whose baby carrier wouldn't fit into the voting booth. At her request, the board members let her leave the infant on the floor at the end of the table, where it slept soundly. Quite some time later, after the woman had cast her votes and left, "we looked down, and we had a baby," said Eddins. "She realized about the time she got to the drug store downtown that she'd forgotten to take her baby from the polling place." It was a grown man, however, whom Eddins per- haps thinks of first when she remembers highlights. An incumbent sheriff, running for re- election, stepped out of a booth looking suddenly grim and pale. "He said, `Oh, no. I voted for my opponent.' "You know, you can almost tell when they come out of that curtain that they made some sort of mis- take or another." Recount Monday on McCall election BY TOM GROTE The Sw-N —s A recount will be held Monday to determine whether there was an er- ror in the original results of the Nov. 2 McCall City Council election. Richard McChrystal, who missed a spot on the five -member council by two votes, asked for the recount from the Idaho Attorney General's Office under aprovision in state law. An order from the attorney general to set the recount was received at McCall City Hall on Friday. The recount will begin at 11:30 a.m. Monday at McCall City Hall. Only votes cast for McChrystal and Ralph Colton, who finished fifth in the running, will be counted, McCall City Administrator Bud Schmidt said. Colton received 298 votes and McChrystal earned 296 votes in the original count. McChrystal is a re- tired executive with Morrison - Knudsen Co. Inc. and Colton is director of special educa- tion for the McCall-Donnelly School District. McChrystal said in an interview that he did not intend to cast doubts on the quality of the original count- ing by thecity's election judges. The original count was not concluded until 5:30 a.m. the day after Election Day. It was entirely possible that a human error had been made," he said. "I would have always fretted and worried about it, so I would like to have the matter resolved." The other four persons elected on Nov. 2 were Dean Martens, Bill Killen, Francis Wallace and Lance Eckhardt. The five new council members will start up the city coun- cil -city manager form of government passed by McCall voters in August. The seat to be recounted will be for a two -year term. Eckhardt also was elected to a two -year term, while Martens, Colton and Wallace were elected to four -year terms. Widow files claim over street curve and no skid marks were found on the road. The wrongful death claim filed by Robyn Heyrend, the victim's widow, says the agencies may be at fault because "the road was defectively and negligently maintained in a num- ber of ways." The curve is located outside the city limits of McCall. The claim states that, in addition to the lack of proper road warning and speed limit signs, the roadway where the accident occurred did not have adequate, clearly visible lines which could have warned of a curve coming up ahead. The widow and son of a man who died in a Warren Wagon Road acci- dent in May have filed a negligence claim naming the city of McCall, Valley County and the Idaho Trans- portation Department. The tort claim, filed Oct. 29, states that Michael F. Heyrend, of Boise and Steven J. Rudy, of Sandy, Utah died May 14 because of negligence on the part of some or all of the agencies. Although a dollar amount was not specified in the claim, it indicated the claimants' damages would exceed $100,000. Inadequate road maintenance and the lack of proper hazard and speed limit signs may have contributed to the death of the two men May 14, the claim said. Heyrend and Rudy were traveling north on Warren Wagon Road about 3.5 miles north of Idaho 55, when the 1989 model specialty kitcar they were driving missed a curve and rolled end - over -end. Both men were ejected from the vehicle and were pronounced dead at the scene, police reports said. An Idaho State Police report said the car was traveling between 50 to 60 miles per hour as it approached the McCall targets street vendors BY TOM GROTE nw, stwNews A proposed ordinance that would place stiffer restrictions and levy higher fees on street vendors was re- viewed Monday night by the McCall City Council. The ordinance, supported by the McCall Area Chamber of Commerce, would update the city's current ordi- nance on street vendors, also known as "hawkers." The proposed ordinance passed the first of three required readings Mon- day night and will bebrought up again at the council's next meeting set for Nov. 29. As proposed, the ordinance would raise the daily fee for street vendors from $25 per day to $100 per day, or the vendor could buy an annual per- mit for $2,500. During the McCall Winter Carni- val, the daily fees would increase to $200 per day. Non - profit groups would pay $10 per day any time of the year, the same fee as now levied. The proposed ordinance would place a series of requirements on street vendors. A permit must be sought from the city at least three days in advance, and detailed information about the vendor, the stand and the merchandise to be sold must be sub- mitted in advance. The application requirements in- clude photos of the vendor and of the stand, background information of the vendor, evidence of safe electrical wiring and notarized permission of the owner of the property on which the stand would be placed. Mike Pedersen, a chamber mem- ber and manager of Paul's Market, said the revised ordinance is needed to control street vendors who make money in the city but do not pay property taxes. Chamber President Lisa Mohler said the ordinance is intended to im- prove the appearance of the town when vendors are present. In other action Monday night: • Manager Ordinance: Council members received without comment a proposed ordinance to formally adopt the council -city manager form of government approved by voters last August. McCall City Attorney Ted Burton said he wrote the proposed ordinance as a discussion document which the current council could adopt or leave for the incoming council members who will take office in January. The ordinance is based on the law under which Twin Falls operates, Burton said. TwinFallsandLewiston are the only cities in Idaho that use the city manager form of government, but Lewiston has experienced high turnover of managers in past years, he said. The proposed ordinance provides the opportunity for a hearing if the city council wants to fire the city manager, and proposes that the of- fices of city attorney, city clerk and city treasurer not be under the super- vision of the city manager. The draft also calls for formal con- tracts between the city and the city manager as well as city department heads. • P &Z Member: Council mem- bers approved the appointment of Phil Gilman to the McCall Planning and Zoning Commission. Gilman will fill the seat vacated by Larry Levitt, who resigned. Gilman is a retired employee of the U.S. Forest Service who was for- est planning officer for the Payette National Forest in McCall. He has worked part time at the McCall Golf Course pro shop for two summers. r^awy !/a I /'p-,y McCall City Council wrangles with pay raises Incumbent. councilman -elect Wallace tenders resignation MCCALL — One of the last three meetings of the incumbent McCall City Council was high- lighted by controversy surround- ing a resolution offering appar- ently inequitable pay raises to city employees. The meeting also marked the last formal sitting of Councilman Francis Wallace, who announced his resignation from the current council at the end of the session. He was scheduled to take the oath of office for the Valley County Commission Monday morning. Wallace must also be sworn in to the new council to which he has been elected and from which he plans to resign immediately. The first meeting of the new coun- cil is scheduled for Jan. 13. The employee- classification resolution drew strong objection from Councilman Gary Van Komen, who said the resolution's salary increases of several thou- sand dollars for some of the top city officials are not what the coun- cil intended when it approved on Sept. 23 what it thought was a bal- anced budget. Having made the motion for approval himself, he said, he understood that the coun- cil had sanctioned only $900 in pay raises for every employee in an effort to narrow the gap in the range of salaries. The amounts presented in the resolution at the meeting reflect- ed both a merit increase and cost - of- living adjustment, or COLA. Councilman John Larson said he had thought the council's approval in September had been for $900, and Wallace said he agreed that $900 was a fair salary increase. The Council voted three to one to approve the classifica- tion plan but amend it so that salaries for management are increased only with a COLA. Voting against the motion was Councilwoman-Cindi Le-Brett, who said she felt it wasn't fair to deny merit pay raises to employees who deserved them. In other action, the council: • agreed to request advice from McCall Fire Chief Dale Points on the in -place closure and the decom- missioning and removal of two underground storage tanks in the neighborhood of Neal Street near Lardo's Restaurant. • approved paymew for con- struction of a water line in the vicinity of Jacob Street in a new subdivision south of town. • adopted an ordinance grant- ing city access to Eisman Street properties for the maintenance, repair and replacement of utilities. • approved a declaration of vacation and relocation of ease- ments for Richard and Darlene Hehr, Clayton and Barbara Morgan and Lomie Larkin on property near their homes in the Meadow Lake Estates subdivision. • approved issuance of a cer- tificate of occupancy for the Best Western Motel to Laxmi Inc. for design, construction and installa- tion of culverts and a water line in the vicinity of the motel. • deferred award of contract for the 1994 airport improvement pro- ject to allow engineers to further negotiate on utility installation and to consult with the airport design committee. McCall switches councils tonight BY TOM GROTE The Star -News A new era in local government will begin in McCall tonight when the city council -city manager form of government officially goes into ef- fect. Four new council members elected on Nov. 2 will be sworn in at 7 p.m. tonight in council chambers located in the lower level of McCall City Hall. In interviews last week, the four council members said there is a lot of work to be done in the city, but they do not plan to rush important decisions. The first decisions that incoming council members Dean Martens, Lance Eckhardt, Bill Killen and Ralph Colton will face are how to start up the city manager form of government approved by McCall voters last Au- gust. One of the four must serve as mayor, whose powers have been stripped to largely ceremonial duties under the city manger form. In inter- views, the four said that no front - runner for mayor had emerged, and that the topic was up for discus- sion tonight. The group also must appoint a fifth member to their group to replace Francis Wallace, who was re- elected in November but subsequently ap- pointed to a seat on the Valley County Commission. All four council members said they were in no hurry to fill the seat, and favored putting out a call for applica- tions from any interested citizens. Letters of support already have come in for retired corporate executive Ri- chard McChrystal, who placed sixth in the balloting last Nov. 2. There also is no feeling of urgency to hire a city manager, the powerful administrator that is the cornerstone of the new form of government. In interviews, the four incoming council members said an interim city manager likely would be appointed tonight. The current city administra- tor, Bud Schmidt, is a logical choice for the post, but all four incoming members again said they would not make up their minds until tonight. "We're not going to make any quick and rash decisions," Eckhardt said. McCall Mayor Larry Smith placed advertisements last fall for the city manager post in the Wall Street Jour- nal and the bulletins of the International City Management As- sociation and the Association of Idaho Cities. Smith received more than 150 ap- plications, of which about 50 were from people currently serving in city management or had previous man- agement experience. Smith forwarded the applications to the new council members, but sev- eral of the incoming members said they may wish to re- advertise for the post. Of particular concern was the offer of at least a $50,000 salary that was noted in the ad placed by Smith. "I'm concerned about the ad being realistic," Killen said, say- ing that the city budget needs to be reviewed before a salary for the manager's post can be set. The new council members have not been idle since their election. They have met in five Monday work sessions with Schmidt to re- view general topics such as bud- geting, personnel polices, plan- ning and zoning, and role of other government agencies in city af- fairs. Discussion of the operation of individual city departments has not occurred during the work ses- sions, Schmidt said. The new council members are not novices to government, either. Eckhardt served as chairman of the McCall Planning and Zoning Commission and Martens served on the McCall Parks and Recre- ation Advisory Committee. Killen briefly served as city prosecuting attorney and is the former chairman of the Idaho Per- sonnel Commission, and Colton is familiar with the workings of bu- reaucracy through his work as spe- cial education director for the McCall - Donnelly School District. In the interviews, the incoming council members placed planning for the future as their most impor- tant priority. The group wants to draft a com- prehensive plan for the city that takes in not only land use planning but also the future of city services such as police, fire protection, streets, water, sewer, parks and recreation. "With Rio Vista brought into the city, there hasn't been any real planning, just more area ," said Colton, a Rio Vista resident. "I plan to go to every single depart- ment and have them tell me what they do." Eckhardt also wants to see a comprehensive plan drafted just for the downtown area to address parking, sidewalks, traffic and building design. q`� PAGE 4 THE STAR -NEWS - THURSDAY, DECEMBER 30, McCall changed government & its boundaries BY TOM GROTE The Star-News Change swept through the city of McCall during 1993 like a midwin- ter snowstorm. The city threw out its form of government, pumped money into its water system and enlarged its boundaries. Construction continued to boom in McCall during 1993, with building permits for new homes rising from 62 in the first nine months of 1992 to 87 permits through September 1993. Total value of permits reached $13.8 million during that period. Several major projects got under way during the year, and dump trucks were running up and down Idaho 55 in a nearly constant parade of progress. Work began on two large subdivi- sions, the 750 -lot Spring Mountain Ranch and the nearby 250 -lot The Woodlands. Accompanying the sub- divisions are the construction of a by- pass road to the east of the city and a new, nine -hole addition to the McCall Golf Course. Major commercial projects in- cluded a new 33,000 square foot Shaver's supermarket on Deinhard Lane, and a 51 -room Best Western Motel on Idaho 55 at Colorado Street. • City Manager: The most sig- nificant change for McCall during the year was the decision by its voters to overhaul its form of government. By a 77 percent majority, voters on Aug. 31 approved abolishing the mayor -city council form of govern- ment and replaced it with a council - city manager form, used in Idaho by only Lewiston and Twin Falls. The seeds for the city manager election were sown the previous sum- mer, when Mayor Larry Smith de- cided he wanted to exert the power given to him under state law and take on more duties. To Smith, that meant abolishing the city administrator's post held by Bud Schmidt. Smith got mixed sup- port for the idea among members of the McCall City Council, so he ap- pointed a citizen panel to study alter- native forms of government. In April, the so- called "blue -rib- bon" committee recommended that a city manager form of government would cause the least confusion over lines of authority within McCall City Hall. After the city manager form was adopted, then a new election for city council was held. The Nov. 2 election drew a huge 17- candidate field and led to a clean sweep of the current elected officials. Four of the five sitting officials, including Smith, declined to seek new terms. The fifth, Francis Wallace, was re- elected but then was appointed to a vacancy on the Valley County Com- mission. • Annexation: Before phasing themselves out of a job, the current McCall City Council decided to en- large the city's boundaries through annexation. Two areas were targeted, the so- called Carico area located north of Lick Creek Road, and Rio Vista, a large established subdivision on the west side of the North Fork of the Payette River. The Rio Vista annexation drew the most opposition, as residents doubted if they would be getting their money's worth for the additional property taxes they would be paying. Council members held their ground, however, pointing to im- proved police protection and other services, participation in city affairs and a general ethic that an area so closely related to the city ought to be within it. • Water Bond: The summer of 1993 was a cool one that did not produce a great demand on the city's water system, but city officials al- ready were laying plans to upgrade the system for future hot summers as well as to handle growth. Voters on Aug. 31 were asked to approved $9.9 million in revenue bonds to finance a range of improve- ments, and they did so by a 64 percent margin. The bond issue will address sev- eral issues as it is implemented over the next two years. The part that will be most expensive, and which also irritated city officials the most, is the building of a water - filtration plant to screen disease - causing viruses that might be present in the water taken from Payette Lake. The plant was mandated as part of new federal clean -water regulations adopted nationwide, but council mem- bers thought requiring filtration for pure alpine water was bureaucratic overkill. The rest of the bond issue will replace pipes in areas that have prob- lems with supply and pressure, plus finance the installation of water meters in every home served by the city. • By -Pass: Decade -old attempts by McCall officials to have the Idaho Transportation Department fund a western by -pass of Idaho 55 around the city came to a screeching halt in September. That month, the Idaho Transporta- tion Board officials kicked the by- pass off its state funding list. Idaho 55 through McCall has ex- perienced near - gridlock during peak summer weekends, as all traffic be- tween northern and southern Idaho is squeezed around a 90- degree turn downtown and channelled onto a single bridge over the North Fork of the Payette River. The by -pass had been planned since 1982, but updated cost figures plus opposition from a landowner near the proposed route caused ITD officials to put the project on the shelf. With no by -pass looking likely, the city council decided to put new emphasis on the Deinhard - Boydstun connector, a proposed local street that, proponents say, would bring the same relief as the longer by -pass. The council turned to local voters on Nov. 2 and asked whether they wanted to levy a one percent across - the -board local sales tax to finance the Deinhard - Boydstun Connector. The answer was a resounding no, with 69 percent voting against the sales tax. The effort was shot down by business owners who did not want to pay the tax and from residents who thought a local sales tax should be spread around to more than one build- ing project. l:"en$ VC) ile � Adv0Cd'te New McCall City Council takes helm, charts its roles New McCall City Council members, from left, Bill Killen, Lance Eckhardt, Dean Martens and Ralph Colton, are sworn in by City Administrator Bud Schmidt prior to last Thursday's council meeting. Ray Stout Staff Writer MCCALL — Four departing council members and their mayor stepped down Thursday night to make way for new council members to be sworn in, thus ini- tiating the new city- council /city- manager form of gov- ernment adopted by city residents last August. The new form is a change from the mayor /city- council regime of the previous government. The coun- cil /manager form calls for a city manager to run the city's day -to -day affairs and for the mayor to have vir- tually no more power than the councilors. After taking the oath of office, the new city coun- cil elected as mayor Dean Martens, who had received the highest number of votes for the new council in the No 2 special election. Councilman Bill Killen was elected council president and will perform the mayor's duties — which will be chiefly ceremonial in meetings at which Martens is absent. The council also declared a vacancy, created by the resignation of incumbent Councilman -elect Francis Wallace who accepted an appointment to the Valley County Commission that came shortly after being re- elected to the council. It chose to not appoint the replace- ment immediately but to advertise for the vacant posi- tion. The possibility of a 2 -2 tie on a call for votes was cause for concern expressed by Rod Davidson of McCall, an audience member, who suggested the new council not take any action until the vacant seat is filled. "I don't think anything should be acted on until you have the final contingent of the city council," Davidson said. As for hiring a permanent city manager, uncertainty of procedure and wariness about salary negotiations led the council to call a special meeting for Monday evening to discuss the matter in more detail. City Administrator Bud Schmidt agreed to accept the coun- cil's appointment as interim city manager on the con- dition that they meet with him in executive session to discuss terms and conditions of his employment as an interim city manager. Schmidt expressed concern about the rule that as a city manager under the new form of government he could be fired on a 3 -2 majority whim of the council in session. City Attorney Ted Burton pointed out that the city administrator's job under the old form was subject to a 4 -1 vote. Monday's special meeting will also cover organi- zation of the city government. The council chose to adopt a "Parliamentary Procedure" set of rules regarding proper ways to make motions and whether the motions may be seconded, debated or amended. The guidelines will replace the "Robert's Rules of Order" that had been in force with the old council. Jdh '9,/9 Loq woley lUvocate- Schmidt accepts job as interim city manager Private discussion with council members affects hi-, dpcicinn MCCALL — An offer from the McCall City Council to Bud Schmidt to stay on as interim city manager pending the hiring of a permanent one was accepted at a special meeting Monday night after a thirty- minute period in executive session. Schmidt, who currently serves as city administra- tor and city clerk for McCall, had asked to meet with the council in order to discuss compensation, work- ing conditions and their expectations of him as the interim manager. In eight years of service for McCall, Schmidt said, he had received only one or two merit salary increas- es. A recent resolution calling for merit increases — actually budgeted -for reclassification adjustments, he said — had been rejected by the last council in December. He said the three city staff members — which include himself, City Attorney Ted Burton and City Treasurer Jim Henderson — have taken on new assign- ments but received no additional compensation. "I don't feel the compensation I'm receiving now (as city administrator /clerk) covers the iob. That's the bottom line," said Schmidt. "(For a city manager), You're asking a great deal from one individual for that level of compensation." He said he had heard that a UPS driver makes about the same amount of money that he does except that the driver gets paid overtime for working Christmas. City Attorney Ted Burton vouched for Schmidt, attesting that their jobs are quite demanding. "Bud, Jim and I put in hundreds of hours of over- time without compensation, yet if in any pay period we fall below 80 hours, we get docked," Burton said. Schmidt said his situation was exceptional in that McCall is a small city, yet has a lot of issues to be dealt with. "If I'm appointed acting manager and then termi- nated, I'm considerably interested in what my status is," said Schmidt. "Presumably, I would not work here. "I hope that's one of the issues that will come up in this form of government." When asked by the council if he planned to apply for the permanent city manager position, Schmidt said he wished to go into executive session, to which the council agreed. Before going into the private meeting, Schmidt explained that the overload of work had taken a toll on both his job performance and his health. City Treasurer Henderson then confirmed that the city does have the money to pay a salary within the $42,0(X) to $47,000 range Schmidt had recommended to the preceding mayor, Larry Smith. Schmidt also advised the council against vesting both the city- manager and city -clerk duties in one person under the new form of government. He cited a Prineville, Ore., situation in which such a dual - function official, fired from one of his positions, remained at his desk for a long time afterwards at the advice of his attorney while receiving pay. The council then met with Schmidt in executive session while Burton and Henderson remained out- side the room. Upon returning, Schmidt accepted the appointment as interim city manager with a salary of $41,161.60 retro- active to last Saturday. Also on the agenda was the. appointment of a per- manent city manager. While most council members initially felt the proposed 90 -day limit was too short, Councilman Ralph Colton said he felt it was a good safeguard against procrastination. Moreover, he said, they should be prepared to act immediately in a worst - case scenario, such as if Schmidt were to suddenly resign. The council voted to allow themselves until their April 28 meeting to hire a city manager, about 100 days. It also voted to direct the interim city manager to circulate a new ad until Feb. 28 in the Boise, Lewiston, Spokane and local newspapers for a city manager. The ad is to offer a first -year salary of $42,500 plus standard benefits to persons with at least three to five years' experience as a city- department head or higher. Former Mayor Larry Smith placed advertising for the new City Manager position in several nation- ally circulated newspapers and trade periodicals, and offered a salary of $50,000 for the job. 1,i k / 9, /999 ��? McCall council gets to work BY TOM GROTE The Star -News The new McCall City Council went right to work after being sworn in last Thursday, building a frame- work for the city manager form of government. New council members Dean Martens, Bill Killen, Lance Eckhardt and Ralph Colton were sworn in minutes after the start of Thursday's meeting, which was convened by outgoing city council members. The new council required nine hours of deliberations to finish its first agenda, including the regular Thursday night meeting that lasted six hours and a special meeting held Monday night spanning three hours. Mayor Martens: Martens was elected mayor by his fellow council members. A soils scientist for the Payette National Forest, he was the largest vote - getter among the 17 candidates who ran for the council last November. The duties of mayor were stripped to a largely ceremonial level as part of the city manager form of government approved by voters last August. Martens said he would take that change to heart and "keep it as equal as possible up here (at the council table)." Killen, an attorney, was elected council president and will act as mayor in Marten's absence. Council Vacancy: Council members said they would appoint someone to the vacancy on the coun- cil at their next meeting on Thurs- day, Jan. 27. Any city resident who wishes to apply for the vacancy should sub- mit an application to McCall City Hall. The suggested deadline is 5 p.m. Monday, although late appli- cations will be accepted. The vacancy was created when Francis Wallace, who was re- elected to the council, was appointed to the Valley County commission in No- vember. One resident, Rod Davidson, ob- jected to the council taking signifi- cant actions without five members on board. Although he did not men- tion him by name, Davidson urged council members to consider Rich- ard McChrystal, who finished three votes behind fifth -place Colton in the election. "The council should take into consideration the closeness of the vote," Davidson said. City Manager: At its special meeting Monday night, the new council decided to re- advertise the position of city manager with a new job description. Former Mayor Larry Smith sent out a call for applications last fall and received about 150 responses. However, the current council did not like Smith's advertisement, es- pecially the promise of at least a $50,000 per year salary. Anew advertisement will be sent out, this time specifying a salary of $42,500 per year, which council members said was more in line with the money available in the city bud- get. Also removed from Smith's ad- vertisement were the requirements for a master's degree in business administration and for at least eight years of senior corporate manage- ment. Council members added the requirement that applicants have at least three years experience as a city department head or higher. The 150 applicants who applied earlier will be written letters asking if they are still interested under the new job description. The deadline for all applications was set for Feb. 28, and council members set a goal of mid -April to hire a city manager. Schmidt Appointed: McCall City Administrator Bud Schmidt was appointed interim city man- ager Monday night to fill that role until a permanent manager is named. Schmidt has been city adminis- trator for eight years, and his new appointment gives him broader powers than under the previous "strong mayor" form of govern- ment. The decision to name Schmidt was made Monday night following a discussion in which Schmidt set several conditions for his appoint- ment. Part of that discussion was held in the council's first closed session allowed under the Idaho Open Meet- ing Law and lasted about one -half hour. Schmidt requested the closed session to discuss what he said were private matters. Schmidt asked for a raise in his current $38,000 per year salary to cover what he said was a large in- crease in his work load over the past few years. The council raised his salary to $41,161, an amount bud- geted but rejected by the previous council. Schmidt did not say if he would apply for the permanent position of manager. From left, Bill Killen, Lance Eckhardt, Dean Martens, Ralph Colton take the oath of office for McCall City Council. Organizauun: i ne new counun decided not to spend a lot of time on the details of the new form of gov- ernment until after they had more experience with how the city bu- reaucracy works. Council members did order de- partment heads to report directly to Schmidt for the time being. The only exception was for City Attor- ney Ted Burton, who will report directly to the council, but who also may provide legal opinions to Schmidt. Appointments: The new council's first split vote came on the appointment to fill Marten's seat on the McCall Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee. The parks committee sent up a unanimous recommendation that former council member Gary Van Komen be appointed to Marten's chair. Martens said he was uncomfort- able about receiving recommenda- tions for a single nominee to city committees without knowing who else applied for a position. Killen said he did not want to have the council screen all appli- cants for advisory boards, but sug- gested that committees submit more than one name with a preference stated. Killen said the discussion should not hold up Van Komen's nomina- tion, and he moved to approve the appointment. Colton and Eckhardt voted with Killen, but Martens voted against the nomination. ! y loo l fiCI V C-4 fp - Cop manpower, street -name improvements presented to McCall Council MCCALL — Police protec- tion in McCall is sometimes more than adequate and sometimes less, the McCall City Council heard during the public comment peri- od at the council's Thursday night meeting. Speaking in light of the inci- dents that occurred on Jan. 13, Alison Nelson encouraged the council to look at providing more police coverage to the community. A 9 -1 -1 call reporting an attempted murder on the night of Jan. 13 drew four McCall Police officers to the scene of the crime, where they began an investiga- tion that lasted most of the night, Nelson said. in the meantime, two other 9 -1 -1 calls didn't get respond- ed to for lack of officers to send, she said. However, Interim City Manager Bud Schmidt said the police regime in McCall isn't that unusual other than the fact that population growth has tended to outpace the city's ability to provide the ideal ratio of services. "When you really need 15 offi- cers (for a McCall incident), you only have seven," said Schmidt. "But then, when you only need two, you still have seven. "Having the right number of officers in the right place at the right time is an art more than a science." He also pointed out that the complexity of McCall's popula- tion and its expectations change over time. As the city grows, peo- ple tend to expect services simi- lar in scope to those of bigger cities like. Boise, a demand which is too much too soon, he said. "Even a big city has to priori- tize the calls it gets," Schmidt said. "Not all 9 -1 -1 calls get an imme- diate response." One factor affecting emergency response time in McCall was the subject of an ordinance that would provide a mechanism to add a directional suffix to the names of McCall streets. Under the ordi- nance, the intersection of Mission Street and Deinhard Lane would mark the origin for designating streets northeast, northwest, south- east or southwest by adding NE, NW, SE or SW to the ends of the street names in those quadrants. Because street numbers are presently based on this point of origin, the numbers would not have to be changed. City Attorney Ted Burton said the change would benefit the com- munity as most people now are ignorant of what portion of a street a building is located on. Many callers requesting emergency ser- vices do not know whether to report vorth versus south or east versus west, and the dispatch office also seems uncertain about designa- tion, he said. "Where east and west start out is not really understood except on the street, and where north and south start is not really understood except on the street," said Burton. City Treasurer Jim Henderson cautioned that if the proposed change were made, about 2,000 utility accounts would have to have their addresses recodified, which would be cumbersome. The council decided to put the ordinance to three formal read- ings, the first of which will take place March 10. City cou,ncil toi,ontervi*ew- can idates F Five to vie BY TOM GROTE The Star-News Five applicants for a vacant seat on the for council McCall City Council will be interviewed seat vacated tonight by the four sitting members of the council. Last week, council members said they bFrancis Wanted to conduct personal interviews Ybefore filling the seat. In November, Wallace 1993, voters elected Francis Wallace to the seat, but Wallace was then appointed to the Valley County commission. MARILYN ARP The interviews will be conducted in a A former member of public meeting set to start at 6 p.m. the McCall- Donnelly tonight in the lower level of McCall City School District board of Hall. trustees and past president The current council members are of the Silver Sage Girl expected to select a new member immedi- Scout Council. ately after the interviews are finished, and the new member will be immediately TONI GANZERT A retired widow who sworn in. The five applicants were chosen for has served on the McCall interviews because they submitted written Transportation Advisory applications to McCall City Council by Committee and the the deadline imposed by the council. Western Idaho Commu- Not among those to be interviewed is nity Action Program Richard McChrystal, who finished sixth Advisory Board. in last November's balloting. He received three votes less than council member CHERYL Ralph Colton, who placed fifth. HICKMAN McChrystal said in an interview that A self - employed he had previously told all four of the salesperson of home current council members that he was cleaning systems who ran interested in filling the vacancy. The city for the council last also has received several letters of November. Hickman support for his appointment. finished ninth among the But McChrystal said he got the feeling 17 candidates. some members of the current council did not want to consider him. "I felt they were totally ignoring me," ALLAN MULLER he said. "One of the members told me he A teacher at McCall- would prefer someone else, and another Donnelly High School. member made it very apparent he did not Muller is a former want to consider me." He declined to assistant pro at the McCall name the council members he referred to. Golf Course and a former McChrystal said he did not submit a member of the McCall pew application, as the five applicants Parks and Recreation did, because he did not believe he needed Advisory Committee. to do so. "I figured I had already applied for the job," he said. DARYL ANN McChrystal, a retired executive with YANDELL Morrison - Knudsen Co. Inc., said he A registered nurse who considered himself out of the running for also ran for council last the vacant seat. He said he would November, finishing 10th continue to serve on the McCall Planning just behind Hickman. and Zoning Commission. Arp named to fill last seat on McCall City Council Ray Stout Staff Writer MCCALL — More than two months after a vacancy in the five- member McCall City Council was announced, the coun- cil filled the seat with an appointment and swearing in at a special meeting last Thursday night. Marilyn Arp was chosen after an interview session in which each of the five candidates spent several minutes answering questions before the council. The entire meeting was open to public attendance, and the_ council remained in the room as a committee of the whole while making its decision. Arp, 49, is the only woman to serve on the cur- rent council. Her background includes service in many organizations is - eluding tenures as president of the Silver Sage Girl Scout CouY.cil Board of Directors, the Idaho State American Association of University Women and, currently, the Idaho Women's Network. ; In addition, she has served on the Board of Trustees for the McCall- Donnelly School District. "Through my volunteer activities I feel that I have acquired skills that would be useful as a member of the McCall City Council," Arp wrote in a cover let- ter accompanying her resume. "As a woman, home- maker, and community volunteer I feel that I can bring some diversity and perhaps a different per- spective and understanding to discussions that will lead topositive decisions." Asked during the interview what she felt the coun- cil's priorities should be, she said it is important to n►anage the city's growth so that it enhances life for young people as well as retired. She and her husband Jim Arp, the landscape archi- tect for the Payette National Forest, have lived in McCall since 1977 and have two children. Her col- legiate degrees include bachelors' in history and management technology. The other four applicants for the vacant seat were Cheryl Hickman, Toni Ganzert, Allan Muller and, Daryl Ann Yandell. The position became open when Councilman Francis Wallace chose to serve instead on the Valley County Commission. The other major staffing yet to be made by the council is the hiring of a permanent city manager, which it has determined to do by its scheduled meet - ing date of April 14. L Cnt� Uaite y AC1v6c3te Feb q,14g1y Acting McCall City Manager, Bud Schmidt swears in Marilyn Arp. -5fdk Ike ws Arp named to McCall council Marilyn Arp was appointed last week to the McCall City Council, filling out the last position on the five- member board. Arp was unanimously approved by the four other council members following interviews held with her- self and four other applicants. She was immediately sworn in to her po- sition and sat in on a three -hour public hearing on a proposed updated zon- ing ordinance. Arp is the only woman on the five - member council, joining Dean Martens, Bill Killen, Lance Eckhardt and Ralph Colton. She fills a seat to which Francis Wallace was elected last November. Wallace was subse- quently appointed to the Valley County commission. The selection followed interviews by the council with Arp and candi- dates Toni Ganzert, Cheryl Hickman, Allan Muller and Daryl Ann Yandell. Hickman and Yandell both unsuc- cessfully sought election to the council last November. Arp is a homemakerwho has served in many volunteer and civic posi- tions. She served as a McCall - Donnelly School District trustee from 1981 to 1984. She was president of the Silver Sage Girl Scout Council from 1988 to 1992 and was president of the Idaho State American Association of Uni- versity Women from 1986 to 1988. She is the current president of the Idaho Women's Network. Arp also served on Mayor's Select Committee last year that recom- mended the city switch to the city Marilyn Arp Appointed to fill term of Francis Wallace, who resigned shortly after re- election to serve on the Valley county commission council -city manager form of gov- ernment. McCall voters approved the change last August and the new coun- cil is charged with implementing the city manager system. She was born in 1945 in Pomona, Calif., holds a degree in history from the University of California in Los Angeles and a degree in management technology from Lewis Clark State College. In her letter of application, Arp said she hoped to offer diversity and a different perspective and understand- ing to issues discussed by the city council. "While my style of leadership is one of openness which invites wide participation and consensus building, I am not reluctant to make a decision when the time comes," she wrote. Other council members said that having a woman on the board would be an advantage. "I think we need a perspective that is not all the time male," Colton said. "I'm interested in looking at some- one with an angle none of us have," Martens said. L ®G Va /ley A vpcdlc MJ1-ch /y, i�qy Schmidt accepts job as interim city manager Private discussion with council members affects his decision MCCALL — An offer from the McCall City Council to Bud Schmidt to stay on as interim city manager pending the hiring of a permanent one was accepted at a special meeting Monday night after a thirty- minute period in executive session. Schmidt, who currently serves as city administra- tor and city clerk for McCall, had asked to meet with the council in order to discuss compensation, work- ing conditions and their expectations of him as the interim manager. In eight years of service for McCall, Schmidt said, he had received only one or two merit salary increas- es. A recent resolution calling for merit increases — actually budgeted -for reclassification adjustments, he said — had been rejected by the last council in December. He said the three city staff members — which include himself, City Attorney Ted Burton and City Treasurer Jim Henderson — have taken on new assign- ments but received no additional compensation. "I don't feel the compensation I'm receiving now (as -city administrator /clerk) covers the job. That's the bottom line," said Schmidt. "(For a city manager), You're asking a great deal from one individual for that level of compensation." He said he had heard that a UPS driver makes about the same amount of money that he does except that the driver gets paid overtime for working Christmas. City Attorney Ted Burton vouched for Schmidt, attesting that their jobs are quite demanding. "Bud, Jim and I put in hundreds of hours of over- time without compensation, yet if in any pay period we fall below 80 hours, we get docked, Burton said. Schmidt said his situation was exceptional in that McCall is a small city, yet has a lot of issues to be dealt with. "If I'm appointed acting manager and then termi- nated, I'm considerably interested in what my status is," said Schmidt. "Presumably, I would not work here. "I hope that's one of the issues that will come up in this form of government." When asked by the council if he planned to apply for the permanent city manager position, Schmidt said he wished to go into executive session, to which the council agreed. Before going into the private meeting, Schmidt explained that the overload of work had taken a toll on both his job performance and his health. City Treasurer Henderson then confirmed that the city does have the money to pay a salary within the $42,(x)n to $47,000 range Schmidt had recommended to the preceding mayor, Larry Smith. Schmidt also advised the council against vesting both the city- manager and city -clerk duties in one person under the new form of government. He cited a Prineville, Ore., situation in which such a dual - function official, fired from one of his positions, remained at his desk for a long time afterwards at the advice of his attorney while receiving pay. The council then met with Schmidt in executive session while Burton and Henderson remained out side the room. Upon returning, Schmidt accepted the appointment as interim city manager with a salary of $41,161.60 retro- active to last Saturday. Also on the agenda was the appointment of a.;per- manent city manager. While most council members initially felt the proposed 90 -day limit was too short, Councilman Ralph Colton said he felt it was a good safeguard against procrastination. Moreover, he said, they should be prepared to act immediately in a worst - case scenario, such as if Schmidt were to suddenly resign. The council voted to allow themselves until their April 28 meeting to hire a city manager, about 100 days. It also voted to direct the interim city manager to circulate a new ad until Feb. 28 in the Boise, Lewiston, Spokane and local newspapers for a city manager. The ad is to offer a first -year salary of $42,500 plus standard benefits to persons with at least three to five years' experience as a city- department head or higher. Former Mayor Larry Smith placed advertising for the new City Manager position in several nation- ally circulated newspapers and trade periodicals, and offel a salary of $50,000 for the job. McCall hires '� city manager heads," or firing city employees with whom council members were dissat- BY TOM GROTE The Star -News Harold L. "Hal" Schilling, the former city manager of Reno, Nev., and Aspen, Colo., was selected by the McCall City Council Monday night to be McCall's first city manager. Schilling, currently a consultant living in Tillamook, Ore., was picked as the new manager on a 3 -2 vote of the city council. Council members Bill Killen, Dean Martens and Marilyn Arp preferred Schilling. Council members Lance Eckhardt and Ralph Colton said they preferred candidate Gary Shimun, who currently is city manager of Iron River, Mich., a small resort town in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. However, both Colton and Eckhardt said they were comfortable with the selection of Schilling. Schilling apparently was traveling this week and had not been contacted as of Wednesday morning to find out if he would accept the $42,500 per year position, Killen said. Ranked third in the four - member field of finalists was Bud Schmidt, who served as McCall city adminis- trator for eight years and who has been serving as interim city manager since January. Schmidt declined comment Tues- day on the council's selection, but said he would live up to a pledge he made to council members last Thurs- day night to stay on until a new manager is sworn in. "It is my profes- sional commitment to stick with it," he said. Schmidt said he would consideran offer to assist the new manager to become familiar with the city, but that he had not yet received such an offer. Schilling, 54, came out on top of a selection process that started with 216 applicants. He, Schmidt, Shimun and Rick Bernhardt, city manager of Clinton, Mo., were invited to tour the city on Friday. The four also underwent a formal interview with the city council on Saturday and attended a public recep- tion Saturday night at the McCall Golf Course Clubhouse. The final selection was made dur- ing a two -hour special council meeting Monday night. Much of Monday's _ discussion cen- tered on the theme of which candidate would "make the best fit" for a city like McCall that faces the challenges of growth; Council members said they were impressed with Schilling's energy, his positive attitude toward the job Harold L. "Hal" Schilling hired as ' McCall's first 4;. city manager "Growth can be a positive factor in a community, because it provides jobs and wages, but I don't believe growth should be allowed to occur that lays a burden on future taxpayers. " — Hal Schilling, designated McCall city manager and his broad experience in city man- agement. Killen said Schilling met his test of someone who could sit across a table with high - powered developers and uphold the city's interests. "He was certainly the most polished," Killen' said. Eckhardt, however, wondered if Schilling's forward temperament might work against him. "He might be too dynamic and blow them out of the water," he said. Concern also was raised over Schilling's length of service in his previous positions. He was city man, ager in Milwaukie, Ore., for five years, city manager in Chandler, Ariz., for five years, manager in Aspen for three years and manager in Reno for five years. Martens said that a four -year to six -year stay was typical in such posi- tions, and that he would be happy if Schilling stayed for that length of time. Eckhardt said Shimun's small - town experience would suit him well in McCall, but Arp argued for Schilling's apparent willingness to tackle the city's problems head -on. "I want a manager," Arp said. Council members said they con- sidered Schmidt equally with theother candidates, but he fell short of expec- tations during his formal interview. During his interview, Schilling wanted to be first assured that he was not being brought in for "lopping isfied. He received that assurance by council members. He said growth was a two -edged sword. "Growth can be a positive factor in a community, because it pro- vides jobs and wages, but I don't believe growth should be allowed to occur that lays a burden on future taxpayers," Schilling said. He said he was looking forward to running a smaller bureaucracy than a large city like Reno. He especially enjoyed his last consulting assign- ment, which was to assist in the orga- nization of the newly incorporated city of Scappoose, Ore., just north of Portland. He said citizen advisory commit- tees were valuable to a community, but that the council should not form an advisory committee unless there is a specific mission and adequate staff- ing to support it. Schilling said the city should look at impact fees on new development and a motel room tax in order to raise additional revenues. Impact fees are not authorized by state law and a room tax was levied in the city be- tween 1982 and 1987. When asked to describe his faults, Schilling said he did not enjoy detail work and he becomes impatient when he cannot see the results of his efforts quickly. "But I realize you cannot run the city like a business, and you have to build consensus," he said. Schilling said he has worked on eight comprehensive land -use plans during his career. McCall is just be- ginningworkon updatingits 13 -year- old comprehensive plan. The selection of Schilling is the final step in a process that began last August, when McCall voters approved converting to a city manager form of government. Under the system, the mayor is stripped of almost all powers and the city manager runs the day -to -day af- fairs of the city. Policy is set by a majority of the five - member council. Before Monday's deliberations, Arp asked that the meeting be closed to the public. She was worried nega- tive comments that might be said about the successful candidate might sour his initial relationship with the coun- cil. Arp, Eckhardt and Martens voted to close the session, but Killen and Colton voted to keep the session open. The session stayed open, since a two - third vote for closure is required un- der the Idaho Open Meeting Law. The Star -News protested the proposed closure before the vote was taken. Go nc Vd 11e l f`dVOCj-te- Tut1e8, rYyy Shimun agrees to City Manager terms, starts July MCCALL — Gary Shimun, presently the city manager at Iron River, Mich., agreed last week to the terms of an offer made him to become the new McCall City Manager. Dean Martens, McCall's mayor under the new Council/City Manager form of government, said last week that Shimun agreed to accept the city's offer of a salary of $42,500 per year, up to $3,500 for moving expenses, and some "minor changes" in ter- minology in the contract. "I feel real good," Martens said about the hiring of Shimun. The city's process in reaching a conclu- sion in the matter was also good, he said. Two hundred applications were received for the job, and from that the list of candidates was cut down to four who were interviewed. Among the four was Arthur (Bud) Schmidt, whose last day as Acting City Manager will be June 24. ` Schmidt was City Administrator prior to last year's vote to change the form of city government from a Council/Mayor form of government to a Council/City Manager form. With that change came the elimina- tion of the administrator's position, and creation of the City Manager's post. Schmidt was third on the prioritized list of final- ists for the job, and would have been next in line had Shimun turned down the job. The Council's first choice to be City Manager, Harold Schilling, of Tillamook, Ore., turned down the job for financial reasons. "With the ones we interviewed, we were lool.ing at the cream of the crop," Martens said. The hiring completes the city's transition to the Council/City Manager form of government, which citizens voted in following the reconunendation,of a citizens' committee that studied forms of govern- ment and what might best serve McCall. S�ar2 Ne w s -- 7- 7-- / `? qq Schmidt (Continued from Page 1) "Douglas Manchester is not wrong," he said. "Vacation homeowners are only one part of the tourist pie. This other part is real im- portant if you are going to have people here in the spring and fall." Schmidt dismisses as a "red her- ring" worries by some about the ef- fect of growth on the area. "Growth management smacks of totalitarian- ism and mind control," he said. "Growth is a decision being made at dinner tables this evening in Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco and Seattle, not by developers," he said. "Families and individuals decide they are going to pack their lives up and move to McCall, and if you want to intrude upon that, that's more in- sidious than the efforts of the govern- ment to intrude on one's bedroom," he said. Proper planning can accommodate growth without a loss in what has Photo by Tom Grc been termed "quality of life," Schmidt Bud Schmidt attends to final details in his McCall City Hall office before his departure. said. "Quality of life has something t do with the pace and level of traffi and the fact you can walk to work an Schmidt says lannin is his legacy it is pleasant and sunny here and you p g can ski," he said. "I'm not sure how IBY TOM GROTE The Star -News McCall has the plans in place to guide its future, but there are still problems facing the town, according to the man who led the city's bureau- cracy for the past 8 -1/2 years. Friday will be the last day at work for Bud Schmidt, who has been the top non - elected official at McCall City Hall since 1985. He served as city administrator until January, when he was named interim city manager un- der the new form of government adopted by the city. Schmidt, 49, applied to become the full -time city manager, but came in third place among the finalists for he job. His replacement, Gary Shimun f Iron River, Mich., will arrive for ork over the Independence Day In a final interview last week, imidt declined to reveal his plans ;r he leaves work on Friday other n to say he was seeking another although not necessarily in gov- "There truly is a sense that this city knows what it needs to do and where it needs to go and what it needs to accomplish. " - Bud Schmidt, outgoing McCall city administrator Reflecting on his tenure in McCall, Schmidt believes the city is better off because of his work, mainly in the area of long -range planning. Schmidt recalled that when he ar- rived "plans were kind of made on the basis of `gee, that looks good, let's do it,' without much long -range plan- ning or long -range thought." Since then, master plans have been put into place for a variety of city services, including transportation, parks and recreation, water, sewer and stormwater management. These plans all will be incorporated into the city's comprehensive land -use plan that is now undergoing review. all that is going to go away." "The time you spend on desigr Schmidt is worried, however, that and planning usually comes back tc the area may become overbuilt, as you and you don't have to do it over occurred in the early 1980s, leaving a again," he said. "There truly is a sense large inventory of lots on which there that this city knows what it needs tc is no demand to build homes. do and where it needs to go and whal He also is concerned about what it needs to accomplish." he sees as the concentration of higher - Even with plans in place, Schmidt income residents in McCall. "It's a said the city faces challenges. "The harbinger of our entire society, in that major risk to the community is the there is not much of a middle class," loss of an integral downtown," he he said. "The poor people will live in said, noting the loss of Shaver's su- Donnelly and New Meadows and this permarket to the city's fringe and the place will be kind of empty. It will be growth of strip development along difficult to have any sense of commu- Idaho 55. nity. "Part of why people like it here is McCall's unique situation as a re- because the downtown is a service sort community produces a unique center, where people can go to the social character as well, Schmidt said post office and see each other," he "It's a typical mountain resort corn- said. "There's a certain level of social munity, a rough- and - tumble place fabric." and it has a certain mean- spiritednes, The city also needs to develop a about it," he said. "And the wealthier convention center, similar to the one they are, the meaner they can be." proposed and then abandoned by Schmidt said he has decided not tc Shore Lodge owner Douglas offer advice to Shimun other than to Manchester on the former Payette update him on current projects withil Lake sawmill site near downtown, the city. Schmidt said. This city council wants a fresl start, and he ( Shimun) ought to star See "Schmidt," back page with personalities from his own per spective," he said. McCall Council adopts budget that includes 32 percent 194 -95 tax increase "I'm here to say `no,' we're paying enough," he said. "No, don't raise our taxes any more." Dean Hovdey, a McCall businessman, said there is a big difference, however, between those bonds and overrides and what the Council was doing in passing the tax - increasing budget. That difference is that the citizens had an opportunity to vote on the other issues. There is no voting on the city budget, he said. Using the city's figures, Hovdey said he Budget hearing will be paying about 50 percent more in actual dol- lars to support city operations. draws support for He said he travels quite a bit because of his busi- ness, and has never changed his plans about staying r in a place because there was a bed and booze tax in local o t i o n sales tax effect. He said he was also concerned about the need p for new police cars, which city officials have said need replacing because they have in excess of 120,000 MCCALL — Despite unanimous oppo- miles on them and they're not safe. sition to the proposed budget and the 32 He has a couple of vehicles that also have more percent increase in tax levy rates it will than that number of miles on them, he said, and necessitate, the McCall City Council approved they're safe. The city has to move away from an atti- a $14.8 million budget for the coming year. tude of buying things new just because it would be That amount matches the revenue side nice. of the budget, but a math error led to the There was also criticism of the way the city Council's having to adopt a budget of only describes the budget. 113.8 on the expenditure side. Another pub- Boyd Miller, who pointed on the $1 million math s searing will be heldat which the Council error to city staff, said he viewed it as very mis- will amend that side of the budget. leading to describe the tax increase as a 32 percent Approval came over unanimous concern increase in the levy rate when the actual tax dollars by citizens attending the budget hearing that being paid by the community will increase by about the city was relying to heavily on property 77 percent. taxes'to fund city operations. The difference in percentages, between the levy Scott Findlay, a McCall businessman, increase and the actual dollar increase is due to the said he'd be in favor of a bed and booze tax increased value of the city's tax base. That proper - even though he owns a liquor license. But ty valuation went from about $190 million last year he said the revenue generated by such a tax to about $240 million this year. wouldn't solve the city's fiscal problems. "I don't think it's fair to call it a 32 percent tax "What would is a local option sales tax," increase when the tax dollars coming out of this com- he said. munity are increasing 77 percent," Boyd Miller said. "I'd ask the Council to look at other Council members commiserated with those who sources before we hit the property owners again," Bill Petzak said. "It's getting too damned expensive to live in McCall," John Parker said. 'i Several speakers pointed out the num- ber of hits the McCall taxpayers have taken because of bond levies, overrides and so on. Among those are a school construction bond, a school override, a bond to rebuild the city's water system, and a bond to expand the hos- pital. One speaker, Arta Smith, said she will have to leave McCall as a result of the increas- ing tax burden. And she had planned to retire in McCall. "Right now, I'm taxed right out of the bracket. I can't afford to live here," she said. "I just want you to know that you're forc- ing people who've lived here all their lives to go elsewhere. We can't afford to live here," she said. Gene Gans, another long -time McCall resident, said enough is enough when it comes to a tax increase. spoke out against the tax increase, and said it was a difficult decision for them to make, and that they're all for seeking out alternative revenue sources. "I think everyone on this Council was for mak- ing a run on the bed and booze tax," Council mem- ber Bill Killen said. "We don't have a frivolous wish list here," Council member Lance Eckhardt said. He said the city's infrastructure needs repair as does the equipment that supports that infrastructure. "If the equipment that supports the infrastructure falls apart, the infrastructure falls apart," he said. He also said the city spent more money maintaining two of its police cars last year than payments would have been on two new cars. Council members, after Miller pointed out the mathematical error on the budget, approved it as was but with a footnote that they recognized the error, which was on the expenditure side, and not the rev- enue side. They plan to conduct another public hearing in the near future and amend the existing budget to include all of the expenditures that were part of the budget. The Council already heard a first- reading of a new dog control ordinance that includes some stricter penalties; and also looked at some changes in the city's regulations regarding fees, changing of use, monitoring and grandfathering of sewer hookups. hP 1__ 4 Photo by Tom Grote McCall City Manager Gary Shimun, shown here meeting with City Fire Chief Dale Points says he expects all city staff to "give their all." McCall manager is mild but: "I'm no pushover" BY TOM GROTE The Star -News Gary Shimun hit the ground run- ning when he arrived as McCall's first city manager this summer. Events since his arrival have kept him at a furious pace, but Shimun said he is ready to go the distance. Shimun had hardly arrived for work at McCall City Hall in early July when a series of crises quickly piled up above the normal hectic duties of a resort town manager: • A sewer pumping station failed twice in a week, dumping raw sewage into the North Fork of the Payette River. • It was discovered the city's water system along Deinhard Lane was in- adequate to serve proposed development, including a new middle school and a juvenile detention cen- ter. • The drumbeat grew louder from protectors of Cascade Reservoir for the city to stop allowing treated sew- age to flow into the reservoir. • The largest forest fires in recent memory were sparked by lightning and threatened homes along Payette Lake. An unprecedented number of firefighters, buses, trucks and other equipment descended on the city, clog- ging traffic and creating logistical nightmares. Any one of these events might make a new city manager wonder why he took the job, but Shimun, 38, said he took it in stride. "The situation was not out of con- trol," he said; "I had people to turn to, staff members, department heads and a lot of people in the general public who were willing to help." Reaching out for expertise is at the center of the management philosophy of Shimun, who was hired by the McCall City Council from his former job as city manager in Iron River, Mich. He describes his methods in a mat - ter -of -fact way that sound like he is teaching a college course rather than managing a $14.8 million budget and 35 employees: "You define the problem, deter- mine the resources you have, develop a plan, discuss the plan with appropri- ate parties and implement it," he said. In fact, Shimun taught government and economics courses at a commu- nity college near Iron River, and he hopes he will have a chance to do the same in McCall. Shimun (pronounced SHIH -mun) received a bachelor's degree in politi- cal science from Northern Michigan University in Marquette; Mich. He also holds a master's degree in urban studies, public administration and ur- ban planning4rom the University of Akron in Ohio. He worked as a planner in two small Ohio towns before being named city manager in 1990 at Iron River, a town in the Upper Peninsula of Michi- gan. He was hired by the city of McCall in a process that saw the day -to -day powers of the city passed from the mayor and city administrator to the new post of city manager, with the city council continuing to hold final authority. Iron River is about the same size as McCall, but there the similarities end, Shimun said. "Iron River is shrink- ing, while McCall is on the upswing. Here the attitudes are positive," he said. In his previous job, personalities often became the focus of public de- bates, while he finds discussions in McCall tend to stay on the issues. "People are not afraid to speak up because they might be criticized," he said. Shimun projects a gentle manner behind a quiet voice, but he said he is not a pushover. "I don't get excited very often, but it's like a football game - you have to stay focused," he said. "The key to resolving conflicts "is to come up with a solution neither of you thought of," Shimun said. "It more than likely is better than what both of you had in mind." His emotions rise in his expecta- tions for public employees. "I expect people who draw their paycheck and their livelihood from the city to give their all," he said. "I'm willing to tolerate ignorance if you're willing to learn, but I'm not willing to tolerate incompetence." The biggest challenge now facing the city is rebuilding and expanding its infrastructure - water, sewer, streets - which have been neglected for years, Shimun said. "The city has tons of catching up to do," he said. He noted the $9.9 million water bond passed last year will fund just over half of the $17 million in projects needed. He plans to get the city back on track in street maintenance by paving at least 1 -1/2 miles of street per year. Developers must pay their own way if they expect to be granted per - mission to build new projects, Shimun said. In the past, the city has been too generous to developers, allowingbur- dens to fall back on the city, he said. "That level of generosity should be cut back," he said. "I honestly believe the citizens should not pay for something that benefits private indi- viduals." Shimun and his wife, Cheryl, have two sons, age 8 and 11. He is a fisher- man and a hunter, and he spends his spare time tinkering with his "muscle cars," a 1969 Plymouth GTX and a 1969 Dodge Super B. r McCall presses Spring Mountain on by -pass link BY TOM GROTE The Star -News McCall City Council members last week pressed the developer of Spring Mountain Ranch to speed up acquisi- tion and construction of the final link of an east -side by -pass of McCall. Developer Peter O'Neill - assured council members he would acquire the link by the year's end, but O'Neill could not commit to when construction could begin. The exchange occurred during a spe- cial meeting last Thursday between council members and O'Neill, whose Boise -based O'Neill Enterprises is building the 750 -home development adjacent to the McCall Golf Course. Duringthe 3-1/2 hour meeting, coun- cil members were brought up -to -date on three side agreements approved in 1992 along with the city's general ap- proval of Spring Mountain Ranch. The side agreements outline the obligations of the city and O'Neill Enterprises in building a nine -hole addition to the McCall course, build- ing the by -pass link between Deinhard Lane and Lick Creek Road, and al- lowing the city to build a; water- treatment plant and accompa- nying water lines within the project. Council members were most cop - cerned about efforts to secure the by -pass right -of -way between the north end of Spring Mountain Ranch and Lick Creek Road. The original agreement called for O'Neill to acquire the land, owned by J.B. Scott of Boise, by March 31.O' Neill later asked for an extension to July 1, but missed that deadline as well. Last week, O'Neill assured coun- cil members the acquisition was "a done deal" in that he and Scott had shaken hands and a draft agreement had been written. The deal should signed by Jan. 1, he said. O'Neill reminded council mem- bers his agreement with the city allows the city to step in and condemn the land for the by -pass at any time, but he was trying to negotiate a deal that was best for the city, Spring Mountain and Scott. Once the right -of -way is acquired, a separate issue is when the final link of the by -pass would be built. The road is currently gravel -based between Deinhard Lane and part-way through the project, and the city plans to pave the portion of the by -pass within Spring Mountain Ranch next year. The 1992 agreements says O'Neill Enterprises will build the north leg of the by -pass up to a gravel base, as it did the rest of the by -pass. But con- struction is linked to the formal platting of the 400th lot in the project. Other points raised during last Thursday's meeting included: • Golf Course: O'Neill assured council members he would pay for preparing the new nine holes for play even after the course is turned over to the city. Some construction items may re- main to be completed before the turnover, which is expected to happen after a formal maintenance and op- eration plan is approved in about a month. O'Neill reminded council mem- bers of a clause in one of the agreements that commits Spring Mountain Ranch to pay up to $25,000 for "break -in" costs for the new nine holes before it is opened for play. O'Neill hoped the course could be ready forplay by mid - summer of 1995, but McCall City Manager Gary Shimun said the course may not open at all next year if the turf has not developed so it can survive heavy play. • Irrigation Well: Council mem- bers acknowledged their obligation to pay O'Neill $12,600 for an irriga- tion well to irrigate the new nine holes. Earlier, council members were unsure whether they were required to pay for the well since it was part of the course construction, but Shimun said the agreements clearly state the city will provide the water needed to en- sure the grass can grow. • Snow Storage: O'Neill said the city would be allowed to use 10 -foot buffer strips on either side of the by- pass road through the project for snow storage even though easements for the shoulders were neverformally acquired by the city. O'Neill said he would not object to the city storing snow on the strips as long as trees growing in those areas are not cut down. So far, just the first phase of Spring Mountain Ranch has been platted, con- taining 146 lots, and about 56 lots have been sold, O'Neill said. He could not say when later phases would be platted, as that decision de- pends on how well lots in the first phase sell. Council members asked O'Neill if he could speed up the construction schedule in order to ensure the full by- pass is built soon. O'Neill said he would consider that request, but he was con- cerned completing the full by -pass would invite noisy through traffic, such as snowmobiles and off -road motor- cycles, that might be unpleasant to residents within Spring Mountain Ranch. Mayor Dean Martens urged a firm schedule be negotiated for building the north leg, but the meeting ended with no changes to the original agreement. Star -News Photo by Jeanne Seol McCall engineer, starts work Jacqueline R. DeClue, shown above, is the City of McCall's first in- house engineer. DeClue, a former civil engineer assistant for the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, started her duties for McCall last week. She will be re- sponsible for design and construc- tion of public works projects, su- pervision of staff, and general civil engineer skills. She holds a degree civil engineering from Loyola Marymount University in Los An- geles, Calif. %/fin L�nq �a /lPy �clvoGc��,o /�/� l9s McCall and Council among host sites for A television satellite will con- nect nearly 30 cities across the Columbia River Basin plus Washington D.C. on Jan. 28. Meeting sites include the McCall high school and the Council public library. This is the first time interactive televi- sion has been used to solicit public comment for an environmental impact statement. Steve Mealey, manager of the Upper Columbia River Basin EIS, said his Boise -based team is begin- satellite conference on Snake River basin EIS ning a process that will result in modification of Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management land use plans. He explained the EIS will exam- ine alternative management strate- gies for lands and resources under the jurisdiction of the Agriculture and Interior Department agencies within the Upper Columbia River Basin. The EIS encompasses some 73,000 square miles of agency -man- aged land in Idaho, western Montana, northwestern Wyoming, and small portions of northern Utah, northern Nevada, and eastern Washington. The satellite - linked meetings will be used to gather public reactions to the broad -scale EIS. The meet- ing will begin at 9:30 a.m. on Jan. 28 when members of the public sign in at 29 "downlink" sites through- out the basin and in Washington D.C. During the two hours follow- ing the broadcast, participants at each site will review and propose amendments to the documents. Their comments then will be electroni- cally mailed to Boise. Downlink facilities are being established in Boise and McCall and others around the state as well as in Washington D.C. Specific down- link locations in those cities will be provided in a separate mailing to those who pre- register for the con- ference. Those with personal satellite receivers can view the program by accessing satellite Telstar 302 (T- 2), channel 2, C band. However, those persons will be unable to take part in the facilitated discussions, Mealey explained. Those unable to attend the video sessions will be able to continent on the documents in writing. Copies may be obtained by writing the Upper Columbia River Basin EIS Project, 304 N. 8th St., Room 246, Boise, ID, 83702, or call (208) 334 -1770. McCall's first city manager McCALL — McCall's first city manager recently marked the end of his first year. Gary Shimun, 39, came to Mc- Call from Iron River, Mich., dur- ing Independence Day weekend a year ago after being hired to his $45,780 per year job. "The challenges are here, and completes first year the resources are also here to meet those challenges," Shimun said. McCall's resources include a cooperative City Council and community volunteers. Shimun's hiring was the cul- mination of a two -year debate over the former form of govern- ment made up of a city adminis- trator and a strong mayor. Voters decided in 1993 to try the city manager system. Only Lewiston and Twin Falls use the same system in Idaho. The city manager has broad powers to run city government; the may- or's duties are largely ceremo- nial. After his recent performance evaluation by City Council members, a list of goals and ob- jectives was compiled. Projects focus on making a transition from economic dependency on the timber industry and easing the town's growing pains. McCall g ba"A "We've got to remember that one cow is . rejected responsible for as much phosphorous as one person. " – McCall City Manager Gary Shimun BY STEPHEN STUEBNER For The Star -News BOISE — The Central District Health Department board on Friday rejected a proposed ban on new hous- ing development in McCall. The health board found that both phosphorous and fecal coliform emis- sions at McCall's sewage treatment plant were well below standards of concern, and that a ban on develop- ment was not necessary to protect public health in Cascade Reservoir. Meanwhile, the board urged the City of McCall to move toward elimi- nating discharge of treated sewage into the North Fork of the Payette River and continue down the path of land- applied sewage treatment. "I'm very pleased the board looked at scientific data rather than political rhetoric," said McCall City Manager Gary Shimun, who attended Friday's regular meeting of the board in Boise. "We're running the wastewater treat- ment plant as efficiently as we can." If the health board had approved the ban, it would have affected hun- dreds of home lots already approved by the city, including about 700 units at Spring Mountain Ranch and more than 100 units in The Woodlands, the city's largest new housing develop- ments. The ban was proposed out of con- cern for excessive phosphorous loading in Cascade Reservoir, a shal- low man -made lake that has reeled from excessive algae blooms, oxygen depletion and fish kills in recent years. In the peak of last summer's heat wave, hundreds of fish died from lack of oxygen in the lake. The Cascade Reservoir Association has given the City of McCall notice that it will file a lawsuit if the city did not develop a time line for land - application of sew- age near Lake Fork. That time line has been set, with plans to begin operation of the so- called Maki Alternative in the spring of 1996. The threat of a lawsuit appeared to be the motivating factor for the board considering a ban on new sewage hookups in McCall. "Phosphate loading in the reser- voir is the No. 1 thing that people are thinking about, but McCall is well on the way to dealing with their share of the problem," said Bill Wheeler of Cascade, amemberof thehealth board. "A lot of people are concerned about raw sewage in the river, and that is pretty disgusting, but those things have been mitigated," Wheeler said. Last summer, a backup pump failed twice at a pumping station near the North Fork, allowing raw sewage to dump into the river and drift down- stream. Shimun said the city spent $100,000 to buy a new backup pump at the station, which should prevent a similar accident. "I'm never going to say there's no chance of that happening again, but (See "Health, " Back Page) that pump was an old 1950s- genera- tion pump," Shimun said. Tom Turco, director of environ- mental health for the Central District Health Department, presented infor- mation to the board Friday, showing that the McCall sewer plant had only one violation of fecal- coliform stan- dards in the last six years. Desired phosphate releases from the plant have declined since 1989, and have never exceeded the level of 5,160 kilograms per year, Turco said. In fact, the city's use of sand filters to cut down on algae blooms in sewage lagoons have caused a significant de- cline in phosphate releases, he said. The city passed a ban on sales of detergents containing high levels of Phosphates in April 1991, but only about half of the community's resi- dents actually buy detergent in McCall, he said, so the ban may not be responsible for much of the decline. "We've had a 20 percent reduction in phosphate emissions without do- ing anything," Turco said. At this point, he concluded, "we don't have enough information to show that growth in McCall has aggravated the situation in Cascade Reservoir." Shimun called on Long Valley ranchers and others to work on their share of the phosphate problem to help Cascade Reservoir. "We've got to remember that one cow is responsible for as much phos- phorous as one person," he said. "And we've got 18,000 cows in the valley, and McCall has a community of 2,300 people." According to Turco, one 1,000 - pound beef cow emits about 1.49 ki- lograms of phosphate in its waste per grazing season, and one person emits about 1.59 kilograms per year. Once the discussion on McCall sewage was over, Wheeler and others expressed concern that tourists were staying away from Cascade Reser- voir due to last year's fish kill and release of raw sewage. This year's robust runoff from mountain snow- pack has filled the reservoir with fresh water, Wheeler said. "There's nothing wrong with the fish and there's nothing wrong with the water," he said. "I hope the word gets out about that-" fi/ ys' ropert-y owners dislike costs of sewer, Water BY SHARI HAMBLETON ful well and a septic system." (Toothman -Orton) are not the deci- The Star-News But Acheson agreed with neigh- sion makers. Ithink there's a miscon- A group of McCall property own- boring property owners it might be ception that we are. ers who agreed to organize a special nice to have access to a city water and "We're trying to design a system taxing district to fund a sewer and sewer system for future development. that meets the property owners and water system for their land have found "They told us everything here was the city's requirements," he said. `Ba- the price tag a bit rich for their blood. tentative and preliminary, not final," sically we are trying to solve the tech - Nine property owners with land Acheson said. "The fear is, it (the nical issues. The political issues be- and homes along Idaho 55 near the cost) might even be higher yet." long in the hands of the council and McCall Municipal Airport have Other than seeing surveyors at the property owners." agreed to form a "local improvement Fork, Acheson said he had little con- "It would have made the process district" to pay for the improvements, tact with anyone else regarding the go much smoother if these issues But some of them say they feel project until he received a prelimi- would have come to the surface they have been duped into signing nary cost estimate from project sooner," Furman said. "Our goal is to easements to their property through engineers, Toothman- Orton. _ stay neutral and try to meet the needs misrepresentation of the true cost of "If this is really a temporary sys- of the city and the property owners." the project. tem ... when the pump is pulled we'll "I would admit I should have pur- The move to form the district was be left paying for it for years," Swain sued what was going on," he said. initiated by a few of the land owners said. Scott also challenged the type of After receiving another notification interested in developing their prop- Pump planned for the project. from city officials asking him to come erty. Eventually all nine owners have Furman said the pump — which to McCall City Hall to sign an ap- signed on, if reluctantly. will cost about $115,000 — was cho- proval for easement across his prop- , sen based on recommendations from erty, Acheson complied. "I don't think anyone has McCall Public Works Director Bill "Being a trusting person I went actually objected to Keatin g But Scott told council members down and signed an easement," Acheson said. Two weeks later he having the water and Keating's recommendation was point- received notification his share of the sewer put in. What I'm less because the system would be maintained by the Payette Lakes Water project would likely cost about $42,000 for both water and sewer I going to h to Q is g g have pay and Sewer District, not city work service, plus the regular hookup fee crews. required of all system users. what bothers me. " That was not the initial plan, Acheson wrote a letter of protest Furman said. Changes to the initial and attended a special meeting before - Paul Acheson project plans and objections raised in the McCall City Council last Thurs- "the eleventh hour" have contributed day to discuss the LID project. Project planners say it is impos- to complicating what began as "a very "I told them I was appalled at the sible to produce a final project cost simple project," he said. price," Acheson said of his letter to until the system is completed, but Another area of annoyance for the council. "And that it was going to Bob Furman of Toothman -Orton En- Acheson and Swain includes a 36- be somewhat difficult paying off this gineering said the cost will be about inch pipe being installed across prop- besides the high city taxes we now $310,000 and the project would likely erty owned by Bernard and Frances have." be operational by next spring. Spradling at a cost of $25,000. Other affected property owners, That would be acceptable to Paul. While not integral to the water and including Gary Swain and Malcom Acheson except that Acheson was sewer system design, the pipeline will Scott, also attended the meeting and initially told his portion of the project . divert seasonal storm runoff away presented the council with various would cost him about $15,000, he from Spradling's property. options to reduce the cost of the said. Now that price has gone up to Spradling asked for the pipe to be project. One option would reuse pump about $42,000 for water and sewer installed in exchange for approving equipment from Scott's adjacent de- service. an easement across the property. velopment, Jacob's Manor. Property owners have the option "I would not put in 'the 36 -inch Swain asked council members if it of forming LIDS to raise funds for drainage pipe on the Spradling prop- would be possible for future users of property improvements which would erty," Acheson said in his letter to the system to financially repay the only benefit them, McCall City Trea- council. "All other property owners original LID organizers for a portion surer Jim Henderson said. They then pay the bill over a ex- are (as far as I know.) giving easement free of charge. (It) doesn't make sense of the system. b designed Because the system g y tended period of time, and the larger to pay one owner a large amount." Toothman-Orton is temporary and will community does not have to bear the Construction of the project has be replaced by a gravity flow system cost of the improvements through begun, Furman said, with 70 percent later, Swain asked if equipment could property taxes, Henderson said. ' of the sewer line completed. be salvaged and used elsewhere when I don't think anyone has actually After the project is finished, bills the new system is installed, then cred- objected to having the water and sewer are paid and the total cost is figured, ited back to the LID debt. « put in," Acheson said. "What I'm council members will meet again to I just think its a real hard blow at going to have to a is what bothers g g pay decide how the cost will be divided $20,000 an acre," Swain told council me.,, between the property owners. "I'm just trying to find ways Acheson owns two acres, and with cost figures based on highway front- During that final cost allocation to lower the bill." The type of pump planned for the . age his bill is one of the highest, he meeting, property owners can step forward to request exemption, "But project is also a concern, Swain said. roth al Bo expensive and hard to salvage, said. "This is my own personal resi- Henderson said. that's really pretty late to be doing that." he said other options should con, dence and has been for 28 years," "That's something (the) council sidered. Acheson said. "I don't really need the has to decide," Furman said. "We water and sewer ... I have a wonder- - ?a <J McCall City Council toughens crime laws BY JEANNE HEINS, The Star-News The McCall City Council last Thursday passed an ordinance that stiffens the penalties for obstructing an officer, further prohibits the use of controlled substances and makes 9 -1- 1 hang -ups a misdemeanor. Ordinance No. 691 was read for the third time and approved unani- mously after concerns from council member Bill Killen that parts of the ordinance would be difficult to en- force. A section of the ordinance which makes it unlawful for a person to possess, smoke, ingest, inject or in- hale a controlled substance, would be easy for defense attorneys "to whip, Killen said.. Killen presented a scenario where an innocent bystander could be break- ing the law: "Who's to say if you walk through a room where marijuana is `being used, and if you breathe while passing through that room, you haven't inhaled a controlled sub- stance?" he asked. Killen said he also did not believe it was the city council's job to pass ordinances that related to social re- form. "Is the City of McCall in the busi- ness of social reform ?" Killen said. "We're not equipped or funded to provide social reform. There are county and state agencies whose jobs is it to take care of it." City Attorney Ted Burton said he believed that the ordinance could stimulate change in the illegal posses- sion and use of controlled substances, and council members Ralph Colton and Marilyn Arp said they both be- lieved the ordinance could lead to a greater good. Other sections of the ordinance include: • Changing trespassing from an infraction to a misdemeanor, in order to permit judges to order counseling when alcohol or domestic abuse is contributing to the trespass violation. • Making it a misdemeanor for persons to dial the 9 -1 -1 emergency telephone number and then hang up, or dial 9 -1 -1 and give false informa- tion. Such hang -ups result in wasted time and money from emergency crews, because hang -ups must be con- sidered a dangerous situation , the ordinance says. • Making it a misdemeanor for obstructing and delaying a city offi- cer, police officer, firefighter or other emergency service personnel. Such a violation will be punishable by a fine and not less than three days in jail. w � n/c a I6; lay7 5fGr-2 - lV eLcJ S Star -News Photo by Jeanne Heins New McCall court opens Magistrate Darla Williamson pre- sides over Valley County Magis- trate's Court in the new courtroom located in the Valley County Court- house Annex and Juvenile Deten- tion Center in McCall. Court moved to the new facility, located on Deinhard Lane, earlier this month. Williamson previously held court in the lower level of McCall City Hall, where the McCall City Coun- cil meets. la /'?, 8/945