Minutes
(Minutes subject to council approval)
CITY OF NEZPERCE, IDAHO
SPECIAL & REGULAR MEETING
January 10, 2022
MINUTES OF THE SPECIAL AND REGULAR MEETING OF THE NEZPERCE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF NEZPERCE, IDAHO, HELD ON January 10, 2022.
PLACE: Training Room, Nezperce City Hall, 606 Maple Street.
THE MEETING WAS CALLED TO ORDER BY MAYOR BATEMAN AT 5:30P.M.
PRESENT were Councilmembers Steve Bateman, Michelle Lyons, James Zenner, Mike Jensen and Tyler Nelson; Maintenance Supervisor Craig Cardwell, Clerk-Treasurer Rhonda Schmidt and Office Assistant Kim Johnson. Guests present were residents Brad Fischer, Mike Ingram, Dan Johnson and newly elected councilmember Kimberly Ingram. Fire Dave Kuther was absent.
Pledge of Allegiance: The pledge was led by Mayor Bateman.
PUBLIC HEARING
- Budget Amendment Ordinance 2022-1: The ordinance will amend the prior year budget $4,896 in the water fund for expenditures used for authorized services. Mayor Bateman asked for a motion to suspend the rules, Cm. Nelson moved to suspend the rules while Cm. Jensen seconded the motion, roll call vote was as follows:
Jensen: Aye,
Zenner: Aye,
Nelson: Aye,
Lyons: Aye.
Cm. Nelson moved to accept the ordinance as written, motion was seconded by Cm. Jensen, motion carried with the following roll call vote.
Jensen: Aye,
Zenner: Aye,
Nelson: Aye,
Lyons: Aye.
- Comprehensive Plan – Review to Adopt: Mayor Bateman asked for additional comments or changes to be made to the current plan before moving to adopt. No one had anything to add, therefore Mayor Bateman asked for a motion to suspend the rules. Cm. Jensen moved to suspend the rules, motion was seconded by Cm. Zenner, motion carried, roll call vote was as follows:
Jensen: Aye,
Zenner: Aye,
Nelson: Aye,
Lyons: Aye.
Cm. Jensen moved to accept the plan as compiled, Cm. Zenner seconded the motion. Motion was passed with the following roll call vote:
Jensen: Aye,
Zenner: Aye,
Nelson: Aye,
Lyons: Aye.
PUBLIC COMMENT
No members of the public were in attendance to make comment.
MINUTES of the previous meeting of 12/13/21 were approved as emailed upon a motion by
Cm. Zenner was seconded by Cm. Lyons, motion carried.
TREASURER’S REPORT AND MONTHLY BILLS:
The Clerk’s Monthly Treasurer’s Report dated January 10, 2022 was examined and approved, showing the following:
Funds on Hand $593,811.07
All bills and payroll disbursements were examined and approved for payment upon a motion by Cm. Zenner and seconded by Cm. Nelson in the total of $37,758.35 check numbers 16218 through 16267. Receipts since the last meeting were shown as $50,407.14. Checks and stub approvals were signed appropriately by all parties as well as the Payment Approval Report for January. Let it be noted that due to a change in council positions the bank account information for the Cottonwood Community Credit Union will be updated adding Cm. Ingram and Office Assistance Kim Johnson and removing Michelle Lyons.
BUSINESS TO BE CONDUCTED
- Swearing in of Councilmembers Jensen and Ingram: Mayor Bateman swore in the newly elected councilmembers. He then presented Cm. Lyons with a plaque and check for her years of service and thanked her for the last 4 years.
- Council President Election: Mayor Bateman held an election for council president by closed ballet. Cm. Nelson was elected president with two votes; Cm. Zenner and Jensen both received 1 vote each. Mayor Bateman appointed the following departments to each of the councilmembers for the coming years.
Cm. Ingram: water & sewer
Cm. Jensen: fire, dog and sheriff
Cm. Zenner: streets
Cm. Nelson: finances
- 2022 Liquor License Approve: Cm. Zenner moved to approve the 3 liquor licenses for the following businesses: The Only Store, Coach’s and the Nezperce Hotel. Cm. Nelson seconded the motion, motion carried.
- Land App Update – Property Acquisition: Cm. Nelson reported that he, JUB Engineer Amy Uptmor and Mayor Bateman met with Ron Payne and his daughter to discuss purchase options. Where we sit right now is purchasing 30 acres for $216,000 with a lease option to buy the remaining 70 acres with an owner carry contract for 40 years. The family wishes to keep the homestead property. Emanate domain was discussed and that is the option no one wants but it is an option. This was a positive meeting and Amy was able to explain the importance of the purchase of this property and what it means to the city. There was a question of the Gun Club property and it was reiterated that the Gun Club property is not part of the purchase the city is working on. City reps will check in with the Payne’s in a month after they have had time to think things over.
- CEDA Contract for Grant Administration for Land App Project: No discussion was needed regarding the CEDA contract. Cm. Nelson moved to approve and sign the contract, motion was seconded by Cm. Zenner, motion carried.
- Trombetta Property Update: Rumor has it the property is sold so the new owners will have to deal with what is left over after the snow melts. The roll off is gone.
- Robin Baune – Oak Street Property Utility Bill: Mayor Bateman has been meeting with Baune to discuss options for the Oak Street property he is not using; Baune would like the city to write off the outstanding bill and not charge anything further until he does something with the property or sells it. Following discussion Cm. Nelson made a motion to not charge for additional fees moving forward and waive the $300 disconnection fee but once Baune decides to use the property again he will be required to pay the outstanding bill or if he sells the property, he will pay the outstanding bill and the new owner will be required to pay a hook-up fee of $3,000. Cm. Ingram seconded the motion, motion carried.
- Scott Request to Combine Parcel Numbers: Clerk Schmidt informed the council that Ethan Scott has two parcel numbers as there were two different residents there in the past. He has owned the property for a couple years and just built a shop and he is having issues insuring the shop since its on its own parcel number. Scott wrote the council requesting that his house and shop be combined to one number. The council is fine with the request. Clerk Schmidt will write a letter to Scott and send a copy to the Assessor’s office.
- Senior Center Water Damage: King Services has taken samples and are sending them off to determine if there is asbestos; if there is then the price of the repair goes way up but if there isn’t Kings Services can move on the repairs. Discussion followed and the majority of the council agreed to save the building.
DEPARTMENTAL REPORTS
- Maintenance
Water: Cardwell reported that maintenance repaired a leak in the RV Park last month. Electrician Phil Stradley called and will be scheduling the well control repair called and will schedule the work as soon as the last part comes in.
Parks: Christmas lights will be turned off; maintenance will get the lights down when they can.
Garbage Collection: Cardwell gave kudos to Walco who have done a great job picking up the garbage against all the weather issues in the last couple weeks. The conditions have been extreme and trucks have been stuck but most of the garbage was collected. Cardwell will be notifying certain residents to put their totes on the road verses alleys to help matters. Residents will be asked on the city Facebook page to help out by removing snow from around fire hydrants.
Sewer: Discharging continues.
Streets: Maintenance has been hauling off snow but is really out of space until some melts. Cardwell will be getting price quotes for sewer pipe for the Willow and Birch Street projects.
- Clerk
Building Inspection: The search for a building inspector continues and we may have to go to the state. John Smith with the City of Lewiston will assist us on a temporary basis.
Airport: The budget the engineer created for the runway widening project is in council packets for review. The city is not quite sure of how much we need to come up with yet but it may be minimum even though we were told there would not be any out of pocket needed.
Fire Hydrant Adoption Program: The cities of Kamiah and Cottonwood are adopting such programs; it would be a great idea to follow suit in Nezperce.
- Fire Department – no report
COUNCIL COMMENT
Grant Opportunity: Blue Cross is working on community grants and we will know more in a few weeks.
ADJOURNMENT: Meeting adjourned at 7:09PM
Other/Upcoming Events:
Upcoming Council Meetings: February 14th and March 14th at 5:30PM
Holiday Closures: January 17th
The next regularly scheduled city council meeting will be on Monday, February 14th at 5:30PM at City Hall.
__________________________ _____________________________
Steve A. Bateman, Mayor Rhonda J. Schmidt, Clerk-Treasurer