Minutes
(Minutes subject to council approval)
CITY OF NEZPERCE, IDAHO
REGULAR MEETING
February 10, 2025
MINUTES OF THE SPECIAL MEETING OF THE NEZPERCE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF NEZPERCE, IDAHO, HELD ON February 10, 2025.
PLACE: Nezperce City Hall, 606 Maple Street. Time: 5:30 PM
THE MEETING WAS CALLED TO ORDER BY Mayor Tyler Nelson at 5:30 PM
PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
PRESENT were Councilmembers Tyler Nelson, James Zenner, Kelby Heartburg, and Kimberly Ingram (via teams), Maintenance Department Craig Cardwell and Ben Mauer, Fire Chief Dave Kuther, Clerk/Treasurer Rhonda Schmidt, Deputy Clerk Leigh Ross (via Teams), JUB engineer Steven Schraman and resident Laysn Berry, who is also the new City Clerk of Craigmont. Cm. Mike Jensen was absent.
PUBLIC COMMENT:
MINUTES of the previous meetings of 01/13/2025 were approved upon a motion by Cm. Heartburg, motion was seconded by Cm. Zenner, motion carried.
TREASURER’S REPORT AND MONTHLY BILLS:
The Clerk’s Monthly Treasurer’s Report dated February 10, 2025, was examined, and approved, showing the following:
Funds on Hand $543,175.53
All bills and payroll disbursements were examined and approved for payment upon motion by Cm. Zenner and seconded by Cm. Heartburg in the total $99,605.82 which included a grant disbursement of $33,904.24 check numbers 17947 through 17988. Receipts from the last meeting were shown as $181,523.48. Checks and stub approvals were signed appropriately by all parties as well as all signed the Claim Approval Report for February.
BUSINESS TO BE CONDUCTED
- Nuisance Properties: Dan Johnson was unable to attend, however, he sent an email to Clerk Schmidt and Mayor Nelson requesting the mayor attend the seniors citizens meal and give them an update on the steps the city is taking with the nuisance properties. Mayor Nelson said that he would get there on Thursday.
- Phase 2 Update – JUB Steven Schramm: Steven informed that all the contract information has been completed and sent to Crea Construction to finalize. Steven added that the rebid process cost $27,621.60 for the repackaging of Phase 2. Attached is a copy of the JUB Memo that says that they plan to absorb this cost into their current project budget.
- JUB General Services Contract: The proposed contract was given to the council to review as well as the city attorney who had a few questions for the council prior to the council accepting and signing. Steven asked who has the authority to authorize work; the council and Maintenance Cardwell have the authority to authorize work. Until the new contract is accepted Steven will use the existing agreement to complete the monthly DMR.
- Senior Center Valuation Update: The council received a copy of the current valuation on the Senior Center if it had to be replaced. From that number Mayor Nelson will work on getting a sale price for the building.
- Ordinance Codification Questions: Clerk Schmidt had created a list of questions for the council and the group worked through each of the questions. Clerk Schmidt will then compile their answers and send them to the city attorney for her review.
- Ordinance 2025-03 Mayoral Compensation: Mayor Nelson asked for a motion to dispense with the rule requiring 3 different readings by title or in full and to suspend the rules. Cm. Heartburg moved to suspend the rules while Cm. Zenner seconded the motion, Mayor Nelson asked for a roll call vote.
Roll call vote was as follows:
Cm. Ingram Aye,
Cm. Heartburg Aye,
Cm. Zenner Aye,
Cm. Jensen Absent,
Upon motion by Cm. Zenner to approve Ordinance 2025-03 and seconded by Cm. Heartburg. Mayor Nelson asked for a roll call vote to accept Ordinance 2025-03.
Roll call vote was as follows:
Cm. Ingram Aye,
Cm. Heartburg Aye,
Cm. Zenner Aye,
Cm. Jensen Absent,
- Ordinance 2025-04 Council Compensation: Upon motion by Cm. Ingram to approve Ordinance 2025-04 and seconded by Cm. Zenner, motion carried by the following roll call vote.
Cm. Ingram Aye,
Cm. Heartburg Aye,
Cm. Zenner Aye,
Cm. Jensen Absent,
- Ordinance 2025-05 Policies & Procedures for Utility Payments, Late Fees and Disconnection: Upon motion by Cm. Heartburg to approve Ordinance 2025-05 and seconded by Cm. Ingram, motion carried by the following roll call vote.
Cm. Ingram Aye,
Cm. Heartburg Aye,
Cm. Zenner Aye,
Cm. Jensen Absent,
- Ordinance 2025-06 Water & Sewer Hookups and Service Disconnection: Upon motion by Cm. Zenner to approve Ordinance 2025-04 and seconded by Cm. Heartburg, motion carried by the following roll call vote.
Cm. Ingram Aye,
Cm. Heartburg Aye,
Cm. Zenner Aye,
Cm. Jensen Absent,
- Ordinance 2025-07 Subdivision Ordinance: The council reviewed the ordinance and addressed questions and made decisions as needed to complete the ordinance. The information was passed on to the attorney to compile and complete the ordinance for adoption in March.
- PRLD Update: Clerk Schmidt informed the council that after several months of not having a librarian that the district hired, and the new person starts Monday the 10th. The library has been closed and hardly open during the transition which very much upsetting to members in the community as the district was not sending a substitute and keeping the doors open its regularly scheduled hours. There are also concerns about missing furniture and a vacuum.
- Employee Evaluations: Mayor Nelson informed the council that it is evaluation time again for Craig, Rhonda and Ben. He added that he will be filling out the evaluations for Craig and Rhonda but in turn they will be filling out the evaluations for their employees.
DEPARTMENTAL REPORTS
- Maintenance
Water: Power pole to well 4 is leaning over from the weight of trees at 102 5Th Avenue. Craig started a conversation with Kelby who represents St. John Lutheran Church to find out if they would allow for a pole in the yard or if they would prefer that the city run the electrical in the ground to the well. Cm. Heartburg said that they prefer the electrical in the ground.
Sewer: The building materials were ordered and delivered. Cardwell is working to find a contractor to construct the frame. He thought he had a crew, but they backed out. Cardwell brough up the Phase 2 structure and talked to the council about enclosing the building to protect all the controls and supplies that we will need to house. It will be a change order but can be built and save some money.
Streets: Plowing and hauling snow is in the schedule. Bought a new set of chains for the dump truck as the old ones were worn out. Craig talked with Randy Arnzen about hauling the city’s rock to town from where it is stored, and he said that it would cost $7,500.00 to haul it to town.
Christmas All decorations and lights are put away.
Roll Off: Maintenance will order a roll-off to clean out the newly found mystery room so that we can use it for storage.
- Clerk:
Clerk Schmidt informed the council that she and Leigh sat through a webinar demonstration of a new model of bill pay that Black Mountain is promoting. Schmidt will share more information about this portal adding that it does cost $1,260.00 annually but added that this portal has the ability to create recurring payments. They also have a few ideas on how to promote the usage of the portal to the residents. The more people we get to use the software the more the city saves on postage and paper stock. This portal also posts directly to customer accounts so that there is less room for errors and timely payments. Clerk Schmidt will forward more information on the portal as she gets it.
- Fire Department: Chief Kuther informed that he has tentatively scheduled the Firemen’s dinner fundraiser for April 5th. Cardwell added that all the fire extinguishers have been certified for another year.
- Code Enforcement: No report from the enforcer but Cardwell had Schmidt make some signage for the airport informing people to not drive on the runway and enter at your own risk.
COUNCIL COMMENT/OTHER
ADJOURNMENT: Cm. Heartburg made a motion to adjourn at 7:13PM, motion was seconded by Cm. Zenner, motion carried.
Other/Upcoming Events:
Upcoming Council Meetings: March 10th at 5:30PM and April 14th at 7AM
Holiday Closures: February 17th
The next regularly scheduled city council meeting will be on Monday, March 10th at 5:30PM at City Hall.
Tyler R. Nelson, Mayor Rhonda J. Schmidt, Clerk- Treasurer