February 24, 2010 Minutes
City of Heyburn Council Meeting Minutes
February 24, 2010
7:00 P.M.
Council Present:
Cleo Gallegos, Rocky Baker, Leann Smith, and Joanne Justesen.
Employees Present:
Deb Hopkins, Scott Spevak, and Steve Tuft.
Visitors Present:
Ralph Martini, Jan Bywater, Ralph Williams, Heather Birkhimer, Vernon Stephens, Norma and Bill Morrison, Max and Marlane Garner, Stan Zielinski, Anna Johnson, Travis Higby, Mayor Terry Greenman, and Dan Bristol.
Meeting conducted by Mayor George A. Anderson.
Mayor Anderson welcomed everyone to the meeting. He led those in attendance in the Pledge of Allegiance.
An agenda may be amended after the start of a meeting upon a motion that states the reason for the amendment and states the good faith reason the agenda item was not included in the original agenda posting.
Mayor Anderson entertained a motion to amend the agenda to include an Executive Session for Personnel and Matters of Commerce as authorized by Idaho Code Section 67-2345. Motion by Rocky Baker to amend the agenda to include an Executive Session for Personnel. Second by Joanne Justesen. Roll Call Vote: Cleo Gallegos – Aye; Rocky Baker – Aye; Leann Smith – Aye; Joanne Justesen – Aye.
Mayor Anderson also entertained a motion to amend the agenda to include the BPA Agreement motion by Leann Smith. Second by Rocky Baker. Roll Call Vote: Cleo Gallegos – Aye; Rocky Baker – Aye; Leann Smith – Aye; Joanne Justesen – Aye.
Mayor Anderson welcomed City of Burley Mayor Terry Greenman. Mayor Greenman spoke to the mayor and council saying he would like to build a bridge. He also stated the sign at the industrial park is going to be changed back to the way it was before. He stated he would like the Heyburn City Council to consider his administration as a new administration with great opportunities. He said the future is very bright as they are currently working on six different projects. He continued by saying growth and building relationships are important to our area. The Mayor and council members thanked Mayor Greenman for coming.
Approve Minutes of the Council Meetings on February 9 and 10, 2010.
Motion by Rocky Baker to approve the minutes for the Council Meetings on February 9 and 10, 2010. Second by Leann Smith. Vote: Cleo Gallegos – Aye; Rocky Baker – Aye; Leann Smith – Aye; Joanne Justesen – Aye.
Discuss/Approve Paying the Bills.
Motion by Leann Smith to approve paying the bills with the exception of Warrant #16757. Second by Cleo Gallegos. Cleo Gallegos stated that she would like to go on record for rejecting the one bill for contract labor – Warrant 16757. Leann Smith stated she would like to further discuss Warrant 16757 in executive session. Vote: Cleo Gallegos – Aye; Rocky Baker – Aye; Leann Smith – Aye; Joanne Justesen – Aye.
First Reading – Ordinance No. 528 & 529 Cableone Franchise Agreement & Project Mutual Telephone Franchise Agreement, respectively.
Motion by Rocky Baker to have City Attorney Steve Tuft read Ordinance No. 528 and 529 by title only for the first reading. Second by Cleo Gallegos. Vote: Cleo Gallegos – Aye; Rocky Baker – Aye; Leann Smith – Aye; Joanne Justesen – Aye.
City Attorney Steve Tuft read Ordinance No. 528 and 529 by title only.
Discuss/Approve Cable One Pole and Easement Use Agreement
Discuss/Approve Project Mutual Telephone Pole and Easement Use Agreement
City Attorney Steve Tuft encouraged the council members to read through the Pole and Easement Use Agreements for both companies and make note of any questions they may have at the next meeting. This item will appear on the next two agendas.
Leann Smith asked if $500,000 was enough insurance coverage. She further asked if raising the insurance amount to $1,000,000 would be possible. Steve Tuft said he would check with both organizations to see if increasing the limit to $1,000.000 would be acceptable.
Discuss/Approve O & M Contract Increase – United Electric – Ralph Williams
Ralph Williams from United Electric briefly discussed the reasoning behind the increase in the contract with United Electric. The 3% increase would start this year and every year increase 2.75% thereafter.
Motion by Leann Smith to approve Addendum No. 1 on the O & M Agreement and authorize the mayor to sign the agreement. Second by Cleo Gallegos. Vote: Cleo Gallegos – Aye; Rocky Baker – Aye; Leann Smith – Aye; Joanne Justesen – Aye.
Discuss Vacating Cassia Street – Max Garner
Max Garner presented an Agreement and Conditional Agreement request to the Mayor and council members regarding vacating parts of Cassia Street and easements for the intended use of installing a sign.
City Attorney Steve Tuft stated that his concern is the lack of a master plan for that area. Citing that if each small area was vacated on a case by case basis, the east side of the City would be sealed off and land locked with very limited access. The need for a master plan was discussed.
Another meeting was planned to include Rob Ramsey from Civil Science, Paul Aston, Scott Spevak, and Max Garner to gather more information. After obtaining the needed information from the engineers and all concerned parties, a recommendation could then be presented to the mayor and council members.
Discuss/Approve $250,000 USDA Rural Development Grant for the Sewer Plant Renovation
Discuss/Authorization to borrow $1,000,000 from USDA Rural Development for the Sewer Plant Renovation
Travis Higby from Forsgren Associates briefed the mayor, council members and those present on the status of the Sewer Plant Renovation project. He said it has been a five-year process which is very close to being completed, with only some small items to be taken care of.
He stated that we are in the process of getting our final numbers and all the paperwork tied up to close the interim loan with Zions Bank and move on to USDA.
There are few other items at the plant that were not in the original plan. One is a jet truck. He said Robert Lanford from Rural Development is looking at how much money we actually have left over and also checking to see if more money is available.
Motion by Rocky Baker to accept Resolution No. 2010-3 Water or Waste System Grant Agreement. Second by Joanne Justesen. Vote: Cleo Gallegos – Aye; Rocky Baker – Aye; Leann Smith – Aye; Joanne Justesen – Aye.
BPA Transmission Service Agreement
Ralph Williams briefed the mayor and council on the history of the transmission agreement called IDEA. The largest single transmission contract is with IDEA which the City of Heyburn is a part of. He stated that BPA had said they would give preferential treatment for the convenience of having to only deal with one entity. Mr. Williams went on to say that lots of things did not happen the way BPA said they were going to. The BPA Transmission Service Agreement was the first step in backing out of IDEA and BPA fully supported the agreement.
Motion by Rocky Baker to authorize Mayor Anderson to sign the BPA Transmission Service Agreement. Second by Cleo Gallegos. Vote: Cleo Gallegos – Aye; Rocky Baker – Aye; Leann Smith – Aye; Joanne Justesen – Aye.
Executive Session for Personnel and Matters of Commerce as authorized by Idaho Code Section 67-2345.
The mayor and council went into executive session.
Executive Session Minutes.
Council Present:
Cleo Gallegos, Rocky Baker, Leann Smith and Joanne Justesen.
Employees Present:
Steve Tuft and Scott Spevak.
Meeting conducted by Mayor George A. Anderson.
No decisions were made.
The executive session ended at 8:40 p.m.
George A. Anderson, Mayor
Deborah F. Hopkins, City Clerk