MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SODA SPRINGS, CARIBOU COUNTY, IDAHO HELD JULY 7TH, 2010.

MEETING CALLED TO ORDER AT 5:00PM BY KIRK L. HANSEN, MAYOR.

ROLL CALL SHOWED THE FOLLOWING PRESENT: KIRK L. HANSEN, MAYOR

RANDALL E. PRESCOTT, PRES.

MITCHELL J. HART

LYNDA LEE

TODD B. SMITH

EXCUSED:

ALSO PRESENT: Carol Alworth Alan Skinner, Director

CHAT TV Staff Tausha Vorwaller, Clerk

Darek Kimball Clyde Nelson, Attorney

Krystal Firebaugh

Chief Bjorkman

Galen Wilson

The invocation was given by Carol Alworth, Mayor Hansen then led everyone in the

‘Pledge of Allegiance’.

The Council reviewed the minutes from the last meeting and the payroll and accounts payable for June. Councilmember Prescott moved to dispense with the reading of the June 23rd, 2010 minutes and approve them as written along with the payroll and accounts payable for June, 2010. Councilmember Smith seconded the motion. Councilmember Hart pointed out that Galen Wilson’s name was misspelled in the minutes of the last meeting. Clerk Vorwaller will correct them. A vote on the motion to approve the minutes and payables was held. All in favor, motion carried.

(SEE ATTACHED PAYROLL & ACCOUNTS PAYABLE REGISTERS FOR DETAIL)

Mayor Hansen administered the oath of office to Galen Wilson as a new member of the Greater Soda Springs Community Development Committee. The Mayor and Council thanked him for joining the Committee and his willingness to serve.

Fire Chief Bjorkman met with the Council to inform them of some communication problems the Fire Department is having. Chief Bjorkman explained that they are having trouble getting a clear radio call from dispatch. Some of the calls come through clear and others don’t. The Chief stated that he thinks it is just a connection or tuning problem and that they don’t need new radios. The Chief mentioned that he plans to meet with Sheriff Anderson to discuss the issue. Mayor Hansen suggested coordinating with dispatch to test all the radios at one time from one location to try and solve the problem. Fire Chief Bjorkman also reported that the City had not been called to a County fire since his concerns were discussed with the County and the Chief mentioned that he

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appreciated the County Fire Department coming to help at the 4th of July Fireworks. Chief Bjorkman will report back on the radio issue. The Chief also reminded the Mayor and Council of the Fire Department’s summer barbeque on July 17th at 6:30pm.

Director Skinner presented the final draft of the Waste Water Treatment Plant Preliminary Engineering Report along with a letter to the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ). The letter requests DEQ to accept the Technical Memorandum and Preliminary Engineering Report, prepared by Forsgren Associates, as supplemental information to the Facility Planning Study (FPS) and Environmental Information Document (EID) in order to move forward with the project. The Council reviewed the list of individuals who should receive a copy of the letter to DEQ. Councilmember Hart suggested adding all the local State Legislators. Mayor Hansen recommended approval of the Preliminary Design Report and the letter to DEQ signed by Director Skinner. Councilmember Hart moved to approve Director Skinner executing the letter to DEQ regarding the supplemental information to the Waste Water Treatment FPS and EID as contained in the Technical Memorandum and Preliminary Engineering Report prepared by Forsgren Associates. Councilmember Lee seconded the motion. All in favor, motion carried.

The Mayor and Council again reviewed the health insurance options. Clerk Vorwaller presented the costs of different options. The Council reviewed the increased costs to the City along with the increased cost to the employee’s premiums. One option considered would be to cover the employee only which is how the School, County and several other cities handle health insurance. Councilmember Prescott stated that unless the City is committed to spending a lot more money for health insurance, then he feels the only option is to stay with the current plan with Assurant and NexStep which he knows is not a popular choice but feels it provides the best coverage for the cost. The rest of the Council agreed with Councilmember Prescott and stated they do not like the idea of leaving families without insurance and fiscally cannot ignore the extreme cost of going back to Blue Shield. The Council requested that Clerk Vorwaller work with Assurant and NexStep to simplify processes and educate local medical offices and the employees on how to file claims and get the most benefit out of the insurance. It was also suggested that Michele Hart and Julie Nelson could share their experience and knowledge of the filing procedures to help others avoid delays in getting claims processed. Mayor Hansen also requested a review of and training with the Kansas City Life vision plan. Councilmember Smith moved to approve renewing the City’s health insurance plan with Assurant Health and NexStep. Councilmember Prescott seconded the motion. All in favor, motion carried.

The Mayor and Council reviewed and discussed the proposed FY2011 budget. Councilmember Hart pointed out a few things to consider which included the cost of animal control versus the revenue brought in from animal licensing, fines and fees.

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New rules regarding weed treatment of the hydro canal was discussed and also whether the City was utilizing its full water right to maximize power generation. Director Skinner explained that there are times the City backs off on its water use to help out the irrigators. Councilmember Hart suggested that if the City was not maximizing generation it may be costing more to operate and maintain the hydro plants than the benefit the City is receiving from them. Councilmember Hart suggested the City may be subsidizing the irrigators at the expense of the citizens. Director Skinner will review the City’s generation and the hydro plants maintenance and operation costs and also research the City’s water use compared to water rights. Councilmember Smith reported that he checked on the cost for sealing the Police Department parking lot which would be approximately $1100 including a soft spot repair. Councilmember Smith suggested scheduling it to be done in conjunction with the Sims parking lot. The Mayor and Council discussed the Police Department roof and agreed that a truss roof with tin is the best long term solution. Director Skinner will get some cost quotes on the roof. Mayor Hansen asked the Council to consider whether it is prudent to give a 3% cost of living allowance (COLA) when the City is struggling with lower revenues and has to increase taxes and fees to the citizens to keep up with rising costs. The Council discussed the issue at length and agreed to be fiscally responsible they needed to consider none or a lower COLA but would like to give the employees something to help offset the increased cost of insurances. The Mayor and Council agreed to a 1 ½ % wage increase. Utility rate increases were discussed. Clerk Vorwaller mentioned that 5% water and sewer rate increases had been added to the proposed budget. Director Skinner pointed out that the bond portion of the sewer rate will need to be increased from the current $17 to $40 in order to cover loan payments if the project ends up costing the full $12 million. Councilmember Smith suggested increasing sewer rates more than 5% to get the rate up to where it needs to be. Mayor Hansen recommended holding off till we see how much the WWTP ends up costing. Director Skinner discussed with the Council the new street sweeper quotes and financing options. The new dustless sweeper costs $242,500 and could be financed with payments of $52,700 over 5 years. A refurbished unit would be $130,000. Director Skinner explained that the quotes do not include trade-in value and mentioned that trade-in values are low right now, also the current sweeper is not a bad machine and does not have an extreme amount of hours on it but if the City waits too long to replace it the maintenance costs will increase. The Mayor suggested leaving the payment in the budget for now and mentioned that he received several nice comments on how clean the City is and realizes that keeping it clean comes at a price. Councilmember Prescott commended the City Crews on the preparation for the 4th of July celebration. The Council also commended Gene Lish and his crew on the success of the kid’s carnival.

Councilmember Prescott moved to approve entering into executive session pursuant to I.C. 67-2345(1)(f) to communicate with legal counsel regarding probable litigation. Councilmember Hart seconded the motion. A roll call showed the following vote:

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Those voting aye: Mitch Hart Those voting nay: none

Randy Prescott

Lynda Lee Absent: none

Todd Smith

Motion Carried.

Councilmember Lee moved to exit executive session, seconded by Councilmember Prescott. All in favor, motion carried.

Councilmember Prescott moved to adjourn the meeting at 6:30pm, seconded by Councilmember Smith. All in favor, motion carried.

PASSED AND APPROVED BY THE MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL THIS 21ST DAY OF JULY, 2010.

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Kirk L. Hansen, Mayor

ATTEST:

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Tausha Vorwaller, Clerk