City Council - Regular Meeting

We're good. I got

no one. Okay. All right. Good evening. Real quick, just so everyone's aware on new business for action item number two, consider contract with Copper Quill for Animal Shelter Services. That has been pulled and we will not be covering that tonight. So, if anyone was here for that, we'll notify at a later date when that'll be open. Good. We're good. All right. I will call tonight's city council meeting to order and welcome those that have joined us. First on the agenda is the invocation [clears throat and cough] which tonight will be offered by Phil Wetbeck, Cobble Fire Chaplain. Sorry. Um back here. And please stand if you're able and join us in prayer and remain standing for the pledge of allegiance. Almighty God, once again we come before you and humbly ask that you would lead us through this meeting and all of the plans for the future. We know that we live today in very turbulent times in many places and areas. So we constantly continually pray for your safety and for your wisdom for those who lead us, for those of that offer protection for our great city, for those that give us wisdom. Lord, we know it comes from you. So we ask for it continually. Be with us tonight, Lord. I pray that you'd guide the thoughts as we progress through this hour in Jesus name. Amen.

Amen. Allegiance. I aliance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Thank you, chaplain. All right. The next item on the agenda is the roll call. Clerk, would you please call the role? Councelor Tilmont, here. Councelor Stodd, here. Councelor Register here. Councelor Williams here. Councelor Algood here. Councelor Denber here.

All right. With all council members and the mayor present, next is a conflict of interest declaration. Are there any members who have conflict of interest declare relating to anything on tonight's agenda? Mr. Councelor [clears throat] Denver. Even though it's not a conflict of interest under the uh strict definitions of Idaho code, there is a item of business on the consent calendar regarding a contract with my place of employment. So out of the abundance of caution, I will abstain from voting on the consent calendar.

All right. Thank you for informing us of that, Councelor Denber. All right. Next on the agenda is the annual report for the Caldwell Veterans Council and Terry Herrell is here tonight to provide this report and we appreciate your attendance.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor, council members. Uh rather lengthy uh slideshow there. Most of it is meant for uh you, Mr. Mayor, and the new city council members to kind of get you up to speed on the history. started clear back in 2013 with the hall uh when we first initially started in that we appointed the Kell Veterans Council as an official board that represents the city of Caldwell uh to help uh resolve and uh fix uh any issues with veterans through through our community, the greater community here. So, an update there. So you should be receiving uh now that we know who the city's leazison will be uh a letter from us with uh the appointed positions uh for the city uh for the mayor you sir and and the council's approval on that on that board. Uh next slide. Okay. So, uh, what this slide shows that we're open Monday through Friday, essentially the number of volunteer hours. One big thing I'd like to point out though is that our organization, the Cwell Veterans Council, is made up of all volunteers. Uh, we get paid no money at all. uh when you when you look at us compared to other veteran uh operations or programs throughout uh the United States, throughout Idaho, most all of them, actually majority of them, 99% of them pay their staff. Some of them as high as threequarters of a million dollar for their CEO. So, what we've got uh here in Caldwell is really one of a kind thing where we have uh not just veterans, but people that represent our community. We have uh a member of the Cwell City

Council, Cwell PD, and Nampa City Council and Nampa PD. uh and then representatives from veteran organizations and other members within the community that make up this that look over our veteran issues throughout the community and uh and come up with plans to resolve it and I appreciate the the city's part that they've played in that for the last 12 years and thank you. So 100% of the grants and the donations that we receive goes to helping veterans and paying operating maintenance costs uh at the veterans hall. Next slide. Uh again it was established in 2014 uh 13 member board uh that is voted on each year and then ratified and approved by uh this board right here. Next slide. Uh we have programs activities that strengthen the community uh greatly. Uh we work within the the schools with the mentorship programs. Uh we help the the city with uh what's uh been called the second largest uh parade independent state parade in the state. Uh we help uh with all the civic organizations and their activities throughout. Uh we provide high-powered highquality programs to our veterans and families throughout uh this entire region. It's I know it started out here, but it's expanded that we're uh just the other day received a call from the police chief in Wilder that they had a a veteran in a car didn't uh his car wouldn't start and didn't have gas to started 16 degrees and that uh windows were frosted over on the inside and they were afraid for his uh welfare. So, a couple of us went out, checked on him,

and got his vehicle jump started, tank full of gas, and got him over to the boyy rescue mission so he'd have a warm bed and a hot meal in his stomach. So, it's those kind of quick quick kind of things that we can jump in and do. Pride resources. We gave him a gas card so he could uh continue as he was moving about to get uh to keep his his car going. He had actually uh a health issue that uh kind of broke up his place of where he lived uh and he expected to get a social security that Thursday. So he had money coming in where he'd be able to be able to take care of himself. Next slide. uh with pride in the in the school uh programs in the Cwell uh foundation educational opportunities. Uh there's been a a scholarship uh established there where we had Simp Plots donate 5,000 and a family donate 5,000. So, there's $10,000 uh program set there for a scholarship, which is $1,000 a year that's given out to the Cwell School District for a dependent of a a veteran or somebody is currently serving uh in the military. Uh we have an adaptive school or scout program uh which we're pretty proud of. It's uh scouts that all have handicaps from uh agility to uh some that have uh learning disabilities, etc. So, it's a it's a high uh parent and leader uh ratio to it. And it's been as high as 55 youth in that program. Uh they didn't have a place to be able to hold those meetings or activities. So, we've uh adapted them uh into the building and

and uh and are and glad to work with them. Next slide. Through uh different veteran organizations throughout the state. Uh Joining Forces Idaho, Idaho Veterans Network are the two big ones. Joining Forces Idaho is is funded and and established by the Idaho Division of Veteran Services. And then Idaho Veterans Network is a nonprofit that uh their CEO is actually paid. but we network with them and then throughout the the entire state of Idaho, if we have a veteran uh that is in need of something that we don't have ourselves, a resource, uh a good example is we had an Air Force uh lady that uh that had passed away and her daughter didn't have the money to be able to uh bury her or to do a a service. and we reached out and was able to uh get enough money through donations to be able to to help her with that. So that that program is growing considerably more and more all the time. Uh although uh the Idaho Veterans Network now has taken over the uh reefs across uh the nation for the veteran cemeteries. So they're they're covering the four veteran cemeteries in Idaho now instead of that uh reefs across America. And so they're their funds are really heavily focused on that until they can get uh money established resources to be able to take care of that. But uh they're serving approximately about 130 veterans each month uh conducting meetings and workshops through that. Next slide. We uh we also provide a weekly AA substance abuse program uh there at the hall that is free not just to veterans

but the general public. Anybody can go there and partake of that. And that program every Thursday night grows from 8 to about 20 22 depending on the weather and uh the time of year. Uh that counseling's free. Uh and it then we have a counselor downstairs that is Monday through Tuesday right now. We're open that program to grow through Monday through Friday that can do uh PTSD, marriage counseling, youth uh behavioral health issues, homelessness, suicide, uh all of those kind of programs. Uh a neat program that uh that we've been sharing through our uh coal police department layers on is a compact act which has been established by the VA where a veteran that is suffering from mental health crisis can be taken uh by himself or by law enforcement family members to any emergency room or uh hospital and can be admitted uh to a resident or for an outpatient course there for free. Uh the only issue is that the veterans got to contact the VA within 72 hours. And we've worked with the West Valley Medical and St. Luke's. So that one of their key questions they ask now is if they're uh putting somebody in for a mental health crisis is are you a veteran? If they are, then those two facilities know the name of the person to call, phone number, etc. so that the veteran doesn't have to face uh a bill or something when they come back out because they weren't able to make that phone call within 72 hours. Okay, next slide. Again uh we have uh connections with u

multiple resources of housing, employment, medical, mental health assistance, legal assistance, burial, humanitarian support throughout uh not just the city but uh throughout the entire state. Now, uh we actually had three cars that were donated to us that we were able to go back in and uh with a couple of veteran mechanics that we know able to fix those cars up and get those into the hands of some uh veterans where one family their vehicle had broke down. It was their only uh vehicle they had for him to get to work. Uh and it was going to cost $2,200 to fix it. We were able to give them the very next day a vehicle so he didn't miss work. It was a little uh 92 Jimmy uh four-wheel drive that worked perfectly for the family. Still working great. So, uh, we had another another veteran that got a DUI that couldn't drive to work and we were able to get, uh, a business in Nampa to donate electric bike and a helmet so he could continue to get to work and, uh, provide for himself and his family. Uh the slide there also lays out a pretty healthy list of uh resources that we've been able to help in the community this year with over 3,000 pounds of non-p perishable canned food. Uh 2500 in food cards. Uh just goes on down. Uh with the uh government shutdown this last year, uh we were able to step in and help. There's uh 254 junior enlisted families that didn't have the money to buy uh food for Thanksgiving and through Grateful Hearts, we teamed up with them and uh were able to get boxes of uh the uh necessary food so that they could feed their families a Thanksgiving meal in

it. And I was told that it was uh a little over a,024 people or individuals that that actually impacted. So, it was pretty neat deal. Uh, hotel rooms that we're able to put people into. We have a contract with a couple of the motel here that give us a little bit of a break uh to get somebody into until we can get them either to Boyisey or somewhere else to a shelter uh if it's that if it's that issue. Okay, next slide. Uh we provide office space for two certified, nationally certified uh veteran service officers that have the ability to go online, look up medical records, service records, etc. and work with the veteran or family members to actually uh provide the service right there without them having to go to Boise or anywhere else and work uh disability claims, compensation, education, uh vote training uh if uh a survivor uh benefits for widows, I mean they can they can do a toz and they we have two there right now uh and and They work steady Monday through Friday. Uh, and we'll see 100 to 120 uh, veterans a week. That's a huge workload. And that's people that we're helping right here. Uh, success story is huge. We had a a uh Korean War veteran that came in uh about four years ago that uh had zero disability and uh went through his medical records with one of the service officers and four months later he was uh at 100% disability. So he went from him and his wife living on their social security, which is about $1,800 a month, to having a 100%

disability of $4,000. changed their quality of life uh and their ability to be a part of this community. You know, they were pretty well housebound and now they've got the money to be able to care for themselves uh and get out and participate um at the restaurants and the other other things that we have in our community. So, it's a great benefit. Next slide. Memorial Day. Uh we've picked that up now for uh a lot of years and it uh we lined the route going into there with the hundred big flags and then last year we placed over a thousand flags. We're working with the database that the city now has for Kenny Hill Cemetery. Uh and we're working to try and get it clearly identified all the veteran uh graves there. But over a thousand flags and we have volunteers that help us do that. put 94 out at the Green Leaf uh cemetery and uh we may end up uh helping out at Hillrest Memorial Gardens this year uh with flags there as well. We'll put those out the Saturday before and then pick them up Tuesday following afterwards. Uh we have great volunteer turnout. Start at 9ine and usually by noon we're done putting those flags out or picking them back up. So, we really appreciate uh the organizations uh and the youth programs that help us out with that. Independence Day, as I had mentioned, uh we put up the Walkway Heroes in town uh which is uh 60 bios, pictures and bios of fallen uh heroes since Global War on Terrorism in Idaho uh of our local heroes. Uh and we help organize uh and establish and run that

that parade which is 35,000 to 50,000 people each year. Uh and and we do that with uh uh the city's uh community relations uh director there. So it's been something that we've helped out with. We enjoy that. Put out the new parking signs. really brings attention to our community and and showcases that holiday like we should be doing. Veterans Day ceremony. Uh it's been a long-standing ne Yeah. uh since I came uh back from from uh the military and retired back in '07, established with the city and the Elks lodge that uh between that three team partnership we would continue Veterans Day ceremonies and it's moved to the Veterans Hall. Uh this last year we had about 150 people in attendance. Uh it's been as high as 350. really kind of depends on the day, the week, and the weather that it hits, but it's an outstanding ceremony uh and opportunity to uh recognize those that have that are serving. Next slide. Christmas Eve dinner has really grown. This uh this program started off originally about 150 meals that we'd feed there at the Veterans Hall. Last year we fed 350 meals. Uh this year it jumped to over 700. And it did that in about three weeks just before Christmas Eve. Uh we actually delivered 564 meals out to uh from South Nampa to to uh out here by Sand Hollow to Notice Parma Caldwell. So we hit a big big area. Hit the women and children's shelters. In addition to that, this year we got a

headcount on how many children were at those shelters and put together stockings with uh food items and gifts that uh we're able to share with youth at that. Uh we got the Elks Lodge that also does one uh a little bit uh earlier in December and I think because of the growth in that and the demand we'll probably partner together uh to better fill those needs. Uh they've got a great facility over there and we'll see if uh maybe we can reach out to even a bigger group. this uh another group that we hit there that I'll mention is that uh we have a lot of youth uh in the schools that I call couch hopping. Uh they don't have uh a house may be living out of a vehicle and we were able to work with some counselors at a couple of the schools and identify those families and actually delivered food out to their homes. uh which was pretty neat to be able to to do that as well. Okay, next slide. Uh some statistics here now uh from uh the Federal Bureau of Statistics just to give you an idea and this is from 23. Uh just a little over 15,000 veterans in Canyon County, which is the second largest population for the state. When you add in family members, uh it's just almost 46,000 people we're talking about for Canyon County. 3,300 of those are those veterans have service connected disabilities and 307 of them uh of those veterans are females. Uh so there is a presence here. There is a need here and it's uh continually growing. the global war on terrorism, uh

the fight in Iraq and in Afghanistan, uh brought us 16 over 16 million more veterans. Uh and that and that continues to grow. Uh and you think as they get married, the families that uh are impacted by issues that affect our veterans and that's where we're focusing our time. But something I really like to bring to attention is that through our veteran service officers, our programs that we work to help veterans get jobs and improve their quality of life and be a part, you know, part of our community, they bring back $224 million annually into the county. $224 million. I can't think of another single thing around here that would impact economically uh the city of Colorado Canyon County uh that than that. I mean, our nonprofit organization there uh is doing uh Yman's work in uh in doing what it takes to take care of our veterans. and and I think we all uh for the past 12 years now can be very proud of what we're doing there. Next slide. In addition to uh everything else that I've laid out uh between the the DAV, our veteran organizations, and our humanitarian programs, uh we've given in addition to the food and the vehicles, $47,000 uh out to veterans uh in our greater community. and our greater community is if you're a veteran uh that is impacted in in our reach, then we're going to help you if we have the ability to help you because it that that veteran that was in Wilder that I got the phone call from uh was in Nampa when he got evicted

from his house and he found the truck stop on Highway 95 where he pulled in and went to [clears throat] sleep and it was 16 degrees the next morning uh wrapped up in blankets. So, it can be right here from Calwell. It can be from anywhere and we owe it to our service members to take care of them. Next slide. Uh we have a shower. When we were building the facility down there, we put a shower in there uh at the last minute, thinking, okay, if we have homeless veterans that come around, uh they're probably going to need a shower. And it still gets used. Not quite as much as it used to, uh, but it does get used. We just used it, uh, with that that veteran from that we went out and picked up at Wilder, put him in there, got him cleaned up, got him some clean clothes, uh, personal hygiene items, and a hot meal, and then uh, got him taken care of over at the Boyisey Rescue Mission. And, uh, so it's neat to have that there. We're also a cooling station for the city of Caldwell. uh that is uh kind of hit and miss. It's difficult to really when you're not open 24 hours a day uh or have uh a smaller facility, it's hard to really make a difference there. But uh we are available if the the city needs us to put that next slide. Uh we are taking a look and our and our board is probably uh Chuck could tell you that uh our board is probably more diverse now than it's ever been in the past uh with the inclusion of Nampa uh into the board uh business owners uh the police departments uh then we have a service officer uh trainers that uh we've got a couple more new veteran groups that are coming into this area. They're going to be a

part of that. One of them is the special forces chapter. Uh we look at uh meeting the needs of those and and the people on the board work with us to through their organizations to make sure that the programs that we're putting on are meeting those needs. And if they're not, we need to develop new programs or we need to tweak them or to reach out for different resources, we're able to do that pretty quickly through that group. I also would like to let everybody here know that we don't get federal or state funding. Never have. That building was built uh with donations uh a large part the help of the city of Caldwell and the Canyon County. Uh so we pay our bills down there, our uh operating expenses and help our veterans through the donations and the grants that we get uh uh that we receive down there annually. We uh are working to uh strengthen our collaboration and uh partnerships. Uh we just brought on a new organization, Building Stronger Veterans. Uh the veteranowned uh disabled veteran that works uh building construction, has lots of contacts through that uh uh source. And so he gets veterans that are transitioning back in that are having a hard time finding work or keeping work. And we uh bring them in in there for counseling. and they work with them and he works to get them a job and and then work to get the resources so that they have transportation, the tools, uh, and the other things that they need. Uh, in closing, uh, Mr. Mayor, council, in the past, uh, you've been very gracious and helped us with an annual

grant that you've given us to help pay, uh, for the expenses and the costs that we have there. costs as as you know, you're running the city and you've seen huge increases and I know revenue shortages. Uh but it's no no less there for the hall for us. Operating costs can continue just to go up. Uh just painted the building uh to get it uh to keep it up and you know it's $18,000 $18,000 which I thought was a pretty good deal for a building that size. Uh but uh so I ask uh that you consider us in your in your budget talks. I know you'll start that soon. Uh and uh ask that you include us for $30,000 grant as you have. Uh didn't this last year but the prior years with that I'd open up for questions or comments.

Thank you Terry for that. That's a lot of uh good information and just shows how far you guys are able to help not only Caldwell but the county as a whole. Um any counselor Stodd?

Yeah, Mr. Mayor, I just want to make a few comments. U I've been on the board since uh they started. I I don't do social media, but there's a friend of mine sent me some comments that were very derogatory towards the hall here recently from the uh Veterans Garden that we're a private club. And I think you can, it's pretty obvious we're not a private club. We serve everybody. There were also some comments that we get all the money. Well, the the reason we do get some money is because, you know, benevolence of the city, which we really appreciate, but these people really work hard to get grants and and they're not easy to come by anymore because there's so many fingers in the fire, so to speak, and and uh uh you know, it's it really comes in handy. And the the thing I really want to emphasize is as uh uh Colonel Herold said previously on the on the finances, the the city gives us $30,000. When you look at that $224 million, that's 23 figures. That's not up to date. There's nothing that the city does as far as donation that can return that kind of money. And I would hope that the other counselors would keep that in mind when we go through the budget process because uh it's a very important item for us and to keep the hall going. And uh uh lastly, I just want to tell you how proud I've been to be on board. It's uh been a good experience for me. I I too am an Army veteran and uh appreciate what all you guys do and I'm sure uh Mr. Denberger is going to carry the flag for us and do a good job in the future, too. So, thank you. work him over if he doesn't. So,

okay. Thank you, Councelor Stodd. Anyone else? All right, seeing none, um, real quick, I want to recognize our veterans out in the crowd. So, those that are here that are veterans, please stand up if you're able. [applause] [applause] Thank you for your service. And just so you know, we do have several veterans on the council here. So, also thank you for your service and I'm also a retired veteran, so we appreciate what you do and thank you for your presentation and all of your hard work. Thank you, Mr. Mayor.

All right, moving on. Next on the agenda is a proclamation on teen dating violence awareness month. Real quick, Trisha, are you here? Can you step up and then I'll read the proclamation? All right. Teen dating violence awareness month, city of Caldwell, February 2026. Whereas teen dating violence is a serious public health and safety issue that affects young people across all communities regardless of gender and race, socioeconomic status or background. And whereas one in three adolescence in the United States experiences physical, emotional, or verbal abuse from a dating partner, often beginning as early as middle school. And whereas teen dating violence can have long-lasting effects on a young person's mental health, academic success, self-esteem, and future relationships. And whereas education, early intervention, and community awareness are critical to te preventing teen dating violence, empowering youth to recognize healthy relationships and seek help when needed. And whereas Advocates Against Family Violence, A AF, works to support survivors, educate youth and adults, and strengthen community responses to family and dating violence through prevention, outreach, and advocacy. And whereas the city of Caldwell is committed to promoting safety, dignity, and well-being of all residents, especially young people, and to fostering a community where relationships are rooted in respect, equality, and nonviolence. Now therefore, be it proclaimed that the mayor and the city council of the city of Caldwell hereby proclaim February 2026 as teen dating violence awareness month and encourage all residents, schools, communities, organizations, and families

to participate in awareness efforts, engage in meaningful conversations, and support incentives that promote healthy relationships and prevent teen dating violence. Welcome Trisha from Advocates Against Family Violence and go ahead.

Thank you. Good evening, mayor and council members. Thank you for giving us a moment to highlight the importance of teen dating violence awareness month. Teen dating violence affects far too many youth in our community and early education is one of the strongest tools that we have to prevent this. Here in Caldwell, our youth deserve safe, healthy relationships and the support of our community to stand with them. Throughout February, organizations like Advocates Against Family Violence and our local schools work together to provide these resources, education, and advocacy for teens and families. Last year alone, Advocates Against Family Violence provided 8,000 services to to teens in our community alone. Tonight's proclamation reinforces our shared commitment to protecting and empowering the young people of Caldwell. Thank you for recognizing this important issue and helping us raise awareness. Any questions?

Any questions from council? All right. Thanks, Trisha, for your contributions to our community and especially helping those who need it. Uh, next on the agenda is audience participation participation. Each person is invited to speak to the council for up to three minutes on items that are not on tonight's agenda. Madame Clerk. All right. normally would read a little bit longer instructions, but since there is no one that signed up tonight, we'll go ahead and move on. Next on the agenda is approving the consent calendar. These are routine items that are grouped together to be approved in one motion. And for those that have the agenda, you'll be able to see those on there. I would now entertain a motion to approve the consent calendar as presented.

So moved. Second. All right. We have um motion and a second. Um all right. All those in favor vote.

I nay. All right. The motion passes for the consent agenda as presented. Sorry, consent and calendar as presented. Next on the agenda is new business. The first is a resolution to formally acknowledge and document the change of the Cobbell firefighters union charter number from AFF local 1821 to AF local 1056. There are union representatives present. If council members have any questions, um just be prepared when we're done. So go ahead. And by the way, there's a neat little story. That's why it was removed originally from the consent calendar. and we're going to go ahead and hear their presentation tonight.

Good evening, mayor and council. As as the mayor said, this could have very well been buried into consent calendar, but the mayor was quick to observe the narrative. Um, in 1891, the Magic City Engine Company was established, and in 1893, the Caldwell Hook and Ladder Company came to fruition. And of recently, our Caldwell professional firefighters found out they're a little bit older than they thought they were, which is kind of cool. Uh that being said, u a move that I fully support, standing shoulder-to-shoulder with shoulder-to-shoulder, um with uh our union president and truck captain, Colby Kurbs, um the firefighters union has requested for us to acknowledge their change to an earlier charter number. And with a little bit more backstory, Captain Kobe Kirbs,

Mr. Mayor, members of the council, I don't have a whole lot to share because of how old this is, I guess. So, um, few months ago, the IFFF updated the executive board uh page that when as a union president could log in and we could see the history and all the information of our our local. Um after they did this, we noticed that we had an original charter date that was 19 years prior to when uh local 1821 was actually chartered. Uh so I made some phone calls over to the membership uh back in Washington DC and they in fact confirmed that we were chartered as local 1056 on July 31st of 1950 with 11 members. Um can't explain why they unchartered, but they aren't the only local that has done it. uh Boisey Fire, Celane, Pocutello, and even Nampa all have been rechartered to assume prior charter numbers than what they were chartered. Most of the time it looks like postwar or some other stuff like that. But um local 21 was chartered on February 6th of 1969 and has remained that up until about a month ago when we assumed our original charter date. So, that's about all I have when it comes to the history that we uh we can get, but we uh we thank you guys for your support in this. Uh one number doesn't seem like a whole lot, but when you're when you're a union, the smaller the number, the cooler you are at the table. That's pretty much pretty much it. So, so yeah. You have any questions?

All right. Thank you for that. Uh any council question? Who had their light on first? Oh, sorry. All right. All right, council. All good. Do you want to go ahead and start? All right. Nobody. Nobody. Yeah. I mean, when I first read about the story, it was really neat to, you know, hear about the history and I can see how that is important, you know, especially when you're jockeying for positions uh in unions. You know, it's important to recognize how long you guys have been around. So, if there's no other questions, do you have anything else, fire chief? Yep.

All right. Thank you for bringing this to us, by the way. Oh, register. just real quick. So, not last week, I was spending some time with the fire chief over at station one, and we I don't know if anybody knows this, but there's a whole room full of historical items. And I just want you to remind the union that they were paid $2 a day originally, or I don't know what it was, but that's what we found in the ledger. $2 a day the firefighters were making. Um, so they've come a long way. Um, but anyway, I'm very excited to see that be put into um one of the other fire stations, right? If you want to just since we're talking about the history there, there is a plan to house all that historical information.

Absolutely. Yeah. Mayor, council register, uh, yes, with the design of station one, we've incorporated a front lobby area which will almost look like a storefront on Blaine, uh, which will highlight some of those artifacts. um an old bureau [clears throat] still containing documents from the 30s and 40s still exists in fire station one referencing $2 per day uh as a as a as a daily wage for Caldwell firefighters. Um and our rookie firefighters, uh our newest firefighters who graduate our academy on Thursday have gone through those pages and they understand what it's like to touch that part of history. uh it's nothing that we want to uh just stash away in a cabinet. We want people to be able to turn those pages to understand that and read that. And so it was really neat to show you that. Uh and we do plan to embed all of those artifacts uh throughout that fire station to to maintain some heritage in downtown.

And it was it was fascinating that some of the drawers just still had paperwork in them like you had pointed out like they had never been touched. They just been moved over to the corner and opened a drawer and there was a whole bunch of paperwork in there. So that was cool, too. So I'm I'm really glad you guys have that. Thank you. Counselor Stodd, I have no comment. I'm sorry, your light was on. Yeah. All right. This is going to be an action item. Consider resolution formally acknowledging and documenting the change of the CWell firefighters union charter number from IAFF Local 1821 to IAFF Local 1056. I'll entertain a motion. Mr. Mayor,

Councelor Denver. Uh, I make a motion that we uh approve a resolution formally and formally acknowledging and documenting the change of the Cwell firefighters union charter number from IAFF Local 1821 to IAFF Local 1056. All right, I have a motion and a second.

Have a motion in a second. All those in favor vote I. And all those not in favor vote no. All right, that's unanimous. Motion passes. Congratulations. Stepping back in time. [applause] All right. As we stated earlier, we're going to move past what was originally item number two for Copperquil Haven for the animal shelter services. It's not ready for consideration tonight and will be put on a subsequent council meeting agenda. Did anyone have any quick questions on that? That's correct. legal, right? All right, we're going to go ahead and move on. Next on the agenda is considering the mayor's appointments to the following city boards, commissions, and committees for city confirmation as specified in coal city code section 2-06-01. All right, we're going to start with uh golf course board, councelor Tilmont. Audit and finance committees, councelor Allgood and councelor Tilmont. Council Executive Airport Advisory Board, Councelor Stodd, Downtown Parking Advisory Board, which is a non- voting liaison. Councelor Register, Parks and Recreation Commission, Councelor Williams, Library Exhio, Councelor Councilors Algood and Councelor Williams, Historic Preservation Commission, which is an exeicio position, councilors Dentur and Williams, and Mayor's Youth Advisory Council, Council Register. There are also appointments to these boards, commissions, and committees representing city of Caldwell Senior Center, which is going to be councelor Tilmont, Veterans Council, Councelor Ditenber, and the Car Cwell Urban Renewal Agency, Councelor Stoddic. I would entertain a motion to confirm these nominees.

So moved. Sorry, let's restate that. It's going to be an action item. Consider the mayor's appointments of the following city boards, commissions, and committees for consent and approval in the roles and terms specified in the Caldwell City Code. Do I have a motion? Mr. Mayor, I move to approve the mayor's appointments to the following city boards, commissions, and committees for consent and approval on their roles and terms specified in the Cwell city code. Do you have a second? Mr. Mayor, I'll second the motion, but I do have a uh a question about the uh uh about the nominations when we get to that point.

Okay. Um is has been moved to confirm the mayor's nominees for the city boards, commissions, committees. Councilors may now cast correction. Go ahead and open for comment. Thank you. Uh Mr. Mr. Mayor, I just noticed on here that we uh that uh council president register has also been assigned something called Caldwell Live. And uh I'm unfamiliar with what Caldwell Live is. Is that an official board of the council or is that just an assignment? It's currently not on here unless you see it somewhere. Do not

It is on the uh It is on the stuff in the packet on page 202 of your packet. Hold on. Let me switch over. All right. What was the page again? Page 202. pages.

So, that's the list. That's not currently on the agenda. We just need to make note of correction that that currently is in process where it's going to go uh before city staff and at a later point we'll bring it before you for consideration. So, at this time, um Madame Clerk, do we need to make any notations, modifications? Right now, I can add it to the minutes, but the motion itself recognizes everything that you just read. Yeah. Yes. Does that suffice? councelor. Yes, that's fine. All right. Yeah, that'll come at a later time. Okay. You on the future agenda. Thank you for noting that.

All right. Where we at? Um All right. Go and open the vote and the council members may now cast their votes electronically for appointments. Yes. Is in favor. No would be not in favor. All right. That is unanimous. Next [clears throat] item on the agenda is the finance report. Lyn, Mr. Mayor, my last duty on the finance committee. Sorry.

I move that accounts pale amount of 3,62,779.20 represented by check numbers 1 191082 through19441 and electronic payments and payroll for the amount of $958,364. 84 represented by checks number 4702 through 4711 and direct deposits be accepted, payments approved, and vouchers filled in the office of the city clerk. All right. Does any counselors have any questions for railing? I just second it.

All right. I have a motion to second. No questions. All right. There's going to be an action item for the finance report accepted by Caldwell City Council. Those council members now cast their votes electronically. All right, it is unanimous for approval. All right, the next item on the agenda is reports from the mayor and council. See, we had councelor stood. Did you go last time? Oh, I don't have anything. All right, councelor register. Council Williams.

Yeah, Mr. Mayor, thank you. I just wanted to comment how much I enjoyed my visit uh with you last week. Uh but also wanted to let everybody know we are still talking about the uh quiet zone. We talked about that and um uh that bid is set to expire uh 30 days and so we talked about how we really don't want that to cost the taxpayers more money. um that bid that we got was 80,000 under the next highest bid. And so um uh that's that's an important thing to consider. Uh as well, the the laws regarding competitive bidding uh need to be we need to keep an eye on that and the fairness and the process. Um and and just to be sure everybody knows, this isn't this isn't a new project. This has been going on for years and years. In fact, it's already been approved. Uh so what is being considered here now is just the uh approval of the bid because the appropriations have already been made for it. Uh so it just seems like the longer we stall it almost is um it almost is not honoring the commitment to the community and our transparency. I I recall before I was even on the council uh years ago um Mrs. Roberts stood in front of the council and begged us to consider a quiet zone. And I know a lot of people are starting to weigh in and this isn't on the agenda tonight, but I've heard from dozens and dozens of people recently that are in favor of this. So, I I really hope we're moving forward quickly on this. And again, I I thank you for the visit we had, but but uh the the savings to us in getting this done is substantial and it can go towards other things. it'd be a shame not to have that $80,000 to spend on other projects that are more necessary, but uh I just wanted to be sure everybody was aware of that. And uh again, thank you

for the visit. Uh no problem. I'll give an update when it's my turn, counselor. All good.

Uh yeah. Uh I just wanted to follow up um kind of figure out what the next move is with Roger Brook's plan. Uh he's presented to everybody. I believe we've all seen it. Um uh I'd like to know what is the city going to adopt that as a formal plan? Are we going to make some uh tweaks to it? Uh what what what's the next move? I don't have any idea what the council the mayor's intention is, but I just curious where we go from here so we don't lose steam. You know, this thing can kind of get stale pretty quick and so I just want to make sure we don't lose steam with what we've spent a lot of money on.

Thank you, Councelor Al. Councelor Denver, Councelor Tilma. All right. Couple things. Um, real quick. Uh, we're going to start with Bruce Mills, which will lead into the quiet zone. And Rob, if you'd like to come forward, I just want to give a quick update on the Cole High School. Uh, we, as we know, there was a couple traffic sad traffic accidents recently. So, we just want to get a quick update. We did have a meeting today. um if you'd like to come forward and just talk about some of the things we're looking at and then I'd like you to roll into the Blaine uh Street Bridge. Just an update on that.

We met Yeah, we met today with the principal for Caldwell High School and some of the things that we've been doing out there. As you may know, recently we this within this last year, we installed um uh they're they're called RRFBs, rectangular rapid flashing beacons. You push they're push button activated and they flash yellow. So, we we did that at the two crosswalks uh out there on Calwell High. Recently, we've been upgrading the lighting so that there's more intense lighting at those crosswalks as well because it's very dark out there as you as you know. Um, we're also uh actually we we've done some measurements to find out where which crosswalks the students are using, whether they're pushing the buttons or not. We have some information that we've gathered on that. Um, so we have a few more improvements we're going to do out there. We're going to put in some uh raised payment markers, which will be reflective and and be easier for the uh vehicles to see as they approach crosswalks. We're going to be putting in uh um some raised uh I guess it'd be like Ballard's delineators that will be so high at the intersection of Fair Oaks where one of the recent accidents occurred. So, we're putting all those in. We're considering upgrading at Fair Oaks, which has about twothirds of the school students crossing there. Upgrading from that RRFP to a full Hawk signal, which is what we have at some of the other school locations. Um, let's see, what else am I missing? Uh, I think those are the the major items right now that we're looking to consider is C. There's two crosswalks at Fair Oaks on the north and south leg of the intersection and we're looking to close off the south crosswalk and direct students to the north crosswalk which is the one that has better street lighting and also has the push button signal. So I if you have any questions or

anyone have any questions on that? We are diligently looking at options. We've been working with the school district closely. In fact, some of us next week are going to be at their schoolboard meeting. They've invited us. So for any counselors that would like to attend uh to talk about pedestrian student safety around their schools. So we're working hand in hand. So just rest assured to the public um we've already done a lot and we will continue doing as much as we can to protect. All right. Uh the Blaine Bridge update.

Yeah, Blaine Bridge. If you've looked over there uh off 6th Avenue uh this past week they've torn out the old bridge. Today they're just finishing up taking out the last little bit of concrete. Done a really good and quick job on that. Um, so now we're back filling it with uh pitr run gravel and there's a little utility work to do. Next week we hope to put in um the curb and gutter along there and then be able to pave the road. So I'm hoping it'll be open more like in a three-week period instead of the four weeks that we were originally uh planning for. So that's all good news there. Um and if you in a separate project uh the the project down at at um Blaine and um

Kimble Kimble is they just put the traffic control in for that today. So that's so there's a lot of going a lot of things going on on Blaine Street right now. You see a lot of traffic control devices out there. Um I'm hoping that the Blaine Bridge over here though off six will be wrapped off of six over there will be wrapped up uh again in the next couple weeks. Thank you, councelor Denver. Mr. Mayor, thank you. Bruce, thanks for all your work you're doing on this, but I just out of my own curiosity what we're doing at Blaine and Six, uh, the old bridge that we're replacing there. So, it was a cavity, an old canal that went under there. Yes. And you're taking the bridge out and you're filling the whole cavity in with compacted engineered fill.

That is correct. We're taking the old concrete bridge out. Uh, and we've removed all the the concrete members now. Now we're just filling in the hole and then we'll repave it with curb letter and sidewalk on each side. So there will be no cavity under there anymore. Correct. It'll just be the bridge is removed. There's no longer a need to inspect it, which is good. So yeah, thank you for your question, Councelor Den. Councelor Williams.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Bruce, again, thank you for all you do, but will this be a winter mix that is put on and will we have to redo this then in the spring? Uh, no. Well, we're going to get the they will they will put in the gravel and if the asphalt plant is open, right now we're hearing it might be middle of the month to towards the end of the month. It then we will have it paved immediately. If not, we will put some recycled asphalt uh which is kind of crumbled up asphalt that you get when you mill off a road. We'll put some of that in there and maintain that for a few weeks until the asphalt plant opens. Does it has to be above 45 degrees and rising to pave or am I Yeah, that that's correct.

Okay. Thank you. Because I don't want to have to pay twice to pave this. No, appreciate that. Thanks. Definitely. Thank you. Real quick, do you have a date yet the bid would be good to for the train quiet zone? Have we heard back from the Yeah, the Well, we don't have I don't have a date certain, but the contractor did say that he would be willing to um extend the 30-day period for a time. So, and I didn't give him a time. He didn't give me a time. So, the 30 days for the bid is uh up on February 12th. That's from when we opened the bids, but uh but he is open to extending it for a time period.

Okay. And we can reach out maybe tomorrow or Wednesday and talk a little more in depth with him. Just information I did task Bruce with um Lrand and Baker City apparently have quiet zones. So, at least nearby, we just had a series of questions. Um, you know, why I believe it was why did they do it? You know, there's success, what did it cost, what equipment do they use, have they had an increase or decrease in quiet zones? And you mentioned today, too, that Twin Falls, sorry, Kuna is considering it. Kuna is considering a quiet zone.

So, then we're going to take a trip out um or a phone call. We'll see what their schedule looks like just to talk to them to get a little bit more information, you know, any issues they had. But other than that, we're going to be looking at a date here soon to bring that before you guys. Um, we'll just have to figure out a date. I know with a workshop, right, we don't have to have any elected officials present, but the idea would be to have as many present as possible. We have been continually receiving comments um from the public. Uh, there was a video sent in today. There's other letters and just a variety of information. So, we'll announce that. We'll work with the PI PIO soon to take that up and figure out the workshop date. Any other questions on that? Council register. Sorry, councelor Stoic.

Thank you. Uh the feedback I'm getting is that people are concerned that uh the location of the lack of better words, the town hall for people to have input in the workshop, whatever. And we might have to move it to maybe the high school if you think you're going to have too many people or have you looked into that at all or No, but we can check right away and do a little research to see if we are going to need more space. Okay. And I think there's uh there's been several folks uh both the businessmen downtown and the folks on the north side uh they're putting together um petitions too. So we we want to make sure that they get those in on time.

Yeah, we'll we'll open it up for all persons. Additionally, I have task our economic development. I spoke to um today with Robin about having uh two of our staff members go out along the train tracks the businesses from fourth uh was 21st we went down to I believe and back so any of the businesses they can identify to reach out and get their gauge their thoughts on it. So that's an additional measure we're looking at just because back with the parking meters that was one of the concerns mentioned is they didn't get as much input. So we want to make sure all parties um we're going to give everyone the opportunity to contribute to the conversation.

M Mr. Mayor, just as a point of order, I want to uh we're getting to a part that we haven't had on the agenda to talk about quiet zones now, and we're getting to a pretty robust discussion. So, I just want to to caution the council to to maybe we need to to move on back to the mayor's comments. Thank you. Could I ask a question that came up in a comment just to confirm because I think the comment was incorrect. Well, just to clarify, Mr. Mayor, councelor register, that's a danger. We're we're off the agenda at this stage. We haven't we haven't put that on the agenda to talk in depth about quiet zones. We're we're in comment period. So I my my my opinion we can talk to the clerk. I would say no. Madam cler

I just wanted to clarify something that was said with um finance, but am I not allowed to to ask that? Do we just want to have her email you and then we'll Yeah, I I think we're at the stage in the agenda where we moved on to comments and we're we're talking about things that are that are off the agenda and and not set up for public to be able to know that we're talking about. We'll reach out to you um all and we'll let you know the status.

Uh real quick, chief, would you like to come up? police chief. Sorry for those uh that couldn't see. There was two chiefs standing next to each other, the fire and police chief. Real quick, I just want to give a real quick update from the chief on first amendment activities and the the fact that we had no issues, right? Everyone is peaceful. And uh by the way, I want to thank the police department and others for their service during that. So, if you just want to give a quick update how that went.

Absolutely. Thank you, Mr. Mayor and Council. So about two weeks ago, we got information via social media that there was going to be an anti- ice uh protest in the city of Caldwell, specifically near or around In Creek Plaza. Uh our team acted swiftly and communicated with our stakeholders, destination Caldwell, city staff, elected officials, uh stakeholders in the community that are part of the organizing crew and then also reached out to possible counterprotesters to see exactly what their agenda was. So, um, coupled with all the technology that we have that you guys saw in our workshop, uh, and really working seamlessly with relationship based policing and datadriven policing strategies and just industry best practices, we came up with, uh, a huge operation plan. I want to give a shout out to Lieutenant Damon Rice. He was our ops chief back there in the corner and really coming together and and mobilizing our resources to come in and deploy them effectively um, and maintain the peace. And so our objective in any type of these first amendment demonstrations is to maintain the a peaceful protest, but really to protect life and property. And so we we went into it with a crowd management type of mindset. We had officers on bike patrol. We had officers in the crowd undercover um just getting real-time information uh in our real in our real uh real-time information center and worked seamlessly. So, uh, it went so well, um, two Fridays ago that this past Saturday, the same organizer who, uh, lives in the city of Nampa came back over to the city of Caldwell and did a, uh, another demonstration that was larger than the first one. It was on Saturday here down the street from us at 6 and Arthur and um, everything went well and uh, there were no issues. So, the protest lasted about two hours. Uh, no arrests, no uses of force, no complaints, nothing. It was very peaceful. Uh we facilitated a march around uh around the block for about a half an hour. Um two identified two individuals identified uh came in in a in a car that possibly looked like bad actors from a different city in the state and they were identified using our

u our real-time information center uh technology and they were contacted and went went about their business without incident. So just really proud of the men and women that that work here that continue to show up and and are deployed. The only thing I will say as a council, we're coming into budget season. Uh these are very cost um we incur a lot of overtime. So we are asking our men and women to forfeit their Friday nights or their Saturdays to come in on overtime. Uh normally they're off and to mobilize our resources. So that's a huge suck on resources. But you know the the fact is is that no one went to jail. Uh no one went to the hospital. Officers were were great. So uh it doesn't matter how much we necessarily pay. we have a peaceful day in Caldwell and that's always a victory. So, uh, we will be coming to council and asking for a specific line item for these First Amendment demonstrations in the future because I don't think they're going to go away anytime soon given the political uh, climate in the country right now. And I'll stand for any questions. Thank you.

Thank you, Chief. Councelor Stoic, Mr. Mayor, Chief, there was a a couple of folks contacted me whether or not they need a permit to do that. Do we do they need a permit to protest like that or not? No, sir. Not, Mr. Mayor. Uh, councelor Sodic, no. United States of America, if it's, you know, it's their first amendment right to assemble and and and peacefully protest. Now, if they want to take over a a city street or some sort of roadway, then they would have to file a permit through the city clerk's office. I see. Okay. Thank you. Anyone else? Uh, thank you, Chief. Like I said, great job you guys did. We appreciate you providing a safe opportunity to people expressing their First Amendment in our city.

Thank you. Thank you. All right, the last item of business is an executive session. Tonight's Tonight's executive session will be pursuant to ite 74-206, paragraph C and D. So, this will, as I said, be an action item. Entering into executive session pursuant to item code 76-206 subsection C to acquire an interest in real property not owned by a public agency and D to consider records that are exempt from public disclosure. Mr. Mayor. Councelor Denver.

I make a motion that we enter into executive session pursuant to Idaho Code 74-206 subsection C to acquire an interest in real property not owned by a public agency and to D consider records that are exempt from public disclosure. Second. A motion and a second. All right. Councilors, please vote by electronic. Mr. Mayor, yes. And under idle law, this requires a roll call vote to I didn't say it on that. All right, [clears throat] madam clerk. Tilont, yes. Stoic, yes. Register, yes. Williams, yes. All good, yes. Denber, yes.

All right, the motion entering executive session passes. We're now adjourned and moving into executive session. Thank you for coming tonight.