City Council - Regular Meeting

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Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Good evening. Welcome to the Cordelane City Council meeting. It is Tuesday, January 20th. The clerk will take the role.

Gabriel here. Miller here. Evans here. Wood here. English here.

Very good. Tonight we have an invocation from John Padulla from Set Apart Disciplehip. Everyone please rise. [clears throat] Council members, mayor, thank you for allowing us to do this. If you'd bow your heads with me, let's pray. Father, we want to thank you for being faithful and merciful in all of our lives. And we thank you for the city of Cordelane. We thank you for our council members and our mayor. And tonight, God, I pray that you give them divine wisdom. wisdom to make decisions with administration and finance and budgeting. And God, we also lift up our Celane City Police and our firefighters. Thank you for their service. God, I pray that you protect them and their families. And for Councilman Sheckler tonight as he takes his oath, God, I pray you'd anoint him to serve this community well. We thank you for being so faithful in all of our lives. And we pray you'd be exalted in Jesus name. Amen.

Amen. Thank you. Christie, could you lead us in the pledge? I pledge allegiance 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. Item D, amendments to the agenda. Council.

Mr. Mayor, I'd like to make to amend the agenda to make item F2, appointment of Dan Sheckler to council seat three an action item as required by law as it was inadvertently not labeled as such. An emergency is declared because this action is necessary in order for the city to complete its agenda with a full council. Thank you. And I will also note that the other two appointments that are on the agenda will be made on the February 3rd meeting uh for the same reason, but it's not an emergency. So, is there any discussion on this item? Did you want a second to that motion? Yes. Second. Thank you. Any discussion on this item? Okay. Roll call, please. Evans, yes. Miller, hi. Gabriel, yes.

English, yes. Wood, yes.

Very well. Item E is public comments. Do I have the sheet over there? Very good. Thank you. We'll start with Brian Seuin. Excellent. Good evening, councilors, including soon to be councelor uh Mr. Sheckler. Again, my name is Brian Segwin, and I am reading the following drafted in part by committeeman Tom Sanner on behalf of the Coutney County Democratic Executive Committee. The city of Celane is a community founded on principles of integrity, respect for the rule of law, protection of children, and the dignity of all people. Civic and political gatherings held within our city reflect the values we choose to elevate in the standards we expect of those granted a public platform. An official report of the United States House Ethics Committee documented very serious allegations against former Congressman and 2026 Coney County Republican Central Committee Lincoln Day dinner featured speaker Matt Gates. The 2024 committee report states, "There is substantial evidence that Representative Gates violated House rules and other standards of conduct prohibiting prostitution, statutory rape, elicit illicit drug use, impermissible gifts, special favors of privileges, and obstruction of Congress, exploitation of a minor, misuse of power, and conducted and conduct fundamentally inconsistent with public trust are matters of grave concern." Those findings, regardless of political affiliation, shocked the conscience of many Americans, undermined confidence in public institutions, and caused disturbing harm to victims whose voices deserve respect and acknowledgement. Allowing individuals facing such welldocumented ethical findings to be honored or showcased at high-profile events sends a message to the larger community that power excuses bad

behavior and that values are secondary to political convenience. Cordelane is a home to families, children, survivors of exploitation, and residents rightly expect their city to stand for integrity, dignity, and safety for all. The Coupney County Democratic Central Committee formerly denounces the presence of Matt Gates as a featured speaker at the Cooney County Republican Central Committee Lincoln Day dinner fundraiser on February 28th at the Celane Resort. We urge all event organizers, sponsors, community leaders, and residents to consider the message sent to our youth, families, and our broader community when an individual with a demonstrated history of problematic behavior is given an audience by those in power who have championed themselves as the backs stop of moral virtue. We stand with the victims of exploitation, believe accountability strengthens democracy, and reject the normalization of rape, drug use, and unethical behavior that degrades the moral fabric of our civic life. Thank you. And that concludes my remarks on behalf of the committee. Thank you, Brian. Tom Sainer. [applause]

[snorts]

Mayor, council members, [clears throat] I want to try and explain what truly troubles me, not as a political argument, but as a moral one. when a proclamation was issued by a single individual, the mayor, regarding figures such as Charlie Kirk. It was defended as a valuesbased expression of the city's moral stance. We were told proclamations are symbolic, that they focus on impact rather than intent, and that the city has a right to affirm what alies with its civic values. Whether one agreed with that proclamation or not, the message was clear. Moral expression matters. But when residents raise moral concerns about Matt Gates appearing at a prominent local fundraising event, the response changes. We are simply told they can invite anyone they want. While that may be legally true, it avoids the moral question entirely. That inconsistency is what disturbs me. If moral reasoning is appropriate when exercised from the top down through proclamations, then moral reasoning

should also be taken seriously when raised from the bottom up by by citizens. If ideology can be publicly rejected based on values and impact, then conduct and character should not be dismissed when they raise legitimate concerns about accountability and public trust. I'm not asking for anyone to be silenced. I'm not opposing free speech or private association. I'm trying to understand while moral judgment is embraced when it's symbolic but dismissed when it becomes uncomfortable. If the city claims the authority to speak to speak morally then it also carries a responsibility to apply that moral framework consistently. Otherwise proclamations re risk becoming hollow symbols and citizens concerns being reduced to procedural excuses. What I'm asking for is simple moral coherence. Either values matter and civic life [clears throat] do not.

Thank you.

Thank you, Bridget Hill. Good evening, honorable mayor and city council members. My name is Bridget Hill and I live in the foreground neighborhood. I spoke with you two weeks ago concerning Republic Services decision to eliminate alley trash collection for certain households in the foregrounds. I had a very different statement to read to you tonight. This one. So now I have this one. I was planning to share that we still didn't have alley tra pickup. Hadn't heard anything from Republic and that we were still concerned about the contract breach. However, around 11:30 this morning, our neighborhood email group received information that Republic will start to service the alley again as soon as marked items causing interference in the alley are removed by the neighbors. This is a move in the right direction. In fact, it is right down our alley.

Garbage gate, as neighbors have started to refer to our trash talk, may soon be a thing of the past and get put into the dipsy dumpster for good. I'm sorry, but I had to do it. Seriously though, we will stay in touch with you as things progress towards a solution and we hope to hear from the city about a timeline from Republic. It seems like Republic has the obligation to send a notice to the city regarding the remediation that needs to be done in the alleys and then the city needs to alert the affected homeowners and give them a certain grace period to have the work done. And during that grace period, republic should be obligated to continue trash service as it has been for the last 50 years. And thank you for your attention to this matter. Gabe Eard. Good evening, Council Mayor and soon to be Councilman Sheckler. Uh, I'm here to speak in favor of resolution 26-05, the uh, reorganization of the fire department. We've been looking at this for a while and uh, what we see now is an opportunity with a ton of different movement within the fire department. As of mid July, we are going to have one sitting chief that was currently there in the beginning of January. We have the opportunity to do a restructure. We have the opportunity to put new people in those positions, change the positions around, and really uh delineate the uh I'm sorry, the

[clears throat] uh chain of command. So, I'm asking you to support it. Um it's a great opportunity. The timing is right and the local supports it. So, thank you very much. Thank you, Gabe. Dylan Hughes.

Good evening, council members. Um, I just am here uh to put a face to my name. I sent an email earlier this morning about the sale of the public lands at the harbor center. Um, I just wanted to reiterate that I think the city should explore it as it could be a viable option, selling some of that property and bringing in funds that could help transform the rest of the area. And I just want the city and the council, I guess, as they explore that option to make sure everything is as transparent as possible to make sure that we know what the agenda that the university has for the land and area and that there isn't something hidden within there that could cut off public access to the area. Me and my family currently use that trail system all the time to go from the Croc Center to downtown. So, we are frequently in there and it would be terrible to miss out on that. So that's all I have for you guys. Thank you.

Thank you, Dylan and Ken Murphy.

Honorable mayor, congresspersons, I'm another one of the foreground disgruntled people. I live on an alley. I've lived on an alley for 14 years. I've watched the previous contractor go up and down that alley and never have an issue. After this notice was put on my garbage can. They still came and collected. There was no hesitation driving up and down that alley. There are no yellow orange markers in there. I'd like to know how it became impassible after 14 years and what how that's defined. The garbage trucks, as I understand it, are the same ones that were used by the previous contractor. What changed? Thank you.

Thank you, Ken. Anyone else wanting to make public comment? Very well. Move on to announcements, city council. Any announcements? Back. Kiki, please.

Just one. I attended the North Idaho building contractors joint government meeting today. It was very well attended. Um the mayor from Post Falls was there and shared just some really enlightening new visions he has for Post Falls downtown for what they're going to do in the attainable housing field. And uh there was just some some great conversation and I understand our next month's speaker is going to be the honorable mayor Gan at the February 17th meeting. So I'm going to look forward to that. Thank you. Anyone else? Yes, Dan. English.

I just I know there's been [clears throat] a lot of u questions about all of the Dans that will be up here. So, I have been giving it some thought. I might go back to um Butch, which was one of my original ones, or um something else. But but I think we can handle the dance. We did it a while [snorts] before, but um anyway, [clears throat] I think we'll make it whatever we do. If you want to make that an agenda item, let me know. Okay.

Maybe we'll pass a resolution. Very well. No other comments. I would like to make an appointment of Dan Sheckler to council seat three. Mr. Mayor, I'd like to make a motion to confirm the appointment of Dan Sheckler to council seat number three. Second. Very well. We have a motion and a second. Any discussion? Welcome. Well, let's take the vote. Okay, we'll do a roll [laughter] call. We'll do a roll call. Joanne, I feel confident. Miller, I. Gabriel, yes. English, yes. Wood, yes. Evans, yes. Very well. Danler is confirmed. Okay, come on down. [applause]

[applause] [laughter] raise your right hand and repeat after I check and I I will support the Constitution of the United States. that I will support the Constitution of the United States. The Constitution and laws of the state of Idaho the Constitution and laws of the state of Idaho and the ordinances of the city of Cordelane

and the ordinances of the city of Celain. that I will faithfully discharge that I will faithfully discharge all of the duties all of the duties of the office of city counselor of the office of city counselor to the best of my or sorry according to the best of my ability according to the best of my ability so help me God so help me God congratulations signatures.

And while he signs that, we will be taking a 5minute recess to get things arranged up here. [clears throat] [music] Heat

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Okay. Very well. Call the meeting back to order. Uh we'll pick up where we left off, which is the vacancies. I will be not making these appointments this time. I did want to announce that there are vacancies on other committees. Some of these vacancies are uh have specific requirements to be filled, but I thought I'd let you know about them anyway. We have four vacancies on the arts commission, one on the Cordelane TV committee, one on historical preservation, um some on the parking commission, but that's not here or there. Three on ped Bike and three on the um personal appeals board as well as one on urban forestry. You can go to the city's website at cdid.org or and find the uh the applications for these under their very categories. It's kind of complex to describe, but those are available. Let's move on to item G, the consent calendar.

Mr. Mayor, I'll make a motion to approve the consent calendar as presented, including resolution number 26-004. Second. It's a motion and a second. Anyone discuss anything? Let's do a roll call, please. Miller. Hi. Gabriel, yes. English, yes. Wood, yes. Evans, yes. Sheckler, yes.

Very well. Item H1 is resolution 260005, which is approval of an amendment number one to the agreement between the city and the Celane Firefighters Local 710, International Association of Firefighters, establishing a division chief rank and compensation, as well as the proposed reorganizational structure of the department. staff report by Tom Grafe, our fire chief. Thank you, Tom.

Good evening, uh, Mayor Gan, members of the council, and welcome, Councilman Sheckler. Uh, so tonight, uh, thank you for the opportunity to come before you and explain the staff report that you have in front of you this evening. Uh, thank you to President Eker for being here and supporting this uh, resolution. And with that, I will dive in here. Um, so should the city council approve the proposed amendments to the Cordelane local 710 collective bargaining agreements establishing the division chief rank compensation as well as the proposed reorganizational structure. So I will start out with um I had some members of the community reach out and ask me what this reorganization was about. So, for the record, I just want to clarify this is within admin, the command staff. This is not a firefighter through battalion chief reorganization. So, and I'll I'll get more specific with that, but for the record, it's confined to our admin uh command staff structure. So, with that, this is our current organizational structure. So, I want you to disregard the admin assistant positions over there on the right. And what you currently have is you have a fire chief, you have two deputy fire marshals in prevention. They're both within the collective bargaining unit and our represented employees. And then drop down to the deputy chief ranks. Those are uh exempt positions. We have logistics, training, and operations. And below the training deputy chief is our current EMS officer, which is vacant. That position has been vacant since July. And so we have the training chief, Bill Dider, doing both of those jobs right now. So we're really eager to move forward with that. That is the position that drove us to looking at this reorganization early on.

So the proposed organ organizational structure, excuse me, uh would include the fire chief, a fire marshal. So that would be we would still have one deputy fire marshal, but or yes, we would include a fire marshal. So that would be an exempt position. So that's different from the from the current uh model. We would move to a true assistant chief and I'll dive into that in just a minute. And instead of having deputy chiefs, we would create three division chiefs, logistics, training, and EMS. [clears throat] The proposed reorganization within the fire department, like I said, is just defined within administration. Uh there is no cost savings. So, we did not bring this forward with the motivation that there would be a cost savings for the city. Um, timing and opportunity is what's driving this tonight. I typically would not come to you in the mid middle of a budget year asking for the uh the cost analysis of that $56,000, but the timing with the vacancy of the current position and the upcoming retirements of myself, our operations deputy chief retired last Friday and our training chief will be leaving in July. So, lots of turnover like Gabe said. Uh that's a the opportunity is here to make some organizational structure uh changes and it's much easier to do that when we don't have those positions currently filled. We're not asking for any additional staff or FTEEs to accomplish this reorganization. Uh so like I said early on, our our main priority was to bring that EMS officer position up to a chief officer level. And the reason for that is that position oversees a major division in our fire department. It's at least 75% or more of what we do on a day-to-day operation

calls for service. And the essential job functions warrant that. It's an industry standard. And so that's what our initial motivation was to bring this forward. The problem with moving the EMS officer up to a division chief rank is now you'll have deputy chiefs and a division chief. They're essentially doing the same thing. They're all overseeing divisions in the fire department. Some would be exempt. Some would be represented within the collective binging unit. And that would eventually cause a wage compression problem. When you have one of the positions in the union uh negotiating their wages and compensation package and the other three being exempt, we'll start to see that uh wage compression or the division chief will at some point exceed the deputy chiefs. And so that brought us to look at the structure, what could be sustainable. uh we didn't want to kick the can down the road and hand this problem to the next fire chief. So we figured we would broaden our scope and look at the whole organizational structure within admin. The other motivation uh to evaluate this like I said is we have the current opening and we have some retirements coming. So it was it was a great time to look at this and an opportunity the addition of the assistant chief. Um, and I'm just going to echo what our president Gabe said is this is going to establish a clear chain of command from a fire chief to assistant chief and down to the division chiefs. The three division chiefs would include uh, like I said earlier, EMS training and logistics and those would fall within the local 710 collective bargaining unit and they would be represented positions. The last position change would be taking one of those deputy fire marshals and creating the fire marshall position. So, the prevention bureau is pretty unique.

They uh they operate with a lot of autonomy on their day-to-day operations. um they interpret the fire code, apply the fire code, and they work with other city departments to um enforce compliance of the fire code as far as um community risk assessments and um public education to the community. So, this supervisory position, we felt when we broaden our scope and we're looking at our model that this was really warranted to have that position upgrade to also meet industry standards in the fire service. Um the fire marshal would also be an exempt unrepresented position as well. And so the new model would be fire chief, assistant chief, and fire marshall would be your three exempts. And your deput or your division chiefs and your uh deputy fire marshall would be your your four represented or positions that fall within the collect and bargaining unit. Moving forward, this is a cost analysis that our finance director and HR helped us with. So to implement this would be approximately $56,000 and this would be an ongoing expense. These are the increases moving from the EMS officer to a division chief rank. Uh we used a deputy chief to assistant chief for that spread and then a deputy fire marshal to the fire marshal would be a deputy chief uh paygrade. So that's why that's titled there. And like I said, this would be the first year implementation of this. Again, timing and opportunity is driving this proposal. It provides a cheer uh clear chain of command within the command structure. It also provides a possible pathway for folks that come to admin to go back to the line personnel ranks if they choose to do so, which we don't currently have right now with deputy chiefs or the fire chief. We

believe this will encourage more personnel to consider administrative promotional opportunities with which is always good when you're promoting from within. And so I would recommend that the city council uh approve the amendments to the Cordelane firefighter local 710 IFFF CBA establishing a division chief rank and compensation as well as the proposed reorganizational structure. and I would stand for any questions. Thank you, Chief. Is this uh new organization typical for fire departments?

Uh typical wouldn't be the word. So I reached out and of course you have you have an array out there. You have fire department depends on the size. So the larger departments have more layers. Um so I tried to reach out to departments alike size and I you know I found that it was important to have that exempt layer. And when I met with Councilwoman Wood, we talked about the progressive discipline internal investigation part that happens and that would still um retain that in that assistant chief fire marshal uh layer. That's important to have that within your structure. Very good questions for the chief Christie.

Well, thank you, Mr. Mayor. Really just comments. I first I want to sincerely thank you Chief Grafe and Gay Becker for the time that you spent with me on this reorg. Um originally I was concerned about there wasn't a clear delineation that I could see originally between the union and the um the exempt that would deal with discipline. So we have spent a lot of time on that. I'm I'm very comfortable now that there um I've been assured by you that if there is progressive discipline, and I'm not talking about coaching, daily coaching. I'm talking about actual discipline, letter of reprimand, days off without pay all the way up to termination. Any of that personnel issues would be handled by the assistant chief and by yourself. And it's not it wouldn't be the union would be in their proper role of representing their members. And so, um, I feel very comfortable with that. Now, the other, um, part of it was bringing up the EMS. I think that's wholly appropriate. Um, when we originally created this position, it was during COVID and that person was was really assigned to manage federal grants, but that job has exploded in duties. And so, I think that's appropriate. I've never been really, even as much as we harp on managing our budget, I haven't been concerned about the $56,000 because I believe in paying people for the work they do. And if you have one person in the union and the other is excluded from it, they're not going to get the overtime, but they're out on the call. And so you have two people doing the same duties and they're not being paid equally. So that wasn't a concern to me. It was really just that clear delineation because as the mayor asked, the model is not the norm across the nation, but it doesn't mean it won't work. And so I do appreciate the time

that you spent with me on this and um I no longer have any concerns. Yes, Kenny.

So, two things. First, the EMS officer position started long before CO where Mr. Grife was the first EMS lieutenant we had way back when. And the only reason I say that is because there's two positions in this that are getting brought back. One was the fire marshal. Quinn Looper was a fire marshal for quite a while, but as the department changed, we had to make changes as well. So, as I hit the microphone, so it's this is kind of in my mind a no-brainer. And I think that the foresight you're having in this kind of interesting time, right, is just about perfect. And it's I mean we understand the financial and budget challenges that we have and so creating a model where we're just adding to the top just doesn't work for us and and even going back when uh Councilman Gabriel was a chief we were always reassigning duties trying to you know accomplish things with what we had and we were never adding and so this was just a this was a look it's like we have a lot of folks departing we felt it was prudent to look at this and make sure we had a sustainable model. It helps um encourage the line personnel to move up within and it aligns us really better with with industry standards and fire departments our size. So we felt comfortable bringing it forward with the division chiefs in there.

Any other questions for the chief? Sir, I would move to approve resolution 26-005 approving amendment number one to the agreement between the city of Celane firefighters Local 710 International Association of Firefighters establishing a division division chief rank and compensation as well as the proposed re reorganization structure of the department. Second. Thank you. Motion and a second. Any further discussion on this? Very good. We'll take a roll call, please. Joanne Gabriel, yes. English, yes. Wood, yes. Evans, yes. Sheckler, yes. Miller, hi.

Very good. There was a lot of work that went into this. They worked on it for months. Troy did along with the chief and Gabe and and uh this is the result. So, thank you all for your work. Now, we're going to move on to item H2, resolution 260006, which is approval of a professional services agreement with Bestday HR for a citywide classification and compensation study. Our HR director, Melissa Tossi, is presenting.

Good evening, mayor and council. So, tonight I'm going to discuss uh whether or not council should approve the professional services agreement between the city and best AHR for a full uh citywide class comp study. So, just a little history on our class comp studies. The last one that was approved by council was back in 2017 and the previous studies prior to that were back in 2012 and 2002. So the previous consultants that the city has used for this same type of work uh the brunt of the last couple decades were with BDPA a Boise consultant. uh Amiraaben bought their book of business when they retired uh in 2019 and then uh Amarben unfortunately dissolved their HR consultant piece of their business. Um so in the last year I've uh used best HR for some consulting uh with individual positions. So when you start to get close to a decade from a full study, it does begin to uh be difficult to just review individual positions. So it really benefits us to do a whole look at all of our positions. We currently have 22 pay grades in our general pay plan. Uh and that's about 100 classifications uh that 400 of our employees fit into. uh and we do start to see some compression issues over the year years and um just a good idea to take a look at overall leveling. So the project overview with the consultant is uh beginning with a general classification review which is all of our job descriptions. Uh they would not be rewriting all of our job descriptions from scratch. Uh we have reviewed those over the last few years and made many amendments and brought new

positions to council for approval. Um so we would just be reviewing what we currently have which saves quite a bit of money there. um a full review of our internal and external equity uh by comparing benchmark positions uh with outside uh comparables uh update updating our kinds and levels chart which is our internal equity and just reviewing our overall pay grades and leveling. Uh and then we did last year uh in negotiations with the police department we did agree to add specialty pay uh for uh our [clears throat] sworn positions as part of the study. So at the completion of the project the consultant would provide a report with their all their final recommendations and findings. Uh they would update our current kinds and levels chart. uh they would provide all their justification for the job matches and uh the recommended pay grades. [snorts] They would be available to pres present those findings to council and answer any questions that you may have. They anticipate the approximate time frame to be about 3 months which I think is pretty uh quick. I would anticipate it lasting a little longer than that. uh a lot of public records requests uh and then they would propose some different strategies for the implementation depending on what the results are. So the cost of the study is 55,000 for the scope of the work. Um and then any additional work outside of the agreement that is uh in front of you tonight would be at their standard $185 an hour. I currently have the $30,000 approved by council in the current fiscal year budget. Uh and then any of the additional amount for it would come out of I do have project to have some

savings in my budget as well as um the additional amount from fund balance. [snorts] So, the city would definitely benefit from doing a full citywide study uh addressing all the things that I've kind of already talked about uh including uh the FLSA exempt status uh checks as well. Uh and then once the consultant best AHR does the full study, I would continue to use them for individual review, which would be great because they would have already reviewed everything. um which will be really helpful when they're recommending internal paygrades. And then just our uh internal and external equity really directly relates to how we pay, retain, and attract employees. [snorts] And I added this slide from what is in your packet tonight just cuz I thought it was important just to address that we are unique. The city of Celane is unique that we collect a bargain with three different employee groups where many cities don't do that. Uh our police officers association uh we currently bargain with them and their contract expires this September. Um and I had already mentioned that they wanted specialty compensation reviewed. our Lake City employees uh association, it does state in their in their current contract that expires in 2027 um that they support the wage study to be performed by a consultant chosen by the city. And then our uh union, our fire union uh supports reviewing their base wages. So I just wanted to emphasize that having that solid wage data will be important for negotiations. So uh when we're considering future wage proposal proposals, we have that data.

So communication on the study is going to be an important piece of it. Uh this has already been discussed with all the employee groups and our executive team. Uh the department heads will be involved in the process by helping with that information flow back and forth. And then the city will have a committee that will include a member from each of the employee group and some of the department heads that have volunteered to be part of that uh to do the same uh help with information feedback from the departments and address any of the individual questions that the departments may have. So, uh, recommendation moving forward would be council approving the professional service agreement with the city embrac study. Happy to stand for any questions.

Thank you, Melissa. Um, I noticed that you mentioned in the proposal it says that it's going to take them like three months to do this. When do they start? Uh, as soon as we have a signed agreement, they are ready to begin the project. Excellent. cuz I noted in the um LCA contract there is a a deadline in there that it has to be approved by June 30th. So you think we'll be able to make that deadline? Excellent. Thank you. Any questions for Melissa Christie?

Mr. Mayor, just a discussion piece. I had prepared a counter proposal for council that was, you know, quite a bit more affordable, but it's a moot point. And I will just say that it is a moot point tonight because I didn't realize until I saw the staff report that we've essentially agreed in our contract with LCA that we would use a vendor. And so, anything that I've prepared doesn't really matter. But I did want to add two points that are outside of that that I think we should still probably discuss. I hope the wage first of all I support a wage study 100%. I hope it's successful. I hope it comes back with really good information that is valuable to all of us. But I think we need to ensure that we have a strategic plan. If we are under market, how do we address it? And that is not part of what this company will do. That's something that we have to do. And so I would hope council would entertain instructing staff to do a a five-year strategic plan on how we would implement this. I would also like us I've heard um recently that the city of Post Falls is also doing a wage study. I don't know when it will start, but it seems like we should share resources with these local entities. They'll be looking at the same things. And so I I'd like our staff to reach out to them and and see if we can share resources or if we can share some of the expense. And so those are the two items I'd like for consideration. I have spoke with the HR director with the city of Post Falls and they uh did have a consultant lined up to do a study in the last few months uh that did fall through. Uh and then they have a new individual uh with a private firm that they believe that they're going to move forward with. I wasn't familiar with the consultant. Um there are quite a few

recommendations with the consultant in the agreement tonight um with happy cities that have been um part of their process. So I feel comfortable with who we're using, but I agree it is a lot of the same data and Postf Falls is geographically in our area that we would include in our um market data as well. And uh hang on while uh you and you also mentioned some strategic plan. We're going to do a strategic planning session in April. Can you bring it up then and then we can discuss moving forward with that?

Kiki. Um thank you Melissa. Maybe just back a slide uh just or [clears throat] just refresh my memory here. I thought that the consultant had said that they were going to make some recommendations on implementing and that will be part of their report so we could maybe incorporate that into our strategic planning session or did I not hear that correctly?

Yes, that is correct. I think they are familiar with uh having some final data that some cities can't afford implementing. Um, I'm not not uh saying that we'll be in that position. The city has never been able to not implement a class comp study that we've had in the past. Uh but the last few years has been kind of a strange market and a lot of things are um I I don't know that our study will look the same this year but they will uh propose different implementation strategies based on what the city can afford and uh that might be that could potentially be a multi-year implementation and then I agree that a five-year uh look is a good idea as well uh in our collective bargaining agreements we generally have some sort of market adjustments in there to help with keep our the results from the study current. Um, so you know that's based on budget as well, but that is part of kind of that five-year strategic plan is you do need to move your pay plan to keep up with the market after you implement it. [cough] [clears throat]

A question this Dan English.

Oh, okay. I just I [clears throat] support this as well and I think this is something that's just an ordinary and necessary part of running a good business model. Um and so yeah, it just I mean you got to do this and it's in the span of our um you know kind of personnel cost cosmos. this isn't a large amount, but it again like I say, it's something that's necessary to keep us um you know up with the market and just we have to have information and be aware and stuff changes a lot. Um so I think this is a reasonable thing. So appreciate it

Dan Sheler. Uh thank you. I saw that the scope did not include um benefits or bonuses or total compensation analysis that it's exclusively focused on base salary and wages. Mhm. Uh can you help me understand why that is? And

yes, and there are some pros and cons to that and we have generally had benefit information included in previous uh studies. Uh but it never comes forward as what you see like on a total compensation statement. It comes forward as an analysis of what other cities are doing for benefits, which is pretty easy to put together. And uh and I feel like that is one of the areas that the city of Celane does really really well in and helps us with recruiting when we're able to maybe our our wage might be a little lower but we can make up for it in benefits. Uh so we decided to not include that part because I feel like it's pretty easy to put together and it hasn't really been incredibly beneficial in the past the way that it comes from the consultant. Uh, but I do feel like we are definitely ahead in the benefits comparison.

Did I answer your question? Excellent. Any other questions? [snorts] Okay. So, uh, Christie, you're withdrawing your alternate motion then. Okay. So, we'll we'll be skipping over that. We need the main motion. A motion. Mr. Mr. Mayor, I'll make a motion to adopt resolution number 26-006 approving a professional services agreement with Best Day HR for a citywide classification and compensation study. Second. Very well. Any discussion on the motion? Roll call, please. Gabriel, yes. English, yes. Wood, yes. Evans, yes. Sheckler, yes. Miller, I.

Very good. Item H3 is resolution 260007 approving an agreement with Jub Engineering for the 2526 wastewater collection system capital improvement projects in the amount of $319,800. Presenting is Mike Anderson from Wastewater. Thank you.

Thank you. Saved me from saying a lot of things. That's what we're here for. Uh a little bit diving into that just slightly. Um, so yes, this is an uh an agreement that we're seeking with JUB Engineering for our uh uh 2025 2026 collection system capital improvement project. So every year the wastewater department invests a certain amount of money somewhere between8 and $900,000 uh into our collection system which is the pipes within the ground that collect all the wastewater. Um, this is, uh, believe it or not, your crown jewel. This is the singular most expensive asset that the city has. So, we like to put money in into it even though it's underground and nobody thinks about it. Um, but every once in a while, we got to remember it. So, this contract is for $319,000 as you mentioned. Uh worth noting though that JUB last year the wastewater department went out for a request for qualifications for engineering firms and there were like five or six firms that submitted their qualifications of which Jub was selected by a uh by our panel and that's good for five years. Uh so my notes sorry about that. Um what is this project? So, Mil River uh lift station is we have lift various lift stations throughout the uh uh throughout the city mostly on the hinterlands. The wastewater depart the wastewater treatment center or plant is at the bottom of the bowl if you will of the city. So, everything kind of flows there via gravity just on these out outlying areas. We have to have these lift stations that pump waste water up over and then once it gets once it clears that hill it flows downhill to us. So, if we've already got a lift station, why are we dumping money into it? So, this is um a planned phased lift station. We

knew when we originally installed this lift station, it was going it the area that's it services was going to grow. Uh but as you can imagine, building the lift station to uh um full buildout would not have been appropriate either financially or operationally. So what we did was started and in and knowing that we were going to have to uh upgrade this list station, we collected a uh list station sir charge from anybody who was discharging into this. And that way the entire city wouldn't have to pay for it or in this case it looks like they're going to shoulder less of it. Um but uh the people who were actually utilizing list station would end up paying for it. So, this project has already been uh designed and engineered. Uh this this contract is for engineering construction management services. So, I'm going to show you quickly what it is that we're going to do. If you can still hear me as I walk away from the m from the mic. Um this is uh Grand Mill Lane and this coffin looking thing right here in the middle is our lift station and surrounded by beautiful houses. So, you would never know that there's a wastewater uh lift station right there. We've got a pipe running from the north here. This uh light this skinnier green line and one from the south as well. Uh what we're going to do is twofold. The main area is to increase capacity, but we're also going to help with the serviceability of it. Just south of this uh is the river. So, we want to make sure that any kind of wastewater issues we're having do not go into that river. So, I tried to, you can see my wonderful artwork. Uh, sidebar, everybody's presentation was beautiful. I realize I really need to take a class on PowerPoint, but bear with me. Uh, I drew this line in here. So, what we're going to do is take this line from the north

and put a few manholes in, but reroute it and bypass around and then tie here into the south. So, what that's going to allow us to do is all the flow will enter from the south. No flow will enter from the north. If we had to get into this lift station right now, we couldn't. Um, it just you couldn't bypass pump in there. You maybe you could, but it would be very very difficult. Um, what what this will allow us to do is to put a B all the flow will come in from the south and we can put a little plug in the line and keep flow from entering into lift station and basically utilize the new manhole as a small temporary lift station and it'll bypass over to a new to a valve vault that we'll have over here. that needs a little bit of work. Um, and that allows to get in there and in the bottom of lift station, it's not fancy, but it's, you know, just a concrete cylinder and the bottom of it, the pump sits in there and that pump kicks on, kicks off, and it rocks. And sometimes you got to go in there and, you know, uh, uh, rebuild the concrete a little bit or redo the rails that the pump slides up and down on as you maintain it. just important things like that that are innocuous and they don't seem glamorous perhaps but uh pretty critical. So this bypass uh routing will allow us to do future bypasses of lift station but the meat of it is leaving this lift station there were two two lines one 6 in one 8 in. We're currently utilizing the 6 in line and what we're going to do to increase capacity is utilize the 8 in line. We've got stuff in the ground already. Uh originally we were going to have a what we call called the three pipe siphon. It's actually an inverted siphon where a siphon's that thing where you kind of hand them down at your water bed or some your fish tank. You have to they don't have water beds anymore. Fish tanks that go up and over the thing. Same idea. It went it was an inverted siphon. So it was going to go underneath the highway. It was a pretty complicated process and we elected not to do that.

We're not using the inverted siphon, but we've got three pipes in the ground from that inverted siphon that are not being used. We tested those last week, and the 8 in line, which we would like to be able to utilize, tested fine. Uh so we're going to be able to utilize this existing infrastructure in the ground. So if you know where this is, um [cough] it's over on what is that? Atlas, I believe. uh the pump the lift station pumps from here clear from there clear down Seltis all the way to the Honda dealership. So quite a long run of pipe that we don't have to replace. So it's saving us quite a bit of money by being able to reutilize that old infrastructure. Thank you Sid. So the money breaks down thusly. Um it's pretty exclusively to the Mil River uh lift station project. Project management is administrative type stuff and meetings and whatnot. Uh most of [laughter] that is the construction management services where you've got an engineer with boots on the ground and they're making sure everything's being done as was intended and the alignment works and it's it's pointing downhill. The management reserve is something that we typically build in uh and it's if something weird happens like oh we've got to rerout this such and such or you saw the if you if you've been by there you'll notice it's uh uh quite a nice looking lift station if we were to knock down an extra tree that we weren't planning on knocking down and we had to put in a new tree or whatever. This would actually pay for the engineering of a tree I guess but if there's an engineering required if there's not then we'll come in under Uh fiscally, how does this look for us? Uh we allocated, like I said, $900,000 this year in our budget that you guys passed earlier, well later last year. Um this is $300,000. So it's going to chew in quite a bit to the amount that we have available. Um

last year, however, we underspent our budget by $300,000. So, uh, it's anticipated that between the $900,000 we have budgeted this year and the $300,000 we underspent last year, we should come in with the engineering and then obviously the the uh actual construction work. That'll be the expensive part. Uh, we're hoping to come in underneath uh um those two when you add those two together that 1.215 million. Uh, also worthwhile noting here, I know you'll notice that that Miller research charge fund, it's up to $419,000. So, that hasn't been spent yet, and that'll obviously take a nice chunk out of this. Um, that is required to be spent on this project. And, uh, as well, anybody who continues to come in and utilize this list, we'll continue paying for that because obviously we're going to spend more than the $419,000 we collected. Um, so we'll continue paying paying into that in perpetuity. Well, till it's paid off, I guess. Uh, so again, we'll be looking for your approval of this JUB engineering uh service agreement for $319,800. And I would stand for any questions you might have.

Any questions for Mr. Anderson? Yes, Dan English. Oh, thank you, Mr. Mayor. just I think I've got a a pretty good idea, but I don't know if you have a map that can pull out a little or just to to really describe where that is. You said it's so well camouflaged. I probably drive by it every day and

uh I could I could I don't have a map. Do you want it? [laughter] So, turn that on. So, I don't know how to get Oh, maybe. God, Google, you're so demanding. [laughter] They'll probably be very mad if I switch. Don't switch.

Oh, don't switch. Thanks. Um, so I was looking for the Honda dealership. Looks like the uh uh Here we are. It's It's down over here. The Honda dealership is over here. So, there's a force main that runs down Cell Tway all the way down through over here. And if we were to uh zoom in a little bit, there's our there's our coffin right there.

So, to zoom out a little bit, uh as far as impact to the neighbors and things like that, Councilman English, uh these neighbors will be impacted as they exit and and enter through their uh uh through their entrance up here. We'll be doing some work in this lane and here it'll be reviving traffic control, but it should be relatively limited to those that community. And uh as I mentioned, the big pipe that we've got running down the middle of Seltis Way is not needing to be uh it's it's in fine shape. So, that'll certainly help out as far as traffic is concerned. Other questions? Mr. Mayor? Yes,

I had the same question. So, thank you, Councilman. Uh just curious, when does it start and when does it stop? So, we're hoping to uh go out for bid uh in March. And if that works, we should be getting in there by May or so. And it we're anticipating being done this construction season for sure. Asphalt on the ground before the asphalt plant closes. Thank you. Very good. Yes, Kenny. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. And this was part of your overall strategic plan, correct? Correct. Yeah, we've got Well, we've got several of them, but it was definitely one that we knew was coming. and as as well obviously collected some monies for it.

More important, I want to thank you for making something that's not fun sound fun. So, thank you very much. Great presentations as usual. One of these days you're going to stop saying it's not fun and be like, "Yeah, [laughter] loves this stuff." Okay. So, we could have a motion, please. Mr. Mayor. Yes. I would make a motion to adopt resolution number 260007 approving an agreement with JUB Engineering, Inc. for the 25 2022-2026 wastewater collection system capital improvement projects in the amount of 319,800. Second. Motion second. Any further discussion? Roll call, please. English,

yes. Wood, yes. Evans, yes. Sheckler, yes. Miller, hi. Gabriel. Yes. Very well. Item H4, direction to staff regarding the University of Idaho Harbor Center lease sale. Staff report by Troy Thyson. Good evening, mayor and council. Happy New Year. Welcome new council member Sheckler. Troy Thyson, city administrator. Do we want our guest to come forward because I bring an awesome guest speaker to talk about what University of Idaho at Celane would like to do or do you want to we can call him up? I believe he is ready. He is ready.

So we we'll also call up uh Dr. Andrew Fields. This is the CEO of the University of Idaho. And please notice his tie is in appropriate color. Thank you Dr. Thank you.

Thank you Dr. Fields. Mayor Gugan and members of the city council. Hello. Good evening. I'm Andy Fields. I'm the CEO for University of Idaho Court of Lane. And I'm joined by some of my staff here. David Knife, who's our facilities and operations manager, Cara Johnson, who's our administrative coordinator, and Jake Garinger, who's our director of strategic engagement. And I wanted to start off real quick with just kind of sharing the University of Idaho's vision, which is to prepare students to thrive by reimagining experiential learning and transforming how and where education is delivered. We will drive economic growth and improve quality of life through strategic partnerships and impactful research. And our our presence here in Celane aligns with our land grant mission, which is to serve the entire state. And we have over 75 locations statewide and three of those are significant regional educational campuses. So there's Boise, Idaho Falls, and Cordelane. And so and we've been privileged to be part of the Cordelane education corridor master plan. And that shared vision is to establish a multi-institutional campus that is built on strong partnerships and provides highquality academic opportunities, joint student services and shared facilities and management responsibilities to the residents of North Idaho by capitalizing upon pool demand and opportunities for synergy and efficiency. Future development will improve multi multimodal access, circulation, and parking for the Cordelane education corridor, adjacent neighborhoods in the waterfront. So, first of all, we'd like to honor the city's leaders visions and wisdom and work over the many years that this has been in place, and we are grateful for the opportunities the city has provided

for us to help serve our communities. We actively use the Harbor Center and the waterfront for research and education and we wish to continue to be part of this vision. And anecdotally, we hear all the time from different people comments about how this vision, this education corridor is amazing. It does not exist in most other communities and it's a huge attraction piece for a lot of people and it every time we hear that it deepens our appreciation for being included in this vision. So, thank you for that. So we are here tonight is we are requesting the city council's authorization of the Gugan administration to enter negotiations with us for the possible purchase of the harbor center building and agreed upon land. We want to maintain Idaho's presence that University of Idaho's land grant university. We are the land grant university and the only premier R1 research institution in the education corridor and the state. And R1 is the top 4% of the nation. And that's that's really significant and I can't underscore that enough because we did it in Idaho by doing it the Idaho way and we're in the top percent 4% of the nation. And I think that's something that all of Idaho should be really proud of as far as you know what's been accomplished because it took all of us. So a purchase would allow allow more effective stewardship of public resources and we are excited to to explore the possibilities. So a little bit of background, we've been offering courses in Celane since 1963. We've leased the Harbor Center from the city since 2002, during which we have grown accustomed to when the wastewater treatment plant is cooking up some fabulous smells. We're we're we're right

next door. We appreciate that. Our lease is somewhat of a modified absolute net lease where we pay for all operations and maintenance. So that includes landscaping, snow removal, fire suppression, etc. And we our our operation budgets is is approximately a quarter million dollars annually. And we've also have made capital and safety improvements somewhere between a half to threequarters of a million dollars since we've been there. We house research, teaching and community engagement. And I would like to also point out that I weari the Idaho water resources research institute was revitalized and moved statewide due to our efforts locally. So we have a strong presence of iweary here but now they're also across the entire state and Iweri was struggling when you know when not too long ago. So proximity to the water docks allows for more water research. Um, when I think council person Evans actually came out and saw some of our citizen science programs firsthand out on the research boat, which was great. And I now has state funding, too. So, they're doing some great work for water resources across the state. The education corridor location is valuable. It creates great synergies with in Celane and in the education corridor adjacent to NIC, our whole metropolitan area. And I just want to give a couple examples. Our center for intelligent industrial robotics is housed out of NIC and we have some faculty offices in the harbor center as well and students can get associate certificate associates, bachelor's, masters, PhD, postdoc research science all right here in Celade and they're doing cutting edge research and it's very innovative and I'm going to say just go out there and say nationally and world world AC world across the entire globe. I mean, what's being done here is really amazing. We're also looking at

expanding medical science programs, geology, mining to serve the Silver Valley, the medical sciences. We're we're launching a direct entry masters of nursing in fall of 2027, which will directly um serve some of the regional needs, the workforce needs around healthcare. So being adjacent to to North Idaho College is also encourages a lot of partnerships and we're doing all of these programs in partnership with North Idaho College. We are looking at this as we both have a certain amount of resources both institutions and if we work together we can create more pathways for students and more options as opposed to working against each other which does this kind of attitude does not exist in the rest of the state. um we have had other community colleges come here and look at how we are partnering as an example and trying to to copy that across the state which we've gladly welcome. So with the Harbor Center when we're looking at stewardship too by us being able to own this it allows us to apply for funding that's not available to us right now state funding for for upgrades for an aging infrastructure in the building. It's better for the state taxpayers that way, including Cal Lane residents because we are all public service entities and to invest in our own facility. And stability conferred by ownership is valuable in regard to development of research and educational programs that meet regional workforce needs, attraction and retention of students, faculty, staff, a better divine vandal space for welcoming alumni in the community. And we've been operating in our region for several decades, over half a century. And it's time for us to be permanent. It's time for us to be a strong permanent fixture in this community. With that, we invite you to be part of the process. It's our position that your

perspectives and ideas will strengthen a negotiated agreement, bring to light the things potentially that we had not thought about. And we welcome one-on-one meetings, property tours. You know, you can come see the bunnies that run wild. They're huge attraction for a lot of people. And we would love to to engage with council members and the negotiation process as accepted as acceptable by the mayor. and we'd we'd be happy to conduct workshops with all or part of the city council. So, in closing, we'd like to reiterate that we are simply asking to enter into negotiation for the possible purchase of the Harbor Center and agreed upon land. Your approval to discuss options does not obligate the city to do anything but discuss options with us. Finding solutions that benefit all parties involved is a top priority for us and we would like to publicly express our gratitude to the city for the many years of support that has allowed us to support our citizenry together. So we are excited and appreciate to continue our partnership and Mayor Gan and members of the city council, thank you for your time and consideration and I stand for any questions you have.

Anyone have any questions for Dr. Fields? Yes, Kiki. Thank you for that presentation. Um, I'm just curious as to what your vision is or if you've discussed [clears throat] this, how this information will be brought back to council in milestones or a as the negotiations progress so that we know where we're at.

Yes, thank you for that question. What we're envisioning is that we would sit down and discuss what the options are, get a third party to come do an assessment, an appraisal of of, you know, land building, and that we would discuss and try to figure out how, you know, how things would progress. If we come up with an agreed upon um, you know, proposal, then it would come back here for approval. It would also go to the state board of education for approval as well. [cough] Thank you. Yes. Yes, you guys go ahead.

Um, you had indicated that uh ownership would confer stability. Is there a a need for ownership as opposed to a 10, 20, 30, 40, 50year lease? Could that stability come from a longer lease term? We could explore a longer lease. Uh, we have been in the facility for quite a while and there are some significant improvements coming up that we could apply for state funds in order to address those needs. Um, our lease currently expires in June of 2028. So, there's there's always opportunities, but I we would love to be able to say we're a permanent fixture. Yes, Christie.

Thank you. Well, I think you gave a great presentation and I absolutely believe you are part of the education quarter and that was purposeful and by design. You know, back in 2009, the NIC trustees purchased the 17 acres with the vision that you spoke of, and it was that our students could students from all around the region wouldn't have to leave home to get a quality education. You know, recently the city council, which you you noticed in your letter to council, we did reszone all of that with the purpose of protecting higher education and didn't didn't do it around our own land because it really wasn't necessary. But I see U of I as um very important to the long-term health and education of this community. I would also say that you you didn't you didn't tout your horn like you could have you know you I looked at the economic impact NIC's impact alone is 273.2 2 million to this region to the economy. They didn't break it out what UI Cordelane, but UI as a whole is 1.1 billion annually to the state. So, you're incredible um force that's necessary in in this area and um and to students. And so, I would love to see the conversation. I would love to see you have a permanent home. We do have to look at everything of what it means to our wastewater treatment plant, what specific land. I think all that your suggestion of a workshop is great or if our staff could work it with you and bring it back to us. I I'm very very open to the conversation. I support that very much.

Dan English.

Thank you. Um [clears throat] yeah, I would just say in general I'm very supportive of this concept. um you know when I think of the it's public property there and it's yeah we've had the partnership for a long time but I can also appreciate it would be nice to have you know closure stability and when I think of other even you know public entities you know I can't think of some there are a lot of them that I can think of that oh that wouldn't turn me on you know to have something else there but I think again with the education corridor the history, you know, it's a long, you know, an actual native of Cordelane, I appreciate all of that and um and somebody who supports, you know, higher education, the humanities. So I think this is a good thing and and that's why we you know just enter into negotiations and take you know our other city departments and you know I can't you know I imagine that we can figure out you know gee if we need to slice off this bit or that kind of thing that we can weave [clears throat] the thread there and uh I think also somebody has said before that you know we're not really wanting to be in the, you know, property landlord kind of business. So I and I kind of agree with that notion. So anyway, I'm very very open to the concept and hope we keep going. So

thank you, Dan. Kenny, please. And Dr. Fields, thank you. Very well done. And I am an enormous supporter of yours and I know you've been there since the beginning of the education quarter. Mr. Mayor, my only concern, and if I'm getting out of my lane, pop me back in is the other adjacent properties. those words because do we are we going to be able to maintain enough property for wastewater to expand if they need to down the road and also are we going to lose any access to the BLM that the trails are to our commercial docks but I'm sure we're going to discuss that later

and that's and that and thank you Kenny that's part of this this whole thing is we're we're not committing to anything tonight other than directing staff to enter into negotiations and the choice of council is to either sell the building and the land and you it says to sell the building and lease the land or just to continue to negotiate the land and building lease and that's the decision for council moving forward. I know that uh Dr. Fields would like to have the building and the land. The question of how much land is up to negotiation but uh to address your um to address your your specific question. I do have the wastewater treatment plant master facilities plan section 651 which was not provided to council. I apologize for that. It does mention the University of Idaho Cordelane campus as being part of the uh the master plan. The question of course that will enter negotiations is how much and obviously like you said there is a concern because we have to expand our wastewater treatment plant. We have the uh the BLM corridor and we have other commitments and plans in that master plan for things that are going to happen. And I assume all these moving pieces will all fall into place and I would love to see council involvement as this moves forward and reports back to us if council chooses whatever they choose. So hope that answers your question.

Yes sir. Thank you. Thank you. Can I just add that just to restate that we are very interested in finding a mutually agreeable solution. So we do not want to do something that's not in the best interest of the city. And I would also just highlight that we are at a state institution that's public and so our campus is going to be open. [laughter] So there there's that part that that coincides nicely with the maintenance of public land. Yes, Amy. Um I believe my question is for you. Um if this motion moves forward tonight um to enter negotiations, when can we expect to hear back?

That's a good question. What is your timeline, Mr. F Dr. Fields? I'm sorry. We would love to have something figured out by the summer, but we that timeline is flexible. So, we we would just love to be able to work with the city on the city's timeline and really kind of get all the details out. So, we don't want to put too much pressure on on a short timeline and I believe it was mentioned, but I just want to confirm it. And this will include an appraisal of the property. Yes. Oh, yes, Mr. Mayor. If there's no further, there could be discussion after my motion. I'd make a motion to direct staff to negotiate the sale of the Harbor Center land and building or to sell the building lease of land or to continue to negotiate a land and building lease. Second.

Hang on a second, Christie. It has to be one of those, not all. One. I thought the negotiations were to to determine what's best. They want direction specifically whether we're going to sell it, sell the building and lease the land or continue with the lease. So, you got to choose one. I'm sorry that [laughter] that's confusing. Um, [snorts] so negot negotiations are just negotiations, nothing final. So I would say u direct staff to negotiate the sale of the Harbor Center land and building. Second. Very good. Any further discussion on that or any clarification? Yes, Kenny. Randy, is that right? Is what right? [laughter] I think what council member Wood just said,

it's up to council to decide what to do. Um, council could ask staff to look at all three options and bring back uh more information if you need more information or we can do what the motion says and and direct staff to do one look at one thing. Amy,

first I think U ofi is great. So please know that at the core I am concerned with limiting it to selling the sale of harbor center land and building without enough information. We don't have a current map of the land. We don't have the boundaries outlined. I feel like there's a lot more information that should be provided us more discussions with wastewater and the impact um for the future there. So I am I am concerned with it just being the one option and not exploring the other possibilities. Okay, let's uh could you can you advance your slide one? I think the next slide is the picture is the map.

So that's the BLM uh corridor and the project and the harbor center is down there. It's hard to see because I don't think it's actually on that map. It's the yellow. If you advance one more time,

I think the next is a uh property map. So, the harbor center is down there. Um, this is a mess. Obviously, this would have to be what part of the moving pieces you're talking about, but you see the uh the current uh property line is based on the old railroad line that used to go through there and it kind of cuts right through the middle of the existing parking lot. So, that's another moving piece that would have to be discussed. Um, I believe the portion on the other side of the railroad, which would be the east side on the top of the map, is part of the wastewater master plan expansion. So, these are all the different moving pieces that would have to come out. And obviously, city administrator has something important to add.

Yeah, sorry to interrupt. That was kind of my portion of this. Thank you, Dr. I think we've got the idea.

Again, looking at this map, you are seeing where Harbor Center sits, a bump out down at the Spokane River. This was what the city acquired back in 1991. And we acquired this upper piece, which of course now the wastewater treatment plant has built upon. You have some tertiary treatment in this neighborhood that we do not want to lose. So part of the negotiation will need to be what the boundary looks like. The vision of our predecessors. We bought this land. The wastewater department bought this land. Um I've got all the different parcels here while there was still an existing railroad there. So we bought the underlying ground to protect this wastewater treatment plant because of the fact that according to our director it is the bottom of the bowl which means that is gravity fed for the most part. We also acquired this land over here over time and this is what the triangle piece was. So again this began back in 1991 on acquisitions. The building that the University of Idaho is in is a very large building. It's approximately 29,493 square ft and it is built literally on the edge of the Spokane River and it is a building that they have maintained and it has some very expensive pieces and parts that thankfully keep cooperating like heating systems and elevators. So, I just wanted to jump in on saying that this negotiation uh we're obviously would need to move this boundary over. I'm suggesting to you that we would look at the building and this lower parking lot, which again, the lines do not match up. So, we're going to have to do some work to get a real description even for purposes of having it appraised. Uh there could be

some options in this agreement that speaks about this upper parking lot, but we do have a wastewater director that wants to protect the what if. That's why this land was acquired. In days gone by, I could take you back 15 years and we saw tank farms all over this land and the way we would treat wastewater. Today that tertiary membrane has saved thousands of square feet of tankage due to the work of let's credit Sid Fredericks again Frederickson again for having run through multiple processes at our individual plant to find the most effective one and the most efficient one. Uh you also have tenants down here on Spokane River. The BLM plan on the land that they control is considered as a slide before. So you have a complete staff report from me. I just needed to jump up because this land acquisition has been critical for our success to protect that wastewater treatment plant, keep it on the educational corridor. I know Dr. Fields quite well. We've done a lot of work together, but we have been a gigantic partner in this process. This has not had a good return on investment for the city of Celane. You once upon a time had your water department in there and you had your prosecutor's office in there. We have moved both of those. In fact, we are so efficient now, we sold the triple wide, which is where your water department moved when the University of Idaho moved in. So, I'm going to be your historian. Having almost as many years as my colleague, the clerk, um I was here for most of those transactions. And so, getting the University of Idaho to beautiful Celane has been the city's goal. William T. Panos was all over that transaction. uh from my desk. It's not my favorite

return on investment transaction because you saw what the lease rates are that they are paying but they are maintaining the building which has removed a lot of costs that the city would have endured and we really did not buy harbor center for harbor center building. We really acquired it for the land that sits next to the wastewater treatment plant. So it was a good purchase. What do you think we paid in 1991 for that building? Oh, let me tell you, a little over $3 million. That was a lot of money. And there was a marina there as well. We sold that to the Hegedon Corporation and it moved out to Silver Beach. So, again, a little bit of history on why, how did we acquire that and the land that we protected. The general fund is about a 25% owner in Harbor Center building. The wastewater utility owns the rest of the land. rough numbers. We spent a little over $600,000 acquiring this land over years back in the day. Uh we would sell some waterfront that anyway, bad idea. It's just been a great place to have the land and have control of it. So, you have a complete staff report from me. We would like to protect the wastewater treatment plant and their master plan that's happening down there. Happy to work with University of Idaho. I would stand for any questions as I plowed through that quickly.

Questions for Troy Christie, please. Mr. Historian, you forgot the police department, but okay. Uh I had a great office. Um anyway, um Troy, everything you've mentioned is um something relevant, something we should absolutely consider, but wouldn't that be part of the negotiation? you would come back to us with what's appropriate, what we should consider. You of I might come forward with no, we want you to consider this. So, I think my original motion is probably okay. It's just negotiation.

Mr. Mayor, I I seconded that original motion because that's what I thought we were moving into. And I think that the University of Idaho has expressed ownership in the building as one of their desires and I think the city's aware of that. So, I think that um having the parties with our uh direction sit down and discuss how that option is going to work best for both of them is is where we're at. And I was reading it as ors as there were choices. Um, my experience up here is that it often helps staff to be specific that if you uh if you do say or or or um I don't know where you would end up with that, Troy, in the process of negotiations or if you would prefer a little bit more direct um input from council. Well, I think the opportunity to negotiate will confirm if University of Idaho is better off with owning the dirt under the building or if a lease works into their game plan. So, there's some things they need to look at. Obviously, the appraised value is going to be for a building and the land is looked at separately. [clears throat] Part of it can continue to move forward. Um,

so with the original motion, it's still valid, I guess. Mhm. It sounds like it sounds like it's still valid. Any other further discussion or questions on the original motion? Okay, Joanne will do a roll call then. Wood, yes. Evans, yes. Sheckler, no. Miller, I. Gabriel, yes. English,

yes. Okie dokie. We are at the adjournment. Any other further comments for the good of the order. Okay. All right. Then everyone needs to stick around cuz we're going to do a group photo at the end of this which we've never done. Post Falls does it. It's about time we do one. Um so we'll do a motion to adjurnn. Motion to adjurnn. Second. Okay. All those in favor? I I

We are adjourned. Thank you. Don't go anywhere. We're going to get the [music] Heat. Heat. [music]

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