City Council - Regular Meeting
The Caldwell City Council discussed a proposal for collective bargaining for the police department and heard an update from the Economic Development Director. The Council also considered an agreement with Canyon County for a new jail site and approved improvements for the Kimball Alley mini plaza.
About this meeting
- Government Body
- City Council
- Meeting Type
- City Council
- Location
- Caldwell, ID
- Meeting Date
- August 3, 2026
Published excerpts
Only published remarks appear here. The full transcript is not published.
159 sections (from 165 segments)
Good evening everyone. Thank you for being here tonight. Thank you City Council and staff We're gonna get started with tonight's August 3rd 2026 regular call the City Council meeting is six o'clock I Call those the meeting order and once again, thank you for joining here I see a lot of folks in the room a lot of a couple things on the agenda tonight First on the agenda is gonna be invocation, which tonight will be offered by mr. Rod grub Rod correct. Yes And then we're going to follow with the Pledge of Allegiance. And would you please stand?
Next item on the agenda is roll call madam clerk. I
All right, we have all counsel present. I just want to follow up real quick on some things that were said in the prayer. Once again, thank you for that. You know, this has been a trying time for not only our community, our valley, especially the state, more specifically Twin Falls with the tragic incident that just occurred down there. My heart goes out to them. That's why we issued a message. Additionally, we had Caldwell Police Department, which we have many in attendance tonight, did something what's called mutual aid, right? So for those not familiar, when there's things that occur, whethe
The old item business with the discussion of the sewer line to the county's proposed jail site, I'm going to declare a conflict because my place of employment stands to benefit from this project if it goes forward. And I've also been involved in some discussions that the rest of city council members have not been involved in. So for that reason, if there's a vote on anything, I'll declare a conflict of interest.
Thank you, Councillor Dittenberg. And just for those in the audience or listening online, that would just be for the old business item that Councillor Dittenberg is declaring a conflict of interest. And thank you for that, Councillor Dittenberg. Next on the agenda are special presentations, with the first being from Colville Police Officer Nick Guintana on possible law enforcement collective bargaining. So with that, thank you for being here tonight. And thank you once again for all the Colville Police Officers that are in the crowd, it's wonderful seeing you here.
Just to confirm, that was your last slide. Okay. Thank you for your presentation. It definitely is an important topic. And having previously worked at Colville Police Department, thank you guys each and every day for what you do. Thank you. It's a lot, especially for the pay, the hours, all you guys have to put up with. So hats off to you each and every day. And thank you for your service to the city. With that, Councilor Stoddard.
Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Just curious bottom line is you folks want to get the same pay as Boise or what are you looking at?
The reason I ask that is because you had Boise, Napa, Coeur d'Alene up there comparing to Caldwell, so I just assumed maybe what about Napa then? Are you expected to say is Napa relative to population size because they have a lot more people than we do?
Like I say, usually there's a reason for collective bargaining. That's because people aren't satisfied with what they're getting. That's the bottom line. And that's why I ask you, you know, which city do you want us to compare you to relative to pay and all the other things that are important to you?
for us to make reasonable adjustments and I guess the last question is that You know relative to time spent and the overtime and the you know a lot of times Benefits aren't included in what you're asking for so the amount of money you're asking for does that Include the benefits are you are you saying that the benefits aren't good enough either? What are you saying there?
Because we were looking at budgets this year. I know that the Chief Ingram and the operational cadre gave up their raises so you guys would have more money. And I don't know if you knew that or not. Yes, sir.
I'M JUST TRYING TO FIND TO SEE OR KIND OF FIGURE OUT WHAT YOUR BOTTOM LINE IS AS FAR AS COMPARISON TO COLWELL VERSUS OTHER CITIES. THAT'S USUALLY WHERE IT'S AT.
Well, I think that's why we went out of our way for the last three, four years to try and bring us back up to something that's reasonable relative to pay. And, you know, it all gets back to what's available for tax money.
Thank you Cricker if I'm wrong, I believe it's one per 1,000 for the Pam
Yeah, just The reason I ask is I just was curious where they had another number different than what we're usually hearings.
Yes Thank You counselors thought of your questions comes Williams Nick thanks for being here and thank you for going to twin And being part of that mutual aid. Yes, sir You you and I have known each other for a while and we certainly agree on much more than we might disagree on so If my questions appear to be contrarian, I don't intend for them to be. Were you able to... I didn't see you at any of the budget hearings. Were you able to go through them on video?
So are you aware that your chief asked for extra things for you that this council wasn't able to give, like incentive pay?
Nick, I hear what you're saying, but it's not connecting with me simply because we're not talking about the same thing here. What would we have done differently this year?
it comes to competition we're just we're not even in the race but we don't have the money to do what you're asking us to nick i mean we we we have a general fund that we have to divide between essentially public service and and streets i'm super minimizing it but but where would we get the money from to do even to do uh even if we were to match nampa and say nick you've got it we're going to match nampa where would we get the money from well councilman again that is something that we would need to deliberate in the future
I think you would agree that I have an interest in officer wellness and might have even had something to do with that over the years. What is the FOP's response to this? Because the community needs to know we have an FOP. I realize that's a little different, but what has been your FOP's response to this? Is there somebody from the FOP here that could speak for the FOP or is that a separate issue?
Nick, again, please. Don't take offense to my questions. I'm not, sir. I'm concerned because as much as I would give you everything you're asking for, we just don't have the revenues to do it. And so to even enter into this assumes that we didn't do our best to bargain this year for the most we could do for you. And trust me, we tried really hard to get more, and there just isn't more water in the well. But thank you for being here tonight. Thank you for... your colleagues that are here as well, and again, appreciate everything you've done.
Just to inquire before we proceed, Councilor Allgood, would Council like a member or members of the FOP to come up now or after you finish your questions with Officer Quintana?
Councilor Allgood. Thank you, Councilor Williams.
Just a couple of things. You're doing a great job. Thank you, sir. It takes a lot to be up here, and the fact that you are answering these hard questions is very admirable of you. Another thing, when you talked about losing an officer, an officer costs about $100,000 to replace. Yes, sir. You also lose a body for six months while that officer's in police academy. That's correct, sir. Field training. That's correct. You got six months. You're paying this guy. It's not of a value to the public. That's absolutely correct, sir. He's still learning how to find his way around town.
Secondly, I just want to clear up for the public, and we probably have a little bit different view on this, but you listed all these agencies that have incentives, but Caldwell did not. That's correct, sir. Caldwell has longevity. Caldwell has certification pay. And I'm sure there's after-hours incentives and things like that that we haven't met, but we do have some incentives. Am I correct?
Just a couple more things. Is this project you're working on supported by any union?
And then one last question for you. Yes, sir. When you're discussing bargaining, what phases of your work do you want to bargain on? do you have an idea of the things you would like to be able to bargain on?
Thank you, Councilor Allgood. Anything else from Council President Register?
Thank you for coming. I know this is very scary sometimes. You finally said it and I was waiting for you to say it. I think this is more than about money It's more about having a seat at the table and being able to have those discussions So I want to talk about that a little bit because they think you're very well aware that we the money we have is the money We have we can't pull money out of thin air, right? Regardless if we allow negotiations or not correct what I would encourage my fellow councillors It was not very long ago that we sat down with the fire department for half a day and talke
But we have a contract that requires them to stay with the police department for so long. Is that correct? Do we have a contract that requires them to stay with the police department for so long?
So that would be another thing that we would want to talk about if we had a workshop. I know years ago we had an officer that got hired, quit, got hired, quit, got hired, quit. And it is very expensive. And so I think we did institute a contract at some point. So I don't know. if that went away, but I think it was to protect from those things.
So those are the kinds of things, too, that a collective bargaining outfit can Talk about right. So those are the kind it's not just about your pay and I don't want to get it focused just on that because then it becomes Sort of an impossible conversation, but there's all these other things that you could do But I think having a seat at the table is one of those things that the police department has never had and that's coming from somebody who's worked at an agency without collective bargaining and an agency with collective bargaining and it makes a big difference and
The other thing I think it's important to point out is that during this process, you can build in protections such as no-strike policies, that if you can't come to an agreement, you're going to work off your prior contract. You may have to give something up to get something more. That's absolutely correct. Right. So it's not just about coming in and saying, we want this much money per hour. It's about you coming in and negotiating, too.
And the fire department gets that, and I've always thought it was unfair that the police department didn't. And I'll tell you that when my husband was hired at Caldwell Police, I believe he was hired at $17.17 an hour. And when I went to dispatch at Napa Police, I was making more than him to start, and I was probably making $10 more than him when he died. And that, to me, seems insane to try to rectify. So, again, money is money. We cannot make it come out thin air however we are consistently asking our first responders and public safety both police and fire to do more with less and they feel
So that would be what I would ask our council to do. And I guess something they would have to either nod and say they would be willing to show up or not, and then the mayor would have to probably come together with you to get a date and time and all that kind of stuff.
Thank you, Councilor Register. Anything else from Council? All right, well, unless anyone objects to a future workshop, I do fully support having continued conversation about this. Thank you. Obviously, as I told you, there's a lot of nuts and bolts to work out, and ultimately, at the end of the day, it's up to the will of the Council. You know, there may be some give and take, and at the end of the day, it's their decision, their legislative body. So with that, unless anyone objects, we can look at a future date and time meeting obviously we have work schedules to figure out and a variety of
I will stand for any questions Thank You councillor static Thank You mr. Mayor Mr. Torres if you were king for a day, what type of business would you concentrate on?
Okay. Next question. Which projects. bring in the higher tax base versus services rendered? What type of business?
Residential or commercial industrial? I'll make it simple for you.
Well, let me ask you this, then. If you had a subdivision that went in that had, I'll say, 50,000 residents on their tax rolls, and you had, say, five commercial companies come in, which tax base would return the city more, the residential or the commercial?
Commercial would be, in case you're wondering. Relative to your graph on leakage, I think that's a good graph that tells us that we better be concentrating more on commercial industrial versus residential. I mean, if you believe your graph. Right?
Okay. Talk about your balance. What's your ratio then, residential versus commercial? What's more healthy?
Thank you Thank You councillor static council president register.
I just have one question Um, where do you think our best focus is for commercial like what areas?
okay yeah because i think um a lot of people have noticed you know there's more now to caldwell than just the downtown so um carter 21st 2026 you stick all of those are in your You're watching them?
didn't catch where you said that was so i'm still learning our town so i apologize um but our northern urban rural district is on i think it's on 44. okay thank you thank you council president register anything else from council all right thank you for that update and we look forward to next month this will be a monthly update probably not quite so extensive which great job by the way i'm not saying it like that but Just still have new businesses and such. You guys did a phenomenal job, and thank you for your expertise. So expect that every first meeting unless you just happen to not be here.
Thank you. We appreciate all that you've done, especially helping clean up Curtis Park, Lurie Park, and others. It's a lot of work, I'm sure. Appreciate you doing that. Councillor Stoddard.
Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I was just curious, what herbicide have you been using to kill Russian olive stumps? You know?
Have you used that for quite a while, or is that something new on the market? Do you know?
Okay. And what do you do? Drill holes in the stump and pour it in, or what do you do?
You guys are static council or register.
I just wanted to thank you guys for coming by I just wanted to acknowledge how tan you are So that was I thought it was cool that you guys all came up here and you're so tan. I'm working outside.
Yeah That was it I Would agree Thank You council president register anything else from council Thank you all that you do. It's very important work. Keeps our parks and stuff looking wonderful. And hopefully you guys are able to handle the smoke outside very well and have your protective equipment. And thank you.
With that, that concludes the special presentations tonight. So thank you for everyone that came here tonight. Next on the agenda is audience participation. This section of the agenda is reserved for citizens wishing to address accounts regarding city-related issues. Not on the agenda. Those who want to speak will have three minutes, and our clock's right up here. Comments related to public pending hearings, including decisions that may be appealed to city council or out of order and should be held for public hearing. Repeated comments regarding the same, similar topics. I'll just skip past th
All right, there's no further discussion. Sorry, no further members on the public input. Next on the agenda is a consent calendar. These are routine items that are grouped together to be approved in one motion unless a counselor moves. One or more of the items are removed from the consent calendar and considered separately. First, are there any motions to amend the consent calendar? Mr. Mayor?
Councilor Tillman? I move to remove item number nine from the consent calendar to be discussed at a future meeting.
Motion? Second. Motion to second. All right. Madam Clerk? We're voting electronically, just for those in the crowd. OK. Just confirm the motion passes 6-0. All right, I'll now entertain a motion to approve the consent calendar as amended. Mr. Mayor? Councilor Tillman?
I move to approve the consent calendar as amended. Second.
Motion and a second to approve the consent calendar as amended.
All right, the motion carries 6-0. Do we need to take a quick break before we get into old business? Just let me go a minute. Would you like to take a quick eight to ten-minute recess?
Mr. Mayor, maybe it would be appropriate to recognize our county officials that stepped in the room before we take a break.
Yes, thank you. Both of our commissioners are here tonight and county staff, so I appreciate you being here for the meeting and our partnership together. Thank you. Would you like to take a quick recess? Yes. before we get into old business. All right, we'll take a quick 10 minute break. all right welcome back thank you for entertaining our brief break so with that we're going to move on to old business tonight there's an agenda item under old business consider a sewer line and infrastructure agreement with canyon county for their property located near highway 44 That is proposed, I would say,
Thank you, Oscar, for that. Would the county like to come up? Good evening, Commissioner. Thank you, Commissioner, for being here tonight. Just said thank you, Commissioner, for being here tonight.
Would you like to have either Bennington or your public works director talk briefly?
Thank you for the information. Councilor Allgood.
I just wanted to ask Commissioner Holton something real quick. Just for the public's edification, we've had the conversation. Would you kind of discuss the phasing, how big a jail you're starting with and what your plan is start to finish on the phasing of the jail, please? Okay.
I know you have restrictions on what you can talk about, but I hope the public understands how important this is. I know what you can't say, but I hope they know how critical this is that we get this done.
Thank you, Councilor. All good. Councilor Tillmott.
This may be more for Public Works and the engineer or your builder. My only concern would be making sure that in this process, and I just want to make sure that you guys don't have a problem with working with the city so that we at least have eyes on it. So through the design, through any of it, I mean... Commissioner Holton mentioned Inspection, but even beyond that just the rough design just that we know what we're getting long term where it's at what kinds of things we can do to help facilitate it and That kind of thing. Are you willing to work with us in that respect?
And just to that point, I would imagine we could not only set up the working group, but to give updates to council as this progresses along, if we were to ever go in this direction. Thank you, Councillor Tillman. Councillor Stoddart. Thank you, Mr. Mayor.
Just for Chairman Holton. Yes. Do you have any plans for Pond Lane if this shot is fired out there at Highway 44 at all?
Good to know. Thank you. Yes. Thank you, Councillor Stoddick. Anything else from council? Councillor Williams.
Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I think this question probably is more for legal than anything. Just, and to be perfectly honest, some of this document came to me late in the afternoon. I haven't had a chance to go through it. But there seems to be a question about the legality of waiving connection fees. And I'm not a lawyer, so before we enter into an agreement, we need to be sure of what is and isn't possible. So that's my biggest question that I see at a glance here. We need to iron that out and what that would mean and whether or not that's doable. I see a comment from our staff and I see a reply,
Thank you. Anything additional, Councillor Williams?
No, if that's the case, I'm trying to prolong this, but I would need to speak with my council before I could move ahead, simply because he's just suggested that we can't discuss it now. But that's the hang-up.
Thank you, Commissioner. Councillor Dittenberg.
Thank you, Mr. Mayor, Mr. Holton, Commissioner Holton. Thank you for being here. There is no doubt that our county needs a new jail. And I got to applaud the county and the sheriff for doing a remarkable job of keeping people in the jail. Because that's what what jails do My my comments are for your for your contractor and for mr. Britton having been Having been and then maybe John our engineer also having worked at that location for 20 years and have been bored underneath that canal twice and knowing the pain of boring underneath that that canal There was no local contractor capable of boring
Okay. The other question that I have, knowing the work that takes place there, there's a lot of prep work that needs to be done prior to doing what they call a jack and bore. Two or three months worth of site prep work, quite possibly four to six months of mobilizing equipment, getting it on site. So based upon the timeline, you're under a really crunch timeline and I appreciate your comment about being under a crunch timeline. So John, my question for you is, if I remember correctly, that sewer line at that location is probably eight to 10 feet underground. So how would a, a horizontal Jack a
It does answer my question, but I think the sewer line is required to be what they call an inverted siphon, which means it's got to go underneath the canal by, 15, 20 feet underneath the canal to maintain the structural integrity of the canal, which is the farmers cooperative canal. And if I'm not mistaken, they have some of the oldest water rights, if not the oldest water rights in the state. So, um, so it's a pretty, it's a pretty deep, a deep bore. And I would hope that if you plan on doing that, that you start the planning process really soon.
Thank you, Councilor Dimbre. Councilor, all good?
I was going to make a motion, but... Oh, Councilor, President Register.
Well... Don't know if this will help you or not. I am Really excited to get this done. I really think that we need to get a better jail and Move it out of the downtown and all the reasons I just had a question about the connection fees as well and how that worked And I don't know that we have that answer yet. So is that kind of work into your motion?
So for John and for legal, if we set this out for our next meeting, which is August 17th, can we have the answers that were lacking by that time?
So I'm not trying, I want to continue this, but I would like to have a date certain that we continue it too. Whatever works for you guys, just let me know and I'll make that motion.
Council good to make a motion to continue this agenda item Until the next council meeting which is August 17th for further discussion and possible action All right, that's a motion.
Do we have a second? Motion is second madam clerk Sorry discussion on the motion Thank You councillor static
Uh chairman holton does that meet with your satisfaction or are we talking about a timetable here between now and the next mean that you can't live with No, we can we can live with that and and I think you know commissioner our commissioner council owner Williams is is correct.
Good. Thank you. Thank you, Councillor Stoddart. Any further discussion? All right, Madam Clerk. We had one abstain for clearly explained reasons. Motion carries 5-0 to continue and we will make sure that we have a follow-up for council by the August 17th meeting, regular city council meeting.
I think that's a unanimous. Thank you commissioners and staff for being here. We appreciate it and look forward to Whatever that end result will be. Thank you. Appreciate it All right, the next agenda item is considering a resolution accepting the envision Caldwell 2050 Plan and Robin was not here tonight. So Morgan, would you please come forward?
There was also a typo where Section 4 was not on the agenda item.
Mr. Mayor, I would just like to ask why the
In adopting versus accepting I guess Oh council president So I asked for some of the changes I appreciate you guys getting that done Some of it was just to be consistent with what we with the other wording in the document there had been a back-and-forth between adoption and acceptance also the message that we've been giving the community is that we are not a adopting a plan that we're putting into action. So it's more of an acceptance of the plan that was created that's now brought forward that's non-binding and that we can refer to if needed, but we're not required. So it just has a little bi
Just to further clarify this was advised to me earlier by Director Collins that clearly we can in the future make changes to the comp plan zoning code renewal plan capital plan or the adopted budget. It just has to come back through a public hearing. So that was the clarity to do that and any suggestions we would then circle back. So there's different elements in their variety of things that if council wanted to entertain those we just come back through through the legal process. to bring those to fruition, if you so choose.
Also, one thing I'd like Ms. Bissau to just clear up is that if the council decides to look at any of the projects that were created in this plan, what that process is, we cannot just pick one out and say we're going to commit funds to it or do something with it without what process? This doesn't authorize that, I mean.
Well, let's say the Whitewater Park or a convention center or a parking garage, would those things require a public hearing at least?
So our community can be assured that this document is not going to start any kind of project without whatever process it needs to go through for council. That's correct. Thank you.
Mr. Mayor. I see the chamber in the audience and some of the downtown businessmen. You folks have any problem with the change in the language? More notice would have been nice, but... What was that?
I didn't... More notice would have been nice, but...
So did you get, have you seen these changes in the wording?
Did you want to continue it so you can look it over? There's, I think there's three or four changes, one of which is a word and then one's just for consistency. Is there a reason why you weren't?
because we're already missing an item number four that once we identify that on the resolution. So that was with, we discussed that with legal public works and director Collins today to make that modification. So we are, the motion is up to accept the document tonight and then just any follow up plans and stuff would come back through and whether the wording was different or not, that would still be the same process.
Well, I guess the question is why didn't they see this before tonight is what I'm asking.
When was it drawn up? That's why we had to make the modification today because when we looked at the agenda, it was inquired why it went from number three to number five. So that's when we had the staff make sure that they got item number four in there.
So if you look in your packet, there was... Was there any reason why that wasn't transferred to the chamber or these other folks?
Just because we got it done before the meeting today.
I hate to be accused of being grumpy, but you know, we brag about our transparency. That's why I brought up the question. And I'll still question the Chamber and the other folks. Do you have any problem with these changes? Mr. Palmer, would you like to come forward?
So just I also want to point out that the original Roger Brooks plan when talking about the plaza did not have a resolution at all and it was still used. My intention was to clean up language and make it consistent. The motion as written is to accept the... Let me go here. Consider resolution accepting the Envision Caldwell 2050 plan. It just makes it consistent. The intention is not to shelve it or push it away. There are a lot of things in this plan that I like, that I've heard good feedback on. I just don't want to have competing plans. We have a... regular comp plan we have a sub area plan
I agree. This is not a fight. It's not an argument, and I don't know how it's going to be taken. I just think that we've been giving this message out since Roger came back in town that this is what it is, so let's just make the language line up with that.
Clarification for legal. Accepting still means we can do each and everything in the document. We just go through the process as described, correct?
Mr. Mayor, thank you. So I think there's a couple more questions that need to be answered. Who was the, who originally drafted this resolution? Who was the original author of it?
Okay. And so at some point it went through legal review. Who, did you recommend, did legal recommend changing it from adopt to accept?
Because I'm looking at the word accept. When you handed me this big binder of 200 pages, I accepted it. I accepted it. I think we should adopt it, meaning it's a little bit more teethed. It's a little bit more we're committed to honoring, recognizing the work that was done into it, or the work that was put into it. I think accepting it is kind of a way of saying thanks for your effort, but we really don't want it. So I would hope that the motion to adopt this resolution would come forth soon.
Thank you. Counselor Dittenberg. Um, council all goods next.
Um, I agree with counselor Dittenberg. I, I realize we're playing with words here, but I really feel like this, first of all, just as counselor Stotic said, this is the first time I've seen this, um, five minutes ago when it was handed to me. But in this brief time that I've had to digest it, I feel like the documents watered down and watered down on purpose. And, uh,
Yes council can make a modification to that it was a late request council register earlier Council register so um I was prepared to to support this with the with the one word change I
If we're going to push it through with adoption to give it more teeth and do more, then we are doing exactly the opposite of what we've been telling the public for the past year and a half while Roger Brooks has been in town. We have said over and over and over and over again that this plan is a vision, that it is meant to assist us in conversations, that it is not going to be forced, none of that. So we've changed one word because the motion says what it says. Section 1 says acceptance. We're changing one word to make it more consistent. And instead, now we're saying that if we're going to as
I'll second it, but I think you need to include the resolution number, don't we?
All it says on here is consider resolution accepting the Envision Caldwell 2050 plan. I've added with the changes that we just talked about with the new document with the change of words, and it's resolution 185-26. Okay.
Motion to second. Madam Clerk? Discussion? Correction.
Any further discussion on the motion? I don't think, you know, Perhaps the schematic of words is that much of a problem. It's just that again. We're submitting something that nobody else has seen And not even the council until the last minute. That's what sticks in my craw all the time And we got to stop doing this is all you know Just it's not right period and our folks in the chamber hasn't seen it the downtown business people haven't seen it That's just not right period so that's all Thank You mr. Mayor and I think
with no disrespect to the process. I think that is an issue to be considered. And is anything harmed in postponing this until the next meeting? We don't have to go through a lot of discussion. We can disperse this. I have mixed feelings on it, because I understand that adopt does carry more weight. But I also understand that just because we use the word adopt doesn't mean it's not going to change. Travis, to your fear, they could still throw it in the trash and shelf it even though we adopted. And so there's a part of me that says I agree, because adopt does have more force. We've adopted this
put this out there but I'll let you decide that I think at this point I want to go through with this motion and just kind of see what happens I my whole intention is just to stay consistent with what we've told the public that's all yeah I totally resent the idea that it's being said that we're lying to the public I've been to three of these presentations with Roger Brooks
And in every single presentation that he has made, he has been very clear that there's no force upon anybody to do anything. This is just a plan. I don't think anywhere at any time, the public has been told that they're going to be forced to do anything. And I believe every member of this council would also agree that nobody has any intention of forcing anything. And as, as Morgan said, any project, just like any other project that comes in the city, If we spend over $50,000, it has to come before this council. And so the idea that we're somehow being less than truthful with the public is ridi
I'm talking about what was said tonight.
Well, no, but what I'm saying is Roger has been clear in every single presentation that there's no force of anybody, and nobody disagrees with him. We all agree that there's no force of any kind being put on anybody. Nobody's spending a dime. Nobody is taking anybody's property or requiring them to do anything. That's not the intention of this document.
I don't think that's Roger's intention. That's not what I'm talking about. he has said exactly what I'm trying to say tonight is that there's no force that it's just a vision. It's just a document. And then counselor Denver said that he wants to use the word adopt because it has more teeth because it gives more, I don't want to misquote him. I, that's the part I heard that it has more teeth. I don't know what else was said. I don't know why we have to have something that has more teeth when we've been telling the public all this time that that's not what it is. And so that's the part where I t
I believe I said more teeth. And the reason I said that is what I don't want to happen is for us to adopt or accept and then this thing disappeared and never gets looked at again.
That's my concern. I mean, I think it runs a risk either way.
Thank you, Councilor Alderman. Just to be clear, there's a lot of great things in the plan. I remember Caldwell High getting to vote for multiple items, so any shelving is not going to be a thing. This was a late request from our council president, but with that, it's up to the council to decide if you want to approve or deny this motion. Additionally, if it is denied, then you can come back with a follow-up motion.
Councillor Stoddard? Yeah, Mr. Mayor, I just want to remind everybody all the complaints we had with the previous administration about these last-minute deals, and nobody's seen the document, and here we're doing it again. So, I mean, we need to pass it. We need to get busy with this, and part of the reason we can't pay these policemen properly and the fire department is because we don't have enough commercial industrial development, and this plan addresses that issue, especially when you don't take up ag grounds. Some of the other important parts of our community.
Thank you Councillor Edinburgh Mr. Mayor, thank you. Just so the just so the public knows that the resolution as it stands. I'm voting no on and That doesn't mean I don't firmly support Roger Brooks plan I I think our city made a commitment over a year ago that we were going to invest money in Roger Brooks we were going to listen to Roger Brooks and And I think that my no vote today does not in any mean, does not by any means say that I don't support the Roger Brooks plan.
Thank you, Councillor Dittmer. Anything further? All right, Madam Clerk. All right, the motion carries for acceptance. That was the motion, correct? The acceptance of the Roger Brooks plan. And with that, carries four to two. Next item on the agenda is considering a notice of award to Ewing Construction for Construction of a Kimball Alley mini plaza improvements. This was presented by City Council Economic Development staff. Correction. City Engineering.
Thank you for that. Council? Councilor Tillman?
Mr. Mayor. John, okay, so basically you have $75,000 that's going to need to be found, correct?
That is correct. Okay, and that is something that we do have in the budget, though, that we can pull from somewhere else, correct? Correct.
Right. And so we're only looking for realistically $75,000. Correct. Apologize for that. There's always over just I'd rather ask the question that right. I'd rather it be 248 as well Just have a little extra and then the second question is even though you haven't pre conned yet What is the time frame that the contractor is this something that they're going to be able to do before the bridge opens or will they still be carrying over after the bridge yeah mayor and councilmember Tillman I just want to clarify too when I kind of helped out started helping off this project
Okay, so they are signing a contract sting. They will be done before the bridge.
Thank you, Councilor Tillman. Councilor Stoddart. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I just need a nod from Chairman Porter there. Is this okay with you? I have been on the board this long, on the DRA board this long. I didn't realize that. Okay. So we're good with it? Yeah. Thank you.
Thank you, Councillor Stoddart. Anything else from council? Thank you. Do we have a motion? Thank you.
I move to approve the notice of award to Ewing Construction for the construction of the Kimbell Alley mini plaza improvements.
Second. Second. Any discussion? Seeing none, Madam Clerk. All right, that is unanimous. Thank you for your presentation, and we do look forward to that Mini Plaza, it's a great design. It'll be a great addition to that area. It'll open up so there's more standing room, especially since we lost the covered area over by Kimball and Blaine Street. So thank you, Council. Next item on the agenda is an action item. Consider annexing Valencia Village Subdivision Phase 2 into the Caldwell Municipal Irrigation District. Does the Council have any questions on this item?
I'll sponsor bill number 27, ordinance number 3761, the annexation of Valencia Village subdivision phase two into the Caldwell Municipal Irrigation District.
Thank you for that motion. Councilor, all good. Do we have a second? Second. Councilor Tillemont, motion to second. Any discussion? Seeing none. Madam Clerk. All right, with that, that carries unanimous. All right, the next item on the agenda is considering the finance report.
I move to approve accounts payable in the amount of $3,397,805.82 represented by check numbers 194813 through 195193 and electronic payments and payroll of the amount of $931,091.10 represented by check numbers 40905 through 40923.
Direct closets be accepted payments approved and vouchers filed in the office of the city clerk second Thank You councilor Tillman for that motion, and then Thank You councillor static for the second any discussion Seeing none go ahead and vote that carries unanimous all right Get caught up here all right counselor so now we're gonna move into council mayor comments by the way we do have the fire chief here we're gonna have Have some brief discussion in my comments. So thank you for being here tonight, but comes to my Councillor Stoddard councillor Williams Sorry, I thought you're gonna go las
Thank you pause I just only wanted to say thank you to the fire department police permits for all you're doing during this Season Drove from Northern Idaho to back here and it was it's just awful all through everywhere So kudos to you and your teams for being out there and protecting our own city while that's going on Also the police department for lending a hand in Twin Falls. That was a very difficult situation for Everybody including the officers and I think it's very important when other agencies can come in and help alleviate some of the stress that those officers are probably also feelin
Thank you. Mr. Mayor My comments are intended to stand up for staff and appointed officials and and nothing else but I'm concerned and there was a an email and a description of a specific public record request that was made for a very specific time and a very specific location inside City Hall for a video. And what concerns me about that is it appears that certain employees were targeted. And I'm concerned for the degradation and defamation of these employees. And so I would ask that an audit be done of our video system to see who actually accessed that because somebody had to have communicate
There is currently a personal investigation on that so I'll continue working with HR on those aspects. Councilor, all good? Councilor Dittenberg.
Mr. Mayor, thank you. I dispatched a letter to you on July 22nd a couple weeks ago, and I asked if I could read this letter, and you gave me permission to read this letter. This letter also went out carbon copied to all of the council members. And it reads, Dear Mr. Mayor, I want to take this opportunity to apologize for my unnecessary dismissal of a citizen at the July 20th meeting. Like others on council, I was offended by the purposeful insinuation that the mayor and council fell short in our responsibilities in the aftermath of a serious weather event. I was especially offended knowing tha
Councillor Dentonburg, please proceed. Sorry.
I should have chosen my words more carefully, and for that I apologize. That said, I did not need anyone to apologize for my comments or otherwise reconcile my expressions. I am fully capable of apologizing for myself. However, if we are beginning that as a standard, we should establish a routine agenda item in order where we can take turns apologizing for each other's harsh, Uninformed or unnecessary comments of fellow council members directed towards staff or presenters or the citizens respectfully Councilman Denver, so Mr. Weiss stepped out and I was going to look him in the eyes and apolog
I Know that takes a lot to do that. So we appreciate the follow-up through that with that tonight First and foremost, thank you once again to our police and fire department. They've been going through a lot. They've been putting up with a lot of extra work, time away from their family, time away from home. There's a lot of stress, a lot of burnout. But without them, we wouldn't have the safe and secure Caldwell. that we continue to have, not just Caldwell, but the surrounding area, all the way down to Twin Falls, a variety of other areas, out in the Waihees, I believe up to Weezer, possibly. A
Thank you, Fire Chief. We appreciate it very much. And Once again, we had a great discussion. It was tough, but we definitely want to see how we land and then reanalyze what police looks like if voters were to approve this, see where we're at budget-wise, and continue moving forward. Council President Register.
I just wanted to say that I share your concerns about trying to get the information out there accurately in the amount of time that we have. I would hate to do it and have it rejected and then try to do it again later because then, I don't know, people get tired of seeing it. I agree.
Chief, thank you very much for the presentation, and also I want to thank you for the good work that you did during the fire negotiations. And sorry we weren't able to approve that this evening, but I have a feeling that you're going to provide some explanations to some people who had some questions about that agreement and where we're at. So we'll get there. So with regards to that, I'm going to trust you on the levy stuff and voting for the district. I trust you there. There's no problem or no concerns about postponing the approval of the contract tonight, is there?
Thank you Thank You counselor didn't bear anything else With that national night out is tomorrow
Council, just to be aware, I had a board meeting with the ERT today, tomorrow, so I will be a little late to the national night out, There is a board hearing for VRT tomorrow with the changes in Nampa and the proposed routes in Caldwell. So we'll have some results from that. And then as soon as we get back, I'll hopefully join everyone down at National Night Out. And thank you to Destination Caldwell for that. You guys put on great events. So we look forward to that. And please tell everyone you know that would like to come down. We'll have that tomorrow night. With that, nothing further for t
Mr. Mayor Councilor Denver I make a motion that we enter executive session pursuant to Idaho code 74 dash 2061 sections D and F Second motion is second And I'm clear We have two logouts
Councilor Stoddick? Councilor Register? All right, that motion carries. Thank you. We are now in... The regular meeting is over, and we're now in executive session. Thank you all.
These excerpts are remarks by officials whose identity a person confirmed, from a transcript generated automatically from the official public meeting video and presented unedited. Accuracy may vary; view the original recording for reference.