City Council - Regular Meeting

See Brianna, how are you? Good. Hi. Did you ride your bike today? No. A little chilly, huh? Let's see. I messed this up when we get awfully weak here. Let's see. Okay. Oh, Con's not going to be here, but he's going to be zooming in. So, see, that means I had How are you doing? Okay. So, I need to switch this. Oh, yeah. because you were gone that week when you had your

Oh, yeah. Okay. So, would you say that would you pledge? Thank you. All right. Hey, how are you? Good. Good. Next week, back on back on schedule. Anyways, I think you did it last week or maybe maybe not. I don't know. I'm mixed up on my time here, but doesn't matter. I'm happy. Yeah, I was I say Colin's not here, so we'll have to go again.

Colin will be fine. What's that? Eric's gone as well. Yeah, Eric's gone today. Yeah. Yeah. Colin Colin will be online, I believe. He might already be there. Colin, are you online? Not yet. Maybe.

All right. You guys get an invite from Department of the Interior. It's the groundbreaking. Okay. Why did you get that? I just barely. Just barely. Oh, almost got that. Oh, maybe. Oh, really? Okay. And then I see dear graduation is on city have a coun. Okay. Yeah. I don't know why they did that. Too bad. And then because every other family had it on like a Thursday night.

Yeah. Thanks for being here. Thank you.

Oh yes. Um so Amazon so extra amount of fluid that's in the brain spinal col that will mission call probably good

how are Oh, I'm doing good. What a day. That's like craziness. How you doing? Good. Nice to see you.

Bill, how you doing? All right. Well, actually well technically he is it's my wife's birthday that same day. All right. Need some music or something. Come on. Yeah, we need some walk up music, huh?

Well, I think we're there. So, let's go ahead and get started. Um, welcome those of you that are here. We appreciate your attendance here. This is the Rexburg City Council meeting of April 15, 2026. And uh we'd like to start out this evening with an opening prayer. I've asked Council Member Johnson to offer the opening prayer for us. After which I've asked Council Member Reer to lead us in the uh pledge of allegiance. Okay. So, uh Council Member Johnson.

Our dear heavenly father, we're so thankful for this uh day and the chance that we have to be here. We're thankful for the moisture that we've been getting and um we're thankful for the members of our community and we ask you to please be with us and help us to make sound decisions um and please help us to have peace and um prosperity in our city and in our country and we say these things in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. Amen. Thank you. Please stand for the pledges. I aliance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Thank you very much. Appreciate that. All right, let's go ahead with our roll call of our council members. Mariana, please. Council member Johnson, here. Council member Teen here. Council member Colin Ericson. Give him one quick second. Okay. Council member Reer here. Council member Rigggins here. Okay. Council President Ericson asked to be excused. He is traveling today. Uh so yeah, we will uh we'll hear from Council Member uh Colin Ericson here in probably just a minute. He was going to try to zoom in. So I'm here now.

You're here. Okay. Thank you. Thank you very much. We appreciate your effort to be online with us tonight. All right. Uh let's go ahead and start with item number three, which is a public hearing right off the bat. Uh we have um we're going to review the Idaho Community Development Block Grant in the amount of $500,000 from the Idaho Department of Commerce for the Alura Business Center. Tacy, did you have some information for us on that? Okay, go ahead. So, I'll just maybe just introduce yourself.

Yeah, Tacy Stoddard with Alura Community Consulting and I'm here just present the information for the public hearing and then you guys can see if there's any public comment. Um, this is for the um Altera Business um innovation center that's on um East 4th North that's been being constructed. Um, I just need to uh go over a few things that the the amount of the we we have to do this public hearing as a as a requirement for the the block grant, the Iowa Department of Commerce um development block grant. Um it's a require requirement to have a second public hearing when it gets to be about 50 to 75% done. Um um it uh the amount of this block grant was um $500,000. that was um a block grant sponsored by the city and Altra was the um subreient. Um the as far as the work on the project we need to present that um the architectural design work of course was completed and construction of the business innovation center itself is about 75% complete. Um the remaining interior and exterior construction will be completed by July 1st. Um and then um there was no substantial changes made in the project scope and the project is on schedule and and in budget which is great. So

yeah, it was great.

Um a little bit of a budget review. Uh the total project project budget was 6.5 million um which consisted of the $500,000 block grant um from the Department of Commerce um and then approximately 1.2 2 million from uh a rural development rise grant and then an EDA grant of 3.9 million and then as well as Alura cash and land totaling about 800,000. Um and the project funds are all being used for just design and to go into the design and construction. Um substantial completion we believe will be um by July 1st um of 2026 with final completion July 31st, 2026. and we'll do the block grant talk closeout documents hopefully will be completed by September 30th 20 um 26 and then all residents this will benefit all the city uh residents of the city of Rexburg including any low to moderate income residents and that's all for my part unless you guys have any questions about

yeah I would just add um thank you TC we appreciate that um I sit on the Alura board and last meeting last board meeting we toured the building and that it's looking really good. If you don't know where it is, it's over by the river next to their business center over there and it'll be an extension of what they already do there, uh, which is providing a place for new businesses to be able to start up and, uh, and, uh, get mentorship and things like that and, uh, just it's kind of a lowerc cost place for businesses to be able to start and give them a chance to, to to get going. And then and then once they do get going after a certain amount of time, they're expected to move out into the community uh into some market rate um office space, which several of them have.

Mhm. Uh several of them have moved into the new office complex down there by the Thornton uh exit. And uh and then a few others have moved into different spaces here in town. Unfortunately, we don't have a lot of space here in town for them to move into, but we're working on that with our downtown development projects. That's one of the things we're trying to provide is some more space for these businesses to be able to move into in our downtown area. So, so that's one things and this one will be full pretty much as soon as

Yeah, as soon as it gets finished, it's it's there's so much interest, it'll already be pretty much all rented out. So, so it's it's really uh it's providing a good service to the community. But is there any questions from any of you about uh about this? Anything about it at all? If not, then uh we need to go ahead and just uh do this public hearing, which uh basically gives uh community members a chance to weigh in on this uh if they've got any um if they'd like to talk positively about it or neutral or or negatively about it or or in opposition to it, I should say. And uh so at this time we will go ahead and open this public hearing. I declare this public hearing open. Is there anyone who would like to speak uh in favor of this project? If so, go ahead and come up to the microphone and state your name and address. Is there anyone who'd like to do so? Is there anyone online that we know of that has raised their hand to speak? Hearing none. Is there anyone who would like to speak in the neutral position on this particular item? If not, is there anyone who'd like to speak in opposition to this particular item? Okay. Hearing none, we'll go ahead and declare this public hearing closed. And at this time, I would entertain a motion to approve uh this community development block grant block grant from the Department of Commerce. Is there such a motion? I'll make a motion that we approve this um block grant as has been stated.

Okay. Thank you. Is there a second to that motion? I'll second that. Second by council member Rigggins. Any further discussion or questions? Hearing none. All in favor? I I. Any opposed? All right, that motion passes. So, thank you, Tacy. We appreciate your work on that and keeping us updated on how things are going. Uh, also I was just going to say if any of you would be interested in touring the building, I'm sure uh, Tacy or any of the people over there. Yeah, just contact them over there at Alura and they'd take you through and it's pretty interesting to see. Yes. Questions. Could we do it on our drive room or do we already have that?

You know what? Uh, that might be a possibility. Uh, let's let's add that to our our list. I'll I'll just put make a note of that here. Uh, that would Let's see what day did we do that. April 20. Friday. last Friday. Last Friday of April, I think it 28, whatever. Yeah, we're going to do our council drive around where we we drive around the city and look at things that need attention. So, that might be a 28th. No, 24th is 24th. Says 24th, is it? Oh, I thought that was It's on the 24th.

Isn't that the Arbor Day thing? We are we doing that the same day? Oh. Oh, yeah. That's right. Okay. I've had that on my brain. So, we're just Yeah, we're doing that later in the afternoon and the council drive around will be over by then. So, that'll work. I'm like around when you should be there. Yeah, one of us would love to get Okay. All right. I I'll make a mention of that.

Thank you. Building drive around. Okay. Okay. We'll make a note of that. Yeah, that's right. At the end of the council drive around, we'll just drop you off over at the donjo so you can dig holes for the trees with us. That'll be that'll be fun. Okay. So, wear your wear your work clothes. Okay. All right. Um item number four on the agenda is our public comment time. That is for anyone who would like to uh make us aware of anything that is not on the agenda tonight or any items of concern or interest. If there is anyone who'd like to do so, please come to the microphone at this time. State your name and address and we ask you to hold the comments to three minutes. Is there anyone who'd like to do so? All right. Seeing none, we will move on to item number five, which is our committee reports uh from the council. So, um council member, let's go ahead and start down here with council member Johnson and uh we'll go ahead with the reports.

Thanks, Mayor. Uh I just have a couple things to report. I know um I spoke with John. He said that there's going to be um the new ice rink manager will start next week. Um so that's pretty good. I'm sure we'll be meeting him soon, right, in a council meeting. Um Idaho Falls I if I'm understanding it right, there's a learn to skate, right? A a business in Idaho Falls that's going to come use our ice to give um some lessons on. So I think that'll be pretty good. Uh the pickle ball court poles turned up, right, that were missing or stolen. John said that they some of them turned up and were not damaged, so they're going to be able to get those nets back up. Oh, good. Um, so that's pretty much all I have. I'm glad to hear that.

Yeah. Yeah. Okay. All right. Thank you, Council Member Teen.

Uh, the grants committee met uh the end of the month and we're Mary is working on a lot of different uh grants that are going to help us with our roads and um the America 250 and and different things. She does a really great job. uh the mayor's youth association. We visited the fire station last week and we are going to be visiting the animal shelter this next week and we go and we learn about how things are operating there and how the city operates within those. Um it's been a really good turnout and the kids are really excited about that. Uh the ADA board, we're still looking for a few more members so that we can we can be able to start to meet again. We need to have a little bit bigger of a quorum. So if anybody is interested in that, I'm putting that out in the airwaves. uh please contact us and let us know. The Historical Preservation Commission uh met last week and they're busy trying to come up with ways to help uh to to help uh get the the community involved in historical preservation by just like wanting to do like a survey or something to find out what people want with historical preservation so that they can report back to council. Uh they're also willing to help with the America 250 project if we want to do uh uh the the contest that that we talked about the art contest. They're willing to help out with that. And so if we want to move ahead with that, I just need to know. So

Okay. All right. Okay. Thank you. I appreciate that. Let me just make a note here real quick. Okay. All right. Let's move on down here to Council Member Reer. Uh yeah, the Legacy Flight Museum. We haven't met in a while, but we are meeting uh next on May the 9th, and I'm looking forward uh to that. And uh it was fun. Also, a couple of weeks ago when you were gone, mayor, uh I was able to meet with the mayor's youth advisory. We got to do a mock city council meeting in here too with council mention. So, that was a that was a lot of fun. Some of those kids were my students and and uh others from the high school. So, had a good time with edits. Yeah, they come up with anything we need to work on.

Oh, what did we work on? I think they want to institute a curfew or no. Yeah, we talked about a curfew. I don't think that I think that did that go down in pl I think that I think that went down in planes. Yeah. What was the other thing? Curfew for adults or kids? Kids. Oh, it was uh was really it was a silly one. I can't remember. It was It was so outrageous that we can't remember. But it passed probably unanimously the more silly it was. So Oh, it was uh sneezing. That's what it was. sneezing. They wanted to make illegal to sneeze with some pretty hefty fines. It was so hopefully they learned the process, not necessarily the content.

Yeah, but it was a lot of fun. I had a good time with that. So, that's good. Appreciate you guys. You guys taking care of that and leading the way on that. That's great. That's everything I've got. Good group of kids. All right, Council Member Rigggins.

Well, let's see here. We've got um Urban Renewal super busy right now working on a lot of things. the uh the property will should be closing here on u on Main Street. And so we've been meeting um in fact we had a special meeting um they're working on on bids for uh the the demolition uh and uh especially removal of asbestous. So we have a special meeting on that. We'll meet again um this next week, I believe. Um and then uh mayor, you asked me to work on on um under beautifification to for the city. Um well, I should have something by by the end of the week on this. And what it is is mayor just uh wondered if if we could um involve the city uh on um doing um uh red, white, and blue or or something for the 250th anniversary of America um involve the community doing their gardens, their or their you know their um in

flower beds and stuff. Yeah. So anyway, we're working on that. should have something. I'll send it out to you guys soon as we get it get it settled. Sounds great. Um, on that, I saw an idea that somebody said that you could plant trees in honor of America 250. So, maybe we could tie that in with the we're doing at Don Joe. We're planting 25 plus trees or something like that. And and we have a bunch of trees to plant, right? Is that Yeah, we got like 65 or 70. So, I don't know. Maybe we could tie that in with America 250 or something. Yeah. Okay. Awesome. That's it.

Okay. All right. Thank you. Yeah, I just thought I mentioned to Bill that I thought it would be interesting to uh maybe encourage members of the community to, you know, to to really go heavy on red, white, and blue plantings this year just for the America 250 celebration. Um there's also another um another thing that is on the America 250 website that uh I think would be fun to encourage and it's it's really something that we don't really have to do a lot with. It's just they're talking about a deal. In fact, it's a group out of Utah that kind of came up with it and is sponsoring it. But it's called America's potluck. And they're they're encouraging us on July 5th, which is Sunday, to uh get together with all your neighbors and just have giant potluck dinners and and visit and, you know, just kind of encouraging people to get together and and uh become more community oriented and that kind of thing. So, that's something else that maybe we'll we'll try to push out a little bit. Uh it's just anformational deal. We we wouldn't necessarily try to organize neighborhoods or anything like that, but we just encourage

Sounds fun. Yeah, it does sound fun, I think. So, anyway, um yeah, a lot of lot of fun things going on. Okay. Um mayor, yes. Oh, Colin, sorry. Yeah, let's get your report.

So, the golf board uh did not meet this time to change meeting until next month. Um the speaking about the 250 celebration of the United States, I got that's why I'm not there. I just flew in from New York and couldn't make it back uh to Rexburg, but so I stopped and was able to zoom in. But they are doing quite a bit back in New York on I got to go through the Intrepid Museum, the aircraft carrier Intrepid and the the submarine and they're doing kind of a lot of things advertising 250 celebration of the United States and and what the the naval and their armed forces did. So I think it'd be good what we can do here in Rexburg. I also just report uh the golf I mean not golf but the the school board meets next week so I'll report that next month. Um and just to let you know I was back there in New York with our seventh and eighth grade orchestra. Ariel Loveland's a teacher and I tell you they did amazing. They got to play in the Lincoln Center and you could hear people that go there all the time that was in behind us talk and saying this is seventh and eighth grade. They were just amazed with our youth of our community and how they played. It was like I say it's it blew me away hearing them play and meet with some of those uh worldrenowned musicians back there and what they did. Great experience. I was a little nervous being back there with 200 and something seventh and eighth grade in New York, but it all went well and we got him back home safe.

So, that's good. And then the airport board will report a little bit down on what the airport talked about their their land procurement for the airport. But, uh, like I say, I been very pleased being back there in New York with our youth and what they represented our community and what they did. It was amazing.

Yeah, that's great. Thank you. I appreciate that report. Something that they do, not every year, but occasionally I think they've gone back there and that every year it seems like they they do like you say, they just kind of blow people away with how how how good they are and how well behaved they are and things. So that's they're great representatives for us. Appreciate that. Thank you everyone. Um, I will say just since you mentioned at Colin on the America 250, I as I was coming to into town this morning, I heard the ad for the um the uh 250 celebration, the concert and and the drone show and fireworks show and they did a really good ad on the radio. They made it sound really exciting and uh wanted me to be there, which I will be. So,

we know where we're at. Sales uh you know what? I didn't I was going to look that up and I forgot to, but uh I don't know. Did do you any of you Deborah or Scott? Do you know? I'll have to I'll have to check that and let you know, but I know when we first opened it up, we sold I think close to a thousand tickets the first couple or three days, but I don't know where we're at right now. So, okay. Um All right, let's move on then to item number um let's see, item number six is our staff reports. and we'll start with our finance report. Um Matt Nielsen is out of town on vacation this week. So Scott Miller is going to fill in for him and go over our financial reports for us.

Yeah. Yeah. Let's start. As well as a couple other items, budget items.

All right. I don't know if you guys can see that. But um the the biggest thing I wanted to point out with the cash and investments um report for this month is just we are we are getting down lower than we have been traditionally. So scroll down to the bottom there. So our total cash and investment balance there is 46 that uh million640 and uh so part of what's contributing to that is we got a lot of lot of projects that we're doing right now. There's a lot of grants that are going to come back to us but there's there's that time in between and so our cash flow is is going down from what it has been traditionally. So, um I also just wanted to point out that our our investment rates have been pretty stable at um the high threes to 4%. Um so, um because of where our cash flow is at, we will start to as our investments do mature, we'll go ahead and uh put them in money market accounts so that they're a little bit more liquid. Um, we still have some good rates on those money markets. Um, obviously not as good as as the longer term uh investments, but uh that'll put us in a good spot until we get those grants and get that that cash replenished. So, that's that's where we're at with with cash. Okay.

Um,

any questions anyone on on that report particular? Okay. Thank you. Okay, I don't have too much to report on the treasures uh monthly report, but um overall um we've gone through half the year. Um the overall spend is only 24.3% of the budget. Um we do have uh one fund where uh we are working to get a budget adjustment prepared. Uh that's fund 41 for park construction. And really what's contributing to that massive percentage that you can see there is that we had two projects that bled over from the previous year. Um

and so one of those was the park shop and the other was pickle ball courts. And so, uh, a lot of money was spent in this fiscal year where it was anticipated it was going to be in last fiscal year, um, when everything was prepared. So, that's, um, yeah, other than that, not a lot to to speak to on this report, but why was the the GIS did we get new software or I noticed that that was um, I'm not sure why. Okay. Mapping this year, did you pay for that? I think we did do a new um we did a new map scan new map. We did a new map. Okay. All right. Thanks. Thanks.

Okay. Is there any other questions on on this budget report from anyone? Okay. All right. Thank you. Let's go ahead and move on to item number two if you're ready for that. Let's see what's next. Um, do you have extra adjustment? Obviously, I mean, Scott already alluded to it, but uh, you know, our spend right now is fairly low percentage- wise, but we're just coming into what we call spending season, right? Where are we going to be spending a lot more money on projects and things, so that that percentage will go up a lot higher here in the next few months, next couple of months. So,

all right. So the next item is the uh joint land ownership maintenance and use agreement between us and the county. Uh this is for that school district property that we are purchasing. Uh Bill Briggins alluded to that here a minute ago when we were talking about urban renewal. Uh and of course urban renewal is a major player in this deal, but there is that northernmost section of the property that's going to be owned jointly by the city and the county. So this is an agreement between the two of us to just dictate how things will work. Um a couple of points um that I wanted to make is that we do have a first right of refusal um that's written into this agreement. Um what that would do is that uh if it would allow the other party to purchase um the other section at basically the um the historical cost plus an annual 4% increase. So that um it can't be we're not we're not going to land speculate on that. It's it's going to stay for what it was used for. Um let's see. I wanted to bring up the image. Do you want to bring up the

Yeah, that's it. The other element that I just wanted to point out is that within the the agreement, we do have a provision. we're not bound by this. Um, unless no agreement can be made. Um, but if you know, however long that that things take to happen before we need to use this this land for any kind of a facility, um, this is the default that we'd go back to if a a better arrangement couldn't be reached. So, uh, it just shows what the county would own, what the city would own, and and kind of how that footprint would work. Again, if, uh, we're able to come to something better, that will work just fine. This is just kind of that default position that if we really struggle to come up with an agreement, then we have that in in place. So,

okay. Thank you, Scott. Um, any questions from council on this on this item? Yes. Go ahead. I just had a couple questions. Okay. Um I just wanted to double check since, you know, that's our job to do. Um the part about the utilities where it said it would be 50/50 until um a good faith agreement was come to. What could you explain that a little better?

Yeah. So, so what we're talking about there is that in this initial phase where um that land just stays as grass. Um the the agreement is dictating that that we as the city will basically take care of the maintenance of that, but then that that we'll be able to charge the county for half of it. There's also a provision that for any revenue that comes through that will be split 50/50 as well. So, we're just taking care of each other, but the city is going to be the the primary point of contact to kind of take care of this ground until such time as um something does happen with it. And, you know, the the facility drawings that we showed there um that's kind of indicative of, you know, what that next phase would be. And at that point, there would be a new arrangement made. We wouldn't be treating it like uh parkland anymore. We'd be treating it um as something else. And and if I can add a little bit to that, maybe just I I I think I know where you're going with that. Or maybe maybe I don't, but

I'm just I'm I'm just wondering when it would change from being a 50/50 split. Are you saying like if one entity started using more Oh. of the utilities because it says 50/50 until a good or however it's worded until a good faith agreement. So I was trying to figure out when it would change from 5050 and why.

Yeah. as long as we're just using it, you know, as a as long as we're just letting the community use it as a thing of grass like it has been for the last, you know, we'll just split the cost. We probably will need to, you know, we'll need to sever it from the school district, you know, and and and take over take it over uh the utilities, you know, the water and everything. Uh but yeah, then and then when we get to a point, this is probably down the road, who knows how many years, but get down the road to where we decide, you know, if if if we move ahead with a county city uh facility there, then, you know, if maybe one part of it is going to be bigger than the other person's part or or you know, this this agreement is set set so that the other party can give the first offer on like say for example, we or the county decided we didn't need as much, we didn't need half, we only need a third or whatever. You know, we we would have the first right to buy that other part from them or they would have the first right to buy it from us and then the utilities would be divided, you know, proportionately as well. So yeah, but until then we'll just we'll just split it in half. And I would like to um acknowledge the presence of Commissioner Menenhal here. Uh and the this agreement has been signed by the county commission by uh Commissioner Smith from the county commission. Uh so they are in agreement with this as well. So

So would this be you said is the community going to be able to use this until it is built on? So would they just rent it out or is it just open? Just like any of our other parks, they'll They'll come in and ask for permission to use it for I don't whatever soccer, football practice, whatever kind of things. Maybe they maybe somebody wants to do a I don't know a big party or something there kind of a community party or some kind of a thing and they could rent it just like they do you know some of the shelters in the park or anything like that. So um so yeah it'll be available for community use until we get to a point where we we want to do something to develop it there. So okay, any other questions? Yes.

Sorry, I had another question. Yeah. And so I had council member Teen's question was part of mine, too. So you're just it's just going to be like a park for now. And then is that way So the city's responsible for accounting and scheduling right now? Yes. Um and so are we anticipating that that's not going to take very much of our city staff's time then?

I I don't think it would take much. I I I think probably most of the time people will probably just go over and use it and and and we're not really going to care that much unless unless somebody has actually reserved it for something. Then we'll have to kind of you know make sure that that it's reserved. But it would it would be just like you know the shelters or anything else they people can just get online. Really probably can just be done online. You know they can reserve it and pay their fee. We talked about that and John John was in that meeting as well and he had stated we already have the infrastructure in place to be able to do it to add one more to do the scheduling. He said it

he honestly would prefer it and not to be able to uh to utilize it if somebody because he said there's a number of times where people want to utilize a piece of property or something else and to be able to say, "Oh, hey, we have an alternative location that you can use rather than trying to coordinate through another entity." And so he thought it was best and actually require or requested that he be able to do that and request those things. Then the county was fine with that as well. Okay. Thank you. That helps. And gatherings would generally go through a public gathering permit like if it wasn't a recreational type thing if it was a some other party or whatever. Yeah. Any other questions about it? Okay. All right. If there Oh, do you have another one?

Just a thought. I know we talked about putting the flags that we got for the 250 flags at Porter Park, but we could also potentially put them there if we Yeah, we could. I mean, be another spot if we wanted to do it there instead. Um the timing may not be ideal with that simply because we're going to be in the middle of that um asbestous abatement and and tear down. Yeah, that may not be the best thing. Having said that, we can investigate and see if maybe there is a Yeah, that's a way to do that. Okay. He gets to play by ear. We'll just keep it at Port Park.

Well, I think since they're going to have the big community party over at Porter Park, I think it'd be nicer to have them over there anyway, actually. So, yeah, maybe we can just put some more flags downtown, too, just for fun. Okay. Thank you very much. Uh with that I uh I would entertain a motion to move ahead with the approval of this uh joint land agreement. Uh is there such a motion from anyone? I'll make that motion. Speak. Oh, go ahead. Council member Ericson. I'll make that motion that we move ahead with this agreement. Okay. Thank you. Is there a second to that motion? I'll second.

Second by council member Johnson. Any further discussion? Hearing none. All in favor? I. Any? All right. Thank you. That motion passes and we will go ahead and sign that and move forward. All right. Thank you, Commissioner Menel for being here. We appreciate your attendance. Um, item number three, approval of budget adjustment for the urban renewal school district property asbestous removal and demolition. So, Scott,

all right, me again. Um, so let me just start by saying that this is something that urban renewal is going to pay for. Um, it's just being it's the the process of it is going through the city. So when we're looking at this budget adjustment, just know that there's going to be an offsetting revenue from a payment reimbursement through urban renewal. So we anticipate that it's going to cost us a million dollars to to take care of the abatement and to tear down that that building over there, the school district building that we were just talking about. Um, and so we we feel like that 700,000 of it's going to come through in this fiscal year and then it will be followed up by another 300,000 in 27. So um but we do need a budget adjustment um if we are going to to process this through the city. We need a budget adjustment to to show that we are incurring this expense. So

is there any questions about that? So, uh, is this just for the old junior high or is it also for the old seminary building for the demotion? It would be for both. Okay. Yeah. Because I know there at the founders fair there was a lot of people who were interested in not seeing that torn down. And so I I don't know if there's something that we can discuss about that if there's like options of I don't know. I just I know I've got a lot of people talking to me about it and wanting to know if there's some way that we can save the building. Not that the city has to own it even, but just that there's a way to save it without demolishing it. So,

yeah. Yeah, that's I mean there's been that discussion for a while and you know we've offered I don't know I honestly don't know that there's a way around it, but we're certainly still open to discussion for a short period of time until the actual So, if people had ideas of how they that could be handled, do they take it to urban renewal or do they who do they go to with that? that that would be a good place to go to. Um I know that they've reached out to me as as the urban renewal side. Um they have some other ideas that that they were going to email me about that. So I'm still kind of in the dark of what they're thinking right now currently. But um yeah, I do know that there's some interest

property that would probably be the most appropriate way to go. There there is another I mean we've told them that if if they're able to move it that we would certainly be amanable towards that. I I realize that that's a pretty expensive proposition. Um and so but it's Yeah. Okay. We we've had the historical society come in and do presentations. They you know they there's a lot of people interested. Um I think it was the the preservation commission.

Yeah. Keeping that that the um the issue there's lots of issues by the way. Um just to make that building so that it would be safe so you can actually use it. You know, you're probably talking anywhere from one to$2 million just just to get it so that it's usable. If you were to move it, um again, you're you're talking about a building that that it can't just be lifted and moved. It has to be taken apart. Um and uh again, you're talking anywhere from a million to a couple million dollars to move that just just to get it moved onto another. So even though people are interested and they would love like to save it. However, I just want what I wanted to mention was just that urban renewal is looking at it from the perspective of of um there's an RFP already out there

hoping that somebody will look at this property and say we want to build we want to we want to be there and that they can incorporate that that building in there. So since it doesn't close until the 30th, right? April 30th. Is that when it closes? Actually closes on May 4th. Okay. May 4th. And then or the Yeah. And then we've got as bestice removal. Then there's there's all these things going on, right? That keeps buying us a little bit of time, right? Hoping that we we might be able to get Yeah. get a bitter. When are we looking at demolition? Is that July still or is it

um demolition? July would be a really um aggressive estimate. It could be a couple months after that. Part of it depends on how long that abatement that asbestous abatement takes. And sorry, I I I realized I probably just misinterpreted what you said. So, we do actually close um with the school district on the building on the 30th like you said. Um the RFP uh that will close on the May 4th. So, um and I was going to just follow up to say um as we have tested for asbestous there is a lot in the seminary building and so there there is that element as well right

um so having said that I I think discussion is fine I think I I in that in those discussions I want to be realistic um I kind of look at everything together um but but maybe there will be a solution that's presented that would work and so

I I agree with that I agree that the the city cannot take on another building. I totally agree with that. Our budget, we can't do that. It just be a real shame to see that building go because that's a very unique architecture and the history there and it's original town site and it was built like the land was donated by one of the she was like one of the last survivors of the Mount Martin Hump handcart company. So there's just all this history that's tied with it. So it'd be I wouldn't be doing my due diligence as a historian to not try and say something. Oh, totally understood. So,

I appreciate that actually. That's and that's interesting to know because there's a lot of those things I think that most people don't realize, but you know, it's kind of important things, too. So, okay. Any Yes, mayor. I I do I do know there was a lot of discussion back when the school district was trying to figure out what to do with that building. uh we maybe could pull up their notes uh from their meetings and stuff, but I know there was a lot of discussion back when they were trying to figure out the whole thing with that building, too. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Yeah, that's maybe not a bad idea, Colin. Thank you, Council Member Johnson.

I just had I'm just totally curious why the money comes in in two separate reimbursements, like one this fiscal year and one next fiscal year. um we're we're showing it as the um kind of goes with the each of the years ex expenses is essentially why we've got it that way. But um I mean we could we could reimburse the whole thing sometime in November or but but just the way that we're segmenting it out, we've got the and this is all guesswork at this point as far as what the distribution is going to be that 700 versus the 300. But as Matt was looking at that, that's kind of what he felt like would be the most realistic view.

Some of it will happen later on. Okay. Yeah. And that's why when I say um that the uh the idea that we'll be moving forward with the actual demolition by July, I don't think so. Matt doesn't think so. And that's where start of our fiscal year, right? Yeah. Yeah. The timing of it, it feels more like it's going to be, you know, into September and then October. Hence the reason why we've got that that split that 700 versus the 300. So, yeah. Okay.

Any other questions from anyone? Okay. Then uh if not, I would entertain a motion to approve this budget adjustment uh for the urban renewal school district property at asbestous removal and demolition. Is there such a motion? Mr. Mayor, I move that we approve the budget adjustment for the urban renewal school district property of best asbestous removal and demolition. All right. Thank you. Is there a second to that motion? I'll second that. Second it, Council Member Johnson. All right. Seconded. Teaching. Teaching.

Oh, teaching. Oh, sorry. Sorry. Okay. All right. Uh, it's been moved and seconded. Is there any further discussion? Hearing none. All in favor? I I. Any opposed?

All right. That motion passes. We will go ahead and move forward with that budget adjustment. All right. Thank you, Scott. We appreciate you filling in for Matt and for that information. All right, at this time let's uh go with item number B, which is our airport relocation consultant, Mr. Craig Kobia. He's going to talk to us about the approval of some of land procurement agreement for the airport relocation. Thank you. First of all, happy to be here. Um, we I've already given a presentation to the county commissioners and there was a slight modification to the contract. We're going to be sending it back to better align with FAA's request. I'll describe that, but that updated contract has been presented to you. So, it's uh for a option agreement to purchase the land for the airport. Uh before going into that, like I did for the commissioners, I thought I'd give you a little bit of history how I became involved. Uh when President Kim Clark came to town at the first one of the first meetings in the manwearing center, he said that that he felt strongly there was a need to have an airport to enable the landing and takeoff of small corporate jets. And I listened. I didn't know much about any of that aviation or airports, but I became interested and I volunteered to serve on the airport board. And so after about a year or so, they appointed me and I've been serving since. And uh I'm now the vice chairman. I kind of doing double duty. But uh um David Taylor has put a lot of work into this and provided a lot of expertise. And I I just wanted to express gratitude to everybody that has gotten us to this point. Um yeah, the city staff, city attorney, city council, the mayor, county

commissioners, um a lot of people, the BLM, FAA, and a lot of support, a lot of moving parts. So uh in December formally I started helping with this project and I quickly realized that it's more complex and involved than than I had imagined but uh it's very very interesting just a lot of moving parts and so one of the things that we did first of all was to identify priorities based upon what David Taylor and Keith Davidson had recommended and those priorities are listed here and they're in your packet. Uh I'll just go through them quickly. maintain a consistent line of communication to engineers and FA through the approval process and I reported on that this these were notes given in my remarks in the March uh airport board meeting a lot of calls visits with our uh Ardura which they're doing a phenomenal job they're an engineering firm and just kind of doing roundroin visiting local officials elected officials here in this area interface between the owners the city and the county elected officials that can assist in the land exchange and environmental approval. That's been the the biggest challenge to this point is getting us to the to the point where we have the contract and we have the contract here before you today, but uh it wasn't always like that. Um yeah, we were it we were stuck and we were able to move beyond some of the challenges and hurdles we experienced through the help of many many people. And I'm happy to say that one of the first meetings that we had was and I brought together the FAA, the BLM, all stakeholders, elected official, mayor was there, county commission was there to ask ourselves, what will this require? It's a big deal. You know, we were originally talking about $40 million project might be hundred million. Now, we're going to get an actual price, but the the match,

you know, the the FAA is going to provide 90% state um 5% 4% and then we're the city and the county is going to be splitting the difference. So, it's a big big commitment. What will that bring to the community? What economic development, what sure we had uh six letters from individuals who had corporate jets said we support this. That was very helpful. But nevertheless, so we had we had the meeting and one of the fascinating things that I noticed is everybody felt safe enough to say, "I don't know. We've never done this before." That was very, very encouraging. The biggest goal that we had coming out of that meeting was to establish a memorandum of understanding. And Ardura, our engineering firm guiding this process, is going to pull that together. Simply stated, a memorandum of understanding is each stakeholder will say, "This is what we will do. This is when we will do it because we didn't know that to that point." And they're still discovering, but yet they're communicating. So Denver, the Denver ADO is has done an agencyto agency transfer FAA to BLM, which supposedly will speed up the process. Uh we will still become the deed owners, my understanding, as the sponsors, the city and the county, but it's going to facilitate and streamline the process of transmitting the property. So the the Helena ADO which we're under has never done this but Denver has done it four times and so there's communication that's been going on. That's probably the biggest thing that I'm encouraged about is uh I didn't know a lot. I didn't know what questions to ask. However, when I learned that there was a need for this, I thought, I'm going to start researching, and I did, and I contacted the Rock Springs

manager, airport manager at the uh encouragement of the governor's aid. He's like, "Wow, he knows what's what he's doing." And so, I said, "I'm going to drive there." David Taylor flew us both there. We recorded his comments. We brought it back. I've got a couple of interns helping me. So, we're we have that information. I just got back yesterday from a a conference, an aviation conference, airport manager conference in Boisee. Small small airports, large airports gathering together, sharing ideas. It's a cooperative. We uh environment. We went to Nebraska. They have a robust program. They're organized and they're doing some good things. And so I believe strongly, let's not reinvent the wheel. Let's learn from those who have plowed this ground. I I spoke directly with the only two um airport managers that I knew act facilitated a relocation. Williston, North Dakota and St. George. And you may have seen the headlines, but St. George had challenges. Williston, it was a big project, but they were so kind and gracious. Again, I recorded their comments and I've got this on file as we're trying to learn the different things that we need to do. So, seek funding network already talked about that. Design a plan to enable a smooth transition to a new airport rent factorbased fee system. If the city and the county are going to be putting in so much money, I feel it's my responsibility to somehow find a way that financially the city and the county can benefit. How? Maybe fuel. We have already an FBO. But anyway, so those questions are still being discussed and evaluated, but I'm

very very interested in all of this. So we get down to the point where uh what's the next step? Well, first of all, I've included the minutes from that meeting. You know, we had BLM as I mentioned, different stakeholders and that I just breathed a sigh of relief after we had that meeting because then we knew that we don't know but yet everybody agreed upon that. Now we can move forward and identify and actually come to learn. So the biggest accomplishment to date is this contract. And shout out to Ardura and Vince. He might be on the the call with us. Uh we can go through this quickly. Um, basically it's the opportunity to have an option to purchase the,4 acres and the FAA before they're going to put more money into environmental studies and and fund other things. They require that we have this locked down very tight because the last thing we want is three years into the process that the buyer say, you know, I've changed my mind. the grazing rights really aren't exactly what I was hoping. Well, we've tried to identify all of those questions upfront by asking as many questions as we could and then just recently as mentioned uh Spencer was very kind and and adjusted because to help us better meet the FAA's requirement uh as part of it. So, I don't know if we need to go through every bit of it, but it's there for your review. the um I does anybody have any questions?

Uh I know that was in this was in your packet. Did anyone have any chance to read through it and you have any questions about about it? Here's a chance you have some questions. Oh, I had a question going back to what you said before. Thank you so much for all that information. Um in that stakeholder meeting, did you say was there a council member there? I believe so. I can go back to the minutes. Uh, let's see. The airport board. Uh, is that Colin? Colin. If not, he was in the airport board meeting that I reported at. I I just hope we have a council member there as a stakeholder um in meeting.

I was I was there at the airport board meeting, but I was not there at the air the when they all met. The mayor, I believe, was there on that one. Yes, he was. He was there. And we were we provided uh at the airport board meeting at which Colin did attend, I provided the notes and I went into a little more detail than I provided you for their benefit. Thank you for that question. Any other questions? Yes, please. I'm so sorry. I have one more question. Yeah.

Yeah. I'm I'm so thankful for this information. I feel like I've been kind of lacking on on hearing more about the the airport since I'm not on that oversight committee. Um, so do we have like Scott, could you remind me? Do we have um how much have we been saving for this? Um, this doesn't have to do with the contract. I'm just curious. Uh, let's see. For the airport, we've been putting away I'm trying to remember 400,000 a year, I think. Isn't it? I can go ahead.

I can talk to it generally, then you can talk to it specifically. Okay. So in 2020 there was a study done and the estimated cost of the airport at that time was 40 million and recently a number has been floated it's going to be 100 million. I mean a lot of things have changed since 2020 of course we all know that and so but at recently the city and the county and they've agreed on a 50/50 share did have the full amount set aside for the 40 million and it's earning interest. So, so we did have a 20. We had 20 million. You're saying it's a it's no it's like a 3% two.5 million each I think. So, and I'm showing in our reserve

because it's our match 90% it's FAA maybe four 4% state and then between four and 6% split between city and county is kind of the rough numbers. Yeah, it's it's a huge number, but luckily our percentage is quite small. Um, but then if it was a hundred million, then we need to pay 10% of that between the city and the county. We need to pay not%. The FAA is 90%. FA is 90. The state weighs in at an amount, though I'm not certain. 7% or something, isn't it? That we split. They're four to four to 6% usually. The state

then we they're four to 5% pick up the with the county. split that between city and county that four to five% that split in half that remaining amount. Thank you for that question. I just wanted to yeah go through my mind four to six% and then we split that in half. So yeah so yeah yeah it's yeah it's unachievable. I'm really hoping they're overestimating on that cost but you never know how things go you know these days.

I've asked that's one of the action items that I've asked Ardura to come back on as as a more precise uh estimate. And then the other thing that I've done, they've got action items for existing airport projects as well as the new airport relocation. So, we're kind of managing both of those. But additionally, I've got a timeline. They've got a timeline. Um, I'm very very interested in identifying and having a Gant chart. I'm using AI. I've used AI in the past a lot and I'm going to be using it again to identify how it all stacks up. If one thing slips, what else slips? So that's just for my my personal benefit is managing this project.

Okay. All right. Um Okay. Is there any further questions or comments from anyone? Okay. All right. Um then if if there are none, thank you Craig. I appreciate that. Um what we need to do is uh and I I I'm not if everybody understands this this property that we're looking at that we're getting this option on is uh what the FAA or actually it's a BLM, right? That requires some replacement property for the property that the airport's going to take up. Yeah, thank you for describing that one. I did not describe that. There's property that we're hoping to purchase

and we've done research. If if people ask you why didn't you build it here or there, trust me, we've went through the entire research process, including can we keep it where it's at? The answer to that is no. We're out of compliance widthwise and small corporate jets cannot take off because it's too short and the Army Corps of Engineers were not interested in moving the river or bridging the river. So, but back to that, the BLM has they they have sage grass in the area and habitat and they want to make whole that they and so we've identified a willing seller of similar property that that we're hoping is even better habitat than where the airport is going to be located. So that would encourage BLM to say, "Okay, this is fair, but it's a little more more than fair." And so we're we're hoping that they that we will be able to get access to this property. It is kind of an exchange. It's a land exchange is what this is.

Yeah. kind of one of those crazy federal government requirements because I think the sage grass will go where they want to go, but that's just kind of the way it is. Um, you can just send him a letter. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Well, anyway, so so uh we do have this this uh contract would give us the option to be able to purchase this, which we which is one of the steps that we have to nail down in order to keep moving forward with the uh airport relocation project. So if uh if there are no any questions or comments, I would entertain a motion that we move ahead with. Yes, Colin, did you have a comment?

Yes, mayor. I just want to first thank Craig for the m the amount of work he's done just the last few months sitting on this board. Um for you know almost what four and a half years now it was stuck in the mud. We we weren't moving it at all. Uh in the last 3 months it's been tremendous jumps and leaps just to get us moving and going and he's done a lot of work and to facilitate that and to get us moving. So, I just want to thank him and like I say, I'll make that motion if nobody else want to comment and make that motion to continue to to make this agreement and move forward with this. All right. Thank you, Colin. We appreciate that. Is there a second to that motion?

Second by Council Member Rigggins. Any further comments or discussion? Hearing none. All in favor? I. Any opposed? All right. Thank you. we will go ahead with that item and uh see if we can keep that moving. Thank you, Craig. Appreciate your information and your work on that.

Keep uh keep the ball rolling, as we say. All right. Um item number seven as uh mayor's report and business. I've got several items, but the first one we have is item number A, which is to ratify Rick Robinson as a member of the planning and zoning commission. Um, I trust that you all were able to receive my email and and read it. And I know there were some uh concerns, which I appreciate. Um, and uh hopefully that u helped you to understand where we're at with the members of the planning and zoning that are coming off and going off and and coming on. Um, and we've got several, uh, like I said, we've got several, we've got three actually here in just the next couple of months that we're going to need to replace, as well as another one in September. So, so u, if you've got people that you'd like us to uh, uh, entertain, I know there's been a few that have been suggested and some that have been interested and some that haven't. Uh but if you've got other suggestions um you know just submit them to us and and we'll uh visit with them and you'll know see if if any of them are interested in serving. It's you know planning and zoning is a lot bigger time commitment than a lot of other commissions and committees that we have and so sometimes it's uh a little harder to get folks that are willing to uh to do that. But, uh, if you've got people that you think would be interested, uh, let me know and we'll we'll visit with them. So,

he's so well connected to the to the city and what's happening. He's real estate. I mean, just just a good choice here. Yeah. Yeah. I felt like it was a good choice. I mean, he Rick has uh I mean, you know, he's been very involved. Well, as as council member TJ knows, he's involved with the historical business, not historical business, historical buildings. Um, is it the historical not the historical buildings but the historical preservation commission? Yeah. And he's on the tabernacle legacy.

On the tabernacle legacy committee, too. So, so um whether he'll be able to stay on all those, I don't know. That'll be up to him uh to decide whether what kind of time involvement he's got available. Uh but uh he did express an interest in serving on the planning and zoning commission and helping us uh move forward as a community. And so at this time I Well, yeah. Comments. Go ahead. Yeah. Um, so I wanted to say thank you for your email. I thought that was really helpful. Um, especially because I didn't realize like I I didn't know when we would be picking our next um, commissioner. Yeah.

And um, the first thing I want to say is that I really hope I I'm sure he's going to do a wonderful job. I really hope that um some of our ones coming up that are replaced are women because that's going to leave us with one woman out of all those planning and zoning commissioners and about half the population is female. So I feel like they're extremely under represented um on that commission. And so that's something that I you know I feel like we can do better as a city of having equal representation because one female commissioner is just to me that's inadequate. Um, and so I if I had known I can I can find women and suggest them. Um, I think we all could. They're out there. Um, we have Tammy Gettis that's on there. Um, and then I feel like I do have to say because I have been told by so many residents how they perceive

having realtors and developers on there, and I know it's fewer now than it's ever been, but I think they see it as those are people who can directly benefit from the ability that they have to recommend changes to the um development code, changes to the um zoning. And so I I know other people can benefit indirectly, too. So, I'm not saying that no one can can benefit, but when you when that is your livelihood and you have the ability to to alter the um you know the policies that we have, I just I think for some residents that's just too much. So, I really hope we can broaden the pool and have more that are not developers, not realtors. Like, if I had it my way, I would say, "Oh, let's have no realtors on there so that we don't have anyone who benefits from having um new development made." So, I just hope moving forward. Those are the concerns I've been given. Um, I'm very concerned about having more women on there so that we have equal representation. So, I'm happy to get female names to you.

Okay. Do we know do you know what percentage of of the members right now are in real estate? Do you know? Well, there's there's right now uh there is one real estate agent, which is Sally Smith. She's she's retired, but uh um she was a real estate agent and she's the one Mayor Aaron is also a real estate. Oh, Aaron and two developer, right? He's a developer and and two developers, right? Yeah. May Aaron's a developer realtor. Yeah. Yeah. He's he's both. Uh McKay

Franc is a developer. He's he was a county appointee. Um but uh yeah, he's uh he's a developer, too. So So basically, you've got three right now. Uh, two of which will both be going off in June and July. So, we have we have one one woman on the board right now, right? Two. We had two, but Sally is This is to replace Sally. So, there'll be one more. No, no, this isn't to replace Sally, but it is to replace Vanessa. Oh, Vanessa. Sorry. I got my women mixed up. Yeah, it's to replace one of the women. So,

yeah. And she she uh she wasn't due to go off yet, but she resigned because she's got some conflicts and stuff. So, honestly, I I think it is a little harder for women to be on planning and zoning just because they've got so many things going on with their families and stuff in the evenings, but that doesn't mean it's that doesn't mean it's I mean, you guys are here, so I I feel like I don't I don't like that statement. I'm I'm sorry. I think it's a little discriminatory towards women. They can do things even if they have families.

Well, I know. But I I I just from some of them that I've visited with that, you know, they it's it's a little more of a struggle for them to to get here on a regular basis. But, you know, we're happy to invite as many of them as we can and and if they can do it, great. We had we had another lady on there uh actually a couple years ago and and she uh she became expecting and so she had to resign too. So, that was unfortunate because she was really good. So, anyway, um so uh okay. Anyway, at this point in time, then I would entertain a motion to ratify Rick Robinson as a member of the Planning and Zoning Commission. Is there such a motion?

I'll make the motion that we ratify Rick Robinson as a member of the planning and zoning commission. Okay. Thank you. Is there a second to that motion? I'll second by Council Member Reer. Uh any further discussion or questions? Hearing none. All in favor?

I. Any oppose? All right, we will go ahead and continue that uh consider that appointment ratified and we'll let him know about that. Okay, thank you. Um item number two I just have uh oh just wanted to report to you on uh you know if you remember a couple uh meetings ago when u when former planning and zoning commissioner Vince Haley came or just he came as citizen Haley and he was asking about several things. One of them was the signs uh you know that have gotten old and and kind of dilapidated. So, just wanted to report to you that uh we have taken down a lot of those signs and Faren who uh works here has uh has got an RFP out for some new signs to be put up. Um unfortunately, they are quite expensive. Uh that's one of the reasons why they've been the old ones have been up so long is because they're expensive to replace, but uh we we've got an RFP out to uh to replace. We actually went through all of the signs and decided which ones we really needed and or which ones we felt like were more important and we actually reduced the number that we will be replacing just because they are very expensive. And so uh we'll we'll come back to you with that when we when we find out uh how much it's going to be for those. So, um, item number three, uh, is just wanted to make you aware, um, I just saw on my on the East Idaho News today that the Idaho Department of Water Resources has declared a drought emergency for all Idaho counties and, uh, we are we joined uh, Keith and I have been going to a lot of water meetings the last few years and we joined a member or we joined as a member of uh, it's a city coalition of water users uh, that helps us to be able to kind of solidify our water rights and

make sure we've got the water that we need for the future. But u uh it's still, you know, we our allocation from our pumps and things could still be

could still be limited if we get into a really bad water situation. Uh so we need to just uh be aware of that and not waste water. Um, I would encourage, and I wrote in in my mayor's message last time, uh, encouraging people to, uh, you know, when you turn your sprinkler systems on, don't just leave them on and, you know, and just kind of let them run every day if that's how you had it programmed or or if you're watering the lawn with a hose, just don't let it run forever. You know, let's be aware of the water we're using. Um, most of the time in the spring, honestly, people overwater their lawns anyway. You don't really need to water every even every other day. Usually once a week is fine this time of the year and then as it gets warmer you can increase that. But uh uh I usually found if I soaked my lawn really good when I first started it up about this time, I could usually shut off the controller and it wouldn't need to water it again until almost Memorial Day. So usually depends on how much rain we get and things like that. But

is that something we need to alert our residents to that they need to Yeah. And I and I did that in that last uh mayor's message in like an app notification or anything like that just to because I I don't know if a lot of people read the newsletter. I've had people ask me about the sprinklers already.

Yeah. No, I've No, I actually have a lot of people that say they read the the newsletter, but uh there's a lot that don't, I'm sure, too. So, um, yeah, that is something that we that I am planning on having, uh, Sarah do, uh, you know, like some social media, excuse me, social media posts and things like that just to help people be more aware of that because I think that's that's important. Once in a while, I I see as I'm driving into into town, I see a lot of sprinklers just running every morning, which at this time of the year is really unnecessary. So, so we will we will uh make people more aware of that. Um just for your information on the um the chart that they send out which goes from zero which is abnormally dry to D4 which is exceptional drought. Uh our area right here is a D2 which is uh which is recognized as severe drought. Uh so it could be worse. There are other parts of the state that are in three and four um but a lot of the state is in D2 uh which is severe drought. So you know it's just something we need to be aware of and and uh you know not be wasteful. So uh item number four of course you're aware the legislative session is over. Uh I attended today a chamber forum that had the legislators reporting our our local legislators reporting on things that uh happened over there. And so now now it's up to us to kind of assess the damages and uh and move forward in the best way that we can. Uh so so we'll be we'll be doing some of that kind of thing here in the next in the month months to come. Um, last thing, uh, I think I've mentioned to you before, but, uh, especially for those of you who are new, we have, um, I just got this in the mail today, so I wanted to just mention

it, but we're a member of the, uh, Eastern Idaho Partnership, which is a a conglomeration of uh, you can see here on we've got cities and counties on this list that are a couple of pages that we all contribute to. a a person a lady uh attorney who is she's designated as the special assistant United States attorney or we call it SASA is the acronym for that and uh right now we are a member of this association and we put in u with our with our uh increasing population that's how they assess the u how much you you know we each put in our assessment is $2628 Um, and we pay uh this lady, her name is Zoe Lagus, we pay her $100,000 a year. Uh, $70,000 of that comes from the Idaho Department of Corrections and the remaining $30,000 is desire is divided up from this Eastern Idaho partnership. That's why our amount is relatively small. Uh but she basically focuses on drugs and firearms offenses. And the the goal of that is to uh get those criminals charged and move them into the federal system for two reasons. One, uh if we move them into the federal system instead of putting him in the state penitentiary, it costs the state less money. Uh, so that's why the Department of Corrections contributes to it because it it helps save them money. Uh, but it also helps by getting them into a federal prison somewhere in Kansas or or further away. It kind of helps take them out of their their drug ring, you know? It help it. It makes it so they can't communicate with their people as easily and keep running their drug rings from

inside the prisons, which always amazes me that they can do that, but somehow they do. So anyway, that just wanted to let you know that we are participating in that. And and uh she does a report every year that tells how many uh criminal uh convictions they've gotten and how many they've put into the um federal system. And luckily, um, Madison County typically doesn't have a lot of the convictions that she does, which is, even though we're paying for it, we're we're paying to be part of the team. Uh, we don't have as much crime that she, you know, gun and and drug crime here as as they do say in Banick County or Bonavville County or some of those larger areas. So, uh, Banet County especially is is pretty bad because it's, you know, with with the highway with highways intersection right there, the freeways, that just tends to be a place where a lot of drug opportunity happens down right there in that area. So, I guess we can be thankful that we're not uh maybe at a at a major crossroads there where a lot of that kind of thing happens. So, so that's a good thing. So anyway, that's just wanted you to be aware that we are a member of that and and uh hopefully that helps keep some of the crime out of our out of our area. Um, all right. Item number 8A on the agenda is a uh planning and zoning recommendation recommendation to approve a plat extension for Teton View Estates Plat located at 11:14 North Highway. And uh, Mr. Parkinson, tell us about this item.

Thank you, Mayor, council members. The property is the old Teton View Drive-In. Uh it has been platted and ready. The you guys have approved it. It has not been recorded. They were working through some financial challenges and they have got it just about resolved but their time has run out. So they would like just enough extension so that they are still covered on this plat being approved so that they can then move forward this summer with construction. So they are requesting from you an extension of six months of timeline to record that plot. Okay. Any questions about this item from anyone? Alan. Yes. Go ahead, Colin.

Alan, the is this the second extension they have had? Yes, it is. That's what I thought. Second time. Are they are they confident that they're going to be able to move forward this summer? Yeah, they're talking of being able to move dirt within a month. Okay. Within the month. Okay, that's good. Okay, any other question questions or comments? Hearing none, I would entertain a a motion to move ahead with this with this item action item. Is there such a motion? Make a motion. I'll make a motion that we approve the plat extension for the Teton View Estate Plat. Okay.

Uh for a period of six months. Is that what we're saying? Yes. Yes. Okay. Thank you. All right. There's a motion on the table. Is there a second to that motion? I'll second. Second by council member Colin Ericson. Any further questions or discussion? Hearing none. All in favor? I I. Any opposed? All right, that motion passes. Thank you. Appreciate that, Alan. All right, we have item number nine. We have no second readings or third readings on the on the agenda tonight. Uh, so that just leaves the consent calendar which is the minutes from the April 1st, 2026 meeting and the approval of the payment of the city of Rexburg bills. Is there any questions or comments? Yes,

just a comment. Um, with the work meeting, uh, at the very end, it talks about how Allan was saying that the council and everybody should be looking at their email and or email suggestions. Um, Colin Ericson asked that we actually hold a couple more work meetings and that wasn't recorded in there. So, I don't know if you heard that part, but he wanted that. Is that right, Colin? Yes. That's the only way I There's no way to do it on emails on that discussion that we got to get together and discuss that together. Emails, we lose too much communication. In the minutes, but I discussed it with city clerk joy. Okay. All right. Thank you. Just to clear up that. Was this the one that we went through in the work meeting? Yeah. Yeah. We are planning on setting up another.

Okay. It just made it sound like at the end that we were all going to email you. It was an option, but we decided that's not the right way. Okay. Just wanted to clear that up in the minutes for anybody. Okay. Thank you. We'll we will add that to the minutes uh make an amendment there. All right. Any any other items from uh the bills or anything like that? Okay. Hearing none, I would entertain a motion to approve the consent calendar as stated. Is there such a motion? I'll make that motion to approve the consent calendar payer bills. All right. Motion made by council member Colin Ericen. Is there a second? I second.

Second by council member Dave Reer. All right. Any further discussion? Hearing none. All in favor? I I. Any opposed? All right. We will enter the minutes as corrected and pay the bills. Um let's see if there are no other things to come be brought forward then uh or any announcements or anything. Um I we will this meeting is adjourned. Thank you for being here everyone. We appreciate your attendance.

Uh Council Member Reer. Yeah. Okay. All right. Thanks everybody. Let's see. I'm going to leave this pen here just so we got an extra Thanks. Good.