Council Minutes 03/01/1979
March 1, 1979
92
CITY OF AMMON
March 1, 1979
Minutes of the Regular Meeting of the Mayor and City Council:
The Meeting was called to order at 7:40 P.M. by Mayor George Wehmann, with the following
City Officials present:
Mayor George Wehmann
Councilman Francis Lee
Councilman Russell N. Swensen
Councilwoman Carol A. Dille
Councilman David Rowberry
Dorran Sampson, 3125 Owen St.,
Others present during the meeting wer~7Larry Davies, 3040 Ammon Road, Roy Stewart,
3130 Molen St., Vic Baldwin, 3590 Rich Lane, and Bonneville High School Government Class
students Coleen Hirschi, Crystal Bowen, Paula Plorin, Denise Tanner, Jill Schwieder,
Terri Rivera, Brian Arave, Mark Goodell.
Clerk Deon Hemingway
Attorney W. Joe Anderson
Asst. Engineer Brad Nield
Public Works Director Hayse
L. Whiteley
The pledge of allegiance to the flag was conducted by Councilman Swensen and the in-
vocation was offered by Councilman Rowberry. Minutes of the meeting of February 15,
1979, were approved as prepared.
An application for a non-commercial kennel license submitted by Steven Terrell, 2890
Teton Street, was considered and found to be in order with the required number of sig-.
natures of approval by the property owners within 150 feet. Councilman Lee moved to
grant the license as requested since all requirements were filled. The motion was
seconded by Councilman Swensen; voting was all in favor; motion carried.
Mayor Wehmann asked for the opinion of the Council members in the matter of whether or
not a water connection fee should be collected for the house under construction at
3628 Samuel Street, explaining that there was no requirement for a water connection fee
at the time the building permit was granted and paid for and that construction had been
at a standstill for quite a while due to bankruptcy being filed by the original contractor,
but building has started again under new ownership. The Council members agreed with the
Mayor's recommendation that the water connection fee be waived on the grounds that the
requirement for the fee was not in effect at the time the building permit was acquired.
Ordinance No. 174, an ordinance amending certain sections of Title I Chapter 15 of the
Municipal Code relative to "recall",in order to be in compliance with the latest State
statute on this subject, was introduced. Councilwoman Dille moved and Councilman Row-
berry seconded that the City Council dispense with the rule requiring the reading of
the Ordinance on three different days and that the three readings be waived. Roll call I
vote was Dille yes, Rowberry yes, Swensen yes, Lee yes; motion carried. Councilman
Swensen moved that Ordinance No. 174 be read in full; the motion was seconded by Council-
man Lee; voting was all in favor; motion carried. Ordinance No. 174 was read in full
by Attorney Anderson. Councilwoman Dille moved and Councilman Swensen seconded that
Ordinance No. 174 be adopted as an ordinance of the City of Ammon. Roll call vote was
Dille yes~ Swensen yes, Lee yes, Rowberry yes; motion carried. Ordinance No. 175, an
ordinance amending certain sections of Title I Chapter 15 of the Municipal Code relative
to "initiative and referendum",in order to be in compliance with the latest State
statute on this subject, was introduced. Councilman Rowberry moved and Councilman Lee
seconded that the City Council dispense with the rule requiring the reading of the
Ordinance on three different days and that the three readings be waived. Roll call vote
was Rowberry yes, Lee yes, Dille yes, Swensen yes; motion carried. Councilman Swensen
moved and Councilman Lee seconded that Ordinance No. 175 be read in full; voting was all
in favor; motion carried. Ordinance No. 175 was read in full by Mayor Wehmann. Council-
man Rowberry moved and Councilman Swensen seconded that Ordinance No. 175 be adopted as
ordinance of the City of Ammon. Roll call vote was Rowberry yes, Swensen yes, Lee yes,
Dille yes; motion carried. The Ordinanceswill become effective upon publication in the
newspaper as required by law.
Mayor Wehmann mentioned that suggestions are needed for new appointments on the Planning
and Zoning Commission, and the Council members agreed that the one member from outside
the City should be from within the Impact Area.
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In response to a question by resident Vic Baldwin concerning the Impact Area and the in-
volvement of the City of Ammon with the City of Idaho Falls power loop situation, Mayor I
Wehmann explained that the City of Ammon has defined its Impact Area boundaries and
entered into a signed agreement with the County, including a signed map, which under
the State Land Use Act gives the City of a~~~~ !~me planning jurisdiction in the de-
fined area, and the proposed power loop is7Wlt~lnYthat area. He stated that the City
of Ammon wants the right to identify where power corridors should be located in the City
and its Impact Area; also the location chosen by Idaho Falls is not consistent with the
existing residential use without any overhead lines for utilities. Attorney Anderson
noted that the determination to be made as a result of the recent court hearings is
whether the City of Idaho Falls must comply with the need to request that the Bonne-
ville County Comprehensive Plan be amended to designate utility power corridors, which
it has not done up to this time.
With reference to the final costs on the 17th Street Project which was completed in
1976, for which notice has been received that the City of Ammon owes $30,822.55, Mayor
Wehmann reported that a letter has been sent to the County Commissioners requesting a
meeting on this subject, and that it is his intention to take this matter to the appropri-
ate State officials to point out that small cities cannot handle such things in their
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March 1, 1979
budgets, and something must be done to be sure that this kind of action is stopped. /-&) ".'
In connection with the 17th Street construction, there was some discussion about the 95'73~
drainage problems there, with this subject being brought up by resident Larry Davies. 5:;J;~/,'JJ
Mayor Wehmann quoted from a calculation sheet prepared by the Association of Idaho Cities
on the impact of the 1% Initiative, and noted that the figures indicate no effect on the
City of Ammon but considerable loss to School District No. 93.
As a matter of record, attention was called to the fact that an official report has been
received from the Census Bureau, listing the City's population count as of December 5,
1978, at 4,400.
According to Councilman Lee, the papers to be filled out when a fire truck at the INEL
Site becomes surplus have been received, but the status of the matter is unknown at this
time. Councilman Lee reported that an application for grant funds through the Rural
Community Fire Protection program for upgrading the Fire Department safety equipment has
been approved, and he will work with fi'Jre Chief Marvin McGary on this. He noted that
the priority item would be additional radio equipment. The animal control report for the
month of January was reviewed.
In his report about meeting with Attorney Anderson regarding the Aimee Ann Estates Devel-
opment Agreement, Councilman Rowberry stated that more information is needed about what
size of well pipe, waterline pipe, etc., should be specified in the agreement so these
facilities will meet the needs of the area at a time in the future when growth in that
direction might result in the subdivision becoming part of the City. Engineer Benton
agreed to prepare a sketch which would advise the City officials on these matters for the
area east of the railroad tracks, and also mentioned that he will be checking with the de-
veloper of the Vera Lee property to see if anything can be worked out with regard to ex-
tending the water and sewer lines east along Sunnyside Road. In connection with the re-
vised water, sewer, and garbage rates for trailercourts, Councilman Rowberry reported that
Reese Brown, manager of Eastgate Mobile Village, has expressed concern about what the in-
creases will mean to his business and is interested in checking out the possibility of
metering the water use there. Public Works Director, Hayse Whiteley, said that he has
been checking on meter costs for this purpose. It was mentioned that Mr. Brown should be
informed that the City of Idaho Falls is proposing rate increases for utilities in trailer-
courts. Councilman Rowberry informed the Mayor and other Council members that he has been
in contact with the owners of the Servisoft Water Conditioning Company regarding the amount
of water used by that business in an effort to establish a fair charge for a written agree-
ment in accordance with the recently adopted rate schedules, and also talked with them
about the brine that is dumped into the soil. It was decided that more checking needs to
be done before making any change in the rates for Servisoft, and the owners should be asked
to produce a letter from the State Health Department giving assurance that the brine dump-
ing meets state regulations, otherwise they will be required to connect the brine drain to
the sewer line. After reviewing a list of the few addresses in locations recently annexed
where connection to the sewer has not been made, Councilman Rowberry was advised to notify
Ammon Produce Company of the requirement to hook up to the sewer. Regarding Planning and
Zoning Commission business, Councilman Rowberry mentioned that a public hearing is scheduled
before the Commission on March 13 on the requested annexation and zoning of a parcel of
land on the east side of Ammon Road (part of the Fred Kvarfordt property) with the intended
use being for a church building for the L.D.S. Ammon Stake.
Councilwoman Dille reported that she received a letter from Gail Lewis of the State Parks
Department containing a reminder that the deadline for the completion of the parks im-
~rovement work under the present B.O.R. grant is June 30, 1980. A date for the 1979
Ammon Days celebration was brought up by Councilwoman Dille, and it was decided to schedule
this activity on July 24th.
Attorney Anderson was praised by Mayor Wehmann for his "masterful" job at the Idaho Falls
power loop court hearings, and was asked to proceed immediately on an ordinance to correct
Ordinance No. 162.
Engineer Benton delivered a map showing the water system as requested at a previous meet-
ing. He reviewed the tabulations on the bids on Well #7 im rovements which were opened on
February 21 as follows: Schedule #l--Mel Brown 2 , 12.37, Agricultural Services$31,381.00;
Schedule #2--0 & F Construction $16,404.20, H-K Contractors $18,786.00, Grover Construction
$18,120.00, Kamachi Construction $21,563.10, Agricultural Services $22,128.65; Schedule #3--
o & F Construction $10,707.50, H-K Contractors $11,739.00, Grover Construction $13,111.00,
Kamachi Construction $15,223.20. It was acknowledged by the Mayor and Council that the
apparent low bidders were Schedule #l--Mel Brown, Schedule #2--0 & F Construction, and
Schedule #3--0 & F Construction, but no action was taken due to the need to check out what
financing arrangements can be made. Mayor Wehmann requested that Engineer Benton check the
records on sewerline leakage so plans can be made to work on the one along Sunnyside Road
near Western Avenue before the water is in the canal.
Public Works Director Hayse Whiteley reviewed matters pertaining to the repair of a fire
hydrant, frozen waterlines, equipment opera~~on, and street repairs. Mayor Wehmann men-
tioned that a review of sewer costs receive~fRm the City of Idaho Falls has been taken
under advisement with the City Attorney and Engineer. Claims were presented for payment
in the amount of $5,387.52.
Councilman Swensen moved and Councilman Rowberry seconded that the meeting adjourn; voting
::::: inIi:;:~at 10:05 p;~~ ;j~
CIT! CLERK tl ./ . MAYOR