07112013CouncilMinutes
CITY OF AMMON
CITY COUNCIL MINUTES
THURSDAY, JULY 11, 2013
AGENDA:
CITY OF AMMON
2135 SOUTH AMMON ROAD
CITY COUNCIL - AGENDA
THURSDAY, JULY 11, 2013 – 4:30 P.M.
CALL TO ORDER:
Mayor Steven Fuhriman at 4:30 p.m.
Pledge of Allegiance – Councilmember Coletti
Prayer – Councilmember Thompson
MINUTES:
None
ITEMS FROM MAYOR:
CONSENT AGENDA:
Accounts Payable – Exhibit A
AMMON LIGHTING DISTRICT #1 (City Council acting as Lighting District Board):
CONSENT AGENDA:
Accounts Payable – Exhibit A (Quarterly Approval)
PUBLIC COMMENT REGARDING ITEMS NOT ON AGENDA: (5 Minute Limitation)
PUBLIC HEARINGS:
None
ACTION ITEMS:
1.None.
DISCUSSION ITEMS:
1.Budget Discussion With Department Heads
2.Misc.
EXECUTIVE SESSION:
1.Personnel Evaluations - Idaho Code 67-2345 (1-b)
2.Real Property Acquisitions - Idaho Code 67-2345 (1-c)
3.Pending Litigation - Idaho Code 67-2345 (1-f)
MINUTES
City Officials Present:
Mayor Steve Fuhriman
Councilmember Dana Kirkham
Councilmember Rex Thompson
Councilmember Brian Powell (left at 7:08 p.m.)
Councilmember Sean Coletti
Councilmember Slack
Councilmember Brad Christensen
City Clerk/Administrator/Planning Director Ron Folsom
Deputy Clerk Rachael Brown
City Treasurer Jennifer Belfield
City Engineer Lance Bates
Public Works Director Ray Ellis
Fire Chief Stacy Hyde
I.T. Director Bruce Patterson
Building Official Charlie Allen
Animal Control Officer Shawna Avery
Parks Director Ken Knoch
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City Officials Absent:
None
CALL TO ORDER:
Mayor Steven Fuhriman opened the meeting at 4:30 p.m. at the Ammon City Hall building located at
2135 South Ammon Road. Councilmember Coletti led the Pledge of Allegiance. Councilmember Thompson offered a prayer.
MINUTES:
None
ITEMS FROM MAYOR:
None
CONSENT AGENDA: Accounts Payable – Exhibit A:
Councilmember Slack moved to approve the Accounts Payable –
Exhibit A, as presented. Councilmember Kirkham seconded. Roll Call Vote: Councilmember Slack – Yes, Councilmember Kirkham –
Yes, Councilmember Coletti – Yes, Councilmember Powell – Yes, Councilmember Thompson – Yes and Councilmember Christensen
– Yes. The motion passed.
AMMON LIGHTING DISTRICT #1 (City Council acting as Lighting District Board):
Councilmember Kirkham moved
to enter into session of the Lighting District #1 with the Council acting as the Lighting District Board. Councilmember Powell
seconded. Roll Call Vote: Councilmember Kirkham – Yes, Councilmember Powell – Yes, Councilmember Coletti – Yes,
Councilmember Thompson – Yes, Councilmember Slack – Yes and Councilmember Christensen – Yes. The motion passed.
CONSENT AGENDA:Accounts Payable – Exhibit A:
Councilmember Kirkham moved to approve the Accounts Payable –
Exhibit A, as presented. Councilmember Powell seconded. Roll Call Vote: Councilmember Kirkham – Yes, Councilmember Powell –
Yes, Councilmember Coletti – Yes, Councilmember Thompson – Yes, Councilmember Slack – Yes and Councilmember Christensen
– Yes. The motion passed.
Councilmember Kirkham moved to enter back into the regular Council session. Councilmember Slack seconded. Roll Call
Vote: Councilmember Kirkham – Yes, Councilmember Slack – Yes, Councilmember Christensen – Yes, Councilmember Thompson –
Yes, Councilmember Powell – Yes, and Councilmember Coletti – Yes. The motion passed.
PUBLIC COMMENT REGARDING ITEMS NOT ON AGENDA: (5 Minute Limitation):
David Pinnock, 5821 E. Rancho Via, Executive Director of the Museum of Idaho said he appreciated the time to visit with
the Council and thanked them for their support of the Museum of Idaho. David said he feels good about the support of the museum,
and said he would be available to the Council for more details, and they can give him a call anytime with questions. David said he had
three reasons for the City to continue supporting the museum. 1. It is desperately needed, because the museum on average makes up
only forty percent of its annual operating expenses through earned income such as store sales, and ticket sales. The museum staff starts
the year by trying to find fifty or sixty percent, some years seventy five percent of the annual operating expenses from sources other
than earned income. The support from the City of Ammon is critical to their financial viability. 2. The Council can be confident that
their investment is wisely managed; the museum takes the funds and squeezes them in a very intense fashion. The statistic that
expresses this best is if you were to compare the Museum of Idaho to other museums around the country with the same budget, the
amount of money they spend to service one customer is $35.00. The Museum of Idaho spends $13.00 per patron and they serve double
the number of patrons than sister museums of the same budget size. The Museum of Idaho serves 109,000 visitors per year at a small
fraction of the cost. The City can feel good that the investment is used wisely, and is used to the benefit of the patrons that visit the
museum. 3. The museum has a positive and significant impact on the citizens of your community. The citizens of Ammon come to the
museum frequently. Last year every single one of the District 93 elementary schools and both high schools came to the museum. The
support is badly needed and the money is managed well. Another example is sister museums have twenty- three staff members on
average. The Museum of Idaho has nine staff members so every penny is used wisely. The museum of Idaho has a significant impact
on the City of Ammon’s citizens.
Councilmember Slack said he would like to see the grand openings on any other day except Thursday, because Thursday is a
City Council night and the Council is unable to attend. David said the museum staff would need to think about that. They try to always
hold events on one day, and that day is Thursday; so everyone knows if there is something happening at the museum like a
presentation, or talk, etc. it will happen on a Thursday night. Councilmember Kirkham said the Council appreciated the opportunity to
open for the grand opening. It was nice and showed the museums commitment to being a regional facility. David said they appreciate
the support. The Council thanked David.
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PUBLIC HEARINGS:
None
ACTION ITEMS:
None
DISCUSSION ITEMS:
1. Budget Discussion with Department Heads:
Jennifer said everyone has received a copy of the proposed budget. The
Council members have met with their department heads to create their budgets. The Council is going to start at the beginning and
review the major highlights and make changes throughout for the next fiscal year.
Jennifer said she would start with the general fund. Jennifer said the City would be using almost $2.9 million out of reserves
in the next fiscal year. In the general fund revenues are mostly the same; the only item that is new is the burglar alarm permit fees. On
the expenses, the one item that is different is the membership dues; we are planning on participating with the Meals on Wheels this
next fiscal year. Meals on Wheels gave a presentation to the Council asking for their support. Councilmember Kirkham asked if the
Council said we would give $7,000. Jennifer said in the council meeting we said $7,000 and they later gave us a letter that was
approximately $6,300. Ron said $7,000 was what the Council told staff to put down, but in the letter they asked for $6,300.
Councilmember Kirkham said to only give the amount they asked for and asked the Council if everyone felt comfortable with the
$6,300 contribution to Meals on Wheels. Councilmember Kirkham said she would rather contribute to meals on wheels, and not
donate to TRPTA (Teton Regional Public Transportation Authority). Councilmember Christensen said the he was ready to drop
TRPTA until the City conducted a survey and thirty six percent of people surveyed said they used TRPTA. Councilmember Kirkham
explained that looking at the City’s contributions, if we give $6,300 to Meals on Wheels that puts it third in line of membership dues.
Councilmember Coletti said because this is the first year the City is donating; he doesn’t think we should give them the full amount
that they are asking for. The Council felt the contribution should be $3,000 for this year.
Jennifer explained that on the general intercompany transfers we are increasing the transfer to the parks by just under $5,300.
The streets fund is $116,000 in the negative and we were going to transfer enough so they did not have to use their reserves. The
bottom line is the general fund would be in the negative almost $68,000. Councilmember Christensen said the $68,000 negative is
assuming a three percent increase in the levy rate. Jennifer said yes. Councilmember Christensen said he ran the math and the three
percent increase is straight across; we should get appreciation in the value of homes. Jennifer said no, because it doesn’t completely go
on the value of the house. Jennifer explained how the levy rate functions. Discussion ensued regarding the levy rate.
Councilmember Christensen said he is more comfortable aligning our increases with the consumer price index, because he
sees it as a way to say to the citizens that we understand your income doesn’t increase every year and the City has to live within our
budgets too. If we pegged to it all the time some years we might take a five percent. Councilmember Kirkham said three percent is the
average. There are years we could take less but, there are years we would want to take more and we couldn’t if we wanted to, three
percent is the maximum that the City can increase property taxes. Councilmember Slack asked the Council to go through the line
items and then come back and discuss the levy rate.
Councilmember Kirkham said as far as the general fund, she does not see anything out of line or that wasn’t budgeted for.
Councilmember Slack asked Jennifer about the reduction on the bank fees. Jennifer explained we have always budget the credit card
fees at one hundred percent. We pay the bank fees and the credit card fees from the general fund then allocate seventy five percent of
that to water, wastewater and sanitation. The general fund will pay a hundred percent of the bank fees that are charged. The credit card
fee goes directly to water, wastewater and sanitation. Councilmember Powell asked if the interest expense and the interest income are
in the other funds as well. Jennifer said one hundred percent of the interest income goes to the general fund. The general fund has an
expense fund for the interest transfer at the end of the year, from which however much interest is received is allocated to the other
funds.
Planning and Zoning Department:
Ron explained there are no significant changes, there is not much revenue because
everything he brings in is offset somewhere else. The major increase was to travel expenses. Ron plans to go to Atlanta Georgia for
the APA (American Planning Association) Conference. Ron said he increased meetings and travel by $1,000.
Engineering:
Councilmember Kirkham said Lance’s budget is down this year. Lance said he reviewed the line items for fuel,
travel and meetings; he has been able to reduce his budget $3,350by finding meetings and trainings closer versus father away. The
Council complimented Lance for his efforts.
Fire Department:
Stacy Hyde said the big item for the Fire Department is the need to hire two additional full time, day
personnel. Stacy explained they would like to have two fire fighters responding to fires on Monday thru Friday between the hours of 7
a.m. and 6 p.m. The Fire Department’s budget restraints over the last few years is hitting the part time employers as well, they are not
allowing their employees to come to daytime fires. Stacy explained that there was a fire on Samuel Street and he had ten fire fighters
show up; the fire started at 6:20 a.m. and by 8:00 a.m. he had to release eight of the fire fighters to go to their regular jobs. Stacy said
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there were seven people from the City of Ucon that responded, but they had to release two of their personal. Councilmember Kirkham
asked how much the cost would be for the additional two employees. Stacy said $64,000 for the two additional employees at $32,000
each, additional benefits per month are $130.00 for each employee, and the family medical package per month is an additional $450
for each employee. Jennifer explained the medical and PERSI benefits went up for everybody, not just the two new firefighters.
Councilmember Slack said we knew this day was coming when we talked about going to the Fire District. The City of Ammon is one
fourth the size of the City of Idaho Falls and is operating on one sixteenth of the budget. Stacy is asking for a $78,000 increase to the
fire department budget. Councilmember Kirkham said Councilmember Slack’s point is well taken. Councilmember Slack said it is
interesting to see that the City of Idaho Falls is just now requiring their firefighters to get Firefighter One training. Stacy feels our
department is leading the way in training in the community. Councilmember Slack said the big increases are salary and they need to
replace engine E3. Engine E3 will come out of reserves. A grant will make up half his budget. We will see where we go with grants.
Stacy said engine E3 is thirty seven years old this year. Councilmember Kirkham said we know we have a $64,000 increase in the fire
department budget; she does not have a problem with the increase, but would like to go through the rest of the budget and come back
to this. Councilmember Powell asked about the new building item in the general budget. He asked if that was to go towards a new fire
station. Jennifer said if we save $50,000 per year, we are looking at potentially in 2021 where we would have a reserve if we need to
expand the City building. Councilmember Powell asked if the Fire Department was saving up for a new station. Councilmember Slack
said they are not. Discussion ensued regarding fund raising for a second fire house.
Enforcement:
Shawna Avery said her budget is pretty much the same with the exception of the law enforcement contract,
but she didn’t know what that change was. Councilmember Coletti said the increase is minimal, and there was not much difference.
Councilmember Powell said the City added the DARE officer into it. Shawna said she added a line item for professional services in
cases when she needs to take animals to the vet. Councilmember Powell asked what the city receives from the animal shelter contract.
Shawna said it is worth every penny, because without it she would not have anywhere to take animals. The $25,000 is determined
from a tracking history where each time she takes an animal to the shelter it is entered into the computer. The animals are tracked by
Bonneville County, the City of Idaho Falls, the City of Ammon, etc. At the end of the year they total the percentage of animals
brought in from the City of Ammon, and that determines the City’s percentage of the total cost of running the shelter. Councilmember
Kirkham said if the City had to build a shelter and staff it, we could not begin to run it. Councilmember Thompson asked how many
dogs come in from the City of Ammon. Shawna said on a slow week she takes in five or six dogs. Councilmember Kirkham asked if
the chicken ordinance has been much of an enforcement issue. Shawna said no it has not been too bad. Councilmember Powell asked
about enforcement of parking and water sprinkler offenses, are they getting better or worse. Shawna said it is ongoing. She is trying to
stagger her hours for watering issues; people try to set sprinklers for times they know she is not working. She has been picking two
days a week and coming in early to look in different neighborhoods for water offenses. The Council has no issues with the
enforcement budget. Discussion ensued regarding the dispatch contract.
Building Department:
Charlie Allen explained the Building Department is seeing a little more light every day. The Building
Department has already exceeded their projected revenues for the year. Councilmember Slack asked if anybody is expressing interest
in purchasing land for development. Ron said he has talked to a couple of people. Charlie said the revenues are pretty conservative for
next fiscal year. We do have some rumors that some larger commercial projects and residential multi-housing projects will be coming
to Ammon. He had to factor in the expenses, but couldn’t include the revenues that he is hoping will come. He is optimistic the
department will be really close to being in the black. Councilmember Kirkham said the City is seeing an increase in building. The staff
was significantly reduced and she does not see a request to increase in staff. Can we handle the load? Charlie said there will be a point
where service will pay a price, but we do have a buffer with Jane Shaw. He did not factor her in for more than eight hours per week
but, if the revenues are up he would utilize her for inspections. She is a natural fit and she is certified to do electrical, building, footing,
sheetrock, etc. The Building Department would be able to absorb the cost depending on the project that comes in. Discussion ensued
regarding the possibility of needing to hire out help if building picks up. Charlie said he moved Jane from under contract to salary.
The Council is fine with the Building Departments budget.
Technology Department:
Bruce Patterson said he did not have a significant change from this year’s budget amount. There is
a slight increase because Public Works is cutting back the amount of funding the Technology Department receives from the utilities.
They are based on a percentage of their revenue. They are paying the same percentage for technology support. The numbers did not
change on the amount received from general, building, or recreation. The numbers went down for sanitation. The numbers are up for
wastewater and water. There is a slight increase of three percent budgeted compared to last years. There are capital projects included
in the budget, primarily wastewater and water. He is trying to show what is actually used for maintenance and operations. Ray and
Bruce would like some tracking ability, such as if water gets $40,000 for a SCADA upgrade, can we track that. They would like to see
the funds come in and out for that project and see what is left at the end of the year. Jennifer, Ray and Bruce have developed some
new general ledger codes so that money becomes dedicated to capital improvements for that department when it is received. There is a
little bit of carryover this year, most of that has to do with water system and so we are trying to get the timing just right. We do not
want to impact our water system while watering is going on. Bruce said a certain amount of the budget is held for reserves. The
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numbers show at the end of 2014 he intends to retain about $16,794. Councilmember Slack asked about the department supplies being
up by $1,300. The Department Supplies line item is the catch all (e.g.), if he has to get a card for a PC, or keyboards. At this point in
the year Bruce looks to see what was missed, and which line item is going to be over. He is more focused on the bottom line, because
the focus of the department heads and Council is if the budget is going up or down. Bruce is refining it each year so the line items are
more exact. Councilmember Christensen asked about the $15,000 for security cameras and locks, and asked if it’s for the City
building only. Bruce said it is City wide. The placement of the locks and cameras is made by recommendations from the department
heads. Discussion ensued regarding the expense line items.
Councilmember Powell explained that Bruce negotiates good deals on cameras, Wi-Fi systems, and antennas for cell towers.
Bruce will buy the equipment and he self learns how to program and install it; whereas most municipalities will pay three times as
much for their equipment to be installed and programed by the company. Bruce said he would make an argument that with the amount
of services done in house, the staff we have, and the money we spend, we are way ahead of any other technology department. The
budget amount pays for all the printing that takes place, the copy machines, PCs, every piece of technology equipment we get
including accounting and GIS. Councilmember Kirkham said she would say that about all of our departments; it is remarkable what
everyone is doing on a small amount of money. Bruce said he holds certain projects until this time of the year to see if there is enough
money available and only then will he purchase needed equipment. Councilmember Christensen asked what the total cost of SCADA
is per year. Bruce explained SCADA operations are what maintain and monitor the functioning of the wells and sewer lift stations.
SCADA is the program that sends out the alarms so it involves all those connections, servers that monitor, plus electronics that
regulate those systems. Councilmember Kirkham explained that SCADA is an ongoing cost. We are planning an upgrade which has
been phased in. Bruce said our goal is a three year project. The first two years water and sewer have contributed $40,000 each into the
SCADA upgrade. Discussion ensued regarding the SCADA system.
Broadband Department:
Bruce explained the revenue first. The service fees are exactly what we know we will receive in
revenue from the School District. Bruce did not budget anything for equipment fees. Bruce said equipment fees would be if they
request a change in service type. We charge them for the equipment needed to make that change. He does not think that will happen
this year. Construction fees would be a business or a cell tower asking we provide fiber to it. The fee has been budgeted for so we are
prepared if we get orders. To balance the revenues and expenditures, there is a matching amount under expenditures. We will not
spend it if it doesn’t come in. Lease revenues are the dark fiber leases as of this date. The grant revenue is projected at $500,000.
Bruce explained that he has been talking to different agencies regarding grants. If broadband received a grant for $1.5 million grant we
could reopen the budget. Bruce sees a $250,000 or $500,000 grant is more realistic. He tried to show current established monthly
revenue of almost $78,000. Maintenance and operation expenses worst case scenario is $72,000. Councilmember Kirkham
complimented Bruce on broadband making a profit. The expectation was it would take 5 years. She said that is remarkable. Bruce said
he is taking a conservative approach to moving forward. Councilmember Coletti asked Bruce to give him an example of where we get
the lease revenue from. Bruce said we have one Verizon tower and two Sprint towers that each bring in $750 a month. We provided
service to East Idaho Credit Union that brings in $450 a month. We have one new AT&T tower which will bring in $600 a month. We
have gotten some funds up front on the AT&T tower. Councilmember Christensen asked what was decided regarding the cell tower at
the public works building. Bruce said the mayor has signed the options to buy, Verizon has it and we will negotiate on trying to
purchase the property. There are benefits to service and our broadband will be more competitive if we get the tower. Bruce has already
had companies express interest in leasing the tower.
Street Department:
Ray Ellis said the franchise fee revenue from Rocky Mountain Power is almost double what we had
anticipated. Ray explained that he and Lance are going for two grants from LHTAC (Local Highway Technical Assistance Council).
One is a $30,000 grant for signs, and the second is for bridge design to redesign the 17th street Bridge. If we do not receive the grants,
we will not spend the money. Councilmember Thompson asked if the bridge was by Sandcreek. Lance said yes it is the one behind
Albertsons. Councilmember Christensen asked why the franchise fee doubled. Ray said staff performed an audit and found there were
a lot more Rocky Mountain customers that should have been paying the franchise fee. Ray said line item 573 infrastructure
maintenance is a large amount of money. Ray explained that at the conclusion of the street budget, the Council will see what our
software tells us, and what we should plan for this next year for preventative and routine maintenance; all of this has been broken
down for the next three years. Ray said he has budget some storm drainage and irrigation system maintenance the City is responsible
for.
Councilmember Christensen asked about the increase in the snow removal budget. Ray said he is anticipating a high snow
year. Councilmember Kirkham said it is hard for Ray to budget for snow removal, because you never know how much snow we are
going to get. Ray explained there is nothing slated for reconstruction, because of the unresolved issues with the water lines. If the
Council wants a street repaired, regardless of the condition of the water lines, Ray will do it but he does not consider it a sound
investment until we decide what we are doing with the water. Councilmember Kirkham directed the Council to the preventative
maintenance summary in the back of the budget. She said reviewing that will give you an idea of what streets will be receiving
maintenance, such as chip sealing in the years to come. Ray said the schedule came from the Pavement Management System. Ray
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feels that we need a master plan showing projects for year one, year two, and so on. Discussion ensued regarding the water and sewer
lines along Midway Avenue.
Community sidewalk grant of $50,000 to pair out 50 -50 on new sidewalks anywhere we would deem the sidewalk is unsafe.
Ron explained how the City of Idaho Falls operates their sidewalk grant. Councilmember Kirkham asked how things were going with
the 17th street rehab project. Ray said the project is one week ahead of schedule.
Water Department:
Ray said there is a three percent increase budgeted. The bottom-line shows we are $166,000 in the red,
but if you look at what he has done with the water and wastewater, any money earned from interest plus ten percent of revenue goes to
savings. If we instead spend those savings we will have a balanced budget. Discussion ensued regarding projected connection fees.
Jennifer is changing the capacity replacement fee to seventy-eight new customers, and the water meter deposit fee to seventy-
eight new customers. Councilmember Christensen said it would make sense to change it to how the Building Department is projecting
it. Ray said if you look at the water meters the plan is to put in 400 meters, 30 of them will be paid for by the user, the others will
come out of the reserve of water meter deposit fees collected over the years. Councilmember Christensen asked if we were to peel
back the expenses and reduce overall budget expenditures where could we do it. Ray said he thinks you would have to take a gamble
and say I want ten percent off across the board except for salaries. Right now we are seventy-five percent through the year and have
spent about sixty-seven percent of his budget and it just rolls into savings if it is not spent. Jennifer said people would get a lower
standard of services e.g. response time, quality, and the infrastructure continuing to deteriorate. Councilmember Kirkham asked
Councilmember Christensen where he would cut the budget. Councilmember Christensen said on the electrical budget we have
$400,000 on the premise we are going to spend fourteen percent more than last year. He has looked at the amount spent so far this
year and have not spent near that amount. Ray said we are just entering the high pumping season. Discussion ensued regarding the
electric bill for pumping water.
Councilmember Kirkham said the Water Department budget reflects a three percent increase and the Council needs to be on
board with the increase. Councilmember Kirkham explained that if the City doesn’t take the three percent increase then we will need
to pull from reserves. We do not want to pull from reserves because we have a big project ahead of us. We need to address the issue in
the original town site. Councilmember Slack said there is no fluff in our reserves; every penny is earmarked for projects. Lance said
when you look at the budgets the line items you could possibly use to reduce the overall budgets are not going to get the three percent.
You do not want to decrease those things that have to be there. The discretionary items are very limited. Councilmember Kirkham said
this is the difficult part that Ray has to do, there is very little fixed cost. The problem is when something goes wrong you have to fix it
and it is very expensive. Councilmember Christensen would like to see what the budget looks like as we get closer to the end of the
budget year and see where the expenses are for the electricity bill. Councilmember Christensen asked about the Sunnyside property
improvement for $10,000. Ray said it is improvements to the property the City owns on Sunnyside. We need to clean it up and fence
it. Councilmember Kirkham said we made a commitment to clean up and improve some of the City’s properties. Councilmember
Powell said if we are looking to decrease the water department budget, the City should meter the water. Discussion ensued regarding
metering the water. Councilmember Kirkham said with the three percent increase we are still not where we need to be on water
budget. She asked if anyone is opposed to the numbers proposed, wants something changed or has a proposal for how we can deliver
the water and meet all of our demands, now is the time. Councilmember Christensen said he would still like to go over some things
with Ray. Councilmember Kirkham suggested leaving the numbers as they are, and discuss the budget again at a later time.
Councilmember Christensen has a couple more weeks to sit down with Ray and go over some numbers. Jennifer explained when the
budget has to be published.
Wastewater Department:
Ray said this budget reflects a four percent increase in fees. Councilmember Kirkham stated now
that the study is done, and looking at our own infrastructure and the region, we are way behind the curve. Ray said this budget does
not begin to catch up. Councilmember Slack asked if we still needed to put money in reserves. Ray said we took our current reserves
and said we are going to set aside this much to cover the reserve needed for the bond. Jennifer said we are changing the capacity
replacement to seventy-eight to be consistent. Councilmember Slack asked why the interest is earning so much less this year compared
to last year. Jennifer said right now we are at 0.85 and it is incrementally going more positive. She is budgeting one percent for 2014.
We were at 1.25 percent in 2013. Councilmember Slack said we will get $40,000 more in revenue this year. Jennifer said that is with
the four percent increase. Discussion ensued regarding the lost customers and the survey IBSD sent to them.
Residential Sanitation:
Councilmember Kirkham said there is no need to increase fees and no changes. Ray said the revenue
has gone up because people are ordering more cans. This is from people wanting more than one can and we have had seventy-five new
homes. Councilmember Christensen said we actually make some money on our residential sanitation; the commercial costs us.
Commercial Sanitation:
Ray said he is budgeting to replace the commercial truck this year. The next round of diesel
emission standards take effect the following year and will be another $8,000 to $9,000 for a new generation engine.
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Councilmember Coletti said there was a great public television program about how the cost of the federal regulations is
killing communities, sewer, sanitation and water. He would like to pull it up and plaster it everywhere. The EPA (Environmental
Protection Agency) regulations are getting worse and worse.
Parks Department:
Ken Knoch said the movies in the park went really well and it’s been a great thing for the community.
Ken said for the parks the only expenses he really has is that he is trying to add one more seasonal person. We are trying to offset the
extra person by making adjustments in other areas. On the average is about the same as last year. Ken said under the grants, he has not
heard about the splash pad and there are problems in Washington with the legislation and the grants. It is getting later in the year and it
is getting harder to get contractors. He still has to do some detailed drawing and he doesn’t want to do that until we get the grant. We
will probably have to install the pad next year after the closure of the pool. It would be better to put the project in next year’s budget
instead of anticipating it this year. The $20,000 budgeted for Quail Ridge is $10,000 their money and we are trying to find a grant for
$10,000. That may not happen. Councilmember Kirkham said there is some indication from the people in Quail Ridge they do not see
why they have to put any money into it. The project can’t be a priority for us, but if they want to contribute then we will make it a
priority. Ken discussed the Ammon Town Center Trail Project. We are in the BMPO (Bonneville Metropolitan Planning
Organization) and we are in the process of working with the City of Idaho Falls and surrounding communities for connectivity of
trails. We may get a grant to fix the walking path behind the Ammon Town Center. We have a chance for about a $60,000 grant, 7.34
percent of that would be the City’s responsibility for about $4,400. Ken said he budgeted $5,000. Lance presented more information to
consider about the Ammon Town Center path. The City of Idaho Falls had two meetings, one with the steering committee and one in a
public meeting at the library to talk about pedestrian and bicycle pathways. The meeting was well attended last night and a lot of
people are interested in having regional facilities. The director of Idaho Falls parks and recreation said his ultimate goal is to allow an
eight year old to bicycle from one end of Idaho falls to the other and have him feel safe doing so. Ken will be putting together a
presentation in September. Ken explained the repairs that would occur at the Ammon Town Center walking path. The repairs would
make it a more inviting walking area. Lance said to beware of the grant process; Idaho Falls lists about eight projects totaling over two
million dollars and so the competition for that money is going to be high although a project for $60,000 would be more appealing than
a higher amount. That might increase our chances.
In “capital outlay new”, we have McCowin Park parking lots and walking path for $16,000. The walking paths have tree
roots that are starting to push through. We need to seal coat the walking path, the swimming pool and west parking lot, and the
walking path to the gazebo. Discussion ensued regarding coordinating Public Works Department projects with Park projects to save
money on the parking lot sealing. Ray and Ken will coordinate. Ken said he put in for a new mower. The current mowers are getting
older. The one he would like to replace is nine years old it has lasted twice as long as it should have and is costing a lot more money to
repair; it is time to replace it. It is possible next year we will need to replace three mowers that have 1,700 hours on them. Mowers last
for 2,000 hours. Discussion ensued regarding finding sponsorships to continue the movie in the park.
Recreation Department:
Councilmember Christensen said last year we collected about $24,000 from the recreation
program. The arrangement we have with Colleen Pincock is it will never cost us any money and it should help us pay for our IT
budget. Ken said he put in $1,000 for ground repair and maintenance.
Swimming Pool:
Ken said over the years for salaries we have been about $5,000 shy of budgeting for wages, not increases,
just enough to cover what we are paying them. This year we have brought it up to the $5,500 mark to cover wages and to at least break
even. In the past we have had 25-26 lifeguards and we are now at 19-20 which is saving money. Ken feels we are about even with the
wages.
Councilmember Kirkham said we have been talking about building a concession stand on the east side of the swimming pool.
Ron explained that the current snow shack owners are aware that we are discussing putting in a concession stand. Discussion ensued
about the concession stand. Ron said he believes we can build the stand for much less than the projected $15,000. Ken said this is an
opportunity for the parks to bring in revenue. Councilmember Kirkham said it is a $15,000 investment, and she feels it will be a nice
addition. The Ammon pool is a destination spot if you do not want to travel. With the splash park there for free, people will buy
concessions. Councilmember Slack feels there would be a payback in the first two years. Ron said baseball starts in April and we
would open it whenever it was needed. Councilmember Kirkham asked Bruce what it would cost to get the fiber there. Bruce said he
wasn’t sure because of the blacktop that is there. Councilmember Kirkham asked if anyone is opposed to the concession stand.
Councilmember Christensen said initially he hesitated but, there is a creditable opportunity for our parks. The Council concurred that
concessions is a go. Ken said the resurfacing of the pool needs to happen. They need to be resurfaced every five to eight years. We
have just installed a new injector pump that maintains the chlorine much better. Over the years we have over chlorinated to
compensate for the old pump. The over chlorination affects the Shotcrete that is in the bottom of the pool, it pits it. The resurfacing of
the pool will take place in three phases, the deep end first, middle second and, then doing the shallow end on the third year. With the
new injector pump the chlorine will be regulated better making our pool bottom last longer. There are some needed repairs to the
electrical at the pool. We need to move the electrical box from the interior to the exterior. Ken talked about a few Eagle Scout Projects
that are planned for the parks. Councilmember Slack would like a hall of fame in the front lobby to show the Eagle Scout projects and
volunteers highlighting what we have because of them. Councilmember Kirkham said she would like to give them a certificate at
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Ammon Days. Ken said he belongs to the Idaho Recreation and Park Association and he is going to be working with Greg Weitzel on
how we can resurrect a program in the state where businesses throughout the state are charged a percentage of money that goes into
Parks and Recreation and there is another competitive grant possibly we could receive. Councilmember Kirkham said the Council
never worries about Ken finding money to fund projects.
2. Misc.:
Fire Chief Stacy Hyde asked about donations for the Relay for Life. The City firefighters will have a ten person team
participating.
Councilmember Kirkham moved to adjourn. Councilmember Coletti seconded. Roll Call Vote: Councilmember Kirkham –
Yes, Councilmember Coletti – Yes, Councilmember Slack – Yes, Councilmember Thompson – Yes, and Councilmember Christensen
– Yes. The motion passed.
The meeting adjourned at 7:24 p.m.
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Steve Fuhriman, Mayor
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Ron Folsom, City Clerk
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