Soda Springs City Council
The city council met for a regular meeting on Wednesday, November 6, as well as a public hearing.
HEARING
A public hearing was held on a request for de-annexation by Smith Filter Service. The reason given was that city services are not being provided at the property, though city taxes are being assessed to it.
The owner stated that they were trying to get out of the city limits in order to save taxes, and because the city was not providing services to the property. The reason that the property is included in the city limits is unclear, according to the petitioner.
Paul Gritton notified the council that he would be abstaining from voting on the issue, due to a potential conflict of interest, as the petitioner was a customer of his.
Because they reached the same conclusion in both cases, it is noted here that the second hearing involved a de-annexation discussion on another piece of property facing similar issues, 2844 Wood Canyon Road, owned by Cameron and Amy Newell. They had the same reasons for the request. “Because of the RR being on two sides of us, the likelihood of getting services will ever happen is small. If you have no intentions of putting services, signs, etc. on the property, I don’t feel it’s right to be paying the city when we can’t access any of the services,” Cameron Newell stated.
Council President Mitch Hart stated that “in my opinion, de-annexing would create a weird little island with the Lau property, which would not be in the city’s interest to have as an island of land. The request is in conflict with land use within the comprehensive plan. It’s a weird little jig and jag. We have another one by the old Kerr-McGee property. In a perfect world we’d like to square them up and have a contiguous property. But they’ve been that way for a long time.”
Engineer Alan Skinner reported that the city’s Planning and Zoning board had recommended “to deny de-annexation to both entities. The motion was passed unanimously by PZ.”
City Attorney Tom Smith noted, “There was a discussion about maintaining boundaries. It was in place when the property was purchased. Trying to re-annex down the road would create a financial burden.”
Councilman Rod Worthington moved to support PZ by rejecting the de-annexation, which passed other than Councilman Gritton’s abstention.
The same result occurred in the second hearing.
Councilman Ryan Carpenter noted that “The one thing we don’t think about is the fire department. Their rating is high, so homeowners insurance is lower. That probably doesn’t offset the $600, but it is something. The chances of a city changing their boundaries is pretty rare. We’re trying to grow smartly. I’d love to say we can put in the services everywhere but…We have to follow our comp plan, and our PZ. We ask them to do a thankless job and we let them do it.”
Following the recent announcement that the Enders hotel would no longer be leased by Terah Jones, the council began discussions about the future of the building. Engineer Alan Skinner had obtained a formal document formalizing the building vacation from Jones, who was in the process of moving furniture and equipment out of the first floor and the basement by the end of the week.
Paul Gritton suggested that in his analysis there were four main options for the building: “1) move city hall there; 2) sell the bldg.; 3) lease to another business; 4) arrange a partial lease in conjunction with city hall.”
Councilman Rod Worthington noted, “I’m impressed we came up with those four. It’s only taken three years” which was a moment of humor in the ongoing discussion.
President Hart added that “We’ve explored the possibility of some kind of grant. In Idaho, there are limited resources for revitalizing historic buildings. Those are very competitive. Another would be to just turn it into a museum, which is a money pit. I did receive an expression of interest in the building, but disposing of it by sale requires a lot of hoops, including a public auction. We have a lot more latitude to lease the building than to sell it.”
“It was not my intention to decide anything tonight, but I do propose that we put it on the agenda for the Nov 20 meeting,” CM Gritton stated.
Mayor Robinsons noted that ”The business she [Jones] was doing, it was used as a community center to some extent, and the community was getting some benefit out of it that way, which we should consider going forward.”
Fire Chief Dan Squires mentioned that “It’s in the city’s best interests to keep it up to code.”
It was determined to continue the discussion in future meetings. “I’ll have some info prepared for the council’s consideration. It will probably take 4-6 months for sale. 12-18 months to move city hall. Those are rough timelines,” President Hart said. “The end of this year has been a little nutty,” he also noted.
During the meeting, a discussion was being held about the city’s volunteer fire department rating, and how that affected homeowner insurance rates. Fire Chief Squires had been explaining that among volunteer fire departments in the state, only two that he knew of had better ratings than Soda Springs. As if on cue, the fire station alarm sounded and Squires headed out the door. Squires returned a bit later in the meeting to report that the response time on the part of the department had been roughly three minutes, and the situation was under control.
City Clerk Andrea Haderlie reported that the city hall building had purchased a new furnace and AC unit from Reed’s Plumbing. The furnace had not been functioning well, and an inspection determined that it had been emitting CO, and that the AC unit was also not in good shape. The new furnace was working well, and it will be determined whether the second furnace should be replaced following a decision about the city hall’s potential move to the
Enders building.
Business Licenses were approved for the following: Bels Dog Training, Addition: Grumpy Guys Pizza, Auga Farms and Handyman Services.
Hope Hansen reported on the Friends of the Library’s Festival of Trees campaign, which is currently underway. A number of local businesses have already donated, and the pace is outstripping prior years. The first tree is up now, from the title sponsor A+ and Cozy B Quilts. “We’re hoping to get a lot of people at the event from 5:30-8 on Dec. 6,” Hansen said. “Lallatin’s is donating refreshments. A lot of people have donated things and it’s looking great so far.” The library’s circulation numbers are high, and events continue to be very well attended.
Director Justin Hansen reported that fill material had been placed at the gun range to create a berm barrier, which should increase safety and noise reduction to some extent. Both Hansen and Councilman Gritton expressed the opinion that the project looked very good and was a good upgrade to the facility.
