City Council met in regular session on July 20, 2026, at 6:00 P.M. in the Council Chambers of City Hall.
Mayor Lester:
Councilmembers present:
Wyatt Perry
Jared Andrew
Dylan Canaday
Gabe Forsmann
Amy Farris
Cody Edwards
City employees present: City Administrator Kennedy, Chief Newman, Attorney Jessup and Public Works Director Mager.
MINUTES: The meeting was called to order and the Council minutes of July 6th, 7th, 8th and 9th were approved as presented by Councilor Canaday, second by Councilor Perry. Motion carried by a unanimous vote of the Council present.
VISITORS: Ted Lindsley, representing District 2 of Idaho County, was present to discuss solid waste collection and the possibility of adding dumpsters within the city limits. Lindsley explained Idaho County plans to remove most or all of its rural county dumpsters within the next year. Many of these sites are near the city and heavily used by city residents, most of whom do not pay the county’s annual ag/solid-waste fee (currently $281.40/year) since they are covered under the city’s system. City residents pay the county on their tax bill $39.30 for solid waste. Idaho County has grown by more than 4,000 residents over the past four years, much of it near Grangeville, increasing demand on solid waste services. Since the city removed its public dumpsters near Frank’s Towing years ago, city residents have increasingly relied on county rural collection sites for excess household waste, raising tonnage and costs at those sites. Camas Prairie-area dumpster volume has risen nearly 60% since 2013, versus 10% or less countywide. Possible solutions include establishing a city-operated collection site in Grangeville for city residents, working with Walco to provide full-day Saturday hours at the transfer station or the county increasing the city’s solid waste fee by double or more if not mitigated in part by the city. Lindsley stated this is about recognizing Grangeville has experienced substantial growth, consumer habits and products have changed and solid waste services must evolve to meet today’s realities.
BJ Walker, of Walco provided contract history: Walco serviced Idaho County with 2,070 cubic yards (2012–13); after the county switched to Simmons, service dropped to 1,788 cubic yards, and currently sits at 1,956 cubic yards in 2026, which is still below the ~2,250 cubic yards that population growth would justify. He noted that County Ordinance 65 mandates that all county residents, including those within city limits, use the county solid waste system for excess waste, even cities with their own disposal systems. City residents are allotted a half cubic yard to the county system (vs. a full cubic yard for county residents) and are currently permitted to use county dumpsters at no charge. BJ proposed converting Walco’s property on the north side of town to an in-city Grangeville disposal/drop-off site serving city residents only, to remove the city’s share of demand from the county system. This could include separate provisions for yard waste diversion and could have adjustable/extended hours (evenings/weekends) to serve working residents, with safeguards (e.g., limits on load size, restrictions to household garbage only) to prevent misuse. This could work if Walco received the $39.30 charged to city residents by the county for solid waste. It was questioned if it would be a manned site. BJ stated they could use cameras or man it some of the time. Mayor Lester noted that unrestricted 24-hour access had been tried previously and led to abuse.
Councilor Farris stated it is not just city residents causing the issue in the dumpsters. There are a lot of travelers using the dumpsters that are recreating in the area. Councilor Edwards questioned how many new houses have been built in the city since 2013. Kennedy didn’t have numbers, but felt it wasn’t that many, as the city didn’t have that many vacant lots. Edwards felt most of the growth occurred outside the city limits.
Councilor Andrews stated he was struggling, because you can point fingers at the city but if anybody is reading the comments on the Facebook post, Whitebird and Riggins are having these same issues. To say it’s Grangeville residents is not the case because it’s a county wide problem. He is not in favor of dumpsters on city property. BJ stated unfortunately the city is getting blamed for it. Ted Lindsley stated he only came here to talk about District 2, which is his area. He is trying to mitigate the issue. Councilor Andrews appreciated BJ coming to the city with a plan. He would entertain a discussion to sit down and try to get a plan happening, then negotiate with county to get those funds being charged to the city residents sent to Walco. He would like to have BJ and Marietta create a proposal and bring it to the city to discuss before the city reaches out to the county.
COMMITTEE REPORTS: The following committee reports were presented.
• CITY ADMINISTRATOR: City Administrator Kennedy stated the office spent most of the last month doing normal day-to-day activities, working on preparing the budget and gearing up for Border Days. The pool has settled into a rhythm. On the fee schedule for next fiscal year, if the council has suggested changes provide them to Kennedy by July 24th otherwise staff will work through the schedule to update them. Mayor Lester stated that as staff salaries increase the fee schedule for those types of items needs to be updated. Attorney Jessup stated the fee charged needs to be based on a reasonable rate that is as close to actual as possible.
• SNOWHAVEN PROJECT UPDATE: Administrator Kennedy stated Arnzen Construction has a subcontractor meeting on site tomorrow and then the subcontractor should start excavation Monday next week.
• PUBLIC WORKS: Public Works Director Mager stated they spent the last half of June getting ready for Border Days, painting crosswalks and all. Behind the courthouse Herco got the street done and then completed Heritage Square. They have been spraying weeds and crack sealing. They finally got the water line fixed in Lions Park but they are still working on the electrical for sprinklers. At Pioneer Park the sprinklers are back working; the control value was broken but now it’s fixed. They’ve been working on the storm drain by Idaho and North 4th as it was full of roots. The fence is up at Clearwater Well.
• SOFTBALL FIELD UPDATE: Public Works Director Mager stated Jerime Zimmerman is having some issues with leveling field but are they are working through it. Mager showed the Council pictures of the bleachers and backstop area. He would like to leave the bleachers at their current location and then have the gravel area between the bleachers and the backstop. This will allow people to bring lawn chairs and sit in the gravel area. The one small aluminum bench will be moved closer to the fence to provide an accessible bench close to the backstop. Jerime will also be pouring a cement pad for those that may need an accessible pad. The public works department will be pouring a sidewalk next spring/summer. The Council confirmed they want the accessible cement pad poured this year and agreed with Mager’s recommendation to leave the bleachers at the current location, move the aluminum bench closer to the fence and keep the gravel area for lawn chairs.
• POLICE REPORT: The department had 97 calls for service and 25 reports taken for June 2026. They only had two arrests over Border Days, both of which were DUI but they had a lot of calls. The second vehicle should arrive next week. The department currently has two burglaries under investigation.
• FIRE MINUTES: On motion by Councilor Farris, second by Councilor Perry to accept the Fire Minutes of June 8 and 22, 2026. Motion carried by a unanimous vote of the Council present.
CITY PROPERTY LEASE: Administrator Kennedy talked to the Finance and Property Manager for the Port of Lewiston. They have relied on a market study the Port of Clarkston had done since they are in such close proximity. Based on that information, for bare land that has infrastructure accessible (streets, water, sewer, fiber) their base target for starting negotiations is 2-3 cents per square foot per month, adjustable based on the value a given business brings to the community. At this range one acre would run between $871-$1,300 per month. Mayor Lester stated he found online where 10 cents per square foot per year is used which is about $4,356/year per acre.
Discussion occurred on the merits of leasing versus selling the land. Maintaining ownership would help alleviate well-protection concerns and leasing would preserve long-term revenue. Councilor Farris was only interested in leasing. The consensus of the Council at this time leaned toward leasing rather than selling. Councilor Perry noted selling remains a viable option in general, since deed restrictions/covenants could control future use, but was not the preferred approach for this specific site. Mayor Lester stated any revenue from leasing outer/perimeter lots (which have road access and thus higher value) would need to be set aside to fund future infrastructure (roads, utilities) to the lower-value interior lots. Councilor Farris is interested in leasing but felt like the business needed to come to the Council so they had more information and could make an informed decision. Discussion then occurred on a starting point for a lease amount and whether to charge an annual lease or monthly. The council chose to have Public Works Director Mager talk to the business and provide a starting amount at 2 cents/square foot per acre.
BILLS: The bills in total amount of $458,292.82 (Financials $354,609.89, June Payroll $103,682.93) were approved and ordered paid out of their respective funds, on motion by Councilor Canaday, second by Councilor Perry. Motion carried by a unanimous vote of the Council present.
The meeting adjourned at 7:50 P.M.
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Wes Lester – Mayor
ATTEST:
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Tonya Kennedy – Clerk
