April 7, 2025
City Council met in regular session on April 7, 2025, at 5:15 P.M. on Lake and South A Street and at 6:00 P.M. in the Council Chambers of City Hall.
Mayor Lester presided:
Councilmembers present:
Dylan Canaday
Scott Winkler
Jared Andrews
Wyatt Perry
Amy Farris
Beryl Grant
City employees present were Public Works Director Mager, Chief Newman, City Administrator Kennedy and Attorney Jessup.
TOUR: The council and staff met at Lake and South A at 5:15 P.M. to view the area for the discussion later in the meeting.
The meeting resumed at 6:00 P.M. in the Council Chambers.
MINUTES: The meeting was called to order and the Council minutes of March 17th were approved as presented by Councilor Canaday, second by Councilor Perry. Motion carried by a unanimous vote of the Council present.
VISITORS: Jane Spencer stated Ellamae Holes was a Soroptimist leader and worked hard for it. After some thought, Jane felt it might be time to look at giving the park a more neutral name like Northside Park. She doesn’t like to see clubs competing for naming rights as they all do a good job. Mayor Lester stated he went through the minute book to find information. He never found where the name was officially changed from Jaycee Park to Soroptimist Park. In May of 1990, Janine Alley came to the council and they wanted to start working on the park and do projects. Later Suzie Heckman and Ruby Randal also came as Soroptimists and each time the group had a project they wanted to complete. The name in the minutes varied over the years between Jaycee Park and Soroptimist Park. Nothing was found in the minutes that the Jaycee name was dropped. The Soroptimist did tree planting and sprinkler work at the park and put in a sign. Mayor Lester agreed with Jane; we don’t know if we should start changing names or not.
Carly Decker, Farmers Market, asked to hold the Farmers Market in Pioneer Park from June 21st to October 4th not including the 5th over Border Days. The market is 9 AM – 1 PM every Saturday. Carly asked if they could store their trailer on the street at the park during the market months. Mayor Lester stated no. Public Works Director Mager stated the pavilion might not be all the way ready as they have some landscaping to complete. On motion by Councilor Grant, second by Councilor Perry to allow the Farmers Market to use Pioneer Park on Saturdays from June 21st – October 4th for the Farmers Market, eliminating July 5th. Motion carried by a unanimous vote of the Council present.
Carly Decker asked for permission to hold her kids yoga camp at Pioneer Park on July 9, 16 and 23, 2025. This would be her 3rd year if approved. It is usually 10AM to noon and insurance has been sent to the city. On motion by Councilor Farris, second by Councilor Grant to allow Carly Decker to use Pioneer Park for a kids yoga camp on July 9, 16 and 23, 2025. Motion carried by a unanimous vote of the Council present.
COMMITTEE REPORTS: The following committee reports were presented.
• CITY ADMINISTRATOR: City Administrator Kennedy stated they are working on their regular day-to-day work and they have started working on the pool and staffing.
• PLANNING AND ZONING MINUTES: On motion by Councilor Canady, second by Councilor Farris to accept the Planning and Zoning Minutes of 3/25/25. Motion carried by a unanimous vote of the Council present.
o Syringa Hospital & Clinics application: City Administrator Kennedy read a letter from Abner King, withdrawing their conditional use application to provide office space at 423 N A Street. Based upon withdrawal of the application, no action was taken by the Council.
• PUBLIC WORKS REPORT: Public Works Director Mager stated he was out for a while. The guys have been working on minor projects. They are putting metal barbeques in the park, WWTP is getting ready for spring, and they are working to get the mowers ready to go.
NAME CHANGE REQUEST FROM SOROPTIMIST PARK TO EAGLES PARK: Mayor Lester provided a little of the history earlier in the meeting when Jane spoke. Councilor Grant was concerned about losing the history of Grangeville if the names of the park were changed. One suggestion was to consider just adding to the existing name so it would be Jaycee-Soroptimist-Eagles Park. The names shouldn’t be lost of people that did the work. They deserve to be recognized in history. Councilor Canaday suggested if the name of the park changes, you could have additional name tags that are added to the sign as previous donators to the park. Councilor Grant stated it could also recognize the girl scouts.
Councilor Perry said he was big on history but considered it a passing of the torch when someone puts in time, effort and money. If all they ask is name recognition, then you could do that with a sign that shows the history. Councilor Winkler felt it was a slippery slope. What if someone else comes to the Council and wants it changed to their group name. Councilor Perry had the same concern. Councilor Grant was worried about destroying volunteerism in Grangeville. Councilor Winkler said at this time we don’t know if the Jaycee name was dropped. Councilor Farris stated if the intent of the Eagles is to make the park better, she’s not opposed.
Councilor Winkler thought maybe a proper sign that shows when each entity was active, then the sign could recognize those that volunteered. On motion by Councilor Andrews, second by Councilor Winkler to add the Eagles to Jaycee Soroptimist Park.
Councilor Grant questioned who would make the sign and how is it done. Councilor Winkler questioned we don’t know what the name is right now so we are changing it to a new name? Mayor Lester stated maybe Jane has a good idea and the park should have a generic name like Northside Park. Councilor Perry asked if the Eagles would still use the park if it didn’t have their name on it. Joyce said yes, they’ll still use it and have easter egg hunt there. Public Works Director Mager stated every club wants to donate something and leave something behind. They have their dreams and wishes and then the city inherits the project. It could be another pavilion, bathroom, or something else. The city has limited funds for maintenance. Everything the Council accepts, the city needs to maintain. The Council needs to look to the future and keep budgets in mind. Mayor Lester stated the Council needs to determine what the name of the park will be. Joyce Forsmann was present and said she would take these ideas back to the Eagles meeting and report back to the Council.
After discussion, the 2nd and 1st motion were retracted. Additional discussion will occur at the next meeting. The Council will discuss it to determine if the name should be changed, and if so, should it be a neutral name or specific to a club name.
15-MINUTE PARKING LAKE & SOUTH A: Mayor Lester stated the Council meeting started on site at Lake and South A Street at 5:15 P.M. so everyone could see what the area looked like. Councilor Farris felt there wasn’t a reasonable solution. She didn’t think a one-way or 15-minute parking would solve the problem. During drop off and pick up the area is congested. The school has a large parking area on Idaho and another on Court. The teachers park on both sides of Idaho and some teachers park in this area. She thinks the school needs to designate staff parking in the parking lots and lock the gate on S A and that will eliminate most of the problems. Councilor Canaday agrees with Farris. He felt it should be left as is. He doesn’t agree with locking the back gate. He felt the school could strongly encourage staff to use the parking lot. Councilor Andrews stated the school can’t lock the back gate; it’s required for egress.
Mayor Lester stated he sat and watched traffic at B and Lake. It’s a zoo. Two people were headed south on B Street and then backed onto Lake to wait for Catholic school kids. This area is not a drop off. It’s a sit and wait area. The parents get out and leave their vehicles. They walk down the street and visit other parents and grandparents. He doesn’t think it’s fixable. He felt people are treating it as a small community and visiting while waiting for the kids to get out and they don’t think it’s any big deal. The 15-minute parking wouldn’t work because people leave their vehicle. If you try to do one-way traffic, you’ll have two or three vehicles wide down the street. He didn’t feel it would be safer. He felt the safest would be to have them use Idaho. Farris didn’t feel there was a reasonable solution. Teachers should be parking in the school lots and pick-up/drop-offs should occur on Idaho.
Mayor Lester stated as far as snow plowing the city could consider a snow ordinance. If so, then it needs to be considered everywhere in town. Attorney Jessup stated a snow event ordinance would bring its own chaos. The city could try to preplan for a snow event that does or doesn’t happen. Councilor Winkler asked if we have something that lets Mager move vehicles when needed? Chief Newman stated yes, it’s a temporary order that he can use if needed. Winkler proposed to let the discussion die.
On motion by Councilor Farris, second by Councilor Perry to leave Lake and S A Street as is and encourage parents to use Idaho as a drop/off pick up zone and to encourage staff to use the staff parking lot. Motion carried by a unanimous vote of the Council present.
By consensus, the snow event ordinance was dropped at this time.
CHARGING FOR FIRE CALLS: Chief Brian Perry stated technically the city is already charging property tax for real property. He would like to charge for RV/vehicles. The council watched a short video on an electric car fire. The cars are not being saved. The most dangerous place for fire fighters is in the “bubble” fighting fires. He wants to be proactive and not reactive for these fires and wants to take the risk away from guys on these types of fires. He would like to bill for non-real property fires to recoup the expenses of these types of fires. Each year the department has a fundraiser for the rural and city departments. This year, they are buying thermal blankets for the fire departments to use. They are expensive and they are still in a trial stage. These are for electric cars as they can have thermal runaway. He would like to see an ordinance drafted to recoup the cost of non-real property fires. The blankets will be used on an electric car. They are a one-time use, and $1600-2600 each. He felt the EV owner should pay for the fire and be billed for all expenses. Internal combustion vehicles can use the blankets too. The blankets are designed to stay with the vehicle as EV fires can reignite up to 4 months later. On normal vehicles it cuts down the time his guys need to stay in the protected area. They are basically a large fireproof tarp. It doesn’t put the fire out but it stops secondary exposures. Mayor Lester asked if they have a shelf life. Perry stated they have a 5-year expiration date.
Alarm calls were discussed. These could be the Super 8 or other businesses with alarms. For example, IFG has a fire suppression system. Their protocol is if an alarm goes off, the department doesn’t get called. It goes through their internal process and then management will call if they want a response. However, on other alarms, the department responds to each call. They never know if it’s false or real.
Councilor Farris stated she is not opposed to billing for calls. Chief Perry’s recommendation is to plug the hole on non-real property fires. Vehicle fires always use foam and air packs. Councilor Perry stated when billing for fires was brought up, he wanted to bill for all fires. Chief Perry responded he’d like to limit billing to only non-real property fires. Councilor Perry stated after getting lots of public input he would rather it be non-real property because structures have been paying property tax. Mayor Lester stated he only wants to have Attorney Jessup create one ordinance. Lift assist calls were questioned. Chief Perry stated as chief, he told the EMS director he’s happy to help with lift assists but the fire department needs to be the last call. The EMS plan should be to use their other ambulance crew, then extrication and then Grangeville police as they are on duty with the fire department as a last resort.
Councilor Perry stated he would personally like to bill on all responses. Chief Perry stated he only wants to bill on non-real property. You will be billed based on who shows up and what equipment is used, including fireman wages. Councilor Canaday asked if you’d bill for 22 people if they all show. Chief Perry responded it usually self-polices who show up. Lift assists might have less attendance.
Attorney Jessup stated he had a draft ordinance created for non-real property calls for actual costs. False alarms are included in the ordinance right now. Chief Perry stated on alarm systems, it’s hard to make a customer be proactive on their education. He has no teeth to make someone get it fixed; however sometimes teeth encourages corrections. Police Chief Newman stated there are other alarms that go off the police get dispatched to. Panic alarms go off a lot and most are due to operator error. An ordinance will be presented for the next meeting.
POLICE DISPATCH AGREEMENT WITH IDAHO COUNTY: Mayor Lester explained the dispatch agreement with Idaho County expires September 30, 2025. The County’s new proposal is to increase from $37,050 to $80,229.53. Mayor Lester, Chief Newman, Administrator Kennedy and Attorney Jessup met with Sherrif Ulmer, Under sheriff Hewson and Attorney MacGregor to discuss options. The county is standing pretty firm on their number. We asked if we could have lower number for a short term to figure it out, but at this time we don’t have the funds to pay. Attorney Jessup stated the increase is related to recruiting and retaining dispatchers. Fish and Game is no longer on county dispatch. The ILETS system is utilized on each call. Councilor Canaday asked if the city could pay for ILETS and not use them as dispatch. Chief Newman stated the city could pay about $10,000 annually for ILETS but it doesn’t solve the problem. When someone calls the department, they are dispatched to the call. They also do status checks to make sure all is ok. When an officer pulls someone over, he lets them know and they provide all the information in the system and watches to keep them safe. Attorney Jessup explained the county gets E911 funds for each connection. Fire Chief Perry stated in the fire world, dispatch is very important. The lines are a recorded line and a timeline is established. Councilor Andrews asked if Orofino still used Clearwater County as dispatch. They do. Councilor Canaday asked if we could use ISP. Chief Newman stated ISP doesn’t have 911 services as they go through other county dispatches.
Councilor Grant stated wages and personnel are the only way to come up with that big of an increase. Mayor Lester stated it could be an officer and not having 24-hour coverage to make it work. Everyone is going to want raises each year and the 3% property tax increase isn’t enough to cover it. On the Avista franchise fee, to increase it more than 1% would require approval of the voters. If the city doesn’t pay the $80,000, the county said they would stop services to the city. They would still have to answer 911 calls; however they would not have to dispatch non-emergency and they also wouldn’t be available for city officers, which is a huge officer safety problem. Attorney Jessup stated at the end of the day they want $80,000 but they haven’t explicitly said they won’t take less. The worst case is they say no. Chief Newman stated police departments are expensive. They are there to serve but do not generate income to offset expenses. As a group they talked about ways to reduce costs. If hours and coverage are reduced, citizens may start complaining about the level of service.
Attorney Jessup stated when negotiating you try to get creative and give them something too. For example the county can use the pound for animals as they don’t have a facility. Chief Newman stated the city already has an agreement with them. Mayor Lester stated the city could choose to try to increase the franchise fee by running an election in November. Then we’d know what the citizens want. The mayor is asking for authority to negotiate and then bring a final number back to the council. Administrator Kennedy stated she reached out to other cities on the list serve to ask a few questions about their police department. Some of the questions included size of the city, department size, if they have 24-hour patrol and who they contract with. Most all of the cities contract with counties for dispatch. Kennedy only has a few numbers back, but there were two similar size cities and they are paying closer to $45,000 for dispatch.
Councilor Perry stated the city could get rid of the fire department and have rural fire do it all in hopes the contract with rural fire would be less than fire budget to save money. Mayor Lester stated if there is no police department, then you’d hire an ordinance employee so you’d still have that cost.
Attorney Jessup was asked to negotiate on behalf of the city. He will bring any final agreement back to the council for approval.
Attorney Jessup disclosed he does work as the civil attorney for the county but on this agreement, Kirk MacGregor is acting as the attorney for the county and Jessup represents the city on this issue.
The meeting adjourned at 8:20 P.M.
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Wes Lester – Mayor
ATTEST:
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Tonya Kennedy – Clerk
