City Council met in regular session on February 17, 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
Councilmember absent: 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 February 2nd were approved as presented by Councilor Canaday, second by Councilor Farris. Motion carried by a unanimous vote of the Council present.
VISITORS: Madeline Zalewski requested permission to use Pioneer Park to show movies and sell concessions for her senior project. The concessions will be either store bought or homemade cookies baked in a commercial kitchen and the school will provide the insurance for her events. All funds raised will be donated toward the new playground equipment in the park. She would like to play a pg13 or less movie using Kids Klub’s inflatable project on the following nights from 8pm-10pm: June 29, July 6, 13, 20, 27 and August 3. She will set up an hour before and clean up after the event. Madeline stated if the weather doesn’t cooperate, she would look at doing projects or board games. She is working on getting the copyrights for the movies. Attorney Jessup asked if she had looked into a public viewing license for the movies? Madeline stated she is working with her advisor to comply with the copyright licenses and will get them to Administrator Kennedy. On motion by Councilor Andrews, second by Councilor Farris to approve Madeline Zalewski’s request to use Pioneer Park this summer to show her movies and sell concessions for a senior project June 29th through August 3rd, pending the proper paperwork for the city. Motion carried by a unanimous vote of the Council present.
Michael Pfefferkorn with Grangeville Border Days requested the council authorize a military flyover by two Blackhawk helicopters at the July 3rd rodeos between 6-7pm for America’s 250 birthday. Mike Cook, airport manager, has already approved his request. He needs the city’s signature on the request form. Councilor Forsmann asked if the city has airspace jurisdiction? Miachel stated Mike Cook has the jurisdiction however the application requires the city to authorize the flyover. Attorney Jessup felt the Border days committee should let everyone know to get off their horses. Councilor Farris has been at the Lewiston roundup when flyovers occur; they don’t fly that low and it normally doesn’t cause chaos with horses. On motion by Councilor Farris, second by Councilor Andrews to accept the request from the Border Days Committee to authorize a military flyover at the July 3rd rodeo during the Grangeville Border Days performance, pending authorization from the military. Motion carried by a unanimous vote of the Council present.
Liza Wilson, Pioneer Park Playground Group requested permission for the city to sponsor the Grangeville Community Foundation grant application for Kevin Zumwalt funds for playground equipment at Pioneer Park. They are not a 501c3 so they would like to apply with the city for the Grangeville Community Foundation with the application. On motion by Councilor Farris, second by Councilor Perry to accept the request for the city to sponsor the Grangeville Community Foundation grant application for Kevin Zumwalt funds for playground equipment at Pioneer Park. Motion carried by a unanimous vote of the Council present.
Liza Wilson, 208 Kids Triathlon was present to request permission to hold the 4th annual 208 Kids Triathlon on June 27th at Pioneer Park, surrounding streets and the pool. They are usually at the park from 5am – 1pm. Liza stated it gets bigger every year. They have it capped around 100-105 and last year they had about 96 participants. On motion by Councilor Andrews, second by Councilor Farris to approve the request to hold the 4th annual 208 Kids Triathlon on June 27th and Pioneer Park, the pool and adjacent streets. Motion carried by a unanimous vote of the Council present.
COMMITTEE REPORTS: The following committee reports were presented.
• CITY ADMINISTRATOR: City hall has been working on normal day-to-day tasks. Snowhaven is closed for the season; it will be posted later tonight.
• PUBLIC WORKS: Public Works Director Mager stated public works continued fencing at red barn on the south border. During the cold snap they had the trees trimmed along the north ballfield at Lions Park. They worked on sewer main repairs, spent a week at a test site at the WWTP fixing things up and installed culverts. They had a water main line break on the one-way section of North 6th that took about 7 hours to fix. Pumptech will be moving to Spencer Well tomorrow.
• CLEARWATER WELL UPDATE: Public Works Director Mager stated Pumptech arrived yesterday and brought everything out of the ground today. Everything will be brought back to Bellevue, WA to inspect prior to reporting back to the city. All items for the well have the have a certified warranty.
• POLICE REPORT: The department had 72 calls for service and 23 reports taken for January 2026. Councilor Andrews questioned the delivery timeline on the new vehicles. Chief Newman stated the lease paperwork has been signed, payments were made to Auto Ranch and the vehicles were released to ERS. All equipment has been ordered and ERS is waiting for the equipment to be shipped and then they’ll install it. He’s estimating late May/June for delivery.
LIBRARY MINUTES: On motion by Councilor Canaday, second by Councilor Perry to accept the Library Minutes of January 15, 2026. Motion carried by a unanimous vote of the Council present.
BILLS: The bills in total amount of $610,576.30 (Financials $443,010.64 January Payroll $167,565.66) were approved and ordered paid out of their respective funds, on motion by Councilor Canaday, second by Councilor Farris. Motion carried by a unanimous vote of the Council present.
AVISTA FRANCHISE FEE MAY ELECTION: Mayor Lester asked the council if they would like to place the Avista Franchise fee on the ballot in May. The council could choose what they want to use the additional 2% for. At the November election it stated it was for police dispatch. Councilor Farris asked if it failed in May could it be run again in November. Councilor Canaday stated if that happened it could be run in November with only a 1% increase instead of 2%. Councilor Perry felt it could be earmarked for street. Mayor Lester stated the streets are worn out and the city hasn’t been able to do maintenance for a while. Public Works Director Mager stated projects are expensive. To blade patch the block behind the courthouse is about $38,000. Administrator Kennedy stated the funds may need to be saved for multiple years before a project could be completed. Discussion occurred on creating social media posts to provide consistent information to the public. An ordinance will be presented at next meeting.
BEER & WINE LICENSE: On motion by Councilor Farris, second by Councilor Canaday to approve the beer and wine license for Grangeville Border Days Inc. d/b/a Grangeville Border Days. ROLL CALL VOTE: YES: Farris, Andrews, Canaday, Perry, Forsmann. NO: none. ABSTAIN: none. The motion passed.
INDIVIDUAL WATER & SEWER ACCOUNTS WITHIN A TRAILER PARK: Public Works Director Mager would like to work with Administrator Kennedy and Attorney Jessup to draft an ordinance stating trailer or RV parks can’t ask for individual water and sewer accounts per unit. Currently all parks have either one account or two if they are larger enough to need zones. Allowing individual accounts would create unnecessary and increased maintenance costs for the city. The council consensus was to move forward with the revision.
The meeting adjourned at 6:52 P.M.
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Wes Lester – Mayor
ATTEST:
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Tonya Kennedy – Clerk
