City Council met in regular session on July 6, 2026, at 6:00 P.M. in the Council Chambers of City Hall.
Mayor Lester presided:
Councilmembers present:
Jared Andrews
Wyatt Perry
Amy Farris
Dylan Canaday
Gabriel Forsmann
Cody Edwards
City employees present: Public Works Director Mager, Chief Newman, City Administrator Kennedy and Attorney Jessup.
MINUTES: The meeting was called to order and the Council minutes of June 15th were approved as presented by Councilor Canaday, second by Councilor Perry. Motion carried by a unanimous vote of the Council present.
VISITORS: Sabrie Lika and Natalie Butz, U.S. Small Business Administrator’s Office of Disaster Recovery were present to provide information and answer questions on physical and economic injury disaster assistance for December’s straight-line windstorms and Idaho’s drought.
FIBER CABINETS AT SOROPTIMIST & PIONEER PARKS: Public Works Director Mager stated some of the fiber optic equipment will go underground and include a cabinet location at Soroptimist and at Pioneer Parks. He felt the council needed to give approval since they would be located on city property. At Soroptimist Park, Mager stated he may shift the cabinet away from the corner closer to the outhouse area and would work directly with the company during install. At Pioneer Park, Mager stated the cabinet can’t go by the pump house on the corner as it’s a busy corner and there is a fire hydrant located there. He wants to move it to the north. Councilor Edwards questioned why they need above-ground cabinets and it’s not in the ground like other areas. Jerry Zumalt stated the cabinets contain the distribution point; they need to bring 500 strands in. There is a vault under the cabinets that house all the splitters and each cabinet will serve between 500-800 houses. During discussion, the Council was ok with locating the cabinets in both Soroptimist and Pioneer Parks with Mager determining the exact location.
SOFTBALL FIELD PROJECT GRANT PAYMENT: On motion by Councilor Andrews, second by Councilor Canaday to approve the payment to Chase Weisz Masonry Inc in the amount of $25,000 for the Lions Park Softball field project, to be paid from the Grangeville Community Foundation grant. ROLL CALL VOTE: YES: Farris, Andrews, Canaday, Edwards, Forsmann. Perry NO: none. The motion passed.
RESOLUTION #311 IDAHO STANDARDS FOR PUBLIC WORKS CONSTRUCTION (ISPWC) AND CITY AMENDMENTS:
RESOLUTION NO. 311
(Resolution No. 311 in its entirety on file in the City’s Resolution File)
The following resolution was introduced by Councilor Canaday who moved for its adoption. Second by Councilor Perry.
A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY OF GRANGEVILLE, IDAHO COUNTY, IDAHO, PROVIDING FOR THE ADOPTION OF THE 2025 EDITION OF THE IDAHO STANDARDS FOR PUBLIC WORKS CONSTRUCTION (ISPWC), INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE AS EXHIBIT A, AND THE CITY OF GRANGEVILLE’S STANDARD REVISION TO 2025 ISPWC AND SUPPLEMENTAL SPECIFICATIONS, ATTACHED AS EXHIBIT B, AS THE STANDARDS GOVERNING PUBLIC WORKS CONSTRUCTION WITHIN THE CITY; ESTABLISHING THE ORDER OF PRECEDENCE BETWEEN THOSE DOCUMENTS; PROVIDING FOR VARIANCES; PROVIDING FOR QUALITY CONTROL AND QUALITY ASSURANCE; REPEALING AND SUPERSEDING RESOLUTION NO. 188 AND THE 2014 CONSTRUCTION SPECIFICATION DETAILS MANUAL IN THEIR ENTIRETY; AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE.
ROLL CALL VOTE: YES: Farris, Andrews, Canaday, Edwards, Forsmann. Perry NO: none. The motion passed. Mayor Lester then declared Resolution No. 311 duly approved and adopted.
EMPLOYEE HANDBOOK REVISION FOR PUBLIC WORKS ON-CALL: Public Works Director Mager explained over the last couple months, he and Mayor Lester have been discussing response time for public works on-call and how it is currently 30 minutes but used to be 15 minutes. Mager stated they are concerned about property damage and liability when the city has a long response time. During a water main break by the hospital a few years ago, a duty man was 10 minutes out. In that short time, the city was flooding the physical therapy building, lifting the driveway approach and blowing pavement up out in the street. There was a sewer problem Mager responded to in 5 minutes and there was sewer blowing everywhere from the toilet. He felt a 30-minute response time was too long and it needed to go back to 15 minutes.
Councilor Canaday asked what it meant if people live farther away than 15 minutes. Mager stated years ago the city had an employee that stayed at the shop when they were on call. They eventually get tired of doing that. Canaday also questioned if this would limit our employment pool. Councilor Perry questioned if response time was figured in the summer or winter. Attorney Jessup stated if the council sets a time, then the employee needs to be able to respond during that time whether winter or summer. For the fire department, they state you have to be in the district to be on the department. It was then questioned whether the existing employees that are 30 minutes out have to comply with the proposed change. Attorney Jessup stated they could change the handbook so everyone has to comply or grandfather in those that currently reside outside the area. Jessup’s preference is to make it apply to all employees. Councilor Farris asked if Mager has talked to current employees and if he was risking losing someone? Mager stated you always run that risk. If the duty person says they can’t make it, then those that live in town will have to cover for them. Councilor Canaday was in favor of moving to 15 minutes. He questioned if the city needs to provide a trailer or something for housing. It was stated the city won’t provide housing. Councilor Edwards questioned how many employees are on call and what the rotation looked like. Mager stated they are on call for a week, every 8 weeks.
On motion by Councilor Farris, second by Councilor Andrews to amend the employee handbook to change the response time for on-call public works and wastewater employees from 30 minutes to 15 minutes. ROLL CALL VOTE: YES: Farris, Andrews, Canaday, Edwards, Forsmann, Perry NO: none. The motion passed.
TRAINING ON BUDGET DISCUSSIONS FOR FIRE DEPARTMENT: With budget meetings starting tomorrow, Mayor Lester asked Attorney Jessup to provide a quick training on what Council members need to do since we have three councilors connected to the fire department. Attorney Jessup stated since Andrews is the assistant fire chief, Forsmann is a fireman and Perry’s dad is the fire chief, prior to any discussion on the fire, each should disclose their relationship on the record before debate. They can vote on blanket budget decisions that are part of the budget as a whole. Anything that would give you an additional benefit, you would recuse yourself. For example if wages were discussed specifically for the assistant chief, Council Andrews would recuse himself. If it’s equipment that is used for the department as a whole, then it is ok to participate and vote.
ITEMS TO NOTE: Chief Newman gave a shout out to Councilor Farris for putting herself out in front of the public. He appreciates what she does. He also thanked the sheriff’s office, ISP and BLM for helping with the parades over Border Days. He also thanked the mayor for the running boards on the new truck. Attorney Jessup stated he filed his application for the magistrate position and will know in September. Budget Meetings are July 7-9, 2026 at 6:00 p.m.
The meeting adjourned at 7:01 P.M.
_________________________________
Wes Lester – Mayor
ATTEST:
_________________________________
Tonya Kennedy – Clerk
