City Council met in regular session on June 15th, 2020 at 6:00 P.M. in the Council Chambers of City Hall, with the public having the option of attending via teleconference due to COVID-19.
Mayor Lester presided
Councilmembers present: Mike Peterson
Scott Winkler
Beryl Grant
Dylan Canaday
Amy Farris
Pete Lane
City employees present were Chief Drew, Attorney Green, Public Works Director Mager and City Administrator Kennedy.
MINUTES: The meeting was called to order and the minutes of June 1st were approved as presented by Councilor Peterson, seconded by Councilor Winkler. Motion carried by a unanimous vote of the Council present.
VISITORS: Jerrilyn Elliot was present asking that chickens be allowed in all zones in the city limits. She submitted a petition with approximately 150 names that are residents within the City that can’t have chickens now. She proposed no roosters and chickens must be in a coop. She then addressed concerns brought up at the last meeting she attended. Where does it end? She felt if a citizen asks for something, it needs to be dealt with case by case. Over time, many people haven’t asked before they got chickens because they didn’t know they needed to. She really felt they should be allowed everywhere. She felt other Cities have found common ground to make it work and would like Grangeville to do the same, based on their own criteria. The City could set up rules with restrictions that would allow property owners in Grangeville to have them.
Councilor Farris stated the City has rules and restrictions for dogs already, but people don’t follow those rules. Even if the City allowed chickens with restrictions, the rules most likely wouldn’t be followed because the same people that don’t know chickens aren’t allowed, also wouldn’t know what the requirements are. Councilor Grant went around town and polled over 60 people to find out if they wanted to have chickens. She had four maybes and one yes. She felt a conditional use was the best option because it allowed the specific neighborhood to have a say on what would be allowed in the area. Councilor Winkler also liked the conditional use process as neighbors have the option to go through the process and provide comment. Councilor Lane talked to one person because who couldn’t sleep because the hens were noisy and they also had one rooster. Councilor Peterson asked if other cities are allowing chickens in all zones or only in certain areas. Jerrilyn stated Nezperce, Lewiston and Kamiah allow chickens in all areas. Chief Drew stated if it was opened up to allow chickens city wide, then the City would have the chicken problem everywhere, rather than just in certain areas. It helps the police to be able to enforce when they are located by zone. Attorney Green encouraged the Council to think about enforcement and what that means for the public if they decide to change the code.
Councilor Grant stated she would like to leave it as is and let it be conditional use only. The consensus of the Council was to leave the code as is and have individuals use the conditional use process if they want chickens in the wrong zone.
POLICE AND ANIMAL CONTROL REPORT: The department had 91 calls for service and 21 cases written for May 2020. Officer Brown is doing well and is set to attend the September 6th police academy.
PUBLIC WORKS: Public Works Director Mager stated pool is up and running, they are working at the WWTP on the flow meter. The phosphorus plant is up and running and they are getting ready for Border Days.
BILLS: The bills, in the amount of $245,959.40 were approved and ordered paid out of their respective funds, on motion by Councilor Peterson, second by Councilor Grant. Motion carried by a unanimous vote of the Council present.
PUBLIC HEALTH AND BORDER DAYS: Councilor Lane felt the City needs to put out a friendly reminder that we are still in a pandemic and need to be healthy. He would like the City to remind everyone to be safe and follow the guidelines of physical distancing, wear face coverings in public places, stay home if sick, practice good hand hygiene, cover coughs and sneezes and disinfect surfaces and objects regularly.
LAND DONATION: Attorney Green stated years ago, Brad Miltenberger had approximately 100 acres on the north side of town which he had sold with an option to purchase back. He exercised his option to purchase it back and has expressed the desire to donate the land to the City after a specified time period. There were legal fees, lender fees, title reports and miscellaneous escrow costs the city covered. The city will wait for the time to pass and at the end of that time period, Brad can donate the land to the city.
KLEIN PROPERTY PARKING LOT: On motion by Councilor Winkler, second by Councilor Peterson to accept the bid from Cook and Sons for construction of the parking lot, including boulders, on the Klein Property for $11730.40. Motion carried by a unanimous vote of the Council present.
CATERING PERMIT: On motion by Councilor Peterson, second by Councilor Farris to approve the catering permit for The Trails and Lounge Restaurant, 101 E Main, on July 3, 2020 from 2pm to 1:30 am on July 4th, to be located in The Trails parking lot. Motion carried by a unanimous vote of the Council present.
BAND SHELL PROJECT: Public Works Director Mager originally talked about angled parking because it doesn’t take up as much space as the proposed parallel parking on South 1st. The engineer came up with suggestion on South 1st that took up 90’ of frontage along the park. Mager explained the architect on the project came up with an idea for parking that moved it from South 1st to South Florence. The parking on Florence would be in the park where people could choose to pull straight in to two different parking spots and then the parking would be connected to the bandshell. It would be handicap accessible. Mager explained South 1st is the dedicated detour route with the State. South 1st is busier with pool people and when the park is in use, both sides of the road are parked with vehicles. Florence Street is a holding area and not used as much and already has limited parking already. Mayor Lester was concerned about people backing up into traffic from the proposed parking area. Chief Drew stated there is not enough room on South 1st so felt parking needs to be on Florence. On motion by Councilor Winkler, second by Councilor Grant to move forward with Bob’s recommendation on the band shell ADA parking location and design. Motion carried by a unanimous vote of the Council present.
BUDGET HEARING DATES: The budget hearing dates were set for July 21-23 at 6pm
EXECUTIVE SESSION: On motion by Councilor Peterson, second by Councilor Grant to go into Executive Session according to Section 74-206 (f) pending litigation. ROLL CALL VOTE: YES: Canaday, Farris, Winkler, Lane, Grant, Peterson. NO: none. The motion passed.
The Council returned to regular session. No action was taken.
The meeting adjourned at 7:25 P.M.
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Wes Lester – Mayor
ATTEST:
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Tonya Kennedy – Clerk
