City Council met in regular session on September 15, 2025, at 6:00 P.M. in the Council Chambers of City Hall.
Mayor Lester:
Councilmembers present:
Wyatt Perry
Jared Andrew
Dylan Canaday
Beryl Grant
Scott Winkler
Amy Farris
City employees present were City Administrator Kennedy, Chief Newman and Public Works Director Mager. Attorney Jessup absent.
MINUTES: The meeting was called to order and the Council minutes of September 2nd were approved as presented by Councilor Canaday, second by Councilor Perry. Motion carried by a unanimous vote of the Council present.
PUBLIC HEARING: City Administrator Kennedy explained the fee increases over 5%. Mayor Lester closed the public hearing with no public comments received.
VISITORS & PROCLAMATION: Lyn Krzeminski with the Alice Whitman Chapter of National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution was unable to make the meeting. Mayor Lester proclaimed September 17 – 23 as constitution week in the City of Grangeville.
Cheryl Randi was not present but her request was that the doggie waste cans be moved back to their previous location. Public Work Director Mager stated the cans used to be down by the creek by both bridges, however for the last 2-3 years they’ve been up by the parking lot on Grangeville Truck Rte. Mager explained when the creek floods they are under water, in the winter they can’t drive down in the park so they would have to go get a 4-wheeler with a trailer to empty them. The access to the dog park is at the top by the parking lot. Users of the dog park aren’t allowed to have animals in the west side of the park so it doesn’t make sense to have them at the bottom. This works better for public works to keep them emptied. On motion by Councilor Farris, second by Councilor Winkler to deny the request to move the waste cans back to the creek location and leave as is. Motion carried by a unanimous vote of the Council present.
COMMITTEE REPORTS: The following committee reports were presented.
• CITY ADMINISTRATOR: The pool closed on August 22nd and the current manager doesn’t plan to return. The groundbreaking for the new playground equipment at Lions Park was 9/8/25. The new playground equipment is currently being installed by the seller. The total cost was $197,368.46 as covered by the Grangeville Community Foundation with Kevin Zumalt grant funds. Kennedy is working on the wastewater facility plant reimbursement grant request. She is completing follow-up paperwork on previous vacations and scheduling new conditional use and variance hearings with Planning and Zoning.
• SNOWHAVEN UPDATE AND EMPLOYEE BENEFIT CHANGE: Kennedy explained that Madison Pardue raised money for Snowhaven for her senior project. She ended up donating $4,540 to Snowhaven and will volunteer some time, including at the ski swap to finish out her project. Snowhaven would like to modify the handbook language to read a $50 gift card instead of a $50 food card and they want Ski Patrol to be able to purchase a season pass for spouse and dependent children for $50 each which is already offered to Snowhaven seasonal employees. This will be at an upcoming meeting to adopt.
o Snowhaven Sewer and Water Update: Mayor Lester explained the city did a perk test with the health department and Lester and Mager were on site. They hit moisture at 4’ and based on location and moisture Snowhaven would need to have a complex system. Councilor Winkler stated duplex pumps could run $7,000-$10,000 and maintenance on the pumps during the winter would be very difficult with snow. Additional annual costs on the pump to keep them running caused the council to question whether sewer made sense at the facility. The city can’t consider vault toilets because if you have running water you have to have sewer. The other issue at Snowhaven is the well had an E. coli hit at the beginning of summer. Stuivenga Vessey did a surface seal at the well where a 6’x6’ hole around the well was excavated and filled with bentonite. If it doesn’t work, the city will need to camera the well to determine the next steps. The city usually only has bad samples when it’s wet or we come out of freeze/thaw. E. coli could be caused by cows in the area. Discussion occurred on the difficulty in fencing timber ground, options for kitchen food if the hill doesn’t have water and sewer and possibly buying ground below Snowhaven for gravity sewer. The kitchen could still operate this season, but everything would be premade items that could be microwaved. During the summer, the city needs to make sure no one drives on the drain field. Councilor Farris felt the city should look at future options including renting out the facility and making it more of an event center. The current consensus was not to move forward with the complex sewer system. Additional discussion will occur at the next meeting and it was requested Joel Wasem and Gabe Forsmann attend. Gabe stated long term, the hill needs water and sewer.
• PUBLIC WORKS: Public Works Director Mager stated the wall at Lions Park is done, and the fencing crew will be putting up the fence. The pool is winterized for the year, they finished up on the city side of getting the playground equipment area ready for installation, story walk panels were installed, they bladed some roads, painted crosswalks by the schools, and caught up on water leaks. He visited with Wayne Harris about the city hall project, which may occur next spring/summer.
• POLICE REPORT: Chief Newman reported the city had 146 calls for service and 39 reports taken for August 2025. Chief Newman reported it was a busy month. School started and they have the radar trailer out.
o STOP SIGN REQUEST – Chief Newman explained Joe Gribble stopped by to ask if stop signs could be installed at N Meadow and E North 7th Street. He was concerned about traffic coming off the hill and going across N Meadow without stopping. Councilor Perry was concerned stop signs would be bad as people can’t stop going up or down the hill because the hill is so steep. Councilor Grant asked how many accidents there have been. Mayor Lester stated a lot of people have asked for signs; it runs about $150/sign so $300/intersection. Councilor Perry stated the Webb property needs the tree trimmed. Mager stated the trees/bushes aren’t in the vision triangle and he’s had Webb’s trim them as much as he can. Councilor Farris doesn’t agree with spending money on the stop signs. People need to have common sense and slow down. On motion by Councilor Andrews, second by Councilor Perry to leave the intersection as is with no stop signs. Motion carried by a unanimous vote of the Council present.
BILLS: The bills in total amount of $1,003,776.89 (Financials $846,846.71, August Payroll $156,930.18) 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.
MASTER FEE SCHEDULE RESOLUTION:
RESOLUTION NO. 307
(Resolution No. 307 in its entirety on file in the City’s Resolution File)
The following resolution was introduced by Councilor Winkler who moved for its adoption. Second by Councilor Andrews.
A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY OF GRANGEVILLE ADOPTING THE AMENDED MASTER FEE SCHEDULE.
ROLL CALL VOTE: YES: Farris, Winkler, Canaday, Andrews, Grant, Perry. NO: none. The motion passed. Mayor Lester then declared Resolution No. 307 duly approved and adopted.
SALARY SCHEDULE RESOLUTION:
RESOLUTION NO. 308
(Resolution No. 308 in its entirety on file in the City’s Resolution File)
The following resolution was introduced by Councilor Winkler who moved for its adoption. Second by Councilor Andrews.
A RESOLUTION OF THE MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF GRANGEVILLE ADOPTING A CITY SALARY SCHEDULE.
ROLL CALL VOTE: YES: Farris, Winkler, Canaday, Andrews, Grant, Perry. NO: none. The motion passed. Mayor Lester then declared Resolution No. 308 duly approved and adopted.
SURPLUS MAIN STREETSIDEWALK BRICKS: Public Works Director Mager stated he would like to surplus the remaining Main Street sidewalk bricks. The citizens had their opportunity to pick up the ones they wanted and the rest have been stored for 6 years. Mayor Lester stated they thought about using the bricks in the new pavilion but they ended up not using them. On motion by Councilor grant, second by Councilor Perry to surplus the sidewalk bricks using public surplus. ROLL CALL VOTE: YES: Farris, Winkler, Canaday, Andrews, Grant, Perry. NO: none. The motion passed.
The meeting adjourned at 7:21 P.M.
_________________________________
Wes Lester – Mayor
ATTEST:
_________________________________
Tonya Kennedy – Clerk
