It was reported at the July meeting of the Cottonwood City Council on Monday, July 8, that well #2 has been repaired. However it is not back online with the system yet as they have to get results of testing back and once that is approved they will have to do a pressure test. Maintenance supervisor Pat Enneking reported the results they have received so far are good.
The Council voted to approve making King Street from Elizabeth Street to Butler Street one-way year around. They will also move the RV dump to relieve some issues there with traffic going the wrong way on the street. This portion of King Street is between the City Park and the Idaho County Fairgrounds and is made one-way at Fair time every year. Council member Brett Miller expressed some concern that due to extra traffic that could be seen on Butler Street. His concern mostly is the intersection of Butler with Lewiston Street as visibility is not the best the way those streets come together. They will look into this to see if something can be done.
The Pavilion naming agreement with Cottonwood Community Federal Credit Union was discussed. CCFCU had a concern about one subsection in the agreement but the Council decided to approve the agreement as is. City Attorney Joe Wright, who wrote up the agreement said it is highly unlikely the clause CCFCU had concerns about would ever be invoked.
The fee schedule was discussed. Linda Nida would like to add a $100 rental fee for out of town users of the Pavilion. Brett Miller requested increasing the base sewer rate to $60 and add $15 per EDU per month to a dedicated fund that would go toward a future bond. The fee schedule will be set at the next meeting.
The Council also approved the Fiscal Year 2025 proposed budget.
An audit agreement was approved for Zwygert John & Associates CPAs, PLLC. This year’s audit will cost $11,700, up $400 from last year.
In the reports Gus Hoene reported they pumped 3,838,700 gallons of water and sold 3,366,050 gallons for a loss of 11.15%. The loss is less than it was last month.
Brett Miller reported they started cleaning up the agriforest until their equipment broke down. Engineer Amy Uptmor looked into using sewer discharge water for highway district sealcoating. She reported the state does allow this but the Division of Environmental Quality does not recommend for city streets. County roads would apparently be okay. She also reported about the possible new reservoir near well #5. Aeronautics was concerned about it bringing in waterfowl which would be a hazard for planes.
Uptmor also talked about the Idaho Dept. of Water Resources grant for irrigation systems. She said the IDWR grant board feels Cottonwood has a very strong case for a $2 million grant. She is about 80% done with writing the grant which is due by August 2.
Kristy Holthaus reported that mag chloride will be applied to gravel streets soon. They are also looking at doing a BST for the handicap parking spots at the park before they do the parking space striping.
Linda Nida reported they were able to buy and plant 3 trees at the park with the Arbor Day grant. More sidewalk has been poured and hydroseeding of the new grass will start soon as well.
Holthaus had nothing new to report at the airport.
Nida reported the fire department had no calls last month. The roof repair is to be done in August.
The council adjourned to an executive session to consider hiring a public service officer but took no action on this once they came back into open session.
The meeting adjourned at 8:20 p.m. The next regular meeting is set for Monday, August 12 at 7 p.m.