| Cottonwood City Council meets The Cottonwood City Council held their June meeting Monday, June 8, and were informed they had been awarded a grant to proceed with the Environmental Assessment (EA) portion of the proposed downtown floodwater diversion project. Amy Uptmor of JUB Engineers said they got word of the approval and can now proceed with the facilities plan to get the EA going by Sept. 30. The EA process takes 18-24 months and she estimates actual construction would start in 2024. The grant approved is for the full project but money is awarded in phases. In other business the Council gave their go-ahead to Audrie Johnson, Serena Lockett and Tabitha Key to proceed with Cottonwood Summerfest which is set for July 24-26. Police Chief Terry Cochran recommended expanding the beergarden area to the width of the bar and extend all the way across Main Street. He agreed the area last year was too small but is opposed to suspending the open container law for all of Main Street as was done during the old Buggy Whip Festivals. There was some question with the bar currently being closed about license. Johnson said her family is in negotiation to purchase the bar which she hopes is completed before the festival. If not, they do have some other options. Joe Didier submitted a request for a variance permit to run his RV park on Clark Street. He did not get the waivers signed from neighbors so the request could not proceed at this time. Mayor Pepper Harman did say that at this time he has just 1 water/sewer hookup but has it split off to provided service for his 6 RV spaces some of which are occupied. Harman pointed out other entities with similar hookups such as the Kuther Building have one hookup and service for multiple tenants and have to pay multiple Equivalent Dwelling Unit base rates. City Attorney Joe Wright said you need to treat everyone the same per the city ordinance and current rate resolution. City Clerk Carol Altman was directed to determine what the property’s EDU’s should be and let Didier know the city will begin charging accordingly. The IdaLew Commitment was discussed after it was brought up at the May meeting. Don Munkers said only Idaho County was contributing more than Cottonwood. He suggested a commitment of $500 for Cottonwood, bringing the city more in line on a per capita basis with the other contributors. Munkers suggestion was approved by the Council. They had been contributing $3,000 per year. The City received 2 requests for proposals for engineering for the city’s floodwater project. The two proposals were studied and scored by the mayor and a couple council members. JUB Engineering’s RFP was recommended for approval and the council approved them by motion. A request for quotes on electrical work for the generator grant were opened. Cochran said they quotes need to be reviewed and then he needs to check with the state to make sure they are still covered by the grant funds. Action was tabled to the July meeting. In new business a catering permit was approved for the VFW through Keuterville Pub & Grub for the VFW beergarden at the Fair. Clint Riener asked about the purchase of some city property next to his home. Wright said to sell real property a city has to go through an auction process. Wright suggested the city determine the value, which would then be a reserve price for the auction but that is not required. Council members were asked to drive by and check out the property in question. The city approved the purchase of a new riding lawnmower w/bagger that would run about $15,500. Roy Uhlenkott said the ones they have are spending too much time being repaired. The amount is within the amount budgeted for capital purchases for the current year. In the reports there was no water pumping report available but Pat Holthaus reported there are currently no issues. There was nothing to report from the sewer department. Ben Schumacher reported chip sealing work will start in mid-July, particularly on the School Street project. Mayor Harman brought up a request by Jack Wimer to do something about the water coming into his apartments. Harman said he felt Wimer created the problem and if he had extended the curb and sidewalk up to the end of the carport area would have little or no problem with water. It would get deflected down the gutter instead. Linda Nida reported the heat pumps at the hall were serviced and the middle one has exceeded its life expectancy and they are looking into replacing it. She plans to budget for a replacement in the coming fiscal year. She also reported the Fire Department had one call in the past month, on June 6 for a debris pile fire on Greencreek Road. Schumacher reported the airport is currently waiting on Poe Asphalt’s timeline to get the runway and apron work done. The council meeting adjourned at 8:30 p.m. The next regular meeting is set for Monday, July 13 at 7 p.m.
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