Cottonwood City Council meets
The Cottonwood City Council held their December meeting Monday, Dec. 9.
The Council approved a Commerce Grant contract which is for the grant for the #5 well refurbishing and for recoating the inside of the reservoir.
There was discussion about Commercial Driver’s Licenses (CDLs) for city employees. Mayor Keith Holcomb said a CDL is required to drive nearly all city equipment and if a city employee that doesn’t have one would like to apply for one he feels the city should help with the cost and pay the employee for their time to attend the testing. Councilor Brett Miller said he has recently gone through the process and you are talking about 6-8 hours of class time plus the driving test. There is a man in Orofino who can administer the class time and would come to Cottonwood if there are several here interested. The Council approved a motion to pay the costs and time for city employees.
A lease agreement with 1890 Ag, LLC was discussed. This is for property the city is purchasing for land application which was to close by Dec. 30. City Attorney Joe Wright went over 1890 Ag’s proposed changes and the city agreed with some but not others. A legal description would be needed. A motion was made and approved to get this done on or before January 31, 2025.
In the reports Police Chief Terry Cochran said he hasn’t had any applicants yet for the job that has been advertised. He is also asking people with an emergency to call 911 rather than try to text him or his wife.
It’s that time of year for sledding and he is encouraging sledders to go to Madison Street rather than the busier streets in town.
Gus Hoene reported the city pumped 2,596,707 gallons of water and sold 2,327,474 for a loss of 269,233 or about 10.34%. City maintenance supervisor reported they sold the Monastery water for a few days when their pump went out. They also replaced the water meter at the hospital. They were able to come up with a work around so that the hospital wasn’t without water while the meter was being replaced.
Miller reported that some test holes were drilled at the sewer treatment system to test the water depth in the ponds as well as the rock depth in the agriforest. There is a meeting coming up with the JUB, the city and the Idaho DEQ where they hope to be able to make some decisions on proceeding with the project. Amy Uptmor of JUB Engineers reported additional land acquisition for storage cells has been  put on hold. A $2 million grant from IDWR has been approved. This money has fewer restrictions than most grants but is intended for storage reservoirs or irrigation systems.
Kristy Holthaus reported a sign grant has been submitted. She also reported culverts have been replaced on A Street. There is also a street light out that needs replaced.
Uptmor reported the NRCS grant stalled out for about a year but appears to be going through vetting against and once through that process should take just 30-45 days to go through technical review.
Linda Nida reported a couple of lights have been replaced at City Hall. The benches for the park made by Advanced Welding have been delivered and are currently stored at the Pavilion. They will be placed throughout the park in the Spring. The restrooms at the Pavilion have been winterized and closed for the winer.
Holthaus had nothing to report for the Airport however Enneking said there is a yard light at the airport that hasn’t worked for some time. Apparently it was powered through one of the hangers. They will look into rewiring it. Enneking also reported he is working with Denis Duman on locating the underground power and water lines at the airport as they currently have no platting of where they are located.
Nida reported the Fire Department had 4 calls in the past month.
The meeting adjourned at 8:11 p.m. The next regular meeting is set for Monday, January 13 at 7 p.m.