HomeMy WebLinkAboutCouncil Minutes - November 1, 2023
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Rexburg, ID 83440
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City Council Minutes – November 1, 2023
Mayor Jerry Merrill
Council Members:
Robert Chambers Jordan Busby
Mikel Walker Tisha Flora
Colin Erickson Bryanna Johnson
City Staff:
Stephen Zollinger – City Attorney
Matt Nielson – Finance Officer
Keith Davidson – Public Works Director
Alan Parkinson – Planning & Zoning Administrator
Scott Johnson – Economic Development Director
Deborah Lovejoy – City Clerk
6:30 P.M. City Hall (0:00:08)
Council Member Walker said the prayer.
Council Member Chambers led the pledge.
Roll Call of Council Members:
Attending: Council Member Flora, Council Member Johnson, Council Member Chambers, Council
Member Walker, Council President Busby, and Mayor Merrill
Council Member Erickson did not attend the meeting.
Presentation: Idaho Rural Water Association presentation of Apprentice Certificate of Graduation to
Clint Smith.
Gary Sears said the Idaho Rural Water Association takes great pride in presenting the Apprentice
Certificate of Graduation to the graduates for their hard work in completing the apprenticeship. The
apprentice work involves increasing their knowledge base in keeping the public safe, producing clean
water and cleaning the wastewater before it goes back into the river. Mr. Sears asked for the following
video link to be played on the overhead projector https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIG8sc3DFog .
Mr. Sears mentioned in the video some of the duties of a Wastewater Operator were summarized. He
presented the Apprentice Certificate of Graduation to city employee Clint Smith for completing over
288 hours of related instruction and training through the Idaho Rural Water Association’s program and
over 4,000 hours of on-the-job learning. The certificate is from the Federal Department of Labor and
the apprentices receiving the certificate are recognized nationally.
Clint Smith expressed his appreciation to be working with the City of Rexburg. He said he is grateful
for the stability his job brought to his family. Mayor Merrill thanked Clint Smith for his dedicated work.
Presentation: Rexburg Free Clinic sponsoring the Rexburg CARE Fair on the 18th of
November – Emma DeLeo and Doug Ladle (0:17:30)
Emma DeLeo said their goal at the Rexburg Free Clinic is to provide free care to people that do not
have health insurance or are under insured. The clinic is sponsoring the Rexburg Care Fair on Saturday,
November 18th from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Madison School District Offices Gymnasium. They have
partnered with Madison Cares and the Family Crisis Center to teach about the available resources
within Madison County. There will also be live music, raffles, and free hot dogs at the fair.
Public Comment: Limit 3 minutes; issues may be considered for discussion on a future
agenda. Please keep comments on point and respectful. (0:21:33)
David Davis said he is the new director for the Madison Senior Center, he was appointed as the
director about three weeks ago. He thanked the City of Rexburg for being a great supporter of the
Senior Center. He said one of his goals as director is to bring back some of the activities that were
stopped during the Covid Pandemic. He invited all seniors to come back to the center. They serve lunch
on Monday through Friday at twelve o’clock and if there are seniors homebound, they have the Meals
on Wheels program that will deliver food to those seniors. Currently, they deliver between 80 to 100
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meals a day and serve lunch at the center to 1 to 20 people per day. Mayor Merrill commented, the city
has budgeted about $300 a month to support the Meals on Wheels on program and recently increased
their monthly support to $500 a month.
Thomas Atkinson mentioned he has emailed his concern regarding the intersection of West 4th
South and South 3rd West. There is a lot of traffic through that intersection, and he requested the city to
install traffic control measures. There have been times where he must wait for five minutes before he
can cross that intersection in a vehicle and or as a pedestrian. Mayor Merrill said he will have the city
Public Works Department complete an analysis at that intersection to determine the type of traffic
control measures that are needed.
Cory Sorensen said he owns property next to Porter Park and mentioned the parking issues on the
street along the park and surrounding streets. There is not a single parking stall available at 8 a.m.
along the streets surrounding the park. He said he checked back at 11 a.m. and only three parking stalls
were open. The parking stalls surrounding the park should be left open to patrons visiting the park. He
has seen families having to park blocks away from the park because all the parking stalls surrounding
the park are being used. Mr. Sorensen added, the vehicles parked in the parking stalls surrounding the
park have permits on them, he counted permits from eight different apartment complexes. He
suggested no overnight parking or two-hour parking signs be added to the parking stalls surrounding
the park.
Council President Busby asked Mayor Merrill if the Public Works Department could assess the
parking concerns Mr. Sorensen mentioned. He is not in favor of apartment complexes not providing
sufficient parking for their tenants.
Staff Reports: (0:33:24)
A. Finance: – Matt Nielson & Terri Hill
1. Review and approve final proposals for Employee Health/Dental/Vision plans for 2024.
Finance Officer Nielson reviewed the final proposals for the employee health/dental/vision plans
for 2024. He started explaining the Pacific Source health insurance experience in 2022 and 2023.
Finance Officer Nielson reviewed the costs to renew the insurance coverage with Pacific Source and
the bids other insurance companies submitted. He and HR Director Hill recommended the city change
insurance companies to Select Health with the following increases to the employer and employee costs.
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Finance Officer Nielson reviewed the medical comparisons between the major medical coverage
between the companies.
Finance Officer Nielson reviewed the dental insurance recommendation to switch to Metlife Dental.
There are two different vision coverages, and the employees can pick one of the two options.
Finance Officer Nielson reviewed the recommended health/ dental insurance premiums.
Finance Officer Nielson reviewed the future insurance plan for the City of Rexburg.
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HR Director Hill said the city’s goal is to work towards being self-funded. She added, had III-A not
declined to bid, it would have furthered the city’s goal to go self-funded. She was informed by III-A to
ask for bids in two to three years. The employees need to be proactive in keeping the rates down.
Council Member Johnson expressed her concerns with the possibility of the city going to self-funded
insurance and asked about the benefits of having self-funded insurance. HR Director Hill explained one
of the benefits of self-funded insurance is being able to customize the benefits to better serve the needs
of the city employees. There are risks the city is taking on by being self-insured; however, those risks
could be minimized by increasing the funds in the health savings account. Finance Officer Nielson
added, the funds in the health savings account are a buffer for the years for when the health claims are
higher than the budgeted funds.
HR Director Hill mentioned Madison County uses Select Health for their health insurance coverage.
Finance Officer Nielson reviewed the recommended motion from the Councilmembers and the
dates of the Open Enrollment meetings.
Council Member Flora moved to approve the changes and rates to the Employee
Health/Dental/Vision for the 2024 plans and Budget Adjustment to move the 7% increase
back from the Benefit Budgets to Contingency in respective funds $189,900 back into
contingency with $99,000 to General Fund; Council President Busby seconded the motion;
Mayor Merrill asked for a vote:
Those voting aye Those voting nay
Council Member Flora none
Council Member Johnson
Council Member Chambers
Council Member Walker
Council President Busby
The motion carried.
B. Cultural Arts: - Jed Platt (1:00:38)
1. Update capital plan and operations for the Tabernacle; request for approval of Tabernacle
Budget Adjustments.
Finance Officer Nielson explained some of these budget items were discussed with the
Councilmembers during the budget meetings in May and he reviewed the progress since those budget
meetings.
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Finance Officer Nielson reviewed the program accounts and rate change recommendations. Arts
Director Platt said all the program accounts are sponsored by the city whether it be use of the building,
providing staff and tech support. Council President Busby asked if there are programs on the list that
are not being supported by the community and if so, those programs should be discontinued. Arts
Director Platt said consolidating some of the programs and tracking the actual costs of the programs
will help to identify the interest of the community members. He will also know the resources it takes
from the city to sponsor these programs.
Arts Director Platt said the picture below illustrates the variety of programs and activities the Arts
Department was able to host last year.
Discussion regarding the proposed tabernacle remodel and annex plans. The following link
https://youtu.be/EXKm3sNQakE is a video illustrating the annex plans for the tabernacle.
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Finance Officer Nielson reviewed the five-year tabernacle capital improvement plan
recommendations for the years 2023 through 2027. Council Member Johnson said she was under the
impression that historical buildings such as the tabernacle were to stay in their original form. The plans
indicated adding an annex to the tabernacle. Arts Director Platt explained some of the needs at the
tabernacle are a result of where we are in society; for example, the tabernacle is not ADA accessible. The
annex would allow for a meeting hall, room to bring in traveling exhibits and have the building space to
host conventions.
Discussion regarding the history of raising funds to build tabernacles. He mentioned the community
members raised all the funds to build the Rexburg Tabernacle. Council Member Johnson expressed her
concerns when a project is budgeted with half of the costs coming from donors because if the money is
not generated from donations, the city will have to offset the costs. Mayor Merrill said the plan is to not
start a project for the tabernacle until all the funds are available.
Arts Director Platt reviewed the Tabernacle Legacy Campaign fundraiser. Their goal is to raise five
million dollars from grants and private donations. He hopes to collect more than five million dollars to
put into an endowment for the ongoing care of the tabernacle. The donations will be kept track publicly,
so the community members know the amount of donations collected. Finance Officer Nielson said to
raise the five million dollars, they will need to rely on out of state donors. By having a campaign
fundraiser already in place, it will be easier to apply for grants.
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Arts Director Platt reviewed the Museum of Rexburg programming proposals. He said museum staff
have started to plan the activities for the 50th commemoration of the Teton Dam Flood. The Bureau of
Reclamation has proposed to complete some improvements at the dam site. As part of the
commemoration, they would host tours from the dam site back to the museum. They would also team
with Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) to host workshops regarding emergency
preparedness. The crowning jewel of the commemoration event would be to have raised the funds
needed to begin the tabernacle projects.
Finance Officer Nielson reviewed the budget adjustment recommendations to move the programs
from the tabernacle to cultural arts.
Council President Busby moved to approve the Budget Adjustment to move programs
from Tabernacle to Cultural Arts; Council Member Walker seconded the motion; Mayor
Merrill asked for a vote:
Those voting aye Those voting nay
Council Member Flora none
Council Member Johnson
Council Member Chambers
Council Member Walker
Council President Busby
The motion carried.
Finance Officer Nielson reviewed the budget adjustment to move the part-time position into a full-
time position. Council Member Chambers questioned the job functions of this full-time position. Arts
Director Platt replied, it is an office manager position. This person is responsible for scheduling the
buildings, handling the contracts, billing, deposits, and scheduling the work time of the employees
overseeing the events. This person also facilitates inquiries on building rentals and ticket purchasing for
events. He said having this position available throughout the week is more beneficial than the hit and
miss part-time hours. The arts are growing in Rexburg and the community members are responding to
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the art programs available; however, with the time intensive project of preserving the tabernacle, the
full-time position would offer the additional help needed.
Council Member Chambers asked if fundraising for the tabernacle is going to be Arts Director
Platt’s, primarily responsibility? Mayor Merrill explained city staff has identified professional
fundraising consultants and he asked them for assistance or to possibly engage their services to achieve
the best possible outcome when raising funds for the tabernacle.
Council President Busby expressed his concerns with adding a city Arts Department full-time
position because other departments were turned down for additional full-time positions. He asked if the
decision to create this new full-time position could wait until May during the budget process. Mayor
Merrill said something to consider is the Arts Department only has one full-time position and the
programs are run year-round and most of the programs are labor intensive.
Finance Officer Nielson mentioned one of Arts Director Platt’s responsibilities is going to be to
bring in additional revenues to cover the costs of the full-time position. Council Member Flora
expressed her appreciation for the Arts Department employees. She wondered if a job description for
the proposed full-time position is available. Finance Officer Nielson said one of the responsibilities this
position could assist Arts Director Platt with is to stay under budget in the operation expenditures.
Council Member Chambers moved to approve the Cultural Arts Department Budget
Adjustment to change the part-time position to full-time position; Discussion: Council
Member Johnson expressed her reservations of changing the part-time position to full-time
and not waiting until May to review during the budget process. Council Member Flora said she
would like a report of the projected savings outlined in the budget adjustment in May during
the budget process; Council Member Walker seconded the motion; Mayor Merrill asked for a
vote:
Those voting aye Those voting nay
Council Member Flora none
Council Member Johnson
Council Member Chambers
Council Member Walker
Council President Busby
The motion carried.
Arts Director Platt mentioned the Robinson Family Lights on the Tabernacle for this holidays
season. The light show is another way to make people aware of the fundraiser to help restore the
tabernacle.
C. Public Works: - Keith Davidson (2:03:58)
1. Review 5-year Capital Improvement Plan for streets
Public Works Director Davidson reviewed a map showing the streets included in the 5-year
Capital Improvement Plan. The streets they are anticipating repairs on are Pioneer, Yellowstone
Highway and Hillview in the year 2024. He said city Grant Writer Flanary has applied for a grant for a
portion of the repairs on Pioneer and Yellowstone Highway.
Discussion regarding catch basin and infiltration unit on University Boulevard near the Rexburg Motor
Sports business.
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2. Engineering contract for Riverside Lift Station approval
Public Works Director Davidson reviewed the Engineering Contract for the Riverside Lift
Station. He said this lift station would service the additional growth north of Rexburg, and the
cities of Teton and Sugar City. The cities of Teton and Sugar would pay a proportionate share
of the costs of the service line.
Council President Busby moved to approve the Engineering Contract for Riverside Lift
Station; Council Member Flora seconded the motion; Mayor Merrill asked for a vote:
Those voting aye Those voting nay
Council Member Flora none
Council Member Johnson
Council Member Chambers
Council Member Walker
Council President Busby
The motion carried.
Council Member Johnson asked about the process of requesting streetlights on residential streets.
Public Works Director Davidson replied, residents can call city hall to be placed on a waiting list until
sufficient funds are available to start a streetlight installation project.
Discussion regarding the installation of the rapid flash on 12th West. Public Works Director Davidson
said he is still working on obtaining the right of way to install the rapid flash on 12th West and
Summerfield Lane. Council Member Johnson stated the rapid flash is a priority on 12th West. Mayor
Merrill mentioned there have been three accidents on Summerfield Lane, he believes a traffic study is
needed to determine the type of traffic controls needing to be implemented.
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Mayor’s Business: (2:20:34)
Mayor Merrill reported he attended the DEQ meeting in Boise, they discussed several topics
including clean air grants. He also attended a lunch meeting with the congressional office
representatives several weeks ago. The representative from Senator Risch’s office said they would
complete a service inquiry on the Ricks Building incumbrance.
Mayor Merrill mentioned the new StrongMind business in Rexburg.
The StrongMind curriculum team helps teachers unlock the magic of learning and foster student success by creating the
most engaging and high-quality digital curriculum. To do so, our curriculum developers, instructional designers, editors,
and producers apply a combined 565 years in education, 235 years in the classroom, and 300 years in EdTech to our digital
learning solutions. We are determined to make a meaningful difference in the lives of students and teachers by delivering
diverse, relevant, and purposeful content.
1. Ratify Proclamation No 2023-04 Small Business Saturday November 25, 2023
PROCLAMATION No. 2023-04
Small Business Saturday November 25, 2023
Whereas, the government of Rexburg, Idaho, celebrates our local small businesses and the contributions they
make to our local economy and community; and
Whereas, according to the U.S. Small Business Administration, there are 33 million small businesses in the
United States: small businesses represent 99.7% of firms with paid employees, small businesses are responsible
for 62.7% of net new jobs created since 1995, and small businesses employ 46.4% of the employees in the private
sector in the United States; and
Whereas, 68 cents of every dollar spent at a small business in the United States stays in the local community and
every dollar spent at small businesses creates an additional 48 cents in local business activity as a result of
employees and local businesses purchasing local goods and services; and
Whereas, 72% of consumers reported that Small Business Saturday 2022 made them want to shop and dine at
small, independently owned retailers and restaurants all year long; and
Whereas, Rexburg, Idaho, supports our local businesses that create jobs, boost our local economy, and preserve
our communities; and
Whereas, advocacy groups, as well as public and private organizations, across the country have endorsed the
Saturday after Thanksgiving as Small Business Saturday.
Now, Therefore, I, Jerry Merrill, Mayor of Rexburg, Idaho, do hereby proclaim, November 25, 2023, as
SMALL BUSINESS SATURDAY
And urge the residents of our community, and communities across the country, to support small businesses and
merchants on Small Business Saturday and to Shop Small throughout the year.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand
and caused the Seal of the City of Rexburg to be affixed this
1st day of November of the year of our Lord two thousand
twenty-three.
APPROVED:
_____________________________
Jerry Merrill
MAYOR
ATTEST:
______________________________
Deborah Lovejoy
REXBURG CITY CLERK
Council President Busby moved to Ratify Proclamation No 2023-04 Small Business
Saturday November 25, 2023; Council Member Walker seconded the motion; Mayor Merrill
asked for a vote:
Those voting aye Those voting nay
Council Member Flora none
Council Member Johnson
Council Member Chambers
Council Member Walker
Council President Busby
The motion carried.
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Item for Discussion: (2:27:34)
A. Amendments to the Historical Committee Bylaws
Museum Curator Alisha Tietjen reviewed the amendment to the Historical Committee Bylaws. The
changes are only for section III of the bylaws. The benefits of making the changes allow the city to apply
to become a part of the Certified Local Government program. Once the city is a member of that
program, they can request to register the Romance Theater on the national register of historical places
which allows them to be able to apply for grants.
Calendared Bills:
A. Second Reading: Those items which have been first read: NONE
B. Third Reading: Those items which have been second read: NONE
Consent Calendar: The consent calendar includes items, which require formal City Council
action, however, they are typically routine or not of great controversy. Individual Council
members may ask that any specific item be removed from the consent calendar for discussion
in greater detail. Explanatory information is included in the City Council’s agenda packet
regarding these items.
A. Minutes from October 18th and 24th 2023 City Council Meetings
B. Approve the City of Rexburg Bills
Council Member Walker moved to approve the Consent Calendar containing the minutes
and city bills; Council Member Johnson seconded the motion; Mayor Merrill asked for a vote:
Those voting aye Those voting nay
Council Member Johnson none
Council Member Flora
Council Member Chambers
Council Member Walker
Council President Busby
The motion carried.
Adjournment 9:03 P.M.
APPROVED:
________________________________
Jerry Merrill, Mayor
Attest:
_____________________________
Marianna Gonzalez, Deputy City Clerk