Ok it's 8 30.
Everyone please stand for the pledge.
I pledge allegiance to the flight of the United States of America and to the Republic for which to stand.
One nation under God.
Individual with liberty and justice.
Okay, would the clerk please call the roll?
Council person's Axtman?
Here. Larson?
Here. Crowder? Here.
Okay, Brian is not joining us today, but we have a quorum, so we will move on.
Uh in your packet is the agenda for today's meeting.
Um I'm gonna recommend we make one change.
We're going to move uh discuss discuss amending the municipal code to allow chickens up to just uh just below public comment.
So with that change, I would entertain a motion that we approve today's agenda.
I uh make that motion with the uh um changes you've mentioned.
Second.
Okay, so we have motion made seconded.
Any further discussion okay hearing none, all those in favor?
Okay, also in your packet or the minutes from the September 30th meeting.
I would entertain a motion that we approve those minutes.
So move.
Second.
Okay, motion made seconded.
Any discussion?
Any additions, deletions, corrections?
Okay, hearing none, all those in favor?
Aye.
Aye.
Okay, so um now we'll have public comments.
So I'll ask, does anyone have any public comment that is not about chickens?
Because that will be very next.
Looking at the usual suspects out there, I'd say I'd say I know what they're all here for.
Okay, so okay, so no public comment.
We'll also have a place further down at the bottom of the agenda for another round of public comment if someone walks in late.
So okay, so at this time, um we the council are here to listen and discuss with you about amending the municipal code to allow chickens.
So what I'd like to do to keep this kind of orderly, I I really don't want somebody to talk and then another person to basically regurgitate exactly what they said for five minutes, and then another person rejured that.
So I'd like to keep it to where you whoever wants to speak first.
Do you have five minutes?
Uh up to five minutes, and then after that, if you could just remain uh quiet and seated unless we're asking a question or something like that, if that's fair to you guys.
Um what's gonna happen here is we're not gonna make the decision today.
What the council's gonna do is I'm gonna make a recommendation to the council to either move forward to a public hearing, which is required to happen to make an ordinance change.
So you're trying to sway us to move to the next step, and what I would like to do, assuming we move forward, is the next um we have to post a public hearing two times, right, Sonya?
Two times okay.
So if we time everything right, we could do the public hearing at our next scheduled city council meeting if we can get it in the next, basically the paper.
We post it in three places around town, and then it's in the newspaper.
So if if we work quickly on our end, we could have the public hearing, and we would do it at the same time as our city council meeting.
So that way there's not a special meeting.
So that's my intention.
So but we are here to listen to you tell us the looks like everybody here is gonna tell us the pros of the chickens, not a con in the room yet.
So but yeah, so I will give you guys the floor.
You can go ahead and speak, Marshall.
Alright, folks, good morning.
My name is uh Marshall Nelson.
Y'all you guys know who I am and what I do.
And I have written up this little draft proposal.
There's enough there for everybody.
You guys can look this over.
I gave a copy to Morgan last week.
And basically this is just like Morgan outlined, a uh amendment or an addition to the existing city code to allow for uh the key to chickens in people's yard.
You know, a small plot of laying ends that people can have on their property.
And we've been going around and collecting signatures.
I think we've got on order the order of 150 signatures so far.
We've got like four full sheets of of signatures.
And in the feedback we've got from talking to people around town, the first thing that comes up is it has to be done in an orderly manner.
That we don't want that one guy who's gonna have you know 50 chickens in his backyard free ranging, making racket and making a nuisance.
So the proposal that we've written, we're basically gonna call it chickens with common sense.
You know, some common sense restrictions, you know, some some basic limitations so that they don't become a nuisance, they don't become a problem.
And I think there's precedent for this.
Um I've had chickens basically my entire adult life.
I didn't always live in the country.
I lived in North Idaho, I lived in Seattle, lived in San Diego, Yuma, New Mexico, now in uh in Scotland.
And with the exception of when I was a renter, I've always had chickens on our property because we've always lived in a city or municipality that had you know a subsection to the ordinance to allow it, you know, with some basic limitations.
And the limitations are basically I just basically cut and pasted it from the City of Yuma ordinance and basically just paraphrased it and put it in my little proposal there.
And so with common sense restrictions, I think there's a lot of benefits and almost no downsides.
Um in speaking with people around town, the other big issue they talk about, besides you know, just like the unkept you know, chaotic nature of somebody who wants to have 50 chickens in their backyard is uh obviously roosters.
Nobody wants to be woken up at 0, 5:30, 0 dark o'clock because someone's crowing rooster, and that is one of the first bullet points I put in there.
No roosters in any number whatsoever, just because one thing they don't lay eggs and they don't and they create a nuisance as you know, as anybody can agree, you know, crowing at the you know all hours in the morning, nobody wants that.
So that'd be one of the first major restrictions that we put on having people chickens in people's backyards.
No roosters, none whatsoever, not at all.
Um, the second issue that people come up that people have said to us is uh the propensity to lure in predators.
And in the entire time I've had chickens, I have never seen a predator of any kind in my yard.
I've never seen a fox or a badger or a raccoon or anything like that.
And this is even living out in Yuma, where our our house is right on the edge of the desert, and all sorts of creepy crawlies are known to be living out in the desert.
Never had any issues with predators.
And in fact, our little flock of chickens in Yuma ate every single creepy crawley you can imagine.
I never saw a black widow, never saw a scorpion, tarantula, uh stinging, biting critter at all.
Our chickens wiped them all out.
I never had any issues with bugs in my yard ever, as long as I had chickens.
And I also think that the pushback for against predators is kind of a is kind of a red herring because on any given date we've got you know four cow carcasses out in the in the landfill, and from November to December, how many deer you know cannibalized deer carcasses.
So I think that's uh that's kind of a red herring, but people have still use that as uh as a foil against uh against having chickens, is the the is the predators.
And I don't think there's any validity there.
Um the other big issue, of course, is the smell and the no is the smell and just the unkept nature of it.
And I think a responsible chicken owner, you know, someone who's gonna be you know take care of their flock, you rake out the coop, you rake out the pen.
Um we line our uh uh our coop with uh with straw, straw or lawn clippings or leaves, and uh you know, a couple times a week you rake it out, put it in your compost pile, and it makes for an amazing garden in the spring.
That's the way we always did it down south, and that's the way we're planning on doing it now, is you know, just to keep the smell and the and the mess down, you rake it out, you compost it, and you put it in your garden.
Um, and then obviously the the enclosure that we have to have some kind of standards as far as the enclosure.
No free ranging in the backyard, no hanging out in your neighbor's roof, uh a secure compound to keep them enclosed, whether that's a pen or a run or a garden shed, um, you know, some way to keep them enclosed so they're not in people's yards and just running around, you know, making a nuisance of themselves.
So much the same way you would enclose a dog or uh you know other pet like that.
And then if the city wants to have some kind of mechanism in place where uh it's inspected to make sure that it's saying that they're fully enclosed and that you're not exceeding the allowable number of chickens, I think that 50 is is is is nuts.
But I mean, in order to uh you're typically your your typical laying hen will lay an egg every two to three days, and I've got a family of five, and we blaze through eggs like you wouldn't believe.
And so I think in order to keep you know a family of five, in order to maintain that food stability and that that food sovereignty like we've talked about, because we all know where we live, we're at the asset of the supply chain, and actually we're like, here's the end of the supply chain, and here's us out here.
And we all saw what happened during COVID when trucks stopped running and the supply line broke down and costs exploded, and it's 2025, things aren't getting any better or any more stable.
So I think a family of five could be well set up with a flock of say eight laying hens.
That would you know, provide maybe a dozen and a half, two dozen eggs uh a week, and at the same time you have you know the the you know the the the fun and the and the and the rewarding experience for your kids who may want to do four-age or want to have those uh those animals in your backyard.
And they eat your leftover food scraps, they keep the bugs down, and as long as they're well maintained and well taken care of, they're fun and nuisance-free, and really don't uh have any major cons.
It can't be addressed, but just a little bit of responsibility uh on the part of the owner.
So, like I said, this is just my sales pitch just to try and get it in front of people.
We've been selling it to the people in the town for about the last two and a half weeks, collecting signatures and getting people's feedback.
And I think so long as we set it up so that there's a common sense approach to it, I don't see any major issues, any cons, any any downfalls against it that can't be resolved.
Is there a little bit of responsibility and a little bit of low touch oversight on the part of the city?
So that's my feelings for listening to me.
Okay, thank you.
Thanks, Marshall.
Okay, Nancy.
We're just gonna say, as a name who has chickens, I love it.
The little bit I ever even hear.
So I mean it's no nuisance at all.
Are you saying somebody has chickens right now, Nancy?
What?
No, I don't know.
Okay, no.
I don't think.
Signature sheets now, or should we keep collecting them?
I mean, to be honest, that I know I I feel like I know there's both support and no support for it.
The people who approach me are the ones who think we're crazy for considering it.
So, you know, there's a handful of people that are probably right down the middle who don't care.
Um, and there's some that are totally for it, and some that are totally against it.
So, you know, looking at today, this this has been on the agenda, words around town, except people have talked to me about it, and there's not one person here to negate what you're trying to do.
So, you know, I'm inclined to just recommend to the council, like I said during my monologue, that we just allow this to go forward to the next step to the public hearing that would allow our city attorney to put some things together with some with the council's uh direction, I guess, with kind of what we would like to see.
You know, I six was a number that's been stuck in my head.
Um, you know, eight, I I get uh five or six.
Uh Sonia did a little bit of research here, and looks like there's at least three other cities in Montana who allow eight.
The majority of them have six, uh, like roundup has max of four, a couple towns, max of five.
So six seems to be kind of the magic number.
Um, but again, I'm I'm not here to make the make the decision at all.
We're just here to hopefully come up with something that'll work for everybody.
And and I'm I'll speak for the council.
I believe they're open-minded uh to to listen to everything here.
Um, me personally, I know we live in Scobie.
You know, I've lived here basically my whole life, so totally get we're in the middle nowhere.
Um, egg background.
Um, yeah, predators, okay.
I get it.
Um when it gets 30 below the month of February, they find their way into town anyway, regardless of chickens.
So I don't know.
I am gonna ask that Ryan Linder, our local uh uh fish and game warden, come and uh he's talked to me a couple times about it already.
Um but I'm gonna ask him to come to the public hearing, assuming we move forward to have a public hearing, and uh then people can ask him direct questions and uh I'll give him you know a couple weeks' heads up so he's not uh you know last minute uh whatever he'll have some time to do some research if he chooses to.
So yeah, and I'll happily make the same the same spiel at the public forum if that's what uh what it requires.
I'll just need a little bit of heads up because we're in the middle of the government shutdown and we're under staff at the station, so I'll need a little bit of heads up so I can get some flexibility.
I had to tell my boss I'm gonna be in about four hours late today, so I don't know how long this uh this meeting is gonna run.
But if you give me a little bit of heads up, I'll happily get up in front of people and make the same pitch.
Okay.
Okay, so anyone else have any comments?
Pretty much got it.
Well, I I appreciate the three of the council members that did come and check out my setup, and I hope I can be got chickens too.
I I hope I can be a good example of I mean an example of uh a responsible chicken.
Sure.
Okay.
I've been doing it a long time.
I have had no predators.
I have had no complaints from my neighbors.
Okay, so I guess this time I would I would entertain that uh to the council that we um we vote to move forward by scheduling a public hearing um at the earliest uh convenience uh which will the dates will be posted out there um so we can discuss uh the changes that would have to be made to the municipal code and then potentially either vote it in or not so I'd entertain a motion to move forward.
I would make that motion to move forward.
Okay, so we have motion made and second.
Is there any discussion?
Uh did Sonia found Ben drafted a great ordinance back in 2015 that lays out there would be a permitting process, you know, no chicken coops in front yards, things like that, enclosed.
He had five in there as a number, but it's really detailed, and so obviously 10 years ago this was a hot topic, and it I think it's really well written, like everything Ben does.
Okay, so I think that probably would be the framework Sonya found it in old files for us to be working with if I I could pass that out, but that's pretty much already done, I guess, as a framework moving forward for public hearing.
Okay, oh perfect.
Okay, um, Sonia, do you know off top of your head how many dogs do we have licensed?
It's like 37 or something, right?
Well, there's 52 cats licensed right now.
Okay, so there's fifty, there's only 52 dogs.
There's only 52 dogs and cats in town.
Okay.
So one of the one of the things that I'm going to see if we can get in there somehow is there will be what I'm gonna propose is there'll be an annual application process.
You come pay a fee to be determined, fill out your application.
Steve has generously been voluntoled to go be our inspector.
Thanks, Steve.
Appreciate it.
You haven't seen the billboard yet.
But part of that is we know that the majority of the dogs in town aren't licensed.
So if you have a house dog, that will be a requirement that that dog is also licensed.
That everything under that household is basically kosher with the city.
Can I do that?
Yeah.
Good.
So meet the things have to meet zoning code too.
Yep, and then there's so and we can really get into maybe we can get into those weeds a little bit more at the at a public hearing.
But so just a couple, just a couple wants and wishes from the cities.
So okay, so we have a motion made and seconded on the table.
Is there any further Paula?
Morgan, could I ask how you how all of you feel about the ordinance that is in place right now?
That that uh Samantha sent the send us in the letter that she sent out.
Uh honestly, I've never I don't really have a personal feeling towards it.
Um I was never really on the council when this came up like in 2015.
So I don't think I came on until either.
I was on, so you weren't on.
Yeah, that's right.
So this is the first time for me working through this process.
I do know that in the last 10 years, this has been brought up kind of lightly, and there's been people in here who have been against it.
So it never really moved forward.
But I feel it's it's gained a lot more traction now, and it seems to be moving moving in your guys' direction.
So well, as I mentioned to Paula the other day when I was to her house to look at her outfit, um being the only council member that was on during Chicken Gate 2015.
Um the way that I look at things is my vote is irrelevant.
I vote for my side of town.
Right now we are set up as a ward system.
We will remain as a ward system, whether we go to at large or or whatnot, but um I can only vote how the people on my side of town want me to vote.
So if I hear more no's than yeses, it'll be a no, and if I hear more yeses than no's, then it'll be a yes.
But I don't, I I completely remove my own thoughts from the process.
So I mean I have been, you know, polling people, I guess, as of late, probably the last couple weeks at least, you know, talking to people, asking them what they feel about it.
Most of the reaction has been positive towards it.
Honestly.
And I'm in the same boat.
I guess I'm kind of I mean, I'm kind of either way, I guess, is where I'm at with it.
I I just want it to be a decision made by the general population in Scobie.
I mean, if there's if there's more people that don't want it, then it shouldn't happen.
You know, if there's people that are, you know, on the fence but okay with it, then I'm okay with it.
So I don't really have a of an opinion really either way.
I don't know that I'll have them.
I don't have a problem with them.
But it's it's what the people in town here feel.
It's like what Nikki, you know, stressed is you know, we were, I guess, elected by the people, and I want I want as much opinion on it as I can get.
So and that's the way we sold it to a lot of people that we talked to.
We would say, hey, would you mind signing this petition to have uh you know the ordinance change?
Like, well, I don't want chickens, but what about your neighbors?
Maybe other people you know I want them, and they yeah, you know, I don't want chickens, but I can see other people having them, and that was kind of how we sold it to people that were on the fence is you know, give your your neighbors or your friends or your your you know your rest of your you know the rest of your your buddies in town the opportunity to do it.
Scubby's really good at taking care of each other, and I feel like that's kind of falls into that where if you have a surplus of eggs, you can share them with your neighbors, you know.
I agree with my peers.
I think, however, you need to have some sort of uh detailed um detailed ordinance because once you get into anything that's new, it's a slippery slope, and we have to kind of lay out very clearly what um what needs to happen and what can't happen, and I think we've got a pretty good start on that.
I remember reading Vince the last time we had people in, and it's it's pretty detailed, so yeah, but I'm surprised there were five because I was thinking we were working with three.
So I don't know.
That's the draft I got.
So eight is a considerable amount more than the three I was thinking back then, but I did I may did my math based on how many eggs my family eats.
And I got three kids in high school plus Sarah and myself, and we will blaze through a dozen eggs in two breakfasts, two to three breakfasts.
Who takes those eggs and sells them?
I think the ordinance ought to address that.
I think it is there's something in there about the market.
I in this one of Ben's.
Yeah.
I don't know if it's in here.
I don't know.
I thought there was something in there.
Because I I I think it's a great thing that you're doing that for your family and that you're willing to share and that sort of thing.
But I don't want it is to have maybe not.
I don't know.
Maybe it's probably better last time.
And it you didn't have a minimum marginal.
March it around town, so I think that should be a consideration because we already have tiny office.
I don't I don't think we would either.
But like I said, it's a slippery slope.
Yeah, people come and people go to the different major's property of where the coop could be.
Yeah, and that's that's where the the zoning I think would come into play is it has to fit the coupe would have to fit within the lot.
And that is addressed in that.
Yeah.
Because on a lot of these lots, I mean, we discussed it the last time, there's not enough room.
Yeah.
So and it only specifically does not allow front yard only backyard.
Yeah.
Which I get, but just FYI.
And we changed that.
It used to be 35% max lot coverage for buildings.
We changed it to 40.
So with the exception of commercial logs on the mainstream.
Yeah, yeah, residential, yeah.
Okay, any other comments?
Further discussion.
Okay, so we have the motion made seconded.
All those in favor?
Aye.
Okay.
So motion carries.
We will schedule a public hearing.
Um I'll work with Sonia to try to get it, uh, make sure we get everything uh done correctly that we need to for posting requirements.
It's really the biggest thing we worry about.
Um so it'll be in the paper, it'll be posted, uh three locations, probably city hall, courthouse, post office.
But uh yeah, that's that.
So that's all we're gonna discuss on chickens today.
So that's a promise.
So thank you.
Well, thanks guys, appreciate the time and effort.
Yeah, thanks.
I don't know.
I don't have that much.
I think November is like the first thing to do.
Because the wait a second here.
District Hospital?
District Hospital.
Okay.
Okay.
In the permit, we could have a section of whether or not they plan to do like commercial sale or just you know, private use.
That was for you too.
Yeah, just because you're a lawyer doesn't mean you're not.
You don't just belt it out.
I watched the good wife, like I think.
I think that's a good degree.
I don't know.
Yeah, either way.
I know we had discussed that the last time it came up.
Because I mean inevitably, people will probably sell eggs if they have an abundance of eggs.
Which is fine.
Yeah, that's county.
But if we're doing this for for our family, if we're doing this for our families and we're willing to share those.
So this can be done by or something that has to be voted on by the general public.
Correct.
Yeah, we can have a hearing and then the council could, you know, draft I can draft an ordinance, and you guys could we can change our current ordinance to allow for it.
All right, yeah, like you said, we got the perfect template already built.
Yeah.
Leave a couple things blank for numbers yet to come.
Yep.
Yeah.
And yeah, commercial.
Okay.
Um, um well, perfect.
Moving on.
Uh utility clerk report.
Did she have anything she wanted to share?
No, if not.
That's fine.
Okay, public works.
Steve, where's where's my garbage truck?
Your garbage truck is in buildings.
Oh the wasteboard.
Uh having to work with Peterville on getting the cables right built for the communication issue between the back.
They said there's like 14 different wiring harnesses they built for that truck when that truck was built, which I wouldn't doubt it because I remember when Peter Bill was here and fixed the death on it.
The guy had to hand make the deal out here while he was working on it.
So I he did talk to me and said when he brings it back up here and we discuss it, we're gonna knock some money off of what we owe them for the truck.
So um so we're still using the rental on that.
Um let's see.
We've got our parts in for our fire hydrant, so hopefully we get the two that are broke fixed.
Is one of those the one by carriers?
Yes, one by carriers and one by Nemo, which the Nemo one I want to talk to you about.
Like right now or off the right end.
So there's no valve on the hydrant line itself.
The valve to shut the water off, the hydrant comes is on the main line, so we would have to shut Neon's water off to work on it.
And Alan Jewell's properties.
So I was talking with Colin about maybe us coming in on the weekend to work on that, and then taking a weekday off.
That way we don't interrupt water service on that to Nemo.
So is there something out there that is pulling water all the time, like over the weekend or anything?
There's a lot of people that might need to use the bathroom.
No, if we're not there, there's nothing.
So that would affect like the people who come in on the weekends and wash cars and stuff, because it'd shut off to the whole property.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
We could use a weekend now.
He's the only washer right now.
But yeah, that's that's up because we didn't want to shut it off during the day when all those people are in the office.
So is there any way we can fix that?
So we'd have to have to dig it all up.
Yeah.
And have a piece of pipe in there.
Because I think it's bolted right onto the key for that main line that's there.
It's looking at the as builds for it.
We couldn't find the valve, so I got the as builds out.
Looks like the valve is further down, almost in the driveway of the hotel for that main line.
So we have to investigate exactly where the valve is.
So and then uh talk with Wyatt about possibly on Thursday doing his hydrogen flow testing again.
So anyone have any questions, comments for public works?
Are you done filling potholes and stuff now?
No, we still have uh some tar left in that machine, so we'll use it till we run out of tar.
Okay.
So okay.
Alright, well moving on, so zoning, administrative report, no zoning requests, but we're trying to get a meeting for tomorrow with a quorum.
Yep.
To discuss down garages.
So how would that work?
Let's say let's say Seth buys a lot, wants to build a garage and he meets all the deal, but then he also wants to keep his chickens there.
Do we need to put something in there that your chickens need to be at your primary residence?
Or what what's the feeling on that?
Could could it be a potential issue?
Could someone build a garage with a little run, you know, to make them an accessory building.
I mean, then it's gotta be accessory to the primary use.
Yeah.
And the primary use of a residential lot is residential housing.
So it's a permitting process.
I mean the city could always say no depending on the permit that comes across.
You know, that they it's it's case-by-case permit, so they have to meet you know all the city's parameters.
And it prohibits multi-family dwellings like apartment buildings or things like that, so we could be more specific in that too, because it specifically says, you know, multi-family dwellings, no.
We could just say single-family residence only or something like that in there.
I think that's a good idea.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Marga anything from your do as I say, not as I do.
Okay, Mr.
Fair.
See it.
Dale Shabbat told me that one time.
Okay, well.
So yeah, hopefully we have a quorum for the meeting.
But Steve, regardless, you're gonna whoever shows up, you're still gonna bring back a recommendation to the council of the next meeting.
Yeah, but I don't care.
We just bring this and put it on my desk so I don't forget.
Okay, um, study commission report.
One minute of study commission notes, Greg.
Um, nothing much from our point of view.
The county uh study commission meets this afternoon to finalize their uh survey questions.
I'll go to that meeting just to keep us up to date.
Okay.
Sounds good.
Okay, and no fire chief, which I guess kind of also negates a little bit further down when we're gonna talk about uh handheld radios, but um kind of just see what that plays out.
I'm what I'm afraid what's gonna happen is the dust is gonna settle from the training exercise, and everyone's gonna move on with their life and get busy with this, that, and the other, and it's gonna be like every other time.
We're ready to go, ready to make the changes.
We're and then we just lose traction and interest, and then we until the next circle back, and I think it happened the last time because we were gonna purchase radio for everybody.
I remember when I was actively going to models we were gonna choose from, but we talked about it for a year straight.
Like it was half the medium conversation.
I even bought one, I still have it.
So anyway, so yeah, no no fire chief sheriff low.
Okay, um far as numbers go, uh there were 85.
I would say any incidents is what we call them until we put them into different categories.
Okay, and these are for the month of September.
Yes, we're yeah, we're in October.
Okay, so there's like they ran from probation all the way into an assault, assault and battery, VFMAs, you know, traffic citations, but I've got all those numbers.
They uh probation there was 16.
We had three people come in for fingerprinting.
We can't we track that because of there's three people in the county, if you want to know, or three people in the city that applied for CWP and extra three people, and it's Montana, so but um 19 traffic incidents, we had uh one harassment, four animal calls.
We had a livestock call here in town.
I have no idea how to respond to that one.
I don't know if somebody had a cow loose or a chicken.
I don't know, but um, and then we had we we coded it as a structure fire, but that was our NEMOT practice that we had.
So it comes up just because it was called into training's a structure fire, so it gets coded as a structure fire.
But we did um nine civil paper services within the city.
I don't know if so that's but I'll leave this here with you, Greg, that way you guys can cruise through it.
Uh with what we got going on, winter's starting to set in, you know if they didn't know, or those that do know, um Neil's daughter got into an accident over towards Opine just due to the weather.
So I gotta keep a visual eye out as those that were traveling back and forth between county lines out in the county.
Keep an eye out for the animals, keep an eye out for vehicles that are off the side of the road.
Don't hesitate to call if it looks strange and it's in a weird place.
We got a lot of hunters that are gonna start coming in too for big game.
They get called in when they're out hunting, you know.
So it's gonna be long and busy nights for us sometimes, depending on what hunter comes in and which accident.
And if there's I can't stress enough, if there's a semi-truck that's off the road, please put it out there, please call.
We had a semi-truck last year go off at nine o'clock at night, and the first person that called it in was 11 o'clock the next morning.
That guy sat out there and it was negative 30.
He made it through the night.
So simple things like that.
I was even, I was out of town when that one happened.
So I didn't I talked to the deputies that were on ship and asked why they didn't even see it.
But I think it's dark at what time?
Probably.
So we're out and about doing that.
But as far as some of the calls that took place here in town, like the assault and battery that is turning into a case.
I had another assault.
Well, it came in as a complaint.
I tried to email it, but way too large for file.
So I will give that to you here.
You can peruse through that one as well.
And that one happened here in town.
So I've got that going.
As far as anything else goes on in the office, we're still looking for two deputies or an under sheriff and a deputy, depending on how things play out.
Anything else?
See?
You don't have any questions for the sheriff?
But how often do you know does um whatever the drug task force is called?
How often are they, how often do you guys get together and do well the drug task force concerns we we talk a lot, I don't try that much right now.
We talk a lot.
Some of the drug task force is high patrol.
Pass it along to your city members or your city people that when higher patrols up here, it's not only because they're patrol, they're allowed to go anywhere.
And some of those guys are on the drug task force.
If you see a car appeared randomly, guess what?
It's not all make for traffic citations.
I do use them quite a bit.
They're up here.
I mean, there's two of us.
We have 1,800 miles a road, something like that here in the county.
It's hard for two people to to patrol everything.
Like the incident that took out took place out back near Four Butte.
So a task force is aware of that individual.
There's a couple more that they're watching.
I'm not going to tell you what they're driving, but they are here.
They are here.
So I keep in contact with them quite a bit it is a big thing.
What we got going on I do know it.
So people don't like extra faces.
Some of them look like hunters I can tell you that much.
Yeah perfect time to come up is there getting to be a more of a problem in the area of drugs you think Clint we have or drugs moving through drugs are moving through there's a there's a major corridor from talking with drug task force and talking with border patrol.
There's a major corridor that leaves Texas and Arizona and it comes through North Dakota up through that first border there but it hits Pleninwood, Scoby, and O Time.
And then we have Highway 2 which runs all the way from pretty much it intersects with Washington and goes all the way across the United States that's a corridor as well and that one brings people with it too whether it is they're moving people for you know sex or they're moving them for anything else most of the time they stay away from highway two sometimes if they get worked criminals train like cops 100% they know what we do and we know what they do so they switch vehicles randomly we've had we've been watching for a black Honda pilot with Washington plates for the past two months so you see a black haunted pilot with license with the Washington license plate call it could be the individual we're looking for he's running drugs from North Dakota to Oregon that's all we know Colorado they come up from Colorado or the big truck drug pipeline from Colorado up to this area so but there's approximately to answer your question within the city there's like eight people that we have that we're watching within the city that doesn't count the people that are out in the county some of those you know that they've been here probably their entire lives so it is a it's becoming an issue yeah if not already a huge issue that's where we're at okay anything else for the sheriff?
Appreciate you coming in.
Thanks, Clinton.
Thank you for sending me the message yesterday for the day, Greg.
No problem.
All right.
Try not to your pain.
Uh don't worry about it.
Okay.
Are you oh, is he coming down maybe now?
Well, is that some answer?
Yes.
Okay.
Thank you.
Okay, moving on.
Council comments.
That's promise, right?
Thanks.
Well, I think that report just now from the sheriff is a little disconcerting.
I mean, we said we have to know with the incidence um picking up down south.
Um on the reservation that we're also going to be seeing more traffic, but it is I mean, when I have one of my kids telling me, Mom, I'm worried that if uh if they get a bad shipment, we're gonna lose five kids up there in a quick hurry.
Um it's scary and it's sad.
I know the the logic of of what they do makes no sense to me at all.
If I was in business, I would not want to be killing my customers.
Oh yeah.
Yeah.
Okay, any other council comments?
Well, just a question.
Um, have we given any more thought to or uh done any more organizational work with regard to electronics communication, Microsoft Teams, something like that?
Uh I guess not significant thought.
Um I know I was thinking I'd like to get like Leif or Trevor or somebody here and see what it would take to outfit this room with um like microphones, the can a camera, um, and then be able to start recording the the minutes like that.
We don't necessarily have to turn the camera on since we're not required to, but it would be an option if we choose to and then be able to stream the meetings live, which you know I guess I have mixed feelings about that.
I know bigger cities do, and I don't know if they allow if they're watching live, can then that person try to buzz in and leave a public comment?
No, I think it's pretty standard that they could watch or watch participate remotely unless the council granted prior permission to do so.
Sure.
I think this is a progressive sort of a thing.
You can initiate and then um change things as you go.
I think you could grant permission for remote appearance if they were, you know, couldn't come here, you know, wheelchair or something.
Sure.
So yeah, I don't know.
I know it's nice, Sonia can take this recording, plug it into the computer and upload it quick and easy to the, or maybe Steve does it.
Okay.
No, I thought her how to do it.
Oh, I'm good.
I showed her one time, that's all she gets.
That's it.
So anyway, yeah, I don't know if we want to, you know, might be something we just look into some cost and then would put it on the agenda at a later date.
But well, I think it's nice.
It would be nice if one of the council members has gone to be able to have real-time um comments being made.
Uh it's kind of hard for Greg when it lags behind the few times that he's used it last year, where we might even be on to a different topic, and all of a sudden he's commenting on something.
Well, that I appreciate that less because I think what you see is real time, but me responding back is not.
Um, and that's that's it's unfortunate, but it's also disruptive to you guys getting the job done.
Um nobody wants to sit around and pause and wait to see if Greg has something to say.
It makes the Pledge of Allegiance very interesting.
I kind of got that hint, and I start I I started saying it to myself rather than I think there's some value there not only for me but for everyone, yeah, and then the ability to kind of move forward as as rules change.
Oh yeah, yeah.
So the other thing too is uh I know Michael Lund uh cornered me the other day, and um you know, now that this hospital is continuing to move forward, he's basically just asking that uh you know everybody have an open mind as to what we can do with that building, you know, whether it goes to the county, if the city decides to maybe move the clerk up there.
Um, because it's gonna take to keep the building going, I I believe it's gonna take um different groups to kind of all pitch in to pay the rent, if you will.
Um, you know, the utilities on a place like that's awfully expensive.
So we have a rundown of what the utilities cost is a year.
Uh I I'm sure we could get it pretty easily.
And of course, you know, when it's not used as a hospital and when it's used for something else, you know, maybe the power goes down significantly.
Every time the CT machine fires up, I would guess that's a draw on power, and yeah, you know, it'll be significantly less.
And then in the winter time, all the doors, you know, people walking in and out.
Is that that generator sitting outside the parking lot?
Is that for the hospital or something else?
Well, I saw it there too and wondered the same thing.
That's it.
Is it I assume so they're they're you know, I I'm right there, I hear them start their generator when they do their tests every week.
And that's become very irregular.
It used to be Monday morning, 6 a.m.
fire it up, run it for 30 minutes, turn it off, and now it's like sometimes Monday, sometimes Wednesday.
Yeah, it should be all automatic, honestly.
It should ours ours go through their own.
I hear yours at the CO or whatever it is across from my office.
Um it's old, I know they've had difficulties with it.
So maybe that's just a replacement generator, then.
I don't know, because it is sitting right on the sidewalk there and on the edge of the street.
So what kind of time frame are we looking at?
I mean uh you know if they if they break ground next summer, the building's not going to be built until they'll move in, I believe, 29.
So we have several years to be thinking about this and yeah, yeah, but I think but you know, just like the all-class reunion, it seemed like we had two years to talk about, and all of a sudden it came and went and gone.
So, you know.
When these months seem to go by fast, all of a sudden, you know, we're already knocking on 26, and you know, they'll start, you know, we're gonna have to have a plan in place prior to 29, I would think.
So I'm hoping that they establish a committee.
That's what it's gonna take.
I hate a hundred committees for everything, but but really something like that, and it's gonna have to be you know, city county, um other interested parties potentially.
I keep a singular body moving forward.
I keep hearing all the ideas about um making it uh like an assisted living facility.
Um in fact, Nancy the other night, she's she's gonna want on the agenda to talk about this because she's on the hospital district.
Um, you know, one of the remodeling those rooms on the east end and turning, I believe there's ten rooms down there and say turning them into five rooms, kind of doubling them up.
So then of course I've mentioned numerous times that kitchen in the basement.
I keep saying it's probably the most sophisticated commercial kitchen in town.
It'd be a shame to lose that when it's just sitting there.
Well I mean couldn't they even move the senior center up there?
I I mean out of the manor.
Yeah yeah I mean I I think they could that's county supported too right the senior center yeah yeah and then I think your rent for your room is more state income based.
Yeah yeah I think the the nice thing for seniors is the proximity for those people who live in that building.
Yeah to be able to just go downstairs in the elevator not have to worry about travel those sorts of things.
But I think there's getting to be less and less seniors in that building I think it's a lot of other meals I think are coming from the hospital they come from the hospital yeah that's why it brought it up but I think you know we we looked at this kind of in a scattered fashion when I was um when I was working at the hospital and it looks like you need about four or five assisted living beds at any given point in time.
The difficult the difficulty that they ran up against was how do you build for it?
Medicare Medicaid has pretty significantly strict rules about that.
You know the other option that came to mind from from my point of view was um was granny suites on lot where you put those folks uh in proximity to their own lab rooms who can look after them um or at least provide for them in a in a way and kind of oversee them um in a way that uh that becomes less expensive for the rest of us from a tax point tax point of view anyway, a healthcare point of view.
Um in Canada, and I hate to go in that direction right now, but uh they are doing and have for the last 10 years done everything they can to keep uh the elderly in place because it's just significantly less expensive to look after somebody in their own home where you don't have to pay um you don't have to pay for the heat and the hydro and the the upkeep of the building and all those sorts of things.
My father-in-law was was quite ill for the last seven years of his life, and he just kind of got progressive support as time went on, and uh he was still able to transfer from bed to chair to chair to chair, which kept him out of the nursing home.
But um at one point he was having uh uh personal support worker an hour a day, three times or an hour three times a day to give him that kind of support.
And you know, at that time they were paying their workers $12 an hour.
So for $36 a day as opposed to $7,000 a month for a nursing home bed.
I mean the cost of each are just astronomical.
So I think it's something for us to think about as well when it comes to building ordinances and those sorts of things.
Well, I think I had heard at one point that the rules are significantly less when you start talking about an adult daycare versus uh uh assisted living.
The rules change and it and it can be significantly less cost to the individual who is needing to care.
And they are using some adult daycare at the hospital um but there's no overnight stay there no no and that's when they need the help yeah and that's the you know it there there are several fo that that's the other program that they have in their in their nursing homes they have respite um so they always have a few empty beds in every nursing home that will allow for respite and the system allows for three weeks of respite a year folks with dementia it's very very difficult to pick them up geographically and move them someplace else because their their minds just can't handle it and they become they become very unstable for that for for the six week period uh over the course of moves so the less you have to move them the better.
Do they take dementia patients up there at the nursing home anymore?
They do take dementia patients but uh there's some pretty strict criteria that have to do with uh behaviors yeah the closest behavior control unit is wolf point and it's a limited number of beds and that whole the whole control of behaviors in uh in dementia is a uh it's a hot potato and it has been for several years there are very few ways to control behaviors without uh without limiting life you know somebody with dementia can live as short as 18 months from the time of diagnosis to 20 years.
That's the scary part.
And it's a progressive, slow, and you know, it as you after the age of 75, the numbers of people who get dementia increases dramatically to the point where one in two people at the age of 90 have dementia.
This is a fallout from our excellent ability to take care of people and keep them alive.
You can be kept alive significantly longer than you may want to be.
Which doesn't make you want to encourage everybody to go jump off a bridge.
Yeah, I want to run fire.
Yeah.
But there, you know, folks don't want to be a burden to their to their family members or to anyone either, by and large.
It's a it's it's a huge dynamic social problem.
So Nancy is kind of polling for an assisted living facility then?
Is that well, I mean, not necessarily that just um just trying to get people on board with what can we do with the building and no no ideas off the table, basically.
Yeah, the other problem, the other difficulty with an assisted living facility, we've had one in town already, and that's staffing it.
I was just gonna say it's hard enough to find nurses for the hospital at all, assisted living.
Darn near impossible.
Yeah, they're hoping building the new building will attract folks to come here that might not otherwise.
And I think there's there's some logic to that.
Uh we what we really need to do is we need to be over there at that high school from the time they they hit grade nine and advocating for health for for uh health care uh career opportunities.
So the people the people who live here who are born here uh are more likely to stay and more likely to look after the folks.
Um getting people like me to come from God knows where, you know.
Um that's a pretty unusual sort of a thing.
They're probably running from the low.
Well, you know, I know it's funny you should say that because as a as a staff member, I've worked in lots of hospitals where where we had travelers.
And you know that the common the the common saying between the people who lived and worked lived in a community and worked in a hospital where you know travelers only do they're only there for one of three things.
They're running to something, they're running from something, or they're looking for someplace new.
Yeah.
Uh and the running from somebody is not a small portion of the population.
I saw Clint look at you a little funny too.
Well, Clint's always looked at me a little funny.
I tried not to take it personally.
Yeah.
So anyway, yeah, so more to more to come on that.
Just well, it would be nice to come up with a use for it.
I just as long as it's not gonna nickel and dime, you know.
Yeah, I think in a long haul, it might well be it might well be useful to to consider uh a comment that Perry brought up when they first started to to uh talk about building a new hospital.
Um, you know, there there are parts of that building that are certainly younger than others and that may well be more easy to maintain, and it may well be uh a thing to think about tearing down parts of that building and constructing new buildings associated with it.
And his his uh comment was you know, the Mayo Clinic didn't shut down everything and move to someplace else.
And we're certainly don't have the Mayo Clinic, but we do have a pretty sizable chunk of property up there that we could uh that we could put to use and might be able to to meet all of the demands that we're looking for from a county government and a uh city government point of view.
Okay, all right, any final council comments before we move on.
Okay, moving on.
We've got resolution 1129 information security policy.
Uh let's see here.
Did you draft this?
Or Sonia, is this I did the resolution.
Janet got the body out of the MSP basically.
Okay, they want us to do a policy of gotcha.
Okay.
Basically, we're just saying we're gonna take care of our credit-five data.
Okay.
Well, unless something looks funny to somebody else, and this I would entertain a motion that we approve a resolution 1129, this information uh security policy.
I'll make a motion to approve resolution 1129.
Second.
Kate, so motion made seconded.
Is there any discussion?
Do you see anything on hand that you're no it's our route?
That's pretty standard already.
Okay, hearing none, all those in favor?
Aye.
Aye.
Aye.
Okay.
Motion carries.
Um.
So power at the north end of the park.
So I was someone did reach out to me and really questions why we're doing this.
Is it a waste of money?
Is it in the best interest of the park?
Uh taxpayer money.
Um so on and so forth.
Uh kind of had a little back and forth discussion, and um I don't know.
I still feel I still feel like we want to move forward, but I'll does uh you know any of the council feel this might be something that we don't need to do or has pro or against this particular upgrade to the park.
So this is broke into the where would the south power go then along that concrete slab then?
The what the south power?
We're not doing anything for the south yet.
Oh yeah, just the north, just the north, okay.
Okay, yeah.
So was there a reason giving given Morgan for the I guess the person questioning why we're doing this?
Well, so I think there must have been some confusion because he also asked if we're rezoning the area around the park to allow campers to park their full time, and are we in competition with local campgrounds?
I said, Well, no, I said none of that is the intent at all.
I said uh there's gonna be no change to campers around the park going back however long we've had swim team.
So that's the only time we're gonna allow campers there.
I said the swim team board has to come and uh ask permission every time.
Of course we grant it, you know, kind of rubber stamp it, but still they come, get on the agenda.
Uh we usually go through, okay, generators off the 10, you know, try to keep most of the slides to the inside and set out into the street, even though now these campers all have slides on both sides, and it just it is what it is now.
Um try to keep the area marked with a cone, or some people have reflective tape on their slides, whatever.
But um, I said, whenever these this power is being used, there's gonna be a charge.
He said, We're we are going to recoup that money.
I said part of it is um so vendors can have their trailer around the park and not have to run loud generators.
He said, and also we're hoping this will um entice more people or more events at the park by providing a power that a vendor would have to pay for if they're doing a barbecue or selling you know what whatever their food trailer uh is doing.
So and I you know for the north side, what is it?
Eight, eight thousand bucks, seventy, nine hundred bucks, something like that.
So you know, I get that's that's eight thousand dollars.
We don't have to spend um for the park for this.
You know, will we ever recoup all of our money?
Well, I don't know, probably not.
That's a lot of fifty dollar applications.
But on top of that, we have to spend money anyways to fix the lights that are already there.
Yeah, you know, because if they're turned back on, you can touch that pole and get electrocuted.
Yeah.
Yeah, that's good to know.
I I didn't visit about that.
So which lights are those?
Those ones that are in the middle of the park, just straight north of street lights that are in there.
There's those poles that you know where the big pole house wall field is in there?
Yeah.
That open there's that pole there with light on it.
Supposedly here in the swimming case we're touching that pole and we're getting shocked.
Is that uh not MDU's?
Is that ours?
It comes off our building.
Oh, it does, yeah.
I think it's a pretty um inexpensive way to expand the use of the park area.
Yeah, I I'm still in favor of it, but I just want to make sure you know this isn't something I'm looking at completely wrong.
Um, no matter what we do, um it's either gonna cost us money now or we'll decide to do something in the future and it'll cost us more money then.
And really, the other thing is you know, the money we have budgeted for the splash pad, um I feel like we're gonna have a little bit of a surplus from that because of the grants that we've been applying for and um getting awarded so got another one into the beacon I sure hope they can they want to support us um a couple of the gals on the committee uh submitted one for the Phyllis and Dennis Washington foundation the Washington Grizzly Stadium guys so hoping we get some money there that's where plenty we've got 45 thousand from them for that grant so we're hoping it's something but their project is estimated 800 000 ours is significantly less than that so put every five and ten thousand dollar shot in the arm and start that up so yeah so would they probably trench through the middle there and pick up that new pole or pick up that pole I talked to Casey crumble about you guys uh bore into those poles okay um so and we talked to MDU and they said if we can get demon to bore from the power pole at Howie's house in that alley across underneath our pavement come up at the north end of the park and then go from there and bore down and go to both those both those light poles is what because I talked to Casey and he said you guys probably could do that.
And not hit the sprinkler system.
Hopefully they do I mean they're gonna be three feet deep at least more power we'll be down with three of these freakers are only 12.
It's only a foot.
We gotta be a minimum of 36 if it's yeah, for power, yeah.
So how would we fix our power issue now at that pole on the the that west side pole?
I'm assuming we'd have to figure out how to get a new wire in there from the pool house over there.
I'm sure it's broken the ground or something.
And what would that if a guy were to ballpark it?
I have no idea.
Yeah.
So we're gonna abandon what's there now and then come new from MDU will give us those lights that are MDU does own the lights on the pole.
Yeah.
And when he was here, we were discussing with that, they would give us those lights and then take them off our street light bill.
And then they would just be through our heater then.
Yeah.
And then we have new outlets on them.
Clean those poles up because there's all sorts of wires and stuff on those poles.
Yeah.
And then we would need a trench on the north end on this side of the hedges.
On the north side of the hedges for Mr.
Wire to run his power with four pedestals.
Because we've fought power on that east, that northeast pole by the equip uh playground equipment.
That's one that sometimes works and sometimes doesn't work when we're trying to keep like the ice machine and for swim meets and other events.
Yep.
Yeah, worked the one year, didn't work the next year.
I don't know.
Well, I mean, it sounds like we have power.
Power work to do down there anyway, regardless.
Yeah.
And like you say, there's probably gonna be a little bit of a surplus left over from the splash pad that would probably cover a portion of this.
Yeah.
So Steve, the plan would be to do the north end and then do the south end of it at a different I think so.
I think that would be the and I believe the south is a little bit more expensive, isn't it?
According to the global yeah, south because he's gonna run a whole like a 400 amp service or something down because that's how cool it's its power too.
Yeah, it's like another 700 or so.
Yeah.
So is this did you talk to Lands Root?
Is this uh quote still good?
As far as I'm aware, yeah.
Okay.
Okay, well, I would entertain a motion that we approve the quote to fix the broken power on the north end as well as add the new the new power that we've been talking about in the amount of 70, I believe that's $7918.36 cents.
So moved.
Second.
Okay, so motion made seconded uh to approve Mr.
Wire's bid for the north end hour upgrade.
Uh is there any discussion?
Further discussion hearing none, all those in favor?
Aye, aye.
Okay, motion carries.
Um oh, okay, so in the same conversation with uh John Q public we had.
Um I don't know, I felt like there was just some frustration at what we were doing, and he the conversation transitioned to the park hedge height, and said, you know, because they're so short, we've lost um we've lost a great windbreak within the park, and did we lower it just for uh the sheriff's office?
Was that part of the reason?
Um you know, why can't the hedges be taller?
And I said, Well, I I guess I don't know.
Said, but we'll discuss it.
So we're gonna discuss our park hedge height.
Well, going back to when I was on council last time, and I was in charge of parks, uh, I went over there, my brother lived here at the time, and we went and and started breaking out those shrubs.
And back then it was so root bound and rotten, I had sinus infection for probably a good month.
So I've always been of the opinion, and and art didn't want to do it, I wanted to completely rip them out because of that.
And uh usually with things like lilacs or caragamas, if you just cut them off, they will it'll grow back up by the end of the summer, or you know, like if if we did it now, uh, by the end of spring, they'd be back to height.
Um, that that would be acceptable.
But for my aspect, it's so root-bound and rotted in there that they're not healthy anyways.
And we ought to be looking at whether we need to have an extension agent go look at them or what have you to see what the health is of them and to see if they're even viable to do something like that now where you can just cut them off and let them start fresh, uh, so that we could get some healthy because when you drive by and you look now, there's so many bare spots that does the height really matter when there's wind blowing through spots where people can walk through them.
So yeah, I know several spots where the kids have kind of carved a path through there, which I don't care.
I'm I see kids there, I've seen more kids there this last year than I have, I think, since I've lived where I live.
There's uh good name any names.
I think they're they're mostly harmless, but they're you know, they're out there playing, I they're not in their basement or in their room or whatever on their phone doing all that stuff that we're trying to you know figure out a remedy for.
So that I have a similar hedge that runs along the north side of my property that I trimmed down from probably 10 feet down to about five, and it was really invading into the and it was growing right into my driveway.
So I trimmed it all back even with the driveway, cut it down.
Uh two years later, it's right back up.
I've got one bald spot really.
Um so I know I I haven't looked at the ones there to be able to tell whether or not they're healthy.
I I don't know.
I was just I was annoyed with how high those were and how they were impinging on my driveway, so I trimmed them all back and I didn't do anything to them besides the trimming and carbon stuff.
I mean carriagana, you can almost trim them all the way down to the ground and they're gonna grow right back with just different root structure, limb structure.
And I you know the ones at the back of my property were carrying out, so they were we we had to hook around those with chains to pull them out.
Yeah, they were they were they were cut at least three feet down and spread everywhere.
The only place they didn't go was in the lane way behind the house.
Well, and the other um problem that we often had, not anymore since we got rid of all of them on the south side, but usually between Bryant Wall and uh Wilcox's house, there would be a huge hornet's nest.
And Greg and I would go every year and hose it down and wrap several plastic bags around it and remove it.
So um do you have any thoughts?
First off, if you're going to the park, who cares about windbreak?
If you're in the middle of the city, yeah, you got plenty of windbreak around them.
And if you want them taller, someone else is gonna trim them because it's a hell of a lot easier to hold the trimmer here eight hours a day trimming them than it is up here, eight hours a day trimming them.
So that's my philosophy.
I really and we've had them cut that height for I don't know, six years now, or I mean because Danny was still mayor when we first trimmed them down that high.
And so we just go beginning of the summer and trim them down, and as you can see, now they're back up again, and then beginning next spring, we'll trim them down again.
I don't see a benefit of having them higher.
I really don't.
I know that the thought about the sheriff's office having some say about it isn't all that unusual.
Although a reasonable.
Well, just from a safety standpoint, I mean, I've been nervous, you know, a lot of times the kids are just gonna come darting out of there and nobody can see them.
Yeah, I I feel like they can see more because they they don't well the on the the west end got the two big yellow whatever barriers.
Well, they just shoot right to the right or left of them, yeah.
So I mean, yeah, it's there's better visibility for drivers coming down that street to see a kid running from the edge from the middle of the park out to the street.
Yeah, or even a parent, your kid says he goes to the park and you want to have a check on them, you just drive by and you can see over the edges.
Yeah, yeah.
I like I said, I if the conversation just felt like uh just a dig at everything we're doing is wrong.
Maybe that person has a little bit too much time on their hands.
I believe it was a safe verse that was mad when we tore the south ones down.
Yeah, so well, I I do still think that it is possibly a good idea to find somebody who can inspect them and tell us that the overall health and what we can do to you know get them thicker or more healthy looking.
Trimming them's gonna do that though, just continually trimming them is gonna thicken them up.
Yeah.
I guess they I wish our hedges looked as good as the county hedges by the skating ramp?
Yeah, yeah.
That's what mine look like when I started trimming them.
That's just it.
Like I, you know, I get our park, we take a lot of pride in our park, but also you go down Main Street from the brewery to the hospital is the worst stretch.
And you know, the the landowners, the the homeowners, uh the county of course owns the uh skating rink, and it might just be something we since we're the city, since it's in our city, we just you know deal with it since we work you know with the county on several other things.
We just go and Gordon Jim used to trim those every year, but after Gordy quit that don't.
I don't think they've been done since then.
No.
No.
Well, and then I know the Lions Club was gonna do it because you know they're it's basically their uh skating rink.
I mean it's not, but they're the caretakers of it.
So I know Rex and Wyatt were were gonna do it, and I that was before you know the all class reunion, all that stuff, and I think it just kind of fell through.
Yeah.
So maybe it's something that can still be done before it gets terribly cold out.
But all right, well, we discussed the hedges at the park.
I feel better.
I can sleep tonight.
Um, yeah, no, nothing actionable there, just a discussion piece.
Um, handheld radios.
I don't know.
Let's see what day is meet tomorrow.
Firemen meet tomorrow, the 15th.
No, they met the 8th.
First and the 8th.
Oh, yeah, because the first one.
So they met last Wednesday.
And I guess I don't know.
I didn't hear from Neil or Wyatt if they um talked about radios or not.
So that'll be something I guess if that's what the fire department wants to use their budget for is radios.
I mean, that's why we have the budget for them.
So turnout here, I think is still good.
I know there's gonna be talk about upgrading trucks eventually, but we can't do that because the new truck won't fit in the fire hall.
And then we're back on a fire hall conversation, and boy, it just seems like uh groundhogs day around here.
Well, I asked the fire chief if there was a way to partner with a sister city to get some of these things, you know.
Uh I know there's fire departments that just have the funds to be changing out things every year.
Like police vehicles in L.
Yeah.
If we could benefit from a fire department saying, hey, we have these one-year-old radios, but we're getting new ones, you want them, that would be great.
I think it it would it would be worth it if you know both of them reached out to neighboring communities to see if there's anything like that.
Um kind of, you know, Daniels County.
I I keep saying it, and maybe it'll land on somebody's ears at some point.
We are just in a unique situation with the amount of state land that we have and no tax revenue.
We don't have the money to be tossing after these things all the time, and therefore, you know, we have to go looking for grants to build Morgan's nice new fire house that he wants.
Yeah.
So I'm not saying I'm opposed to it because as you said, new fire trucks will not fit in the old building, so but in the meantime, I think we can go looking for avenues to supplement.
And if we have to buy them and we have the money, we might as well buy them.
Yep.
Okay, so moving on.
We discussed chickens.
So then the so okay, so we won't be able to get this on this upcoming election for the um for the ballot for the at-large versus ward system, right?
Yes.
We were canceled it.
We're outside the window.
Yes.
So I talked to Christy 2026 county state elections, the city will have a special election and put that on the ballot for the at-large versus ward system because it wouldn't be applicable till 27 anyway.
So we could have it on the ballot for 26, have an answer, and then we know going into 27 how we'll handle that.
So you would institute it the first of January 27.
Correct.
Yep.
And that seemed that what Chrissy proposed, and that seems reasonable to me.
And then Burl had a question to me about once you know if the electorate approves of that, the the ballots being cast in the ward system, you know, how it will just be at large for the city or what that is.
And the statute didn't clearly tell me that.
So I reached out to the city attorney for Glasgow to see how that works.
You know, when if you're you're we're keeping our ward system, you know, so are the ballots cast by ward or just by the city at large.
Burl asked me that.
And I didn't want I had a gut reaction, but I wanted an actual so I reached out to Helena and to the city of Glasgow to get a answer a hundred percent uh certain to give to Burl because that was his next question.
Okay, and I haven't heard back from them yet.
Okay.
What's your gut say about it?
Well, we're keeping our wards, and I thought that there's probably a reason behind that, so then I thought maybe we are still cast, you know, you can vote for anyone in the city, but ward one elects, you know, an alderman, you know, from anyone in the city, and then ward two elect.
Does that make sense?
So that that was my gut reaction, but I wanted confirmation from that would make sense why the statute says you have to do that.
Yeah, keep it because why else would we?
I guess there might be other reasons tax-wise or assessment-wise or whatever, but that was my gut reaction.
But I'll let Burl know and I'll let you guys know when I find out with 100% certainty.
Okay, so but we do know we're on track then, and Christy knows we'll have a special election for the at-large question in on the 26th ballots, and we have that in order so that we'll know January 1 of 27 how that election will go.
Okay, that'll have to be a budget item too, because they charge us for that.
Correct, yes.
That's a couple thousand bucks, you think?
That's what I used to budget for it, yeah.
Yeah, okay.
Was that a down part question?
Like with the words, whether we could and I also emailed his office too at MSU.
Because I thought he'd probably know that the top of his head.
You know, I've had experience with it.
And yeah, I tried calling them and no one answered.
And then yesterday I assumed no one was working.
He could like me tell you how many, how many different jurisdictions do it?
Yes, I figured yeah, he would know it off the top of his head, and I just didn't want to.
And I couldn't find it in the code.
There wasn't a specific answer saying this is how you handle that in directly written into the code.
Right.
So that I will let you guys know that if I know, but yeah, on track for that large special election 26 cycle.
Okay.
Thank you for that.
Okay, so moving on.
Um so review and approval amended plates edition box two and three.
So I see, you know, kind of what changed here, but what caused the need for change?
This is puckets of viewers.
Oh it's because there used to be that house of viewers uh was built right to the property line.
The sunroom was.
And then when Puckets bought the trailer house from viewers, they ended up buying, you know, they get everything over to the property line.
Our viewers didn't want her to build anything right next to her house.
And so they're taking what is it, five feet from pockets, and that way viewers can have five feet off of their house as their problem.
Oh I think Laura had gotten permission from the prior property owner to Puckets.
And then so that's where, and I actually Sonia dug out an old application to the city from I don't even remember early 2000s, maybe like 20 years ago or so.
So I think they're just clearing up avoiding a dispute, a boundary line dispute between the it was even before the new zoning went into it.
Yeah, yeah, it was a long time ago.
Yeah.
Okay.
So it seems like a good compromise between them and yeah, yeah, I think so, yeah.
Yeah.
She was that's what Laura was worried they were gonna build something right next to their house or a fence.
I mean they could technically put a six-foot fence up and then their sunroom is non-existent when they got there.
Sure.
So it was kind of a I mean they've been talking about it ever since Puckets bought that place.
Okay.
And we have to the something we have to approve.
Well, I guess that you get the the council's blessing.
Um I I do a motion to approve it to allow for you and Sonia to sign it, and they're not changing the name, they're not really.
I it seems like I don't see any issues.
Okay, no, they're just moving that property.
Yeah, it's just a boundary line adjustment, basically.
And typically the the um mayor and clerk sign off on that.
Okay.
Alright, well, I would entertain a motion that uh we approve um the amended plat for this always edition lots two and three.
I'll make a motion to approve the amended plat for lots two and three.
Okay, so motion made seconded.
Any discussion.
So going forward, Steve.
20 years down the road, somebody else buys these.
How do they know who owns what property is that we state?
Yeah, this is recorded with the county.
Yeah, and I bet Roger probably put new pins out there too.
I'm guessing when he did it.
Does it Kaufman?
Isn't Joe Kaufman do it?
I think this one was Roger Meyer.
Roger Meyer.
Oh, Roger Meyer.
Okay, yeah.
He was I was talking to him up there at Vic's house when he was doing it.
Yeah, yeah.
This will be recorded so any subsequent purchasers to the property, they'll be purchasing lot 3A and lot 2, or lot 2AP and lot 3AP.
So they'll basically be changing the legal description.
And then yeah, he'll probably already set the pins.
Yeah, yeah.
I'm sure he did when he ended up doing that.
Because he asked where the pins were at, and I said, Well, they're supposed to be right there, but yeah.
So I'm sure he put new ones in.
All right.
Well, and I asked because I know of that other property on C Street that has a similar issue.
Yeah, that's where that house was built.
Old zoning, and fence was kind of put up without any permit or anything at the time.
My property was the same.
Yeah, for sure.
Okay, any other discussion?
Okay, all those in favor?
Okay, motion carries.
Um okay.
So now we got a couple manual checks.
So Steve, the one from RDO, that was for the auger.
Yes.
That was for the auger.
Okay.
Was that it's here delivered we shot.
Okay.
Were they just late getting us the bill?
They just got it.
I think it was weird they ran this one through the RDO rental.
So the bill showed up.
Yeah.
Oh yeah, it must have showed up the same time because Wayne delivered that last week when I was gone.
Okay.
I think that's when the bill came, was last week.
So the bill I ran the checks.
Yeah, the bills must come with that.
Usually when we buy stuff from RDO, you have like 30 to 60 days to pay it.
I know on there on a seat on the screen.
Yeah, so okay.
And did you go by the water tower yesterday?
Yeah, I forgot.
Is the standpipe?
Yeah, it's straight now.
Yeah.
Straight.
Is the wind gonna blow it crooked?
Well, I honestly think the reason it got crooked is I went out of freezing right there at the bottom and it kicked it.
Oh is what I think.
So I'm gonna go.
I am not filling it in the winter time anymore.
Because ever since we got dry berry, it freezes up every year.
In the winter time, I'm not gonna fill it.
I'll just fill it in summertime.
So it's empty right now.
Yeah, and we're just gonna leave it in.
I mean it's been empty for two years.
Yeah.
And they got it painted.
I mean, it looks like camouflage now though, but you got light paint and dark paint because after some sat up there so long.
So sure.
All right.
Alright, well, I'll entertain a motion that we approve these manual checks so we can get McGuire Iron and RDO equipment paid.
So moved.
Do have a second.
A second.
Okay, so motion made seconded to pay these manual checks.
Is there any further discussion?
Kate hearing none.
All those in favor?
Okay, motion carries.
Um, Steve, uh one thing I was gonna ask you.
Have we heard anything back from the engineer for the pool?
Uh John Bach called me last week.
Um he asked me when I could meet with Caden, who's the pool engineer.
Now that they got the blue, we actually got blueprints from the state for the pool.
They were submitted to DEQ when the pool was built.
So we have some now.
And so he was gonna set up a time for Caden to come up and we're gonna discuss what's going on.
Huh?
Did you see them?
Who?
The flats or the no, he's gonna bring them when they come up here and meet with me.
Um, and I should just give you two days' notice, and so I'll make sure I'm around.
Um so that's what I know by that.
Also, on top of that, John said they're still planning on doing that street.
So I saw Sentry was paving the road to the border patrol.
Well, yeah, that's what that plant is up here over there.
Yeah, so seems a little odd.
Why can't they just use that?
Seems like it'd be cheaper for them.
You already got a plant set up.
You would think so.
Yeah, you would think so.
Because they're gonna truck it in a hot truck thing.
Well, and that's what I talked to.
Sydney said it's getting kind of cold if they gotta truck it from Sydney.
Well, it's gotta be 45 degrees and warming.
Yeah.
Yeah, that's what I don't understand.
But John said they still plan on doing it.
So I I said, Well, I hate for him to waste this money and do it now and then not set up again, they gotta come back and do it again.
I know we I wonder if I thought they were gonna have it done by like August, September.
So did I now I'm wondering, I wish we would have worked in a deal, and maybe we still can, where they pour it, and then we can still have one core sample taken there.
Well, I don't think we still haven't paid them yet, though, either, have we?
Well, I know, but I don't want us to pay for another core sample, even though it'd just be that one spot.
Yeah, we still have that, and it hasn't been substantially completed yet.
Yeah, I mean, the longer they put it off, the longer that warranty starts for them, too.
So yeah, it's not.
I mean, their warranty date doesn't start until they're done with this, and we sign off on it.
Yeah, you would think they would want to get it done sooner rather than later.
I am glad they didn't get it done because now we can see how that road's gonna go from you know from summer to winter back to spring, because that's when we always had the trouble, was when it was going from winter to spring.
Frosty, yeah.
So that's what last word I got from John last week.
Okay, yeah, he was in town, he came and talked to me and told me about that the truck that they'll haul the asphalt in is a heated box.
He said it can stay in there for like four days temperatures, yeah.
So but still it's if your ground's cold and you're putting it down, yeah.
It's still gonna cool right away.
Yeah, so I don't know.
Whatever.
Okay, paving that road.
That's it must be the maybe a condition.
Well, yeah, I wonder.
They were looking personalized.
Yeah, I I wonder if but Daryl and Bob are paying for it.
Because it's from the highway.
Yeah.
It's a private drive, right?
I mean, that's not a county road.
No, yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah, maybe it was a condition of the FSA office or the border border control office.
It probably says, well, here you go.
Yeah.
Was that a more on that?
No, I think they probably just went and kept with these guys in it.
It sounds like that's required, obviously, probably because it's a government entity, but I don't think it sounds to me like once they have a location, it's just the just basically logistics that they have to put it off for bid every so many years, but they're not gonna change sites.
I mean, it's the first time we've seen that though.
Anytime you put an appropriate roadron, you're supposed to have it paved anyway.
Yeah.
Well, it's a separate uh dry prairie puts their new building over here.
They gotta pay, they gotta pave our approach if they're gonna be using so yeah, it should have been done probably when it was built.
Yeah, well that was a separate group that that approached us about property for them when they were doing the investigation of that.
No, that was the it was the federal government, they were working for yeah, but it was another division of the position.
Yeah, yeah.
Yeah, I'm sure they have a whole separate land acquisition.
The buildings and grounds division, yeah, government.
Alright.
Um upcoming gender items, I guess we're well, we uh okay.
Can we, Sonia?
Do you think we can have the uh public hearing at the meeting on the 28th?
No.
That's not our time to advertise.
It's not, okay.
November, maybe that would be the earliest and we moved the first meeting to the fourth, right?
Yeah, it's not even on the 12th November, whatever.
Yeah, so November yeah, moved it from the 11th to the 4th, because 11th is Veterans Day.
So I'd have to get that out in before next week's paper.
It'll have to go next week's paper.
Okay.
And it's got to run in the paper twice.
Yes, two publication.
Okay.
That's when all of them will come out of the woodland.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Exactly.
Maybe or two weeks later.
And I guess I should is the council fine with just having that at the start of the meeting instead of having a separate date.
Yeah.
Yeah, it's much better.
I think that's good for you.
Okay.
Because I I don't I don't want to have meetings when we can I feel we can do it all at once.
So that'll be the first thing we do then.
We'll open up council meeting.
Uh adopt the agenda and stuff, and then we'll close it and open the public hearing at like 8 33.
So I need to put Band's ordinance in the next packet then.
Sure.
And then so everyone can see it as a template and have it in front of them.
Or I guess for that fourth in November 4th meeting.
Or even before then if everyone wants to.
Yeah, is that something?
Well, and I guess I don't want to put the cart for the horse.
I don't want to discuss anything until after the public hearing.
Well at least it's there and it's a good framework.
So that could be a quick turnaround.
Okay.
All right.
So last item on the agenda are the consent items.
Um Seth, would you mind going giving me a recap of the dry prairie meeting?
Yeah, it was boring as usual.
Okay, good.
Thank you.
Okay, so after you've had a minute to review uh the consent items, I would entertain a motion that we approve them.
I'll make the motion to approve the consent item.
I would second that motion.
Okay, so we have a motion made and seconded.
Is there any discussion?
Okay, hearing none.
All those in favor?
Aye.
Okay.
All right, so our next meeting will be October 28th.
At 8 30, I'll entertain a motion to adjourn.
So move.
Adjourn until October 28th.
I will be leaving town October thirtieth.
Okay, so it'll be here for