City Council Budget Workshop

CITY OF STAR, IDAHO CITY COUNCIL BUDGET WORKSHOP SUMMARY MINUTES City Hall - 10769 W State Street, Star, Idaho Tuesday, June 27, 2023 at 7:00 PM 1. CALL TO ORDER – Welcome/Pledge of Allegiance Mayor Chadwick opened the meeting at 7:01 p.m., led the Pledge of Allegiance, and welcomed those in attendance. Council Member Wheelock provided the invocation. 2. ROLL CALL City Council Members present: Council President David Hershey, Council Member Kevan Wheelock, Mayor Trevor Chadwick, Council Member Jennifer Salmonsen, and Council Member Kevin Nielsen were all present. Staff present: City Clerk-Treasurer Jacob Qualls, Planning & Zoning Administrator Shawn Nickel, Assistant City Planner/Code Enforcement Ryan Field, Star Police Chief Zach Hessing, Public Information Officer Dana Partridge, and Parks, Arts, & Beautification Committee Member Sue Speer were also present. 3. PRESENTATIONS - A. FY 23/24 Budget Workshop – Discussion Mayor Chadwick presented the Draft Fiscal Year 2023/2024 Budget, balanced at $13,197,361.04. Chadwick noted that the City has north of $12 million dollars in savings, and went on to detail the income and expense sides of the proposed budget. Chadwick highlighted several areas within the budget, and Council discussion ensued on the following matters: concerns over Idaho House Bill 389 were noted as leaving potential funds from new construction on the table; liquor revenue sharing is expected to drop next year due to changes from the State legislature; overview discussion of City facility and park rental fees; donation income for the annual Hometown Celebration; a potential transportation grant to look at Downtown Parking, and uses for Park Impact fees. Chadwick noted that City Clerk Qualls has pursued getting the most value for the City in terms of interest revenue. With respect to Staffing matters, for Buildings and Maintenance, Council discussion noted increased needs for a new janitor role to help now that the new Police station and Recreation Center are online, as well as the Riverhouse. Potential need for a Parks maintenance role to help maintain the sixty-acre park area by Riverhouse. Council Members discussed the exponential growth of the City, and whether or not it was logical to consider splitting the role of City Clerk-Treasurer into two roles; it was decided that further study was needed. Chadwick reviewed overall employee costs, noting raises and requests for professional training. Council discussion noted that City Attorney Chris Yorgason is not raising his fees for next year, and that it will reflect lower with no lawsuits on the horizon as the amount in last year’s budget was owing to a lawsuit that occurred with the City of Middleton. BC/jmq Page 1 of 3  CITY OF STAR, IDAHO CITY COUNCIL BUDGET WORKSHOP SUMMARY MINUTES City Hall - 10769 W State Street, Star, Idaho Tuesday, June 27, 2023 at 7:00 PM Chadwick proposed increasing the dollar amount for Mayor’s Youth Council scholarships given, in support of helping high school graduates who are Star residents as they pursue professional training through colleges and trade schools. Chadwick reviewed various computer software and infrastructure costs. For City Committees, a potential license for Signup Genius was discussed. Mayor Chadwick thanked the members of the Parks, Arts, and Beautification Committee that were present. The Council asked various questions about the potential Ethan’s Smile Tulip Program, traffic box art wraps program, and City beautification. For the History Committee, the potential for purchasing and developing the historic Grange Building as a Star History Museum was discussed. For Parks, a potential partnership between the City and the Friends Community Church was discussed in terms of the historic Star Barn. It was noted that City representatives have been meeting with the Elders of the church and working on creating a partnership agreement that would allow the City to provide maintenance to the facility and make improvements, and in return the City would be able to utilize the facility to host more programs and events for the community. No further improvement is planned at Blake Haven Park for this fiscal year; Hunters Creek Park will have batting cages added; Pavilion Park will have pickleball added. For Police, Chief Zach Hessing provided a projection of service level need given the rapid population growth in the City. He stated that the force is looking at adding two additional deputies. With caseload, he said the next thing that would come up may be adding an additional Person Crimes Detective, and as another future role, likely an Administrative Sergeant. Hessing mentioned that the police are working on applying for grants to help fund some of the roles. For Animal Control, Mayor Chadwick noted the current policy is for animal control to be handled through police deputies taking stray animals to the local Star Veterinary Clinic. For the following budget year, discussion ensured the City will consider a move to working with the Idaho Humane Society in order to free up the deputies from this task. The Idaho Humane Society would also provide some services with relation to cats, wildlife, and stray farm animals. Council discussion moved back to City facilities. Chadwick noted the disc golf project at Freedom Park was already underway. Various potential improvements such as a future piano for the Star Riverhouse, were touched on, and Chadwick noted that more research was needed on this potential purchase. BC/jmq Page 2 of 3  CITY OF STAR, IDAHO CITY COUNCIL BUDGET WORKSHOP SUMMARY MINUTES City Hall - 10769 W State Street, Star, Idaho Tuesday, June 27, 2023 at 7:00 PM 4. ADJOURNMENT Mayor Chadwick adjourned the Star City Council budget workshop at 9:52 p.m. _/s/_______________________________ ATTEST: _/s/____________________________ Trevor A Chadwick, Mayor Jacob M Qualls, City Clerk - Treasurer BC/jmq Page 3 of 3