City Council Special Meeting - Budget Workshop

CITY OF STAR, IDAHO CITY COUNCIL WORKSHOP MINUTES City Hall - 10769 W State Street, Star, Idaho Tuesday, May 27, 2025 at 6:30 PM PUBLIC NOTICE: THIS MEETING IS BEING RECORDED AND PLACED IN AN ONLINE FORMAT, PERSONS MAY EITHER VIEW OR LISTEN TO VIDEO/AUDIO OF THIS MEETING UNTIL SUCH TIME THE RECORDING IS DESTROYED UNDER THE CITY’S RETENTION POLICY. 1. CALL TO ORDER – Welcome/Pledge of Allegiance Mayor Chadwick called the meeting to order at 6:30 p.m. and led the Pledge of Allegiance. 2. INVOCATION – Council Member Kevin Nielsen Councilman Nielsen led the invocation. 3. ROLL CALL ELECTED OFFICIALS: Mayor Trevor Chadwick, Council President David Hershey and Council Members Jennifer Salmonsen and Kevin Nielsen. STAFF: City Clerk Shelly Tilton; City Treasurer Michelle Meyer; City Engineer Ryan Morgan; Star Fire Chief Zach Hessing and Building & Grounds Manager Bob Little. Two members of the public were present. 4. FISCAL YEAR 2026 BUDGET WORKSHOP Mayor Chadwick Provided Council Members and staff with copies of the draft working budget for fiscal year 2026 as well as reports on actual expenses and revenues for the current fiscal year. He discussed budget adjustments for the current fiscal year that will be presented at a council meeting in June. The fiscal year 2023 audit will be presented at the council meeting next week. Police Chief Hessing presented his budget request. He discussed cost of living increases and competing wages for staffing with neighboring cities. He said that he is requesting 5% salary increases, Ada County is looking at 4% increases which is what will determine salaries for the police department contract. Chief Hessing provides costs associated with 3 proposed options of adding an elementary School Resource Officer (SRO), adding two patrol deputies or adding an SRP and two patrol deputies. The SRO would serve the current elementary school as well as the new one that will be built this year. He said the cost to have an officer at Freedom Park in the summer and for special events is approximately $12,000. He said that 2 additional deputies would allow a minimum of 2 deputies on for each shift where now some shifts have only one. Option 3 would provide one deputy per 1000 residents per current population which is the goal. Chief Hessing also discussed the need for an additional handheld radio, Toughbook, increased training, computer depreciation, vehicles, electronic equipment contract and Ada County’s K9 budget. Council members would like to start with Option 3, to include an additional SRO and 2 deputies, and cut down if needed. Mayor Chadwick mentioned that he had a discussion with Dr. Bubb, Superintendent of the West Ada School District; the school district may be interested in partnering on the SRO. Potential grant funding was discussed. Page 1 of 2  CITY OF STAR, IDAHO CITY COUNCIL WORKSHOP MINUTES City Hall - 10769 W State Street, Star, Idaho Tuesday, May 27, 2025 at 6:30 PM Building & Grounds Manager Bob Little discussed the buildings and facilities that his department cleans and maintains, including approximately 100 acres of landscaping at the city parks. The department currently has 7 full-time maintenance, 4 part-time seasonal and 2 cleaning staff. It would be helpful to have 4 additional full-time seasonal employees to help with the additional park landscaping and maintenance during the summer and fall. Additional mowers would be helpful; Bob will obtain quotes for these to potentially be added to the current budget. Vehicles and UTVs were discussed. Bob does basic maintenance and upkeep of the equipment, maintained beyond that is done by Mountain View Equipment Company. Contracting with a diver for the lakes at Freedom Park and with a towing company for parking violators at city parks was discussed. City Clerk Shelly Tilton discussed passport scheduling, stating that the addition of a second Passport Acceptance Agent allowed appointments to be available much sooner. 5. ADJOURNMENT Mayor Chadwick adjourned the meeting at 7:57 p.m. ____________/s/__________________ ATTEST: _________/s/_____________________ Mayor Trevor A. Chadwick Shelly Tilton, City Clerk Page 2 of 2