The American Falls City Council met with Power County Commissioners Ken Estep and Ron Funk before the regular city council meeting on Wednesday, Aug. 18. The two agenda items were the bill the city received for utilizing the Power County transfer station during the citywide spring cleanup and vehicle storage issues.
Power County sent the City of American Falls a bill of approximately $900 for the city’s use of the transfer station during this year’s spring cleanup event. The city and the county have an agreement that states since the city donated the land to the county for the transfer station, the city is able to utilize the facility for free.
Estep addressed the council first, and suggested a trade-off. The county would forgive the city’s bill if the city would quit charging the county for garbage pickup, he said.
Mayor Amy Wynn reminded the council even though they had previously voted to keep the water, sewer, and garbage bills as one, they could still change the ordinance and separate the bills, since garbage collection and water are of concern to the county.
Councilperson Norman Wright told Estep that the county buildings, including the courthouse and museum, don’t pay any taxes, but the city still maintains the streets, plows during the winter, and otherwise takes care of the areas around the buildings.
“And the county doesn’t pay a dime,” Wright said.
Estep countered with telling the council the county used Homeland Security grant money to set up the 700 megahurtz system with no help from the city.
Wynn told Estep that the city purchases all of the radios for the city fire department with no help from the county.
Councilperson Dan Hammond reminded Estep that all of the e911 money that the county collects from the cell phones in the county is mostly generated by the population within the city, but the city doesn’t get any of that money.
Estep said he was sure the sheriff would be glad to turn over the dispatch department to the city along with the $60,000 of e911 money.
Wynn said she believed the cost of running the landfill went up, so she could understand why the county would think about charging American Falls for spring cleanup.
Estep agreed, saying the cost of everything has gone up.
Wright suggested the city just not hold a spring cleanup next year.
Councilperson Marc Beitia attempted to get the discussion back on track by reminding everyone that the county was asking for forgiveness on the garbage pickup fee. There was some discussion about how much the city is charging the county for garbage pickup. It was calculated to be about $112 per month, with the county using seven cans at $16 per can.
Estep told the council he had thought it would be an easy trade-off.
The council discussed the issue, and decided it wouldn’t be fair to forgive one taxing entity, but not others like the hospital and library.
“We only charge what it costs us,” said Wynn. “So even though we would love to not charge anyone for the service, we have to. It costs gas and maintenance for the garbage trucks, plus we have to pay the people who drive them.”
In the end, the city council decided that even though there is an agreement with the county for free use of the transfer station on a daily basis, the spring cleanup and the associated bill was an extraordinary event, so they voted to pay the $900 bill.
The other issue tackled by the city council and the commissioners was the issue of vehicle storage. Currently, the city and county are considering storing abandoned vehicles in a fenced-off area of the Power County Transfer Station.
The American Falls Police Department has been cracking down on abandoned vehicles in the city, but towing companies are reluctant to take the cars. According to Police Chief Brandon Wilkinson, it takes 30 to 60 days to get a clear title from the state. Towing companies only make about $200 per car on average. Once the cost of towing and storage is subtracted, the companies lose money. Plus, the state has never reimbursed the city for that cost despite an existing program to do so.
“Streets are getting cleared, but only because people are moving their cars to their front lawns,” said Wilkinson. “Which is a separate issue.”
Estep said the county has the same issue with abandoned vehicle storage, and asked Wilkinson how many cars would need to be stored. Wilkinson estimated about 10 to 15 cars at a time, and Estep said he would bring the issue to the regular commission meeting and see what could be done.
Wright brought up the issue of access to the American Falls Marina when trains block Marina Road. He said he had recently heard of a train being stuck and blocking the road for an extended length of time, so some students who needed to get to a game got out of their cars and crawled under the trains instead of waiting for the tracks to clear.
Blocked access to the American Falls Marina is clearly a dangerous situation, Wright said, so he had been in contact with the State Transportation Board concerning another access to the area by utilizing the intersection at Idaho Street, creating an access off of the dip in between Idaho Street and the bridge over the railroad tracks, or extending access from Kopp Road.
Estep said he would be happy to work with the city on this issue, and would also be in contact with the transportation board.
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