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Stacy City Council met October 14 for a regular meeting.  All members were present.

Sheriff’s Deputy Kyle Jones gave an update on September calls.  Jones said there were 611 calls with 284 of them being checks on parks, businesses etc.  Jones said there were 83 traffic stops of which 12 citations were issued.  Jones said there were two reported stolen vehicles in September.  Jones also added there were multiple thefts of items in vehicles in the Foxhill neighborhood. Jones reminded the council and the public to lock their vehicles at all times.

City attorney James Monge told the council he had looked at the proposed hydrant flushing agreement.  Mayor Mark Utecht disagreed and said he would like to see residents who own their own hydrant be responsible for the flushing and maintenance of their hydrants.  “If the city decides to flush all hydrants, I would like to see a fee for the private hydrants,” Utecht added.  

The council agreed to not sign the agreement and discuss further issues in the near future.

Council then approved a contract with Midco after they agreed to strike the verbiage that says the city would be auto-renewed after five years.

Council then heard from Sarah Oberloh of Oberloh and Oberloh accounting as  she presented the 2024 city audit.  Oberloh told council the city has $26 million in assets with 7.7 million in liabilities.  Oberloh added the city has a positive net position of $18.2 million with $5.5 of that being spendable.

Oberloh said the city has $2.3 million in working capital in the general fund.  She also added that a city’s minimum unassigned fund balance should be no less than 35 percent for a city. Stacy, at December 31 of 2024, had 127.6 percent of the fund balance.  

Oberloh made a point of telling the council they have “Some amazing staff” working for them and they are “Very responsible people”.

City engineer Dan Boyum told the council he had two options for assessments on future projects.  The first would go onto the 2026 tax roll and would require a public hearing prior to November 15.  The second would be for the 2027 tax roll and would allow the city to compile quantities and costs for the projects.  Council agreed to wait and go with option two unanimously.

Council then passed a motion for payment two for this summer’s road projects.  The payment is for $113,172.94 to North Valley Inc.

Maintenance engineer Troy Nelson then updated the council on well number one.  Nelson said they received the radium tests recently and the levels are looking good.  The recommended highest level a city may have is 5 and Stacy’s came back at .91. Nelson said the well is trending in the right direction and should see for public use in the near future.

Mayor Utecht then told the council the results from the public park poll was overwhelmingly to open the bathrooms at Lions Park again.  Council agreed to proceed with the plan to open the bathrooms.

Council then passed a request from fire chief TJ Portament for the purchase of firefighter curricular books for the amount of $4,429.39.

Council then passed a motion by council member Jeff Barrett enacting cannabis regulations with summary by a vote of 3-2 with Utecht and council member Tim Sawatzky voting against, with no comment.

There was a brief discussion about a recent Lent Town Hall renter who claims the hall refrigerator malfunctioned causing some food to spoil.  They were requesting $90 for the loss of those items.  Council agreed to pay but agreed to include wording on the rental agreements that states the city is not responsible for similar losses.  Mayor Utech told the council he was getting frustrated with the hassle associated with renting the hall and asked if it would be easier just making it a full time council chambers. No action was taken on this.

Council member Barrett told the council the city's investments made $6,000 in interest last month and $107,000 year to date.  Council thanked Barrett and city finance manager Michelle Hayes for their hard work.

Council then had a lengthy discussion about keeping city hall open five days. Utecht said he has heard multiple complaints from residents and businesses who were unable to do business because city hall was closed.  Council took no action and decided to discuss more in the future.  

Council adjourned at 10:10pm 

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