Pocatello council approves consent items, plats, airport grants and contracts, and equipment purchases

The Pocatello City Council on July 1 approved a slate of consent items, development plats, airport grant applications and construction contracts, service agreements for city utilities, and several leases and surplus property actions.

Council approved the consent agenda (items 3a–h) after removing item 3g for a separate vote so one member could abstain on that item. The council then approved item 3g separately with one abstention recorded for Council member Nichols.

Major land-use and development approvals included short-plat approvals for Juniper Heights (subdivide about 6.24 acres into four lots), Frederick Hill Village (about 0.36 acres into three lots), and Alameda Commercial Plaza (approximately 6.78 acres into four commercial lots), and a final plat approval for Stratton Estates Division 4 (approximately 1.12 acres into about 12 townhome lots). Staff recommended approval of these plats with conditions; council votes for each item were recorded as approved on roll call.

Airport business: the council approved submission of FAA Airport Improvement Program (AIP) FY2025 entitlement grant applications including a $712,500 application for construction of a new taxi lane and to facilitate hangar development, and a $380,000 application for pavement maintenance on the main and overflow parking lots. Council members noted the grants require a 5% local match to be funded with state grant funds and budgeted airport passenger facility charge (PFC) funds.

Related to the airport improvement program, the council accepted staff recommendations for low responsive bids: the council accepted the apparent low bid from Galm Construction for the new taxi lane in the amount stated in staff materials and authorized execution of contract documents subject to legal review and FAA acceptance of grant offers. The council also accepted bids for pavement maintenance (Straight Stripe Painting) and for construction administration services (work order to Adora, as listed in staff materials). All awards were approved on roll call and are subject to FAA approval of grant offers.

Other airport actions included approval of an updated airport Concession Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (ACDBE) plan and several lease agreements and resolutions: a five-year renewal lease with Randy Moore for about 9,216 square feet of warehouse space at $1,230.66 per month; a two-year lease with Bravo 6 for approximately 1,200 square feet at $1,951 per month for flight instruction operations; and a 20-year lease with Idaho Inline Hockey for about 3.25 acres to construct and operate an indoor hockey facility with a rental schedule listed in the lease materials ($1 for year one, then a rent schedule beginning year two). All airport lease items were approved and subject to legal review.

City operations and equipment: council approved a donation of a surplus emergency vehicle operations training car to the Bennett County Sheriff’s Office; approved a service contract with FirstDue for updated fire department reporting software to meet new national reporting requirements (funded within the fire and EMS budgets); approved a WPC (Water Pollution Control) purchase of a Fairbanks submersible pump and motor from C.H. Spencer LLC for $67,297.59 to replace the McKinley Lift Station pump; and approved a subscription and implementation agreement with IT Pipes for off-site hosting and management of CCTV sanitary sewer inspection data in the amount of $23,000 (available in the FY2025 WPC budget).

During discussion of the IT Pipes item, Levi, WPC superintendent, described the service: “It’s a hosting program for all of the CCTV footage that we create,” he said, explaining that the system stores inspection videos in the cloud for engineering and operations to access for development review and maintenance planning. Council members asked whether existing video would migrate to the new system; Levi confirmed the old video would be imported and remain the city’s property.

The council also authorized a state and local agreement (SLA) with the Idaho Transportation Department for the Pole Line Road improvement project and authorized a $10,000 match payment allocated from Fund 70. The council approved an SLA addendum for the Center Street railroad underpass rehabilitation project and authorized a $39,822 match payment from Fund 70. Both projects carry a stated local match percentage of 7.34% of programmed costs and require ITD and other approvals.

Other routine approvals included appointments and reappointments to the library board, Parks and Recreation advisory board, and the Planning and Zoning Commission; acceptance of several material claims and the treasurer’s April 2025 report; and approval of lease and resolution items for ARC of Bannock County and for airport tenants. No members of the public signed up for items from the audience; the mayor closed the meeting with a holiday safety reminder and adjourned the session.

Votes at a glance

- Consent agenda (items 3a–h) excluding 3g: Approved (motion Mangum; second Paulson). Roll call: recorded as approved on roll call. - Consent agenda item 3g (separate vote): Approved (motion Mangum; second Paulson). Council member Nichols recorded an abstention on item 3g. - Short plat — Juniper Heights (agenda item 7): Approved (motion Paulson; second Mangum). - Short plat — Frederick Hill Village (agenda item 8): Approved (motion Mangum; second Paulson). - Short plat — Alameda Commercial Plaza (agenda item 9): Approved (motion Cheatham; second Mangum). - Final plat — Stratton Estates Division 4 (agenda item 10): Approved (motion Mangum; second Cheatham). - Airport grant applications — FAA AIP FY2025 (agenda item 11): Approved (motion Mangum; second Paulson). Grants: $712,500 and $380,000; 5% match required. - Airport bid acceptances and construction agreements (agenda item 12): Approved (motion Cheatham; second Mangum). Low bids accepted as listed in staff materials; awards subject to FAA grant acceptance and legal review. - Airport ACDBE plan (agenda item 13): Approved (motion Mangum; second Paulson). - Airport leases and resolutions (agenda item 14): Approved (motion Mangum; second Paulson). Includes lease renewals and new leases; rental terms and CPI adjustments noted in staff materials. - Surplus property donation — Police department training car (agenda item 15): Approved (motion Nichols; second Cheatham). - FirstDue fire reporting software contract (agenda item 16): Approved (motion Mangum; second Paulson). - ARC of Bannock County lease and resolution (agenda item 17): Approved (motion Cheatham; second Mangum). - IT Pipes WPC CCTV service agreement (agenda item 18): Approved (motion Mangum; second Nichols). Subscription and implementation $23,000; staff confirmed migration of prior video to new system. - WPC lift station pump purchase — C.H. Spencer LLC (agenda item 19): Approved (motion Mangum; second Paulson). Purchase amount: $67,297.59; funding available in FY2025 WPC budget. - State and local agreement — Pole Line Road improvement (agenda item 20): Approved (motion Mangum; second Cheatham). Authorized match payment $10,000 from Fund 70. - SLA addendum — Center Street railroad underpass rehab project (agenda item 21): Approved (motion Nichols; second Cheatham). Authorized match payment $39,822 from Fund 70.

Council members and staff named frequently during the meeting included Council members Mangum, Paulson, Cheatham, Nichols, Bates and Bingham, the mayor, grants manager Christine Howe, WPC superintendent Levi, and clerks calling roll. Where roll-call tallies were recorded on the record, the article reflects the council’s stated vote outcomes.

The council closed the meeting after a final public-safety reminder and adjourned the session.