Middleton council authorizes shredding and transfers of city records

The Middleton City Council at its meeting approved three resolutions authorizing destruction and transfer of city records, including a contract for onsite shredding, a transfer of 33 permanent items to the state archives, and donation of three boxes of historical records to the Lee Mobley Museum.

City staff told the council the shredding contract covers the destruction of boxes of nonpermanent records and that the Idaho State Archives had reviewed a set of materials and requested 33 items be retained in their vault. The council also approved transfer of three boxes of local historical material selected for the Lee Mobley Museum by a museum representative.

"I am so excited to get the big truck out here to get these boxes out of the way," said Miss Suggs, a city staff member, describing the practical benefit of the shredding event. The staff presentation said the city would execute a contract with a private vendor, identified in the agenda as Shed It, to shred boxes designated for disposal. The agenda listed a not-to-exceed amount of $1,652.50 for the shredding contract and described 125 boxes in total; counts of small and large boxes in the record were unclear on the transcript and are noted below as not fully specified.

Miss Hobbs, a city staff member, described the state archives transfer as the second step in a three-step process and said staff would visit the archives to see how the materials will be preserved. "The state archivists have reviewed all the documents that we sent over, and they have 33 items that they would like to keep and preserve in their vault," Hobbs said.

An unnamed councilmember raised a past concern about an historical donation, saying, "The Montgomery Cabin was donated to the Idaho State Historical Society. When we asked to get it back, we don't know where it is," and asked staff to confirm security and tracking procedures for items sent offsite. Staff responded that they would take photographs and verify how secure the archives facility is before transfer.

Claudia, identified during the discussion as the person who reviewed items for the Lee Mobley Museum, confirmed she selected items from the set the city did not need to retain as permanent records and would pick them up once the council approved the transfer.

Each resolution was moved, seconded and approved by voice vote; the meeting record indicates councilmembers responded "aye" and the presiding officer declared the motions carried.

Staff did not provide specific future dates for the shredding event or for the archives tour during the discussion. The resolutions approved were recorded on the agenda as Resolution 518-25 (destruction/shredding contract), Resolution 519-25 (transfer of 33 permanent items to state archives) and Resolution 520-25 (transfer of three boxes to the Lee Mobley Museum).