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Pocatello council approves LID, plats, airport grants and procurement; ordinance amendments pass
Summary
At its May 21 meeting the Pocatello City Council approved a package of routine and project items including creation of a local improvement district for water improvements, short plat approvals, several airport grant applications and purchases, a 30‑year airport lease, surplus and seized‑asset sales, hazards abatement contracts, and final passage of a zoning ordinance update.
The Pocatello City Council handled a mix of routine land‑use, procurement and grant items during its May 21 meeting, approving several actions by roll call.
Consent and land‑use items: The consent agenda included approval of minutes, material claims and staff reports along with multiple land‑use decisions (short plat approval for Brady Subdivision; final plat approval for Rest Lawn Memorial Gardens; and consideration of the Creekside Cove planned unit development, which some members opposed on the record). Separately, the council approved a short plat application for Deer Haven (1975 Arlington Drive) to divide 12.99 acres into two residential lots; staff had recommended approval.
Local improvement district: Council adopted a resolution declaring intent to create Local Improvement District No. 120 for water system improvements and set a public hearing as required by state law.
Grants and airport projects: The council authorized submission of a Bloomberg Center for Public Innovation “Love Your Block” grant application (two‑year project, $270,000) to fund wayfinding in the historic downtown, and approved multiple airport funding actions: a $50,000 state aviation aid application to match federal funds and FAA IIJA FY26 entitlement funding requests (including an entitlement application for approximately $1,282,500 toward an airport rescue and firefighting vehicle). Council accepted a low bid from Oshkosh Airport Products (approximately $1,075,095) and authorized the mayor to sign a purchase agreement for the ARFF truck with allowance for up to a 15% informal amendment for change orders.
Leases, surplus and procurement: The council approved a 30‑year lease with Rocky Mountain Investing LLC for about 13,000 square feet at the airport where the company will build an aircraft hangar; the lease included an annual rent rate and CPI adjustments. The council also approved declaring two police‑seized vehicles as surplus for auction and authorized recommended firearm trades and purchases for the police department.
Environmental abatement and zoning ordinance: The council accepted the lowest responsive bid for asbestos and related hazard abatement work at a city‑owned facility (429 Washington Avenue) with funding from the building abatement fund. Later the council conducted final reading and adopted an ordinance amending Title 17 (zoning) to remove redundancies and improve clarity; the ordinance was read by title and placed on final passage by roll call vote.
Votes at a glance (selected): - Consent agenda (items A–F): motion passed by roll call. - LID resolution (item 7): adopted by roll call. - Deer Haven short plat (item 8): approved by roll call. - Bloomberg Love Your Block grant authorization (item 9): approved by roll call. - Airport aid application (item 11) and ARFF truck procurement (item 12): approved by roll call; low bid accepted and purchase agreement authorized. - Airport lease with Rocky Mountain Investing LLC (item 14): approved by roll call. - Seized assets surplus and police firearm transactions (items 15 & 16): approved by roll call. - Environmental abatement bid acceptance (item 17) and zoning ordinance final reading (item 18): approved by roll call.
The council adjourned following the votes. Many approvals were routine staff recommendations; several items (notably the SS4A grant discussed separately) provoked longer debate about long‑term costs and funding strategies for large capital projects.
