There is a planned power outage in the Sun Valley and Ketchum area September 27th, starting at 12:01 am that morning and lasting until around 6:00 am. Idaho Power will be doing some major repairs and upgrades on the 138 Kv line that runs from Hailey to Ketchum. If you live north of St. Luke’s Hospital, plan to be without power for around 6 hours on Tuesday the 27th.
Category Archives: Infrastructure
A Good Day for Democracy in Sun Valley
Seven and a half hour City Council meeting yesterday…proud of my fellow Council members…we passed a budget for next year that doesn’t raise taxes, passed a 5-year Capital Improvement Plan and worked on a way to pay for it, rejected a plan to change our Comprehensive Plan after listening to 160 citizens testify against it…it was a good day for democracy!
Three Sun Valley City Council Meetings the Week of August 15, 2011
The week of August 15, 2011 we have three Sun Valley City Council meetings:
Tuesday August 16, 2011 at 10:00 am – Special Council Meeting – 2nd reading of Appropriations Ordinance #440 to adopt the City’s Fiscal Year 2012 Budget.
- Click here for the Agenda and Council Packet for 8-16-11 meeting.
Wednesday August 17, 2011 at 9:00 am – Special Council Meeting – Site visit, Sun Valley Company Comprehensive Plan Amendment requests.
- Click here for the Agenda and Council Packet for the 8-17-11 meeting.
Thursday August 18, 2011 at 1:00 pm – Regular Monthly Council Meeting.
- Click here for the Agenda and Council Packet for the 8-18-11 meeting. Along with normal business and reports, the principal items of consideration this month include:
- Adoption of 5-Year Capital Improvement Plan and discussion of bond funding.
- Continued Public Hearings on Sun Valley Company Comprehensive Plan Amendment requests.
- Consideration of Extension of Mountain Rides Joint Powers Agreement.
You can also listen to any of our Council meetings live, or later on the internet at this link.
You can always see the full Council schedule and additional information at my website.
Sun Valley City Council Meeting August 9, 2011
UPDATED 8-5-11
On Tuesday August 9, 2011 at 10:00 a.m. we have a Special Sun Valley City Council meeting. This is the fourth in a number of meetings we are holding to establish the City’s Fiscal Year 2012 Budget (October 1, 2011 through September 30, 2012). At this meeting the Council will hold its formal Public Hearing on the Tentative Budget for FY12 we adopted on July 12, 2011.
You will note that the Public Hearing on the FY12 Budget was to be held on August 2, 2011, a date the Council established back in April and which is indicated on your tax statement. Unfortunately, the City’s Administrative staff did not follow proper notice procedures and the August 2nd Public Hearing could not be held on that date. It had to be moved to August 9th. I hope this does not cause an inconvenience to the taxpayers of Sun Valley. I am also waiting for the City to post a copy of the Tentative Budget on the City’s website. When that happens, I will put a link to it here. The Tentative Budget is now available online at the City website. Click here to view it.
During the July 12, 2011 Special Council Meeting, I was able to convince the Council to agree to my proposal to forego raising property taxes by 3% in the FY12 Tentative Budget. It makes no sense to increase property taxes when the draft budget showed revenues over expenditures greater than the increase in property taxes. We are still able to fund necessary operations and meet our obligations.
The City has not posted the Agenda or Council Packet for the 8-9-11 meeting yet. When they do, I will put a link to it here. The Agenda and Council Packet for the 8-9-11 meeting is now available online at this link. You will note that the Mayor has now added several additional items to the Agenda for this Special Meeting.
You can also listen to any of our Council meetings live, or later on the internet at this link.
You can always see the full Council schedule and additional information at my website.
Sun Valley City Council Meeting July 20, 2011
On Wednesday July 20, 2011 at 9:00 a.m. we have a Special Sun Valley City Council meeting (note earlier start time). The purpose of this meeting is twofold. First we will have a Public Hearing on the Cox Communications Franchise Agreement renewal. Following that will have further discussion on the City’s Draft Capital Improvement Plan (CIP).
There is no Council Packet for this meeting. However, you can click here to see the Agenda for the meeting. You can also view the Draft CIP at this link.
You can also listen to any of our Council meetings live, or later on the internet at this link.
You can always see the full Council schedule and additional information at my website.
Sun Valley in Strong Financial Position as Budgeting Begins
UPDATE: 7-12-11, 5:00 p.m. – At our meeting today, the City Council saw the wisdom in my proposal to forego raising property taxes by 3% for next year. We passed the Tentative Budget without a tax increase and sent a smaller budget on to the Public Hearing which will be held on August 2, 2011. At that meeting we are expected to finalize the FY12 City Budget.
* * * * *
As the Sun Valley City Council begins debate on the Fiscal Year 2011 Budget today, I will be presenting an analysis which shows the City is in a very strong financial position and able to easily forego raising property taxes by 3% this coming year.
My analysis shows we can meet all our obligations, provide staff salary increases, purchase new police and fire vehicles, and still maintain over six and one half (6 ½) months of unrestricted cash reserves to cover annual operating expenses if something completely unexpected happens.
I will present my analysis to the City Council this morning at 10:00 a.m. Click on the link below to view the PowerPoint presentation:
Sun Valley City Council Meeting July 12, 2011
On Tuesday July 12, 2011 at 10:00 a.m. we have a Special Sun Valley City Council meeting. This is the third in a number of meetings we are holding to establish the City’s Fiscal Year 2012 Budget (October 1, 2011 through September 30, 2012). Click here to see the complete list of our budget meetings.
At this meeting the Council is expected to adopt a “Tentative Budget” for FY12. The purpose of the Tentative Budget is to set a ceiling on the level of expenditures and the city property tax levy. This information will then be put in the notice for the public hearing on the budget which will be held on August 2, 2011.
During the June 21, 2011 Special Council Meeting, we made significant expenditure reductions in the Mayor’s original proposed draft FY12 Budget ($6,055,000 down to $5,166,000). The Council modified version is available online at this link. We will be using this version as we consider our “Tentative Budget” at the July 12th meeting. Input from the citizens of Sun Valley will be important at this meeting.
To see the full Agenda and Council Packet for the 7-12-11 meeting, click here.
You can also listen to any of our Council meetings live, or later on the internet at this link.
You can always see the full Council schedule and additional information at my website
Sun Valley City Council Meeting July 7, 2011
On Thursday July 7, 2011 at 10:00 a.m. we have a Special Sun Valley City Council meeting. The purpose of this meeting is to present the City’s Draft Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) to the public for its input.
City staff and elected officials have been developing the CIP over the past two years. It addresses specific infrastructure needs (streets, facilities, fixed assets and land) of the City for the next five years with projections out to year 2031. As it is a “want” list, there are certainly areas that are more critically needed than others, and that is where public input will be very important. This will help the Council in determining further prioritization and evaluation of funding sources.
It is anticipated by the Council that the meeting on July 7th will be the first of several as we undergo the full evaluation of the CIP.
Unfortunately, it appears City staff has not posted the Draft CIP on the City website yet. As soon as it is up, I will post a link to it here. UPDATE: City staff finally posted the Draft CIP on the City website (on 7-6-11 the day before the meeting), but it takes some looking to find it. Go to the far right column on the City home page, approximately half way down the page and you will see 7 dark green links. Since they were unable to copy it into a manageable size, you will have to look at each of the seven links to review the entire Draft CIP.
You can also listen to any of our Council meetings live, or later on the internet at this link.
You can always see the full Council schedule and additional information at my website
Sun Valley City Council Meeting June 21, 2011
On Tuesday June 21, 2011 at 10:00 a.m. we have a Special Sun Valley City Council meeting. This is the second in a number of meetings we are holding to establish the City’s Fiscal Year 2012 Budget (October 1, 2011 through September 30, 2012). Click here to see the complete list of our budget meetings.
At this meeting, the Council will receive the Mayor’s proposed draft budget for FY12, we will discuss revenue and expenditure assumptions and projections for the budget, and we will review and update our Council Priorities for FY12.
As I do each year, I prepare my recommended Strategic Project Priorities for the upcoming Fiscal Year for the City of Sun Valley. I will be discussing these at the meeting on June 21st. You can click here to see my FY12 priorities.
We will also have the second reading of Ordinance 442 Regarding Use of Certain Vehicles on Public Streets.
To see the full Agenda and Council Packet for the 6-21-11 meeting, click here.
You can also listen to any of our Council meetings live, or later on the internet at this link.
You can always see the full Council schedule and additional information at my website
Sun Valley City Council Meeting June 16 2011
On Thursday, June 16, 2011 at 4:00 pm we have our regular monthly City Council meeting.
Along with normal business and reports, the principal items of consideration this month include:
- Discussion regarding Cox Communications franchise agreement
- Discussion with Sun Valley Postmaster regarding mail delivery issues
- Hear FY12 Budget request from Sun Valley Marketing Alliance
- Consideration of a 5 year renewal of the Mandatory Garbage Collection Agreement
- Discussion regarding the Area of City Impact Agreement with Blaine County
- Renewal of Mountain Rides Joint Powers Agreement
- Public Hearing on Ordinance regarding the use of ATV’s on City streets
- Adopt Council Priorities for FY12
- Consider revised Building Permit Fee Schedule
- Review Preliminary Draft of Capital Improvement Plan
To see the full Agenda and Council Packet for the 6-16-11 meeting, click here.
You can also listen to this or any other Council meeting live, or later on the internet at this link.
You can always see the full Council schedule and additional information at my website.
Sun Valley City Council Meeting May 19, 2011
On Thursday, May 19, 2011 at 4:00 pm we have our regular monthly City Council meeting.
Along with normal business and reports, the principal items of consideration this month include:
- Consideration of a 5 year renewal of the Mandatory Garbage Collection Agreement
- Discussion on progress regarding the Area of City Impact Agreement with Blaine County
- Discussion regarding the use of ATV’s on City streets
- Set date for first public hearing on Capital Improvement Plan
To see the full Agenda and Council Packet for the 5-19-11 meeting, click here.
You can also listen to this or any other Council meeting live, or later on the internet at this link.
You can always see the full Council schedule and additional information at my website.
Sun Valley City Council Sets Fiscal Year 2012 Budget Meeting Schedule
UPDATE: 7-29-11 – See date change below for Public Hearing on FY12 Budget.
At our last Regular City Council meeting we set the dates for the formal Public Hearing and other associated meetings for the preparation and decision on the Fiscal Year 2012 City Budget. Our fiscal year runs October 1 through September 30.
I have posted the dates below and on my website. The only date that is fixed in stone is the formal Public Hearing to be held of August 2, 2011 at 10 am at Sun Valley City Hall (so much for that – City Administrative staff did not properly notice the meeting so it had to be canceled and moved to August 9th – see below). Please contact me if you have any questions or thoughts on the City budget. I also urge you to check in periodically here on the blog for updates and changes to meeting dates and times. And, of course our City Council always appreciates public comment at any of our meetings, not just the Public Hearing.
May 31, 2011 – City Council Special Meeting – 10:00 a.m. – FY12 Budget Discussion – Priorities
June 21, 2011 – City Council Special Meeting – 10:00 a.m. – FY12 Budget Discussion – Assumptions and Projections
July 12, 2011 – City Council Special Meeting – 10:00 a.m. – Approve Tentative FY12 Budget
CANCELED - August 2, 2011 – City Council Special Meeting – 10:00 a.m. – Public Hearing on FY12 Budget Ordinance
August 9, 2011 – City Council Special Meeting – 10:00 a.m. – Public Hearing on FY12 Budget Ordinance
August 16, 2011 – City Council Special Meeting – 10:00 a.m. – 2nd Reading of FY12 Budget Ordinance
