By Aidan Mortensen | KOAL News
The Price City Council was called into session on Wednesday, Oct. 8, for its regularly scheduled meeting. Throughout the meeting, the council approved a pair of engineering agreements and a resolution authorizing the Fremont Solar PPA project transaction schedule. However, a bulk of the meeting was held in a closed session.
Opening the meeting was a safety second presentation by council member Tanner Richardson, encouraging citizens to be aware of buses while commuting in the mornings.
Moving to the main agenda, the council considered approving a resolution that authorizes the Fremont Solar PPA project transaction schedule. “That project has been anticipated in our resource plan … and it’s time to approve the official entry into that plan,” said Community Director Nick Tatton. “The Electric Committee has reviewed that and has recommended that the council approve it.”
Following Tatton’s comments, the council elected to approve the plan unopposed.
Next, the council eyed an agreement with Jones & DeMille Engineering for services related to the Carbon Avenue Canal Crossing. The estimated cost for the project is $75,500. “This is our joint Highway committee-funded program,” explained public works director Miles Nelson. “It was approved five-plus years ago, and the price went up above our ability to do both crossings. We made a request to the joint highway committee to scale it back to one crossing for now and increase our bond match.”
A motion was made to approve the agreement, and the item was passed with unanimous consent.
When the transition into closed sessions was called for, City Attorney Eric Johnson clarified that the purpose of the closed session was to discuss the character, professional competence, physical and mental health of an individual and the purchase, exchange, or lease of real property.
In a roll-call vote, council members Tanner Richardson, Terry Willis, Amy Knott-Jesperson and Layne Miller voted in favor of closing the session. Council member Joe Christman served as the lone dissenting vote.
The meeting entered into closed session at 5:10 p.m., not reopening until 8:38 p.m., nearly three and a half hours later.
Upon public reentry to the meeting, the council opened a public comment period, but there was none. Following this, the meeting was adjourned.
The next meeting of the Price City Council is scheduled for Wednesday, Oct. 22, at 5 p.m. at Price City Hall. For those unable to attend in person, a video stream of the meeting will be available on YouTube at KOAL-Castle Country Focus.