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OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD

Record of Proceedings

Twin Falls City Council Meeting - January 20, 2026

City Council — Tuesday, January 20, 2026

BodyTwin Falls, Idaho

SessionCity Council

DateTuesday, January 20, 2026

StatusFILED

Video Record

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Transcript — Verbatim

Speaker numbers apply only to this recording.

Speaker 1

1:07

I'd like to welcome everyone to the January 20th Twin Falls City Council meeting.

1:13

It looks like we have a quorum.

1:15

We're missing two members.

1:20

If you'd like to join with me on the Pledge of Allegiance, please stand

Speaker 2

1:27

to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all.

Speaker 1

1:41

Thank you.

1:50

Ruth Pierce.

Speaker 2

1:52

I move to accept the consent calendar as written.

Speaker 1

1:55

I have a second.

Speaker 3

1:56

I'll second.

Speaker 1

1:58

Second by Jerry Volmer.

Unassigned speaker

2:03

We'll

Speaker 1

2:03

call vote.

2:04

Go roll call vote, Rachel.

Speaker 4

2:08

Ruth Pierce.

2:09

Yes.

2:10

Chris Reed?

Speaker 1

2:10

Yes.

Speaker 4

2:11

Craig Hawkins.

Speaker 1

2:12

Yes.

Speaker 4

2:12

Sherry Volmer.

2:13

Yes.

2:13

And Nathan Murray.

Speaker 5

2:15

Yes.

Speaker 1

2:17

Motion passes.

2:18

Motion passes five to zero.

2:20

Five to zero.

2:21

Thank you.

2:24

Next on our item.

2:34

Okay.

Unassigned speaker

2:36

Oh,

Speaker 1

2:36

our next item is items of consideration.

2:40

We have a request for the council to approve two contract amendments with coal architecture for design and engineering of a police evidence storage facility and to authorize the mayor to sign the agreement.

2:51

And we have Mandy Thompson assistant the manager.

Speaker 6

2:56

Good evening, uh, Mr.

2:57

Vice Mayor and members of council.

3:00

I was thinking today, it's been a very long time since I've said anything but madam mayor.

3:04

Speaker 2

3:06

four years for sure.

Speaker 6

3:08

Um so thank you uh for uh the opportunity to come up here and just uh take care of a little bit of business.

3:14

Um back in March of 2025, Council approved a contract with coal architects for the first phase of design of the new long-term evidence storage facility.

3:23

We elected to do it in phases um just because we um wanted to ensure that what we came up for in that kind of early version of schematic design was going to be workable both budget-wise and um on the property that we elected to um construct this facility, which is out um kind of adjacent to the fire training facility and the um people for pets, the humane society.

3:47

Um so we've worked through that process.

3:48

It's been a little bit of stop and go, but we are finally at a point where we are ready to continue moving forward.

3:55

So the two um amendments that you have, the two agreements that you have are to kind of it's twofold.

4:02

The first is agreement zero zero one, which is to complete schematic design for two potential future phases.

4:09

So when we originally started looking at this, we were just looking at a straight evidence in long-term edit of evidence storage for the police department.

4:17

Um, but as we started looking at current space considerations and future needs, both for evidence and for potentially some training for the police department.

4:27

Um, we started looking at the possibility of making this a multi kind of multi-functional um facility.

4:34

So there are two components to agreement zero zero one.

4:37

One is to look at sort of just the again, the schematic design of what a training facility or a training component for the police department would look like out there.

4:45

And then the second is to look at what it would look what it would take and kind of what it would look like to bring the entirety of evidence out to this location.

4:54

Um and this is done.

5:07

We're out of space.

5:08

And the only way to enlarge the female locker rooms in the operations building is to expand into where evidence is

Unassigned speaker

5:14

now.

Speaker 6

5:15

So right now I think they're making it work and they're um, but um, as we continue to grow and potentially to continue to hire more female officers, it's something that may become a consideration in the future.

5:27

And so instead of designing this long-term evidence facility in a vacuum and not taking any of these um concepts into consideration, um, we're going to look at kind of what both of those facilities could look like in the future.

5:41

Um, simply so that as we design the long-term evidence um uh building, we take into consideration that some of these things could be um located there in the future

Unassigned speaker

5:53

and

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting

Zoning And Land Use█████████████████████████████████████████████45%

Public Engagement██████████████████████████████████34%

Engineering And Infrastructure███████████11%

Procedural████████8%

Veterans Affairs██2%

Summary of Proceedings

Twin Falls City Council Meeting - January 20, 2026

The Twin Falls City Council convened on Tuesday, January 20, 2026, at 5:00 PM. Vice Mayor Craig Hawkins presided, with Council Members Ruth Pierce, Christopher Reid, Nathan Murray, and Cherie Vollmer present. Mayor Jason Brown and Council Member Grayson Stone were absent. The meeting adjourned at 5:45 PM. The council unanimously approved a consent calendar, contract amendments for a police evidence storage facility, an alley vacation ordinance, and a 40-acre annexation with a zoning development agreement.

Consent Calendar

Council unanimously approved the consent calendar (5-0). Items included the January 12, 2026 meeting minutes, accounts payable for January 8-14, 2026, an alcohol license for Tacos El Paisa LLC, January 14, 2026 travel requests, and the November 2025 Wells Fargo credit card summary.

Public Comments & Testimony

Maria Hernandez, a Twin Falls native, spoke during General Public Input, honoring Martin Luther King Jr. and reflecting on themes of civil unrest from King's "audacity to believe" speech.

Discussion Items

Police Evidence Storage Facility Contract Amendments: Assistant to the City Manager Mandi Thompson requested approval for two amendments with Cole Architecture. The first amendment ($18,600) is for schematic design of potential future phases, including a training component and full evidence relocation to the site to allow for female locker room expansion in the operations building. The second amendment ($246,905) covers the remaining design and engineering phases for the long-term evidence storage facility. Total budget impact is $265,505, funded in the current fiscal year. Council approved the request 5-0.
Ordinance O-2026-001 – Vacation of Alley (Ritchey Subdivision Annex): Senior City Planner William Klaver presented the formal adoption of the ordinance vacating an alley that served no through-traffic purpose. The council dispensed with the standard reading rules and adopted the ordinance on third and final reading by title only. Approved 5-0.

Public Hearing – Annexation & Zoning Development Agreement (PZ25-0111)

Proposal: Justin Scheel (JUB Engineers), representing CA Development Group LLC, a local custom home builder, requested the annexation of 40 acres at the southwest corner of Blue Lakes Boulevard South and Orchard Drive. The proposal zones approximately 35 acres as TN2 (residential) for an estimated 120 homes, and 5.75 acres as a Community Market District through a Zoning Development Agreement (ZDA). The ZDA requests a gas station by right, a storage facility with limited hours of operation (7 AM to 9 PM), and a reduced rear setback from 15 ft to 10 ft.
Staff Position: Senior Planner Klaver stated staff found no negative detrimental impacts with the recommendation that the applicant dedicate right-of-way and rebuild adjacent road frontages (Blue Lakes Boulevard South and Orchard Drive) to city standards.
Council Deliberation: Council Member Pierce expressed support for new growth in the south part of town. Council Member Murray sought and received assurances from staff that existing landscaping and buffering ordinances would provide an appropriate aesthetic adjacent to the residential community. Council Member Reid noted initial hesitation about the request but stated he was supportive after hearing the applicant's presentation. Council Member Vollmer sought confirmation that the roadway adjacent to the storage unit lot was intended to extend into the future subdivision, which staff confirmed.
Public Hearing: The public hearing was opened at 5:38 PM and closed at 5:39 PM with no testimony from the public.
Outcome: Council unanimously approved the annexation and ZDA (5-0).

Advisory Board Reports & Announcements

Vice Mayor Hawkins announced a Veterans Resource Fair on February 18th at the College of Southern Idaho (9 AM to 4 PM) and Veterans Appreciation Day on July 2nd.

Key Outcomes

Consent Calendar: Approved (5-0).
Police Facility Contracts: Approved two contract amendments totaling $265,505 (5-0).
Alley Vacation Ordinance: Adopted O-2026-001 (5-0).
Annexation & Zoning Development Agreement: Approved (5-0) for 40 acres, contingent on right-of-way dedication and road improvements.

Meeting Transcript

I'd like to welcome everyone to the January 20th Twin Falls City Council meeting. It looks like we have a quorum. We're missing two members. If you'd like to join with me on the Pledge of Allegiance, please stand to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all. Thank you. Ruth Pierce. I move to accept the consent calendar as written. I have a second. I'll second. Second by Jerry Volmer. We'll call vote. Go roll call vote, Rachel. Ruth Pierce. Yes. Chris Reed? Yes. Craig Hawkins. Yes. Sherry Volmer. Yes. And Nathan Murray. Yes. Motion passes. Motion passes five to zero. Five to zero. Thank you. Next on our item. Okay. Oh, our next item is items of consideration. We have a request for the council to approve two contract amendments with coal architecture for design and engineering of a police evidence storage facility and to authorize the mayor to sign the agreement. And we have Mandy Thompson assistant the manager. Good evening, uh, Mr. Vice Mayor and members of council. I was thinking today, it's been a very long time since I've said anything but madam mayor. So four years for sure. Um so thank you uh for uh the opportunity to come up here and just uh take care of a little bit of business. Um back in March of 2025, Council approved a contract with coal architects for the first phase of design of the new long-term evidence storage facility. We elected to do it in phases um just because we um wanted to ensure that what we came up for in that kind of early version of schematic design was going to be workable both budget-wise and um on the property that we elected to um construct this facility, which is out um kind of adjacent to the fire training facility and the um people for pets, the humane society. Um so we've worked through that process. It's been a little bit of stop and go, but we are finally at a point where we are ready to continue moving forward. So the two um amendments that you have, the two agreements that you have are to kind of it's twofold. The first is agreement zero zero one, which is to complete schematic design for two potential future phases. So when we originally started looking at this, we were just looking at a straight evidence in long-term edit of evidence storage for the police department. Um, but as we started looking at current space considerations and future needs, both for evidence and for potentially some training for the police department. Um, we started looking at the possibility of making this a multi kind of multi-functional um facility. So there are two components to agreement zero zero one.

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Twin Falls City Council Meeting - January 20, 2026

Consent Calendar

Council unanimously approved the consent calendar (5-0). Items included the January 12, 2026 meeting minutes, accounts payable for January 8-14, 2026, an alcohol license for Tacos El Paisa LLC, January 14, 2026 travel requests, and the November 2025 Wells Fargo credit card summary.

Public Comments & Testimony

Maria Hernandez, a Twin Falls native, spoke during General Public Input, honoring Martin Luther King Jr. and reflecting on themes of civil unrest from King's "audacity to believe" speech.

Discussion Items

Police Evidence Storage Facility Contract Amendments: Assistant to the City Manager Mandi Thompson requested approval for two amendments with Cole Architecture. The first amendment ($18,600) is for schematic design of potential future phases, including a training component and full evidence relocation to the site to allow for female locker room expansion in the operations building. The second amendment ($246,905) covers the remaining design and engineering phases for the long-term evidence storage facility. Total budget impact is $265,505, funded in the current fiscal year. Council approved the request 5-0.

Ordinance O-2026-001 – Vacation of Alley (Ritchey Subdivision Annex): Senior City Planner William Klaver presented the formal adoption of the ordinance vacating an alley that served no through-traffic purpose. The council dispensed with the standard reading rules and adopted the ordinance on third and final reading by title only. Approved 5-0.

Public Hearing – Annexation & Zoning Development Agreement (PZ25-0111)

Proposal: Justin Scheel (JUB Engineers), representing CA Development Group LLC, a local custom home builder, requested the annexation of 40 acres at the southwest corner of Blue Lakes Boulevard South and Orchard Drive. The proposal zones approximately 35 acres as TN2 (residential) for an estimated 120 homes, and 5.75 acres as a Community Market District through a Zoning Development Agreement (ZDA). The ZDA requests a gas station by right, a storage facility with limited hours of operation (7 AM to 9 PM), and a reduced rear setback from 15 ft to 10 ft.

Staff Position: Senior Planner Klaver stated staff found no negative detrimental impacts with the recommendation that the applicant dedicate right-of-way and rebuild adjacent road frontages (Blue Lakes Boulevard South and Orchard Drive) to city standards.

Council Deliberation: Council Member Pierce expressed support for new growth in the south part of town. Council Member Murray sought and received assurances from staff that existing landscaping and buffering ordinances would provide an appropriate aesthetic adjacent to the residential community. Council Member Reid noted initial hesitation about the request but stated he was supportive after hearing the applicant's presentation. Council Member Vollmer sought confirmation that the roadway adjacent to the storage unit lot was intended to extend into the future subdivision, which staff confirmed.

Public Hearing: The public hearing was opened at 5:38 PM and closed at 5:39 PM with no testimony from the public.

Outcome: Council unanimously approved the annexation and ZDA (5-0).

Advisory Board Reports & Announcements

Vice Mayor Hawkins announced a Veterans Resource Fair on February 18th at the College of Southern Idaho (9 AM to 4 PM) and Veterans Appreciation Day on July 2nd.

Key Outcomes

Consent Calendar: Approved (5-0).

Police Facility Contracts: Approved two contract amendments totaling $265,505 (5-0).

Alley Vacation Ordinance: Adopted O-2026-001 (5-0).

Annexation & Zoning Development Agreement: Approved (5-0) for 40 acres, contingent on right-of-way dedication and road improvements.

Meeting Transcript