***Monday, August 4, 2025 at 9:00 a.m., Commissioners met in regular session with Commissioner Tim Bertling, Commissioner Lester Pinkerton, and Deputy Clerk Stephanie Sims. Chairman Ben Robertson was absent for the morning session.
Commissioners said the Pledge of Allegiance.
Greg Lamberty entered the meeting at 8:57 a.m.
Maintenance Supervisor Squire Fields entered the meeting at 8:58 a.m.
Commissioner Pinkerton moved to appoint Commissioner Bertling as acting chairman. Commissioner Bertling second. Motion passed unanimously.
Mr. Fields stated that the Safeway building has been the focus recently. They should have it cleaned up this week so that it was ready for the next phase. Mr. Fields asked if Commissioners were ready to move ahead with an auction. Commissioner Bertling stated that they would discuss it at the next department head meeting so that they could include all departments.
Mr. Fields stated that the copper from the building will be picked up soon and asked who the check should be made out to. Commissioners responded that payment should be submitted to Boundary County.
Mr. Fields added that the stalls for the first-floor restroom are powder coated and ready to be installed at the Courthouse. An electrician has also been called to address the lighting issue on the second floor. New bulbs will be installed at the annex soon and they will also install the new sign at that time.
The meeting with Mr. Fields ended at 9:10 a.m. and he left the meeting.
Fay Almond entered the meeting at 9:12 a.m.
Ms. Almond left the meeting at 9:20 a.m.
Mr. Lamberty left the meeting at 9:23 a.m.
Commissioner Pinkerton moved to sign the Commissioner meeting minutes from July 28. Commissioner Bertling stepped down as chair to second. Motion passed unanimously.
Road & Bridge Superintendent Brad Barton and Assistant Superintendent Adam Ryals entered the meeting at 9:25 a.m.
Civil Attorney Bill Wilson entered the meeting at 9:30 a.m.
Commissioner Pinkerton moved to go into Executive Session 74-206(f) to communicate with legal counsel for the public agency to discuss the legal ramifications of and legal options for pending litigation, or controversies not yet being litigated but imminently likely to be litigated. The mere presence of legal counsel at an executive session does not satisfy this requirement. Commissioner Bertling stepped down as chair to second. Commissioners voted as follows: Commissioner Bertling “aye”, Commissioner Pinkerton “aye”. The executive session ended at 10:30 a.m.
Commissioner Pinkerton moved to proceed as discussed. Commissioner Bertling stepped down as chair to second. Motion passed unanimously.
Mr. Wilson left the meeting at 10:31 a.m.
Solid Waste Superintendent Richard Jenkins entered the meeting at 10:32 a.m. to give the solid waste report. Mr. Jenkins stated that the month of July was the busiest they have ever had with a total tonnage of 1,101 tons with two days over 60 tons, 4 days over 50 tons and 6 days over 40 tons. The total vehicle count was 13,876 which was a 7.7% increase month over month and 11.7% increase over the previous year. The rural sites have also seen increases of 16.6% to 23.3%.
Commissioner Pinkerton asked why we were seeing the large increase. Mr. Jenkins answered primarily it was growth with more people that have moved into the county. There have also been a lot of cleanouts from people who have passed away or cleaning up of property that was recently purchased.
Commissioner Pinkerton asked if it was people that are from out of the area. Mr. Jenkins answer no, they do check to make sure they are from the county. However, he added that they are seeing more people from Montana and Canada that want to drop off items on their way through. Mr. Jenkins added that those vehicles are turned away.
Mr. Jenkins added that he will be attending a solid waste conference in Boise in October. Additional bins have been delivered to the fairgrounds for the fair this week and Take It or Leave It was scheduled for August 16th. The gas well monitor had exceedance of 8.0 in the #2 well. The metal pile baling should be completed this week and he estimates it to come in at $61,000.
The ground water drilling of well #1 was 335 ft where they hit bedrock and no water, #2 was a depth of 290 ft with no water, #3 was 300 ft with no water, and #4 was 280 ft with no water. Mr. Jenkins stated that the geology appears to be several layers of clay and sand, and the fact that they are not hitting water was good news. DEQ was pretty satisfied so far and it was looking like we may not have to do any ground water monitoring.
The Tarp system was deployed last Wednesday. They will need to address the brakes on the compactor so that they do not damage the tarp. Mr. Jenkins will get an estimate on what those costs will be.
The meeting with Mr. Jenkins ended at 10:44 a.m. and he left the meeting.
Probation Officer Alisa Walker entered the meeting at 10:45 a.m. to give the probation report. Ms. Walker stated that she was continuing to work to make her department as independent as possible. A second terminal which provides the database for the state has been installed in a central location for the sheriff staff and probation. She was currently training her team so they can do that on their own instead of relying on dispatch to get the information for them. There was no cost involved in adding the second terminal.
Ms. Walker stated that they had their juvenile review in May and everything went well. They are now waiting on the judge to sign the report and she will provide a copy when it was received.
Ms. Walker stated she also wanted to discuss a proposal to acquire a k9 for probation. She stated that she has found a dog someone was willing to donate, and then they would need to have the dog trained.
Commissioner Bertling asked about funding. Ms. Walker responded that it would be funded with grants.
Commissioner Bertling asked why they couldn’t utilize the sheriff’s dog. Ms. Walker responded that they do at times, but their dogs are prioritized for their department and the dog can only work so many hours. Which means it was not always available when they needed it. She also added that during the home visits for juveniles, they can only search common areas and their room. Many of these homes are unsafe environments and it would help if they only had to search the area the dog indicated. Ms. Walker said she was trying to find a safer, more efficient way to do their job.
Commissioner Pinkerton stated that he liked the aspect of the dog, but was concerned about the expense. Ms. Walker stated that they are looking at funding this completely outside of the county with grants.
Commissioners stated that she could continue to pursue it, but needed to secure funding to pay for it first.
Ms. Walker asked about how to proceed with a fundraiser for challenge coins. Commissioners directed her to the Clerk’s office.
The meeting with Ms. Walker ended at 11:10 a.m. and she left the meeting.
Economic Development Director David Sims entered the meeting at 11:11 a.m. to give his report. Mr. Sims stated that he has had additional questions about the GEM grant application and was hoping they would announce their decision soon. He also stated that Canadian traffic was well below the 2024 numbers with Porthill down 35% and Eastport down 24% compared to 2024.
Mr. Sims stated that he was happy to see that the map was redrawn for the BEAD program. They have removed 245 service locations for our area that should not have been included. North Idaho Classical Academy was continuing to move forward with the property scheduled to close next month and the school would open September 2026. Commissioner Pinkerton asked if the recreation center was still a part of it. Mr. Sims responded no, that was not included.
Mr. Sims stated that the Moyie sewer project continues to move forward. They are continuing with testing and the manual has been completed and submitted to DEQ. Lastly, Mr. Sims said the pre-bid meeting for Panhandle Door was held with some contractors present. There has been a small change to the design which extends the lane.
The meeting with Mr. Sims ended at 11:26 a.m. and he left the meeting.
Commissioner Bertling stepped down as chair to move to adopt a standardized form to address public records requests once the necessary changes have been made as requested by staff. Commissioner Pinkerton second. Motion passed unanimously.
Commissioner Pinkerton moved to sign the Findings, Decision & Reasoned Statement for File #25-0096 Short Plat, Rural Subdivision Sunset Ridge Estates. Commissioner Bertling stepped down as chair to second. Motion passed unanimously.
Commissioner Pinkerton moved to sign the FS Agreement #23-LE-11015600-011 Modification #2. Commissioner Bertling stepped down as acting chair to second. Motion passed unanimously.
Restorium Supervisor Janay Smith entered the meeting at 11:35 a.m. to give her report. She provided Commissioners with a document showing current past due accounts and reviewed the status of each. She stated that they currently have 35 residents with additional people inquiring, but they do not currently have the staff to handle more residents.
Commissioner Pinkerton asked if she knew how the Big Beautiful Bill would affect Medicare payments. Ms. Smith responded no.
Commissioner Pinkerton asked if there has ever been some collaboration with the hospital to assist with nursing. Ms. Smith stated that she was not aware of any. She also added that their regulations are very different for their facility, so there might be a conflict.
Ms. Smith asked about the concrete work that needed to be done. Commissioner Bertling stated to reach out to the contractor that submitted the bid and see when they can do it. He also added that the pavers that are going to be removed, need to be sold.
Commissioner Bertling also asked for more detail in her reports so that they can see the accounts receivable and expenses.
The meeting with Ms. Smith ended at 11:58 a.m. and she left the meeting.
Commissioners adjourned for lunch at 12:03 p.m.
The meeting reconvened for the afternoon session at 1:30 p.m. with Chairman Robertson, Commissioner Bertling, Commissioner Pinkerton and Deputy Clerk Stephanie Sims.
Road & Bridge Assistant Superintendent Adam Ryals entered the meeting at 1:31 p.m. to give their report. He stated that they are missing people this week due to the fair, so they will be working on paving in preparation for chipseal.
Commissioner Pinkerton asked how Farm to Market turned out. Mr. Ryals responded that it was good.
Commissioner Bertling moved to sign the MOU between FWS and Boundary County for Riverside 1B. Commissioner Pinkerton second. Motion passed unanimously.
Commissioners then discussed data on traffic counters and their placement. Commissioner Bertling asked if they have had any applicants. Mr. Ryals responded that they have one applicant for an operator that looks good and they have a couple more interviews scheduled.
The meeting with Mr. Ryals ended at 1:54 p.m. and he left the meeting.
Commissioner Pinkerton moved to sign the Policy letter. Commissioner Bertling second. Motion passed unanimously.
The Human Resources report scheduled for 2:00 p.m. was cancelled.
There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 2:15 p.m.
Tuesday, August 5, 2025 at 1:30 p.m., Commissioners met in regular session with Commissioner Tim Bertling, Commissioner Lester Pinkerton, Clerk Glenda Poston and Deputy Clerk Stephanie Sims. Chairman Ben Robertson was absent.
Lisa Chesebro entered the meeting at 1:15 p.m.
Andrakay Pluid entered the meeting at 1:20 p.m.
Cory Trapp LTA entered the meeting at 1:30 p.m.
Commissioner Pinkerton moved to appoint Commissioner Bertling as acting chairman. Commissioner Bertling second. Motion passed unanimously.
Mr. Trapp shared the latest version of drawings for the justice building and everyone present viewed the drawings and participated in the discussion which included access, security, bid options to include in the packet, and the timeline.
The meeting with Mr. Trapp ended at 2:22 p.m. and he left the meeting. Ms. Pluid, Ms. Poston and Ms. Chesebro also left the meeting.
David Crockett and his nephew entered the meeting at 2:25 p.m. and stated that he asked for the appointment to discuss a penalty and interest for a late tax payment that he felt had extenuating circumstances. Mr. Crockett stated that he was in the military and had orders to deploy to Alaska for two weeks during the time the tax payment was due. He did not have the money in his account at the time he left, so he post-dated the check so that there was time for the funds to arrive and pay the taxes on time. He then mailed the check and left for his deployment not realizing that the post-dated check would be an issue. Because he was gone, he did not receive Treasurer Economu’s letter until after he returned and by that time the payment was late. He immediately paid the amount owing plus penalty and interest, but asked Commissioners to consider refunding the penalty and interest or apply it to the next year if possible.
Commissioner Bertling clarified that you post-dated the check because you did not have the money. Mr. Crockett responded that he wanted to make sure it was dated prior to the June 20th due date, but also allow time for the funds to be deposited. He also added that if he had been home, we could have taken care of it prior to the date it was owed. Mr. Crockett provided Commissioners with a copy of his military orders showing the dates.
Commissioners reviewed the orders and the documents from Treasurer Economu
Commissioner Bertling stated that this was an unfortunate set of circumstances. Commissioner Pinkerton stated that he could understand how this happened and stated that military service adds a layer of complication for families.
Commissioner Bertling stated that they would discuss this with Treasurer Economu and see if the amount could be transferred to the next year. If we can’t then we will discuss if a refund was possible.
The meeting with Mr. Crockett ended at 2:38 p.m. and he and his nephew left the meeting.
The 3:00 p.m. meeting with Probation Officer Alisa Walker was cancelled.
There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 2:42 p.m.
s/________________________________
BEN ROBERTSON, Chairman
s/________________________________
TIM BERTLING, Acting Chairman
ATTEST:
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GLENDA POSTON, Clerk
By: Stephanie Sims, Deputy Clerk