***Monday, December 4, 2017, at 9:00 a.m., Commissioners met in regular session with Chairman Dan Dinning, Commissioner LeAlan Pinkerton, Commissioner Walt Kirby, Clerk Glenda Poston, and Deputy Clerk Michelle Rohrwasser.
County resident Marty Martinez and Blue Sky Broadcasting News Reporter Mike Brown were in attendance of the meetings off and on throughout the day.
Commissioners gave the opening invocation and said the Pledge of Allegiance.
9:00 a.m., Road and Bridge Department Superintendent Clint Kimball joined the meeting to give the departmental report. A written report was presented.
Commissioner Kirby moved to amend the agenda to add a motion to sign the Emergency Relief Fund Agreement for the Cow Creek Road-Keller Canyon Project as it is a time sensitive matter. Commissioner Pinkerton second. Motion passed unanimously.
Commissioner Pinkerton moved to authorize the Chairman to sign the Emergency Relief Fund Agreement for the Cow Creek Road-Keller Canyon Project. Commissioner Kirby second. Motion passed unanimously.
Mr. Kimball said there was a slide on Katka Road over the weekend. Road and Bridge is hoping to repair potholes this week. Mr. Kimball said Road and Bridge staff has reviewed truck safety and after visiting with Bonner County and Lincoln County he has decided to take grates off the sand trucks. Bonner County uses grizzly feeders instead of grates and an explanation of how a grizzly feeder works was provided. Road and Bridge continues to have weekly safety meetings, according to Mr. Kimball.
Mr. Kimball said he has a meeting scheduled with Dan Coonce with the Local Highway Technical Assistance Council (LHTAC) for Deep Creek Loop paving and repairs at the 1.1 mile slough area.
Mr. Kimball said someone had inquired about speed limits not being posted at French Point so he designated the limit to be 25 miles per hour and this person is not happy about that. Mr. Kimball said Sheriff Kramer also thinks 25 miles per hour is enforceable. Due to the number of pedestrians, dog walkers, etc., 25 miles per hour is a safe speed. This area consists of a series of right angles on this road so 25 is a good speed, according to Mr. Kimball. Mr. Kimball said this is something to work on with County Civil Attorney Tevis Hull as other counties have an ordinance regarding speed limits. Mr. Kimball said something else he is working on pertains to having people or cars not block the areas where plow trucks turn around. We need to work on changing the approach standards as well as finish permit work.
Mr. Kimball briefly mentioned needing to resolve the matter of the person who hit the Naples Bridge and was charged restitution.
Mr. Kimball said our area has been seeing a lot of growth in the community and he has been paying attention to Tobe Way and Plato Roads, and there is also a new business on Moon Shadow Road. Mr. Kimball said if a large truck hauling sheds pulls out and can’t get all the way out onto the road, they block highway traffic so there is a need to change that approach. Mr. Kimball suggested possibly entering into a maintenance agreement so that if the business owner wants to buy more pavement, Road and Bridge would help haul and spread the material to improve the road and he asked to hear Commissioners’ thoughts. Mr. Kimball said last year when he was approving permits for this area in question, he didn’t see any truck load that was too heavy, but this business owner is now talking about moving larger sheds. Chairman Dinning said he is concerned about maintenance agreements and what can of worms that can open. Chairman Dinning suggested waiting to see what happens this year as it pertains to this use.
Mr. Kimball presented Commissioners with a map of what the Idaho Transportation Department has proposed for Pine Island Road where it joins Highway 95.
The meeting with Mr. Kimball ended at 9:25 a.m.
Commissioner Pinkerton moved to sign Certificates of Residency for Ada Bonnell, Anthony Bennett, Eric Layeux, Kurtis Nix, Hannah Beazer, and Christopher Negoi. Commissioner Kirby second. Motion passed unanimously.
Commissioner Pinkerton moved to cancel taxes for year 2017 totaling $387.96 for parcel #RP62N02E225502A due to error. Commissioner Kirby second. Motion passed unanimously.
Clerk Poston and Commissioners discussed the Trac Phone settlement award of $72,282.79. This award is the result of a lawsuit filed by Ada County and Idaho Association of Counties against Trac Phone as they were not paying certain fees.
Commissioner Pinkerton moved to authorize the Chairman to sign the Annual Juvenile Justice Financial report. Commissioner Kirby second. Motion passed unanimously.
Commissioner Pinkerton moved to authorize the Chairman to sign the letter of understanding with County Outside Auditor Leonard Schulte as it pertains to the county’s fiscal year 2016-2017 audit. Commissioner Kirby second. Motion passed unanimously.
Commissioner Kirby moved to approve the minutes of November 13 & 14, 2017 and November 20 & 21, 2017. Commissioner Pinkerton second. Motion passed unanimously.
Commissioner Pinkerton moved to sign the Wells Fargo Bank Authorization Certificate, Government Customer Certification and W9. Commissioner Kirby second. Motion passed unanimously.
Clerk Poston presented Commissioners with an agreement pertaining to the court system.
Commissioner Pinkerton moved to authorize the Chairman to sign the Tyler Technologies Agreement regarding the Odyssey Program. Commissioner Kirby second. Motion passed unanimously.
Chairman Dinning informed Commissioners that in the midst of the Idaho Department of Fish and Game purchasing the Thorman property, the Boundary/Smith Creek Management Group requested Commissioners form a working group. Members of this group have informed Chairman Dinning that they have a vacancy on their board and would like to recommend the appointment of Trevor Snyder.
Commissioner Kirby moved to appoint Trevor Snyder to the Boundary/Smith Creek Management Group. Commissioner Pinkerton second. Motion passed unanimously.
Commissioner Pinkerton moved to authorize the Chairman to sign the final pay request for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) AIP 3-16-0004-015-2017 as it pertains to the Moore property acquisition when this paperwork arrives. Commissioner Kirby second. Motion passed unanimously.
Clerk Poston informed Commissioners there are three new administrative orders from the judge; one order lists hours of operations, the second order pertains to newspaper publications and the third order changes the compensation rate for public defenders to $80 per hour.
Chairman Dinning said Boundary Economic Development Director Dennis Weed couldn’t make his meeting with Commissioners so he would provide the update on projects on behalf of Mr. Weed.
Chairman Dinning said Mr. Weed is doing a lot of work to reduce the cost and to get more information on engineering for the regional sewer feasibility study project. Mr. Weed is looking mostly at feasibility at this point, but he learned that the injection into the ground pertains to just a drain field. Chairman Dinning said Mr. Weed is looking into the former Dinning property near the airport and he will find out if it’s okay for the airport to use this property for a settling area for non-sewage matter. Having an area for just gray water would reduce the cost of having to have an area for full sewage. Chairman Dinning said he has questions about the separation of gray water and sewage and he added that the more he discussed this with Mr. Weed, one alternative is looking at the eastside of the runway and possibly putting a sewer in that location. This alternative would be much less costly as opposed having a new facility. Chairman Dinning said the sewer matter near the airport intrigues him. Commissioner Kirby said he thinks it’s a good idea as you cannot build on that portion of the property.
Chairman Dinning updated Commissioners on the matter of an easement to be granted on the Al Farnsworth property in the Katka area for the use of biking and walking trails. Al Farnsworth and his family have agreed to this use, but the 501©3 status of the Bike and Trails Committee is not yet finalized so Mr. Weed would like to know if Commissioners would sign the original easement agreement, then turn it over to the 501©3 once that status has been established. Chairman Dinning said he informed Mr. Weed that Commissioners would review the easement agreement once they receive it.
Commissioners recessed until their next meeting scheduled for 10:00 a.m.
10:00 a.m., Solid Waste Department Superintendent Claine Skeen and Assistant Superintendent Eric Owen joined the meeting to give Commissioners the department report.
Mr. Skeen said there have been people asking about used oil for burning and he added that he is looking into getting a burner for the shop in his next budget cycle. Mr. Skeen asked if he should get another release of liability agreement drafted for people to take the used oil such as he had the agreement for the person who wanted to remove tires from the tire pile at the landfill. An oil burner can cost anywhere from $3,000 to $10,000, but the county is currently having to pay a certain amount to dispose of used oil. Clerk Poston provided Mr. Skeen with a name of someone he should talk to about using an oil burner. Mr. Skeen questioned if insurance rates would increase if he were to obtain an oil burner.
Mr. Skeen informed Commissioners that he has spoken to Road and Bridge Department Superintendent Clint Kimball about repairing potholes at the monitored sites.
10:04 a.m., Commissioner Kirby moved to go into executive session pursuant to Idaho Code 74-206(1)b, to consider the evaluation, dismissal or disciplining of, or to hear complaints or charges brought against, a public officer, employee, staff member or individual agent, or public school student. Commissioner Pinkerton second. Commissioners voted as follows: Chairman Dinning “aye”, Commissioner Pinkerton “aye” and Commission Kirby “aye”. Motion passed unanimously. The executive session was recessed temporarily at 10:06 a.m.
The meeting with Mr. Skeen and Mr. Owen ended at 10:07 a.m.
Commissioners went back into executive session. The executive session ended at 10:16 a.m. No action was taken.
Commissioners tended to administrative duties.
11:00 a.m., County resident Kim Kimball joined the meeting to discuss matters pertaining to the rock crawl events that occur near her property in the Highland Flats area of Naples. Chairman Dinning explained that Ms. Kimball had purchased property adjacent to the event location and that she had not been made aware by her real estate agent that these events occur. Ms. Kimball said she has tried to clarify what the Planning and Zoning rules are for this event and when talking to Planning and Zoning Administrator John Moss about this, he came across a one-time special event permit from year 2013 or 2014. Then there was no mention of this becoming an annual event, according to Ms. Kimball. There was criteria set up that stated the event could only have 750 people, noise was only permitted between certain hours and there were requirements for fire, ambulance and security services on site during an event. Chairman Dinning said the applicant for that event came in for either a special event permit or whatever permit it is that was required and at that time it was approved. Also in the county’s Subdivision and Zoning Ordinance of that time and currently still is a provision called Section 15, which pertains to unregulated criteria. If the event meets certain criteria and it’s in the ag/forestry zone, then light uses and moderate uses are unregulated. In a moderate use is what is called “unregulated 500”, which means the event is 500 feet from the next residence and so the event would not have to be regulated. Ms. Kimball asked if the 500 foot distance is from the house or the property line. Chairman Dinning said that is a good question. Chairman Dinning added that through the process of the public hearing, the applicant was made aware of this requirement so that is why Ms. Kimball hadn’t heard of any updates as to when an event would be held as the event holders felt they had met criteria for the unregulated use. Ms. Kimball asked if that means Commissioners are saying the event holders don’t meet the criteria. Chairman Dinning said the event holders know if they stayed below a certain number of people and duration of the event, which had been discussed during the public hearing, they could be unregulated so they chose to stay within those parameters.
Ms. Kimball said she spoke to Mr. Moss and at the public hearing the event holder, Delray Romero, was supposed to carry insurance and provide fire, ambulance and security services on site, and she assumed Mr. Romero was also required to have a bond in the case any damage was caused to outside sources. Chairman Dinning said he doesn’t recall anything about a bond being required. Ms. Kimball said she wondered if the Romeros are still following the criteria. Ms. Kimball questioned if the Romeros are operating their event as a business. On November 28th the Romeros allowed some “boggers” onto their property to use their track, according to Ms. Kimball. Ms. Kimball added that this use wasn’t even advertised as far as she could tell, but on the Romero’s online website it says people could contact them to make arrangements or use the property. A private driveway has been used to get to and from a specific site on the Romero’s property and that is not allowed, because it is not on their property, according to Ms. Kimball. This is an easement that she and her neighbors use so the Romeros are allowing people to use other easements. That is a recent issue, according to Ms. Kimball. Ms. Kimball said there was another mud bog held on a long weekend and she saw no sign of fire suppression, ambulance, security, etc., and there were problems with people using driveway easements. Ms. Kimball said she is here to ask Commissioners what the options are. Is this mud bog/rock crawl a business the neighbors just have to put up with? Is it a function that needs a public hearing? What is this activity considered? Chairman Dinning said at this point Commissioners will make sure the events being held meet the county’s criteria and he offered Ms. Kimball an apology for the delay in getting information from the county’s attorney. Chairman Dinning asked Ms. Kimball if she has discussed her concerns with the Romeros. Ms. Kimball said she has not been able to talk with Delray Romero as he lives in California and she has tried talking to his mother, which has been difficult, but if she had some backup information she would be willing to talk with her again. Ms. Kimball said the mother, Ms. Romero, has been very defensive about it as these events are to help out with the cost of property taxes so the family considers these events to be ongoing. Ms. Kimball said she has talked to her neighbors and they are willing to sit down to discuss this as they are also concerned with property lines and noise. Ms. Kimball said when she moved to her house and had just been there two weeks, her husband had to leave for work and she came home to find a bunch of cars in a field and heard the noise so she asked other neighbors what was going on. One neighbor told Ms. Kimball that these events are an annual occurrence and that she just needs to be careful. They’ve had to deal with people using driveways and leaving trash. Ms. Kimball said if this had been a good neighbor situation and the Romeros tried to keep noise down and keep people contained, etc., it would be better, but she gets no notification when a mud bog is going to occur other than having to go to their website.
Chairman Dinning said he will get more information, but it appears as if the event still meets the criteria of the ordinance. Ms. Kimball said if these events fall under the ordinance, does that mean the Romeros don’t have to have fire protection, ambulance and security services? Chairman Dinning said if the Romero’s events fall under the unregulated or unregulated 500 category, then the county doesn’t have to regulate anything.
Ms. Kimball discussed concerns over when these events are held during high fire season and if a fire were to break out and cause damage her house, who is responsible. Chairman Dinning said he would think the Romeros would be responsible. Commissioner Pinkerton said he may be wrong, but if the requirement for distance is 500 feet from a residence, he would suspect that means a residence, not the property line. Ms. Kimball asked about having a dog kennel at a distance of 500 feet and Commissioner Pinkerton said that would not be considered a residence like her home would be. Chairman Dinning said as far as the public hearing goes, the special use was to consider a certain size event, but since they didn’t have that high number of people…. Ms. Kimball said the Romeros are building a campground and expanding the use of the property, which allows for the expansion of the bog area, so does that still fall under Section 15? Chairman Dinning said Section 15 describes various uses and he explained the different categories of uses such as light, moderate, etc. If the use is an unregulated 500 use, it means if the event is 500 feet from a residence, then it is unregulated. Ms. Kimball asked about the number of 750 people and she said she knows approximately 150 to 200 people attend the Romeros’ events and not all of them are boggers, so what number is low occupancy?
Ms. Kimball explained to Commissioners that once Mr. Romero understood which easement was hers, he came over and was apologetic and helpful about that. Ms. Kimball said she will talk with Ms. Romero to see how often the mud bogs take place. Ms. Kimball said most of her neighbors would like to be notified of this information and they still may not be happy, but they could at least make other arrangements. Ms. Kimball said if there was just more forthcoming information, it would be helpful.
The meeting with Ms. Kimball ended at 11:25 a.m.
11:26 a.m., Kootenai Tribe of Idaho Administrative Director Patty Perry joined the meeting to update Commissioners on topics to be discussed at the upcoming Kootenai Valley Resource Initiative (KVRI) Forestry Subcommittee meeting.
Ms. Perry said the Forest Service is working on the Camp Robinson project, which had originally been called the Camp Dawson and Robinson projects, but the Forest Service decided to have an environmental assessment done instead. Ms. Perry said this project will go out for scoping on December 15th and she wanted the Forestry Subcommittee to provide an update on transportation and recreation for this project. There will be a joint meeting with KVRI and Forestry Subcommittee on December 12th from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m., to become fully aware of this project before the Forest Service puts together their documents. The Forest Service has the transportation analyst portion for the roads, but she cannot recall if there has actually been a vote for scoping as that is not really KVRI’s role. Ms. Perry said she doesn’t intend for there to be any business other than an update on the project.
Ms. Perry said it was originally thought that this project would be done in January, but when she spoke with Forest Service Supervisor Mary Farnsworth and learned it was changed to an environmental assessment, the hope was to not have a second comment period, but Ms. Farnsworth was not comfortable with that. Ms. Perry briefly spoke of court matters pertaining to the Forest Service and how the Forest Service has to force its districts to hold and host open public meetings. The meetings cannot be hosted by a collaborative. On January 4, 2018, the Forest Service has scheduled their own meeting on this process as well and it will be held at the Extension Office.
The meeting with Ms. Perry ended at 11:34 a.m.
Commissioners recessed for lunch at 11:50 a.m.
1:30 p.m., Commissioners reconvened for the afternoon session with Chairman Dan Dinning, Commissioner LeAlan Pinkerton, Commissioner Walt Kirby, Clerk Glenda Poston, and Deputy Clerk Michelle Rohrwasser.
1:30 p.m., Aaron Freudenthal, North Regional Coordinator with the Idaho Public Defense Commission joined the meeting. Mr. Freudenthal informed Commissioners that a grant application from Boundary County had been received a few days ago, but it was denied because Boundary County still has some unused grant funds left over from the prior year. Mr. Freudenthal said if Boundary County wants to look at their budget and earmark some things or discuss expenditures with its public defenders, it will help. The grant funds can help out with travel expenses, set up an office so equipment is eligible, training requests, etc. Mr. Freudenthal said he will also inform Attorneys Serra Woods and Lynn Brooks about that. Clerk Poston said she was going to look into purchasing Westlaw and wondered how many subscriptions that involved. It was explained that Westlaw is a legal research tool and it can be expensive, but the cost depends on what is included in the package. Case law is the most expensive, but there are other options that cost less. Mr. Freudenthal said there also may be an option for government pricing so he will look into that. If the county’s prosecutors have a Westlaw account, he doesn’t know about the ability of sharing that account. Clerk Poston mentioned talking to the county’s public defenders about these matters. It was said the regional coordinator from Bonneville County gave that program a good review.
Chairman Dinning asked if regional public defense was discussed at the District I meeting. Mr. Freudenthal said he was going to talk about that as well and he added that the Public Defense Commission has no official position on regional offices, but they can do research to see if it’s more cost effective. Some research has shown a dedicated office can be cost effective and District II is looking into this heavily. In District I, Kootenai County’s public defense office has discussed the ability to expand. This office would still technically be in Boundary County’s purview. Sharing an office with another county equates to $50,000 in grant funds as each county, if there are two, would get the $25,000 grant award. Counties would need to determine if attorneys belong to one county or another or if it would be a contracted position.
Chairman Dinning said if Boundary County joins offices with another county, it is just $25,000 per county in a joint setup. Mr. Freudenthal said most counties have an attorney that roams to the different counties. There can be a main office and a satellite office. Bonner and Kootenai Counties have the two institutional offices and the other counties are contracted. Chairman Dinning said he would prefer to look into talking with another county’s commissioners about this and ask them if Boundary County can talk to their public defenders.
Those present discussed the need to fill a vacant public defender position in Boundary County as well as the state taking over public defense. Mr. Freudenthal said he will have another public defense commission member contact Commissioners as well as give them call-in information for Public Defense Commission meetings that are held in Boise.
Mr. Freudenthal said there have been some discussion regarding annual reporting such as budget numbers and case counts to make sure the numbers are accurate. Information on caseloads is still forthcoming from Boise, but first they will send the executive report. Mr. Freudenthal said the Public Defense Commission doesn’t want to implement a caseload limit, but maybe just work loads so they will determine what the standards will be.
Chairman Dinning said going forward, he might check with Kootenai County about sharing an office.
The meeting with Mr. Freudenthal ended at 2:10 p.m.
2:10 p.m., Restorium Administrator Karlene Magee and Assistant Administrator Pam Barton joined the meeting to provide the Restorium report. Approximately $70,000 to $80,000 of the listed expenses are always payroll, according to Chairman Dinning. It’s about $17,000 other than payroll to run the operation. Ms. Barton said the expenses showing are a bit high for the month of October due to some landscaping expenses. Ms. Magee said the inspection for the elevator has been scheduled.
Ms. Magee asked about a prior discussion pertaining to purchasing staff uniforms. Commissioner Pinkerton said what was discussed was purchasing two uniforms. This expenditure has not been budgeted for this year so Commissioners and Ms. Magee will discuss it again some time later. Ms. Magee said the cost per uniform set is $30 so that equates to $60 per employee. Clerk Poston said it’s approximately $2,000 to reimburse employees who purchase two uniforms. It was said this will get the practice of wearing uniforms started and then the Restorium administrator will decide what they can afford.
2:20 p.m., Commissioner Kirby moved to go into executive session pursuant to Idaho Code 74-206(1)b, to consider the evaluation, dismissal or disciplining of, or to hear complaints or charges brought against, a public officer, employee, staff member or individual agent, or public school student. Commissioner Pinkerton second. Commissioners voted as follows: Chairman Dinning “aye”, Commissioner Pinkerton “aye” and Commission Kirby “aye”. Motion passed unanimously. The executive session ended at 3:07 p.m. No action was taken.
The meeting with Ms. Magee and Ms. Barton ended at 3:07 p.m.
There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 3:07p.m.
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DAN R. DINNING, Chairman
ATTEST:
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GLENDA POSTON, Clerk
By: Michelle Rohrwasser, Deputy Clerk