***Monday, January 4, 2021, at 9:00 a.m., Commissioners met in regular session with Chairman Dan Dinning, Commissioner Wally Cossairt, Commissioner Walt Kirby (via conference call), Clerk Glenda Poston, and Deputy Clerk Michelle Rohrwasser.
Commissioner-elect Tim Bertling joined the meeting.
Commissioners gave the opening invocation and said the Pledge of Allegiance.
9:00 a.m., Road and Bridge Department Co-Superintendents Renee Nelson and Randy Morris joined the meeting via conference call to give the department report. A written report was provided. Chairman Dinning mentioned there being the GEO Local Road Mileage Report for signature and Ms. Nelson stated that this report shows mileage of earthen or gravel roads and roads that are chip sealed, etc. This is the report that the Idaho Transportation Department (ITD) bases highway user dollars off of, according to Ms. Nelson. Chairman Dinning asked if the new addition of 1.3 miles near Twin Bridges was added and Ms. Nelson said yes, that is Queen View Road and it was added. The county has 335 single lane miles. If the county were to plow these roads, that number would double.
Commissioner Cossairt moved to sign the GEO Local Road Mileage Report and 2020 Road Surface Reporting Maps that will be sent to the Idaho Transportation Department. Commissioner Kirby second. Motion passed unanimously.
It was said the buyback funds from Western States for the grader have not yet been received. Ms. Nelson said she knows that we have the funds coming, but there is paperwork that needs to be taken care of so the funds arrive correctly. Ms. Nelson questioned if the paperwork for the new John Deere grader can get taken care of so John Deere doesn’t need to wait another week due to the county’s error.
Those present discussed additional match amounts that were approved for Ruby Creek Bridge #2 and Trout Creek Bridge. The match amounts have now been requested for these two bridges.
Ms. Nelson said she still has not had a reply from Ziply Fiber regarding Ziply’s claim against the county for alleged damages.
Chairman Dinning informed Ms. Nelson and Mr. Morris that Garvin Williams has applied for a variance for a concrete pad that had been built on the county’s right-of-way along Farm to Market Road.
The meeting with Ms. Nelson and Mr. Morris ended at 9:12 a.m.
Commissioners discussed the matter of waiting for the buyback amount of $185,000.00 from Western States CAT for Road and Bridge’s existing grader.
Commissioner Cossairt moved to sign the Lease Purchase Agreement with John Deere/Pape for a John Deere Road 772G motor grader with a first annual payment of $211,373.00 and remaining payments of $26,373.00. Commissioner Kirby second. Motion passed unanimously.
Commissioner Cossairt moved to sign the Certificates of Residency for Cassandra Gross, Rebecca Sandaker, Maggi Pluid, and Malorie Stippich. Commissioner Kirby second. Motion passed unanimously.
Commissioner Cossairt moved to cancel taxes for year 2020 in the amount of $46.18, solid waste fees in the amount of $139.20 and translator fees in the amount of $20.00 for parcel #MHB006000W003UA due to error. Commissioner Kirby second. Motion passed unanimously.
Commissioner Cossairt moved to grant an extension of time to pay year 2020 taxes for parcel #MH61N01E04391AA until March 15, 2021. Commissioner Kirby second. Motion passed unanimously.
9:35 a.m., County Civil Attorney Tevis Hull contacted Commissioners via conference call.
Chairman Dinning spoke of having sent Attorney Hull a packet regarding the Idaho Transportation Department (ITD) right-of-way purchase. Since that time, Commissioners have received an estimate as ITD is going to move curbing for the parking lot at the county annex. Chairman Dinning said Yvonne Dingman with ITD sent an email indicating estimates
9:42 a.m., Commissioner Cossairt 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; and Idaho Code 74-206(1)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. Commissioner Kirby second. Commissioners voted as follows: Chairman Dan Dinning “aye”, Commissioner Cossairt “aye” and Commissioner Kirby “aye”. Motion passed unanimously. The executive session ended at 9:52 a.m. No action was taken.
The call to Attorney Hull ended.
Chairman Dinning informed Commissioners that there are various Restorium employees who have not been able to take time off and as a result have accumulated a number of vacation hours over the allowed amount.
Commissioner Kirby moved to ratify the approval of additional carry forward vacation hours for specific Restorium employees. Commissioner Cossairt second. Motion passed unanimously.
Commissioners tended to administrative duties until their next meeting at 10:00 a.m.
10:00 a.m., Solid Waste Department Superintendent Claine Skeen joined the meeting via conference call. Mr. Skeen informed Commissioners that Pacific Steel and Recycling will be here soon to bale the metal pile at the landfill. Mr. Skeen said his crew is guessing there are over 1,000 tons of metal. The last time metal was baled was approximately two years ago. Mr. Skeen said he has two employees out with COVID-19, but one employee should be coming back after their quarantine time is up and there are no symptoms. The other employee will be out for 14 or so days. Mr. Skeen voiced concern if more of his staff were to become ill and Commissioners asked about the monitored sites if that were to occur. Mr. Skeen said if he had to close the outlying sites, there are still the containers at the county annex, hospital, and Courthouse so those containers would still have to be emptied. Commissioners and Mr. Skeen discussed options for drivers having commercial driver’s licenses, etc. Mr. Skeen said the issue are the controls in the vehicles and equipment; not so much driving the truck. Clerk Poston said the county does have a sprayer for disinfectant that can be used to clean the inside of the trucks for various drivers. Mr. Skeen asked Clerk Poston if she can still order disinfectant wipes as he’s had a hard time finding them. Mr. Skeen asked Commissioners what their feelings are about having his office manager learn to run the loader. Commissioners said any kind of cross training is good. Those present discussed cross training and making sure there is more than one employee working in case there is ever an accident, etc. Chairman Dinning said Commissioners are still working with County Civil Attorney Tevis Hull on how to legally use landfill closure funds to purchase a truck for the landfill.
The call with Mr. Skeen ended at 10:16 a.m.
10:30 a.m., Chief Probation Officer Stacy Brown joined the meeting to give the department report. Ms. Brown said there are 134 people on unsupervised probation and she explained what is involved, such as various programs or classes that have to be completed. There are 31 adults on misdemeanor probation, and 14 people on juvenile probation with four new cases pending. There are four people in the diversion program with six cases pending and there are seven people in the drug court program and five people released on their own recognizance, but they have to have urine analyses tests done by the Probation Office. Ms. Brown spoke of the upgraded Navigator computer system and she said she initially thought the Odyssey Program was going to be difficult, but it wasn’t. Probation is still asking questions of people coming in and taking temperatures, according to Ms. Brown. Chairman Dinning commented that there are new COVID-19 restrictions for the Clerk’s Office so call ahead.
The meeting with Ms. Brown ended at 10:35 a.m.
Commissioners tended to administrative duties until their next meeting at 11:00 a.m.
11:00 a.m., Courthouse Maintenance John Buckley joined the meeting via conference call to give his department report. Mr. Buckley asked if he needed to be updated on anything in the Courthouse. Commissioners informed him that there are COVID-19 positive cases in two offices within the Courthouse so to limit his time in the building. Mr. Buckley said he got a call from Mr. Skeen regarding the hurricane sprayers and sanitizer so he will give him those items.
Mr. Buckley commented on Maria’s Cleaning Service doing extra cleaning in the Clerk’s vault and Clerk’s Office on Fridays. Mr. Buckley said his assistant, Tom Joyce is taking Wednesdays off so he can come in with Mr. Buckley on Saturdays to deep clean and paint the Prosecutor’s Office.
The meeting with Mr. Buckley ended at 11:10 a.m.
Commissioners tended to administrative duties until the next meeting at 11:30 a.m.
11:30 a.m., Boundary Economic Development Council Director Dennis Weed joined the meeting to update Commissioners on any EDC projects.
Mr. Weed and Commissioners discussed receiving a letter from the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) regarding any remaining funds for the sewer project. Mr. Weed said he would talk to Kyle Meschko with Keller & Associates on that. Mr. Weed added that the remaining portion of the county project didn’t associate with the Moyie Springs portion, but it’s for the feasibility study so he will submit that information. Clerk Poston said the county is still owed approximately 55,557.00. Mr. Weed will speak with Mr. Meschko about turning the costs in, but he will separate it out from Moyie Springs.
Commissioners and Mr. Weed provided Commissioner-elected Tim Bertling with history of the sewer feasibility study. Chairman Dinning said the county funded a study that would take into consideration Moyie Springs’ needs as well with the project being broken into two phases and the results were that the costs were good. The City of Moyie Springs agreed to provide 100 hookups or equivalent dwelling units (EDU’s) to the county. The project will be done by next summer, year 2022. Mr. Weed explained that the cost of the project keeps coming down and the Corps of Engineers is also contributing more funds so the project may never need to go to bond. Chairman Dinning said Commissioners had talked to the Three Mile Water District a while ago about taking over this sewer system as the county doesn’t want to own a sewer system, but there hadn’t been interest.
Mr. Weed commented that there could be another round of broadband grants coming out.
Commissioners and Mr. Weed discussed improved cellular service. Mr. Weed said he had four out of five bars on his phone at Three Mile and he had three bars in the area of Moon Shadow Road. Mr. Weed added that when he drove down the Copeland Hill he still had service until he turned right onto Farm to Market road and got one-half mile down the road.
Mr. Weed informed Commissioners that the next Continuing Technology Education (CTE) meeting will be held on January 25th depending on what stage Idaho is in for COVID-19. Mr. Weed commented that the local unemployment rate is 5.6%, which is close to the state average of 5.2%. The next round of paycheck protection is coming out soon. There are stipulations on this plan in that businesses now have to show that they had a 25% reduction in revenue from a previous quarter in 2019 to 2020. Mr. Weed spoke of helping qualifying businesses apply for these funds. This program is now also available to non-profit organizations.
Commissioner Cossairt asked Mr. Weed if larger tanks or batch reactors will be purchased for the sewer project if there are available funds. Those present discussed restrictions of equipment due to land size. Chairman Dinning said the county’s biggest concern was that the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) were going to penalize the City of Moyie Springs if they didn’t fix their problem and the city had no way out due to the cost of a prior study.
There will be an Economic Development Council (EDC) Board meeting the first of February, according to Mr. Weed.
The meeting with Mr. Weed ended at 11:45 a.m.
Commissioner Kirby ended his call.
11:48 a.m., Chief Deputy Clerk Nancy Ryals joined the meeting.
Commissioner Cossairt moved to go into closed session pursuant to Idaho Code 31-874. Chairman Dinning yielded the chair to second. Motion passed unanimously. The closed session ended at 11:52 a.m.
Commissioner Cossairt moved to approve non-medical assistance for indigent case #2021-6 with the stipulation that any funds for assets found or sold goes to the county. Chairman Dinning yielded the chair to second. Motion passed unanimously.
Chief Deputy Clerk Ryals left the meeting 11:54 a.m.
Commissioners recessed for lunch at noon.
1:30 p.m., Commissioners reconvened for the afternoon session with Chairman Dan Dinning, Commissioner Wally Cossairt and Deputy Clerk Michelle Rohrwasser. Commissioner Walt Kirby was gone for the afternoon.
Commissioner-elect Tim Bertling also joined the meeting.
1:30 p.m., Planning and Zoning Administrator Clare Marley joined the meeting.
1:30 p.m., Commissioners held a public hearing for Planning and Zoning Application #20-149. This is an application for a lot line adjustment requested by Applicant James Poulton. Present were: Chairman Dan Dinning, Commissioner Wally Cossairt, Deputy Clerk Michelle Rohrwasser, Planning and Zoning Administrator Clare Marley, and Commissioner-elect Tim Bertling. Participating in the hearing via conference call were real estate agents Brent Stevens and Linda Ware with Century 21 Riverstone Realty who were representing a potential buyer of the subject property, and Road and Bridge Department Co-Superintendent Renee Nelson, who joined the hearing sometime after it started. The hearing was recorded.
Chairman Dinning reviewed the public hearing procedures and asked for an opening statement.
Ms. Marley summarized the application for Commissioners and mentioned that proper public notice had been submitted to the newspaper and neighboring property owners. A narrative summary has been provided in Commissioners’ packet of information as well. This parcel is located north of town in the Three Mile Water District area on Chokecherry Drive. Three Mile Water District has required the applicant to combine the tract north of Lot 4 with Lot 4A so the water hookups are on the same property. This area is zoned agriculture/forestry, which has a 10 acre minimum designation. Ms. Marley discussed having looked back to see how the .6 acre parcel was created and she commented that the plat was adjusted in year 2004. Local code allows making the parcel larger, but you cannot make it smaller. Ms. Marley did verify this information with the county civil attorney and she added that the applicant also has to show there are adequate services that can be provided. Only one telephone call was received from the public, which was a neighbor who was wondering what this application is about. This property is not in a flood plain area. Ms. Marley said the comments from various departments can be found on pages 3 and 4 of Commissioners’ packets. A permitted approach has not yet been constructed, according to Ms. Marley. Ms. Marley stated that this was a city area of impact project so the matter did go to city council on December 15th and the city council was authorized to sign the plat. The County Assessor’s Office also wanted clarification on the original easement. Taxes were due on the property, but have since been paid.
Chairman Dinning said for areas within the area of impact, he thought it allowed for smaller lot sizes. Ms. Marley said this area has not been changed.
Chairman Dinning asked if there were comments about the application. Mr. Stevens, explained that he is representing the buyers of this property and he said currently there is no water to this home due to conditions set by the Three Mile Water District. The buyers are moving here this weekend so that is why there is a rush for this application so they have water at the home. The water was hooked up and turned on when this issue came up so it’s literally just a matter of flipping the switch back on. Chairman Dinning stated for the record that Commissioners have not heard from the applicant.
1:40 p.m., Clerk Glenda Poston joined the meeting.
Commissioners opened the hearing to public testimony, but no one from the public was present to speak in favor. Speaking uncommitted was Road and Bridge Co-Superintendent Renee Nelson who asked about having any of the easement questions answered. No one spoke in opposition to the application.
It was said that Ms. Marley had provided a staff report and clarity has been given on what needs to be done.
Commissioners closed the hearing to additional pubic testimony and held discussion amongst themselves. Chairman Dinning said it makes sense to him to allow this lot line adjustment. This adjustment is not going to affect any of properties next to the subject parcel. Commissioner Cossairt said he has no problems with it.
Commissioner Cossairt moved to approve Planning and Zoning Application #20-149, a lot line adjustment requested by James Poulton, to enlarge Lot 4A of the Amended Plat of Lots 4 & 13 of North Ridge Estates 1st Addition by adding 1.17 acres of unplatted land to create a lot of ±1.77 acres. Chairman Dinning second and he requested that Ms. Marley list the conditions of approval as follows: the final plat requirements and procedures; confirmation of the use of the easement; inclusion of the Bonners Ferry Area of City Impact certificate; updates to the road approach permit and completion of the approach construction; and confirmation that the remainder parcel to the north has legal access. Motion passed unanimously.
The public hearing to consider Planning and Zoning Application #20-149 ended at 1:45 p.m.
Ms. Marley left the meeting at 1:50 p.m.
Commissioner Cossairt moved to sign the Certificates of Residency for Olive Johnson and Macy McIntyre. Chairman Dinning yielded the chair to second. Motion passed unanimously.
Commissioners recessed until their next meeting at 2:30 p.m.
2:30 p.m., Restorium Administrator Karlene Magee joined the meeting via conference call to give an update on Restorium matters. Chairman Dinning informed Ms. Magee that Commissioners approved the overage hours for a certain number of employees who were not able to use some of their vacation time.
Ms. Magee said resident count at the Restorium is down currently at 29, but she is also working on an admission of a new resident. A new resident must test for COVID-19. Ms. Magee said she only has two employees who wish to be vaccinated against COVID-19 at this time. Ms. Magee commented that she hasn’t been contacted by Walgreens yet about the COVID-19 vaccines. Commissioner-elect Bertling asked Ms. Magee if she could use a lounging lift chair as he would like to donate one if the Restorium could use it at the Restorium. Ms. Magee said she could probably use it.
The meeting with Ms. Magee ended at 2:36 p.m.
There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 2:40 p.m.
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DAN R. DINNING, Chairman
ATTEST:
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GLENDA POSTON, Clerk
By: Michelle Rohrwasser, Deputy Clerk