***Monday, May 31, 2021, Commissioners did not meet due to the Memorial Day Holiday.
***Tuesday, June 1, 2021, at 9:00 a.m., Commissioners met in regular session with Chairman Dan Dinning, Commissioner Wally Cossairt, Commissioner Tim Bertling, Clerk Glenda Poston, and Deputy Clerk Michelle Rohrwasser.
9:00 a.m., Road and Bridge Department Co-Superintendents Renee Nelson and Randy Morris joined the meeting to give the department report. A written report was provided.
Mr. Morris spoke of needing to chip seal multiple roads in Paradise Valley in addition to McArthur Lake Road, Frontier Village Road, David Thompson Road, and finishing Heights Loop Road. Mr. Morris spoke of planning to also chip seal Moon Shadow Road as it had been paved some time ago, but it hadn’t been chip sealed. Mr. Morris spoke of issues with chip sealing materials being effective and of trying to apply multiple applications of chip seal.
Ms. Nelson spoke of being informed of a water line being installed on Cemetery Road and at the bottom is a large tank. Chairman Dinning said the water line has been installed already so the county probably ought to just issue the permit to work in the county right-of-way. It was said that this is involving a water association; not a taxing district.
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. Commissioner Bertling second. Commissioners voted as follows: Chairman Dinning “aye”, Commissioner Cossairt “aye” and Commissioner Bertling “aye”. Motion passed unanimously. No action was taken.
The meeting with Ms. Nelson and Mr. Morris ended at 9:20 a.m.
The executive session continued until 9:48 a.m. No action was taken.
Commissioner Cossairt moved to adopt Resolution 2021-17. A resolution to increase Road and Bridge budget due to receipt of unanticipated funds. Commissioner Bertling second. Motion passed unanimously. Resolution 2021-17 reads as follows:
RESOLUTION 2021-17
INCREASE ROAD & BRIDGE BUDGET DUE TO RECEIPT OF UNANTICIPATED FUNDS
WHEREAS, the Board of County Commissioners, County of Boundary, State of Idaho, did establish an operating budget for the Road & Bridge Fund for fiscal year 2020-2021, and
WHEREAS, $185,000.00 has been received from Western States Equipment for buyback of Boundary County’s 2013 Caterpillar 140M2 AWD Motor Grader, Serial Number M9J00807, and
WHEREAS, the Road & Bridge Fund for fiscal year 2020-2021 is in need of additional revenue to help with the lease purchase of a 2021 John Deere Grader 772GP, and
WHEREAS, the addition of this revenue does not affect the tax levy for Boundary County, and
WHEREAS, the Boundary County Commissioners deem it in the best interest of the general public of Boundary County to increase the Fiscal Year 2020-2021 Road & Bridge Budget for that purpose, and
WHEREAS, it is appropriate to increase the Boundary County Road & Bridge Fund Revenue Account Number 02-00-352-000 and the Road & Bridge Expense Account Number 02-00-803-00, Capital-Heavy Equipment, in the amount of $185,000.00.
NOW THEREFORE, upon motion duly made, seconded and unanimously carried,
IT IS RESOLVED that the increase to the Boundary County Road & Bridge Fund Revenue Account Number 02-00-352-000 and the Road & Bridge Expense Account Number 02-00-803-00, Capital-Heavy Equipment, in the amount of $185,000.00 is hereby authorized and ordered, and
IT IS FURTHER RESOLVED that the Clerk is instructed to deliver certified copies of this resolution to the Boundary County Treasurer and the Boundary County Auditor.
PASSED this 1st day of June 2021.
COUNTY OF BOUNDARY
BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
s/________________________________
Dan R. Dinning, Chairman
s/________________________________
Wally Cossairt, Commissioner
s/________________________________
Tim Bertling, Commissioner
ATTEST:
s/_________________________________________________
Glenda Poston, Clerk of the Board of County Commissioners
Recorded as instrument #287073
Commissioner Cossairt moved to sign Certificates of Residency for John David Endicott and Erin Gunther. Commissioner Bertling second. Motion passed unanimously.
Commissioner Cossairt moved to sign the Commercial Hangar Ground Lease Agreement with Wurzel Parsons-Keir for Hangar A-8. Commissioner Bertling second. Motion passed unanimously.
Commissioner Cossairt moved to sign the Hangar-Ground Lease Agreement Paul & Marcia Jones for Hangar D10. Commissioner Bertling second. Motion passed unanimously.
Commissioner Cossairt moved to authorize the Chairman to sign the Contract for Professional Services with Inland Forest Management for Wildland Urban Interface projects. Commissioner Bertling second. Motion passed unanimously.
Commissioner Cossairt moved to approve and sign the Catering Permit for MickDuff’s for a Mountain Mafia event. Commissioner Bertling second. Motion passed unanimously.
Commissioner Cossairt moved to authorize the Chairman to sign requests for reimbursement associated with wildland urban interface/Fire Safe projects as they come in for expediency. Commissioner Bertling second. Motion passed unanimously.
10:30 a.m., Commissioners met at the armory with Dan Spinosa and Jared Yost with Innovate!, Inc. to discuss matters pertaining to addressing. Also present were: Clerk Glenda Poston, Deputy Clerk Michelle Rohrwasser, Road and Bridge Department Co-Superintendent Randy Morris, Addressing Coordinator Trevor Kempton, County Civil Attorney Tevis Hull, County Mapper Olivia Drake, and Planning and Zoning Administrator Clare Marley.
Chairman Dinning stated that Mr. Kempton is in need of reducing his hours and that Innovate!, Inc. might be able to assist with addressing. Mr. Kempton explained the process involved with assigning addresses, to include GPS points and lines, followed by mapping those coordinates and relaying information to Planning and Zoning. Mr. Kempton said people will call about needing an address and typically it turns out to involve more than just addressing. It was explained what software is used by Ruen-Yeager to share information with other departments.
Mr. Spinosa explained that he had once worked for Bonner County with Ms. Marley and he had also worked with former County GIS Mapper Gary Falcon. Mr. Spinosa questioned if the county wants his staff to be on site or to do remote work. Ms. Drake commented on issues associated with remote computers and she mentioned that information is stored on servers in the Courthouse.
Mr. Spinosa asked if the problem is keeping up with the influx. Mr. Kempton said applicants want road names instantly. Ms. Drake added that people want to get an address before the land is even split so all of that deed work needs to be done. Mr. Kempton explained the process involved in providing addresses for the City of Bonners Ferry.
Mr. Yost questioned if the approach needs to be created prior and Mr. Kempton and Ms. Drake explained how people will end up relocating their accesses.
Mr. Morris commented briefly that Road and Bridge has had approximately 160 approach permits.
Ms. Marley asked if information can be integrated into the permit and Mr. Spinosa said yes, and he explained that Innovate!, Inc. is an information technology (IT) company and they have technicians who can help.
Attorney Hull asked Mr. Kempton how long it takes to get the field work done. Mr. Kempton said by the time the application gets to him, it takes two to three days.
Ms. Marley asked if an approach needs to be confirmed and Mr. Kempton said yes. Mr. Kempton explained that it’s relying on the Road and Bridge superintendents to read all of the easement deeds and that might be a weak point. Mr. Kempton also explained delays on the homeowner’s part, such as not paying the fees for the application, not providing enough needed information, etc.
Mr. Kempton mentioned he has a background in IT and he is in favor of automation, but the county’s current infrastructure is limited. A system would have to be Cloud based. Mr. Kempton commented that there are issues with poor connectivity in the Planning and Zoning Office and Ms. Marley confirmed that.
Chairman Dinning said one of the biggest issues the county faces is security of the information that Innovate!, Inc. would need to access and there is a county office that is very protective of this information. Chairman Dinning explained how the county’s computer system had once been hacked. Chairman Dinning said it sounds like there are pieces to this issue that we can address now and he asked Mr. Kempton if Innovate!, Inc. can help out in any certain area.
Attorney Hull said a large issue is assigning an address from an easement a landowner doesn’t have legal access to. Attorney Hull asked Mr. Spinosa how the progression went in Bonner County for addressing. Mr. Spinosa said he would look into what other counties are doing and let Commissioners know.
Those present discussed private road accesses and having a disclaimer about not guaranteeing them.
Chairman Dinning said it sounds like Innovate!, Inc. should take a look at the county’s system. Ms. Drake asked if it would involve more than just addressing and Chairman Dinning said yes.
Mr. Spinosa said it sounds like there is infrastructure issues and internal process improvements needed.
Those present discussed computer programs, such as the Workforce Program and Bonner County 2.0.
Commissioners scheduled another meeting with Innovate!, Inc. for June 14, 2021.
The meeting ended at 11:55 a.m.
Commissioners recessed for lunch.
1:30 p.m., Commissioners reconvened for the afternoon session with Chairman Dan Dinning, Commissioner Wally Cossairt, Commissioner Tim Bertling, Clerk Glenda Poston, and Deputy Clerk Michelle Rohrwasser.
1:30 p.m., Sheriff Dave Kramer, Undersheriff Rich Stephens and Sheriff’s Office Administrative Assistant/911 Administrator Crystal Denton joined the meeting to discuss the proposed budget for the Sheriff’s Office.
Sheriff Kramer informed Commissioners that he’s been looking into options for food for inmates other than having inmates prepare meals. A lot of jails are using a vendor and Summit is the only company with a plan for the size of jail Boundary County has. There is liability to the county as it pertains to actions of inmates concerning food preparation and Idaho Counties Risk Management Program (ICRMP) is supportive of trying to move toward using a vendor and one advantage is that it takes the burden off of the county and Sheriff’s Office staff. In hiring a vendor, the vendor takes on the liability of ordering meals, dietary needs, etc. Sheriff Kramer reiterated that using a vendor will alleviate county liability and staff time. Chairman Dinning said the proposed budget for food has increased approximately 50%. Sheriff Kramer explained that food costs were down last year due to COVID-19 and having a smaller jail population, but the jail is now up to capacity. Sheriff Kramer explained that the cost of meals would be between $.88 and $1.00 per meal and that is based on whether there are 15 inmates or 24.
Sheriff Kramer said the other proposed increase is requesting to hire an additional detention deputy. The jail, being the highest liability area, even last year, had detention deputies being short-handed and that worked okay most of the time last year due to lower population. Sheriff Kramer added that now that courts are opening up, everything that had been put on hold will open up and it will be busy. Jail staffing has been one of the main issues for the Sheriff’s Office, but they have made some great improvements in using the Guardian Radio Frequency Identification System (RFID) program, which allows a detention deputy to use a scanner to verify check point information.
Sheriff Kramer said as for COVID-19 funding, he held off as he didn’t know where funding would end up, but $13,000.00 had been spent in the prior two years. Sheriff Kramer was asked what he is looking into now and he mentioned rifles and ammunition. Undersheriff Stephens spoke of the high cost increase of ammunition. Sheriff Kramer also mentioned getting more tasers, which cost $1,400.00 per taser.
Sheriff Kramer talked about wanting to budget for one jail transport vehicle and he would look into trading the Durango for something more reliable. Those present spoke of cost estimates and what’s involved to outfit a vehicle for this purpose. For a Tahoe, it originally wasn’t going to be easy to purchase one due to back logs.
Sheriff Kramer mentioned he budgeted $80,000.00 for surveillance purposes and he spoke of there being a grant for cameras around the County Annex building. Ms. Denton said that $80,000.00 budget doesn’t take into account grants. The budget for surveillance purposes doesn’t include grants, but a grant would only cover the outside cameras. Sheriff Kramer said the Sheriff’s Office does have grant funds through the Stonegarden grant to use to install trunk repeaters in the patrol vehicles. In the budget for the roof and plumbing at the Sheriff’s Office, those costs are just rough estimates. Sheriff Kramer said that Kootenai County Sheriff Ben Wolfinger has retired and is now working on a contract to help look into what he sees as options or suggestions for jails and to help come up with a workable plan going forward.
Chairman Dinning mentioned comparing the proposed budget to the prior year’s budget. Clerk Poston referred to salary increases and she mentioned in last year’s budget were increased wages, budgeting for an additional employee and the food service contract. Chairman Dinning said he doesn’t know where we are at with levy caps for the justice fund. Chairman Dinning asked about the corporal position. Clerk Poston discussed revenues in comparison to last year’s budget and she also discussed her summary regarding the budget for labor. The budget went from a patrol deputy and how many there were and then the number of corporals. Sheriff Kramer spoke of increased education and duties involved for the corporal position being discussed, which is for a Sheriff’s employee who is currently a deputy. There is upper level training and responsibilities. Chairman Dinning asked how much of an increase it is from a deputy position to a corporal position. Clerk Poston said it’s a difference of two grades, grade 15 to 16, which is $1.19 per hour difference.
The meeting to discuss the Sheriff’s proposed budget was paused in order to make a scheduled telephone call to Scott Hoover, CPA.
2:00 p.m., Commissioners contacted Certified Public Accountant Scott Hoover to inquire about the possibility of working together regarding outside auditor work for the county’s annual audit. Mr. Hoover provided information about the county that county outside auditor Leonard Schulte had given him and he mentioned having reviewed Mr. Schulte’s past auditor work. Clerk Poston mentioned being curious about the cost to work with Mr. Hoover and she explained that the county uses a Computer Arts based computer system. Mr. Hoover provided his professional background to include performing audits for various municipalities and districts. Mr. Hoover said if he takes on doing the county’s audit, he would have another certified public accountant with governmental expertise review his work. Clerk Poston said at times the county will ask for advice from Mr. Schulte, although the two parties might not always agree. Clerk Poston asked Mr. Hoover how he feels about the county still seeking advice from Mr. Schulte.
Chairman Dinning asked when Mr. Hoover might have some kind of a proposal for Commissioners. Mr. Hoover said in about a week.
The call to Mr. Hoover ended at 2:15 p.m.
Commissioners and Clerk Poston resumed their discussion of the Sheriff’s Office budget with Sheriff Kramer, Undersheriff Stephens and Ms. Denton.
Clerk Poston informed Ms. Denton that there are no funds for the E911 budget. Clerk Poston and Ms. Denton reviewed line items and positions within the E911 budget, such as mapping, Nixle360, the annual contract for valence, etc. Chairman Dinning asked Ms. Denton to look over the information and she agreed that she would look over details again. Ms. Denton explained that the maintenance contract is associated with E911, but when Valence comes up to work on the equipment, they’re billed as the Sheriff’s Office, but they still get the certain rate. Ms. Denton explained the Records Management System and Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) systems.
Chairman Dinning said he’s just trying to make sure the intent of the law is being met as it pertains to E911 related work.
The meeting with Sheriff Kramer, Undersheriff Stephens, and Ms. Denton ended at 2:36 p.m.
There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 2:40 p.m.
____________________________________
DAN R. DINNING, Chairman
ATTEST:
___________________________________
GLENDA POSTON, Clerk
By: Michelle Rohrwasser, Deputy Clerk