FREMONT COUNTY COMMISIONERS MEETING MINUTES April 12, Present for the meeting were: Commissioners Paul Romrell, Skip Hurt, and Lee Miller.

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1 FREMONT COUNTY COMMISIONERS MEETING MINUTES April 12, 2010 Present for the meeting were: Commissioners Paul Romrell, Skip Hurt, and Lee Miller. Also attended by: Clerk Abbie Mace, Deputy Clerk Cathy Conger, Prosecuting Attorney Joette Lookabaugh, Sheriff Len Humphries, and Assessor Kathy Thompson Commissioner Romrell called the meeting to order and welcomed those in attendance. Clerk Abbie Mace offered an opening prayer. Sheriff Len Humphries led the Pledge of Allegiance. Elected Officials Sheriff Len Humphries Two officers graduating from police academy Friday. We have one in the academy and still have two more to go in. Detention academy is five and police academy is ten weeks long. New vehicles will arrive in six weeks. He has shifted our reserve patrols from snowmobile to the sand dunes. We have fourteen inmates in county custody. Assessor Kathy Thompson Circuit breakers filing deadline is April 15 th. Close to 300 that have come in. A lot of new people have come in. Clerk Abbie Mace Reported on having held our first employee handbook meeting on Friday. It lasted about 45 minutes. One of the changes to the personnel policies is that we will be doing drug testing on all new employees. She presented a proposal to have Tri County Probation administer those tests with a cost will be approximately $12 per test. The test will be administered at Madison Court House. The test will not be testing for alcohol but for all the other medications and narcotics. She also reported that it has been a busy week with the absentee voting starting. She reviewed the Commissioners Calendar of meetings for the week as follows: meeting with P&Z tonight, City of Parker Wednesday night at 7pm, and Teton City Thursday at 8pm. Commissioner Hurt made the motion to allow Tri-Counties to administer our pre-employee drug testing. Commissioner Miller seconded the motion. Full voice vote was heard with all commissioners voting in favor. Prosecuting Attorney Joette Lookabaugh has an intern in her office that is compiling a list of cases to be destroyed. She has a special meeting with Blake about sewer ordinance. She has filed three new felonies and had an arrest warrant issued. Her office has a heavy court load this week. She was contacted by Larry Henderson about putting up a warning signs where deaths have occurred as an eagle scouting project. Commissioner Skip Hurt He attended the recycling grand opening. He has a meeting on Tuesday with the railroad. We are opening the bid for search & rescue building today. Island Park EMS building is progressing well. Commissioner LeRoy Miller He attended the Ashton Recycling grand opening. Impressed with how the community came together for that. He has a meeting Tuesday with fair board. Begin

2 construction on bleacher improvements. They are looking for more Eagle Scout projects. He received a commitment for some money to go to the fair board that can go to ADA bleachers. He has a busy schedule this week. Commissioner Paul Romrell Busy week two meetings on Wednesday with employees, legislative meeting Thursday, airport meeting Friday. He will bring back results of these meetings. There are meetings every night and every day. He is averaging 25 s every day especially with Island Park meeting that was held to split from Fremont County. He is concerned that those that are considering this move have not fully considered the costs that entail a county business including things such as a courthouse, detention center, and public officials. Property taxes are less than 25% of our budget. Other revenue such as fees and sales tax fund the rest of the budget. If they switch to Clark County their levies are 25% higher than ours. State average would be a 40% increase in property taxes. He has sent a response to Island Park News. He doesn t see either option going anywhere. Majority of those that live there year round support what the commissioners have done. Clerk Mace brought up how commissioner districts are formed which is by population not land mass. Assessor Thompson brought up that a statement was made by a realtor that if they went to Clark County their taxes would be less however it is based on the market. Prosecuting Attorney Lookabaugh feels that this is because of the cabin rental ordinance. Commissioner Miller brought up the school issue which is not a county issue but rather a school district issue. Prosecuting Attorney Lookabaugh brought up that some would like to have the commissioners meetings there however official business can t be done outside the courthouse. Island Park feels that they are not getting accurate representation or services. Island Park has the same ability to access these offices as anyone else does. The commissioners feel that they spend approximately 50% of their time taking care of issues in of Island Park. It is the same for the Treasurer s office. One issue is the Sewer and the Sewer LID liens. We still have $800,000 to one million owing on those. Bid for Search and Rescue Building Addition Commissioner Romrell opened the bid at 10:10 a.m. Bids that were submitted were: 3-D Decker Construction for $120, Bloom Construction for $130, Bollinger Construction, Inc for $106, DL Beck, Inc for $121, Doug James Construction, Inc for $96, Harold L. Harris Construction, Inc for $111, SE/Z Construction, LLC for $104, Shaw Homes & Construction for $111, Vern Clark & Sons Construction Co for $124, Commissioner Hurt made the motion to award the bid to Doug James Construction, Inc for $96, after final review by Public Works Director Marla Vik. Commissioner Miller seconded the motion. A full voice vote was heard with all commissioners voting in favor. Bid for Fremont County Goat Grazing Project Commissioner Romrell opened the bid at 10:30am. Commissioners held a discussion on the bid that was submitted.

3 Commissioner Miller made the motion to award the bid to Goat Mountain Ranch for $9, for each year for a two year period. Commissioner Hurt seconded the motion. A full voice vote was heard with all commissioners voting in favor. Weed Supervisor Bryce Fowler RE: Weed Presentation Mr. Fowler presented his power point on weed control that he presented to the High Country RC&D Council. Project started in 2008 in an effort to show the Forest Service how the grant money was being spent. The goal is to prevent leafy spurge from moving into the National Parks. Funding is provided by State and Private Forestry. Discussion was held on the boat washing program. Fall River Electric RE: Services Provided to the County Mickie Funke and Brian Hayes from Fall River Electric attended. Ms. Funke stated the majority of services that the county has with them have had to do with the waste water system. She asked if there had been any problems or concerns. Commissioner Romrell stated that there has been a positive relationship and they are very pleased with the services that we are receiving. There was a discussion on new program that they are promoting for indigent households called Helping Hands. Ms. Funke extended an invitation to the commissioners to attend their Annual Meeting is June 12, 2010 at 8:00 am. Ms. Funke gave the commissioners a box with a new promotional lighting program. They discussed the wastewater program and some energy efficient programs that we could benefit from. They will have extra rock from one of their construction project and will contact Ms. Vik. Mr. Hayes reported that they have received a grant for 2 million dollars for two way meters that can communicate with the home and a fiber optic project. GIS Administrator Bonnie Moore, Eric Smith & Assessor Kathy Thompson RE: Power Point A power point presentation was given on Regional Resource Center. There was a discussion on the background of RRC and issues that would benefit from RRC. Review of mapping done by GIS. Most county departments extend beyond the county boundary. They reviewed the current situation with GIS. There was discussion on regions that have identified themselves to the state. The grant will be used by our region and the SW region. Their first meeting was held on April 6, 2010 and was well attended. GIS extended an invitation to the commissioners to attend their meetings. This regional effort would keep us current on road changes with neighboring counties. One goal is for costs to the county being minimal. Social Services Debbie Adams Re: Indigent Claims Commissioner Romrell made a motion to go into executive session pursuant to IC (d) to consider records that are exempt from disclosure as provided in chapter 3, title 9, Idaho code at 1:01 p.m. Commissioner Hurt seconded the motion. A roll call vote was taken with Commissioner Romrell voting Aye, Commissioner Hurt voting Aye, and Commissioner Miller voting Aye. Commissioner Romrell declared the meeting at 1:11 p.m. The commissioners reviewed the quarterly report. Commissioner Miller made a motion to deny case #M , and case #M b. Commissioner Hurt seconded the motion. A full voice vote was heard with all commissioners voting in favor.

4 Search and Rescue Brett Mackert RE: Safety The commissioners would like to move ahead with the Search and Rescue Building project. Funds would come from the sale of county property. There is one Search & Rescue volunteer out of Island Park. 85% to 90% of the searches are in the Island Park area. There is an average of 40 searches annually with about 30 in Island Park. Mr. Mackert requested funds for a video to be used in education for BYU Idaho students on water safety in our county. This would help educate others on the dangers low rise dams of which we have 13. The costs would be approximately $2500 to $3000 for less than ten minutes. Total costs would be approximately $3500. The commissioners stated that this funding could come from emergency reserve funds or sale of county property. Mr. Mackert is meeting with BYU Idaho this week and will be encouraging them to help with the funding of this project. He is also looking at other areas of concern that could be added to the video. Commissioner Romrell made the motion to approve the funds for a safety video for BYU Idaho. Commissioner Miller seconded the motion. A full voice vote was heard with all commissioners voting in favor. Keller & Associates Jeff Mansfield & Bryan Phinney RE: 2010 Water Sampling Contract Mr. Mansfield presented the 2010 Water Sample Contract Proposal. This is the fifth year that the county has taken county funds to test water quality. Some cuts have been made on what they are sampling with an amount of $1,100. This was done to ensure that the data collected is useful. They provided the contract and the maps designating the area to be tested. The change to the contract is on page 2 regarding lake bed sampling. They will have these completed on or before December 31, The contract is for $13,914. They are willing to spread their sampling dates out. They are recommending another sample on Elk Creek. A fourth sampling could potentially alter the history of samples that we have. It would cost approximately $1986. The commissioners requested to remain with the same dates that we have had for the last five years. Commissioner Hurt made the motion to approve the contract IP Water Quality Study in the amount of $13,914. Commissioner Miller seconded the motion. A full voice vote was heard with all commissioners voting in favor. Bid for Henry s Fork Landing and Ponds Lodge Lift Station Replacements Commissioner Romrell opened the bid at 2:00pm. The bids that were submitted for the Henry s Fork Landing Lift Station were: 3H Construction for $81, Depatco, Inc for $79, Eagle Rock Timber, Inc for $74, Edstrom Construction Inc for $68, Harris Construction for $69, HK Contractors, Inc for $69, TMC Contractors, Inc for $57, Commissioner Hurt made the motion to award the bid for Henry s Fork Landing to TMC Contractor Inc for the amount of $57,426 after final review by Public Works Director Marla Vik. Commissioner Miller seconded the motion. A full voice vote was heard with all commissioners voting in favor. The bids that were submitted for the Ponds Lodge Lift Station were:

5 3H Construction for $78, Edstrom Construction Inc for $78, Harris Construction for $48, HK Contractors, Inc for $53, Wheeler Electric, Inc for $57, Commissioner Hurt made the motion to award the bid for Ponds Lodge to Harris Construction for the amount of $48,800 after final review by Public Works Director Marla Vik. Commissioner Miller seconded the motion. A full voice vote was heard with all commissioners voting in favor. Planning and Building Director Kurt Hibbert RE: Department Report Cell towers have been a recent topic of discussion. A report that showed open permits was given to the commissioners. Commissioners placed a call to John Laux to determine how long a permit can be open. John Laux clarified that the standard time is two years however with extensions it can remain open indefinitely. If the Assessors office finds that these are occupied they will go onto the tax records. Staff evaluations have gone really well. He is meeting with the hydro plant inspectors. Mr. Hibbert reported on the perpetual yard sale. Planning and Building Director Kurt Hibbert RE: P&Z Committees Mr. Hibbert presented copies of the proposed development code to the commissioners for the meeting tonight. He explained that there are three types of tracks or developments that are in question they are rural tracks and standard track subdivision and short track subdivision. There has been some work on the development codes. He also reported that the commissioners have voted to form two subcommittees, however there has only been one individual show interest for either committee. David & Carol Mason RE: Hardship Exemption Request Mrs. Mason presented to the commissioners her reasoning for wanting a hardship tax exemption. Her husband was in an accident that created a great deal of debt. There is $1800 owed in back taxes. More time would also be beneficial. The personal property taxes of $736 have been served to them from the Sheriff s. The Sheriff s office will begin selling items next Tuesday. Payment plans can be made through the Treasurers office. Personal property taxes need to be brought current by June 20, Real property can be delinquent for three years before the county will start any action on this other than penalty and interest. Commissioner Romrell made a motion to pull the warrant restraint, the Sheriffs fees and the Treasurers fees if the Mason s bring their personal property current by June 20, Commissioner Miller seconded the motion. A full voice vote was heard with all commissioners voting in favor. EMS/Sheriff Office & Wendy Reynolds BLM RE: Sandrail Discussion BLM Representatives Wendy Reynolds, Bill Boggs, Jeff Long, Sheriff Len Humphries and Ambulance Director Bob Foster attended. The BLM has identified that the Sheriffs office owns the sand rail. MOU needs to be reconsidered. The BLM received it with Fremont County signatures however they sent it to their main office and have never received the revised copy back. BLM feels that an MOU is not necessary if everyone can agree on what is needed. After five years the

6 interest that BLM holds will convert to the county unless the sandrail is sold. Mr. Long has that contract and it will be reviewed by their administration. Fremont County has been the example for how BLM wants to handle these types of acquisitions in the future. The funding for EMS and the Sheriff s office is identical to what we had last year. Commissioner Romrell commented that they have done a great job on the campground at the sand dunes. The Sheriff s office will not be having a seasonal officer out at the sand dunes this year. They are reviewing other ways to deal with this. The hours that an officer will be at the sand dunes will be Thursday through Sunday. At other times it will only be in emergency situations. Mr. Foster is looking at concerns over not having a qualified driver for the sandrail. They had their first injury last Friday at the sand dunes. Commissioner Hurt questioned turning the Sand dunes into a fee bases area to help fund emergency personnel that go out to the sand dunes. Ms. Reynolds said that some public relations need to be done to determine how the public feels about it. If we start to administer the stickers and fees we would want to know what the percentage split between the BLM and the county would be. At other sites BLM has done up to 30% to the county and 70% to the BLM. There needs to be a count of vehicle users for this to be accurate. This is a wilderness study area and BLM has a commitment to treat it as such. There are two other counties that have a stake in the sand dunes and would need to be contacted. The county currently received $25,000 for the Sheriff and $15,000 for EMS although the man hours are double that. The BLM s Recreation RAC would have to approve additional funds. Commissioner Hurt feels that we need to do some studies to determine how many visitors are actually there. BLM is revising their Resource Management Plan at this time and would like to address this in their new plan. BLM has met with the potential new owner for the Desert Oasis. There was discussion on the landfill fee s assessed to the BLM by the county that is past due. BLM will look into this. Public Works Director Marla Vik Ms. Vik will not be able to attend the sewer ordinance public hearing meeting. The money to crush rock for the Mesa Falls seal coat project from the forest service has to be funneled through the county. Ms. Vik will call for quotes to do that. Miscellaneous Commissioner Miller made a motion to approve the minutes from April 5, Commissioner Romrell seconded the motion. A full voice vote was heard with all commissioners voting in favor. Commissioner Romrell made a motion to approve Resolution sewer capitalization fee increase of 5% to be effective 30 days from passage. Commissioner Hurt seconded the motion. A full voice vote was heard with all commissioners voting in favor. Commissioner Romrell made a motion to approve the Junior College Scholarship Application. Commissioner Miller seconded the motion. A full voice vote was heard with all commissioners voting in favor. Commissioner Romrell made a motion to sign the grant application between Fremont County and Idaho State Parks and Recreation for the boat safety grant in the sheriff s office. Commissioner Hurt seconded the motion. A full voice vote was heard with all commissioners voting in favor.

7 There being no further business to come before the board, the meeting was adjourned. Attest: Abbie Mace, Clerk Paul Romrell, Chairman Fremont County Commission