July 2 & 3, 2001, Emmett, Idaho Pursuant to a recess taken on June 26, 2001, the Board of Commissioners of Gem County, Idaho, met in regular session this 2 nd & 3 rd day of July, 2001, at 8:00 a.m. Present: Ed Mansfield Kathy Skippen Sharon Pratt Susan Howard Chairman Commissioner Commissioner Clerk Whereupon the following proceedings were had, to-wit: July 2, 2001 Commissioner Ed Mansfield was missing from the meeting until 2:30pm. Pledge of Allegiance was said. MINUTES READ AND APPROVED: The minutes of June 25 & 26, 2001, were reviewed. A motion was made to approve the minutes of June 25 & 26, 2001, as read and corrected. It was seconded and carried. DEPARTMENT HEADS: Dennis Pulley, Road & Bridge Supervisor, reported that they will start chip sealing next week. The Butte bridge project was discussed. Holladay Engineering has previously done a study on it and will be asked if they still have some of those records. Mike Williams, Planning & Zoning Administrator, reported that he will be meeting with the City of Emmett P & Z Commission to go over the comprehensive plan. All work sessions and meetings of this sort are advertised. Mike attended a week-long Community Development Institute, which was paid for with a scholarship. He felt the training was very valuable. Quinn Nuffer, Noxious Weed Supervisor, reported that he has three meetings next week, the Lower Payette Cooperative Weed Management, the Kennedy Creek, and the Idaho Superintendent Meeting. The Steam Unit is still on hold as far as getting a demonstration. Commissioner Skippen stated that there is a person who is interested in being on the Noxious Weed Board. She also let Quinn know that Dr. Vetter has Eurasian Mill Foil on his property that needs to be taken care of.
Martin Joyce, Landfill Supervisor, reported the landfill was up 381 vehicles for the month over last year, probably because free tire day. There were 336 vehicles and 112 ton, with a total of 3,448 tires on free tire day. Year-to-day they were up 1543 vehicles. They have poured another slab for recycling cardboard. Mark Rekow, Ambulance Director, reported there were $11,994 in collections and $750 donated as memorials. They had 341 transports, year-to-day with 55 transports for the month of June and 17 non-transports. There may be grant funding for a new EMS building through Ida-Ore, if the property is purchased. Mark will keep working on this. ELECTED OFFICIALS: Clint Short, Sheriff, reported no out-of-county inmates for the month and there have been none since getting the modular jail. Things are going well. There were 18 inmates in custody at the present time. Greg Himes, Assessor, reported he still has a desk he doesn t need and it is set for selling in the auction, unless the P & Z office needs it. It was decided that the P & Z Office would need the desk for the new Department of Commerce position. The assessment equalization has gone pretty smoothly. Marilyn Frasier, Treasurer, reported that $2,130,949 in property taxes were collected in June. There were 1,030 property owners charged a late fee with 849 owners with taxes left to pay. Marilyn is leaving on July 10 for vacation for three weeks. Susan Howard, Clerk, asked for volunteers for help with organizing and running the County auction on July 7, 2000. Commissioners stated that the Personnel Policy Handbook is ready for print. They also stated that the first meeting on the parameters for the Economic Development Specialist position for Gem/Boise County would be that evening. INDIGENT APPLICATIONS: A motion was made, seconded, and carried to go into executive session under Idaho Code 67-2345(1)(d). Deputy Clerk Sue Spencer presented the following indigent applications: 01-024 Application needed a subpoena signed for an appeal. 01-031 Application needed a subpoena signed for an appeal. 01-045 Application needed an application lien signed. 01-046 Application for assistance with telephone and power bill. A motion was made, seconded, and carried to come out of executive session. A motion was made to sign the subpoenas for 01-024 and 01-031, to sign the application lien for 01-045, and to wait on the decision for 01-046 until further information is provided. It was seconded and carried. The Board recessed for lunch at 12:00pm and reconvened at 1:00pm.
HAROLD HOLSTE VETERANS SERVICE: Harold Holste from the VFW met to ask if a decision had been made concerning the Veterans Service person. He was given a copy of Idaho Code where it tells the responsibilities of the position. He will come back to the Board with the names of persons interested in the position and the Commissioners will interview them. BOARD OF EQUALIZATION TRINITY BOSS: Through motion, the Board of Commissioners convened as Board of Equalization. The hearing was tape recorded. Commissioner Skippen opened the hearing and read the Notice of Appeal from Trinity Boss on Parcel No. l3702.10 with the assessed value of $151,005. Trinity stated that she feels there are three reasons her property should be assessed at a lower value. She paid very little more for her house than it is assessed for. She feels that the assessment was put on when the property was a working orchard, which it is not now. She said that the third discrepancy is that the nearby Merrill s Egg Farm devalues her property because of the fly and odor problem. Greg Himes asked how much more she paid for the house than it is assessed for and she answered about $10,000. He then presented a packet of homes in the same area and their values that was entered into the record. He explained that in Gem County, properties are supposed to be assessed at 100% of their marketable value. He then went over the packet of information. Trinity stated that her house sat on the market for over three years before she bought it. They paid more for it than she wanted because the house suited her purposes. She stated that there is only one other home that has sold in her area. She feels the fly specs, the smell, and the health hazard makes her property values less. She stated that the Assessor s packet is misleading and the properties have been picked and chosen to support his opinion. She feels Greg may have a conflict of interest and a bias in his presentation because he owns property in the area. Gregg stated that he could get an appraised value on the new homes and he guaranteed that the appraised value from the bank would be higher than the assessed value from the Assessor s office. He feels that he has appraised the homes in that area no differently than any other place in the County, even though he has property in the same area. A final statement was made by Greg where he stated that the sale price of the property four years ago was higher than the current assessed value. Trinity Boss stated that Greg s statement is absolutely untrue because land values all over the valley have decreased because of the Boise Cascade Mill closure, but she had no physical
proof of that fact. The hearing was closed. Commissioner Pratt stated that she has seen no proof that there is a devaluation of the property. Trinity paid more for the property four years ago that the property is assessed at now. She stated that she has seen no proof that Merrill s Egg Farm in the area has lowered that value of the property. Commissioner Skippen agreed with Commissioner Pratt s comments. A motion was made to sustain the Assessor s valuation of the Trinity Boss property. It was seconded and carried unanimously. A motion was made to come out of Board of Equalization and reconvene as Board of Commissioners. It was seconded and carried. PROSECUTING ATTORNEY MATTERS: Prosecuting Attorney Dick Linville advised that it is up to the discretion of the Commissioners as to what constitutes safety sensitive positions in the drug testing policy in the County Personnel Policy. PA Linville recommended that a written record of the complaints against the Letha Sewer District Board be made and get responses from Sewer District Board. There is no legal reason that County employees may not bid at a County auction of County surplus equipment. JOINT EXERCISE OF POWERS AGREEMENT: A motion was made to sign the Joint Exercise of Powers Agreement between Gem County and the City of Emmett authorizing Holladay Engineering to prepare a Gem County Transportation Plan. It was seconded and carried. P & Z ORDINANCE AMENDMENTS: A motion was made to amend the motion made on June 5, 2001, by changing R-Residential-Transitional(RT)- Single-Family to R-Residential-Single-Family(R). It was seconded and carried. The Board recessed to July 3, 2001, AT 8:00AM. Pledge of Allegiance was said. Commissioner Ed Mansfield was not in the meeting. SHERIFF S OFFICE GRANT: Sheriff Clint Short and Deputy Donnie Wunder met to discuss the spending of a grant from BLM that was not anticipated and not in the budget. The amount of the money was $2500. They were advised that the money would be put into the Fund, with an expense line item put into the Sheriff s Department budget to keep track of the expenses. The budget will probably
have to be opened later in the year for a new Department of Commerce position they are funding in the County. The BLM grant will be put in at that time. If not, there will probably be enough budget left in the Sheriff s department to cover the expenditures. PUBLIC HEARING CELL TOWER AND LANDSCAPE ORDINANCES: This hearing was tape recorded. Acting Chairman Kathy Skippen read the notice of public hearing and stated that the only ones present in the hearing were the Clerk, Commissioners, and P & Z Administrator. Planning & Zoning Administrator Mike Williams read the P & Z Commission s recommendation of approval of the new Cell Tower ordinance. A motion was made to approve P & Z recommendation for the Cell Tower Ordinance. P & Z Administrator Mike Williams read the Commission s action of unanimous approval of the Landscape Ordinance, with one correction. A motion was made to approve P & Z recommendation to approve the Landscape Ordinance, with the stated change. It was seconded and carried unanimously. BOARD OF EQUALIZATION W.R. BAXTER WHOLESALE NURSERY INC.: A motion was made to recess as Board of Commission and reconvene as Board of Equalization. The hearing for W. R. Baxter Wholesale Nursery, Inc., was tape recorded. Mr. Randy Baxter, partner/president of the Baxter Nursery, presented a packet to be entered into the record. He then presented his case asking for the full exemption for the Category 58 exemption. He feels his nursery production is an agricultural enterprise. He has found that nurseries in other counties have been granted the exemption. He stated that his farm machinery has been moved from Cat. 58 to 68 by the Assessor s Office. He states that his shop has been assessed as a commercial building. He said that this is their repair shop and their office. He wondered if this is categorized correctly. Greg Himes, Assessor, stated that the category the shop was put into is commercial because of their office being in it, and would not have any affect on the tax assessment. Greg entered a packet into the record. He stated that he feels the new legislation is somewhat unclear on the Category 58 exemption and he has unclear information from the Idaho Tax Commission. By going over Idaho Code, he showed that nurseries had to be specifically added to the past legislation to get an agriculture land exemption. The nurseries are not specifically added to the personal property exemption, and he feels that it needs to be done in order for them to get the exemption. Greg described the several options the Commissioners could take. He stated that the
full value of $376,890 could be exempted. They could exempt only the part of the exemption on equipment used exclusively on the propagation of the trees. The other option would be to deny the appeal altogether. Randy Baxter stated that his nursery operation, which is 100% field production, should get all of the agriculture exemptions, because that is what they do. He stated that the legislative bill 378 does not specifically include nurseries, nor does it exclude them. He feels all of the Counties in the State need to be together on this issue. Commissioner Pratt asked Randy Baxter to describe the process of growing of his trees and the equipment he uses. He did so. Commissioner Skippen asked Greg Himes about the use of equipment to weed the trees and also to load the trees to sell, and if that were not the same as a farmer using the same tractor to cultivate and also to load hay to sell. She feels that the legislative bill was poorly put together and she feels that everything she has seen the Baxter Nursery do is in line with agricultural work. Greg Himes went over some of the equipment that might not be exclusively used for agriculture. This was done in his office and he stated that he would be agreeable to go to the Nursery and talk over whether some of the equipment should not be counted. Mr. Baxter didn t feel this was a good idea. Commissioner Pratt stated that she feels this is definitely an agriculture business and should have the agricultural personal property exemption. A motion was made to deny the decision of the Assessor to not allow the Category 58 exemption to Baxter Nursery, and to allow them the full exemption of $299,729. It was seconded and carried unanimously. BOARD OF EQUALIZATION SUSAN LEMMONS: The hardship case for Susan Lemmons asking for an exemption of approximately $65.18 for Recreation and Landfill fees on her 2001 property taxes was brought before the Board of Equalization. After reviewing the information before them, a motion was made to deny the request for the exemption of the Recreation and Landfill fees on Susan Lemmons 2001 property taxes, because there was income to pay for these fees. It was seconded and carried unanimously. ZONING ORDINANCE AMENDMENTS: After reviewing the proposed amendment to the Use Chart Ordinance, a motion was made to approve the amendment with the following changes: change from prohibited to allowed in R zone under Residential Use, Two Family Dwelling Duplex; change from prohibited to special use permit in C-1 zone under Transportation Use, Auto Open Parking
Lot or Garage; change from allowed to prohibited in C-1 zone under Trade & Retail Use, Recreational Sales; change from prohibited to special use permit in C-1 zone under Sports Activities Use, Riding Stables and Schools; add Automobile Sales under Trade and Retail Use, with special use permit in C-1 zone, allowed in C-2 zone, and prohibited in HT zone; add Livestock Sales under Agriculture Use, with prohibited in Public zone, allowed in A-1 zone, special use permit in A-2 and A-3 zones; all under Manufacturing Use, change from special use permit to allowed in M-1 zone under Apparel and Related Products, change from prohibited to special use permit in M-1 zone under Concrete Products, and change from special Use permit to allowed in M-1 zone under Printing and Publishing; change from special use permit to allowed in C-2, HT, M-1, and M-2 zones under Communication and Utilities Use, Radio and Television Stations. The motion was seconded and approved. The Board recessed the meeting at 12:00pm to July 9 & 10, 2001, at 8:00am. CLAIMS FOR THE FOLLOWING FUNDS WITH WARRANTS WRITTEN JUNE 1 JUNE 30, 2001: CURRENT EXPENSE FUND...................... $ 97,021.74 ROAD & BRIDGE FUND............................ 72,845.70 CIGARETTE TAX/BLOCK GRANT..................... 3,494.01 DISTRICT COURT FUND............................ 13,690.21 COUNTY JUSTICE FUND............................ 132,430.04 FAIR, GROUNDS & BUILDINGS FUND................ 3,183.25 III HEALTH DISTRICT FUND...................... 6,047.67 CHARITIES & PENSIONS FUND...................... 12,531.89 REVALUATION FUND............................ 8,108.67 SOLID WASTE FUND............................ 17,916.29 TORT FUND........................................ 1,252.45 NOXIOUS WEED FUND............................ 11,043.52 WATERWAYS FUND............................ 5,813.28 INSURANCE POOL.................................. 5,109.27 AMBULANCE FUND............................ 11,633.01 TOTAL $ 402,121.00 Approved: Chairman Attest: Clerk