COMMISSIONERS MINUTES                                          MARCH 14, 2005


The Elmore County Commissioners met in regular session on the above date in the Commissioner’s Room, basement of the Elmore County Courthouse, 150 South 4th East, Mountain Home, Idaho.

Present at the meeting were Chairman Larry Rose, Commissioners Mary Egusquiza and Connie Cruser. Also present at the meeting was Clerk Best.

Deputy Treasurer Teri Lasuen appeared before the Board on behalf of Rose Plympton, Treasurer. Ms. Lasuen stated that the National Day of Prayer is scheduled to be observed on May 5, 2005 at noon, and she was there to ask the Board for permission to hold the observance on the Courthouse steps as has been done in the past few years. The Board stated they saw no problem with that and gave Ms. Lasuen permission for the observance to be held at the Courthouse.

Motion by Rose, second by Egusquiza, to approve the payroll for February, 2005, in the amount of $308,058.30.
ROSE - AYE
EGUSQUIZA - AYE
CRUSER - AYE Motion carried and so ordered.

Motion by Rose, second by Egusquiza, to approve the expenses in the amount of $260,360.32. There was discussion.
ROSE - AYE
EGUSQUIZA - AYE
CRUSER - AYE Motion carried and so ordered.

Motion by Rose, second by Cruser to approve, for the record only, the Clerk’s Bail Bond Report, Recorder’s Office Report and Treasurer’s Office Report.
ROSE - AYE
EGUSQUIZA - AYE
CRUSER - AYE Motion carried and so ordered.

Motion by Egusquiza, second by Cruser, to approve the minutes for February 23, 2005, February 28, 2005 and March 3, 2005.
ROSE - AYE
EGUSQUIZA - AYE
CRUSER - AYE Motion carried and so ordered.

Prosecutor Bazzoli joined the meeting.

The contract with APS Healthcare was discussed. Prosecutor Bazzoli has reviewed the contract and had noted several concerns and questions. The Clerk will telephone Keith at APS and discuss the changes with him and request a new contract be sent.


Motion by Egusquiza, second by Cruser, to approve and have the Chair sign a letter to the Idaho Transportation Department for the Mountain Home Senior Center stating that they are a non-profit organization, considered exempt and are entitled to exempt license plates for their new van.
ROSE - AYE
EGUSQUIZA - AYE
CRUSER - AYE Motion carried and so ordered.

Adoption of a safety resolution was discussed. Various examples from other counties were reviewed. The Board instructed Clerk Best to redraft the Boise County resolution to be used for Elmore County.

Hal Franck, P.O. Box 945, Mountain Home, and Bonnie Sharp, Administrator of the Growth and Development Department appeared before the Board. Mr. Franck stated he wanted to discuss continuity in the administration of the Growth and Development office. There was discussion about Mr. Franck being charged for copies in the amount of $36.50. Mr. Franck stated that the issue is that he had offered to donate paper rather than paying for copies. Ms. Sharp stated that she charged for copies in accordance with the County’s resolution covering copy charges and that Mr. Franck had brought in a package of paper some time ago but since that time the resolution had been adopted and she had explained to Mr. Franck that she had to charge him and returned the package of paper to him. Ms. Sharp added that on March 9, 2005, when the copies were requested there were 146 copies made at .25 cents which totaled the $36.50. The time spent by the Growth & Development staff amounted to approximately four hours. Mr. Franck then spoke with the Board about the encroachment complaint that has been ongoing for seven years. The Prosecutor, Board and Ms. Sharp again all stated that a remedy by their offices is not in their jurisdiction.

John Kieffer of the Elmore Soil and Water Conservation District appeared before the Board to discuss his budget request for 2006. Prior to the request for budget the proposed drought declaration was discussed. Mr. Kieffer then requested $5,500.00 for budget year 2006 for the Elmore Soil Conservation District for the year 2006.

The Weitz public hearing was discussed.

Motion by Rose, second by Cruser, to recess for lunch.
ROSE - AYE
EGUSQUIZA - AYE
CRUSER - AYE Motion carried and so ordered.

At 1:15 p.m. the Elmore County Commissioners met in Executive Session pursuant to I.C. 67-2345(d) with Social Services Director Marianne Bate on a motion by Rose, second by Cruser.
ROSE - AYE
EGUSQUIZA - AYE
CRUSER - AYE Motion carried and so ordered.

Indigent cases were discussed.


A reconsideration hearing was scheduled on K-11-04-01 for 1:30 p.m. The applicants who were subpoenaed were not present.

A reconsideration hearing was held on K-08-04-08. Present at the hearing were the Board of County Commissioners, Deputy Prosecutor Teri Kaptein, Clerk Gail Best, Social Services Director Marianne Bate, Tonya Holton and Rayven Wilkerson of St. Alphonsus RMC and Barbara Delgado of Mountain Home, Mother of the applicant.

Regular session resumed. The following decisions were made:

K-01-05-02 Motion by Egusquiza, second by Cruser, to approve with a reimbursement order of $100.00 per month.
ROSE - AYE
EGUSQUIZA - AYE
CRUSER - AYE Motion carried and so ordered.

K-01-05-06 Motion by Rose, second by Egusquiza, to deny as not last resource because of a trust account, residency has not been established, and that requested items have not been furnished to Elmore County.
ROSE - AYE
EGUSQUIZA - AYE
CRUSER - AYE Motion carried and so ordered.

K-01-05-07 Motion by Rose, second by Cruser, to approve with reimbursement order beginning June 15, 2005 of $100.00 and tax assignment beginning with 2005 taxes.
ROSE - AYE
EGUSQUIZA - AYE
CRUSER - AYE Motion carried and so ordered.

K-08-04-08 Motion by Egusquiza, second by Cruser, to approve with reimbursement order of $50.00 to begin after applicant’s release from incarceration.
ROSE - AYE
EGUSQUIZA - AYE
CRUSER - AYE Motion carried and so ordered.

Lisa Knox, 1091 East 12th S. and Larry Hall, 2251 South 10th E., appeared before the Board to discuss a mosquito abatement district proposal. Ms. Knox presented each Commissioner and the Clerk with a copy of the proposal. Ms. Knox explained each element of the packet, including a map of the proposed district, general information, legal description of the proposed district, a copy of Idaho Code, Section 39, Chapter 28 and the projected budget. Ms. Knox stated that she does not have the completed petition finished as yet, but should have that done soon at which time she will bring it in to Clerk Best. There was general discussion about formation of the district. The Board thanked Ms. Knox for all her hard work on the proposed district.


There was discussion on the Weitz Public Hearing. Commissioner Egusquiza stated she feels unsure about the issue. Chairman Rose stated he didn’t feel there is a legitimate takings issue. Commissioner Cruser stated she would like to see a planned development instead of scattering new homes like is being done now, but she would like to work within the agreement with the City. There was lengthy discussion about the issue and the material from the hearing was reviewed. Motion by Egusquiza, second by Rose, to uphold the Board’s previous findings and decision on the Weitz request for rezoning.
ROSE - AYE
EGUSQUIZA - AYE
CRUSER - AYE Motion carried and so ordered.

Motion by Rose, second by Egusquiza, to recess from Board of Commissioners and convene as a Board of Equalization.
ROSE - AYE
EGUSQUIZA - AYE
CRUSER - AYE Motion carried and so ordered.

Jo Gridley, Chief Deputy Assessor, was called to discuss the Jumping Juice & Java property. Mr. Floyd Beck’s letter disputing the 2005 assessment on tax bill #339 was discussed. Ms. Gridley presented a copy of Idaho Code 63-205 and 63-206 and a letter written by the Assessor’s office to Mr. Beck for the Board’s review. There was discussion. The Board asked Ms. Gridley to contact Mr. Beck about the matter. Exempt property was discussed.

Regular session resumed.

Charles Olson, Route 1, Box 11778, Mountain Home appeared before the Board to discuss his concerns about the water situation. Mr. Olson stated he had a revised water budget and in the Ground Water Management Area half the area is in deficit in well water, which is dropping two feet per year. Mr. Olson stated the Idaho Department of Water Resources has allowed this area to be over appropriated. Mr. Olson stated he has concerns because more rural subdivisions will be put in that are five acre parcels. Mr. Olson stated that farms that irrigate receive .02CFS per acre and one-half acre domestic parcels receive the same .02CFS. Mr. Olson stated that he believes drastic measures will have to be taken to solve the water situation in this area.


Sheriff Rick Layher, Chief Deputy Nick Schilz and Detective Mike Barclay of the Sheriff’s Department appeared before the Board during the public portion of the meeting. Detective Barclay stated he was upset with the treatment he received from the payroll department regarding a workmen’s compensation issue. Mr. Barclay explained he is eligible for Temporary Total Disability compensation for the time he will be off work to recover from a recent surgery. At issue is the County paying him regular salary for the same time off work. Detective Barclay stated he has 300 hours compensatory time, 128 sick leave hours, and 160 hours vacation time accumulated which is ample time coming to draw his regular pay while he is off work. The payroll clerk charged he would be “double dipping” to draw both and he felt very hurt at the attitude she took toward him. Mr. Barclay gave the Board a copy of a letter from the Senior Claims Examiner at the State Insurance Fund stating he was allowed to have both if he had sufficient accumulated time to use. Clerk Best stated that normally an employee would not have that much compensatory time accumulated since it is over the limit in the personnel policy. Sheriff Layher stated that in law enforcement it is hard to keep those hours down, since they operate twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week and that overtime was a real problem for the Sheriff’s Department. Sheriff Layher added that he had allowed Detective Barclay’s hours to add up because he knew they would be used during the surgery and recovery time. Clerk Best stated that she had not been in her office during the incident since she was in the Commissioner’s meeting, but she apologized for her employee’s attitude if it was inappropriate.

Alexis Deutscher appeared before the Board stating she was interested in purchasing the closed gas station located at 4400 Airbase Road. Ms. Deutscher stated the property has a full kitchen which has served food previously, but then the business had closed and reopened as a payday loan business, which also had since closed. In working with the Growth and Development Department she has learned that the business prior to the payday loan business was able to serve food as a conditional use but since it later had become a non-food service business that condition was not available to her. Mr. Deutscher stated that she wanted to operate a lunch-time deli business at the location and was wondering what her options to do so would be. The Board asked her if she would try for a conditional use and Ms. Deutscher stated she was wondering how long the time frame would be to accomplish that. Ms. Deutscher also stated that the people at Growth & Development told her changes will be coming in the future and she wondered how soon that might be. The Board stated it takes considerable time to redo the land use matrix, possibly over a year, and advised her she may want to seek a conditional use instead.

Ed Frachiseur, Public Defender, appeared before the Board to discuss the attorney shortage in his office once again. Mr. Frachiseur stated that his help wanted advertisement had run over three weeks now and there has not been a single inquiry. Mr. Frachiseur stated he recently had added the salary of $39,000.00 to the ad thinking that kind of money would attract a candidate only to find the Ada County Prosecutor’s office is advertising for attorneys with no experience a starting salary of $45,388.00 and that Ada County has several open positions at that rate. Mr. Frachiseur stated that he just wanted the Board to be aware of the problem he is facing filling the vacancy in his office. Commissioner Egusquiza asked how far an area Mr. Frachiseur was advertising in and he replied at first just Idaho, but now he is accepting candidates from Oregon and Washington because they have a reciprocal agreement with Idaho and those attorneys who have passed the bar in those states can practice in Idaho.


Patty Osborn, Todd Waite, Nick Nettleton, Al Sobtzak, K.C. Duerig, and Courtney Hiler of the Planning and Zoning Commission along with Phil Miller and Bonnie Sharp appeared before the Board to discuss a Planning and Zoning Commission issue. Nick Nettleton stated the Commission was there because there are upset over Doug King’s dismissal from the Planning and Zoning Commission without warning and without a reason given for dismissal. The other members of the Commission stated they felt very vulnerable, feeling that any of them could be put in the same position. Mr. Nettleton stated that over the past year the Commission has been under a lot of pressure and criticism because of the issues that they have been dealing with, and in general, have had a very tough year. Mr. Nettleton stated they felt they deserved an answer in this matter. Commissioner Egusquiza stated that because the Board thought it was a personnel issue, they did not have to explain their actions to the Commission. Chairman Rose stated they would not explain why they took the action they did. Courtney Hiler stated she had been checking her mail daily to see if she too would be booted off the Commission. Patty Osborn stated there is some nasty speculation among citizens as to what the reason for the dismissal might be. Courtney Hiler asked the Board if they were aware of their own Resolution No. 267-01 which states in section 3 “REMOVAL: Members of the Commission may be removed for cause, after public hearing, by a majority vote of the Board of County Commissioners”? Chairman Rose stated they were not aware of the resolution but it will be changed to comply with Idaho Code. K.C. Duerig stated he did not think the public hearing part was such a good idea anyway. There was lengthy further discussion. Commissioner Cruser stated she felt perhaps the Board could have handled it differently and a notification should have been given. Commissioner Egusquiza stated they would handle it differently if such an incident were to occur again and told the Commission members how much they appreciated all the hard work they did. There was some general discussion on planning and zoning issues.

Motion by Rose, second by Cruser, to adjourn the meeting.
ROSE - AYE
EGUSQUIZA - AYE
CRUSER - AYE Motion carried and so ordered.

/S/ LARRY E. ROSE, Chairman
ATTEST: /S/ GAIL L. BEST, Clerk