Commissioner's Minutes 09-27-05

COMMISSIONERS MINUTES SEPTEMBER 27, 2005

The Elmore County Commissioners met in special session on the above date at 1:00 p.m. at the South Fork Boise River Senior Center in Pine, Idaho 83647. Present at the meeting were Chairman Larry Rose and Commissioners Mary Egusquiza and Connie Cruser. Also present at the meeting was Clerk Gail Best.

The purpose of the special session was to take public input on whether or not the proposed Pine/Featherville Fire District should be formed. Chairman Rose explained the hearing procedure rules and invited people who wished to testify to use the sign up sheet and indicate whether or not they were in favor of the district or not.

Larry Barrett, 2044 N. Meyers Drive, Pine, Idaho, explained that a group of residents got together when they felt there was a need for fire protection in the area. Mr. Barrett stated that the Forest Service will not fight structure fires. Mr. Barrett said it is difficult for people to obtain fire insurance because the area is susceptible to fire. The rating for insurance for the area is now a Class 10 for fire which is the highest rating - meaning no protection. Mr. Barrett said they are hoping with a fire district the rating might be lowered to Class 9, thus saving residents some money on premiums. Mr. Barrett pointed out they have been lucky so far, because several residents have had chimney fires the past year or so and homes have been damaged, but not destroyed.

Ron Strolberg, 11735 W. Camas Street, Boise, Idaho 83647, stated he has had property in the area for about ten years. Mr. Strolberg went on to say, that several years ago there was a forest fire below them and luckily there were enough people there to help fight that fire. Mr. Strolberg added that he had checked with two insurance companies to compare the rate difference between Class 10 and Class 9 and with one the savings was over $200 and the other it was $265, so he feels that people would actually save a few dollars on the difference between the tax increase and the insurance. Mr. Strolberg said that he had checked with the County Clerk, and if the fire district was formed and levied at their maximum of .0024 a $75,000 property would pay an additional $180 per year.

Chuck Curtis, Box 490, Hailey, Idaho, 83333, stated that he is a retired fire chief from Hailey and feels that a small volunteer fire department can do a lot. In Mr. Curtis’ opinion, the fire district would be a good thing for the area.

Bernard Puentes, 488 N. Alpine Circle, Pine, Idaho, 83647, stated he had a house fire and if it wasn’t for the neighbors, who came to their assistance, they would have lost everything. Mr. Puentes stated he was in favor of the district being formed.

Allen Kiester, 16 East Trish Drive, Pine, Idaho, 83647, said there was a structure fire two weeks ago at Mike Simino’s place. Mr. Kiester stated that the EMT’s ended up putting the fire out and saved the structure because there was no one else to respond. Mr. Kiester said it was about 6:00 a.m. and the wind was blowing hard from the South and they were just lucky they were able to put the fire out. Mr. Kiester added that it is not the job of the EMT’s to put out fires, they are not trained for it, but in this case they were just lucky it all worked out.

Fred Kennedy, 4277 N. Pine, Featherville, Idaho, 83647, stated that he and Patty have had a place there for thirty-two years and now have sold their place in Mountain Home and will live in Featherville for half the year and travel South for six months during the winter. Mr. Kennedy stated that he feels it is time to get fire protection for the area.

Dave Owen, 710 E. Riverview Court, Pine, Idaho, 83647, asked where the Assessor was and made some good natured comments about the property values in the area. Mr. Owen asked if it was true that the State Fire Marshall could halt new construction in the area if there isn’t any fire protection. Chairman Rose stated he had heard that the State Fire Marshall could do that. Mr. Owen stated he supports the formation of the fire protection district. Mr. Owen asked how the election would work?

Clerk Best explained that if the Board approved the formation of the district, an election would be held in November with a yes/no question on the ballot. The election would be held at the Center (the usual polling place) and registered voters in the precinct would vote. There would be provisions for absentee voting on the question like normal. If the voters voted for the district, the district would be formed. The Clerk would send the information to the State Tax Commission, prior to January 1 and then the State would approve the formation of the new taxing district to be levied upon the following year. Clerk Best stated that whether or not the district is formed is strictly up to the residents.

Ray Chaplin, 730 E. Riverview Court, Pine, Idaho 83647, stated he had checked with his insurance company and found out that his insurance would go down approximately $100 with each class change made. Mr. Chaplin questioned where the fire stations would go. Mr. Larry Barrett stated that there was one station planned for Featherville and one station planned for Pine, so that would cover the question of being within ten miles from a fire station. Mr. Chaplin then asked where did they plan to get the water from to put out fires? Mr. Barrett stated they are working on those issues, right now the question is if the residents even want a fire district or not.

Joyce Owen, 710 E. Riverview Court, Pine, Idaho 83647, stated she is definitely for the fire district being formed. Mrs. Owen stated she can’t think of anything scarier than watching a fire taking your property.

Ken Black, 3624 NE Duffy, Mountain Home, Idaho 83647, stated he was not necessarily for or against the fire district. Mr. Black stated the insurance will help out some but possibly not enough to cover the difference in taxes. Mr. Black stated he worries that there may not be enough young people there to be fire fighters. Mr. Black added that he also worries about winter maintenance to keep the fire trucks ready to go because you need to keep the snow cleared and also keep the trucks warm enough to start when needed. Mr. Black said if the district had to hire someone, that’s expensive - where do you pay them from? Mr. Black stated that there are also some places that you can’t even get to in the winter, like his place. Mr. Black stated it would just have to burn because a truck couldn’t get in there anyway. Mr. Black stated that he can’t vote for or against the question since he lives in Mountain Home, but he urged the people that could vote on the issue to really do some thinking about it to make an informed vote.

Dave Owen stated he wanted to add that he feels the community really needs to stand up for themselves. Mr. Owen pointed out what a good job the community had done in working to get the Senior Center built that they all enjoyed so much. Mr. Owen said they could do the same to get fire protection.

Ron Strolberg stated, in response to some of the issues that have been brought up so far, that if a fire district was voted in, the next step would be that three commissioners would be appointed by the Governor. Each commissioner would represent a subdistrict from three separate areas within the boundaries of the district. Those three commissioners would make the decisions based on the input they received from the citizens of the district. That would be how the initial decisions that would answer some of these questions would be made. Those initial commissioners would have terms, which would then lead to elections of the fire district commissioners by the residents.

Larry Barrett asked a question about whether property assessments were made on sales information or not? Clerk Best stated that the Assessor does do his assessments based on sales information gathered by his office from property buyers and sellers. The Assessor would be able to do even a better job, if the legislature would pass full disclosure which would require the sales information to be given to the Assessor. Full disclosure would give the Assessor the most accurate information on which to base assessments. The Assessor, by law, must assess property within 10% high or low of the actual market value. The State Tax Commission checks the Assessor’s values annually to be certain the figures are accurate and reflect the actual market value. If the Assessor does not accurately do this, the State Tax Commission will come in and place the market value on the property themselves.

Jon Moris, Baumgartner Road, Featherville, Idaho 83647, stated he is not a full time resident in the area but knows that there is big money coming into the area and that growth is expanding the need for services. Mr. Moris stated that the people who are not full time residents really pay big taxes because there are no exemptions for them. Mr. Moris stated that on the other hand they probably need more protection. Mr. Moris told the group if they could vote on this issue to please vote.

There was group discussion on what liability insurance might run the fire district. There being no further testimony Chairman Rose closed the hearing.