COMMISSIONERS MINUTES                                   DECEMBER 19, 2005

 

The Elmore County Commissioners met in regular session on the above date in the basement of the Elmore County Courthouse, 150 South 4^th East, Mountain Home, Idaho, 83647.

 

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

 

Motion by Egusquiza, second by Cruser, to approve the expenses as submitted in the amount of $11,595.84.

ROSE - AYE

EGUSQUIZA - AYE

CRUSER        - AYE    Motion carried and so ordered.

 

Motion by Egusquiza, second by Cruser, to approve the minutes of December 5^th.  There was discussion and the minutes were approved with an addition to one sentence for clarification.

ROSE - AYE

EGUSQUIZA - AYE

CRUSER        - AYE    Motion carried and so ordered.

 

Motion by Rose, second by Cruser to approve the 2006 Weed Control Agreement with the Idaho Transportation Department.

ROSE - AYE

EGUSQUIZA - AYE

CRUSER        - AYE    Motion carried and so ordered.

 

The Board reviewed the documentation to transfer a liquor license from Rod Forbis to Jeff App.  Motion by Egusquiza, second by Cruser to transfer the liquor license from Rod Forbis doing business as Rotten Rodney’s to Jeff App doing business as The Edge.

ROSE - AYE

EGUSQUIZA - AYE

CRUSER        - AYE    Motion carried and so ordered.

 

Chairman Rose read the Certificates of Residency into the record: Travis Stanek, Elvis Tapia, Jean Paul Edmond Archambeault, Cesar Vega Gomez, Charlina Ruth Hissong, Alisha C. Jewett, Neal R. Linue, Jan Salisbury, Susan Anne Sanders, Francisca Tapia, Suzie C. Tipton, Lukas Lamont West, Adrianna Brittany White, Jamie A. Winings, Julie Wolfe, and Erin E. Rouse.  Motion by Egusquiza, second by Rose to approve all the applications except the one from Paul Gary Montgomery, on which they needed further information.

ROSE - AYE

EGUSQUIZA - AYE

CRUSER        - AYE    Motion carried and so ordered.

 

A letter from Michael Reno of Central District Health regarding the Idaho Waste Systems site was reviewed by the Board.  In his letter, Mr. Reno informed the Board that everything at the site was fine and stated that the operations plan is being followed.

 

Wayne Tindall of the Mountain Home Highway District who lives at 1260 Hamilton Road and Carl Pharris of the Mountain Home Highway District, who lives at 440 N. 8^th East Street, appeared before the Board to discuss roads in new subdivisions.  Mr. Tindall stated, thus far, they have only been asked to accept one road - Bluegrass Circle, and it was up to standards so they accepted it.  Mr. Tindall emphasized that for the Highway District to accept a road, the road must be paved to their standards.  Mr. Tindall stated sometimes a developer will put in a gravel road and then wants the Highway District to take it.  The Highway District needs to be in on the construction of the road to see that it has been engineered correctly and the road must have 6 inches of gravel and 3 inches of asphalt.  There is a variance procedure that can be granted by the Highway District Commissioners if for some reason a road cannot be constructed to the District’s standards.

 

The difference between public and private roads was discussed.  Growth occurring within the County was discussed.  There was also discussion whether there should be two standards, one for the District and one for the County which would be the same except for the asphalt.  The group decided it would be far better if the standards were the same.  Mr. Tindall stated it would be nice if the County would say that all roads would be paved.  There was discussion, that with all the growth in the County with nice homes going in the roads are going to be inferior with the heavy use the roadways will be getting.  The two entities will work together to determine what is feasible to do.

 

Henry Toy, 825 North 13^th East, appeared before the Board to brief them on the activities of the local NAACP.  Mr. Toy explained to the Board that John Crosby is the President of the Treasure Valley NAACP but could not accompany him today because he is out of state on business.  Mr. Toy explained what the organization is all about and what their mission statement is.  Mr. Toy added that the NAACP is for the betterment of all people.

 

Mr. Toy stated one of the things the NAACP does is provide scholarships, they provided seven scholarships in May 2005 and four in 2004.  Mr. Toy said the opportunity to apply for the scholarships is open to all students.  Mr. Toy stated that the NAACP also works to help students be aware of the service academy opportunities available to them.  Mr. Toy stated that their organization also speaks to elected officials in all levels of government - federal, state and local to brief them about the activities of the NAACP and to offer assistance to those officials if there is any way they can be of service.  The Board thanked Mr. Toy for coming.

 

Motion by Rose, second by Cruser, to recess for lunch.

ROSE - AYE

EGUSQUIZA - AYE

CRUSER        - AYE    Motion carried and so ordered.

 

At 1:30 p.m. the 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 Egusquiza.

ROSE - AYE

EGUSQUIZA - AYE

CRUSER        - AYE    Motion carried and so ordered.

 

The following decisions were made:

 

K-12-05-05 Motion by Rose, second by Egusquiza, to deny as not last resource, not indigent, and this will be paid through the Prosecutor’s Office and is a District Court Matter.

ROSE - AYE

EGUSQUIZA - AYE

CRUSER        - AYE    Motion carried and so ordered.

 

K-12-05-02 Motion by Egusquiza, second by Rose, to deny as not last resource, not indigent, and this will be paid through Prosecutor’s Office and is a District Court Matter.

ROSE - AYE

EGUSQUIZA - AYE

CRUSER        - AYE    Motion carried and so ordered.

 

K-12-05-03 Motion by Egusquiza, second by Rose, to approve with a promissory note for $50.00 per month to be signed after the surgery.

ROSE - AYE

EGUSQUIZA - AYE

CRUSER        - AYE    Motion carried and so ordered.

 

K-11-05-03 Motion by Egusquiza, second by Rose, to deny as no interview, no documentation, not last resource.

ROSE - AYE

EGUSQUIZA - AYE

CRUSER        - AYE    Motion carried and so ordered.

 

K-11-05-04 Motion by Rose, second by Egusquiza, to deny as not indigent, no interview and application incomplete.

ROSE - AYE

EGUSQUIZA - AYE

CRUSER        - AYE    Motion carried and so ordered.

 

Commissioner Egusquiza phoned the City of Mountain Home to get their ordinance number for our Area of City Impact Ordinance.  We received a legal description from the City of Mountain Home, but are now in need of their Ordinance number to be inserted in our Ordinance for reference.  A public hearing will be set when the information is received. 

 

Commissioner Cruser gave a briefing on Interstate closures.  When there is an accident on I-84 several agencies do not want the Interstate closed, trucks carrying sensitive loads have to be re-routed and the news of the closure goes all the way to Washington for security reasons.  The Commissioners discussed that when the Interstate is blocked and lives are at stake, there is no choice but to close the Interstate.

The contract with Executive Information Services, Inc., a Nevada Corporation to provide products and services for E-911, was discussed. Prosecutor Schindele had reviewed it and did not see any problems.  Motion by Rose, second by Egusquiza, to approve the contract with Executive Information Services, Inc., Scope of Services are: Computer Aided Dispatching with Mapping Display, Geofile Mapping Software, Load Map Data from Elmore County or Commercial Source, Law Records Management System, Interface to the Idaho Law Enforcement Telecommunications System (ILETS), Interface to the Mountain Home Police Department (RMS and Mobile Digital Systems), Regional Systems Integration, System Installation in present facility, System Installation in new facility, User Training, 12 months of on-going System Support Services, Computer Hardware and System Software as itemized in CONTRACTORS Proposal, and Manuals and Documentation.

ROSE - AYE

EGUSQUIZA - AYE

CRUSER        - AYE    Motion carried and so ordered.

 

A work session on the Proposed CAFO Ordinance was held.  Commissioner Cruser had received a draft that Gooding County was working on and the Commissioners along with the audience reviewed it.  Discussion followed on many items and under the definition of NUTRIENT MANAGEMENT PLAN, a sentence was added at the end of the definition which reads “Third party recipients must be compliant with County Ordinances in regards to setbacks, application, and removal.”

 

The next item on the agenda was the public portion of the meeting.  Bob Ruth who lives at 1995 Del Norte Place, Oasis, Idaho, appeared before the board with several concerns.  He told the Commissioners of several subdivisions that were being planned next to his subdivision.  His concern is water consumption and fire protection.  He would like a moratorium issued and had a petition signed by homeowners in the area.  He stated he lived in the Critical Groundwater area, but the Department of Water Resources told him they really don’t know what condition the water table is in.  The Commissioners stated The Department of Water Resources makes the decisions on water consumption and Commissioner Egusquiza explained to Mr. Ruth that residents in the area can create their own fire district, it was not the responsibility of the County to provide fire protection.  Commissioner Egusquiza also commented on the water usage and stated there is a Ground Water Management Committee and they have been working on a plan which would include limiting the amount of water used per household. 

 

Dan Hennis, 1811 Merv Landing Drive, Oasis, stated he was here to support Mr. Ruth in asking for a moratorium.   Mr. Hennis said he is terribly alarmed by the number of people supposedly coming in.  Mr. Hennis stated Danskin 1 & 2 is about 100 lots, the Dutchman just sold 300 acres which will be divided, Smith property is 80 lots, Oasis Air Park is 8 lots, Tullis is 84 lots, Red Baron is 38 lots, Taylor is 9 lots, Mayfield is 200 lots, Soles Rest is 33 lots, Ericson is 8 lots, Mathews is 320 acres - 100 plus lots and shops, so all told about 1,000 lots.

 

Mr. Hennis said he wants an emergency stop gap measure until some rules can at least be put into place.  Mr. Hennis stated there are unscrupulous developers that do not care about their water or what that kind of rapid growth can do to an area - the developers just want to make their money and run.  Mr. Hennis stated this happened in an area of Utah and that area now looks like a slum.  Mr. Hennis stated some regulation is needed so the same thing does not happen here.  Mr. Hennis also told the Board his water has steadily declined in the time he has lived there, and he simply does not believe there is enough water to support such large growth.

 

Rick Taylor, 910 W. Orchard, Nampa, said he can substantiate what Mr. Hennis has said and he, too, has concerns for the area.

 

Choice Luster, who lives on Tillie Road, said he wanted to add that these people just want the Board’s help in stopping any further building.

 

Commissioner Egusquiza asked Mr. Ruth if she could see the Petition he brought in.  Joanne Grimmett, who lives on Desert Duck Road asked who is working on the Comprehensive Plan?  Chairman Rose replied it was being done by a committee, and is still in the initial stages.  Ms. Grimmett asked “so you don’t have a clue when your suggestions that are in the current Comprehensive Plan would.....”  Commissioner Egusquiza stated “they are being worked on right now.”  Chairman Rose stated “What she said, about seven months they’ve been worked on - it’s a very complicated process.”  Ms. Grimmett stated “I understand that and I’m hearing what you are saying with the 180 day limit and I’m wondering if there’s a chance that perhaps in that 180 day limit that they may be able to come up with something on this five acre limitation and have some teeth in it so it can be upheld - is there a possibility of that?”  Chairman Rose stated “There’s a possibility but at the rate that we seem to be progressing with other things even though we are meeting every Monday and trying to do things there are so many snags.  You get some people for and some people against and you are trying to weigh things, I would hate to promise you that in 180 days we could have it - I don’t know where Mr. Forrey’s at - I haven’t talked to him in awhile.  Ms. Grimmett asked “is there anything we can do to stop this development?”  Chairman Rose stated that he did not feel a moratorium would be helpful because even if they did that, it would only call more attention to the area being open for development.  Chairman Rose also stated if a new plan was not in place by the time the moratorium ended, the developers would come in at that time, and he did not think a new plan would ever get done in the 180 day period.

 

Charles Nicholson, 1833 N.W. Frontage Road, appeared before the Board to discuss Simplot’s Rolling Mill by Highway 30.  Mr. Nicholson stated he has spoken to Commissioner Cruser on the telephone about the mill and how the noise is a continuing irritant.  Mr. Nicholson stated he has filed a complaint in writing with the Growth and Development and has been told that the rules and regulations are being looked at by the Prosecutor.  The Board told Mr. Nicholson that they are glad he filed a complaint in writing.  Mr. Nicholson stated that Bonnie Sharp had told him the complaint should be made in writing so that it can be taken seriously and investigated.  Mr. Nicholson added that Bonnie Sharp has been investigating the noise situation herself and has been out several times, including late at night to hear what the noise level is.

 

Motion by Rose, second by Cruser, to adjourn.

ROSE - AYE

EGUSQUIZA - AYE