Caribou County Commission Meeting 3/24
The Caribou County Board of Commissioners met for a regular meeting on March 24, which included a public hearing on the Area of Impact, a discussion about landfill fees for RV parks, and a number of other issues.
Public Hearing—Area of Impact
A Public Hearing about the adoption of Resolution 2025-02, regarding the Area of Impact, was held on Monday.
The issues that were discussed are covered in a separate article, but the resolution was tabled pending Administrator Barker’s discussions with several citizens.
Landfill Fees
A discussion about the assignment of fees for RVs and Mobile homes was held. Ultimately, it was decided to leave the current policy of assigning those fees to the landowner alone for the present. A more complete rundown is in a separate article.
Road and Bridge--Kevin McLain
Culvert replacement in various areas of the county was discussed. 5 box culvert sections with “seconds” were quoted at a little over $26K to cover the areas needed. “The big cost is the 8-10 feet detachable wings” for the sides, McLain noted. “We can hope that we get enough compaction on the sides [without the wings].” The quote was $86k for 4 wings and 5 box culverts. The commission decided to go without wings, and stack lava rocks and compaction in place of them. A motion to approve a quote for the just the culverts from Old Castle for $26K was passed.
McLain reported that they have been having issues with two of the plows. One likely needs a new transmission, which will be the fourth. It had a new motor put in two years ago, but “it’s smoking pretty good.” The other one is a tall International they call Goliath.
The lowest bid was from Peterbilt for just the chassis for $90k. A full quote was for $151K a plow for 4 wheel drive. McLain noted that $161K would be the price including tariffs, so they need to order in the next 60 days to avoid the additional cost. McLain stated that his budget has enough flexibility to account for it.
The two Peterbilts 548 chassis from the Idaho Falls Peterbilt for $151,896 each for two snowplows were authorized.
The lower valley is opened up on roads, with 10 mile pass opening today. The department is trying to get as many opened up as possible. “We’ll start on Long Valley tomorrow or the next day,” McLain said.
McLain noted that snowplows had been approved in February, but they hadn’t proceeded at that time.
Sheriff Mabey
The Sheriff reported some issues with the generator. “The control panel inside and the digital readout are having trouble. A replacement is coming in,” he said. There is only 45 minutes on backup when the generator goes down so the problem needs to be fixed.
Sheriff Mabey reported that one dispatcher had put it a resignation, and that there were currently some staffing shortages. One deputy in detention was being transferred to patrol. Another individual might be brought in.
Longtime employee Tammy Davis is going to retire. The closing of the daycare in town has impacted her ability to work. She will be done 31 of March. The Drivers License Specialist position has been actively applied to, and will close when it is filled.
The county audit is in need of clarification from the Sheriff’s Office regarding the vehicle fleet before it can be figured into the county’s financial profile, and the audit finalized. Some confusion over the contract administration for vehicles within the county used by the department is being resolved between the Sheriff’s Office and the Board. The Sheriff indicated that a full inventory of the vehicles would be sent to the clerk’s office this week so that the audit can be finalized.
Caribou Soil Conservation District
Representatives of the Caribou Soil Conservation District provided an account of what’s been going on in the county.
The Caribou Stream Stabilization project in the Portneuf and Blackfoot drainage is ongoing, and helping 5 different landowners with beaver dams, diversions, fencing, etc. The grant money is $188K at the end of this period, with a total of 300K+.
“With the way the fed is going now, the future of grants is a little uncertain. We haven’t heard anything to the negative, so we’re hopeful about money coming in,” the spokesman said. “We’re mostly focused on water quantity and quality. Water is the lifeblood of Idaho, and so is Agriculture. Last year, the county supported the SWCD to $14K. The state will match it 2 to 1.”
Chairman Mathews stated, “I don’t see a reason why we wouldn’t continue to support you guys.”
Motion to support the Caribou SWCD for $15K from the PILT fund passed.
Jill Stoor
The May election will have an Soda Springs supplemental levy as the only item on the ballot.
Clerk Stoor officially asked the board to extend the audit date to end of April so that the sheriff can provide info to the county on the vehicle fleet.
The county received a letter on behalf of the Capital Defense Fund, which has been dissolved. Checks have been cut out to counties as a result. The amount that will be coming back is unclear, but will be in addition to the budget savings for this year as the budgeted amount will not be paid into the fund.
Alana Burns and Lara Lind spoke to Stoor earlier. If they get the grant they applied for, they want to put a vending machine in the park. The city has offered to build a power structure for it, but they would like to store it during the winter in the county building. The board felt that the library would be a better place for a number of reasons.
Dwight Lloyd
Grant money for Utah and Idaho has been funded for the year for weed abatement, at $30K, which is down a little bit. There was no money allocated for the eastern side through the highlands.
Lloyd raised the question of weed abatement in the subdivisions. He expressed discomfort at undertaking that process, and said “I would like to see somebody appointed to handle that in the subs and we will provide the chemicals. I don’t feel comfortable going into them. I haven’t killed anybody’s flowers yet, and I don’t intend to.”
An MOU (Memorandum of Understanding) between Forest Service Highland Coop Weed Management Area including Bear Lake, Bonneville, and Rich county was signed.
Niter Property
Deanne Nelson spoke to the commissioners about property in Niter. In the 40s, there was a parcel deeded to Bannock county, which then became Caribou County. The area is a small gravel pit of about an acre and a half of county owned ground. Overflow water has been diverted to there. It’s a piece of ground on. Bench-Lago road.
“My whole life I thought we owned that land,” Nelson said. There are no water rights. No way to build on it. “It’s just kind of junk land anyway.”
Attorney Doug Wood asked, “Does it serve a public good?”
Chairman Mathews said, “We use it as a recharge site and to catch overflow. I don’t know if kids swim there anymore. If the county wanted to divest it, we would do it to the canal company, but we can just keep it and use it that way.”
Wood said, “If it serves the public interest, it can be left the way it is.”
Commissioner Somsen advised that it would be wise to mark the property as belonging to the county for liability purposes.
Wood added, “As far as being good neighbors, we should maintain it weed free.”
Rowdy Larkins
Larkins presented a list of change orders and a contract to the commissioners. One is to bring power into the building from RMP for $36,440, with reimbursement if someone adds into the line. This includes the power coming in and the transformer. Larkins recommended that 3 phase power is needed. Boring was determined to be the best option to bring it in.
Change order 10 will get the power to the bldg. CO 11 is an option to run it to 1st N to add an extra leg to pump power to other places. It could be trenched from the box to the road.
The RMP schedule and the transformer install are the most urgent, though Larkins will talk to them about the needs for the building.
Larkins had a brief discussion with RMP grant writer about possibly having RMP cover some of the incidental costs associated with the 3 phase power.
A motion to enter into contract with RMP for 3 phase power for 1kVa for $36,190, which Larkins believes includes the transformer was approved.
Change orders 10 and 11 were approved for $50,976 and $13,258.
The budget management for the Event Center was discussed.
Mark Stenberg—RMP/PacifiCorp
Mark Stenberg of PacifiCorp spoke to the commissioners about the issue of wake boats on Alexander Reservoir. “We just wanted to give you an update on things we’ve learned over the last year,” he began.
The discussion had begun last summer on the topic of shoreline erosion, as well as issues related to boat wakes generated by different watercraft.
Stenberg had spoken to the Sheriff about the Safe Boating Act, which applies to “waters of the state”. Those are defined as “navigable waters at the time of statehood.” Because the reservoirs weren’t there or navigable at the time of statehood, the SBA doesn’t apply to Bear River Reservoirs. According to Stenberg’s, “Just like private irrigation, Alexander is a private reservoir for purposes of the SBA.”
In the absence of the SBA, it falls on PacifiCorp to regulate the body of water.
Stenberg stated that “to be consistent with reservoirs in Idaho to prevent invasive species concerns, we are going to be re-signing our rules for the reservoirs. We will prohibit ballast-boats as of this year. This will be combatted under trespass laws, rather than SBA. Typically other states outside Idaho prohibit use 500 feet from shore.
Chairman Mathews asked, “Who polices it, so to speak?”
Stenberg replied that “That’s what we want to coordinate with the sheriff about.”
It was largely agreed that “If the sheriff sees it happening and knows that it violates the trespass laws he can intervene.”
Commissioner McCullough noted that ballast boats were the primary issue on the waterway.
Many of the specifics of how Alexander Reservoir and other waterways might be regulated by PacifiCorp were raised, including various types of watercraft restrictions, mussel inspection, and the potential impact on the planned Oregon Trail Park.
Stenberg said, “You guys are asking good questions. We want to have the broadest group of people enjoy the resources and enjoy the land.”
