Caribou County Commission meeting 11/10

Kevin McLain

The Narrows were bladed last week, and the county roads in general are being prepped in anticipation of winter weather.  McLain discussed upcoming meetings involving the road department with the commissioners.

The Lago parking lot was discussed, with an eye toward working on it in spring.  The parking area was explained to potentially be too narrow, and has been approved by the BLM to be expanded.  During winter, the parking situation can create some issues when vehicles with trailers are parked in the area, reducing the accessible area below what is deemed necessary.

Eric Hobson

County fire put out an abandoned camp fire.  The mountainside had been close to an unexpected fire event, and Doug Wood personally thanked Hobson and County Fire for preventing such an outcome.  

  New cameras have been installed in a few locations around the county, which will allow EMS to view the county through live camera feeds.  This should be a very helpful service for responding to emergency and developing situations.  Currently, the cameras are not set up to record, as the storage needs are demanding.  Fires, auto accidents, weather situations, and other events will be the immediate use for the camera.

Hobsons said that they hope to being moving stuff into the Event Center building by the end of the week.  The station will need to go through an official process to certify it.

December 4 has been reserved as the day for the official Open House for the new venue.

Hobson discussed the Teen Youth Center in Idaho Falls, which is open to anyone in the area.  Services can be obtained for emergency intervention for those, especially teens, in need.  They are funded through the state and grants.  Magellan of Idaho is the name of the organization.  

Rowdy Larkins

Change orders for some of the final elements of the Event Center were discussed.  The primary issues were finishing details for things like cabinetry, landscaping, and some paving for $7,932.  The building is still on course for its planned open house on the December 4.  The change orders were approved.

The commissioners also discussed the issue of snow removal at the Event Center.  A contract for removal has been put in place, with snow being removed to the field to the east.  Combining the snow removal with the building cleaning was another possibility.  

Sheriff

The sheriff asked the commissioners what he could do with employees that will be unable to use their vacation time.  Due to short staffing, there will not be an opportunity for the individual to literally take a vacation.  The time period for allowable vacation time usage was extended to March.  The county also offered to pay out the vacation upon the request of the department.  

The Sheriff asked about National Guard training being paid in order to accommodate the training.  Clerk Stoor noted that such a change in policy would need to be reflected in the policy manual.

Daily cost for bed was surveyed by the county.  At 49 beds, it comes out to $111/day. At 42 beds, which is the real average of usage, it works out to $132/day.  The county is being reimbursed $75/day by IDOC.  Costs will be going up across the board.  Caribou charges other counties $65/day for use of the facility.  Bear Lake and Oneida were fine with raising that rate to $75.  When the change would go into effect was unclear, as the budget for the year has already been set for counties across the state.  “We’re doing everything we can to keep that building up and going,” the sheriff said.  A possibility of taking in federal inmates was raised, though that would be a longer term plan.

Spending limits for the sheriff’s office were discussed.  The sheriff requested a $5,000 limit for expenses required to approach to commissioners about for approval.  As the sheriff explained, investigations can radically increase expenses.  Departments in the county are required to seek permission for in-budget expenditures over a certain amount.  

Mabey noted that the department would eventually need $50,000 to replace the tasers used by the department.  The current ones are no longer being supported by the company that made them.  

The Sheriff recently attended a meeting about the federal prosecuting attorney’s office.  Attorney Wood noted that there was currently at least one case in the county that was in progress with the federal authorities.

  Pledges from Degerstrom, Nutrien, and Simplot have been received for the K-9 project.  There are other donations which are still in the works.  “This project is definitely one that people can get behind,” Mabey said.

A pipe at the jail location has been experiencing water damage, and is affecting communication abilities.  The sprinkler system is potentially the culprit, with a possible leak.  The conduits containing the communication wires are somehow being exposed to water through some opening.   

Code requires that the sheriff’s office has requirements for a tow list.  The information needs to be published and available.  There are four companies in the county.  Requirements for towing include things like fencing, cameras, 24 surveillance at the facility, and so on.  This ensures that towing services used by the county meet the state requirements.  

Jill Stoor

“The election went well in all the districts,” Stoor said.  “We had a pretty good turnout for an off year election.  40% overall.  A lot of times in the off year we are in the thirty percents.  When you have contested races, that always helps.”  The new ePoll books worked well.  Soda 1 and 2, and 3 and 4 will be combined for the May election.  

A high absentee rate—over 100 absentee ballots was seen in just Soda Springs.  There were only 5 requested absentee ballots that were not returned.  

Voting at the Event Center went smoothly.  There were a lot of people who wanted to tour the building during the vote, though they were not allowed to just yet.

Holidays were discussed, looking at the calendar of county days off.  The primary discussion was whether the 24th of July or the day adjacent to Christmas would be one of the holidays.  There were preferences for both of them by different people.  The current schedule was re-approved.

The meeting for the 24th of November was discussed.  Because there wasn’t a heavy agenda, the meeting for that day was cancelled.

As a reminder, the Open House for the Event Center is December 4th, from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.  Small Town Ruckus podcast, as well as a number of other community groups were discussed as potentially being involved in the event.  The logistics of how the space would work during the event were discussed.  

Scheduler and cleaning for the Event Center will need to be filled.  Interviews and advertising for the positions need to be done soon.  This may be either one or two positions.  Potentially, combining the scheduling with either the cleaning position or the Extension office was one possibility.  Hopefully, the position will fill fairly quickly, but in the meantime a short term contract with a cleaning company will be arranged.  

The job announcement should be in this issue of the paper.  

Doug Wood

Bear Lake’s prosecutor has been recalled.  Wood has been asked whether he was willing to assist in the interim as the issue works toward resolution.  Names for replacement to the position are being discussed.  The recalled prosecutor was not affiliated with a party, so the central committee process is not unclear.  “They don’t deserve to not have an attorney,” Wood said.  “They’ve got a lot of options for what the future looks like for them.  If I can get approval to help them out, I will.”