Caribou County Board of Commissioners 1/12
The Caribou County Commissioners met for the board’s first regular meeting of 2026. A meeting on snow removal at the Blackfoot Reservoir was very well attended.
Blackfoot Reservoir Plowing
The County took up the issue of opening roads near the Blackfoot Reservoir. The BLM has been contacted, and agreed that the county has the right to clear the area that provides dock access at the reservoir. Residents of the area were quite clear that it would receive a lot of use. Commissioner Somsen noted that the county had to be careful not to create a precedent whereby they would need to open every access point in the county, although he agreed that providing the requested access was a good idea. The service would fall to the county, rather than be invoiced to the BLM. It was stated that in high snow years the site would not be maintained with the same priority as the primary roads, which was agreed to be reasonable. This year, the area has not required a lot of maintenance due to the lack of snowfall. There are residents that are at the location year round who use the access area.
The commissioner noted how much support for the idea there was, based on the number of attendees at the meeting. For reference, there were quite a few citizens in favor of the idea, many more than generally attend commission meetings for the majority of issues.
Signage and other issues were also discussed. Posts and snow flags have been put in at the location by residents. The county representatives were invited to visit the site and observe what has been done out there. The turnaround just before the dike has been a congested area due to the narrow space. The increased plowed area will obviate the problem.
The condition of the road going across the dike was raised. The potholes and road surface were described as “terrible,” and it was stated that they had been for some time. “This is something that has been needed for some time.”
“At Henry,” Kevin Corder said, “when you go out there to go fishing you use the cutoff road coming into Meadow Creek.” It was described as dangerous due to being blind coming in from the north, and a place where everyone parks. Corder felt that a turnaround/pull out spot would increase the safety of the area significantly.
Kevin McLain—Road and Bridge
With the lack of snow, the Road and Bridge has undertaken other projects, including regular maintenance of vehicles, etc. Culvert supplies and repairs are also scheduled “There are a lot of culverts up there [north of Soda] that we should get to while the water levels are down,” McLain said.
Last week they trimmed trees that have been hitting plows and road graders. Also, rocks have damaged the chute on the grader, so they are repairing it.
Thursday is the meeting for ITD D5 Coalition. New Lincoln County officials have contacted McLain to talk about a gas line and other projects near the Wyoming border.
A number of roads in the county were noted as having recently been worked on and improved, and others are on the list for attention as soon as possible.
The lack of snow removal is a different situation than usual, and the department is adjusting to allocate work as effectively as possible.
Commissioner Somsen noted that the parking lot in Lago could use attention, and provide recreation access for winter sportsmen. McLain does not anticipate a great deal of snow for the remainder of the winter, though he noted that obviously the weather is never fully predictable.
Commissioner McCullough asked whether there were signs advising people not to park in bus turnarounds, and the issue will be looked into further.
Eric Hobson—Emergency Services
Hobson had two purchases to discuss, including 4 more portable radios. “With the EMT class going, we have 13 people in the class and we don’t have enough radios for everyone.” They are about $12K for 4 radios for the new EMTs.
Hobson told the commissioners that they lose about 2 or 3 radios a year as they age out from the original purchase. 4 Kenwood VP 5000 radios for approximately $12K from Whitecloud Communications were approved for purchase by the commissioners. The money will come out of the SRS Federal funds.
The county has a Satellite phone that “just sits in a drawer, though we do need it,” Hobson noted. He is looking at other options that are more mobile, useful, and cheaper. Hobson discussed StarLink minis, which can be purchased for $600 for two for the battery, case, and device. An idle account is nearly free, and when it is actively the charge is $50 a month. This would save the county about $40 a month, and be more useful. “With the way technology works in the world, everything is changing,” Hobson said.
He noted that county ordinances were updated several years ago, including those related to Fire services. Hobson thinks that it needs to be corrected to reflect the correct language. The Commissioners directed him to look into the language, and create a new ordinance to fix them.
The 4 County MOU was noted as another issue that might possibly also need updating.
E911 ordinance gives supervision of the E911 fund to the sheriff. There was a discussion about whether the statutory administrator should not be law enforcement, based on the way the fund is described.
Hobson raised the question of maintenance issues at the Event Center in Grace. If EMS adds antennae on the building, they will need to do some additional work on the building. Due to the way the building was constructed, the best location to do so was discussed among the commissioners and Hobson.
There are still 13 people in the EMT class. 3 people have signed up for Advanced EMT classes with ISU, which will increase the capacity for the county’s EMT volunteers, starting in May.
EMS is ordering a set of turnouts to replace those purchased ten years ago. They cost about $2,000 a piece.
The Snow Water Equivalent was discussed. “The almanac and weather service are saying two different things,” Hobson said. The Bear is at 99%. Blackfoot at 101%. Portneuf is at 58%. There is some snowpack, but not a lot. Drought declarations might be a factor for funding later in the year, with little snowpack to sustain the warmer season. “Unfortunately, we can’t control the weather.” “We do have the option to look into disaster relief if it gets bad for people.”
Rowdy Larkins—Buildings and Maintenance
Larkins reported that the floor in the event center is quite slick. They might consider putting clear seal with a bit of grit in it over the surface, but a quote for the process was fairly substantial (approx. $20K plus.). Because such a surface might impact the safety of the surface for some uses, it was determined to discuss the issue in an ongoing way.
Larkins thinks it’s possible that either the cleaning process or a fine dust accumulation is responsible for the slickness of the surface. Some possible low-cost, low-tech solutions to the problem will be explored.
Different options for floor waxer/cleaners were also discussed. Other businesses in town that wax/clean large flooring surfaces were noted, and will be contacted.
The internet to the building has been bored in, and will be activated as soon as possible. In the interim, the Extension Office and EMS has been operating on temporary sources of internet connections.
Dwight Lloyd—Weed Dept
Lloyd asked the commissioners about whether they would support the insulation of the Weed Dept building, which he explained was running high costs in propane to heat. Rowdy Larkins noted that the show barn was scheduled to be insulated soon, and it might be possible to have the services done near the same time.
Discussions of adding some plants to the noxious weeds to the state list were held. Prickly lettuce, lupin, and Russian thistle came up in the discussion. The quick spread of the plants was one of the main factors. Lloyd noted that 200-300K seeds can be produced by an individual plant. The state has not been particularly willing to add species to the list without strong reason, it was noted.
Clerk’s Office
The Crossroads requires an alcohol license, which needs to be approved by the county commissioners. It was approved for the year 2026.
A statement to the effect that the county agrees to accept the liquor sale and lottery funds for use toward juvenile services was signed.
Two certificates of residency were approved. These are generally for students, to prove residency in state.
By Jan 15, the precincts within the county are required to be approved by statute. They were approved.
Helen Barker—Planning and Zoning
Barker was ready to make a final decision to withdraw from the grant that had been sought to create an RV Park at the Alexander marina.
The county wanted to do whatever it could to improve and maintain the current facilities, but due to a variety of factors, the grant was not going to be a feasible way to fund the creation of a large-scale campground. Increasing requirements for the grant funding were potentially leading to a never-ending money sink, the commissioners and Barker felt. “We owe it to the community to do a better job with it,” Chairman Mathews said.
The commission noted that camp hosts can make campgrounds consistently better maintained.
Doug Wood noted that there are service organizations in town that “are always looking for projects.”
A motion to not move forward with the Oregon Trail Park grant was approved.
Jeff Godfrey
Wanted to speak to the county about getting a couple of weeds on the noxious weed list. “We don’t want to end up like Texas.” He noted a situation last summer where a local farmer was not able to spray, due to the weed not being on the list, which led to it getting out of control. The weeds under discussion were the same as those mentioned earlier in the day. Commissioner Somsen stated that a state official would be calling to hear out the county and residents’ arguments about adding the weeds to the list.
“We’re hoping,” Somsen said. “We’ll fight for it and see what we can do.”
Godfrey stated that he had offered to spray the campground over the summer for Dyer’s Woad, but had not heard back from the county on it. He also noted that “we used to have a weed day.”
It was noted that Lloyd still hosted a weed day in Thatcher and some other areas in the county, such as Diamond Creek.
Godfrey suggested that he was interested in the county adding a cattleguard in Enoch Valley in order to better keep cattle off the roadway. He thinks a cattle guard would help.
Jessica Thurman
Mrs. Caribou County Jessica Thurman waits to speak with the commissioners.
Mrs. Caribou County Jessica Thurman spoke to the commissioners about the upcoming Mrs. Idaho competition, in which she will be competing. Thurman works as the Rec director in Soda Springs, and is a volunteer EMT and a member of the Bancroft City Council.
She shared her personal story of wanting to feel better about herself by going “completely out of her comfort zone” and pushing herself to be better. “So far, it has been a positive experience.” Her platform is GOAL, which is a non-profit started by her father Jim McCulloch. “We have such a beautiful county, with such great resources.” The pageant is a great way to support resilience and service, and she wants to bring that to the county.
All in all, the entrance fees and hotel, etc, are about $2000. Somsen asked whether she had approached other entities in the county. “Any little bit helps,” Thurman said. The county officials agreed on a donation of $1,000 from the county.
