County Commission meeting 4/27
The Board of County Commissioners met for a regular meeting on April 27.
Road and Bridge
Kevin McLain stated that some of the Bridge Closed barricades have been vandalized, or at least moved, by unknown people at the Chesterfield location where they had been placed. Potentially the issue is related to residents moving the barricades for passage, but there is no definite evidence one way or the other.
The bridge is being evaluated by engineers as far as what can be done to replace or fix it. It may be possible that the part of the Portneuf that runs under it can be classified as a canal, which could increase options. The evaluation is underway. Box culverts, a stiff-legged bridge or full replacement are some of the possibilities.
A motion to approve a bid from Brad Skinner for the Construction of a 60x60 shed at the Road and Bridge for $131K from out of the budget was approved. This shed is for dry storage of materials.
Eagle Rock blasting was approved for 35,000 tons of rock.
The price of materials at the state pits has been raised, and a new agreement was signed.
The New Mineral price agreement was also signed.
DEQ
Representatives from the Department of Environmental Quality spoke to the County Commissioners by way of providing an update. “Our real focus is on helping facilities find compliance,” they said.
In the county, a drinking water grant for $30K, one for Soda Springs, and one for Bailey Creek have recently been awarded.
Bancroft recently closed a grant for wastewater treatment.
A number of loans and grants totaling 7 million dollars were discussed.
DEQ hosts a booth at the Caribou County Fair every year.
Nutrien is reclaiming/capping the East Mill Dump. Caldwell Canyon just received a notice to proceed.
Commissioner Somsen was appointed to the abandoned mine panel. This covers mines that do not have a responsible party attached to them. There is an “orphaned mine” list, which attempts to determine whether there is active ownership of mines that are believed to be abandoned. “Your county is fortunate that so many people who are responsible for the mines have stepped up to the plate,” Katy Bergholm from DEQ said.
Wastewater Remediation Manager Doug Tanner spoke to the commissioners about some of his projects. They include solid waste, remediation from spills, leaking storage tanks, emergency response to spills, grant coordination, slag disposal, and complaint investigations. “For the most part, my days are spent speaking trash.” He noted that the cooperation between the DEQ and the county landfill are productive and positive.
Landfills are no longer regulated by the Health District. This was due to an attempt to eliminate redundancy.
Commissioner McCullough asked about what the status of solar panel disposal was. The answer, essentially, was there is not an especially good system in place yet.
Judge Aaron Thompson
Aaron Thompson, Magistrate Judge in Bannock County, spoke to the county commissioners. He has served as a civil litigator for 18 years, as well as magistrate judge in Bannock county for the last 8 years. He is currently challenging District Judge Cody Brower for his position in the upcoming election.
“That district court position is extremely important to this community. If I am elected, I am going to have the honor of moving to Caribou County and be a member of your community.”
Judge Thompson wanted to introduce himself to the county commissioners, and outline some of his priorities for the position.
He stressed his belief that a judge in the district position should be involved in a treatment court. “I am a firm believer in treatment courts,” he said, explaining that he feels they ultimately lessen the tax burden. When potential offenders are rehabilitated, they tend to stay out of the justice system.
He is also the statewide coordinator of Guardianships and Conservatorships, and emphasized the importance of those roles in the community. “Grandparents are raising kids. It takes a special person to act as a guardian.”
He further noted his positive relationship with law enforcement and commitment to “an effectively and efficiently run” courtroom. “It’s not easy for constituents to come to court,” he said.
As of press time, Thompson and Brower were scheduled to speak at a Candidate Forum at Tigert Middle School on Tuesday, which we will report on next week.
Aid for Friends
Representatives from Aid for Friends spoke to the county commissioners as part of an effort to speak to counties outside of Bannock, where they are based, for support. The shelter does not receive a great deal of funding from the state or HUD. “We are the Southeast Idaho entry point,” Director Michelle Polette stated. “We do serve quite a few people from Caribou County,” she noted.
They have two fundraisers a year, but their funding is limited. Bannock County commissioners used to provide funding, but have cautioned that they may not be able to.
“Our shelter is a 90 day program. We do case management with them, and take care of their immediate needs so they can find housing, or a job. Our goal is to get them into permanent housing. Our immediate need is our emergency shelter. We are the only shelter around that will serve single men, women, and families in the same location.
Commissioner Mathews asked what their capacity was. 38 men, 38 women, 8 family rooms for 7 people each.
Commissioner Somsen asked whether the Opioid settlement funds could be used for this.
Commissioner Somsen moved to donate $2000 from the opioid fund to Aid for Friends., which passed.
Public Hearing
Invasive Species Ordinance 2026-03. The hearing was opened. This will add the noxious weeds Russian Thistle and Kochia to the list used by the county.
Hearing was closed with no comments from the public.
The ordinance passed, with Commissioner McCullough voting nay.
Planning and Zoning
2026-04. A lot on Gunnell road, discussed in the previous commission meeting, will be rezoned from ag to low density residential. Commissioner Somsen noted that he felt the rezone was actually a move to unify the zoning in the area, rather than creating a “spot zoning” problem. “If we are going to grow, that is the direction.”
Oregon Trail Marina does not have irrigation rights. Options for obtaining water rights in order to use the pumphouse were discussed.
Rowdy Larkins – Buildings
The Event Center has been paying internet at the Annex building, which is $54 a month. The question is whether they wanted to discontinue the service for now, and re-install it later once they fill the building.
Coroner Batterton already has a secured network, so any additional tenants were the ones that would be affected.
The elevator is down for potentially several weeks. All new electrical boards will need to be purchased. The most recent elevator breakdown is causing headaches for the upcoming election.
Simplot
Simplot’s Dan Darlington and Jared Klinger spoke to the commissioners about projects.
Timber Creek road is open for the season.
“A lot of questions we’ve been asked lately are about the war,” Darlington said. “It is a stress, and fertilizer is stressed right now, but Simplot is in a great place to weather the storm.”
The North Trail Canyon road and Slug Creek road were discussed. Various pipe and road projects will be taking place. There will be flaggers and a one lane restriction during the process.
There are no revisions to the longterm plans for end of life at Smoky, which will wind down through the next 15 years, and about 5 years of overlap to the next one.
July 9 or July 7 will be a site tour for officials from Caribou, Bear Lake, and Lincoln County.
Senior Center
ShaLayne Bartschi from the Senior Center spoke to the commissioners with the quarterly update.
“Not too many changes,” she said.
The Senior Center is still looking for a part time cook, but has not had a lot of applications. The position is around 20 hours a week.
A quote for work on the garage (adding insulation) was discussed for $5600. This is within the budget for the center.
Sheriff Mabey
The sewer line in front of the sheriff’s office was discussed.
The sheriff attended a dam failure drill involving the Blackfoot reservoir. The sheriff noted that there is not a secondary evacuation route in place for residents at the dike area.
Continuing to work on PacifiCorp and the sheriff by way of an MOU with the State of Idaho. There will be a meeting during the week to discuss the issue.
Eric Hobson – EMS
“Obviously we had a very warm, very weird winter,” Hobson noted. Last Monday, Gov. Little declared a drought disaster for all 44 counties. NWS said that the snow melt is running about a month ahead of time. There is no way to quantify ground water.
A declaration for the county was prepared by Hobson. The declaration serves the purpose of allowing different Farm Service and USDA programs to provide aid to the county.
According to Hobson, since the governor declared an emergency that means that the county is already technically in disaster status. The county declaration would constitute additional support for the extent of the emergency.
The timing of the declaration was discussed.
Hobson was given an outlook from NWS of 30% less moisture than usual through July.
Resolution 2026-04 for Emergency Disaster Declaration for Drought was passed. It will be active until December for auto-expiration, but can be changed or modified up until them.
Hobson also attended the emergency meeting for the dike/dam at Blackfoot reservoir.
There are some homes that would be threatened if the dike failed.
Evacuations would be possible, as an event that caused the dike to fail would be preceded by rising waters in the leadup.
Aaron Cook
Cook reported that the county was in compliance with its assessments and appraisals. The county’s appraisal of various property ratios is evaluated on a recurring basis.
America 250 on Main Street
On Thursday, May 7 at 6:30 pm an America 250 celebration will take place in front of the Courthouse and library amphitheater. There will be musical performances by David Torgesen and the HS and MS musicians. Guest speakers include Bob Geddes and Paul Gritton, as well as appearances by the Spuddy Buddies. There will be crafts and a free wagon ride.
The event is sponsored by the City of Soda Springs, Community Schools, Rotary Club, and VFW. Flag raising will take place in front of the courthouse.
