Bridge in Chesterfield among issues for county commissioners
Commissioners met for a regular meeting on Monday 5/11.
Bills were discussed, with a number of expenses coming in high as a result of the nature of the purchases, which included a fire turnout, specialized truck repairs, and more.
Road and Bridge
Director Kevin McLain noted that the Fire Department has a snowplow that has not been sold yet. Eric Hobson requested the vehicle in order to serve for water storage. The transfer would be between departments within the county, so it would be an efficient way to gain value from the otherwise unused vehicle. The power to the plow was noted as being inconsistent, and the vehicle is a bit top-heavy, but it would be suitable for use with an added tank to serve at the Grace station. This would allow more water to be staged at the Grace station.
At the D5 Road Supervisor meeting McLain recently attended, it was noted that Caribou County was the only county that still provided culverts. Other counties view them as utilities and don’t put them in as a service for approaches, but usually put that cost on the landowner.
The bridge which is closed on Kelly-Toponce road in Chesterfield is a concern, as they expect a lot of traffic in the area during the Memorial Day weekend. Locations for detour signs were discussed.
EMS
One county EMT is attending Advanced training, and should be finished by the end of the season.
An F150 used by EMS is starting to run rough. Hobson believes it may be worthwhile to look at upgrading the truck to a newer one, as the repairs on the current one are becoming more constant and
expensive.
Burn bans were discussed. Hobson stated that the county is inclined to follow the weather and dry fuel conditions in order to decide when to impose bans. He suspects that the fire season will start earlier and go later than in previous years. There have been a few small brush fires already this spring.
In order to have the station rated, they need 5000 gallons of mobile water on the location. Hobson is looking at options for moving another tender or tanker in. The plow, as discussed, might be usable with a poly-tank put on it. The 5000 needs to be on location 24/7 in order to be rated.
Chairman Mathews asked about whether there were problems with algae growing in poly tanks that were sitting in place. Hobson stated that they had never had problems with it in the past, but he would look into it.
Building and Maintenance
The elevator maintenance in the courthouse has been bid for $21K, due to the nature of the parts that need to be replaced.
Commissioner Somsen expressed some frustration with the cost and frequency of the elevator repairs. The commissioners discussed options for trying to reduce costs in the future, including service guarantees, insurance coverage, different repair providers, and other issues. Chairman Mathews believes that they should pursue insuring the elevator against repairs going
forward.
The elevator requires an annual inspection.
“Let’s see whatever options with insurance, guarantee, warranty there are,” Commissioner Somsen said. A look at the service contract documents found that the repair work was covered by a one year warranty.
The commissioners approved the repairs by Schindler Elevator services, which are necessary to make the elevator functional again, but directed Larkins to begin looking at other repair options.
Treasurer - Angie Mendenhall
Mendenhall met with Idaho Central Credit Union last week about providing credit cards to the county departments. She would like to switch from Zion’s to ICCU due to better specifics in terms of the card policies, rates, and terms. The commissioners needed to approve the change.
The county will have 4 cards, including EMS. The credit limit was discussed. The commissioners approved moving the card accounts to ICCU.
PZ - Helen Barker
$37,200 (or $1550 a week) is the contract service rate for maintenance of the county’s porta potties, vaulted toilets, and other facilities. They are maintained and cleaned by Ridge Top Construction.
Picnic tables at the Oregon Trail Marina have been built and made ready by Barker and Rowdy Larkins. The old ones will be disposed of. The permanent tables will be refurbished.
FCCLA
Members of the Soda Springs High School FCCLA and Speech and Debate teams spoke to the commissioners about support for Nationals.
Sierra Muir spoke to the commissioners on behalf of the SSHS Debate program. Muir is the only members of the SSHS debate team to qualify for the National competition, which will be held in June in Virginia. Because she is the only representative, the costs are higher than when a large team is involved. She has contacted some local businesses in Soda Springs, and is looking at a grant for the National Speech and Debate program.
The commissioners agreed to donate $500 to Muir from PILT.
Sarah Fryar spoke to the commissioners on behalf of SSHS FCCLA. There are a number of students who will be attending the National Conference, as well as chaperones. The event will be taking place in Washington, D.C. As part of fundraising efforts, the FCCLA is sponsoring the Mister Soda show. They are signed up for a number of other fundraisers as well. The commissioners instructed them to speak with the city council.
A motion to donate $3000 to FCCLA ($500 per student) was approved from the PILT fund.
Fiona Katrine
Fiona has been in Soda Springs for the last three years. She has a Bachelors from the Julliard School, and her husband is from Grace. She has taught dance in the community, and noticed that “there is a hunger for dance, and the arts.” She has helped her friend Anna Brown put on Disney musicals.
She has already received approval to hold the event at Kelly Park from the city, and noted that the city has provided $500 of support, as well as mosquito abatement and toilet facilities, as well as other support.
She will be covering some of the costs with tuition fees from students, which will go to cover costumes, but would like to secure some additional funding in order to make sure the event is solvent. The show will take place in August, and will also be an educational experience for the students. She hopes to involve several dozen local student actor-dancers. The event will also have food trucks, and be a family-oriented series of performances across several days.
An estimated $9000 is what she determined would be required, and stated that “I am going to do this project no matter what.” She requested $5000 from the commissioners. The commissioners approved $2000 for the project – more information will be coming soon.
Jake Paulsen – Keller
Ways to fund a replacement or repair to the bridge in Chesterfield were discussed. Various grants and state funds were discussed, and are being looked at within the next funding cycles, but the commissioners wanted to know if there was something that could be done more immediately, as the bridge being out was a problem for many people in the area, and will likely be a major issue over the summer. The commissioners expressed the opinion that the repair of the bridge was an emergency, rather than a longterm issue. Along with Kevin McLain, the group discussed some potential temporary solutions.
McLain has applied for some emergency funds, but not heard back.
“None of the people that are making this decision are driving the eighteen miles around every day,” Chairman Mathews said. “We can’t wait that long to fix it.”
The bridge was officially condemned earlier in the spring after a bridge survey determined it was structurally in need of replacement or repair.
“It’s going to be a disaster out there if we don’t get it by Memorial Day,” Commissioner Somsen stated.
LRHIP (Local Rural Highway Investment Program) funds have gone toward the county’s transportation plan. The current plan is from 2003, which does not reflect a lot of the current road system and materials inventory in the county. Paulsen asked the commissioners want they would like to have as points of focus on the transportation plan.
Military Leave Policy
Sheriff Mabey spoke to the Commissioners about a policy for officers in the department who are also members of military service branches. The policy would cover hours for the employees during weekend guard training or deployments so that health insurance would be maintained until it shifted to the federal government.
“Being a veteran myself, I have a tendency to advocate for them as strongly as I can. It is a generous policy,” Sheriff Mabey said.
The policy would primarily involve the two weeks of training, but the issue of deployment was also discussed.
Part of the guidelines for military personnel is that the county is required to hold the position for the servicemember (or an equal position) until they return from a deployment up to five years.
The county is required to follow USERRA (Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act), which includes the major issue involved.
An ordinance spelling the specifics of the policy out will be presented at the next commission meeting.
Clerk - Jill Stoor
Grumpy Guy’s has been approved by the state for a liquor license for beer. They requested a county license, which was granted.
A tour of Smoky Canyon mine facility for officials was discussed in July.
PRT sent a bill for services last year. The commission wondered what the extent of PRT’s service to the county was, and whether continued funding was worthwhile.
RMP
Marty McCullough informed the commissioners about recent conversations with Rocky Mountain Power/PacifiCorp. Ownership of the reservoir was the primary source of discussion. Ownership is affected by the concept of Navigable Waterways at the time of statehood, which would make the waterway subject to state oversight if it were determined that those conditions applied. Private reservoirs are covered differently.
Representatives from PacfiCorp/RMP are planning to meet with the commissioners soon.
Attorney Wood wondered if this was an issue that the attorney general should be involved with, since it affects a large number of stakeholders.
