STATE OF IDAHO
County of Idaho
JANUARY SESSION January 7, 2014 FIRST TERM DAY
9:45 a.m. The board convened with Commissioners James Rockwell, Jim Chmelik and Skip Brandt, and Kathy Ackerman, Clerk present.
The meeting opened with the Pledge of Allegiance.
Ray Hamell regarding his property near Shingle Creek-he is having difficulty making tax payments due to issues with Shingle Creek Road and the inability to refinance or sell without title insurance. His business partner has filed bankruptcy-asks if there is any way to put off having a tax deed issued-discussion. Chmelik questions whether or not Mr. Hamell has a plan for paying this. Hamell will come back next week at 11:15 a.m. with further documentation.
Skip Brandt moves to amend the agenda to include CompuNet cabling upgrade. Chmelik seconds. Motion carries with all in favor.
9:55 a.m. Alex Tibbetts and Dusty Arnzen regarding proposal for cabling clean-up and upgrade-many cables are not being used, current rack is full. Upgrade will ultimately save the county money as our computer department could call in and report which cable has an issue-this could be handled remotely with the upgrade in place. Rockwell questions whether or not this is a firm bid on the project or an estimate. Tibbetts indicates that the work will be completed at $75.00 per hour, not to exceed $5000 for the labor portion-discussion. Rockwell moves to accept the estimate not to exceed $8151.56 for the cabling upgrade. Chmelik seconds. Motion carries with all in favor.
10:00 a.m. Brandt regarding upcoming training for local emergency responders regarding mental health crisis intervention-a request has been made for the county to provide sponsorship monies-discussion. Brandt moves to provide $250 in sponsorship for this event. Chmelik seconds. Motion carries with all in favor.
Deanna Hall regarding cancellation of late fees on Rambo of $1.89 and Connor for $3.98. Brandt moves to cancel late fees. Chmelik seconds. Motion carries with all in favor.
Rockwell moves to exempt new lots purchased by Syringa Hospital and Clinics-Lots 3,4,5, and 6,Block D of the Courthouse Addition in the City of Grangeville as requested per letter. Brandt seconds. Motion carries with all in favor.
Approval of liquor catering permit for Doreen Ash-January 11, 2014 at Greencreek Hall.
Alcoholic Beverage Licenses Approved:
Sportshop-beer and wine
Riener’s Grocery-beer and wine
Hoot’s Café-beer and wine
Cash & Carry Foods-beer and wine
Mini Village-beer and wine
Hong Fa-beer and wine
Salmon River Inn-beer and liquor
The Twisted Cellar-beer and wine
Crump Chevron Service-beer and wine
River Rock Café-beer and wine
Asker’s Harvest Foods-beer and wine
Cottonwood Foods-beer and wine
Kooskia Café-beer and wine
Canyon Pines RV Resort-beer and wine
Rae Brothers Sporting Goods-beer only
Silver Dollar-beer and liquor
10:30 a.m. Bette Polack regarding precinct designation-no changes. Rockwell moves to accept the precinct designations as presented. Chmelik seconds. Motion carries with all in favor.
10:45 a.m. Gene Meinen regarding emergency grant funding that was received from LHTAC -asks for signature on documentation for LHTAC regarding the expenditure-discussion. Rockwell signs documentation to be submitted upon completion by Meinen that details funding date, project completion date, project description, amount awarded, total project cost, etc. Meinen will provide copy of completed form to Ackerman.
Meinen regarding seasonal employee that was hired while an employee was out with a medical condition-requests keeping James Hershey, the temporary hire, on through the end of the season-Rockwell questions whether or not there is money in the budget for this-Meinen advises there is-discussion. Meinen asks if his wage could be increased to $14.37 Rockwell moves to approve request as presented-keeping employee on until March 1 at an increased hourly rate. Brandt seconds. Motion carries with all in favor.
11:00 a.m. Debbie Evans regarding block grant for $300,000 for Framing Our Community-they are again requesting Idaho County sponsorship. Julia York regarding her support for this project-provides her background with Boeing and her view of capitalism-advises that she believes that this grant process would, in fact, foster capitalism. Joyce Dearstyn provides documentation of businesses that have benefited from the business incubator-provides brochures from two businesses that started in the incubator and have moved on-both have relocated outside of Elk City. Discussion regarding previous grant and the start up of the incubator. Dearstyn provides letters from slated tenants of the new project as requested by the Commission. Rockwell questions how much Premier is charged per month and what they get for that amount-Dearstyn advises $1000 per month includes power and rent-discussion. Chmelik questions businesses bundling wood-how are they getting access to this-Dearstyn indicates this comes from slash piles, fire clean-up, etc. Discussion regarding timber resources available. Rockwell advises that he was instrumental in bringing in Blue North and Larsons-advises his interest is in bringing in jobs-reviews minutes of the meeting from the last application-questions whether or not FOC has done any of the things the County requested. Dearstyn advises that this grant did not go through due to lack of Commission support-a Commissioner present in person was needed rather than a letter-they were advised to come back-Dearstyn advises that this application is stronger than the last. Rockwell questions the $90,000 commitment for Idaho Carbon-discussion regarding how this pledge amount fits in to management of the grant. Rockwell questions whether or not jobs were created with the first grant as was required-Dearstyn advises that the job creation goal was exceeded.
Brandt advises that he feels he must support this process and the efforts of FOC to do something positive for the community. Brandt moves to approve grant application.
Chmelik advises that he is fundamentally opposed to the grant process-that he feels that this is morally wrong and obligating future generations. He supports the efforts of these women and what they are trying to do, but he cannot support this.
Rockwell advises that he has heard from both sides of this-advises that he wants 125 signatures from community members who support this project before going forward. Discussion. Dearstyn advises that there is a significant amount of work that must be completed in this process-the grant writer, engineers, etc. and that those expenses are paid for out of the grant funds-this signature requirement would make it impossible to move forward since they don’t have a firm commitment from the County.
Mike Edmonson advises that the previous grant was submitted without community signature approval, which is contrary to what was agreed on. This was to be a requirement regardless of whether or not that grant was funded.
Rockwell advises that he will not go forward on this without being convinced that the decision is representative of the community-other incorporated areas do not face this problem, as there is a decision from the officials of that city who are elected to represent the people-he wants a petition that will reflect the will of the people in Elk City.
Discussion from Dearstyn and Evans regarding the difficulties of meeting this requirement-it puts an extra burden on FOC that will set them up for failure.
Brandt moves to approve grant approval contingent upon receipt of a petition with 125 signatures by the end of February affirming support. Rockwell seconds. Motion carries with Brandt and Rockwell in favor and Chmelik opposed.
11:53 a.m. James Zehner regarding Linda Arnzen retiring in June, requests hiring a part-time, no benefit employee as a seasonal employee-the intent would be to transition this person to Linda’s position upon her retirement. Rockwell questions whether or not this is in the budget-Zehner advises that it is. Rockwell approves hiring of part-time employee as presented. Brandt seconds. Motion carries with all in favor.
11:55 a.m. Rockwell moves to go into Indigent proceedings pursuant to IC 31-874. Chmelik seconds. Roll call-District 1- yes, District 2-yes, District 3-yes.
1-Approval, 3-Denial, 0-Lien,1-Release Lien, 0-N1, 1-Release N1
12:03 p.m. End Indigent
1:00 p.m. Melisa Bryant with Idaho-Lewis Economic Development regarding formation of a Technical Education Center-they have been researching this and have determined that a strategic plan is needed to carry this plan forward. Additionally, they would hire a contract employee that would carry through development based on what comes out of the strategic plan. Bryant advises that they want this to be controlled locally, as advised by the U of I-it would not be a separate school, but would be utilized by all area schools. Since there is a waiting period of approximately 1.5 years in order to obtain 501c3 status, Idaho Community Foundation has offered to set up a fund but there has to be a governmental agency to act as the fiscal agent. Clare Chapman, Rick Peterson, Emmet Wilson are current board members for the Idaho-Lewis County Technical Education Foundation. Rockwell moves that Idaho County be the fiscal agent for the Foundation. Brandt seconds. Motion carries with all in favor.
Order for Cancellation signed-$107.64.
1:12 p.m. Meeting adjourned.
Chairman_______________________________ Attest:____________________________
