10/14/03 - Commissioners Meeting

The Board of Bear Lake County Commissioners met in regular session on Tuesday, October 14, 2003, in the Commissioners Room of the Courthouse Annex in Paris, Idaho, beginning at 9:00 A.M. Members of the Board present: Dwight L. Cochran, Chairman of the Board, Don C. Clark, Conrad Michaelson and Colleen Kelsey, Deputy Clerk. Joan P. Eborn, Clerk of the Board was out of the valley on vacation.

Monte Transtrum, Road Supervisor, Lynn Lewis, Assessor, Rodney Wallentine, Treasurer, and Rosa Moosman, Editor for the News-Examiner also attended the meeting.

Commissioner Clark offered the opening prayer.

Chairman Cochran called the meeting to order to discuss county business as follows:

GARBAGE PICKUP FEE EXEMPTION
Greg Kempton, Nounan resident met with the Commissioners requesting a garbage fee exemption on his deceased mother-in-law's house as it is now vacant and the family does not plan on renting it.

Commissioner Michaelson made a motion, seconded by Commissioner Clark to grant the garbage exemption fee as long as the house is left vacant and stated that if a residence is used at any one time during the year, owners would be required to pay the garbage fees. Any one wanting an exemption of garbage fees would have to make a request with the Board of County Commissioners. Motion unanimously carried.

ELECTED OFFICIALS MEETING
Treasurer Rodney Wallentine discussed 3 parcels of property that he is currently trying to collect outstanding tax on. He asked the Commissioners for suggestions as to what action should be taken next in order to collect $710 for 2002 taxes on a backhoe owned by Billy Loertscher who no longer resides in Bear Lake County. Treasurer Wallentine said he has sent a warrant of distraint to the home of Grant Loertscher, Billy's Father in Geneva. Billy said that he no longer has possession of the backhoe as John Deere repossessed it. John Deere said they have no record of it and unless he could provide proof of it still being in Idaho, they would not be able to assist in locating it.

The other two pieces of personal property that still have outstanding tax balances are Comdisco with an outstanding balance of $28.00 on rented computers, and notified the Assessor's Office that the computers had been disposed of to private owners 2 years ago. The other is Steven Emmerson with an outstanding balance of $26.00 on Furniture.

Commissioner Michaelson made a motion, seconded by Commissioner Clark that Treasurer Wallentine should write off the outstanding balances owed to the County, as they have no legal grounds to pursue the issue as personal property cannot be traced. Motion was unanimous.

Assessor Lynn Lewis discussed the Courthouse Electrical System and noted ACE Electric has been hired to move the old circuits to the new circuit breaker boxes, which has been done and the Courthouse is currently operating on the new service. There are still problems, such as the voltage is not the same anywhere in the building and more circuits are needed in order to be able to function properly. Assessor Lewis as well as the Commissioners felt that the County of all places should be current with the Electrical Code.

Assessor Lewis informed the Commissioners that he would like the old Sheriff's Vehicle when it becomes available as the current county vehicle he is using is in need of major repairs and is currently not very safe to be driving. He would like to trade his, sell it at county auction or have it fixed. Treasurer Wallentine noted that he would also like to use it as well for taking the County's deposits to Montpelier instead of having his deputy charge the County mileage. The Commissioners said they would keep him in mind when the old sheriff's vehicle becomes available.

Ardee Helm, Jr., Prosecuting Attorney joined the meeting in progress.

MINUTES APPROVED
Commissioner Michaelson made a motion, seconded by Commissioner Clark to approve the minutes for the Solid Waste Fee Increase Hearing, September 2, 2003, the Fiscal Year 2004 Budget Meeting, September 2, 2003, the regular monthly Commissioners Meeting, September 8, 2003, and the Executive Session in regards to Personnel Issues, September 23, 2003. Motion unanimously carried.

MINERAL RIGHTS RESTORED
Florence Ream, Dingle Resident asked the Commissioners to return the mineral rights to her property that were once severed from it as a result of the previous owners.

Commissioner Clark made a motion, seconded by Commissioner Michaelson to deed the mineral rights presently owned by Bear Lake County back to Ms. Ream as per the recently passed house bill 223, supporting the return of mineral rights to current land owners at no expense. Motion carried unanimously.

COUNTY PROJECTS
Commissioner Michaelson asked Road Supervisor Transtrum if his crew would be able to remove the Box Elder Trees around the Sheriff's Office and Courthouse in order to help prevent so many box elder bugs in the buildings and to also maybe plant trees next spring in front of the Sheriff's Office for shade.

RED PINE CANYON ROAD PROTEST
Nikki Mast, on behalf of her father, who is presently out of the county, met with the Commission stating that her father's attorney Paul E. D'Amours from Jackson, Wyoming, would like the letter that was faxed to them regarding a Petition for Rehearing on the matter of recognition of Red Pine Canyon Road as a public road, be put on record.

Ms. Mast stated that her father owns property through which the road passes and feels that the county has taken over this part of his land, thus wanting the road closed. He also felt that this decision was never made public and should have never been passed under the RS 2477 requirements.

Commissioner Michaelson discussed some of the requirements of a road becoming a public road under the RS 2477 Law, such as it being used by the public as a prescriptive right-of-way for over 100 years.

Attorney Helm suggested holding a public hearing to discuss the closure of Red Pine Canyon Road.

Later during the day, the Commissioners unanimously agreed to hold a public hearing on the closure of Red Pine Canyon Road on Friday, November 21, 2003, at 7:00 P.M., in the Georgetown City Hall, Georgetown, Idaho and instructed Deputy Clerk Kelsey to publish notice in the News-Examiner of the public hearing.

Al Harrison, Bear Lake Regional Commission and Roy Bunderson joined the meeting.

GARBAGE FEE EXEMPTION REQUEST
Lyman Kunz, Dingle resident requested that the Commissioners grant him an exemption on garbage collection as he burns all of his garbage as well as hauls anything metal to the landfill himself. He felt that the county should not make him pay for something he doesn't use or want.

Roy Bunderson commented, saying residents need to support the garbage system for the beautification of the community.

Rosa noted that every citizen in the community benefits from the garbage system and landfill.

Commissioner Michaelson made a motion to consider the request to exempt Mr. Kunz from the Garbage Fee and to vote on the matter. Chairman Cochran voted no, Commissioner Clark voted no, and Commissioner Michaelson voted no. All three Commissioners voted no, making the vote unanimous.

ROAD & BRIDGE NARRATIVE
Monte Transtrum, Road & Bridge Supervisor gave the Commissioners a narrative of the activities his department has been working on during the month of September. He said there is a lot of interest in cattleguards and have installed one on the Esterholdt Road in Pegram and cleaned the one in Banks Valley. They have been patching, paving, graveling and grading lots of roads in the Bloomington and Georgetown areas as well as Dry Canyon Road, Montpelier Reservoir Road, Little Valley Road, Dingle Bottoms Road, North Canyon, Stauffer Canyon, Bern to Nounan Road and the Sharon Loop Road. Lots of winter preparation to be done. They have been crushing gravel in the Wardboro Pit and mixing asphalt as well. The Solid Waste Department has put out all of the new containers and have Bennington's Route on order. The Landfill was inspected by Dee Johnson, Health Department and gave a good inspection rating. Monte said they are working on updating the landfill operating plan, the proposal from Cascade Earth Sciences for drilling a replacement upgradient well at the landfill and reviewing the County's Tire Ordinance.

Commissioner Michaelson said that Neil Dimick had contacted him and would like the beginning of Green Canyon Road widened and would allow the County to have an additional 15 feet of his property in order to widen the road, as it is very narrow.

Commissioner Clark also noted that Evan Hayes would like to meet with the Commissioners and Supervisor Transtrum to talk with them about the Barker Ranch Road.

Roy Bunderson, Bloomington City Mayor on behalf of the City of Bloomington expressed thanks to the County for the repairs that were done to the Canyon Road and Bottoms Road.

EMT/AMBULANCE BUDGET
Rhett Phelps, EMT President discussed the Ambulance budget for the coming year and the fact that they need to have a new ambulance and an addition to the existing Ambulance Garage to store the ambulance. They have received an estimate for a 2-story addition for $180,000 and will be obtaining more estimates and looking at grant money in hopes of starting this project during the summer of 2004. These estimates will include not only another ambulance bay, but a room for medics who are on-call to use as well.

Rhett stated that the Ambulance Service tries to put $25,000 away every year to go towards a new ambulance. This last year, money had to be borrowed as the service agreement exceeded the already appropriated budget. They will be taking $25,000 out of the Ambulance savings account to try to make up that difference for the coming year.

The Commissioners unanimously agreed to advertise for bids for one New 2004 Ambulance, to be opened on December 8, 2003 at 11:00 A.M. and instructed Deputy Clerk Kelsey to publish a notice in the News-Examiner.

Rhett agreed to get a specification sheet for the ambulance bids to the Clerk's Office for dispursement.

BID OPENING - SHERIFF'S VEHICLE
Brent Bunn, Sheriff met with the Commissioners at 10:30 a.m. to open bids for a new Sheriff's vehicle. No bids were submitted. The Commissioners advised Sheriff Bunn to get estimates from the dealers and to submit them to the Commissioners and for Sheriff Bunn to negotiate the best price.

Later during the day, Sheriff Bunn did retrieve estimates from the Dealers as instructed.

SHERIFF'S REPORT
Brent Bunn, Sheriff gave his department's report for the month of September 2003 for the Commissioners review and comments. He said they are still transporting prisoners to Caribou, Bannock and Bonneville Counties and that it would be next fall before the new jail facility would be ready for occupancy in Caribou County.

The Commissioners asked if we had committed to housing prisoners in Caribou County? Sheriff Bunn said that there had not been a resolution made yet and that he would like it to be scheduled for the next Commissioners meeting in November to discuss a housing commitment and an amount to be paid.

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
Richard Westerberg, Tri-County Economic Development Specialist and Kathleen Lewis, Southeastern Idaho Council of Governments, Economic Development Director met with the Commissioners at the request of Scott Olsen and Judy Hyde, Bear Lake Chamber of Commerce, to discuss and give a preliminary view of the proposed Ethanol Plant and a location as well as the possibility of Grant Funds that could be made available.

Mr. Olsen and Mrs. Hyde however, were not in attendance at the meeting.

Mr. Westerberg and Mrs. Lewis were reluctant to delve into the development of an Ethanol Plant without Mr. Olsen and Mrs. Hyde in attendance to make a presentation to the Commissioners about the plant and any questions or facts that needed to be presented to them and to answer any questions.

Meeting recessed for lunch reconvening at 1:30 p.m. to continue county business as follows:

TAX DEEDED PROPERTY AUCTION
The Commissioners promptly met at 1:30 p.m. on the front steps of the Courthouse as previously advertised to offer for sale at public auction and to sell to the highest bidder for cash the property acquired by tax deed and now owned by Bear Lake County and not necessary for its use.

Commissioner Michaelson read the public notice, stating the parcel #3722.06, property owned by Theodore E. Ducette, et al, located approximately 4.5 miles North West of Paris, Idaho and read the property description in full. Commissioner Michaelson started the bidding process with the minimum bid required and advertised of $1,218.

Joseph M. Callahan of Montpelier was the highest bidder with a bid of $3,600 to be paid to Treasurer Wallentine. A Deed will be drawn up and recorded in the County Recorders Office transferring title of the property to Mr. Callahan.

The Commissioners resumed their meeting in the Commissioners Room of the Courthouse Annex in Paris, Idaho.

GOLDEN BEAR CONDOMINIUM PLAT
Mitch Poulsen, Planning and Zoning, Al Harrison, Bear Lake Regional Commission and Steve Howard, Bear Lake West Amenities Manager met with the Commissioners to present the resurveyed Golden Bear Condominiums Plat they have been working on for over 5 years.

The subdivision when built was not built on the survey lines, thus creating a problem with the original plat. In order to have a new plat done, all of the property owners had to sign an affidavit to have the subdivision resurveyed and present it to Planning and Zoning and the County Commissioners for approval. Mitch stated that this survey has no substantial changes from the original map and is only slightly different.

Commissioner Michaelson made a motion, seconded by Commissioner Clark to accept the Golden Bear Condominium Survey contingent upon Planning and Zoning's recommendation. Motion unanimously carried.

EXECUTIVE SESSION
Commissioner Clark made a motion, seconded by Commissioner Michaelson to recess the regular meeting and to convene an executive session to discuss medical assistance applications. Motion unanimously carried.

At the conclusion of the review of medical claims, Commissioner Michaelson made a motion, seconded by Commissioner Clark to adjourn the executive session and to reconvene the regular meeting. Motion unanimously carried.

After reviewing the Clerk's statement of findings, the Commissioners acted unanimously to approve the following medical assistance applications: Case #2003-04, and #2003-05. Case #2003-08 - County received settlement check from Safeco Insurance for dispursement. Case #2003-09 - Instructed to check on residency clause and obtain a 2nd Physicians opinion before approval. Case #2003-05 and #2002-06 - will be sending in application for reimbursement from the CAT Millenium Fund for reimbursement for Tobacco users.

CANYON ESTATES ROADS
The Commissioners discussed a letter they had received from Canyon Estates Management Committee, Tom Winegar, Scott Perks, and Gary McKee, stating that the property owners of Canyon Estates have voted to retain the roads in their development as private roads even though earlier they made a verbal agreement to turn the road over to the county.

GARBAGE EXEMPTION
The Commissioners discussed the issue as requested by the Hospital and Doctor's Offices asking for their garbage disposal charges to be exempted. The Commissioners unanimously agreed to leave their garbage fees as is.

CLAIMS ALLOWED PAID
The Commissioners reviewed and unanimously approved claims submitted, authorizing payment as follows:

Meeting adjourned subject to recall by the Chairman or his order.

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