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***Monday,
July 23, 2012, Commissioners met
in regular session with Chairman Ron Smith,
Commissioner Dan Dinning, Commissioner Walt
Kirby, and Deputy Clerk Michelle Rohrwasser.
9:00 a.m., Road and Bridge
Superintendent Jeff Gutshall joined the meeting
to give the departmental report. Mr. Gutshall
presented a written report.
Commissioner Dinning moved
to continue the discussion of abandonment of
Trading Post Road and
adjacent lots until this afternoon at 2:00 p.m. Commissioner Kirby second. Motion
passed unanimously.
Mr. Gutshall said the
priority for Road and Bridge now is chipsealing
and getting patch work done. Road and Bridge
will also need to pre-level and fill ruts of the
roads to be chipsealed. Culvert work will also
be done. Mr. Gutshall said roads that have been
worked on include: Highland
Flats Road,
Copeland Road, Farm to
Market Road and the
north six miles of
Meadow Creek Road.
Mr. Gutshall’s report
listed stockpiling rock for chipsealing at the
Rutledge Pit, putting up new signs and
continuing with road patching. Mr. Gutshall said
in mid-August he will get back to work on
Fawn Lane, Moon Shadow, etc.
Mr. Gutshall said today is
the day for the final design on
Deep Creek
Bridge #2 and once that is done it
will involve committing funds. There will be a
preconstruction meeting for Bridge #4 at the
Visitor’s Center this Wednesday at 9:00 a.m. The schedule to work on
Deep
Creek Bridge
#2 is August 1 through
September 30, 2012.
Mr. Gutshall said the start
date for work on Deep Creek Loop is set for
August 2nd.
Clerk Glenda Poston joined
the meeting at
9:10 a.m.
Mr. Gutshall and
Commissioners discussed the public notification
for delays and road closures as it relates to
work on Deep Creek Loop. Mr. Gutshall said the
signs were put up last Thursday that say “road
closed” for the specific dates and they’re
located at each junction.
Mr. Gutshall discussed the
National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System
(NPDES). This refers to national pollutant
discharge permitting and is a result of a
decision in the Ninth Circuit Court that all
primary logging roads will have to have NPDES
permits for every culvert crossing, according to
Mr. Gutshall. Commissioner Dinning said the
Idaho Association of Counties (IAC) is a partner
to the State of Oregon
who is suing against this. Mr. Gutshall said
there is 56 million dollars in additional costs
to counties for these permits and he explained
what other information is required. The State of
Oregon
estimated 40 hours of culvert work. Mr. Gutshall
said he’s having trouble with primary logging
roads and he referred to the
Westside Road,
Katka Road
and Camp Nine Road. Commissioner Dinning said
the definition will be expanded if the case is
upheld. Mr. Gutshall said he is to provide an
estimate of culverts and roads that will be
affected by this decision.
Mr. Gutshall and
Commissioner Kirby briefly discussed the dirt at
the clinic building that the Hospital needs to
have moved. Mr. Gutshall said that is a good job
for the skidsteer at the landfill.
Mr. Gutshall said he has a
meeting this Thursday at the Prosecutor’s Office
to discuss road limits and restrictions.
Commissioner Kirby moved to
approve the minutes of July 16 & 17, 2012.
Commissioner Dinning second. Motion passed
unanimously.
Clerk Poston and
Commissioners discussed the proposed Mental
Health and
Intoxication
Center in relation to county funding
that was discussed at the District 1 meeting
last Friday. Kootenai County Commissioner Jai
Nelson needs a commitment from the five northern
counties, but those funds may not be expended.
Boundary
County’s commitment totals $4,600.
Clerk Poston and Mr.
Gutshall left the meeting at
9:30 a.m.
Commissioners discussed the
letter they received from Bonneville County
Commissioners in regards to a proposed
Foreign Trade
Subzone.
Commissioner Dinning moved
to sign the letter of support for the Foreign
Trade subzone for Areva Technologies.
Commissioner Kirby second. Motion passed
unanimously.
9:37 a.m., Chief Deputy Treasurer Sue
Larson joined the meeting to discuss a request
to extend payment on taxes.
Commissioner Dinning moved
to grant an extension of time to pay 2011 taxes
on parcel #MH61N01W25615A until December 20, 2012. Commissioner Kirby
second. Motion passed unanimously.
Ms. Larson left the meeting
at 9:40 a.m.
10:00 a.m., Commissioners
held a meeting at the Extension Office with
various dike district representatives to discuss
possible future flood related issues and to
discuss maintenance of the dikes. Present were:
Chairman Smith, Commissioner Dinning,
Commissioner Kirby, Clerk Glenda Poston, Deputy
Clerk Michelle Rohrwasser, Ed Atkins, John Solt,
Brad Dillin, Tim Dillin, Ryan Mai, Randy
Peterson, Larry Copeland, Larry Peterson, Orval
Gentry, Robert Olsen, Victor Rae, Brian Rae, Wm.
Grant Nixon, Jim Marx, Bob Graham, Vic Amoth,
Katherine Rowden with the National Weather
Service, Ty Iverson, Kennon McClintock, Chris
Amoth, Mike Brown with Blue Sky Broadcasting,
Dallas Amoth, and Tom Koehn.
Chairman Smith said one
month ago the City of
Bonners Ferry began
experiencing problems with the
Kootenai
River rising and they declared an
emergency. Chairman Smith explained the County’s
process for declaring an emergency. When an
emergency occurs outside of Commissioners’
normal meeting session he can declare an
emergency after contacting Emergency Services
and the Bureau of Homeland Security, and during
the next regular Commissioner meeting the Board
of Commissioners will ratify that emergency
declaration. Chairman Smith said Commissioners
did not declare an emergency at the time the
City did and in the next few days flood fighting
work was performed at the Kootenai River Inn.
Commissioners then started
getting word about District #4 having issues and
the County did declare an emergency as a result
of District #4. If the dike in District #4
failed, the County would lose
Copeland Road, the
airport and surrounding areas.
Chairman Smith said the
County also requested assistance from the U.S.
Army Corps of Engineers and requested financial
assistance from the State of
Idaho
for the County’s half of the expenses. Chairman
Smith said 4,500 tons of rock was brought in for
the dike in District #4 and he verbally agreed
to contract with Dennis Fitch to haul the rock
provided the County came up with equipment to
place the rock. Chairman Smith explained that
there hadn’t been time to formally enter into a
contract with Mr. Fitch so he discussed working
with Mr. Fitch with the County’s attorney. The
costs were unknown at that point, but as the
work proceeded Chairman Smith said he was
informed the County’s cost was $146 per hour.
Originally was Corps of Engineers estimated 40
hours while Mr. Fitch estimated 60 hours.
Shortly after starting the work Chairman Smith
said he was told the cost to have an excavator
at the site would be $1,000.
Chairman Smith said the
rock was being placed on the dike and the
County’s Emergency Services was set up at Mr.
Amoth’s. It was going well until the Corps of
Engineers suddenly said they didn’t want more
rock even though they had a contract to place
4,500 tons. Mr. Graham had been able to
negotiate with Corps of Engineers to haul the
rock to Chris Amoth’s in District 9 and the
County’s obligation was done at that point.
The project was completed
and Mr. Graham met with Commissioners and said
he would fill out the reports and Chairman Smith
said his understanding was that these reports
were to justify why the County wanted to keep
the rock at the dikes. Chairman Smith questioned
why place this rock and then have to justify why
it should be kept there.
Chairman Smith said the
resulting costs were Mr. Fitch’s bill of $146
per hour for 33.5 hours and the cost of the
excavator was $600 instead of $1,000.
Commissioners then participated in a conference
call with Boundary County Emergency Services
Director Dave Kramer, Bureau of Homeland
Security Local Area Field Officer Jay Baker,
Clerk Glenda Poston and the Bureau of Homeland
Security’s Disaster Recovery Manager so the
County could understand the process of obtaining
reimbursement for half of the cost of $5,200.
Clerk Poston had agreed to provide documents for
reimbursement. Chairman Smith said during this
whole process he heard from Mr. Graham that it
appeared the Corps of Engineers would no longer
do anything for
Boundary
County in the future when these
problems occur.
The water issue was not
water over the dikes, but seepage and Mr. Olson
had estimated between 5,000 and 7,000 acres were
affected by seepage. Chairman Smith said he’d
been told that damage from seepage can be seen
at a river level of 1,758 and the only way to
keep seepage down is to keep the river level
down.
Mr. Graham had said he
thinks this is the highest the
Kootenai River
has been (1,766) since the Libby Dam was built.
When the Libby Dam was built in year 1972 as
long as the water was allowed to come down there
hadn’t been any problems. It was only when the
practice of holding water back was started.
Mr. Graham said Bob Olson
and Bob Myers flew the valley’s fields and took
a video showing the damage. Mr. Graham said the
reason the County was not able to get help from
the Corps is that there had been a difficult
time getting the help that was received and that
help was minor compared to what was happening to
the dikes.
The only way to convince
the Corps the County needed assistance was for
the Corps’ own surveyors to see the vertical
dirt walls and new sloughs for themselves. The
surveyors had tried to get Corps to assist, but
the County was told to come up with
infrastructure such as houses as farmland didn’t
count. Mr. Graham said he was told that five to
six houses had to be in danger in order to
receive help. Mr. Graham said he was able to
come up with Copeland
Road, the airport and
two county roads. It was
Copeland Road
that convinced the Colonel in the Corps’ Seattle
Office that work needed to be done in District
#4 and that is what Mr. Graham said makes him
think Boundary
County won’t get help in the future
unless there is a breach of the dike and
significant flooding.
A video was shown of Mr.
Olson and Mr. Myers’s flight over the valley
showing various districts and seepage.
The meeting to discuss
seepage damage ended at
11:15 a.m.
Clerk Poston remained with
Commissioners.
11:15 a.m., Commissioner Dinning
moved to go into executive session under Idaho
Code #67-2345(1)a, to consider hiring a public
officer, employee, staff member or individual
agent. Commissioner Kirby second. Commissioners
voted as follows: Chairman Smith “yes”,
Commissioner Dinning “yes” and Commissioner
Kirby “yes”. Motion passed unanimously.
11:30 a.m., Commissioner Dinning
moved to go out of executive session.
Commissioner Kirby second. Motion passed
unanimously.
11:30 a.m., Interim
Planning and Zoning Administrator Dan Studer and
Commissioners discussed applicants for the
Planning and Zoning Commission positions that
are vacant. The Planning and Zoning Commission
had begun to discuss the applicants, but decided
to table the discussion until the August meeting
when another Planning and Zoning Commission
member was in attendance.
Airport Manager Dave Parker
joined the meeting at
11:30 a.m.
Clerk Poston and Mr. Studer
left the meeting.
Mr. Parker discussed an
issue wherein the name on a hangar lease
agreement needed to be changed to the name of
William Heupel. Mr. Heupel’s attorney sent a
letter to the County stating when Mr. Heupel
built his hangar, he used Kathleen Bentley to
manage the process for him locally. In signing
the original lease agreement, Ms. Bentley made
the mistake of signing in her personal capacity.
At the time the lease was to be in the name of
his business, Gateway Services. Now that Mr.
Heupel is no longer using Gateway Services, a
new lease needs to be drafted and signed in Mr.
Heupel’s personal name. A new original agreement
had been sent to Commissioners for their
signature as this new lease has already been
executed by the other parties involved. The
agreement between Ms. Bentley and Mr. Heupel
will be formally assigned to Mr. Heupel.
Commissioner Dinning moved
to sign the agreement that
Boundary County
consents to the assignment of ground lease
between Kathleen Bentley and William Heupel.
Commissioner Kirby second. Motion passed
unanimously.
Mr. Parker left the meeting
at 11:45 a.m.
Clerk Poston returned to
the meeting to discuss canceling today’s meeting
to review the budget.
Clerk Poston left the
meeting at 11:50 a.m.
Commissioners recessed for
lunch at 11:50
a.m.
2:00 p.m., Commissioners
reconvened for the afternoon session with
Chairman Smith, Commissioner Dinning,
Commissioner Kirby, and Deputy Clerk Michelle
Rohrwasser.
2:00 p.m., Road and Bridge
Superintendent Jeff Gutshall, Attorney Phil
Robinson, and County resident Trevelyn Sheppard
joined the meeting to discuss the request for
abandonment of Trading Post Road and adjacent
lots in Porthill. Mike Brown with Blue Sky
Broadcasting was also present.
Those present reviewed
copies of the legal description of the area in
question. Attorney Robinson said when he first
was informed of this matter he understood the
map that he was given and it looks like there
are three or four sections of the law to review
in order to accomplish what has been requested.
When looking at vacating a prescribed easement
or right-of-way a public hearing has to be held
and property owners on both sides of the road
question have to be notified. It was said the
Sheppard’s are the property owners on both sides
of this road. The County has to hold a public
hearing, send notice to all affected property
owners and also publish a legal notice in the
newspaper. Although the vacated part only
affects the Sheppard’s, properties at the end of
this road may be also affected. Attorney
Robinson said it also appears the County will
need to have easement rights. Mr. Gutshall said
as far as he knows it may be prescriptively
established.
Those present discussed the
lots in Block 8 belonging to the County and
Attorney Robinson said there appears to be a
question about Lot 2.
Attorney Robinson, Ms.
Sheppard and Mr. Gutshall reviewed the map
further and discussed land exchanges and the
need to get a reliable estimate.
Commissioner Dinning said
in this case it’s looking at exchanging land for
land. Attorney Attorney Robinson said anything
beyond fair for a fair exchange has to go to
public sale. Attorney Robinson said he could
draft a settlement agreement. Commissioner
Dinning said his other concern is when it comes
to vacating he thinks for future problems and he
asked if there is another process to vacate, but
not deed.
Commissioner Dinning said
if by chance the Sheppard’s want to sell
Lot 20 or ever got bank financing,
if the County has vacated everything from a
certain point, there would be no legal access to
that property for the title company. Attorney
Robinson said currently there are lots and
blocks and the County could vacate its interest
in it, which will give the Sheppard’s control.
Commissioner Dinning said
there can be three separate processes to get
this done, but he wants to have one agreement
laying out what everyone will do. Commissioner
Dinning said he wants to be careful not to
abandon anything until there is an accurate
legal description.
It was said there will be
an expense to preparing this paperwork so who is
going to look into that. A survey has to be done
prior to the appraisal. In this scenario the
County is responsible for covering these costs,
according to Commissioner Dinning.
The meeting with Ms.
Sheppard and Attorney Robinson ended at
2:45 p.m.
Clerk Glenda Poston joined
the meeting at
2:45 p.m.
Mr. Gutshall left the
meeting at 2:55 p.m.
Clerk Poston and
Commissioners briefly discussed budget issues.
***Tuesday,
July 24, 2012, Commissioners met
in regular session with Chairman Ron Smith,
Commissioner Dan Dinning, Commissioner Walt
Kirby, and Deputy Clerk Michelle Rohrwasser.
9:00 a.m., Commissioners held an
elected officials/department heads meeting.
Present were: Solid Waste Superintendent Claine
Skeen, Courthouse Maintenance Jerry Kothe,
Restorium Administrator Karlene Magee, Clerk
Glenda Poston, Extension Educator Carol Hampton,
Prosecutor’s Office Manager Tammie Goggia,
Juvenile Probation Officer Jessica Poston,
Treasurer Jenny Fessler, Road and Bridge
Superintendent Jeff Gutshall, and Appraiser Tom
Mayo.
Chairman Smith said the
County is looking into the process of changing
plans for long distance telephone service.
Currently the County pays .08 cents per minute,
but is looking at changing to a plan that pays
$.02 cents for a certain block of time. If a
department goes beyond that time the cost
increases to $.06 per minute.
Chairman Smith said the
next item on the list is department budgets.
Commissioners and Clerk Poston have been working
on the budgets and are very close to having a
balanced budget. Clerk Poston said there have
been some changes for each department so elected
officials or department heads can stop in and
check with her if they have concerns.
Chairman Smith said the
Commissioners are looking to fill the Planning
and Zoning Administrator position. This position
has been reduced to part time and Commissioners
know of one person who is applying. Former
Planning and Zoning Administrator Mike Weland
has applied for the vacant position on the
Planning and Zoning Commission.
Chairman Smith said a
proposal has been made to Boundary Volunteer
Ambulance (BVA). The offer is up to $80,000 to
be provided to BVA by September 2012. By
February 2013, the new BVA board consisting of
two BVA members, a
County
Commissioner, the Hospital’s
administrator and a member of the Fire Chief’s
Association, will be in place and the Ambulance
District will levy the full amount of .04%.
Since the County’s value has decreased, the
original amount of $345,000 will be less.
Commissioner Dinning
explained the restructuring of the current
Boundary Volunteer Ambulance Board. Commissioner
Dinning said BVA is supposed to have a meeting
this week to decide whether or not to accept the
County’s offer.
Ms. Goggia questioned if
the ambulance is now a free service or after the
$80,000 is received will BVA still charge;
basically double billing.
Chairman Smith compared a
taxing district charging for services and used
South Boundary Fire as an example. Commissioner
Dinning explained that
Boundary
County would be under contract with
Boundary Volunteer Ambulance who would still be
a separate company. Ms. Goggia said she
understands she is going to get double billed,
but does the amount BVA is billing get applied
to the County amount. Commissioner Dinning said
no. Ms. Goggia said so BVA is getting money from
the County and in addition getting money from
the people. Commissioner Dinning said if BVA’s
budget is high than it shows the County doesn’t
need to levy the next year. Ms. Goggia said it
could become a for profit organization.
Commissioner Dinning said he thinks that the new
BVA Board will have a different eye for the
budget and a Board who can see a lesser amount
is needed rather than having to levy the full
amount.
Commissioners and Clerk
Poston explained the process of levying the
first year and having the choice not to levy the
next one or two years. On the fourth year the
County could levy the amount of the highest of
the prior three years. For example, the
Ambulance District could levy .04% on the fourth
year.
Chairman Smith said he
would contact Bonner
County
EMS. Ms. Goggia questioned if people
would be able to opt out of the Ambulance
District. Ms. Goggia asked if BVA is still going
to stay in the ambulance barn and it was asked
if BVA is going to start paying rent for that
space. Mr. Skeen asked if BVA can have free
building space being a private contractor.
Commissioner Dinning said if anyone has a better
idea, he is willing to listen.
Mr. Gutshall said if you
take an average of $300,000 over three years
that is $100,000 per year. If bills are
collected as a result of ambulance transports,
the County could operate the ambulance service
at a cost of $100,000 per year. Commissioner
Kirby said the new board will have a lot of
organizing to do. Commissioner Kirby said if BVA
earns enough money on their own, they can take
less out of the pot, but if they need more, they
can take more out of the pot. If there is an
income, the County will supplement their income
with the levy. Chairman Smith mentioned the
County knows BVA has stated they’ve brought in
approximately $200,000 per year. Mr. Gutshall
said the Commissioners will now be in on the
process.
The elected
officials/department heads meeting ended at
9:35 a.m.
County resident Jim
Dahlberg stopped by Commissioners’ Office at
9:35 a.m.
Mr. Dahlberg asked when
Road and Bridge will be able to fix Paradise
Valley Hill so the water runs away from the
road. Mr. Gutshall said he should be able to
work on that this fall. Mr. Dahlberg also
wondered about the south end of the county as it
pertains to grading. Mr. Dahlberg referred to
issues on Sandy Ridge
Road
and Twenty Mile Road
and also discussed culverts getting filled with
rocks.
Mr. Gutshall said the
ditches on Paradise Valley Hill do get cleaned,
but then the water comes down. Mr. Dahlberg said
that road hasn’t been ditched. Mr. Gutshall said
he would challenge Mr. Dahlberg to keep up with
the work done in a day and he feels his
department does a pretty good job.
Mr. Dahlberg mentioned
crowning issues in the road and he used
Black Mountain Road
as an example having a flat spot with a two to
three inch lip at the edges. Mr. Gutshall said
when private landowners divert water Road and
Bridge will have problems. Mr. Gutshall said
there is a lot going on and Road and Bridge has
upsized culverts. Mr. Gutshall referred to
Bonner
County and said there has been
devastation caused by run offs, but not here.
Mr. Dahlberg said he still thinks the operators
need to crown the road better. Mr. Gutshall said
nobody runs the graders as long as Road and
Bridge. Mr. Dahlberg said he will show
Commissioners the roads where they have been
graded and there is no crown left. Mr. Dahlberg
said he’s not saying the graders are doing it
wrong, but they just need to be a little more
conscious of what is going on.
9:40 a.m., Parks and Recreation Board
Member Lisa Carle joined the meeting.
Mr. Gutshall said his crew
works the best they can with what they have and
grading turns out different everyday. Mr.
Dahlberg said he has watched the graders
straight blade. Mr. Gutshall said his crew
doesn’t straight blade, they put crowns in.
Commissioner Dinning asked Mr. Gutshall to take
a look at Paradise Valley Hill. Mr. Dahlberg
said all he asks is to pay more attention.
Mr. Gutshall left the
meeting at 9:44 a.m.
Mr. Dahlberg asked why the
ambulance service can’t be run out of the
Hospital so if there is a need, there would be
someone from the Hospital to call in and replace
the person who went on a run. Chairman Smith
said the Hospital doesn’t want to be a part of
the service and the reason is if this service
becomes a function of the Hospital, the
Medicare/Medicaid reimbursement rate drops
significantly. Commissioner Dinning said
Commissioners have run all of the scenarios they
can think of. Commissioner Dinning said this is
truly an experiment and if it doesn’t work, the
County is no worse off than where it is today.
The meeting with Mr.
Dahlberg ended at
9:50 a.m.
9:50 a.m., A woman from the cloggers
group stopped by the meeting briefly to voice
her opposition to raising the fee for renting
the Memorial Hall.
Parks and Recreation Board
Chairperson Pam Copeland and Clerk Glenda Poston
joined Ms. Carle and the Commissioners to
discuss Parks and Recreation Department capital
projects.
Commissioner Dinning asked
where the $6,000 budgeted as carry forward for
irrigation at Riverside Parks was in the Parks
and Recreation budget. Ms. Carle said nobody had
mentioned $6,000 for water and Ms. Copeland
agreed. Ms. Copeland asked if $6,000 was
supposed to be factored back into the budget.
Ms. Carle and Ms. Copeland spoke of Parks and
Recreation paying a portion for drinking water.
Commissioners clarified the $6,000 is for
irrigation water and not drinking water. Ms.
Carle said the $6,000 is not in the budget.
Ms. Carle mentioned the
Parks and Recreation Board was aware of the
$10,000 used for the Godwin House, but not the
$6,000. Ms. Copeland mentioned $8,000 as the
amount for the rest of the lawn mower balance.
Commissioner Dinning asked
how much it would cost to install sprinklers.
Ms. Copeland said sprinklers had been analyzed
and it would have been a nightmare. Commissioner
Dinning asked if something in the Parks and
Recreation budget could change in order to set
aside $3,000 for water. Ms. Carle said they
could probably find it.
Chairman Smith mentioned
talking about getting water at
Riverside Park.
Commissioner Dinning spoke of the need to save
for irrigation at
Riverside
Park, but not that the total of
$6,000 needs to be saved all at once. Ms.
Copeland said she doesn’t see a huge issue, but
she needs to talk to the other board members.
Commissioner Dinning asked
if there was wiggle room in the Parks and
Recreation budget to move $3,000. Chairman Smith
said he thought Commissioners would not try to
dictate how the Parks and Recreation Board would
spend their budget. Commissioner Dinning said
his personal feeling is to leave this budget as
it is and then budget for irrigation the next
year. Clerk Poston mentioned having a line item
under utilities for this.
Ms. Copeland and Ms. Carle
explained that there is a line item for tennis
courts in order to build up the funds and then
they could show they have matching grant funds
in the future. Ms. Carle said it was suggested
to them to have line items to build up budgets
to show there are matching funds for
improvements.
10:15 a.m., Ms. Carle, Ms. Copeland
and Clerk Poston left the meeting.
GIS Mapper Gary Falcon
stopped by at Commissioners’ request to provide
them with an update on the progress of enhanced
911 in regards to BullBerry Dispatching
Software.
Mr. Falcon left the meeting
at 10:30 a.m.
There being no further
business, the meeting adjourned at
10:37 a.m.
/s/
RONALD R. SMITH, Chairman
ATTEST:
/s/
GLENDA POSTON, Clerk
By: Michelle Rohrwasser,
Deputy Clerk
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