County commissioner's minutes, July 23-24

***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 2^nd.

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