***Monday,
July 1, 2013, Commissioners met
in regular session with Chairman Dan Dinning,
Commissioner LeAlan Pinkerton, Commissioner Walt
Kirby, Clerk Glenda Poston 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. Mr. Gutshall spoke
of work on Moon Shadow
Road
that’s to last the rest of this week. The dust
abatement and road stabilization on the detour
route to be used for the Deep Creek Loop project
has been completed and now Road and Bridge crew
are putting down fabric and rock. Road and
Bridge will move on to grind up
Copeland Road
and rock will be made for patching.
Mr. Gutshall discussed
patching a portion of road over Cabinet Mountain
Water District’s waterline near
Shamrock Road and
Blue Sky Road, and it
was mentioned that Cabinet Mountains Water
District Engineer Mike Klaus will talk to his
board about that. Mr. Gutshall said beyond that
Road and Bridge will chipseal
Copeland Road
from the bridge to
Westside Road
and on Westside Road
toward Elk Mountain Farm.
Mr. Gutshall spoke of an
agreement for the Deep
Creek
Bridge project. Chairman Dinning was
able to sign the agreement as per a prior motion
to sign any documents related to the
Deep Creek
Bridge projects.
Chairman Dinning signed the
Idaho Transportation Department Local
Professional Services Agreement No. 8542 for
Deep
Creek Bridge
#2, Project name: STC-5907 Deep Creek Bridge #2,
Boundary
County, Project #BR-5907(101), Key
No. 08773.
Mr. Gutshall said Road and
Bridge has old diesel that is being utilized so
they will use that tank for biodiesel once it is
empty. Commissioner Pinkerton suggested mixing
the fuels together. Mr. Gutshall said he feels
better just trying to use up the old fuel rather
than mixing them.
Commissioner Pinkerton
mentioned receiving a call from Mr. Nishek about
any county interest in a potential gravel pit.
Mr. Gutshall said he didn’t think it would be
feasible.
The meeting with Mr.
Gutshall ended at
9:20 a.m.
Commissioners tended to
administrative duties.
9:30 a.m., Courthouse Maintenance
Jerry Kothe joined the meeting to give the
departmental report. Mr. Kothe presented a
written report and reviewed various tasks. Mr.
Kothe said he fixed the steering on a mower and
that Mike Kelley has repaired the area at the RV
dump and has filled that area and tamped it
down. Commissioner Kirby suggested contacting
Mr. Gutshall about doing the asphalt at the RV
dump site.
Those present discussed how
the high river level affects the ball fields.
Commissioner Pinkerton asked the status of the
air conditioner in the Judge’s chambers. Mr.
Kothe said he hasn’t done anything about that
yet, but he thinks the unit just needs to be
replaced. Mr. Kothe contacted Pend O’Reille
Mechanical and learned they don’t install air
conditioners. Mr. Kothe said he will take
outside dimensions of the existing case.
Mr. Kothe said he hasn’t
heard from the person who is working on the
courtroom benches in a couple weeks.
The meeting with Mr. Kothe
ended at 9:33
a.m.
Commissioners tended to
administrative duties.
10:00 a.m., Solid Waste
Superintendent Claine Skeen joined the meeting.
Chief Probation Officer Stacy Brown also joined
the meeting.
Mr. Skeen and Commissioners
discussed a potential new drinking water system
offered by Ivan Wedel. Mr. Skeen said currently
he spends $1,200 to $1,500 per year for his
department’s water and water dispensers. The
cost for Mr. Wedel’s water machines is $4,000.
Mr. Skeen said to make a long story short it
would cost approximately $5,000 to purchase a
machine. Ms. Brown said she spends $10.95 per
month to rent a water cooler and her department
averages 15 gallons of water per month. Chairman
Dinning asked why not drink out of the tap and
Mr. Skeen said the water is bad and tastes
funny. Mr. Skeen said he currently uses the
Culligan water system as there is no other water
at the monitored sites to at least wash hands.
The total purchase for the new water system
would be $6,000 as Mr. Skeen would need five
dispensers. It would take approximately five
years to pay the new machine and consumables
off. Mr. Skeen said the new water system was
brought to the landfill and water became tinted
after sitting in the sun. Mr. Skeen said this
new system would be good for the home, but he
isn’t sure about his department. Ms. Brown said
as little water as her department uses, there
wouldn’t be any savings for her. Mr. Skeen said
this is just information for Commissioners.
There would be savings years down the road, but
the current system is working very well. Mr.
Skeen added that if water bottles, caps and the
machine are purchased, there is also his time to
fill the various bottles.
Mr. Skeen said he’s spoken
to Crystal Denton at the Sheriff’s Office about
community service.
The meeting with Mr. Skeen
ended at 10:10
a.m.
10:10
a.m., Chief Probation Officer Stacy
Brown provided a brief department report. There
are 70 adults on adult misdemeanor probation, 55
juveniles on probation with seven more soon to
be added. Unsupervised probation is down to 272
adults and the Youth Accountability Board (YAB)
has decreased to eight juveniles. Chairman
Dinning asked what the highest occurring
offenses are for juveniles and adults. Ms. Brown
said petty theft for juveniles and DUI’s for
adults.
Ms. Brown informed
Commissioners there are approximately 600 hours
in the community service program that need to be
performed.
The meeting with Ms. Brown
ended at 10:15
a.m.
10:15 a.m., Commissioners
considered the application for an alcoholic
beverage license for Overtime Inc., dba
Panhandle Restaurant and for the transfer of the
alcoholic beverage license for The Pizza
Factory. Present were: Chairman Dinning,
Commissioner Pinkerton, Commissioner Kirby,
Clerk Poston, and Deputy Clerk Rohrwasser. The
proceedings were recorded.
Commissioner Pinkerton
moved to approve the 2013 County Alcoholic
Beverage License Application for Overtime Inc.,
dba Panhandle Restaurant to sell bottled and
canned beer on or off premises and wine by the
drink pending receipt of the 2013 State of Idaho
Retail Alcohol Beverage License, the 2013 City
of Bonners Ferry Retail Alcohol Beverage License
and 2013 Panhandle Health District Permit.
Commissioner Kirby second. Motion passed
unanimously.
Commissioner Pinkerton
moved to approve the transfer of 2013 County
Alcoholic Beverage License Application from
Morgen Fodge dba Pizza Factory to Pizza Factory
Inc. dba Pizza Factory pending receipt of the
2013 State of Idaho Retail
Alcohol Beverage License,
the 2013 City of Bonners
Ferry Retail Alcohol Beverage License
and 2013 Panhandle Health District Permit.
Commissioner Kirby second. Motion passed
unanimously.
The meeting to consider the
beverage license applications ended at
10:20 a.m.
Commissioners tended to
administrative duties.
11:00 a.m., Restorium Board Chairman
Larry Dirks and Restorium Administrator Karlene
Magee joined the meeting to provide the
Restorium report.
Ms. Magee said Auditor
Leonard Schulte has her QuickBooks reports and
they are what he wanted to see in a report. Ms.
Magee said Mr. Schulte just advised her to
create one additional column for the months.
Those present discussed
what amount is still owing as it relates to the
elevator project.
Deputy Clerk Nancy Ryals
joined the meeting at
11:05 a.m.
Chairman Dinning said there
is some confusion over the amount of $12,000 as
it relates to the grant. Deputy Clerk Ryals said
that amount was for bills still outstanding as
of that last meeting, but those are now paid so
a new report was created. Deputy Clerk Ryals
said she would contact Panhandle Area Council
about the possible additional funding.
Ms. Magee said the number
of residents at the Restorium is 32. There is
one room available so the first person on the
waiting list has been contacted and Ms. Magee
said she is just waiting for their return call.
Ms. Magee said the
Restorium’s pickup works after all. The battery
and alternator are fine so the issue could’ve
been just from the pickup sitting all winter and
having bad gas, and Ms. Magee said she thinks it
needs a tune up. Ms. Magee said she feels the
car sits more than the pickup truck. It’s a
Saturn that was donated to the Restorium and it
seems to be in good shape, according to Ms.
Magee.
Mr. Dirks asked if a public
hearing date has been chosen for a Restorium
room rate increase. Chairman Dinning said not
yet.
Ms. Magee said a fire
inspection is due sometime this August or
September, but she doesn’t expect any other
inspections anytime soon.
The meeting with Mr. Dirks
and Ms. Magee ended at
11:25 a.m.
11:25 a.m., Commissioner
Kirby moved to go into executive session under
Idaho Code #67-2345(1)b, to consider the
evaluation, dismissal or disciplining of, or to
hear complaints or charges brought against, a
public officer, employee, staff member or
individual agent, or public school student.
Commissioner Pinkerton second. Commissioners
voted as follows: Chairman Dinning “aye”,
Commissioner Pinkerton “aye” and Commissioner
Kirby “aye”. Motion passed unanimously.
11:26 a.m., Commissioner Kirby moved
to go out of executive session. Commissioner
Pinkerton second. Motion passed unanimously.
11:30 a.m., Extension Office Educator
Carol Hampton joined the meeting to discuss
establishing proposed fees for renting the
Extension Office meeting room. Ms. Hampton said
she is no longer renting room for indefinite
periods of time and is now setting a limit such
as up to two months out. Groups such as the
Local Emergency Planning Committee (LEPC),
Kootenai Valley Resource Initiative (KVRI),
etc., can be ongoing rentals, but not so for
other groups, according to Ms. Hampton.
Ms. Hampton mentioned a
matter involving meetings backed by a religious
organization in relation to the Probation
Office. Chairman Dinning informed Ms. Hampton
that from the county’s perspective the county
doesn’t need to know this. Ms. Hampton said she
would leave a note for the appropriate person or
party to contact the Chief Probation Officer if
there are narcotics anonymous or alcoholics
anonymous meetings as juveniles can’t be forced
to attend meetings if the meeting is religious
based. Chairman Dinning said Commissioners would
have the county’s civil attorney review the room
rental documents.
Chairman Dinning briefly
discussed the Extension Educator position with
Ms. Hampton.
Ms. Hampton left the
meeting at 11:44 a.m.
Commissioner Kirby moved to
cancel year 2009 taxes totaling $285.05, $5.47
in translator fees, $67.62 in solid waste fees,
$20.38 in late fees, $526.70 in costs and
$424.08 in interest for parcel #RP60N01W288401A
as per the Commissioners’ recommendation. The
amount of $634.76 was returned to Cabinet
Mountain Water District for collection.
Commissioner Pinkerton second. Motion passed
unanimously.
Commissioner Kirby moved to
grant a 90 day extension of time to pay year
2009 taxes for parcel #RP62N01E123400A with a
condition that another extension would not be
approved. The 90 day extension will end on
September 30, 2013. Commissioner
Pinkerton second. Commissioners voted as
follows: Chairman Dinning “aye”, Commissioner
Pinkerton “nay” and Commissioner Kirby “aye”.
Motion passed.
Commissioners recessed for
lunch at 12:00
p.m.
1:30 p.m., Commissioners reconvened
for the afternoon session with Chairman Dinning,
Commissioner Pinkerton, Commissioner Kirby and
Deputy Clerk Michelle Rohrwasser.
1:30 p.m., Commissioners conducted a
conference call with Brad
Niemeyer of JUB Engineering.
Chairman Dinning said Commissioners had received
the new updated offer letters for acquiring land
near the airport.
County Attorney
Tevis Hull
has approved the letters as well. Mr. Niemeyer
said if Commissioners are okay with the offer
letters and appraisals, they need to sign the
determination of value letters. Roxanne Grimm
with Epic Land Solutions will present the
letters to the property owners in person on
Wednesday. Commissioners are not committed to
condemn the properties by the offer letter and
if the offer is not accepted, the county and
Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) would
discuss needs for property at a condemnation
standpoint in order for the county to move
forward.
Chairman Dinning said
Commissioners had also received input from
Assessor Ryals regarding his estimate of value.
It’s recognized that the Assessor’s data is
older than what an appraiser would use as well
as a different appraisal method was used. Mr.
Niemeyer said Commissioners need to discuss
whether or not to accept the licensed
appraiser’s information and to review the
appraiser’s information and this is concerning
four parcels.
Chairman Dinning left the
room due to a possible conflict of interest
concerning two of the properties.
Commissioner Kirby moved to
appoint Commissioner Pinkerton acting Chairman
in the absence of Chairman Dinning. Commissioner
Pinkerton second. Motion passed unanimously.
Commissioner Kirby moved to
accept the appraiser’s determination of value
totaling $32,000 for the Byler property. Acting
Chairman Pinkerton yielded the chair to second.
Motion passed unanimously.
Commissioner Kirby moved to
accept the appraiser’s determination of value
totaling $180,000 for the Dinning property.
Acting Chairman Pinkerton yielded the chair to
second. Motion passed unanimously.
Commissioner Kirby moved to
accept the appraiser’s determination of value
totaling $190,000 for the Merrifield property.
Acting Chairman Pinkerton yielded the chair to
second. Motion passed unanimously.
Commissioner Kirby moved to
accept the appraiser’s determination of value
totaling $125,000 for the Speed properties.
Acting Chairman Pinkerton yielded the chair to
second. Motion passed unanimously.
Chairman Dinning returned
to the meeting.
Commissioner Pinkerton
moved to approve the offer letter for the
parcels previously approved. Commissioner Kirby
second. Motion passed unanimously.
Mr. Niemeyer said he needs
to have a county representative be the contact
person in regards to issues that arise from
relocation. Commissioners said they needed to
speak to Attorney Hull about that.
The call with Mr. Niemeyer
ended at 1:40
p.m.
Commissioners spoke to
Attorney Hull briefly via telephone regarding
airport land acquisition matters.
Blue Sky Broadcasting
Reporter Mike Brown joined the meeting at
1:45 p.m.
Commissioners tended to
administrative duties.
Mr. Brown left the meeting.
2:30 p.m., Clerk Glenda Poston joined
the meeting for the purpose of conducting a
budget workshop with Commissioners.
The workshop ended at 3:50 p.m.
There being no further
business, the meeting recessed until tomorrow at
9:00 a.m.
***Tuesday,
July 02, 2013,
Commissioners met in regular session with
Chairman Dan Dinning, Commissioner LeAlan
Pinkerton, Commissioner Walt Kirby, Clerk Glenda
Poston, and Deputy Clerk Michelle Rohrwasser.
9:00 a.m., Solid Waste Superintendent
Claine Skeen joined the meeting. Mr. Skeen said
he received information from Waste Management
that single stream recycling will be reduced by
$25 per ton so recycling will be something the
county will have to pay to get rid of. Other
markets now consider plastics #3 through #5 as
garbage, according to Mr. Skeen. Mr. Skeen said
over a two month span 96.94 tons have been
hauled out of Boundary
County with no revenue generated. A
truck load consists of five to seven tons so the
cost equates to having to pay $175 for seven
tons. The 440 tons of recycling the county has
processed would cost the county approximately
$11,000 per year. If the market changes, this
price will change and it could be back in the
positive or it could cost more. Mr. Skeen spoke
of pulling out the aluminum to recycle
separately in order to offset this cost. Mr.
Skeen reviewed his budget.
Mr. Skeen, Commissioners
and Clerk Poston briefly spoke of budget matters
such as reducing hours for part time employees.
Mr. Skeen said there is approximately $8,000 in
the budget for a Moyie Springs dumpster site
along with $7,000 for fencing and electricity.
Budget details for the Solid Waste Department
were reviewed further to include reducing the
fencing cost and $8,000 from the budget.
Mr. Skeen left the meeting
at 9:15 a.m.
9:18 a.m., Chief Deputy Clerk Tracie
Isaac joined the meeting at Commissioners’
request.
A county employee has
submitted a request for use of the Family
Medical Leave Act FMLA. Chief Deputy Clerk Isaac
said the request would start today if approved
and is offered for up to 12 weeks. The county
will still pay this employee’s medical
insurance.
Commissioner Pinkerton
moved to approve the request for family medical
leave for a county employee. Commissioner Kirby
second. Motion passed unanimously.
Chief Deputy Clerk Isaac
left the meeting.
9:30 a.m., Clerk Poston and
Commissioners conducted a budget workshop. The
workshop ended at
11:25 a.m.
11:30 a.m., Boundary County Emergency
Services Director Dave Kramer joined the meeting
to discuss the status of obtaining information
for requests for proposals for ambulance service
providers. Blue Sky Broadcasting Reporter Mike
Brown and Bonners Ferry Herald Reporter Laura
Roady also joined the meeting.
Chairman Dinning said
Commissioners had tasked Mr. Kramer to look into
requests for proposals (RFP) for ambulance
services. Mr. Kramer said he thought
Commissioners would be looking at a broad
picture view for ambulance service and he had
provided Commissioners with a list of licensed
providers throughout the State of
Idaho. Mr. Kramer said
he met with a few people in the field to get
some background, and he had set up a meeting
with the Bonner County EMS Chief, Rob Wakeley
and learned how they operate the system in
Bonner
County, to include
Newport,
Clark Fork, and several fire departments such as
Schweitzer Fire Department. One example of the
benefits to working with multiple partners is if
one agency’s license is pulled, another agency
can step in.
Mr. Kramer said he has a
draft of Sandpoint’s request for proposals when
they had looked into services. Some points may
be beneficial while other changes may need to be
made. Mr. Kramer said he has also made a request
to the Sheriff’s Office to obtain the number of
at least the last six months’ worth of ambulance
calls in the county and the times of response to
the scene. Mr. Kramer said he would also like to
meet with County Civil Attorney Tevis Hull on
this matter.
Mr. Kramer said in looking
at Bonner
County, Mr. Wakeley’s opinion is
that our community couldn’t support having
advanced life support as it would probably be
cost prohibitive. Mr. Kramer said he has very
limited knowledge as to what the proposals are
and what has been offered. Chairman Dinning said
the Commissioners and Attorney Hull will handle
negotiations with Boundary Volunteer Ambulance (BVA),
and Commissioners will also let Mr. Kramer
evolve his RFP knowledge. The county has to have
a plan if negotiations cannot be reached.
Mr. Kramer suggested a
meeting with Attorney Hull to make some
recommendations as to what he thinks would be
beneficial. Mr. Kramer said he has also worked
with BVA for many years, but that was several
years ago. Commissioner Kirby said he feels it’s
a good idea to spend time with Attorney Hull as
any information provided to him would be
advantageous. Chairman Dinning said whatever a
draft RFP looks like, he’s sure
Bonner
County would provide advice.
Chairman Dinning asked Mr.
Kramer if he thought a draft document may be
available for Commissioners to review by the 16th
of July. Mr. Kramer said that’s possible if
Attorney Hull is available. Mr. Kramer said he’s
on a learning curve and doesn’t have all the
answers.
The meeting with Mr. Kramer
ended at 11:40
a.m.
There being no further
business, the meeting adjourned at
12:00 p.m.
/s/
DAN R. DINNING, Chairman
ATTEST:
/s/
GLENDA POSTON, Clerk
By: Michelle Rohrwasser,
Deputy Clerk
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