The board of County Commissioners for Oneida County met for its regularly scheduled meeting on Monday, February 12.  All three commissioners were present, as well as Preston Olsen representing Fuller and Fuller.

Online program

Oneida County has volunteered to pilot a program to help people in Idaho accomplish DMV tasks, such as registrations and renewals, virtually.  The county has agreed to a contract with the Idaho Transportation Department which should bring more state funds into the county in the form of a $5.00 administrative fee for each transaction.  Attorney Preston Olsen reviewed the contract and determined that it was clear, and that either party could opt out of the arrangement within 30 days if there were any reasons to do so.  Commissioner Jeppsen moved to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with ITD to administrate the virtual late renewal program.

County Vehicle Policy

Chairman Lewis wanted to identify concerns and changes to the county vehicle policy.  It was suggested to add language clarifying which employees could take vehicles home, and to add language to the effect of “no employees may…unless approved by the commissioner on a case-by-case basis.”  Other issues in need of clarification were the process for returning vehicles, the state vehicles should be returned in, and the policy on hands-free phone use.

Extension Educator Sawyer Fonnesbeck was asked to discuss how vehicle policy affects him as the county extension agent and how he does his best to limit liability when transporting volunteers and youth.  The matter will be explored further in
upcoming meetings.

Drug Testing Policy Revision

The subject of the county’s employee drug testing policy was revisited from the last meeting.  Ken Eliason moved to reinforce the condition of pre-employment testing for all prospective Oneida County employees.  The motion to do so was approved unanimously.  

Brian Jeppsen asked Fuller and Fuller to look into ICRMP’s guidelines for the testing of
elected officials.

Compensation Time Accrual for
Dispatchers

Compensation time accrual for dispatchers was discussed.  The difficulty of establishing an average work period over two weeks (as a result of difficulties in arranging the schedule), and the commission would like to hear from Jason Gleed, who is responsible for scheduling hours in the dispatch office for a more comprehensive understanding of the scheduling difficulties at present with a smaller staff than usual.  During the next meeting, a potential exception to the comp time policy for dispatchers will be on the agenda.

School Resource Officer

The rate for a School Resource officer in Oneida County to work with the school district #351 schools was established at $48.36/hr until the end of the school year, beginning at the time the contract for the position
is signed.  

Commissioner Eliason moved to accept the agreement between Oneida County and the School District.  The motion was approved.

First Responder Counseling

Several potential sources of counseling services for the county’s first responders were discussed.  First responder are often the first to arrive on the scenes of potentially traumatic events, and benefit from counseling to help process the emotions of such experiences, and treat any PTSD that results from them.  

Insurance agent Scott Leavitt, First Moment Counseling, and iiiA were all considered as service providers.  iiiA provides 24/7 counseling, at no cost to county first responders.  The contract requires a twelve month commitment.  iiiA is a non-profit
organization.

Brian Jeppsen moved to accept a mental health care counseling contract with iiiA for counseling services for first responders, probation, and dispatch at a rate of $159/month per employee for a twelve month contract.  The motion was approved.  The contract will be effective March 1 of
this year.

Chairman Lewis authorized Clerk Lon Colton to contact Amy Manning to discuss billing and payment
arrangements.

Last year, the county contracted the services of Katie Leavitt for counseling.  As a result of changing the service provider for 2024, the commission will investigate the best way to balance any remaining contract fees associated with Leavitt as it moves forward with iiiA.

Propane Tank for backup generator

Propane tanks for the backup generator will be hooked together to provide a total of 1,600 gallons to draw from.  The bid from Valley Wide is for $6,589 plus 2-3 hours of labor, monitored by Building Inspector Tory Richardson. Richar  dson will report the final amount to Clerk Colton.  A motion to accept the bid from Valley Wide for the tank to support a backup generator at the Event Center was made and passed.  The backup generator will serve in the capacity of supporting one of the county’s emergency response areas, which are detailed in the County’s Emergency
Management plan.

Annex Building Roof

The County Annex building is in need of repair.  No one is exactly certain how old the roof is, but Tory Richardson has determined that it is need of replacement.  There are currently leaks into the building from the roof.  Two different bids were received for the project.  Mountain Peak provided the higher bid, which is $2,074 higher than the bid from Island Heights, but has ten additional warranty years as a part of the contract.  The repairs will be funded by money set aside for the annex in the Capital Funds account.

Chairman Lewis movied to award the contract to Mountain Peak for the annex roof project for $37,742 to be paid out of capital expenses,  The motion was approved by
the commissioners.

Courthouse work

The removal of the tile/flooring in the drivers license office has revealed the possibility of asbestos tile below the top layer.  The county will now need to contract with a company for the safe removal of the material.  Tory Richardson is in the process of securing a bid for the project.

Laminate flooring is not built for high foot traffic areas, according to the companies providing bids for the flooring, but the Sheriff’s Office wants it to match the rest of the building.

Arrowhead reported that they cannot finish the cabinetry work until the flooring is done.

Brian Thomas has provided a bid, and requested to bring samples of a laminate alternative for county officials to examine.

Tory Richardson will meet with him and report back.

TKE Elevator Maintenance bills

Bills for elevator maintenance have been received by the county, which questioned whether those should be sent to them or the contractor working on the project.  Richardson contacted DWA, who said not to worry
about them.  

Bulk Gas Tank

A bid for $73,192 was received for a bulk gas tank with a fuel cloud system.  The tank would be used as an emergency fuel supply for county vehicles, as well as way to take advantage of low gas prices.  Employees can be set up with authorization codes for the use of the fuel system.  Commissioner Ken Eliason moved to accept the bid for the project from Valley Wide for $73,192.54 to be taken out of one-time expenses.  The motion passed. 

Ben Naylor Hearing

County Clerk Lon Colton received a communication from Ben Naylor requesting an extension for an upcoming hearing because he is waiting on additional information from the Planning and Zoning Commission.  Possible dates for a reschedule would include dates toward the middle and end
of April.  

Chairman Lewis suggested that he would communicate with Planning and Zoning to make sure they had everything they needed from Mr. Naylor.  The hearing involves a rezone application for property owned by Naylor, on which he is seeking to build a residence and a church.

Committee meeting start times

Following up on last meeting’s discussion of the possibility of changing Board of Commissioners meeting times to allow more people to attend, Chairman Lewis explained that the day set aside for Commission meetings during the month was established by Idaho Code, but that specific times during the day were at the discretion of the Board.  The Commission expressed willingness to try out a 12 or 1 p.m. start time on a trial basis, excluding budgeting sessions.   

Chairman Lewis moved to change the meeting time for commission meetings to 1 p.m. for the February and March meetings beginning on February 26, with the public open meetings to begin at that time,  and legal and executive issues to be dealt with earlier.

The potential for employing a Town Hall style meeting to further increase transparency on the part of the commission was also discussed.  It was noted that Town Hall meetings could be closed immediately in situations where the rules were not adhered to.  The meetings could be used to provide information and resources to the community about various topics, including open meeting laws, the legal system, tax assessment, and other issues.  The purpose would be to inform and educate the audience on the underlying functions and operations of the county business, as well as open dialog with constituents about issues that are of concern to them.  

The idea of having some of the Town Hall meetings take place at the Stone School was discussed.  It was decided that the Town Hall meetings would be used to take input and suggestions from the community, but that votes would be taken at the next regular commission meeting.

It was motioned to set the first Town Hall meeting for April 9 at 6 p.m.

Truck 

It was reported that the county was unable to keep a belly dump trailer/truck operating, despite major work done on the vehicle.  It was suggested to add the vehicle to the county sale of equipment.  The commission looked at buying a used truck that would be reliable for the work needed.  An estimate of $40-$60K was discussed to pull the trailer.  Dianna Dredge with Road and Bridge said there isn’t anything in the foreseeable future that would otherwise require those funds.

A motion to authorize Road and Bridge to locate a replacement vehicle for up to $60K was approved.

Hess Pumice Agreement 

An agreement with Hess Pumice whereby HP could use the leoader to smooth out rough spots in the road using the pit run Road and Bridge has already established was approved.