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Idaho Enterprise

Board of county Commissioners 2/13

Elevator—The ongoing elevator project at the County Courthouse nears completion

Seal Coating for new runway

Mike Hess spoke to the commissioners about a number of issues related to the Airport Board.  Several seal coating companies were reached out to for the completion of the asphalt project at the airport.  One company has been located with a preliminary bid.  County Attorney Cody Brower explained that as long as the project is posted, a single bid can be accepted if there are no others and the process of seeking additional bids is documented in full.

Future Airport development

The airport has plans to add hangars and capacity in the future.  Restriping the runways after the sealing is completed, and adding to the power capacity of the facility are also in the works.  Chairman Lewis motioned to move forward with a survey on the future development of the southeast corner of the airport.  The motion passed.  This area would be used for new development of hangars on the airport property.  Three new hangars have been constructed in the last year, and two additional hangars have been leased.  Hess reported that the airport was able to secure $60,000 in private funding to complete the weather station at the airport.  An up to date weather station will allow for more flights into the region throughout the year, including those from Life Flight, which cannot land in certain cloud conditions without sufficient weather data.  

Hangar lease renewal

One of the county’s older leases for a hangar is being revoked, in favor of the new leasing arrangement which is being put into place for the airport.  The new lease will be sent to the lessee, along with a notification of the revocation of the old lease and chance to renew under the new terms.  

Juvenile Justice Report

District 6 liaison Stace Gearhart presented the juvenile justice report to the commissioners for Oneida County.  Annual arrests from ISP were reported, which showed an increase from 2020 levels. For the most part, this was attributed to the widespread reduction in arrests during COVID-19 lockdown conditions and subsequent increase after restrictions were lifted.  Nineteen arrests were noted for the county over the last year.  The number accounts for arrest incidents, rather than unique individuals, with Gearhart explaining that some of the arrests belonged to the same individuals.  The number of petitions from the county attorneys office has also increased.  Brower explained that this likely is the result of more vigilance in the form of intervention.  The county reported three felony charges,  and sixteen misdemeanor charges.   Status offenses--truancy, curfew, tobacco violations and other things that strictly apply to juveniles—were also up.

The county reported a 60% success rate within the probation program, and a 100% rate for diversion completion.  Recidivism, which takes into account offenders who re-offend after a judicial intervention, is a separate number, and was a regionally low 17%..

By way of averages, juvenile intakes into the county system saw 14-16 year old white males as the most likely.

The county reported 23 community service hours among its juvenile population, and no restitution payments due to the lack of property crimes subject to restitution during the year.

Elevator change orders

Chairman Bill Lewis updated the commission about change orders to the elevator project.  Changes over the course of construction have included contracting with Golden Spike electrical for $19,257 to upgrade the electrical infrastructure coming into the building.  Additional funds were also used to install an air-conditioning unit in the courthouse for $6,401.  Additional concrete and asphalt were also needed, due partly to the parking lot drainage, to the cost of $23,000.  Striping in the parking lot cost $1,494.  Removal of carpet in the lobby areas of the elevator created a credit of $742.  Electrical upgrades to the elevator to adapt the current from the power supply were listed at $13,000.  Some finishing construction in the basement also added to the cost total.  The total additional costs from the original bid now total $57,969, with a few other items that will need to be added to the total before the project is completed.  $80,563 is the estimate for extra costs to complete the project, which is within the anticipated change order parameters from the original contract.  A motion to allow Chairman Lewis a ceiling of $100K for change orders to cover the remaining anticipated items for the project was passed.  

Road and Bridge credit limit

Lisa Baker spoke to the commissioners about the credit limit for the Road and Bridge credit card.  The Road and Bridge department has been given access to a card account to make purchases from its budget, but has run into some specific issues related to the limits on the account.  Recently, the department has had to purchase a $1,950 compressor, $400 shocks, and a clutch for $1,000, for a total of $3,400.  After needing another $400 for additional material, the card was declined, due to the fact that the cards issued from the county have a $1,000 transaction limit and a monthly overall $3,500 limit.  Given that the Road and Bridge department often requires purchases that may exceed one or another of those limits, Baker requested a credit limit raise to $5,000 and a per transaction limit of $2,000.  Those changes were made by motion and acclimation.  The expenses are always documented, and only account for those within the department’s budget—the card simply eliminates the need for an intervening funding step from the county.

Next Generation e911

Jaime Olsen spoke to the commissioners about a new generation e911 system.  The first part of the process would involve setting the county’s boundaries for emergency service responses.  Some emergency calls in locations near other counties can be inefficiently routed to other counties and even states, which prevents the best emergency response situations.  The redrawn boundary lines would attempt to eliminate overlaps, dead spaces, and non-practical divisions.  This project is underway across the state to improve Emergency Medical Services.

Solid waste cancellation

The Treasurer’s office spoke to the commissioners about several solid waste issues.  One address had been billed for waste removal services, but it has been verified that they do not receive service from IDAWY.  The resident was asking for their landfill fee to be cancelled, and not instituted for their property in the future.  The extent to which the county’s solid waste fees accounted for the maintenance of the landfill itself, outside of trash collection, was discussed.  Clarifying those billing issue in the next update of the landfill ordinance was a noted task for the future.  With regard to the specific property in question, it was motioned and passed to forgive the trash collection fee on the property.

A second case involved a property on which an uninhabited trailer is located, but is not being occupied.  The landowner is requesting the removal of the solid waste fees from the property.  It was decided to assign a third party to verify the uninhabitable nature of the dwelling.  The building inspector will be advised to do so.

Airport fuel payments

The Treasurer’s office is going to take over the purchase of fuel for the airport as a county entity, rather than Hess Pumice, who is currently handling the sale.  The money to purchase fuel will now be directly withdrawn from the Treasurer’s account and then reimbursed from the Airport Board account.  The board will still be in control of when they make purchases.  Becoming a branded dealer for fuel will also provide the county with extra liability insurance.  The commission passed a motion to enter into a direct purchasing agreement for fuel with the provider.

Recreation district

Commissioner Jeppsen had spoken with constituents about the potential for a county recreation district.  A meeting has been set for March 20 by a local group to discuss the idea.  The process for creating a taxing district in the county requires a petition process which requires signatures from 20% of the qualified electors within the proposed area, hearings, and finally a vote administered by the county.  Idaho Code 31-4304 describes the specifics of the process of creating a tax district.    

Life flight renewal

Lon Colton discussed the Life Flight package for employees. All county employees are offered Life Flight services as part of their employment.  The cost of the service has risen over the last year.  The commission voted to approve the additional cost associated with the package. 

Work place training/Human Resources services

The potential for workplace and supervisor training, as well as an HR hotline, has been presented by AmeriBend.  “Respectful Workforce Training” covers Title 7 issues, and would last between one and two hours.  A hotline service would allow employees a neutral location to report any workplace issues.  At present, no such service is in place for employees, which likely results in underreporting of issues in the workplace.  A motion to enter into a contract for the hotline and other workforce training services for $4000 was approved for this year.  Two sessions of workplace training were also approved for all county employees.

Time sheets/cards

Regularizing time card practices among employees was also discussed.  There is a lack of consistency between employees across the county in terms of how the cards are filled out and notated.  Specifically, the nature of the labor performed during the day was noted as something that is not always indicated on the cards.  The possibility of using online apps for hour tracking, and potentially providing geofencing data for the county was raised.  A letter outlining best practices for filling out timecards for county employees was drafted to be sent out.  Employees will be encouraged to be specific about the location and activity undertaken during shifts.  

Employee comp time review

Chairman Lewis brought the issue of the 150 hour limit on comp time.  Lewis recommended paying out the comp time on the county employees who currently have more than 150.  A motion to pay out the outstanding comp time above 150 hours was passed.  The county policy regarding how Comp time is handled will be examined during the next session. 

Fuel tanks

Commissioner Eliason spoke to the commission about fuel tanks for the county.  A $53K bid for a 3,000 gallon tank with a dispensing/pumping system has been received.  A 5,000 gallon tank was bid at $61,195, and an 8,000 gallon tank at $69,820.  Commissioner Eliason recommended the 8,000 gallon tank.  Chairman Lewis suggested that the next step should be to locate a specific range of gallons of fuel used by the county over the year.  Commissioner Jeppsen planned to consult with local businesses about the types of tanks involved.  The fuel would be used to fill county vehicles.  Over the long term, the savings would be significant over using commercial fueling facilities.