Jerome County | minutes | meeting 2025-12-15 | Commissioners Meeting source: https://www.jeromecountyid.us/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Minutes/_12152025-1587 Monday, December 15, 2025 Page 1 of 6 JEROME COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS Monday, December 15, 2025 PRESENT: Ben Crouch, Chairman Charles Howell, Vice Chairman Art Watkins, Commissioner Ryan Treanor, Deputy Clerk Meeting convened at 9:00 am. Commissioner Reports Ufuoma Ojumah and Ivy Lyn were present. Commissioner Watkins – Commissioner Watkins stated that he attended the Jerome 20/20 meeting. It was regarding the future of power in Idaho. Then he attended the Hazelton City Council meeting. He attended the Snake River Canyon Parks board meeting. During the meeting they reviewed the bids received for the blasting project and approved Nix Excavating. Later he went to the Mid Snake River meeting. There was a presentation about the state land and soil evaluation event. Commissioner Howell – Commissioner Howell stated that he promoted the county during the last week while he was traveling. Commissioner Crouch – Commissioner Crouch stated that he went to the rotary meeting. The Jerome choir performed at the meeting. Presentation on Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) Aaron Menenberg, Scott Risley, Don Raines, Ivy Lyn, Ufuoma Ojumah, Jerry Holton, Leon Letson, Kacie Buhler, Lyle Johnstone, Ryan Christensen, Mark Swenson, Julie DeWolfe Arroyo, and Cathy Roemer were present. Aaron stated that he is the Idaho Policy Manager for a non-profit company. They help advocate for a sustainable energy grid. He works with state legislatures and other groups in the area who are interested in these programs. Scott Risley stated that he is a part of the company RWE. They help with electrical companies and projects in the area. He confirmed they do not have any planned projects within the county and wanted to introduce what they do better. Dave Raines stated that he is also a part of RWE. He works with the area north of New York City. Aaron stated that the purpose is just to go over the information of the battery energy storage systems (BESS). This was something he wanted to go over with the energy ordinance still being worked on. He stated that the demand growth for power in the state of Idaho is very large. The current demanded growth would be the same as the growth over the last 40 years. Idaho Power currently covers 24 counties for their service. He went over the process of how Idaho Power uses BESS for their services. Commissioner Howell left the meeting for family matters. Monday, December 15, 2025 Page 2 of 6 Scott stated that they are working on increasing the storage that they have. They can have the BESS built at multiple areas to do their process. Dave wanted to go over the basics of what a BESS is. He stated that the purpose is to store energy during a lower demand time and then send out that energy in the higher demand times. They build their BESS in areas that help to balance the energy systems. The BESS can also be used with wind or solar, or from other electric power stations. He went over some of the processes that they have if one of the systems catches fire. Then he went over the processes of helping local fire districts to be trained on the proper processes of dealing with a BESS fire. He stated that they work to build their systems to the best of the codes in the area they build. Then he went over the different models that his company installs and how they ensure their safety through certain security processes. The Board continued the session by asking several questions to the presenters regarding the BESS models discussed. Reappointment of Planning and Zoning Commissioners, Energy Ordinance Review Kacie Buhler, Ryan Christensen, Lyle Johnstone, Jerry Holton, Julie DeWolfe Arroyo, Cathy Roemer, Ufuoma Ojumah, Scott Risley, and Ivy Lyn were present. Kacie stated that she has brought the reappointment letters for Brett Thompson and Patricia Heath. She stated that this was discussed last week about reappointing the current members whose terms will be up at the end of the year. She received the applications and sent them to the Commissioners last week to review. The Board would need to approve the reappointments by a motion. Commissioner Crouch moved to reappoint Brett Thomspon and Patricia Heath to the planning and zoning commission. Seconded by Commissioner Watkins. The motion passed with a unanimous vote. She stated that they wanted to review the energy ordinance. She has completed a draft with legal counsel for the Board to review. Further, she stated that if there were any changes that the Board wanted to change then those could be updated. The Board wanted to see if there was a response from legal counsel regarding the last draft. She stated that they had received a response from legal. The Board wanted to discuss the major changes that were created in this draft. Kacie stated that there were some changes regarding the permitting and what zones that energy projects would be allowed in. Then she went into the different sized energy projects and where those would be allowed under the new ordinance. The Board wanted to know what the next steps would be for the ordinance. Kacie stated that it would be to take it to the planning and zoning commission who would review it in two different meetings. Meeting recessed at 11:46 am. Meeting reconvened at 1:15 pm. Employee Appreciation Discussion Monday, December 15, 2025 Page 3 of 6 Cy Lootens and Tracee McKim were present. Commissioner Howell returned to the meetings. Cy wanted to see what the Board thought about having a gift card be given to each employee for the holidays as part of employee appreciation. Tracee stated that last year when the commissioners authorized gift cards they went with Costco because they were able to get them on short notice, but this year they wanted to use Walmart. Cy was wanting to see what they thought about doing a $50 gift card to Walmart this year. Commissioner Crouch moved to approve the expense of $8,250 for employee recognition in the form of a gift card. Seconded by Commissioner Watkins. The motion passed with a unanimous vote. Executive Session per Idaho Code 74-206(1)(b) for Personnel Jesse Vallez and Cy Lootens were present. Commissioner Crouch moved to go into executive session per Idaho Code 74- 206(1)(b) for personnel. Seconded by Commissioner Howell. The motion passed with a unanimous roll call vote. Executive session started at 1:32 pm and ended at 2:15 pm. Shoshone Falls Overlook Contract, New Board Member Bill Bridges, Steven Andersen, and Larry Hall were present. Larry Stated that they had received the bids for the blasting work for the Shoshone falls overlook project. The lowest bid was with Nix Excavating. During their previous meeting the Snake River Canyon Parks board approved the bid. There was a recommendation letter that was prepared by the board for official approval of the bid. Commissioner Howell moved to sign the notice of award to Nix Excavating for the Shoshone Falls overlook blasting in the amount of $96,845.00 and the notice to proceed to Nix Excavating as presented. Seconded by Commissioner Crouch. The motion passed with a unanimous vote. Bill stated that they have received another good amount in brick donations. They are looking into adding other areas that people can donate towards the park. There were a few individuals who came to their meeting to discuss the archery range with the parks board. There was a concern Monday, December 15, 2025 Page 4 of 6 raised that if there was a parking lot placed there that it might be used at night. They held a just serve event to help with cleaning up the park, but they did not have anyone show up for the event. The rock crawling park is now up and running. He has also received approval from the Bureau of Land Management to start putting in a horse-riding trail. Read and Approve Minutes Commissioner Crouch moved to approve the minutes. Seconded by Commissioner Howell. The motion passed with a unanimous vote. Sign and Approve Claims Commissioner Watkins moved to approve the claims as presented by staff. Seconded by Commissioner Crouch. The motion passed with a unanimous vote. To see an image of the report please see page 6 of the minutes. Legal Counsel Sam Beus was present. Commissioner Crouch moved to go into executive session per Idaho Code 74- 206(1)(b) for personnel. Seconded by Commissioner Howell. The motion passed with a unanimous roll call vote. Executive session started at 3:32 pm and ended at 4:02 pm. Future Farmers of America (FFA) Tractor Day Discussion Miguel Dominguez and Jerry Holton were present. Miguel stated that he is a part of the FFA in the local high school. He wants to discuss the use of the annex parking lot for their tractor day event. It will take place on February 23rd. The members meet at the annex parking lot and then drive their tractors to the high school. The event starts between 6:00 and 7:00 am for the meet up in the parking lot. The Board stated that they would reach out to the employees at the annex to confirm this would not create issues and then reach back out to Miguel. Meeting adjourned at 4:26 pm. Monday, December 15, 2025 Page 5 of 6 ________________________ ______________________________ Ryan Treanor, Deputy Clerk A. Ben Crouch, Chairman ______________________________ Charles M. Howell, Commissioner ______________________________ Art Watkins, Commissioner BUDGET TOTALS DEPARTMENT CLERK ASSESSOR 1 3|TREASURER___——s 4|HUMAN RESOURCES S|COMMISSIONERS __| 6/CORONER 10 11 PAYROLL ACCT PAY GRAND TOTAL —___ $ 257.00 CORONER _eqoNDS WANT BUILDING & GROUNDS MAINT. 7,816.59 7,816.59 EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT 13|EXTENSION AGENT 14|/DATA PROCESSING 15|/ELECTIONS 16|CHARITY 18|GENERAL 4,061. 7 21|/PLANNING & ZONING 22/GIS 29|GENERAL FUND RESERVE 30 ee £F) 69 | 69/64) 64) 69) 64) 69)/ 49 4,061.77 TO {$a tf ; 6,4 SERIE 20 2 5|SHERIFF-DETENTION 6|ADULT PROBATION 7|/PROSECUTOR > - Po EG 9,260.38 | : 1S = -9, 260.38 | 9,260.38 : 3,276.64 768 3,276.61 2,424.98 | $ 2,424.98 8|PUBLIC DEFENDERS 9| JUVENILE PROBATION 398.00 : 398.00 18|GENERAL JUSTICE 50d. 00 : 804.00 : Sub Total (Justice Fund) 16,163.97 | $ 16,163.97 3|AIRPORT aie saat 5|VETERANS MEMORIAL | 9 11 TU RLECTION CONSOLIDATION | "sso | ——se-00 | 20 23 24\/TORT =——CisSCrT 27|\WEED 29/ AMBULANCE 38 48/AMERICAN RESCUE PLAN $ 35,696.62