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Commissioners Meeting

minutes meeting date 2025-12-01 · fetched 2026-09-09 · 11097 characters · read by OCR, check numbers against the source · official file · plain text

Monday, December 1, 2025
Page 1 of 6
JEROME COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
Monday, December 1, 2025
PRESENT: Ben Crouch, Chairman
Charles Howell, Vice Chairman
Art Watkins, Commissioner
Ryan Treanor, Deputy Clerk
Meeting convened at 9:02 am.
Commissioner Reports
Commissioner Watkins – Commissioner Watkins stated that he attended the rotary meeting. He
then went to the public health legislative reception. Then he went to the Idaho Association of
Counties meetings. Later he attended the South Central Community Action meeting. There were
several interviews that were held for the director’s job.
Commissioner Howell – Commissioner Howell stated that he had some individuals speak with
him who are interested in being a part of the fair board.
Commissioner Crouch – Commissioner Crouch stated that he worked on emails and documents
during the week. He attended the employee safety committee meeting. There was a discussion
regarding a new years party for county employees. Then he attended the Thanksgiving dinner at
the senior center.
Extension Office Monthly Report, New Vehicle Purchase, Fair Award Expenses
Steve Hines and Cy Lootens were present.
Steve stated that he wanted to go over the quote for the new vehicle they are looking to purchase
for the extension office. He received a quote for a new truck from Twin Falls Chevrolet for a
total of $44,817.00. This would replace the old truck that they are using currently. He stated that
the quote came in well below the amount that he budgeted for in this year’s budget.
Commissioner Howell moved to approve the purchase of a truck from Twin Falls
Chevrolet in the amount of $44,817.00 for the staff from the University of Idaho.
Seconded by Commissioner Crouch. The motion passed with a unanimous vote.
He stated that he is looking to put a shell on the truck. With the tools and other supplies that he
carries that it helps to keep them all secured. He is wanting to see if the excess funds that were
budgeted for the vehicle could be used towards the shell. The Board stated that since the funds
are there then he can work to use that towards the shell after receiving some quotes.
He stated that the fair board is no longer looking to fund the awards that are given out at the fair.
He is not fully sure what the reason is for that. There is nothing currently in his budget to go
towards awards at the fair. He wanted to discuss how the awards could be funded going forward.

Monday, December 1, 2025
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Commissioner Howell moved to allot $1,600 towards the fair ribbons and judges
fees from the charity line item. Seconded by Commissioner Crouch. The motion
passed with a unanimous vote.
He gave a report on the extension office. He stated that there was a bi-monthly staff meeting held
this morning. There will be a couple days during the month that they will be closed. He stated
that his office staff have attended several meeting over the last two months. The cover crop field
day had a very good attendance. During the last two months there were several events that they
held regarding food safety and canning exercises. There has been progress made on the 4H food
booth. It has been torn down and the rebuilding should start at the beginning of December.
Annex Generator Repair Estimate
Kirsten Hartley and Cy Lootens were present.
Kirsten gave a report on the emergency management department. She stated that she was able to
attend a conference during the previous month. She was able to talk with the emergency
management office from Valley County. Their office has set up a system that shows how citizens
should respond to different emergency situations based on their address. During the previous
month she attended several other meetings. There will be a conference that is coming up for
emergency management that she wanted to attend. The Board stated that they are ok with her
attending the conference. She had someone come and inspect the generators for the county. The
annex generator has a leak and needed some other repairs made so a quote was included after the
inspections. The total given for the repairs was $3,861.50.
Commissioner Crouch moved to approve the expenditure of $3,861.50 for the
repairs of the generator at the county complex. Seconded by Commissioner
Watkins. The motion passed with a unanimous vote.
She also had a discussion with the individual who did the inspection of the generators to see if
the old generator at the Administration Offices building could be moved to the fairgrounds. The
individual stated that it could be moved there and used at that location.
Enterprise Fleet Management Presentation
Bobbie Wylie, Cy Lootens, Miriam Hernandez, and Eric Brady were present.
Bobbie stated that she has come to present on Enterprise’s fleet management. She wanted to go
over how they are helping other local governments and how they could help with lowering costs
to the county. Eric stated that he is the Southern Idaho director for Enterprise. He has come to
talk to the county in the past and wanted to go over a free estimate with the county of what it
could cost the county for their services. He stated that they have around 60 clients in the state
currently. Their services start at finding a vehicle for the group and ends at the point of selling
the vehicle to a new owner. One of the things that they also help with is when to sell a vehicle.
He stated that there are a lot of cars that they notice with their clients that they keep them longer

Monday, December 1, 2025
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than they should and the costs are higher than to just replace the vehicles they have. Another
thing that is covered by their service is help with fuel programs to help keep track of vehicles and
funds spent on fuel.
Personal Property Taxes Discussion
Miriam Hernandez and Nina Lagle were present.
Miriam stated that she has come to discuss her taxes on her property. She is having financial
issues and has not been able to make payments on her home. She had surgery earlier this year
and was able to start working again. The Board asked if she has applied for a homeowner’s
exemption or for the circuit breaker program. She stated that she hasn’t so far. She stated that she
could be able to pay off the rest of the taxes for 2022 before February to prevent the home to
potentially going to tax deed.
Commissioner Crouch moved to take off the interest, penalties, and fees for the
property taxes from 2022 to help with making the property tax payments as she
has promised to pay the rest of that years payments by February. Seconded by
Commissioner Watkins. The motion passed with a unanimous vote.
Meeting recessed at 11:48 am.
Meeting reconvened at 1:17 pm.
Executive Session Per Idaho Code 74-206 (1)(e) Negotiations Involving Trade or Commerce
Camille Barigar was present.
Commissioner Howell moved to go into executive session per Idaho Code 74-206
(1)(e) for negotiations involving trade or commerce. Seconded by Commissioner
Crouch. The motion passed with a unanimous roll call vote.
Executive session began at 1:18 pm and ended at 1:58 pm.
Ruby Reed Taxes Review, Mobile Home Cancelation
Nina Lagle was present.
Nina stated that earlier this year Mrs. Reed forgot to apply for her circuit breaker. She stated that
the Board approved removing the difference of the amount that would have been canceled and
just leaving the refuse fee. The amount that was to be charged was $941.88. The taxes to be
canceled would be $865.88.

Monday, December 1, 2025
Page 4 of 6
Commissioner Watkins moved to approve the cancelation of taxes in the amount
of $865.88 for Ruby Reed for the year 2025. Seconded by Commissioner Howell.
The motion passed with a unanimous vote.
Discussion: The Board referenced their decision from June 23rd, 2025, “ The
Board stated that they would like to remove the difference of cost for the property
taxes from what they are currently to what they should be with the circuit
breaker.”
Snake River Canyon Parks RV Park Account Creation Discussion
Cy Lootens and Nina Lagle were present.
The Board wanted to discuss a new account for the Canyon Park to begin collecting fees from
the RV park. The Board feels that they don’t necessarily want to create a separate account for the
park. Cy stated that the Treasurer’s office thought that a new account could be created and that it
would run similar to the landfill where they would bring the money down to the county and then
the county would then deposit the funds. He stated that it could be set up so that the county
would then be in charge of the account. The Board would like to discuss this further once
everyone involved can sit down and finalize a plan at a future commissioner meeting.
Skeleton Butte Subdivision
Mark Swenson and Sabrina Henderson were present.
Mark stated that he did some research regarding the skeleton butte subdivision. He was unable to
find an access road up to the subdivision. There were no water or power lines that he could find.
He then went over the different directions that could be taken to create an access road to go
through to the subdivision. Mark further stated that there is an issue that could come up with
more of the parcels going to tax deed as the two did in the past that the county now owns.
Sign and Approve Claims
Commissioner Crouch moved to approve the claims. Seconded by Commissioner
Watkins. The motion passed with a unanimous vote.
To see an image of the report please see page 6 of the minutes.
Agreement for Pathology Services Between Jerome County and Ada County
Commissioner Crouch moved to sign the Agreement for Pathology Services
Between Jerome County and Ada County. Seconded by Commissioner Howell.
The motion passed with a unanimous vote.

Monday, December 1, 2025
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Prosecuting Attorney Office Employee Wages Discussion
Sam Beus was not present for his time with the Board due to a change in his court schedules.
Legal Counsel
Legal Counsel was not present for their time with the Board.
Meeting adjourned at 3:53 pm.
________________________
______________________________
Ryan Treanor, Deputy Clerk
A. Ben Crouch, Chairman
______________________________
Charles M. Howell, Commissioner
______________________________
Art Watkins, Commissioner

BUDGET TOTALS

14|/DATA PROCESSING
15|ELECTIONS

16|CHARITY : $ 800.00

18)GENERAL 9,721.99 9,721.99

21|/PLANNING & ZONING

22/GIS

30/VETERANS

ub Tota eneral Fund b b ate : : 5 :

a/SHERIFF $___5,287.16|$ 5,237.16
5/SHERIFF-DETENTION $ 21,877.97 21,877.97
6/ADULT PROBATION $ 497.60 497.60
7/PROSECUTOR $ 154.92 154.92

8|PUBLIC DEFENDERS -

9|JUVENILE PROBATION -
18|GENERAL JUSTICE $ 8.733.29 8,733.29

ub Total (Justice Fund) $ $ 36,500.94 36,500.94

3/AIRPOR 3 14,116.11 | 3 f4,116.11

5|/VETERANS MEMORIAL

6/DISTRICT COURT

7\|FAIR

9/CAPITAL FAIR

48/AMERICAN RESCUE PLAN
Sub Total $ $ 74,801.39

GRAND TOTAL $ 179,817.49

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