Jerome County | minutes | meeting 2025-10-20 | Commissioners Meeting source: https://www.jeromecountyid.us/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Minutes/_10202025-1565 Monday, October 20, 2025 Page 1 of 5 JEROME COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS Monday, October 20, 2025 PRESENT: Ben Crouch, Chairman Charles Howell, Vice Chairman Art Watkins, Commissioner Ryan Treanor, Deputy Clerk Meeting convened at 9:00 am. Commissioner Reports Cameron Curtis and Ufuoma Ojumah were present. Commissioner Watkins – Commissioner Watkins stated that he attended a zoom meeting for the valley ag program. He attended the rotary meeting. There was a presentation by Carson Wong, who discussed The Messiah musical that he is putting together. Then he attended the fair board meeting. There was a vote on the Martha and Mary’s Pantry relocation, and they voted against moving it to the fairgrounds. A member of the FFA sales committee was there to go over the procedures for animals being moved after the sale at the fair. Later he attended a board meeting for South Central Community Action Partnership. Commissioner Howell – Commissioner Howell stated that he attended a SIRCOMM meeting. He also attended the St Lukes epicurean meeting. Commissioner Crouch – Commissioner Crouch stated that he attended the rotary meeting. He met with Amanda Worthington from the fair and rodeo and Steve Hines from the University of Idaho extension program to discuss relationship and programs. Then he met with the Idaho State Department of Commerce individuals about some of the requests for information from companies potentially looking to come into Jerome. Tri County Weed Update Denise Helsley was present. Denise stated that she has been doing well with equipment this year. She is having issues with one of the tanks that attaches to a four wheeler. There have been a few tires that needed to be replaced as well. She is looking to replace one of her trucks. There are several options she is looking into for the replacement and has received several quotes. She has been sending out notices to people in the area. She feels like she is ok with the budget for bio control even though she did not receive her full amount from a grant. The chemicals she is using currently are still in good supply. She was able to hire someone in Lincoln county to spray, and all of her sprayers have expressed interest in returning next year. There will be a board meeting that will be held this week in Gooding. Monday, October 20, 2025 Page 2 of 5 Final Decision of Martha and Mary’s Pantry Possible Relocation to Fairgrounds Property Jeff Schroeder, Lyle Johnstone, Amanda Worthington, Sam Verret, and Steve Ricketts were present. The Board wanted to review the survey results as well as the result of the fair board decision. The fair board voted unanimously against having the pantry moved to the fairgrounds. The results of the survey were overwhelmingly positive for the impact of the pantry on the community, but the results on where the pantry should be moved onto the fairgrounds was just about even. The Board stated that they feel like they should follow the direction of the fair board and decide to not lease county property at the fairgrounds to the pantry. Commissioner Crouch moved that based on the results of the survey and the fair board’s vote that they not have Martha and Mary’s Pantry be moved to the fairgrounds. Seconded by Commissioner Watkins. The motion passed with a unanimous vote. Discussion: The Boad expressed their continued support of Martha and Mary’s Pantry mission to the community. Planning and Zoning Monthly Report Kacie was not present for her time with the Board as she is out sick. Meeting recessed at 11:11 am. Meeting reconvened at 1:20 pm. Tax Cancelation Mark Swenson was present. Mark stated that he has a tax cancelation. The property was supposed to have a home owners exemption assigned to it. The exemption was not applied to the 2024 taxes as it should have been. He’s not sure what led to the issue but it could have been due to a computer hiccup his office did have. He wanted to bring it forward to make sure the exemption would be applied by canceling the amount that would have been saved. Commissioner Crouch moved to approve the assessor’s recommendations on the notice of cancelation due to the homeowners exemption not being applied, in the total amount of $1,737.17, for parcel RPJ15100020340. Seconded by Commissioner Howell. The motion passed with a unanimous vote. Monday, October 20, 2025 Page 3 of 5 Emergency Management Monthly Report Kirsten Hartley was present. Kirsten gave a report on the emergency management department. She was elected as the vice president for the local DIGB4 region. She is heading to a conference during the upcoming week. During the previous month she attended several meetings. She has been discussing a meeting to create a community wildfire protection plan with the wildfire risk mitigation program manager. There was a grant funding meeting that she attended. It went over notable items pertaining to grant funds currently. Due to the government shutdown the State Homeland Security Program can’t help with making purchases at this time. Snake River Canyon Parks Update on Shoshone Falls Overlook and Shooting Range Projects Bill Bridges and Mark Swenson were present. Bill stated that he wanted to see what led to more trash cans being delivered to the park. He didn’t order them and wanted to know what led to it. The Daughters of the Revolution picked up trash in the park and filled up his truck with trash over the weekend. The rock crawling track now has six usable obstacles on the track. He is still working to pick out a site for the archery range, and once that is picked out they can update county ordinance. The container for the tractor is almost ready to be used. The by-laws were rewritten to fix some issues with the length of terms for positions on the board. The bids for the overlook project were to go out at the start of the month and nothing has been sent out yet. They were also notified that the potential cost of the project was increased exponentially. Courthouse/Admin. Building Entrance Security Discussion Mike Seib, Gary Taylor, Cy Lootens, Mark Swenson, Tracy Perkins, and Jerry Holton were present. Mike stated that Gary had some questions regarding the authority that the deputies have here. Gary stated that there are two statuses for deputies. One is patrol and the other is detention. There is a difference in what each officer is able to do. The deputies stationed at the admin building are detention deputies. The duties and authority of the deputies was discussed. Executive Session Regarding Privileged Documents Mike Seib was present. Monday, October 20, 2025 Page 4 of 5 Commissioner Crouch moved to go into executive session per Idaho Code 74- 206(1)(d). Seconded by Commissioner Howell. The motion passed with a unanimous roll call vote. Executive session began at 2:55 pm and ended at 4:16 pm. Larry Hall came to help present a donation from Idaho Power to the county. Larry stated that Idaho Power has committed to donate $250,000 for the Shoshone overlook project. They have come with the check now, but they will do a more official donation at a later date. 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 5 of the minutes. Meeting adjourned at 4:22 pm. ________________________ ______________________________ Ryan Treanor, Deputy Clerk A. Ben Crouch, Chairman ______________________________ Charles M. Howell, Commissioner ______________________________ Art Watkins, Commissioner BUDGET TOTALS DEPARTMENT 1 PAYROLL ACCT PAY GRAND TOTAL 2 3 4 5 6 10 11 CLERK ASSESSOR TREASURER HUMAN RESOURCES C~SY CORONER CORONER CCT Cd BUILDING & GROUNDS MAINT. EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT Sub Total GRAND TOTAL 5 = $ 48,523.64|/$ 48,523.64 $ 91,958.70|$ 91,958.70 3 14|/DATA PROCESSING $ 10,358.00 | $ 10,358.00 iglELEGTIONS | [5 —_256n 08's — 2.505 98) 16|CHARITY $ 750.00 | $ i ie|GENERAL |} —garris's —aaer7. 21|/PLANNING & ZONING $ 1,430.10 | $ 1,430.10 a 29|GENERAL FUND RESERVE $ S0VETERANS | 4|SHERIFFO | Cid 0 S 5|/SHERIFF-DETENTION $ - elaDULT PROBATION | [3 aso. s ——as.00 7|PROSECUTOR $ 3,434.00 | $ 3,434.00 s[pUBLIo DEFENDERS |} |s 9|JUVENILE PROBATION | __|__|s_- 1[GENERAL JUSTICE |__| _266.00|§ 266.00, SJAIRPORT CT CC“‘iYS JAE : g[DISTRICTCOURT | +d 200[ § 7|FAIR $ 9|CAPITAL FAIR ——— $ 11)/HEALTH DISTRICT $ 22,496.13 | $ 22,496.13 is ELECTION CONSOLIDATION oo 20)/REVALUATION $ 153.64 | $ 153.64 23]S0L10 WASTE Pg 24|TORT $ 27WeeD J} 29|AMBULANCE $ 540.00 | $ 35 WATERWAYS BOARD [Jt 38|\WATERWAYS SHERIFF $ - #1]BOND REDEMPTION [ts ——— 48/AMERICAN RESCUE PLAN '=$—— a