Jerome County | minutes | meeting 2025-09-29 | Commissioners Meeting source: https://www.jeromecountyid.us/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Minutes/_09292025-1559 Monday, September 29, 2025 Page 1 of 7 JEROME COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS Monday, September 29, 2025 PRESENT: Ben Crouch, Chairman Charles Howell, Vice Chairman Art Watkins, Commissioner Ryan Treanor, Deputy Clerk Meeting convened at 9:01 am. Commissioner Reports Commissioner Watkins – Commissioner Watkins stated that he has continued to review the information from the appeal hearing before they reconvene. He attended a REDS meeting virtually. The REDS board will be disbanding and will no longer be its own board. Then he attended the 4H awards banquet. There was a meeting in Hazelton regarding a potential health facility. Later he attended the National Parks presentation. Commissioner Howell – Commissioner Howell stated that he attended the 4H banquet. He felt that the banquet was well put together. He attended the sheriff appreciation dinner. He has been receiving lots of comments regarding Martha and Mary’s Pantry. Then he attended the Southern Idaho Solid Waste meeting. They are working to finalize a new mission statement. Power county has been wanting to join the Southern Idaho Solid Waste as a member. The board stated that they will work to have their contract changed and would likely not have them join as a member. Commissioner Crouch – Commissioner Crouch stated that he attended the rotary meeting. He attended the South Central Public Health meeting. The chair for the board changed. They discussed the remodel of the building by SIRCOMM in Jerome. Then he attended the sheriff employee appreciation dinner. He spent some time during the week going over the different energy policies before the time today regarding the Jerome County energy ordinance. He received several phone calls from constituents regarding the proposed nuclear power plant. Wage Change Forms Jesse Vallez and Cy Lootens were present. Jesse received the wage change forms for county employees for the new upcoming fiscal year. She brought them to the Board to sign and approve. Polling Places Approval for November Election Cy Lootens, Ryan Treanor, and Jesse Vallez were present. Cy stated that the election in November will take place for just the Eden and Hazelton Precincts. This would lead to only one polling location being used at the Valley School building. Any early voting or absentee voting would be done at the Jerome Administration Offices building. Monday, September 29, 2025 Page 2 of 7 Commissioner Howell moved to approve the polling places for the November election. Seconded by Commissioner Crouch. The motion passed with a unanimous vote. 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 9:49 am and ended at 9:53 am. Property Tax Discussion Nikki Kober, Windy Jay, Tevian Kober, and Jesse Vallez were present. Nikki stated that she is here on behalf of her mother Loretta Hughes. She has been appointed to be her financial power of attorney. She found out after this that her mother is delinquent on her property taxes. Her mother no longer receives retirement and only receives social security. She is looking to sell off her mother’s truck to be able to pay off the delinquent taxes. Tevian stated that Loretta should be able to file for a hardship exemption form. Commissioner Crouch moved to take off the total of the fees and interest in the amount of $453.04, for parcel number RP09S17E120100. Seconded by Commissioner Watkins. The motion passed with a unanimous vote. Evaluation Kirsten Hartley was present. Commissioner Crouch moved into executive session per Idaho Code 74- 206(1)(b) for personnel. Seconded by Commissioner Watkins. The motion passed with a unanimous roll call vote. Executive session started at 10:30 am and ended at 11:51 am. Evaluation Matthew McGregor was present. Evaluation Mario Umana was present. Evaluation Andrea Gonzalez was present. Evaluation Monday, September 29, 2025 Page 3 of 7 Mark Reyes was present. Meeting recessed at 11:51 am. Meeting reconvened at 1:15 pm. National Future Farmers of America (FFA) Convention Presentation Michelle Aoi and Bill Bridges were present. Michelle stated that she has a student from her FFA group who has come to present the FFA creed in Spanish as part of their presentation. They are looking for sponsors for the trip to the national convention in Indianapolis. They are doing several other fund raisers to try and help raise the full amount to go on the trip. One of her students will be competing nationally to present the FFA creed in Spanish, one student will receive their American FFA degree, and another student is looking to run for a national leadership position. Evaluation Jesse Vallez was present. Commissioner Crouch stated that they would continue the previous executive session, per Idaho Code 74-206(1)(b), to continue employee evaluations. Executive session started at 1:27 pm and ended at 2:32 pm. Evaluation Kacie Buhler was present. Evaluation Brent Culbertson was present. Energy Ordinance Discussion Kacie Buhler, Mike Seib, Ryan Christensen, Lyle Johnstone, Aaron Menenberg, Jacob Miller, and Leon Letson were present. The Board stated they were reconvening the discussion regarding the county energy ordinance. They reviewed some of the other surrounding counties ordinances. Kacie stated that they should start by reviewing these ordinances and the things that everyone liked about them. Commissioner Crouch stated that he liked some of the parts of the Lincoln County ordinance policy. He liked the resolution that they started with in their ordinance. He would like to see something in the ordinance that states something about protecting the growth and expansion of Monday, September 29, 2025 Page 4 of 7 the airport, and to not allow anything within a certain distance of the airport. Kacie stated that there was something similar in the Lincoln County ordinance of protecting their airport and its growth. Commissioner Howell stated that there were some things listed in the ordinance that the energy that would be produced would be for personal use, but that later it states that gas would not be. He would like to see both stated that they could be produced for personal use. Commissioner Crouch stated that Gooding County gives a specific definition on the scale of a “large scale project.” The Lincoln County ordinance did not really give any specifics on the actual size of the projects. He also liked that Lincoln County discussed public meetings being required regarding projects of this kind. He would also like to see something included that would require a report from the FAA to see if the project would affect the airport. Kacie pointed out that there is a section that states that the application would need to be completed within a year, she is not sure if that is the amount of time that should be required, but that she would like to see some sort of time requirement. She went over how Lincoln County also included a section about not allowing projects to be built in APA protected areas. Under current county ordinance APA sections would not be allowed to have these projects. The Board asked about how this would affect anything that is currently approved. Mike stated that this would not affect things that are currently approved. The Board also asked about how projects would be kept under a certain size if it pertains to personal property instead of public. Mike stated that they would need to look to define that further in the ordinance to prevent large scale projects on personal land. Memorandum Decision for L&S Holdings LLC LCO Permit, Archery Range Ordinance for Snake River Canyon Parks, Ambulance Lease Agreement Mike Seib, Bill Bridges, Kacie Buhler, Cy Lootens, and Jesse Vallez were present. The Board received a copy of the memorandum decision for L&S Holdings LLC. The Board stated that they did not see any issues with the decision. Commissioner Crouch moved to sign off on the memorandum decision for L&S Holdings LLC for their LCO permit. Seconded by Commissioner Howell. The motion passed with a unanimous vote. The Board asked about the ordinance regarding the archery range in the park. Mike stated that he does not have it drafted but that he can work on that. He will need to know about the specific location of the archery range so he can make it more specific to that location as well. The Board asked about the ambulance district lease agreement. Mike stated that Shayne will be working to draft up a new lease agreement. Once he has finished it he will bring it before the Board for approval. Monday, September 29, 2025 Page 5 of 7 Commissioner Crouch moved to go into executive session per Idaho Code 74- 206(1)(b). Seconded by Commissioner Howell. The motion passed with a unanimous roll call vote. Executive session started at 3:52 pm and ended at 4:01 pm. Security Discussion Cy Lootens, Matthew McGregor, Mike Seib, Tevian Kober, Windy Jay, Tracy Perkins, Cory Kehrer, Dean Dekruyf, and Marisela Aguirre were present. Matthew stated that they need to know about how the door access will work so IT can update the badge access spots. Cy stated that there are some other things that were brought up by other employees that he would like to have ironed out before going live with the security. Matthew would also like to find out who would have access to the building. The Board asked about how things would work regarding meetings that take place afterhours. Commissioner Watkins moved to prohibit the public from bringing weapons into the Jerome Administration Offices building. Seconded by Commissioner Crouch. The motion passed with a unanimous vote. Discussion: The Board is wanting to enact this motion in light of recent events and in the purpose of protecting the employees in the building. This will be effective as of October 1st, 2025. Personnel/IT Purchases Matthew McGregor was present. Commissioner Watkins 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 4:35 pm and ended at 4:39 pm. Matthew wanted to go over a purchase that will come out of the new fiscal year. It is regarding the new internet services for the extension office. This will provide them with better service and will also save the county money each month. Commissioner Crouch moved to approve the expenditure of $4,612.06 to and the expenditure of $599.00 for the device to switch to TMobile for primary internet services in the extension office. Seconded by Commissioner Watkins. The motion passed with a unanimous vote. Monday, September 29, 2025 Page 6 of 7 Old Business The Board revisited the amount that they would donate to the FFA for the members to attend the national FFA convention. Commissioner Howell moved to donate $750.00 for the members of FFA to attend the FFA national convention in Indianapolis to support the youth of Jerome County. Seconded by Commissioner Crouch. The motion passed with a unanimous vote. Read and Approve Minutes Commissioner Crouch moved to approve the minutes with the recommended changes. Seconded by Commissioner Watkins. 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 Howell. The motion passed with a unanimous vote. To see an image of the report please see page 7 of the minutes. Meeting adjourned at 4:55 pm. ________________________ ______________________________ Ryan Treanor, Deputy Clerk A. Ben Crouch, Chairman ______________________________ Charles M. Howell, Commissioner ______________________________ Art Watkins, Commissioner BUDGET TOTALS DEPARTMENT PAYROLL —o PAY GRAND TOTAL CLERK $ 48,178.81 256.68[$ 48,435.49 Taiassesson 13 “‘senaa}§ "sao [8 "a no | 3|TREASURER HAR RESOURCES — RESOURCES 3,115.38 |§ 166.60|$ 3,281.98 Pecans — Ht oe CORONER 961.53 227.23[$ 1,188.76 [TO|BUILDING & GROUNDS Malls —ase.16 [S$ ——s71.59| = —o227.0] $ $ $ Falecrensionagent—[S9seas0|sauame| games EXTENSION AGENT 3,562.50|$ 2,444.05 6,006.55 AB[ELECTIONS ee LAGICHARITY, | CCG PEELE ANNING 8 ZONING Tee [s___2,078.30 | 8 SARL FUND RESERVE FUND RESERVE $ - VETERANS $ a |S 83,974.45 15 29,105.21 |S 112,679.66 | 3 SHERIFF DETENTION — DETENTION 82,414.00 [$3,320.30 85,743.30 ADULT PROBATION 15,089.92 15,089.92 $ $ 8/PUBLIC DEFENDERS $ ” meet est — tage GENERAL JUSTICE $ 46,476.85 $ 46,476.85 |__s Sub Total (Justice aOR Ee ar 1667. 96 $ See $ 304,174.57 -e[pistRicT COURT [3 —_sor296[ ——staasts ta ta7 a6 rrae Ta oar 9,034.64 DS|cAPITALFAIR | ————=«dS ‘9607.93 § 9,697.93 | [ia[HEALTHDISTRICT___| PIS|ELECTION CONSOLIDATION S _2,273.98[8 _638.37|$ 3,052.35] [20|REVALUATION__—_—=«( S_ 13,264.50 609.30 $ 13,863.98 | fasISOLIDWASTE. | SSCS STCSCSCSC~dS CCS $ $ 24|TORT - _—— 29| AMBULANCE $ - -Se|WATERWAYS BOARD |} —s— 38|WATERWAYS SHERIFF Pi1[BOND REDEMPTION [~~ 48/ AMERICAN RESCUE PLAN $ a Total $ 43,367.33 |$ 58,151.96 |$ 101,519.29 | [GRANDTOTAL _—_—_—=i| $ (448,345.03 $ 516,626.37 |$ 964,971.40