Jerome County | minutes | meeting 2026-07-13 | Commissioners Meeting source: https://www.jeromecountyid.us/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Minutes/_07132026-1683 Monday, July 13, 2026 Page 1 of 6 JEROME COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS Monday, July 13, 2026 PRESENT: Charles Howell, Vice Chairman Art Watkins, Commissioner Ryan Treanor, Deputy Clerk Meeting convened at 9:02 am. Commissioner Watkins – Commissioner Watkins reported that he attended the rotary meeting. It took place at the senior citizen center. There was a presentation about the center for community health. Then he attended the event at the overlook for the dedication to the Declaration of Independence. He also attended the Snake River Canyon Parks board meeting. There was a discussion about when to do the ribbon cutting for the overlook. Later he attended the PERSI workshop. Commissioner Howell – Commissioner Howell reported he attended the PERSI workshop. He attended the America 250 event at the overlook. He felt that the event was really well put together. Then he attended a benefit team roping event for local high schoolers. Later he also did an interview on the radio regarding Jerome County. Commissioner Crouch – Commissioner Crouch gave his report in the afternoon. He reported that he attended the airport board meeting. Then he attended the Snake River Park America 250 celebration. He also met with Tess Molitor regarding the needs of communication for the county. Jerome American Legion Hall Budget Request Staff present: Cy Lootens and Tracee McKim Public present: Stan Bolich, Jim Fuqua, and Dennis Hunt Jim stated that the American Legion has put together a budget for the upcoming year. He will be the new commander of the Jerome Legion Hall. One of the biggest services they help with is burials for former members of the military. Then he discussed the different portions of the proposed budget and when the payments would be expected from the county. The proposed budget was over $89,000 for the upcoming fiscal year. Extension Office Monthly Report Staff present: Steve Hines Steve gave a report on the extension office. His report will include May and June activities. During the last two months he has attended different meetings. He also worked on creating his offices budget for the upcoming fiscal year. The staff in his office also attended meetings over the last two months. There were events done with members of the 4H and Jerome Boys and Girls Club. There were interviews done within their office for their summer intern to help with 4H. He then gave an update on the food booth at the fairgrounds. Monday, July 13, 2026 Page 2 of 6 Planning and Zoning Monthly Report Staff present: Kacie Buhler and Cy Lootens Kacie gave a report on the planning and zoning department. During the last month her department received a total of $35,779.04 in revenue. There was a payment to the county surveyor in the amount of $1,000. There were 10 inspections done in the city of Hazelton. A total of 71 inspections were completed during the last month. There was a total of 24 new permits received. During the previous month there was some updates on different code enforcement cases. The case against William Pearce was finally resolved and closed. She also provided updates on the case regarding the Sandoval property and the many different infractions on the property. There was also updates given on the complaints received against the Si-Ellen Dairy. Her office received a total of 38 records requests in the previous month. She wanted to discuss a couple of items. The first was regarding the guest house rules that were discussed previously. The Board stated that legal counsel had discussed this with them as well. Legal counsel stated that under current code a guest house wouldn’t be allowed as a permanent location, but could be placed as a residence while a more permanent home is built. Once the permanent home is built the guest house would then have to be removed from the property. Legal counsel also advised that if this were to be updated it would need to go through the proper process of updating code. Kacie stated that she would reach out to Matt Hargrave regarding this. She also discussed how she has been working on updating the energy ordinance and making sure that it would match other sections of code better. Commissioner Watkins asked Kacie if data centers are an allowable project in Jerome County under current code. Kacie stated that they are not allowed because they are not addressed in code, therefore they cannot be allowed without code changes. Commissioners agreed that they preferred them to be left out of code. Memorandum of Understanding with Twin Falls County for Veterans Affairs Services Staff present: Cy Lootens The Board received and reviewed a Memorandum of Understanding, (MOU), from Twin Falls County regarding the cost of continuing to provide veteran affairs services to Jerome County. Meeting recessed at 11:44 am. Meeting reconvened at 1:31 pm. Commissioner Crouch returned for the afternoon. Higley Fuel Discount Staff present: Marty Luhr Marty stated that he brough a paper to show the upcoming construction at the airport. He also discussed a map that he found regarding open land at the two airports. The maps show open land that new crop dusters could use. He wanted to discuss an item that was brought up at the last Monday, July 13, 2026 Page 3 of 6 board meeting. It is regarding discounts on fuel at the airport. A couple of members on the airport board wanted to discuss getting a discount on fuel. Marty went over the pricing history at the airport for fuel and wanted to confirm what to do regarding discounts. He also discussed the rescheduling of Airport Appreciation Day to September 19th. Airport Fuel Discounts and Airport Income Discussion Staff present: Marty Luhr The Board wanted to discuss the airport fuel prices and strategy to help continue to make the airport profitable. There was a point discussed regarding the fuel tanks and how to monitor the amount of fuel sold. It was discussed on how to monitor sales due to regulations and permits that are required based on amount of fuel sold to an individual to then haul it to another location. The Board also discussed the installation of gas at the airport that was presented on at the airport board meeting. Approval of Passthrough Funds Recipient Agreements Commissioner Crouch moved to vote and sign off on the Passthrough Funds Recipient Agreements from the state of Idaho on substance use disorder services and tobacco use. Seconded by Commissioner Howell. The motion passed with a unanimous vote. Voting for South Central Public Health District Board Members Commissioner Watkins moved to accept the nominations of Linda Montgomery as a representative from Jerome County and Jarod Orton as a representative from Minidoka County for the South Central Public Health District. Seconded by Commissioner Crouch. The motion passed with a unanimous vote. Discussion on Waiver of Dump Fees for Pantry Demo Staff present: Cy Lootens The Board discussed a request that was received regarding the waiving of dump fees. The request was received from the Martha and Mary’s Pantry regarding an old house that was donated to the pantry. The home will be removed and the pantry was wondering if the county would be able to help with covering part of the costs. The email that was received helped to account that it should be around an estimated $6,000 to remove all the debris of the home. The Board discussed seeing if a waste company could donate the cost of the removal or if there could be any other way to help with this. Commissioner Crouch moved to approve the offset of demolition costs for the lots that were donated to Martha and Mary’s Pantry to help cover half of the costs, not to exceed $2,000. Seconded by Commissioner Watkins. The motion passed with a unanimous vote. Monday, July 13, 2026 Page 4 of 6 IT Budget Discussion Staff present: Matthew McGregor, Cy Lootens, and Tracee McKim The Board wanted to discuss the items in the IT budget, especially whether to move Matthew to salary instead of hourly wages. Matthew stated that he sees the benefits and disadvantages of each side. He feels like some of the benefits that can come with him working more is to remove the use of contractors in completing projects for the county. This can also help with repairs down the line and how much that can help since IT built the projects themselves. He discussed an issue recently regarding repairs that had to be made on county equipment. The Board also wanted to discuss the wages for all of the other IT employees. The proposed budget items for wages were higher than the county is going to be able to do this year. The large part of it is regarding the insurance increase for the upcoming fiscal year. Matthew understands the issues with the budget items, but he is still worried about the issue of replacing employees. Most of the employees that he has hired have left for higher paying positions at similar levels of work. He wants to see his employees retained so IT will be up on the systems that the county has. Fire District Accident Report Staff present: Cy Lootens Public present: Higinio Del Toro Higinio stated that he is in need of the accident report from the fire district for insurance purposes. His truck burned up on the side of the road in March. He contacted the fire district who responded and they told him that the system has been down since January and they can’t get him one. Budget Workshop Staff present: Tracee McKim and Cy Lootens Tracee stated that the clerk’s office was able to do some more work on the budget for the upcoming year. As was discussed in previous workshops, the ask from departments is more than what they would be able to collect from property taxes. Over the last week they removed some of the proposed new full-time employee positions. The only ones remaining are the new HR employee and the new receptionist for adult probation. There were some other general cuts that were made to different sections of the budget. Raises for all employees were lowered from initial suggestions. Another section that was removed from each department was a section for employee appreciation. Those funds were all moved back to the Commissioners section and lowered to help cut costs. The Board also wanted to discuss the budget that has been growing for the purchase of more land for the airport. Tracee went over the current charity section of the budget as well and what the charity groups have presented so far. The growing cost of health insurance for employees was discussed. The county’s insurance broker will be meeting with commissioners next week to go more in depth with insurance costs. The Board wanted to discuss the IT budget. The Board wanted to keep Matthew at hourly and leave room to move him to salary if need be. Tracee asked about the other IT employees and what the Board wanted to do with their raises. The Board stated they would like to keep the Monday, July 13, 2026 Page 5 of 6 raises for all employees the same, but to discuss next week adding a market adjustment to the IT staff. Read and Approve Minutes Commissioner Howell moved to approve the minutes for July 6 and 7 with the proposed corrections. Seconded by Commissioner Crouch. The motion passed with a unanimous vote. Indigent Matters Commissioner Crouch moved to approve the indigent matters as presented. Seconded by Commissioner Howell. The motion passed with a unanimous vote. Sign and Approve Claims Commissioner Howell moved to approve the claims as presented by staff excluding the payments to ETS for requesting more information and the payment to the rotary club. 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. Meeting adjourned at 4:58 pm. ________________________ ______________________________ Ryan Treanor, Deputy Clerk A. Ben Crouch, Chairman ______________________________ Charles M. Howell, Commissioner ______________________________ Art Watkins, Commissioner BUDGET TOTALS DEPARTMENT | 4/CLERK [ASSESSOR sid 2 -3|TREASURER_———=s -4|HUMAN RESOURCES _| [S|COMMISSIONERS __| 14 EXTENSION AGENT E 1 $ BUILDING & GROUNDS MAINT. $ 4,428.52 EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT PAYROLL ACCT PAY GRAND TOTAL $ 73.28 | $ 13.28 pS $ 172.82 | $ 172.82 S1,256.86/$ 1,256.86 4,428.52 ee ee 1,320.41 $3 1,320.41 $ $ calc a o ~l on 23,764.93 400.19 PLANNING & ZONING GIS 23,764.93 3 $ GENERAL FUND RESERVE VETERANS SHERIFF SHERIFF-DETENTION f 636.46 10,203.91 3 4 | 3 ADULT PROBATION Sub Total (Justice Fund) 10,203.91 rs 15,738.93 944.50 4A 64) 6A 6A) tA fb ~o co —_ co ‘ 1 b 15,738.93 $ $ $ . $ . $ . $ . $ . $ ; 4,749.25 T 7,636.46 | $ VETERANS MEMORIAL DISTRICT COURT CAPITAL FAIR HEALTH DISTRICT REVALUATION SOLID WASTE 24|TORT 4 $ $ 49,818.74 ee ee 3225.65 ee es $ 22,496.13 8,175.1 3 3,225.65 $22,496.13 ELECTION CONSOLIDATION $ 959.59 959.59 $ =) 10) 14 13) 14) 15) 16) 18) 2 |_| i) _9| 18) |_| | 3] 5) | 6 =) 11 15) | 20) 23} Es 7|WEED 9| AMBULANCE 2 2 3 3 ls 50.00 50.00 WATERWAYS BOARD WATERWAYS SHERIFF 8 8 39 BROADBAND GRANT FUNDS 4 4 1|/BOND REDEMPTION 8) AMERICAN RESCUE PLAN Sub Total GRAND TOTAL ee 64,906.50 $ - $ 64,906.50 41