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Commissioners Meeting

minutes meeting date 2026-04-06 · fetched 2026-09-09 · 13622 characters · read by OCR, check numbers against the source · official file · plain text

Monday, April 6, 2026
Page 1 of 7
JEROME COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
Monday, April 6, 2026
PRESENT: Ben Crouch, Chairman
Charles Howell, Vice Chairman
Art Watkins, Commissioner
Ryan Treanor, Deputy Clerk
Meeting convened at 9:03 am.
Commissioner Reports
Commissioner Watkins – Commissioner Watkins attended Rotary Tuesday. He stated the guest
was a biology teacher. He presented on DNA, and DNA in food. Later in the week he spoke to
the Secretary at the City of Hazelton. The City is getting a new financial program.
Commissioner Howell- Commissioner Howell stated that he attended the Central Committee
meeting to interview Sheriff candidates. He did not participate in the meeting because of being a
county commissioner. Instead, he assisted the candidates and helped in the lobby outside of the
meeting to help organize the candidates. He talked with Suzanne Hawkins regarding the veteran
affairs officer in Twin Falls County and the cost of that agreement.
Commissioner Crouch- Commissioner Crouch stated that he attended Rotary. He took all 4
members of Jerome County’s IT team as guests to the meeting. He stated he did not attend the
Central Committee meeting regarding Sheriff candidates. He spoke on Bill Colley’s Radio show
on Friday. And later Friday he worked on preparation for the interview process for the three
sheriff candidate finalists that will be meeting with the commissioners April 16th. He went out to
the overlook project site to see how the project is progressing.
Sherrif Applications and Interview Process
Cy Lootens and Connie Kincheloe were present.
The Board wanted to discuss the process for the interviews for the Sheriff position. The Jerome
County Republican Central Committee held a meeting and recommended three candidates to be
interviewed for the position. The candidates that were recommended were Robert Rausch, Gary
Taylor, and Matt West. The interviews will take place on the 16th, and each candidate will get 30
minutes for their interview. The Board discussed that they would like to have a list of questions
that they will ask in each interview to make them uniform. The Board discussed that they would
like to see each candidate wait outside while the other candidates are interviewing, but that the
public can be present for all the interviews. They are also interested in getting questions from the
public to ask the candidates.

Monday, April 6, 2026
Page 2 of 7
Door Access to Security Office
Matthew McGregor and Cy Lootens were present.
Matthew stated that he wanted to discuss the badge access for the security office. This would be
for the door just behind the security officer’s desk. He was able to receive a quote for the
projects from New Tech Security. The total amount would be $1,484.77.
Commissioner Howell moved to approve the expenditure of $1,484.77 for the
project of security office door badge access. Seconded by Commissioner Crouch.
The motion passed with a unanimous vote.
GIS Monthly Report
Mark Reyes was present.
Mark gave a presentation on the GIS department. He stated that he created a tax code map for the
elections staff. He has continued to update maps and make sure they are up to date. He worked
with the Snake River Canyon Parks board regarding the permitting for the buildings at the
overlook. Another thing that he has been looking for is for more training regarding GIS
responsibilities.
Car Repairs, Slides for Evacuation, Building Architectural Plans
Eric Jackson, Cy Lootens, and Tevian Kober were present.
Eric stated that he wanted to know if the Board wanted to do training for active shooters with the
rest of the county. The Board stated that they would be in favor of doing another round of
trainings for the rest of the county employees to attend. He reached out to the Jerome fire
department and found out that there is a way that the fire department can help with getting
people out of the building in the case of an emergency. Cy did some research and found a chair
device that can be used to help with getting individuals down the stairs. Eric stated that after
finding out about the fire department options and the chair to go down the stairs he decided to
not look any further into the slides.
Eric stated that he worked with the fire department regarding the best options for breaching a
door. This way the security can have the capability to open a door in case of emergency. He had
done some radio checks for the radios in the building. There were some issues previously, but the
radios are working now. He’s not sure what led to them working, but he is glad that they are. He
also reached out to the fire department and learned that they have a smoke machine that can be
used with fire drills as well. The fire department does not make you pay to use it, so he would
like to have it for the next fire drill. He wanted to discuss the vehicles that are being used in case
of emergency, and what he can have approved for repairs. The Board stated that there would
need to be approval for larger expenses over $500, but that there would also need to be
somewhere from the budget for the repairs to come from.

Monday, April 6, 2026
Page 3 of 7
Fiscal Year 27 Airport Aid Grant Agreement
Cy Lootens was present.
Cy stated that he received an email from the transportation department regarding a grant for the
upcoming fiscal year. He stated that he reached out to JUB Engineering regarding the paperwork
and was told the paperwork looks ok to approve.
Commissioner Watkins moved to approve resolution 2026-15, the matching grant
for the Idaho airport aid program in the matching amount of $4,855.26. Seconded
by Commissioner Howell. The motion passed with a unanimous vote.
Meeting recessed at 11:42 am.
Meeting reconvened at 1:17 pm.
Tax Cancelation
Mark Swenson was present.
Mark stated that he has a tax cancelation. There is an aircraft hangar that the county owns. It was
put onto the county rolls by accident. With the mistake the property needs to go through the
proper process to cancel the taxes.
Commissioner Crouch moved to approve the notice of cancelation for a county
owned hangar that was mistakenly put on the tax rolls, in the amount of
$1,364.14, for parcel LRJCAPJ000026B. Seconded by Commissioner Watkins.
The motion passed with a unanimous vote.
Tax Cancelations
Tevian Kober was present.
Tevian stated that she has some tax cancelations. The first is regarding a mobile home. One of
the assessor’s office employees found out that the mobile home is no longer there, so it will need
to be cancelled.
Commissioner Howell moved to approve the cancelation of taxes, $638.74 in tax
balance, $10.78 in interest, and penalties, and $94.92 in fees and penalties, for a
total amount of $743.94, for parcel MH0816E324802E, per the recommendation
of Tevian Kober. Seconded by Commissioner Watkins. The motion passed with a
unanimous vote.

Monday, April 6, 2026
Page 4 of 7
Tevian stated that the second one is regarding a refuse fee that was placed on an exempt
property. The property should not have had this placed on there and it needs to be canceled to
remove the outstanding balance.
Commissioner Crouch moved, per recommendation from Tevian Kober’s office,
that we remove the refuse fees that were incurred by error, in a total amount of
$1,089.40, for parcel RPJ1370064027B, and to pay Flying S Title $200 for the
service of litigation guarantee. Seconded by Commissioner Howell. The motion
passed with a unanimous vote.
Judicial Complex Interoffice Protocols
Cy Lootens, Angie Bridge, Andrea Gonzalez, Sam Beus, and Gary Taylor were present.
Sam stated that there was a situation at the annex last week. There was a discussion with some
members of Immigration and Customs Enforcement regarding future interoffice work procedures
at the Judicial Complex. There is now a plan in place to be able to work better together and make
sure that everyone is on the same page. He stated that he feels that now there is something put
into place so everyone will be prepared in the future and be able to work through any issues that
could come up.
Government Relations Consultation
Tess Molitor, Cy Lootens, and Connie Kincheloe were present.
The Board stated that they have been interested in finding someone that can help to get
information out to the public. The Board would like to get information out to help with
informing the public on what is going on. Tess stated that she is excited to share a proposal to the
Board. She is a government relations consultant located in Boise. She was born and raised in
Boise, went to law school, and then returned to Boise. Once she passed the bar she went right
into lobbying. A large part of what she does is help with informing individuals on what the
government is doing and the purpose behind it. She does a lot of reporting currently, so she is
very familiar with those options. She has been lobbying since 2003 and has loved the opportunity
to be involved with government. She stated that she has done some work in Jerome for some of
the companies in the area. Another thing that she has enjoyed within her position is to rub
shoulders with different individuals whether it is someone from government or members of the
communities involved.
The Board wanted to discuss the services that would be required, including sharing information
from the many different departments in the county. Tess stated that she wanted to go over the
proposal that she sent to show that she would do anything that would be asked of her from any
department. She would also like to focus more on the media and public relations side of what she
offers for services. The Board wanted to discuss the pricing of services that would be provided,
regarding the minimum and maximum hours for a project. Tess stated that it would be hard to
estimate. It would depend on the request and what all would need to be done for the project. She
stated it could be up to $300 per hour, but that she doesn’t feel like per hour is a good way to

Monday, April 6, 2026
Page 5 of 7
show the rate for her services. She does a monthly fee based on how many hours are used to
cover services for the county.
She stated that the contract is just one that she has used in the past. She is willing to do some
edits to it too if there are some things that the Board would like to see changed. Another idea she
wanted to discuss was the idea of mileage reimbursement. She stated that there would be some
things that she would want to do in person rather than just remoting in every time. The Board
also brought up that there may be some meetings that they will ask of her to attend to be able to
understand the feel of it so that she can provide a more in depth update on the issues being
discussed. Tess stated that she would like to do this as well and be able to have a good
relationship with the Board if there is approval of the contract.
Commissioner Crouch moved to approve the signing of the contract with Molitor
and Associates, barring any further requests from other companies. 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 Crouch. The motion passed with a unanimous vote.
To see an image of the report please see page 7 of the minutes.
Read and Approve Minutes
Commissioner Howell moved to approve the minutes with the requested updates.
Seconded by Commissioner Crouch. The motion passed with a unanimous vote.
Employee Paid Time Off Payout Requests
Commissioner Crouch moved to approve the PTO payouts as presented.
Seconded by Commissioner Howell. The motion passed with a unanimous vote.
Indigent Matters
Commissioner Crouch moved to approve the indigent matters as presented by
staff. Seconded by Commissioner Howell. The motion passed with a unanimous
vote.
Meeting adjourned at 3:06 pm.

Monday, April 6, 2026
Page 6 of 7
________________________
______________________________
Ryan Treanor, Deputy Clerk
A. Ben Crouch, Chairman
______________________________
Charles M. Howell, Commissioner
______________________________
Art Watkins, Commissioner

BUDGET TOTALS

DEPARTMENT PAYROLL ACCT PAY GRAND TOTAL
1|CLERK $ 31.50 | $ 31.50
2IRSSESSOR
3|TREASURER a ee |

£A| 69

4|HUMAN RESOURCES $ 926.67

5|COMMISSIONERS 944.72

6|CORONER 750.00 | $ 750.00
10|BUILDING & GROUNDS MAINT. 77.63 |$ 77.63

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240.83 | $ 240.83

114.55 | $ 114.55
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(S|ELECTIONS |S 881A |S 8,731.54 |

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16|CHARITY -
18|GENERAL 7 A67.12 7,467.12

21|/PLANNING & ZONING

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29|GENERAL FUND RESERVE
30)/VETERANS
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6A) 69) 64/69

S$ 10,872.4
20,004.23
260.00

4 : 0,872.4
5|SHERIFF-DETENTION 20,004.23
6 260.00
7|PROSECUTOR -
8|PUBLIC DEFENDERS 2,144.00 | $ 2,144.00
9| JUVENILE PROBATION 15,110.00 | $ 15,110.00
18)|GENERAL JUSTICE $ 142,365.91 |$ 142,365.91

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ub Total (Justice Fund $ - $ 190,756.56 |$ 190,756.56
S|VETERANSMEMORIAL | |S

6|/DISTRICT COURT 3950.48 3,950.48

9/CAPITAL FAIR

Sub Total

GRAND TOTAL

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