Jerome County | minutes | meeting 2026-01-05 | Commissioners Meeting source: https://www.jeromecountyid.us/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Minutes/_01052026-1593 Monday, January 5, 2026 Page 1 of 7 JEROME COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS Monday, January 5, 2026 PRESENT: Ben Crouch, Chairman Charles Howell, Vice Chairman Art Watkins, Commissioner Ryan Treanor, Deputy Clerk Meeting convened at 9:00 am. Commissioner Reports Commissioner Watkins – Commissioner Watkins stated that he toured the new courthouse in Twin Falls. He then attended the open house and farewell for Don Hall. Then he attended the rotary meeting. There was a presentation from Bill Bridges regarding the Snake River Parks board. Commissioner Howell – Commissioner Howell stated that he was able to meet with some constituents. He attended the open house and farewell for Don Hall. He also toured the new courthouse in Twin Falls. Commissioner Crouch – Commissioner Crouch stated that he toured the new courthouse in Twin Falls. He also attended the open house and farewell for Don Hall. He attended the rotary meeting. The presentation was from the Snake River Canyon Parks board. Then he had an interview with Bill Colley. Intermountain Gas at Airport Marty Luhr was present. Marty stated that he has someone from Intermountain Gas who wants to meet with the Commissioners. They are looking to add natural gas at the airport. He wants to know about what would need to happen to have this individual come in. The Board stated that Marty would just need to have this individual reach out and schedule a time to do a presentation. The Board also suggested that the airport board meet with the individual first before coming before the Commissioners. He also wanted to discuss the purchase of a new snow blower for the airport. He stated that the previous one no longer works. There is one at Valley Co-Op that he found was the cheapest option he could find in the area. Commissioner Crouch moved to approve the expenditure of $1,350 for a brand new snowblower out at the Jerome Airport. Seconded by Commissioner Watkins. The motion passed with a unanimous vote. Monday, January 5, 2026 Page 2 of 7 He stated that they are looking to start billing for the new year. There are still two individuals who have not paid for last year. The Board suggested that there should be a letter sent out from the prosecutor’s office to try and have these individuals pay. GIS Monthly Report Mark Reyes was present. Mark gave an update on the GIS department. He stated that he continued to work with the Snake River Parks board to get updated signs posted. He has worked with the city to continue to update the maps that he has. Then he worked to look up the traffic report for the intersection of highways 93 & 25. Fair Board Interview Chris Dugan and Amanda Worthington were present. Chris was present for an interview regarding the fair board. Chris stated that he is a dairy farmer. He moved here 20 years ago to farm in the area. He has been involved with 4H and FFA since he was a kid. His kids are also involved in those programs. The interview continued with questions posed by the Board. Capital Improvements Discussion Amanda Worthington was present. Amanda stated that she received a couple of quotes for two capital improvement projects at the fairgrounds. The first is regarding three light poles that were blown over in a bad wind storm a few weeks prior. The total bid is $15,085.00. Part of the project should be covered through insurance once the fairgrounds meet their deductible. The cost she is looking for with this project is $10,000. The other project is to replace the piping near the grandstands. She stated that the piping is full of tree roots and that it continues to flood in some areas and not getting enough water to other areas. The bid for this project totals $9,656.60. Commissioner Howell moved to approve the Farmore Standley bid to replace the main irrigation line at the fairgrounds in the amount of $9,656.60. Seconded by Commissioner Crouch. The motion passed with a unanimous vote. Discussion: The expenditure will come out of the Commissioners capital fund. Commissioner Watkins moved to approve the $10,000 for the fallen light poles that need to be replaced at the fairgrounds. Seconded by Commissioner Crouch. The motion passed with a unanimous vote. Discussion: The repairs are necessary due to wind damage. Meeting recessed at 11:38 am. Meeting reconvened at 1:15 pm. Monday, January 5, 2026 Page 3 of 7 Executive Session per Idaho Code 74-206(1)(b) for Personnel Cy Lootens and Jesse Vallez were present. 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 1:16 pm and ended at 1:27 pm. Juvenile Probation Monthly Report Mario Umana, Amanda Worthington, and Marianne Schiewe were present. Mario gave a report on the juvenile probation department. He stated there are a total of 84 juveniles on probation. There were 11 new cases during the last month. There was a total of 4 cases closed during the last month. The department received a total of $514.00 in fees over the last month. He went to the Idaho Youth Challenge Academy graduation. There were eight kids from the area who graduated. He wanted to discuss the van that their department uses. He wanted to give it back to the county to use but needs to have some repairs done on it first before he does so. The quote he received for the work totals $988.10. One of the other vehicles that they use needs new tires. He received a quote for the tires from three locations. Commissioner Crouch moved to approve the repairs for the blue van, not to exceed $1000, and new tires for the gray Ford Edge in the amount of $995.00. Seconded by Commissioner Howell. The motion passed with a unanimous vote. To see an image of the report please see page 6 of the minutes. Fair Board Amanda Worthington and Mariann Schiewe were present. The Board wanted to continue their discussion regarding the appointment of members to the fair board. The Board reviewed the individuals who had interviewed for the fair board positions and the members who are up for reappointment. Commissioner Crouch moved to appoint Chris Dugan and Jeri Ahrens to the fair board for a four-year term, and Chris Dunn to the remainder of a three year term. Seconded by Commissioner Watkins. The motion passed with a unanimous vote. Monday, January 5, 2026 Page 4 of 7 Discussion: Gus Peterson will be fulfilling the remainder of his term which will last three years. Chris Dunn will be fulfilling the remainder of Mariann Schiewe’s three year term. It was determined that although people serve willingly and faithfully on the board at length that it is good practice to give others a chance to serve as well. Based on that Marianne was thanked for her services and will not be reappointed. Tax Cancelations (3 Scoular, 1 Darigold) Mark Swenson, Cy Lootens, and Tevian Kober were present. Mark stated that he has four tax cancelations, three for Scoular and one for Darigold. The three that are related to Scoular were not entered in correctly after the BOE decision in July of 2025. Due to the values not being correct the properties were not tax appropriately. The total to be canceled for each parcel is $718.75, $2,663.54, and $30,735.92. Commissioner Crouch moved to approve the corrections indicated by the assessor for the parcels for Scoular and their tax cancelations based on what should have been updated from the BOE decisions in July of 2025, in the total of $34,118.21, for parcels RPJ53500010010, PPIND535001002, and PPIND535000022. Seconded by Commissioner Howell. The motion passed with a unanimous vote. Discussion: Not everything was corrected on the parcels after the BOE decisions which led to the issues of being overtaxed on the specific parcels. The one parcel for Darigold he is not fully sure what led to the issue. The only thing he could find was that the pollution control exemption was not applied properly to the parcel. This parcel was not a part of the BOE from 2025. The exemption increased the property value by over $3,400,000. The total to be canceled is $45,890.07. Commissioner Howell moved to approve the tax cancelation for Darigold in the amount of $45,890.07, for parcel number RPJ1366001006A. Seconded by Commissioner Crouch. 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. Monday, January 5, 2026 Page 5 of 7 Read and Approve Minutes Commissioner Crouch moved to approve the minutes from 12/22 and 12/23. Seconded by Commissioner Watkins. The motion passed with a unanimous vote. Legal Counsel Legal counsel was not present for their time with the Commissioners due to conflicts with court schedules. Meeting adjourned at 3:16 pm. ________________________ ______________________________ Ryan Treanor, Deputy Clerk A. Ben Crouch, Chairman ______________________________ Charles M. Howell, Commissioner ______________________________ Art Watkins, Commissioner Vv Statistics for Commissioners 11/24/25- 01/03/26 Juveniles — 84 Total New Probationers — 11 o Juvenile-0 o Diversion—-11 Total Closed Probationers — 4 o Juvenile-0O o Diversion-4 Total Fees Paid — $514.00 o Juvenile — $36.50 o Diversion — $84.00 o Annex—5$393.50 Monday, January 5, 2026 Page 6 of 7 BUDGET TOTALS DEPARTMENT PAYROLL ACCT PAY GRAND TOTAL 1|CLERK $ 42,521.20 |$ 623.18|$ 43,144.38 zassessoR [$s zotar| ts — azar. 3/TREASURER TS 7676.71) LS 7676.71 | 4|HUMAN RESOURCES | $ 3,302.30 $ 3,302.30 6|CORONER $1,019.22 $ 1,019.22 {O)SUILOING & GROUNDS WA's —Botae |S ——TOSSEZTS —To.023-06 11/EMERGENCY MANAGEMEN]$ 2,120.00] |S 2,120.00 | 13/EXTENSIONAGENT [$3,776.30] TS 3,776.30 | 14[DATAPROCESSING | $__—8,004.81|$ 8,451.52 |$ 16,456.33 | 15[ELECTIONS TCS 16|CHARITY $ : eIgeNERAL +5 66,880.38 |$ 2,215.54|$ 69,095.92 21|PLANNING & ZONING $ 14,489.79 $ 14,489.79 gigs] 2202.80] | 2 20000} 29|GENERAL FUND RESERVE $ : SEAN $ _7,038.53|$ 7,038.53 9,387.59 | $ 197,58 4(SHERIFF S'S 87.787.21|$ 10,817.08 |$§ 96,604.69 S|SHERIFF-DETENTION —s|$_95,952.00|_ | S$ (95,952.00 | 6/ADULTPROBATION | $_—10,448.00/$ 10.00 $ 10,458.00 | 7/PROSECUTOR | $31,250.02 $ 123.59 $ 31,373.61 | 8[PUBLICDEFENDERS =[| | CSC Q|JUVENILE PROBATION |$_ 12.619.70| | $12,619.70 | 18/GENERAL JUSTICE | $_ 135,347.33] $ 29,638.23 $ 164,985.56 | $ 373,404.26 | $ 40,589.50 | $ 413,993.76 S|VETERANS MEMORIAL | | ST 6|DISTRICT COURT § 10,518.34 $ 11,820.24 EAR | 10885 8 $10 885.55 9|CAPITAL FAIR $ : ‘f]EALTH DISTRI ———[ 15|ELECTION CONSOLIDATION § 3,333.36 $3,333.36 ZO|REVALUAION | § 21.507 90] | sa sore 23|SOLID WASTE g : zafORT -—— 27WEED | SO 29]AMBULANCE | TCS 38|WATERWAYSBOARD | |S 38/(WATERWAYS SHERIFF) | | CSC 39|BROADBAND GRANT FUNDS 41|BOND REDEMPTION 48|AMERICAN RESCUE PLAN 1 Sub Total $ 53,117.51 $ 604,721.71 $ $ 1,349.6 61,326.7 41) 44 | 69 3 467.14 2 43 54 666