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minutes meeting date 2026-04-27 · fetched 2026-09-09 · 23486 characters · read by OCR, check numbers against the source · official file · plain text
APPROVED COMMISSIONER MEETING OF April 27, 2026 The Caribou County Commissioners met in regular session on April 27, 2026 at 9:00 a.m. Those in attendance were: Mark Mathews, Commissioner, Chairman Justin Steel, Dept of Juvenile Corrections Bryce Somsen, Commissioner Angie Mendenhall, Treasurer Marty McCullough, Commissioner Katy Bergholm, DEQ Jill Stoor, Clerk Doug Tanner, DEQ Doug Wood, Prosecutor Aaron Thompson, Judge Sharlene Simons, Deputy Clerk Michele Poletti, Aid for Friends Kevin McLain, Road & Bridge Tami Moore, Aid for Friends J Adam Mabey, Sheriff Shalayne Bartschi, CC Sr. Citizens Eric Hobson, Public Safety Dan Darlington, Simplot Helen Barker, Parks & Rec Jared Clinger, Simplot Aaron Cook, Assessor Paul Gritton, Soda Springs Mayor Rowdy Larkins, CC Building Dept. Brandon Hall, The Idaho Enterprise The meeting opened with Jill Stoor leading the pledge of allegiance and prayer. Kevin McLain, Road & Bridge: Kevin mentioned that he received a permit for crossing the road which is just a gravel road in Chesterfield for the Crandall’s. He has already paid but needed a signature from Commissioner McCullough. Kevin talked about the bridge in Chesterfield. He is having issues with the road closure cones out there, they are being taken off the road and he is finding them in the borrow pits. They will be taking concrete road blocks out to be put up. Kevin talked to Jake Poulsen this morning about something that was brought to his attention over the weekend. Some of the maps online shows the Portneuf River channel, which has been abandoned and was moved to where it is now, are wondering if it can be classified as a canal because the actual river channel was about an 1/8 of a mile to the west. After talking to Jake, he feels that they will still say it is a tributary so it will still fall into the same category. Kevin shared that they want to fix it as inexpensive as possible and yet be safe as well. He received blasting quotes for the Ivins pit. Last year for 35,000 tons he thought they paid $66,000 - $70, 000. The new quote for the same tonnage is $1.94 per ton and would be $70,300 another bid would be for 84,000 tons will be $1.78 totaling $158,000 and then if they want to do the whole mountain side it would be $1.59 per ton totaling $420,000. Kevin would like to do another 35,000 tons blasted for this year. He mentioned that they are still permitting for the Stauffer pit, but that could be 90 days. There was discussion on the cost to run the crusher, moving it, and/or leaving it sitting idle. It was decided to do blast again using the bind for $70,300. | Commissioner Minutes 04-27-2026 Page 1 Kevin asked where the bridge expense would come from, and it was suggested the state funds could be used for part of that expense and the rest out of Kevin's budget. They are hauling chips today out of Alpine for Smoky Canyon and he is hoping to get that done today and tomorrow. He said they are finishing up on Mag Chloride and they had to replace a hydraulic pump on the truck that discharges the mag. Last week they finished up graveling the Mountain Road that they will be doing the new oil on. They have graveled Turner Cemetery Road and up on Wide Hollow Road. Commissioner Somsen asked if he is still planning on oiling the China Hat Road and Kevin said they will probably do the preparation work this year and maybe oil it next year. Commissioner Mathews shared that the Mayor of Grace was in and talked about the chip seal on Mingo Road and Commissioner suggested to continue to the 2 - Mile Road due to all the traffic on that road. They will not do the subdivision yet due to not meeting qualification regarding the number of homes. He shared that the truck that got deleted, started right up! They are still doing some work on the parameters on it. All 3 new employees are working this morning. The bid from Brad Skinner for the dry storage shop came up a little different from last year. For a building 50 wide, 60 deep would be a total of $66,000 and $104,000 including concrete. A building 60 deep and 60 wide would be a total of $78,000 and then $130,000 with the concrete. Commissioner Somsen made a motion to approve the bid from Brad Skinner for the construction of a new storage shed at the Road and Bridge Department 60 x 60 feet for up to $131,000. Commissioner McCullough seconded the motion. Motion passed. Commissioner Somsen made a motion to approve the bid from Eagle Rock Blasting for blasting at the Brian Richardson/Mabey pit for 35,000 tons for $70,400.00. Commissioner McCullough seconded the motion. Motion passed. LTAC agreement for the 8-mile bridge needs a signature on the change of rates. Commissioner Somsen made a motion to enter into an agreement with LTAC Local Agreement #2.6.1 for the 8-Mile Bridge. Commissioner McCullough seconded the motion. Motion passed Commissioner Somsen made a motion to enter into an agreement with the Idaho Department of Lands for the new mineral prices that went from $1 per cubic yard to $1.50 per cubic yard, and $.75 per short ton to $1.00 per short ton effective June 20, 2026. Commissioner McCullough seconded the motion. Motion passed. Commissioner Somsen made a motion to convene an executive session pursuant to I.C. 74-206 (a) at 09:38 a.m. Commissioner McCullough seconded the motion. Commissioner Somsen voted aye; Commissioner McCullough voted aye; Commissioner Mathews voted aye. The motion passed and the executive session began. Commissioner Somsen suggested ending the executive session at 9:50 a.m. No decisions were made. (ge Ree coments seer reece NE TI EN a Te ee a NT NM AR a NR Ta (nee eee Commissioner Minutes 04-27-2026 Page 2 J. Adam Mabey, Sheriff: Sheriff asked if he will need to worry about the sewer line with the road construction out that way so he won't have to deal with that in the future. It was agreed to take care of it while it will already be dug up rather than later. Sheriff will look into this. He attended a Dam Failure Drill involving the Blackfoot Reservoir that was put on by an organization that was hired by the tribe for future planning. He talked about what would happen if the dyke would fail and said it would not come back into Soda Springs. He mentioned they do not have a secondary evacuation route in place for people out at the dyke. He is continuing to work with Mark Stenberg with Pacific Corp and with the State of Idaho to come up with an MOU. There will be a meeting here tomorrow night regarding this. Commissioner Mathews would like to attend and Jill will need to get it posted. Jail inspection passed with flying colors. Commissioner Somsen made a motion to convene an executive session pursuant to I.C. 74-206 (f) at 11:29 p.m. Commissioner McCullough seconded the motion. Commissioner Somsen voted aye; Commissioner McCullough voted aye; Commissioner Mathews voted aye. The motion passed and the executive session began. Commissioner Somsen suggested ending the executive session at 12:01 p.m. No decisions were made. Katy Bergholm, Doug Tanner, DEQ: Katy came to check in and make sure the Board has her contact information and to share an update from DEQ. She wanted to share the 2025 report to citizens which has information of what DEQ has accomplished this last year. She shared that their real focus is on helping facilities find compliance and focusing on compliance assistance and only using force when necessary. In Caribou County they just closed a drinking water grant with the City of Grace for $30,000. The City of Soda Springs has an active drinking water grant for $22,500, Bailey Creek received a drinking water grant for $20,000, and a waste water grant for City of Bancroft for $30,000. She shared that they also do a low interest loan for actual upgrades that is a revolving fund. Bailey Creek was awarded for drinking water $3.200,000, the City of Grace for waste water received $3,200,000, Soda Springs received $500,000 for lead service line replacement, and Soda Springs also received $65,000 for waste water. They have helped Caribou County with a total of $7,000,000. Work to cap Selenium at the North Maybe Mine has begun. Doug, who came with Katy, spoke about his duties with DEQ and mentioning that they are trying to get the regional landfill open this fall. He said they are in good repour with IDAWY. Commissioner Somsen asked about the landfill not needing to be under the Health Department anymore. Doug shared it doesn’t change his duties and hopes it makes things better. Commissioner McCullough asked about disposal of solar panels. Doug thought the idea of reusable energy was good but on the back end it was not thought through as far as disposal of them. More discussion is needed on this. ge eee errr meme eee cee RNIN LIN ST TEE TEEN LE NT a a eT a TN LTE LI TT Te EET RR Commissioner Minutes 04-27-2026 Page 3 Aaron Thompson, Judge: Judge Thompson introduced himself. He is a magistrate Judge in Bannock County and has held that position now for 8 years. He was a practicing attorney throughout Southeast Idaho for 18 years. He was a civil, and criminal litigator, he had a private practice, he handled appeals to the Idaho Supreme Court, the Idaho Court of Appeals, and Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. He was also licensed before the Shoban Tribal bar. He is running for a District Court position. If elected he would move to Caribou County. He is a believer of treatment courts. He was a State wide chair of the Idaho Supreme Court Committee on guardianships and conservatorships for 3 years. He mentioned that he has a great working relationship with law enforcement. He mentioned that this is a unique situation for a judge to run against another judge and shared his reason for running for this position. He expressed that promptness and diligence are very important. Commissioner Somsen asked about his relationship with Judge Windmill. Judge Thompson explained that there was an appeal to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals over Judge Windmills decision and overturned Judge Windmill. He then stated that he respects Judge Windmill as a Jurist. Public Hearing - Invasive Species: Commissioner Somsen made a motion to enter into a Public Hearing for Invasive Species Ordinance No. 2026-03 at 10:31 a.m. Commissioner McCullough seconded the motion. Motion passed unanimously and the hearing convened. Jill shared that Caribou County Ordinance No. 2026-03 is an ordinance designating additional county noxious weeds, adopting state enforcement procedures, and providing for suspension of the three-reading rule. The basis of this ordinance is that we are adding Russian thistle and Kochia to the Caribou County list of noxious weeds to go along with the State’s list. This was published in the paper the last 2 weeks and received no public input. There was no public comment here at this hearing. Commissioner Somsen suggested closing the Public Hearing at 10:33 a.m. for the Invasive Species. Commissioner McCullough seconded the motion. Motion passed. Commissioner Somsen made a motion to adopt Caribou County Ordinance No. 2026-03 an ordinance designating additional county noxious weeds, adopting state enforcement procedures, and providing for suspension of the three-reading rule. The two weeds listed here are Russian thistle and Kochia to be added to the county noxious weed list. Commissioner McCullough did not second. Commissioner Mathews seconded the motion. Commissioner McCullough did not vote in favor. Motion passed. Michele Poletti, Aid for Friends: Michele is the Executive Director for Aid for Friends. She brought Tami Moore who is the shelter manager. They have an Emergency Homeless Center in Pocatello. They are reaching out to neighboring counties for support. She mentioned they do not get a lot of funding through HUD receiving only $38,000 a year. They serve individuals, families from all surrounding counties. They do 2 fund raisers each year and rely heavily on donations and try for grants as well. She shared that Bannock County will not be able to support this as much as they have in the past. Commissioner Minutes 04-27-2026 Page 4 e Tami spoke and mentioned that this is a 90 day program to receive services. They have 38 single beds for men, 24 single female beds and 8 family rooms. e Commissioner Somsen asked what the total budget is for the shelter and Michele shared that it is $247,000. He then asked what counties have they visited to donate and Michele shared who they have talked to. They are asking for $20,000. e Commissioner Somsen made a motion to approve a donation of $2,000 to the Aid for Friends Emergency Shelter from the opioid funds. Commissioner McCullough seconded the motion. Motion passed. Helen Barker, Parks & Recreation: e Helen needed a signature on the Professional Service Agreement between Caribou County and FTC Solutions LLC for lawn care. This was agreed upon at the last meeting. e Ordinance No. 2026-04 in regards to a zone change on Gunnell Road going from Ag to Low Density Residential. Commissioner Somsen brought up the concern about spot zoning and he thought it was really consolidating with the City of Soda Springs. Helen shared her feelings on this as well. Commissioner Somsen wanted to show on the parcel map that it is filling in the gap and not spot zoning. Helen mentioned that essentially you will have spot zoning as you continue to grow. e Commissioner Somsen made a motion to adopt Ordinance No. 2026-04 an ordinance amending the Caribou County Zoning Map, finding that the zoning change meets the standards of approval in chapter 13.52.100 of the Caribou County Code, and providing for an effective date. Commissioner McCullough seconded the motion. Motion passed. e In regards to the Oregon Trail Marina Helen found out that the county does not have any irrigation rights. Commissioner Mathews shared something similar happened to the golf course. Commissioner Mathews shared an idea of leasing some rights. Helen has talked to the Department of Water Resources and they said the county needs to find someone with shares from the Bear River. Commissioner Mathews stated that he will check into this. Shalayne Bartschi, CC Sr. Citizens: e Shalayne came and shared a report of income and expense for the Caribou County Senior Citizens. She is still looking for a cook, but mentioned that not many people want to work part time. Tana is still filling in for now. e Jill shared a bill from Hank Carpenter. Shalayne said it was a quote nota bill. This is to insulate the garage for $5600 and this will be paid for by the center. e The thrift store continues to do well. She shared that the condensation leak in the roof has improved since the insulation was put in. Dan Darlington, Simplot: e Dan brought Jared Clinger who is the Pipeline Maintenance Supervisor. Dan was pleased to announce that they do have Timber Creek Road open for the season. He shared that the mine activity looks really good for Smoky. Simplot is in a good position concerning the war that is going on. a Commissioner Minutes 04-27-2026 Page 5 Jared spoke that the North Trail Canyon Road will be worked on in 2 weeks and Slug Creek Road next week. These roads will be down to put in pipe for water. Traffic will be one lane and they will have flaggers there. Commissioner Somsen asked about end of life of the mine. Dan spoke and said nothing has change and looking at 15 years out between starting to shut down Smoky. Kevin spoke about the chip seal and overlay they will be doing over the summer and asked who the contact should be to call when the county moves in to the area to work. Dan mentioned himself, Trevor Kunz, or Brock Brown. Invitations for a tour will be out soon. The date will be either July 7‘ or the 9" to tour the mine site. Justin Steele, Dept of Juvenile Corrections: Justin canceled. Aaron Cook, Assessor: Aaron gave an update for the ratio studies for 2025. Vacant residential is well with in the standards for COD (Coefficient of Dispersion) & COV (Coefficient of Variation). Median Ration is 91.07%. Improved Residential showing the Median Ratio of 93.53% and COD and COV were excellent. He received notice they he is compliant. This was based on last year’s reappraisal. Update on Computer Arts. Harris bought the Computer Arts software who is looking to get out of the software. He was waiting on Marcus Meyer to email him and Jill shared that she received this email on Friday. He mentioned that there are two options, 1) Starting with Proval, or 2) Amentum program that goes with Proval or the state has a program. He heard that Ada County had Amentum write a program that would be similar to what they have been using but it would be about 3 years out. Angie shared that her frustration is that now her tax stuff will be independent from Aaron’s assessment and also independent from Jill's financials. Expressing the margin of error increases due to having to manually enter more than one time. Jill mentioned that indigent portion of the software is also going to be gone as well. Proval is a software company that may work. They would like to come and talk on the 4" of May. Aaron thought that him and Angie could go see what neighboring counties are using. Rowdy Larkins, Building Dept: Rowdy spoke about the Annex building, vs Event Center internet. The Extension Office thought they were paying for the Event Center when in reality, they were paying for the Annex Building and there was a mix up in the billing. Rowdy is wondering if the county wants to cancel the Annex internet at this time because if we cancel and then add it, it could be more money to add it again. Jill shared that the coroner has the internet box that the GIS Department had so he is covered. It was agreed to cancel the internet at the Annex Building. He made everyone aware that the elevator is down for at least 3 weeks. Some of the electrical boards are down, due to being an old machine, parts are hard to find. Jill asked if this is a patch or a permanent fix and Rowdy is trying to get that answer. a a eA a a Commissioner Minutes 04-27-2026 Page 6 He shared an update on generator. The company said that it needs to be relocated or refunded; the board suggested getting the refund. Doug asked if there are other options, Rowdy mentioned that there may not be other options as Close as Pocatello but he will check into Logan, Tremonton, and Idaho Falls. Commissioner McCullough asked if Jake Poulsen had looked at the concrete at the Event Center. Rowdy has not heard from him on this yet. Eric Hobson, Fire/Ambulance: Eric talked about drought disasters and emergencies. He shared that Governor has declared a drought disaster emergency for the state. Wyatt at National Weather Service said the water sheds are at about 81% of normal this year and Blackfoot is at zero already according to Snowtel. He mentioned that to determine ground water there is no set algorithm. Eric put together a declaration for the county. It allows federal agencies to have an extra step for an agriculture producer who wants to get into a program. This declaration will be secondary support document. Commissioner Mathews shared that it would help due to insurance companies wanting documentation and this would be a supporting document to the Governor's declaration. It was agreed to do this. Commissioner Somsen has concern about maybe “crying wolf too early”. Commissioner McCullough made a motion to accept Resolution 2026-04 for the Caribou County Emergency | Disaster Declaration for drought. Commissioner Somsen seconded the motion. Motion passed. Eric shared that he went to the Dam Failure Drill that was put on by the Tribe. There was more discussion about what would happen at the dyke if it ever flooded. Eric said that the Tribal Resources would likely let us know there is a problem and then we could start an evacuation. Doug Wood, Prosecutor: Doug had nothing to share. Jill Stoor, Clerk: Jill mentioned that her and Commissioner Somsen has talked to Melanie about the cleaning of the Annex Building. She wondered if it should be paid out of the cleaning budget or PILT. It was agreed to take it out of the cleaning budget. Posting for the Rocky Mountain meeting, does it need posted and does there need to be minutes? Doug stated that if there will be decisions made there would need to be minutes but none otherwise. It will need to be posted and minutes done as well. After later discussion it was decided to declare it a board meeting and post the meeting. She shared that the elevator is causing issues. Jill shared a court order that was released. This was received on April 24, 2026. This has been very frustrating. The City of Soda Springs said if necessary we could use their city council meeting room and the Event Center is also a temporary facility to use. Her major concern is the moving of heavy election equipment up and down the stairs. Update on Commissioner/Courtroom. Jill attended a meeting last week with the state, and she feels like a solution has been met. A new county computer will be bought for commissioner meeting. They will come and do all new SOT rere corner mmr eee eee re ne ee YY LTT TT a SLI EY LP TT Commissioner Minutes 04-27-2026 Page 7 network cables, they will do the switch, we will share the monitors, keyboard and mouse, they will label it so we know courtroom or commissioners, and the biamp will be installed. We will need a new storage spot on the county server and she will talk to TJ about this. Jill has been on a text with Oneida County trying to come up with funding for the Law Clerk. Lon in Oneida has offered to pay $15,000 as well as Franklin County. This will all switch at the new fiscal year. Calendar dates: May 5t - Persi Training from 9:00 a.m. to noon and will present 3 different levels. May 12 - Budget Levy training. May 20t - Keller Associate Craw Fish Boil. June 2-4 - IACC Annual Conference in Nampa. Commissioner Somsen made a motion to convene an executive session pursuant to |.C. 74-206 (f) at 11:09 p.m. Commissioner McCullough seconded the motion. Commissioner Somsen voted aye; Commissioner McCullough voted aye; Commissioner Mathews voted aye. The motion passed and the executive session began. Commissioner Somsen suggested ending the executive session at 11:23 a.m. No decisions were made. Commissioner Somsen made a motion to convene an executive session pursuant to I.C. 74-206 (a) at 2:06 p.m. Commissioner McCullough seconded the motion. Commissioner Somsen voted aye; Commissioner McCullough voted aye; Commissioner Mathews voted aye. The motion passed and the executive session began. Commissioner Somsen suggested ending the executive session at 2:35 p.m. No decisions were made. Other: Commissioner Somsen made a motion to accept the agenda as presented for 04/27/2026. Commissioner McCullough seconded the motion. Motion passed. Commissioner Somsen made a motion to approve the minutes of 04/13/2026 as presented, the claims approval report in the amount of $355,522.79 for 04/23/2026 and the payroll claims in the amount of $223,003.49 for 04/15/2026. Commissioner McCullough seconded the motion. Motion passed unanimously. The meeting adjourned at 2:35 p.m. The Caribou County Board of Commissioners will meet again on May 11, 2026 at 9:00 a.m. for regular meeting. Signed: Mark Mathews, Commissioner Chair Attested: Jill Stoor, Clerk inutes 04-27-2026
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