Caribou County | minutes | meeting 2025-10-13 | Minutes
source: https://www.cariboucounty.us/Commissioners/2025 Minutes/CCM 10-13-2025.pdf?t=202511171556210

COMMISSIONER MEETING OF October 13, 2025

The Caribou County Commissioners met in regular session on October 13, 2025 at 9:00 a.m. Those in

attendance were:
Mark Mathews, Commissioner Chairman Ally Schwulst, GIS
Bryce Somsen, Commissioner Rowdy Larkins, Building/Maint.
Marty McCullough, Commissioner Justin Hatch, Extension Office
Jill Stoor, Clerk Rachel Hamilton, Extension Office
Doug Wood, Prosecutor Lisa Barfuss, Extension Office
Tisha Young, Chief Deputy Clerk Taylor Simmons, Extension Office
Sharlene Simons, Deputy Clerk Shelley Reeves, Fair Board
Kevin McLain, Road & Bridge Bill Horsley, Caribou Historical Society
Eric Hobson, Public Safety Galen Wilson, Caribou Historical Society
Kya Simmons, Public Safety Mayor Jackie Barthlome, City of Grace
Rowdy Larkins, Maint & Bldg Braden Lott, Itafos
Dwight Lloyd, Weed Control Chris Leatherman, Bayer
Helen Barker, P&Z Brandon Hall, The Idaho Enterprise

The meeting opened with Mark Mathews leading the pledge of allegiance and prayer.

Kevin McLain, Road & Bridge:

Kevin said that last week he went to Crow Creek with Hal Heiner. He mentioned that they are still working on the
gas line and making a mess on the road due to some wobble trucks. They have done a good job of digging some
soft spot out and taking care of those. He is waiting to see what they do when the project is all done before they pull
totally out of there. They wondered about chip sealing the Smoky Canyon Road as it has been about 10 years since
it was chip sealed last. He will check on prices to see where to get the material from.

Kevin was talking with Dwight about his road grader and Dwight thought he may be able to drive one with a joy stick.
Kevin is wondering if he should buy a new one, send out an upgraded one, or lease one. He will check with Western
States and see what programs they offer.

He shared that they went out and cleaned out the culvert below Swenson’s to help with Stan Christensen’s water
concern. He then went out with the transit on Stan’s place by Hwy 34 and Kevin stated that there is no way to get
the water to run up hill. The new culvert is now in on Steele Lane. They also went up on the Smith Canyon side
before Gilbert's corrals and fixed a big wash with some rock from the blasting they had done.

He mentioned that they will be doing bump grinding on the Blackfoot River Road this week and said it will get better
next year after it is chip sealed. He said that there is an LTAC grant where they may be able to do a double chip
seal next year he will work with Keller Associates and see if we can get that grant.

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He shared that there is another LTAC grant about safety where they might be able to get some money if they want
to re-design the corner on Government Dam Road. He thought that they may be eligible for that one due to the
fatality.

An employee still has 70 hours on the books and Kevin asked if he could get paid out on that or if the employee
needs to take the time off. Jill shared that due to a new fiscal year, payroll rates can’t be changed. It would need to
be paid out of the new budget year. The Board agreed that would be fine to pay him out and would like the payouts
done before the end of the fiscal year end in the future.

Commissioner Somsen made a motion to pay out Zeb Combs for 70 hours comp time that will come out of
FY26. Commissioner McCullough seconded the motion. Motion passed.

Kevin shared that one snowplow is up and functionable. He feels that from here on it should be faster. There is a
big opening above the tires in the under wells and they are concerned of getting a lot of snow build up into the engine
compartment and wondering if there is something aftermarket to fix that.

Commissioner Mathews commented about the cattle guard at Rasmussen Valley and said that the cows are crossing
on the side. Kevin will see if they can fix that.

Kevin went and bladed Dry Valley last week and was concerned about Kiewit and how they are working on the roads
by pushing from the center of the road to the shoulder of the road, they have filled in some of the barrow pits and
destroyed some of the drainage. He mentioned having a conditional usage permit so that if the plants are going to
work on roads they need to do this up to county standards. Kevin did mention that Wood Group and Degerstrom
have been really good on road repair.

Commissioner Mathews commented about the Lanes Creek Cutoff by the steel corrals there is a turnaround for
trucks and the hunters are using it for parking. Kevin wondered if there needs to be a sign there.

Commissioner Somsen talked about a turnout by the State Scenic sign in Freedom and shared that someone had
left a couch there. He talked to the DOT and asked f they were going to remove it and they said it was the county's
job. He then asked about it at the ITD meeting and they said they would take care of it. Commissioner Somsen
thought it was odd that the county would have to take care of that where it was the State's turnout.

Kevin then talked about plowing Bridge Creek and safety concerns. The board agreed that the road is too narrow
and dangerous. He said he still felt same way and for the safety of Dwight, Kevin said no.

Eric Hobson, Public Safety:

Eric talked about the All Hazard Mitigation Grant and they offered more money to go towards that project. They
offered $1858.76 of management cost and that will go toward the match. He presented this to the Board to accept
the money and needed signatures.

Commissioner Somsen made a motion to accept the Idaho Office of Emergency Management 2023 grant
notice for a total amount of $37,175.19. Commissioner McCullough seconded the motion. Motion passed.

Eric talked about his time to burn off vacation and asked if he could continue to work on this and extend his time to
use it. He is hoping to use it up by the end of November.

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Commissioner McCullough made a motion to extend Eric’s vacation to FY26 deadline. Commissioner
Somsen seconded the motion. Motion passed.

Eric was approached by Jessica Ashley who is in an Emergency Management Training program and use to work for
Bannock County. She is coming to work as an Intern and will come and help with plans.

Tomorrow the EMT class starts for the winter. This will be on Tuesday nights and they have 23 people signed up. 3
from Bancroft and the rest from Soda. Josh Mazza will teach it again with Eric and Kya assisting.

Eric met with Idaho Department of Lands today at Bailey Creek for the fire mitigation project and he has about 80%
of property owners signed up. Hopefully next spring they will be able to start work.

Rowdy Larkins, Building/Maint:

Rowdy had a question about homes built in the county on private land and the grade of the slope for their driveway.
Where does this come from and who inspects it? He wasn’t sure if Road & Bridge and Eric has something to do
with this. Eric mentioned that under fire code state statute is 10% and the county code is 7%. In the county code,
there is an affidavit the land owner can waive. The concern with this is that it wouldn’t be attached to the deed.
Rowdy has a build out on Smoky Canyon that has some parts at 15% grade. It was agreed to enforce the code they
have now.

Generator did not start over the weekend but it didn’t start because the batteries exploded. The batteries have been
changed out now and he mentioned they are still on track with the new generator.

He shared that they did the walk through on the Event Center the other day. There was no punch list started but
they want to meet another day to do that. Rowdy is meeting with Riley with the City of Grace tomorrow and they will
start working on getting the box put in where the old drain was. It should be paved by the 20th.

Dwight Lloyd, Weed Control:

Dwight said they are wrapping everything up except at the Stauffer pit. He mentioned they will not go in there with
their equipment. He said they could go in with backpacks or Commissioner Mathews suggested to hire someone
with a drone but Dwight is concerned that a drone may end up killing the quaking aspen trees trying to get the spotted
nap weed out of there.

Summit View gravel pit could be done by a drone another year.

Dwight asked about his winter route and if it is clear to Tammy's and back. Commissioner Somsen agreed but not
Bridge Creek.

He mentioned they are winterizing at this time. Shannon will be moving to help Kevin soon.

Ally Schwults, GIS:

Ally shared that Carrie Wilkerson is needing an address for the property the county sold her. Ally explained that a
while back Jackie Barthlome said that her address is wrong and it should be Mingo Road. After searching this really
is North 8" East. Jackie asked Kevin to get a street sign put up and he put North Mingo on it because Google and
Onyx show this. There are surveys that show both so Ally is needing clarification on this road. It was decided that it
should stay as North 8" East for Wilkerson’s address.

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On October 21-23 she has a conference in Boise and due to the condition of her department vehicle, Dwight said she
could use his truck but then she thought she would just take her own vehicle and keep track of miles.
Commissioner Somsen asked about the trail map and Ally isn’t sure it will work well on letter size paper. She had an
idea of a bigger map and folding it like a pamphlet. She will work on this.

Bill Horsley, Museum:

Bill and Galen Wilson came to speak about the Museum. They shared what they have been able to do to the building.
-They have put a new furnace in and put in an on-demand water heater.

-Completed the restoration on the apartment and ready to put items in there.

-Jerry has completed a train room upstairs. They have the original train set from the Stoors.

-Diane Olsen has painted on the walls, the West wall is “S” hill which has the geyser, the North wall is as if you are
standing on the North side of Caribou Mountain looking to the South, the East wall is Sherman.

-They had to replace a window in the garage.

-There was a pickup that was donated by the Kackley family and it was in all of the parades in the county.

-They put a plaque on Geri Seelos’s hair salon as being the original location of ZCMI and a plaque on stone at
Eastman’s Drug parking lot for the Copper Garage, and a plaque on Fryar hotel.

-They thought about putting one on Lallatin’s, and Sanders as well.

Future work restoration on the outside of the museum, the soffit, facia and eves area are all included in this. They
need to paint the outside and would need to rent a lift to do this and there was discussion on where to get that.
Dorothy Dunn donated a bench that was at the train dept and it needs some work done to it. In the past (2 years)
church service missionaries help at the pioneer cemetery. The West side of the building has been cleaned up and
filled in with fractured rock.

They shared that they greatly appreciated the funds the county has donated.

Bill shared that Teresa Watkins called and said that the Chamber of Commerce in Logan noticed that the student
housing was sitting empty and found some reverse snow birds and brought them up; he said it was a small group.
They brought them to the cemetery and the courthouse to look at the arrow head display. They were really impressed.
The summer hours are Saturdays from Memorial Day to Labor Day. They are trying to reach out and get more people
in there.

Bill asked about the marina and talked about the Phosphate Regatta from years ago. Bob Summers started the
regatta. Bill shared information about Bob and his work with the regatta which was run for 20 years and thought it
would be fun to maybe name the dock after Bob.

Jill will get make sure they get the budgeted donation.

Helen Barker, P&A:

Commissioner Somsen made a motion to enter into a Public Hearing to hear the proposed Kirk Corbridge
zoning change at 10:48 a.m. Commissioner McCullough seconded the motion. Motion passed unanimously
and the hearing convened.

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Helen shared that Kirk Corbridge is requesting approval to amend the Caribou County Zoning Map. The Zone
Amendment would allow a change from the Agricultural zone to the Low-density Residential zone. The property in
question is approximately 40 acres in size, located on Blackfoot River Road north of Soda Springs, Idaho.

Helen then shared a map showing where this land is located. The Planning and Zoning Board recommended
approved due to Zoning Code not having restrictions for this kind of request. She shared that Branden Lott and
Robert Mullener from ITAFOS attended the meeting stating that they are not opposed with the rezone but were in
attendance to inform the board that ITAFOS has property that abuts Corbridge property and holds a federal
phosphate lease and that there is potential for future development of the property north of the Corbridge property.
Commissioner Somsen questioned the spot zoning and also mentioning that they had denied one elsewhere.

Brock Strum is against this stating that the property borders Bayer.

There was no public comment.

Commissioner Somsen made a motion to close the public hearing at 10:57 a.m. Commissioner McCullough
seconded the motion. Motion passed.

Commissioner Somsen made a motion to deny Kirk Corbridge the zone amendment to allow a change from
the Agricultural zone to the Low-density Residential zone as this would create spot zoning. Commissioner
McCullough seconded the motion. Motion passed.

Commissioner Somsen asked Helen to write up the ordinance subject to approval by Commissioners and Road and
Bridge Supervisor.

City/County:

Mayor Barthlome mentioned that the bridge will be moved until November and hoping to have it done by the first of
the year. It will be asphalted in the spring. This will be a cast-in-place.

Event Center will start on the drainage tomorrow. She asked if the county would be there to help. Rowdy shared
that he would be there, Kevin will bring in the rock. Jackie shared that most of her crew would be at the sewer plant
as they lost power.

There was discussion on the Mingo/East 8" North road.

Discussion on the State Hwy projects through Grace and Soda Springs.

Chris Leatherman, Bayer:

Chris mentioned that there was an invitation sent out to the Board for November 20* from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
which is for the next Bayer Community Advisory meeting. He mentioned that with that being about a month out they
wanted to share some updates. They are going through a transition of workforce at the Bayer mine from NAD to
Deter Mining Group. This will affect all the personnel there that are working for NAD. There have been 200 interviews.
Business as normal as far as quantity, but will see a change in operating schedules where they will be going 24/7
instead of 4 days a week. He mentioned that they are within a couple of days of having the Caldwell mine approved.
Blackfoot Ridge has enough ore to keep things operational through about 2028 so there will be no big jump that will
happen to go to Caldwell. This will not be really noticeable to public driving by the mine.

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P4 Production is going through a legal identity name change. Ruvion, LLC is the new legal name and this does not
affect Bayer production. The name change may be for future scenarios.

Justin Hatch/Rowdy Larkins, Event Center:

Justin wanted to come and talk about the billing and use of the Event Center as they are receiving calls about using
the facility. He talked to Oneida about their policies and asked for a copy of some of their documents they use and
start from there. Oneida sent them a Use Policy and a Rental Agreement. He then tried to make it work for Caribou
County.

He talked about the cleaning and scheduling of the building and that after talking with Jill found that there was a
budget for this. He proposed to give the hours to Taylor Simmons which would make her full time. He felt that by
having her on site would be beneficial and would also help his office maintain their hours as well. Jill reminded him
that he didn’t budget for her to go full-time.

Rowdy asked where the Event Center falls. Does it fall under its own department, or does it fall under his building
department? He also asked if that position would fall under him or how is this going to be handled. Justin felt that it
should be someone that works there. Rowdy then asked about the outside maintenance and does that fall on Rowdy
or the person doing the cleaning and scheduling.

Commissioner McCullough shared that this is a Caribou County facility and not the University of Idaho's.

Mayor Barthlome shared concern about making sure there is a cleaning closet that will be available for those that use
the facility.

Shelley Reeves shared that the water bill may need to be addressed due to the grass would be on the same meter
as the facility.

There was a discussion on rates, cleaning, is this a part-time or a full-time position, how to handle money and it needs
to go through the county, who has priority when scheduling, who uses the office rooms, alcohol use, along with many
other topics.

It was decided for now to call Jill to take reservations. Angie volunteered to help until someone is hired to do this.
The Board asked to schedule this to be continued at the next meeting. The next meeting is on October 27" and could
also do a walk through at the building. It was suggested to block off that afternoon for this.

Tisha Young, Chief Deputy Clerk:

Tisha came in to talk about her call with ICRMP about exempt salary and how they cannot be given comp time. They
can however have vacation and sick time. She asked for direction on how the board wants her to give these 3
employees their floater holiday.

Eric then suggested to add an accrual line.

Discussion on different options on how to handle this.

It was decided to give the 3 employees the comp time for now and work on updating the County Policy Manual.

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Doug Wood, Prosecutor:

Doug mentioned that the county has a code about watering the roadways, and he needed clarification on how the
code reads and how the Board intended this to read. This code is being challenged and his office has been working
with the Supreme Court to clarify the code. The board agreed that the first violation needs to a written warning and
then every offence after that is a fined amount.

Jill Stoor, Clerk:

Jill presented Caribou County Resolution 2025-11, A Resolution designating the official newspaper of Caribou
County. The Idaho State Journal was the designated paper of the county. The Idaho Enterprise has now met the
requirements to qualify as the newspaper of record.

Commissioner McCullough made a motion to adopt Resolution 2025-11 designating the Idaho Enterprise as
the new official paper of Caribou County. Commissioner Somsen seconded the motion. Motion passed.

Jill presented a list and asked for approval of the liquor and beer licenses for 2026. Current applicants are being sent
applications to be filled out and returned along with their payment and a copy of their state license. She is asking for
a blanket approval of the existing licenses. If there are any changes, she will bring those in to the board for review.

Commissioner Somsen made a motion to approve the existing liquor licenses for those presented for 2026.
Commissioner McCullough seconded the motion. Motion passed.

Jill received a request from Horsley Funeral Home/Sims Funeral Home for an indigent burial which was a cremation
in the amount of $2683.00 he has been able to collected $900 and doesn't feel like he will be able to collect the
remaining balance of $1783.00. Jill shared that there are funds available and needs the Board's approval.

Commissioner Somsen made a motion to approve the indigent burial request in the amount of $1783.00 for
the name presented. Commissioner McCullough seconded the motion. Motion passed.

Jill shared the updated quote for the network equipment at the Caribou County Event Center.

Commissioner Somsen made a motion to approve the purchase of the network equipment in the amount of
$3417.48 from IT Specialists. Commissioner McCullough seconded. Motion passed

Jill then presented a contract from Direct Communications for the Caribou County Event Center. Commissioner
Somsen was able to log in and sign off on the proposal for the internet coming in. She needs approval of that from
the Board. The rate will be $255 per month.

Commissioner Somsen made a motion to approve the monthly contract of $255 per month from Direct
Communications for fiber internet for the Event Center. Commissioner McCullough seconded the motion.
Motion passed.

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Jill talked about an employee leaving and posted the opening. She is working with Judge Cousin on this as well.
Applications will be accepted until the 28" of October. This is for a deputy clerk in the magistrate division.

County Officials Institute is November 19th in Oneida, time to be determined possibly 8:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. November
18 is in Idaho Falls. She is wanting to sign up everyone who is attending today if possible. If attending Oneida, there
will be a 5" district meeting at lunch.

The ground breaking ceremony is tonight for the Caribou Medical Clinic in Grace at 6:00 p.m.

Commissioner Somsen made a motion to convene an executive session for 74-206 (f) for Jill Stoor at 12:40
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 1:20 p.m. No decisions were made

Other:

Commissioner Somsen made a motion to approve the agenda as presented, the minutes of 09/22/2025 as
presented, the claims approval report in the amount of $197,733.34 for FY25 and $1,726,974.11 for FY26 for
10-09-2025 and the payroll claims in the amount of $381,029.58 for 09/22/2025 — 10/03/2025. Commissioner
McCullough seconded the motion. Motion passed unanimously.

The meeting adjourned at 1:40 p.m. The Caribou County Board of Commissioners will meet again on October 27,
2025 at 9:00 a.m. for the next regular scheduled meeting.

Signed: Mark Mathews, Commissioner Chair Attested: Jill Stoor, Clerk

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