Madison County | minutes | meeting 2026-01-12 | Regular Meeting source: https://www.madisoncountyid.gov/Document center/Meeting Minutes/2026/January 12, 2026 ab.pdf?t=202601231359200 1 | P a g e Abbreviated Minutes: Complete Set of Minutes Are on File in The Clerk’s Office Madison County Commissioner Meeting Minutes January 12, 2026 Attendees: Todd Smith, Commissioner Chairman Brent Mendenhall, Commissioner Dustin Parkinson, Commissioner Troy Evans, Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Kim Muir, County Clerk Karen Daniels, Deputy Clerk ACTION ITEMS This meeting was streamed electronically. Pledge of Allegiance: By all Invocation: Commissioner Mendenhall Jason and Morgan were present to introduce their new staff, Doug Irwin and Blake Summers. Calendar Discussion: Next Commission Meeting: January 20, 2026. This will include a Department Head Meeting. IAC meetings in Boise: January 26–29, 2026, Todd and Brent will be going Sunday – Thursday. State of the Counties/Cities Chamber meeting: January 21, 2026, 7:30 a.m. Schedule of Commissioners and reports on various meetings: Meeting in Blackfoot for the Idaho State Fair Board January 22, 2026. Discussion Items: Schedule meeting with City Elected Officials: A dinner meeting will be held February 9th at 5:30 p.m. with the Rexburg City Council and February 23rd with the Sugar City Council. Appoint Planning and Zoning Board Member: After review and discussion, Commissioner Smith made a motion to approve Matt Bitter to replace Sharon Oakey on the Planning and Zoning Board. Commissioner Parkinson seconded and voting was unanimous. The motion passed. The Commissioners expressed their appreciation to Sharon Oakey for her time with P&Z. Review Commissioner responsibilities: This was discussed and a few changes were made to the Commissioners areas of responsibility. 2 | P a g e Review Services Agreement for scanning of images: Title One has expressed interest in scanning Madison County’s microfiche records. To evaluate whether their scanning format meets the County’s needs, Clerk Muir recommended allowing them to scan a sample set. This will provide an opportunity to review the format and quality before proceeding further. This will be discussed later after the sample test is completed. Contracts/Documents: After review and discussion, Commissioner Mendenhall made a motion to approve the Electronic Record Agreement for D7. Commissioner Parkinson seconded and voting was unanimous. The motion passed. After review and discussion, Commissioner Mendenhall made a motion to approve Change Order #2 with D.L. Beck for the transfer station dewatering system upgrades in the amount of $82,372.22. Commissioner Parkinson seconded and voting was unanimous. The motion passed. Routine Matters: After review and discussion, Commissioner Parkinson made a motion to approve the claims presented by the Clerk in the amount of $1,372,518.52. Commissioner Mendenhall seconded and voting was unanimous. The motion passed. After review and discussion, Commissioner Parkinson made a motion to approve the Commission meeting minutes for December 29, 2025. Commissioner Mendenhall seconded and voting was unanimous. The motion passed. Personnel Actions: After review and discussion, Commissioner Mendenhall made a motion to approve the Personnel Actions. Commissioner Parkinson seconded and voting was unanimous. The motion passed. After review and discussion, Commissioner Parkinson made a motion to approve the Certificates of Residency as vetted in the Clerk’s office for Emelia Drake, Braxton Merrill, Ann Orme, Makayla Goodman, Giselle Taylor, Mylie Slack and Natalyah Madsen. Commissioner Mendenhall seconded and voting was unanimous. The motion passed. Angie Moffat, Tax cancellations: After review and discussion, Commissioner Parkinson made a motion to approve tax cancellations in the amount of $16,200.97, due to homeowners exemptions, requiring proration. Commissioner Mendenhall seconded and voting was unanimous. The motion passed. Public Comment: David Merrill informed the Commissioners that the VFW has approved the placement of a storage container for the soup kitchen on the west side of the building. Both the VFW and the County agreed that this location would be the most suitable spot for the container. Commissioner Smith will visit with Evan and Jason Drollinger to see if this is suitable. Planning and Zoning: Public Hearing: 3 | P a g e Plat Amendment with Decrease for Patriot Plaza, Forge Holdings LLC, Matt Bitter. Commissioner Smith made a motion to open the meeting for a public hearing at 9:09 a.m. The hearing was recorded. The hearing was properly noticed. No written comments were received. No conflicts were declared from the Commissioners. A roll call vote was taken as follows: Commissioner Smith-yes, Commissioner Mendenhall-yes, Commissioner Parkinson-yes. Patriot Plaza Final Plat was approved in November 2025. The owner commenced moving forward with infrastructure and noted that the angles and configuration of the lots would make for difficult building placement and entrances. Rather than proceeding with the plat as approved, the applicant seeks to reconfigure the subdivision to make the lots more easily accessible, allow for buildings to be placed parallel to Yellowstone Highway, and improve overall flow and aesthetic of the subdivision. To date, no lots have been sold, or improved, making this kind of re-plat much easier, as no other lot owners are involved. As proposed, the re-plat will reconfigure the lots and reduce the total number of lots from 26 to 25. The roads are reconfigured for better traffic flow and maintenance and lots fronting Yellowstone Highway are now square to the highway. Opposed: None. Neutral: None. In Favor: None. After receiving no further public comment, the public comment portion was closed. After review and discussion, Commissioner Mendenhall made a motion to approve the Plat Amendment with Decrease for Patriot Plaza. Commissioner Parkinson seconded and voting was unanimous. The motion passed. Discussion regarding liquor licensing: In 1947, a special election in Rexburg resulted in a local ordinance that prohibited the sale of liquor by the drink within city limits. This vote has continued to affect alcohol licensing in the city for decades, including preventing establishments from selling liquor by the drink under current law. There is limited official documentation of the vote because many city records were destroyed in the 1976 Teton Dam flood, and some archived records cannot be located, but local accounts and newspaper reports confirm the outcome and its ongoing impact. Mr. Evans provided the Commissioners with the current Idaho state statutes on what the cities would need to do to change the current status—which would require a new public election. Arlynn Jacobson, Public Works, City of Sugar City, Path in Portion of Right of Way on Center Street: 4 | P a g e Arlynn shared plans for the development of paths and sidewalks in various parts of the city and is seeking the support of the County Commissioners for the project. Tyler from Road and Bridge was present and confirmed that the proposed paths and sidewalks would not interfere with snowplowing operations. He expressed no concerns and supports moving forward with the initiative. After review and discussion, Commissioner Mendenhall made a motion to approve writing a letter of support for the path in portion of right of way on Center Street. Commissioner Parkinson seconded and voting was unanimous. The motion passed. Madison Fire Board, Report on the well and geologist report at the Thornton site: Chief Child was present to discuss the possibility of drilling a test well to a depth of 180 feet, which could later be converted into a culinary water well for the building. He recommended reissuing the project for bid. During the discussion, Commissioner Mendenhall confirmed that Madison County remains responsible for covering 50% of the project cost, with the Fire Department covering the other half. This cost-sharing arrangement was verified by Chief Child. After review and discussion, Commissioner Mendenhall made a motion to agree to pay 50% of the test well. Commissioner Parkinson seconded and voting was unanimous. The motion passed. Sheriff’s Office: Update on grant applications being submitted: Cameron Stanford met with the Commissioners to report on current and upcoming grant activity: • He has already applied for and been awarded the SRO (School Resource Officer) grant, which will be used for resource officer training. • For 2026, he is requesting Commissioner approval to apply for the following grants: 1. Parks and Recreation Grant – for the purchase of snow machines 2. Underage Drinking Prevention Grant – to enhance patrol efforts in back hill areas These efforts support youth safety, recreational enforcement, and resource officer readiness. After review and discussion, Commissioner Mendenhall made a motion to give permission for Cameron to apply for the grants discussed. Commissioner Parkinson seconded and voting was unanimous. The motion passed. After review and discussion, Commissioner Mendenhall made a motion to sign the SRO grant. Commissioner Parkinson seconded and voting was unanimous. The motion passed. Court Security, Bailiff position: There was discussion about the possibility of hiring an additional bailiff. The Commissioners expressed interest but indicated they need more time to consider the matter. They requested that this item be added to the next meeting agenda for further discussion and decision-making. 5 | P a g e M2 Security for the Court House: Nick presented an updated proposal that includes pricing for a 10-year plan. After reviewing the update, the Commissioners requested that he bring all available service plan options to be reviewed and discussed at a future agenda meeting. This will allow for a more comprehensive evaluation before moving forward. The Commissioners commented how bidding on such a matter be completed and this was discussed with law enforcement as well as concerns over the costs and ongoing costs of this project. State increase for fingerprints on Concealed Weapons Permit, clarifying public information records fees set by the state: There was discussion about a state-mandated increase in the fingerprinting fee for concealed weapon permits. The Commissioners discussed these changes. Additionally, the topic of new fees related to public records requests was addressed. It was confirmed that implementing any new public records fees will require holding a public hearing. A draft ordinance will be prepared and once completed, law enforcement will come back to discuss it further with the Commissioners. Then a public hearing will be held. Teton County Contract sign: After review and discussion, Commissioner Mendenhall made a motion to approve the Teton County contract. The contract is for Teton County to house inmates in the Madison County jail at a set rate per day. Commissioner Parkinson seconded and voting was unanimous. The motion passed. Holiday Pay: There was a discussion between the Commissioners, Sheriff Ron Ball, and Jared Willmore regarding holiday pay for employees working 12-hour shifts. The Commissioners requested that Sheriff Ball present a formal proposal or policy update for further review at the February 9th meeting. Executive Session: Commissioner Smith made a motion to go into Executive Session at 11:34 a.m. Idaho Code § 74-206(1)(b) employee matters, (d) exempt records, Ann Marie Sorensen and Indigent Clerk and (f) pending litigation. A roll call was taken as follows: Commissioner Smith- yes, Commissioner Mendenhall-yes, Commissioner Parkinson-yes. The motion passed. Commissioner Smith returned to open session at 1:52 p.m. After review and discussion, Commissioner Mendenhall made a motion to approve Case No. N2025010 and N2026001. More information was requested on Case No. N2016012. Commissioner Parkinson seconded and voting was unanimous. The motion passed. County logo review: An updated copy of the logo was previewed and discussed. After review and discussion, Commissioner Parkinson made a motion to approve the updated logo. Commissioner Mendenhall seconded and voting was unanimous. The motion passed. 6 | P a g e Commissioner Parkinson adjourned the meeting at 2:05 p.m. Approved: Todd Smith, Commissioner Brent Mendenhall, Commissioner Dustin Parkinson, Commissioner Attest: Kim Muir, County Clerk