Jerome County | minutes | meeting 2026-10-19 | Commissioners Meeting source: https://www.jeromecountyid.us/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Minutes/_10192026-1720 JEROME COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS Monday, October 19, 2026 PRESENT: Ben Crouch, Chairman Charles Howell, Vice Chairman Art Watkins, Commissioner Cy Lootens, County Clerk Meeting convened at 9:01 am. Airport Weekly Report Staff present: Marty Luhr, Brandon Buckway Public present: Ralp Kincheloe The commissioners asked Ralph to attend to discuss the airport as a member of the airport board. They would like his perspective on questions they had about the airport. Ralph discussed the fuel prices at the airport and how to make them competitive with other nearby airports. He stated that the airport board thinks all citizens should have access to the fuel at the airport to purchase. He discussed the difference in cost for the fuel for planes that are at the airport and planes landing for fuel. Ralph informed the commissioners that near the fuel pump there is a posted state ordinance that says you must have authorization to travel the airport to the pumps. He said if someone stopped in and spoke with Brandon or Marty and were given permission that would count as authorization to proceed. Commissioners discussed adjusting the fuel costs for home aircraft and if there is an easier way to do it than the current practice, and if there is a program or card reader that could be installed to accomplish a fix. Ralph suggested that planes could input their tail numbers to receive a different price. Brandon will research programs and procedures on changing the fuel cost at the pump and report to the board next week. Commissioner Reports Commissioner Watkins – Commissioner Watkins reported that he attended the department head lunch on Tuesday. HR was the main focus of the lunch. Tuesday, he attended the Hazelton City Council meeting. Sheriff Taylor introduced Lieutenant Gratzer to the council. On Thursday he attended the Tri-County weed meeting. The budget and the current weed season were discussed, as well as the plan to purchase chemicals for next season. He also attended the Jerome Chamber dinner Thursday night. Commissioner Howell – Commissioner Howell reported that he attended the Metropolitan Planning Organization meeting Wednesday. The third bridge was discussed. All potential sites for the bridge have been inspected recently. He also attended the Jerome Chamber dinner on Thursday. Commissioner Crouch – Commissioner Crouch reported that he attended the county fair board meeting on Tuesday. They discussed billing questions with the county and milage re- imbursement. They also discussed the upcoming fair appreciation dinner. On Thursday he attended the Jerome Chamber dinner. On Friday he attended the Magistrate Commission meeting to help select the next magistrate judge for Twin Falls County. IT Purchases/Server Rebuild Contract Staff present: Matthew McGregor, Barry Biesen Matthew discussed an upcoming IT conference about cyber security. Once an agenda is posted for the event he will share it with commissioners. He plans to attend the conference. He also discussed the mic system in the commissioner’s room and how to update it. Barry has been working on how to update it and what the costs would be. The update would include new microphones, and speakers in the ceiling so that it is easier to hear speaking. Barry estimates the cost to be $1704.99. Matthew also discussed a project at the sheriff’s office that needs completed. They need a server cluster installed. They would like to hire an outside company to do the install. The total cost of this project is estimated at $6000. After discussion commissioners gave Matthew approval to sign up for the IT conference. Commissioner Crouch moved to approve expenditures as presented for a sound system and storage build out of servers totaling $1704.99 and $6000 respectively. Seconded by Commissioner Howell. The motion passed with a unanimous vote. Historical Society/IFARM Discussion Public present: Barbara Mecham Barbara was present to discuss repairs that are needed at the IFARM. She said the “Poor House” building needs repaired and needs a new roof. She came to ask the commissioners to sign a letter of support for a grant that they are applying for to pay for the repairs. Commissioner Crouch moved to sign the letter of support for a grant to repair the “poor house” at the IFARM. Seconded by Commissioner Watkins. The motion passed with a unanimous vote. Coroner’s Office Building Discussion Staff present: Dan Chatterton Dan was present to discuss a new coroner facility. In previous discussions he has expressed the need for a new building and cooler space for the county. He spoke with the sheriff and emergency management to formulate a plan in case a disaster or emergency happened. He stated that if something were to occur there are not enough resources from his department to handle a large situation. He is asking to have a building constructed at the sheriff’s office in order for him to have a larger cooler and working space, since he currently relies on funeral homes in town for that space. In the new budget this year $100,000 was allocated to constructing a facility for his office, and he would like to get started planning. The budgeted amount is not enough to build a large facility, but he thinks it’s enough to build what he needs for now, and the building can always be upgraded or added on to in the future. His next step will be talking to Brent Culbertson to figure out what the building would look like and potentially getting it out for bids to build. County Office Hours Discussion Staff present: Mark Swenson, Tracy Perkins, Jesse Vallez, Carli Petruzelli, Nina Lagle, Windy Jay Mark was the first to speak to the commissioners. He wanted to discuss office hours around unofficial holidays since it was first brought up at last week’s department head lunch. He wanted to know if the commissioners were thinking about giving employees the opportunity to leave early on Christmas Eve or take black Friday off completely. He asked that if they were to give employees and departments a heads-up weeks or months in advance so that they have time to plan and get the word out to the public. He said he knows employees appreciate the time off when it is given on occasion but need time to plan around holidays. Mark also discussed if holidays could be traded for days like black Friday. His office was curious if Columbus Day could be worked and the employees could take the day after Thanksgiving off as a holiday instead. New years eve and Christmas eve were also options his office discussed. Tracy Perkins asked if the commissioners could survey county employees to see if this interested everyone and what days they would be willing to trade for one of the other days discussed. The different buildings and offices were taken into consideration as well. Since some in the sheriff’s office must work holidays, and the court clerks can only take off official state holidays. The commissioners like the idea of a survey and will reach out to the county IT department to send something out to everyone to get more input. The discussion will continue once a survey has been created and results can be reviewed. Meeting recessed at 11:50 am. Meeting reconvened at 1:16 pm. Law Enforcement Protection Agreements with City of Hazelton, City of Eden, and Valley School District Staff present: Rick Bohling, Anthony Gratzer Rick presented to the commissioners, contracts with the City of Eden, City of Hazelton, and Valley School District for continued work with the Sheriff’s office. He stated that the contracts are exactly like last year’s contracts. The services and costs for the entities are the same. Rick stated that once the contracts are signed, he will give them to the Clerk’s office to record. Commissioner Crouch moved to sign the contracts between the sheriff’s office and the cities of Eden and Hazelton, and Valley School District for services. Seconded by Commissioner Watkins. The motion passed with a unanimous vote. Emergency Management Monthly Report Staff present: Kirsten Hartley Kirsten was present to give her monthly report to commissioners. She reported that she received paperwork for the SHSP grant and will be using the funds for radios for the county sheriff’s office and the Jerome city fire department. Jerome county IT was also able to use the grant to purchase a badge printer for county employees. These purchases will use up all available grant funds for this year, but there should be more funds available next year. Kirsten also discussed the meetings she attended last month, and an annual conference coming up that she intends to attend with Matthew from the IT department. She also stated that the Emergency Operations Plan that she created is now complete and is waiting for review and final approval from the commissioners. The Commissioner stated that they would like to review it and will get it on the agenda for approval in the near future. To see an image of the report please see page 7 of the minutes. Personal Property Taxes Discussion Staff present: Nina Lagle Public present: Charla Wilson Charla stated that she is behind on her property tax payments for the last few years. She has been paying monthly to get the amounts paid off. She stated that her 2023 taxes will be paid off in January. Penalties and interest have been added to her back taxes for 2023, and she is asking for them to be removed so that she can work on paying off 2024. Nina stated that since Charla began paying off the taxes, she has not missed a payment. She began monthly payments in August of 2023. Commissioner Howell moved to waive penalties and interest for 2023 in the amount of $385.17 for Charla Wilson and parcel # RPJ14090010020 due to continued payments. Seconded by Commissioner Watkins. The motion passed with a unanimous vote. Read and Approve Minutes Commissioner Watkins moved to approve the minutes. Seconded by Commissioner Crouch. The motion passed with a unanimous vote. Sign and Approve Claims Commissioner Howell moved to approve the claims as presented by staff. Seconded by Commissioner Watkins. The motion passed with a unanimous vote. To see an image of the report please see page 6 of the minutes. Misdemeanor Probation Monthly Report Staff present: Andrea Gonzalez Andrea reported the stats for her office for the month of September. There were 44 new cases, 63 closed cases and a total of 421 cases. Fees collected last month totaled $20,512.39. Andreas discussed the cleaning of the U/A room. She spoke to Brent to clear the air on the situation, and a plan is now in place to maintain the room. She also presented to the commissioners a new alcohol testing kit. She is currently testing its functions to see if she would like to use them in her office instead of the SCRAM units she currently uses. The cost per device is $105, with a daily fee of $2 that she would pass on to the users. In her testing she thinks the device will work better than the SCRAM units. It has GPS tracking and takes photos of the users. She is asking the commissioners for permission to purchase 2 of the units for use in her office. Commissioner Howell moved to authorize the purchase of two BACtrack mobile smart breathalyzers. Seconded by Commissioner Watkins. The motion passed with a unanimous vote. To see an image of the report please see page 12 of the minutes. Meeting adjourned at 2:52 pm. ________________________ ______________________________ Cy Lootens, County Clerk A. Ben Crouch, Chairman ______________________________ Charles M. 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