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minutes meeting date 2026-01-05 · fetched 2026-09-09 · 19501 characters · official file · plain text
BOCC Jan 5 2026 Regular Meeting FREMONT COUNTY COMMISSIONERS MEETING MINUTES January 5, 2026 Present for the meeting was: Commissioners Blair Dance, Rick Hill, and Mark Chandler Also attended by: Clerk Meredith Mattingly, Deputy Clerk Kim Fletcher, Civil Attorney Blake Hall via Zoom, Assessor Carol Blanchard, Sheriff Bart Quayle, Parks and Recreation Director Greg Grant, Noxious Weed Supervisor Bryce Fowler, Emergency Management Coordinator Keith Richey, 5C Director Kyle Gould, 4H Coordinator Dana Miller, IT Administrator Josh Warnke, and IT Manager Chad Quayle Commissioner Dance offered the prayer. Deputy Clerk Kim Fletcher led the pledge. Commissioner Dance called the meeting to order and welcomed those in attendance. Noxious Weed Supervisor Bryce Fowler reported he will be going to Boise next week for state meetings. Stephanie is getting things put back on surplus now that the holidays are over. They are getting through grant cycles right now. 5C Director Kyle Gould reported they don’t have a lot going on right now. They have POST going on this month. They also have a big board meeting this month, and will be picking up 2 out-of-state kids this week that will be long-term holds. Emergency Management Coordinator Keith Richey reported he has been busy with grants. After the government shut down, FEMA and others are still trying to get things worked out. As it is early in the winter, he is working on plan updates. He attended the Arson Conference in Twin Falls in November; there was a lady that taught a day’s long class on Forensic Fire Investigation. He had a discussion with her about some of our fires and our mass fatality last summer in Island Park and he was asked to apply for a class and was accepted. Sheriff Bart Quayle reported that since our December meeting, dispatch has logged about 11,408 activities, which includes 61 911 calls, 549 traffic stops, 288 incident reports, 21 arrests, 206 citations issued, and 32 traffic accident reports. Our paper service has also been very busy. We currently have 33 in custody and 2 in Madison. At least 3 are being held in other counties that need to be transported here. He attended ISA meetings the second week of December; they are getting ready for the legislative session. He met with the Tri-County Sheriff’s Association and was told he is the new secretary. The low snow levels have impacted winter recreation, but there have been increases in snowmobile accidents in the last couple of weeks. They are monitoring the incident in Shoshone County; there was a shooting in their Sheriff’s office that injured 3 people. There was a standoff with the shooter until he was deceased. He is not sure if the power influxes are weather driven or not, but there have been some infrastructure damages in the jail. They have been repaired, but it is a problem that may need to be addressed. Assessor Carol Blanchard reported she attended the IACA meetings in Boise with the Assessors, preparing things to take to legislation in regards to the homeowners exemptions. Her office is currently preparing to mail property tax reduction forms, as well as get information out to people in the county that have turned 65 in the last year that this option is available to them. Most of her staff are attending continuing education classes in Boise this week. This year we need to gather ag information in the county so she is sending out a survey throughout the county to collect data. The more information we receive, the more helpful it is to us. The DMV has been busy. She will be attending the IAC meetings at the end of the month. Parks and Recreation Director Greg Grant reported the mild winter has allowed the golf course to have play through December. We have a new point of sale system coming out there to help at the golf course. Terry pulled docks in the waterways at the first of November. Grooming operations have finally started but it is still difficult because the snow isn’t good. 5 new electric chainsaws have been donated to the snowmobile program to help clear the trails. He has been pushing to update public communication online, so he has been working with IT to establish a Facebook page for Parks and Rec, and the Snowmobile page on the county site has been redesigned. He is working on a pay-to-play program with the Fish and Game for our waterways. There are still some things to work through but he hopes there will be a pilot program ready to go in the spring. IT Administrator Josh Warnke reported software has been one of their biggest projects lately. They have been working with Planning and Building on their Clariti software. Sara Bowersox has been working closely with them as well. It will be at least another 6 months before it goes live after their data transfer and migration. The Payroll and Financial software has been delayed; they hope to get it going in the fall. The Sheriff’s software package will be another big project; they will hold a kickoff meeting soon and hope to have it completed in 6 to 8 months. The first phase of the 365 project is complete; there are still some things to do but those things can wait. They have been working with the new title company to get documents to them. We have been dealing with power surge issues at the jail because of the weather, which is causing some concern; there was a report that the power went down for 45 seconds before transfer rather than the usual 5 second transfer; this could be an issue with 40 inmates in the jail. Commissioner Chandler will talk with some electrical engineers to see if they can point us in a good direction to correct this issue. Mr. Warnke stated IT will be working with Last Chance WWTP this spring on some projects. He and Mr. Quayle will also be back later today to discuss our email retention policy; they would like to change how long we maintain our county emails. IT Manager Chad Quayle reported they have been toying with the idea of a cellular push to talk network to use our cell phones like a radio. We currently have a network with one of our law enforcement channels, but it is only available to those that are on our FirstNet plan. We would like to expand this ability through Zello to our EMS, Search and Rescue, Emergency Services as well as the two City police departments. They would be able to use their cell phones in those cases when they don’t have radio coverage. He has some quotes together but nothing solid yet; at this point it looks like for every 2 channels it will cost about $3300, which is equal to the cost of 1 of our Sheriff’s radios. 4H Coordinator Dana Miller reported 4H just finished with a cake decorating class. Shooting Sports starts this Saturday and will go through February, every Saturday at the search and rescue building. She is hoping to hear about her NRA grant soon. She has been contacting the schools to be able to go in and teach art, Idaho history, and gardening at all the local elementary schools. Erika will be attending Know Your Government conference over Presidents Day weekend; we have a few kids registered to go. Tom Jacobsen has been in and out of the schools with his gardening robot. Once a month he has been doing a gardening class up in Ashton and Island Park. Cereal School will be held in Febrary at Fort Hall. Clerk Meredith Mattingly reported she has been settling into her office and doing a lot of cleaning. We have hired 2 new clerks; we have a new Accounts Payable Clerk as well as a new Court Clerk upstairs, so she has been training the new Accounts Payable Clerk. Bonita will be attending the Elections conference in Boise this week, and she will be attending IAC at the end of the month. Commissioner Hill reported December was busy. He’s been working on putting together an RFQ for the security entrance; it has been advertised, and he hopes to have several bid proposals for it. The bidding process for that will close on the 12th; it was extended an extra week because of the holidays. He would then like to get a selection group together consisting of himself, Brandon Harris, Sheriff Quayle in a Special Meeting to do a review of the bids and be able to make a recommendation to the Commissioners. Hummel would like to come next Tuesday to walk through the building and make sure they have all of their information correct for the build. The interior signage has been completed on the Annex North. They will install the signage on the front of the building after the painting is done in the spring. The fair board had meeting; Ange is still working on getting a tractor to help with the work on the arena. They had a Christmas party on the 13th to wrap up their year, and it was well attended. Eastern Idaho Solid Waste had a meeting; they were hoping to close out their temporary loans and switch to the permanent USDA low interest loans, but they were unable to do it yet because there were some items that are still incomplete. They hope to get those items finished so that switch can be done this month. Commissioner Chandler reported he’s been working with 5C Director Kyle Gould to try to find money for 5C. They went to Rigby and had a meeting with commissioners and stake holders to try to set up a regional youth detention center. He thought would be more successful, but unfortunately there was no interest. They all agreed there was a lot of value in the facility, but not enough savings for 10 counties. There will be a meeting next week at 5C to discuss what to do moving forward. He has been working with Greg Grant and the Snowmobile group. He’s also been working with Bryce Fowler about the invasive species issue, but there is no support. We were scheduled to have a meeting with Bear Lake about some of their ideas but it was cancelled because of the government shutdown; it just needs to be rescheduled. Commissioner Dance reported he was involved with the High Country RC&D group last month to discuss their plans for next year. They’ve received several contracts this year from up and down the valley that mostly deal with wildfire mitigation. He participated on the Governor’s Roadless Commission; his term is up so there are conversations about whether or not he will continue on the commission for another term. The training in the Clerk’s office seems to have been very thorough and he appreciates the dedication of Clerk Mattingly and the support that has been given to her from her Deputies. He highlighted that we held a public hearing last week about the Areas of Impact and he wanted to note the hundreds of hours of work and effort that goes into those hearings by our Planning and Building department, especially when those demands come from the state. This particular project started in July, and did have several naysayers, but he believes the Commissioners made a fair and correct decision to move forward and implement those Area of Impact changes that were represented and required by State Statute. It was well thought out and a lot of research went into it, and tweaks can be made if necessary. He commends our Planning and Zoning Department for their efforts. Social Services Debbie Biorn RE: Executive Session IC 74-206(1)(d) – action item Commissioner Dance made a motion to go into executive session pursuant to IC 74-206(1)(d) To consider records that are exempt from disclosure as provided in chapter 1, title 74, Idaho Code; at 10:11 a.m. Commissioner Hill seconded the motion. A roll call vote was taken with Commissioner Dance voting “Aye”, Commissioner Hill voting “Aye”, and Commissioner Chandler voting “Aye”. Commissioner Dance declared the meeting open at 10:19 a.m. Elections Clerk Bonita Sutton RE: Update about Polling Locations – action item Ms. Sutton updated the Commissioners about the County’s situation with our polling locations for elections. All of the precincts that were previously in churches are being moved to the Junior High Gym and the High School Little Theater. We are still working on how to deliver equipment. Egin, St. Anthony 2 and 3 and Chester will be at the South Fremont Jr. High Gym and will be combined into one voting group. Wilford will be at the South Fremont High School Little Theater Foyer. Teton and Newdale will be on the South Fremont High School Little Theater Stage. We will need to rent tables and chairs because school will be in session for this election, so the students will be using them. She has talked to her poll workers and they seem to be ok with these changes. Assessor Carol Blanchard RE: Resolution for Destruction of Records – action item; Public Records Software Contract – action item Ms. Blanchard presented a resolution for the destruction of county records maintained by her office. Commissioner Chandler made a motion to adopt Resolution 2026-06 for the Destruction of County records maintained by the Fremont County Assessor’s Office. Commissioner Hill seconded the motion. A full voice vote was heard with all commissioners voting in favor. Ms. Blanchard presented a contract agreement with Just FOIA for public records request software in the amount of $21,555.23 for the first year. The cost for a second year would be $14,000 if we choose to sign up again. Blake Hall has reviewed the final document and all of our requests for changes have been made and he has approved it. The funding for this software will be coming out of the General Reserve. Commissioner Dance made a motion to approve the Master Services Agreement #26715 with MCCI LLC in the amount of $21,555.23 with the funds coming out of the General Reserve. Commissioner Chandler seconded the motion. A full voice vote was heard with all commissioners voting in favor. IT Josh Warnke and Chad Quayle RE: Modify Records Retention Resolution 2013-07 – action item Mr. Warnke and Mr. Quayle discussed modifying Resolution 2023-07, which is our records retention ordinance. This issue has been a discussion for a while, and they have talked about it with Blake Hall. Every department is different in regards to their retention schedules for their documents. We have 3 different document types; permanent (10 years), semi-permanent (5 years), and temporary (2 years). Our emails are currently classified as a permanent record and it is barely manageable, currently holding about 4.2 million documents. They would like to change this to a temporary record and only keep them for 2 years. Email really shouldn’t be kept as an archive; it’s a way to communicate. Attachments sent within emails should be saved and kept appropriately so those emails can be deleted after a certain amount of time. Commissioner Hill made a motion to adopt Resolution 2026-07 Modifying its Record Retention Schedule with Respect to Email Communications. Commissioner Chandler seconded the motion. A full voice vote was heard with all commissioners voting in favor. Commissioners RE: Executive Session IC 74-206(1)(b) – action item This session was postponed to a later date. Treasurer Lori Beard RE: Hardship Exemption – action item Chief Deputy Treasurer Stacey Hughes presented Hardship Exemption 2026-01. She discussed how this applicant was previously tax exempt, but their exemption had to be reinstated with the state. Their 2024 tax cancelled because they were waiting for a form that was filed late with the state. They are asking for their 2025 taxes to be cancelled as well; they do have all of the paperwork returned, however they still need to reapply with the county to reinstate their tax exemption status at the county level. The applicant explained that in 2024, when the county required updates with the long form for Tax Exemptions, they learned their exemption status with the State had expired in 2011. It took 7 months for the IRS to get everything reinstated, but it has been taken care of and they have just gotten the paperwork back. They didn’t know it would take 7 months for this process to conclude. They are just asking for a tax cancellation for their 2025 taxes and have already turned in their application to reinstate their Tax Exemption status at the county level in April. Commissioner Hill asked if they meet the qualifications for Tax Exemption. Blake Hall clarified their Tax Exemption status was consistent for years until they learned it had expired during the reapplication process 2 years ago. Commissioner Hill made a motion to grant the Hardship Exemption no. 2026-01 for the American Legion Post #89 and cancel the 2025 taxes in the amount of $1306.81. Commissioner Chandler seconded the motion. A full voice vote was heard with all commissioners voting in favor. Virgil and Theresa Barg RE: Horse Theft and other Legal Matters against them – action item; Executive Session IC 74-206(1)(b) – action item Commissioner Dance made a motion to go into executive session pursuant to IC 74-206(1)(b) To consider the evaluation, dismissal or disciplining of, or to hear complaints or charges brought against, a public officer, employee, staff member or individual agent, or public school student; at 1:01 p.m. Commissioner Chandler seconded the motion. A roll call vote was taken with Commissioner Dance voting “Aye”, Commissioner Hill voting “Aye”, and Commissioner Chandler voting “Aye”. Commissioner Dance declared the meeting open at 1:35 p.m. Parks and Rec Director Greg Grant RE: Golf Course POS Contract – action item Mr. Grant presented a new Point of Sales software contract for the Golf Course with ForeUp in the amount of $650 for the initial implementation, then $200 per month for a 24-month term for 2 modules. The cost for the equipment will be about $1400. They did look at other options, such as Square and Point of Sale, but they liked foreUP because it allows for growth in the future because it is a modular system that allows you to choose which modules you would like to engage with. For now, they will only be working with the Point of Sale and Marketing Platforms. Jeff Albiston is interested in the Tournament module in the future. Commissioner Chandler made a motion to accept the contract for the foreUp card reader for the Golf Course and take the funding from the Golf Course budget. Commissioner Hill seconded the motion. A full voice vote was heard with all commissioners voting in favor. Miscellaneous Commissioner Chandler made a motion to approve the claims for January 5, 2026 as presented. Commissioner Hill seconded the motion. A full voice vote was heard with all commissioners voting in favor. Commissioner Hill made a motion to approve the minutes from December 29, 2025 as presented. Commissioner Dance seconded the motion. A full voice vote was heard with all commissioners voting in favor. Commissioner Hill made a motion to approve the Junior College Application for the College of Eastern Idaho Spring 2026 academic year for Annika Nield, Rylee Schwendiman, and Madison Orr. Commissioner Chandler seconded the motion. A full voice vote was heard with all commissioners voting in favor. Commissioner Chandler made a motion to adjourn the meeting at 2:13 p.m. Commissioner Hill seconded the motion. A full voice vote was heard with all commissioners voting in favor. There being no further business to come before the board the meeting was adjourned. _________________________________ Blair Dance, Chairman Fremont County Commissioner Attest: _____________________________ Meredith Mattingly, Clerk HISTORY Recorded by Min. 611373 Regular Commissioner Meeting 01-05-2026 on 1/12/2026
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