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minutes meeting date 2026-02-09 · fetched 2026-09-09 · 10812 characters · official file · plain text
BOCC Feb 9 2026 Regular Meeting FREMONT COUNTY COMMISSIONERS MEETING MINUTES February 9, 2026 Present for the meeting were: Commissioners Blair Dance, Rick Hill, and Mark Chandler Also attended by: Clerk Meredith Mattingly, Deputy Clerk Kim Fletcher, and Civil Attorney Blake Hall Commissioner Dance called the meeting to order and welcomed those in attendance. EMS Bert Mecham RE: New Patient Billing Vendor – action item Mr. Mecham discussed getting a new patient billing vendor for EMS. We’ve looked at a few different companies and have found Systems Design West that does billing for EMS. They do per-patient billing which will be more cost efficient. We did look at doing it as a percentage which is what our current contract does, but this will save us money. We’ve had a lot of good feedback from other agencies that have worked with them. The current agency we work with has been very difficult to work with; even just trying to contact them to try to do anything is difficult. Blake Hall has reviewed the contract and has made some modifications to work with Idaho rules rather than Washington rules. Once it is signed, we’ll have 60 days to transition everything over and they can start billing patients, and there will be no charges to us until they do start billing patients. Commissioner Chandler made a motion to accept the System Design West contract for our EMS patient billing vendor. Commissioner Hill seconded the motion. A full voice vote was heard with all commissioners voting in favor. Public Works Director Brandon Harris RE: Road and Bridge Equipment Purchasing Plan – action item Mr. Harris discussed the Road and Bridge equipment purchasing plan for FY2026. Most of these are SourceWell quotes. In the budget: Trail King Transport Trailer – $133,586.90 Samsara GPS Camera System for Trucks and Graders - $16,566.03 Peterbilt Transport Truck - $173,007.00 Walk’n’Roll Grader Roller for IP – $33,990.00 Chevy 6500 Flatbed Truck for IP – $87,001.80 Finance Quotes: John Deere 872P Grader – $468,575.60 Peterbilt Dump Truck with Bed, no pup – $227,793.00 He plans on putting some equipment on the surplus that he hopes will bring in about $227,500.00 to help balance these costs out. Commissioner Chandler made a motion to approve the Road and Bridge purchasing plan as presented. Commissioner Hill seconded the motion. A full voice vote was heard with all commissioners voting in favor. Weed Supervisor Bryce Fowler RE: Solar Charging for Drones – action item; Department Report Mr. Fowler discussed purchasing solar chargers for our drones. The price has dropped this year, so we would be able to afford to do it, which would make it so our batteries could charge all day long and we can keep the drones running. We have been trying to figure out how to do this for several years, but haven’t been able to afford it. The cost for all of the equipment from East Idaho RV Repair would be $8,584.94. Commissioner Dance made a motion to approve the purchase of a solar panel system from East Idaho RV Repair in the amount of $8,584.94 for our Noxious Weed Department for the drones. Commissioner Chandler seconded the motion. A full voice vote was heard with all commissioners voting in favor. Mr. Fowler reported Stephenie has been working on surplus; we are caught up. There are a few items still going out and a few things that will be closing out this week. The cost of weed chemical; earlier this year we heard it was staying the same, but now we are hearing it will be going up. There are no updates on the invasive species control other than there are more species coming in than he realized. We are finally getting more communication from the state, but we still are at a loss as to how to deal with anything. He has been in communications with Tom in Montana to meet with them to see if a program can be started with them, because they are having the same issues we are having and want to try to work on it. He would like a meeting with Senator Bertenshaw, who seems to want to work on this issue as well, to see if there is a way to move forward. Planning and Building Tom Cluff and Sara Bowersox RE: Scheduling Appeals – action item Ms. Bowersox discussed we have 3 appeals coming up that we need to start working on scheduling, availability and locations. The first one is for Doug Button who had applied for a subdivision on the Henry’s Lake Flats. Planning and Zoning denied his application and he is appealing. Chase Hendricks is his attorney and his document is included in the packet. This application got a lot of attention and P&Z feels the Commissioners Room won’t be large enough to accommodate a regular hearing; they recommend a larger facility on any other day but a Monday so it doesn’t interfere with Commissioner meeting, maybe in the evening. The next one is for Mitch Mendenhall. P&Z approved an RV Park in 2023 near his home. At the time, no one disapproved, no one complained. Everything was properly noticed. Between then and March of last year, we have had some other interactions with the owners of the RV Park and they were reaching the end of their 2-year permit. They had items they were advertising to do on that property that weren’t permitted, so P&Z asked them to come in and amend their permit. They came through with the amenities to amend their permit. Since then, several of the neighbors have made complaints about what the RV Park is doing. The original permit cannot be appealed at this time, because it was approved, only the amendment can. The third is also related to this appeal. Mr. Mendenhall chose to file separately. P&Z recommends consolidating these appeals because they are concerning the same issue, and then half of the filing fee can be refunded. Mr. Mendenhall would like his own appeal; he doesn’t want his concerns to be overshadowed by the other group and their lawyer. Ms. Bowersox feels consolidating the appeals would be better for his case in the long run. Mr. Cluff discussed the third appeal, which was filed by Zaugg, Cogar and Cogar in regards to the Sandbox RV Class II Permit; they are being represented by Ryan Poole. This appeal has the same background discussed by Ms. Bowersox in the second appeal for Mitch Mendenhall. Blake Hall clarified that the argument the appellants are making is that the original Class II permit expired, when the County granted their amendment, so the owners of the RV Park should have to start the entire process over, among their many other complaints. Mr. Cluff stated part of the reasoning for combining the hearings for Mr. Mendenhall and Zaug, Cogar and Cogar are because the notifications for the hearings will go out to the same people, they are for the same area, they are for the same filings, and for many of the same complaints. Also, if the cases are separated and the Commissioners make a decision on one hearing, it would be assumed they wouldn’t be able to be unbiased about the other hearing, and a decision will already have been made. Commissioner Dance made a motion to consolidate the two appeals regarding the Sandbox RV. Commissioner Hill seconded the motion. A full voice vote was heard with all commissioners voting in favor. Ms. Bowersox recommends scheduling these hearings no sooner than a month from now in order to have time to prepare. Commissioners penciled in the Sandbox hearing for April 29 at 6pm at the Annex Building, and the Caldera Flats hearing for May 20th at 6pm in the courtroom. Both of these dates, times and locations could change. Chief Deputy Sheriff Cody Gudmunson and Sheriff Bart Quayle RE: Review Contracts – action item; Annual Agreement for School Resource Deputies – action item Mr. Gudmunson presented a new contract from TK to service both elevators. Our current contract is about $5000 for just the one in the courthouse. To add the second one, he will do it for just over $8000. Just the jail elevator is currently serviced for $6000; the other company would have done both for $11,000, so this is a great deal. Commissioner Chandler made a motion to approve the TK Elevated agreement in the amount of $8160.00 for both elevators per year. Commissioner Hill seconded the motion. A full voice vote was heard with all commissioners voting in favor. The next contract is for biometric life detection radar in the cells to make sure inmates are doing ok health-wise. This is for medical monitoring for those inmates that refuse to eat or have other things going on. The cost will be $5500 up front, and then $1000 yearly maintenance, and we do have this in the budget. Commissioner Dance made a motion to approve and adopt the contract with Integrity Communications Solutions LLC for the new jail holding cell monitoring system. Commissioner Chandler seconded the motion. A full voice vote was heard with all commissioners voting in favor. Mr. Quayle presented our annual agreement with the schools for 2 school resource deputies, one on the north end and one on the south end. The school pays $90,000 per year to have these officers in the schools. Commissioner Hill made a motion to approve and adopt the agreement between the Fremont County Commissioners and the Fremont County School District for 2 Resource Officers for the 2025-2026 school year. Commissioner Chandler seconded the motion. A full voice vote was heard with all commissioners voting in favor. Miscellaneous Commissioner Hill made a motion to approve the claims for February 9, 2025 as presented. Commissioner Chandler 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 February 2, 2025 as amended. Commissioner Chandler seconded the motion. A full voice vote was heard with all commissioners voting in favor. Commissioner Hill made a motion to approve the 2025-2026 Retail Alcoholic Beverage License for: #47 Flat Rock Club Commissioner Chandler seconded the motion. A full voice vote was heard with all commissioners voting in favor. Commissioners discussed Change Order #7 for the Last Chance WWTP. Commissioner Hill made a motion to approve Change order #7 for the amount of $14,700 for the Last Chance WWTP. Commissioner Chandler seconded the motion. A full voice vote was heard with all commissioners voting in favor. Commissioner Hill made a motion to adjourn the meeting at 11:46 a.m. Commissioner Chandler 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. 611787 Regular Commissioner Meeting 02-09-2026 on 2/23/2026
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