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minutes meeting date 2026-04-13 · fetched 2026-09-09 · 20282 characters · official file · plain text
BOCC Apr 13 2026 Regular Meeting FREMONT COUNTY COMMISSIONERS MEETING MINUTES April 13, 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 via Zoom Commissioner Dance called the meeting to order and welcomed those in attendance. Treasurer Lori Beard RE: Tax Cancellations – action item Ms. Beard presented the tax cancellations for the month of March 2026 in the amount of $164.79. Commissioner Hill made a motion to approve the tax cancellations for the month of March 2026 in the amount of $164.79. Commissioner Chandler seconded the motion. A full voice vote was heard with all commissioners voting in favor. Elections Clerk Bonita Sutton RE: Amendment to Polling Locations – action item Ms. Sutton presented the amended polling location list for the May 19, 2026 election, which includes the location change for Newdale from the High School to their City Building. Commissioner Chandler made a motion to approve the amendment to our voting locations for the May 19, 2026 election, allowing for Newdale to vote in their city building. Commissioner Hill seconded the motion. A full voice vote was heard with all commissioners voting in favor. She invited Commissioners and the public to the L&A testing on April 29th at 11:00am in the Clerk’s Office. We will be testing our elections equipment to make sure it is working properly and answering any questions about our election equipment. Anyone is welcome to attend. Early voting starts in the Courthouse on May 4th and goes until May 15th. We are also currently accepting Absentee Ballot requests until May 8th. Elected Officials and Department Heads RE: Personnel Policy Updates – action item The discussion about the personnel policy continued from last week’s meeting. The conversation ended with a question about everyone’s opinions about hiring an HR employee, or contracting out for HR. Everyone felt having someone in this position would benefit the county. Commissioner Hill asked what this person would be responsible for. Those responsibilities would likely be benefits, employee complaints, FMLA issues and other related items. Commissioner Dance asked Blake Hall his advice about hiring an HR employee. Mr. Hall stated it’s a policy decision. He has seen HR situations that have worked out really well, and others that have been very poor. It would be important to find the right person for the position if we choose to have one. ICRMP has a number of resources and training available for an HR employee. He is not aware of an HR contractor available in eastern Idaho, but there are a couple out of the Boise valley; he is not aware of their costs. He noted that HR tends to become its own department out of necessity, and often needs 2 people to run it, so we may want to keep this in mind. Commissioner Chandler feels at the very least we should update our current personnel policy. It has been several years since it has been updated. Ms. Beard stated there are some portions of our current policy we are not doing, so we will need to decide whether or not we start doing those things, or if they just need to be taken out of the policy. Ms. Beard discussed employee retention. Surrounding counties seem to be doing better helping employees want to stay. One suggestion would be to see if the county would be willing to help contribute to the employees 401k’s. Mr. Hall stated this would be a budget issue. County funds are limited, so choices would have to be made whether those funds go towards raising salaries or towards 401k contributions. Ms. Blanchard discussed the possibility of raising our PTO. Fremont County is behind on our max amount of paid time off hours we can have, which makes it so we have to donate so much time to people who have to take time off for sick leave. Fremont County currently has up to 256 hours, vacation and sick leave are combined. Neighboring counties have 400+ hours; some have vacation and sick leave separated. A comment was made that PTO is difficult to build at the beginning of employment, which could be a deterrent to employment, so a question was posed if we could offer 80 hours at hiring that they would only be able to keep if they stay on for a year, and if they choose to leave, they wouldn’t be able to be paid out on those hours. Mr. Hall said no. Any hours that are earned during employment have to be paid out upon termination, so if we offered them 80 hours to start, and they choose not to stay, we would have to pay those hours out. He discussed the reasons our policy changed to limit the number of PTO hours we have in the county. At one time Fremont County had vacation days and sick days separated, but decided it was too much of a headache to document everything and combined them into one and have a limit for budgetary purposes. Several comments were shared about how because our hours are limited, many of our employees prefer to save those hours for vacation time, so they come to work sick and share it with their departments rather than staying home when they should, which is frustrating for everyone. Commissioner Chandler would like to get a rough estimate on a 1% match for 401k’s just to see what it would do. He wants to help our employees, though he can’t promise anything right now. He would just like to see. Commissioner Hill agrees. Ultimately it comes down to the budget, but he also wants to see what can be done. He also agrees our current policy needs to be updated. He is also in favor of looking into contracting someone for an HR position. Some concerns with that would be costs, office space, and possibly hiring a second person to help them. He wonders if things aren’t working as they are and if that’s why a lot of these issues are coming up. Ms. Blanchard stated its not so much that there aren’t things she hasn’t been able to handle, its more that people don’t want to deal with her or another elected official and would like someone else to talk to about certain issues. Mr. Hall stated personnel issues are hard. Department Heads are in a difficult position because they don’t want to discipline their own employees and would rather have someone else handle it, and be able to handle it appropriately. Commissioner Dance feels next steps would be to review our current policy and see what changes may need to be made and updated. He would like to know the needs of our employees and see their opinions and have them provide options and recommendations for needed changes that will work within the budget. Jensen-Poulsen / Damon Johnson RE: FY2025 Audit Presentation – action item Mr. Johnson presented the results of our FY2025 audit. They didn’t find anything of concern or out of order. They found the county did an excellent job of adhering to procurement policies for the 2025 fiscal year. He reviewed the financial highlights for the county over the last year. He expressed that they really enjoy working with our county and appreciate the effort we put into making things easy for them. Commissioner Dance made a motion to accept the audit report presented by Jensen-Poulsen Company for FY2025 as presented, and to sign the management representation letter. Commissioner Chandler seconded the motion. A full voice vote was heard with all commissioners voting in favor. IT Manager Josh Warnke RE: Executive Session IC 74-206(1)(d) – action item; MDR Software – action item; Storage & PC Refresh – Action item; Overtime – 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 10:35 a.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 10:43 a.m. Commissioner Dance made a motion to approve the acquisition of security software in the amount of $9,391.00. Commissioner Chandler seconded the motion. A full voice vote was heard with all commissioners voting in favor. Mr. Warnke discussed refreshing and updating the county’s storage hardware system. It would cost about $55,000, but would store all of our data countywide. Unfortunately it is a downgrade from what we are currently using. He does have the full amount in his budget, but he needs to have a buffer amount of about $15,000 to get to the next budget cycle, so he wonders if there are still some ARPA funds available to help with some of the balance. Commissioners stated there are some ARPA funds available, as well as some funds available in PILT. Commissioner Hill feels it would be best to take it out of the ARPA funds. Commissioner Dance agrees. Commissioner Chandler asked if $20,000 would be enough. Mr. Warnke stated he would be comfortable with that. It would cover the cost of the hardware and leave enough of a buffer in his budget to cover the rest of this fiscal year in case he needs it. Commissioner Chandler made a motion to pull $20,000 out of the ARPA funds for the computer storage hardware for IT from, for a total of $55,000.00. Commissioner Hill seconded the motion. A full voice vote was heard with all commissioners voting in favor. Mr. Warnke discussed replacing some of our pcs. He wasn’t going to budget for these this year, but he was informed the cost of pc’s is going to increase by 20% this Fall. We could look into other vendors besides HP, which he hasn’t yet, but he doesn’t know what the market is going to do. He would be more comfortable waiting, but if we have the funds available, it might be better to do it now. Commissioner Hill is unsure about making a decision now. We have some projects that may use ARPA funds; he won’t know for about a month if the funds will be needed for those projects. Mr. Warnke stated it wouldn’t be a problem to bring this item back to them in a month. It may give him time to see what prices will do as well as look at other vendors. Mr. Warnke discussed the overtime budget for IT. They are already about $200 in the red from working on the 365 project, and they are getting ready to start on the project for the Sheriffs next week. He would like permission to continue to work overtime hours. Commissioner Dance made a motion to grant permission for the IT Department to go into the red if necessary for the remainder of the budgetary year. 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)(a) – action item Commissioner Dance made a motion to go into executive session pursuant to IC 74-206(1)(a) To consider hiring a public officer, employee, staff member or individual agent, wherein the respective qualities of individuals are to be evaluated in order to fill a particular vacancy or need. This paragraph does not apply to filling a vacancy in an elective office or deliberations about staffing needs in general; at 11:01 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 11:17 a.m. Commissioner Hill made a motion to hire Logan Hildebrand as the part-time Fairgrounds employee for the summer. Commissioner Chandler seconded the motion. A full voice vote was heard with all commissioners voting in favor. Coroner Brenda Dye RE: MOA with Bonneville County – action item Ms. Dye presented the agreements with Bonneville County to utilize their cold storage and extra coroner services in case of emergencies. These were presented in last week’s meeting, but needed time for review by our Civil Attorney, Blake Hall. He has had time to review both agreements, and has approved them. These are mutual aid agreements, so we could use their services or they could use ours if needed. Commissioner Dance made a motion to approve the Mutual Aid Agreement between Bonneville County and Fremont County Regarding the Coroners’ Offices. Commissioner Hill seconded the motion. A full voice vote was heard with all commissioners voting in favor. Commissioner Dance made a motion to approve the Interlocal Cooperative Agreement Between Bonneville County and Fremont County for Operational Facility Use of Coroners’ Offices. Commissioner Hill seconded the motion. A full voice vote was heard with all commissioners voting in favor. Extension Officer Tom Jacobsen RE: Extension Program Update Mr. Jacobsen updated the Commissioners about what he has been doing with the Extension Program. He has several classes scheduled in Island Park and Ashton, and finally has classes scheduled here in the St. Anthony Library. Most of his focus is on Ag, but he is still happy to go out and help with people’s gardens and trees if they have concerns. We are having a forestry field day on May 1st in Driggs, and on July 29th in Island Park. The robotics he has been working on is moving forward in the schools. They are having a robotics competition on May 14th at the College of Eastern Idaho. Cereal Field Day will be July 23rd at the Tetonia Research Center. 4H has been very busy in the schools. Camp registration opened up this morning and they already have 34 kids signed up. Extension has 3 interns starting in May to help for the summer. He also provided a list of the events and classes coming up for the summer. For information about these classes and events, please contact the Fremont County Extension Office. Sewer Op Manager Jon Simms RE: Request to Replace Sewer UTV Vehicle – action item Mr. Simms returned with more bids for a replacement UTV for the Sewer Department. These machines have the same specs. The first is from Rexburg Motor Sports for a 6x6 Can-Am Defender in the amount of $33,677, and the other is for a 6x6 Can-Am Defender from Island Park Adventures in the amount of $32,749. He also had a third quote, but the price was much higher. All of the quotes have the public works discount. Commissioner Chandler made a motion to accept the bid from Island Park Adventures for the 6x6 Can Am Defender for the Sewer Department in the amount of $32,749.00. Commissioner Hill seconded the motion. A full voice vote was heard with all commissioners voting in favor. Planning and Building Planner Dusty Rigby RE: Fullmer Subdivision Div. #1 1st Amended Plat – action item; Kove’s Hideout – action item Ms. Rigby presented application #26-007 for Fullmer Subdivision Div. #1 1st Amended Plat along with Findings of Facts, Conclusions of Law and Decision. Commissioner Hill made a motion to approve application #26-007 for Clayton and Rachelle Fullmer, and Ronnie and Kay Fullmer - Fullmer Subdivision Div. #1 1st Amended Plat along with Findings of Facts, Conclusions of Law and Decision. Commissioner Chandler seconded the motion. A full voice vote was heard with all commissioners voting in favor. Ms. Rigby presented application #26-009 for Kove’s Hideout along with Findings of Facts, Conclusions of Law and Decision. Commissioner Chandler made a motion to approve application #26-009 for Tyler Hansen - Kove’s Hideout along with Findings of Facts, Conclusions of Law and Decision. Commissioner Hill seconded the motion. A full voice vote was heard with all commissioners voting in favor. St. Anthony City Mayor Donald Powell RE: Unwritten Agreement Between City and County – action item Mayor Powell discussed an unwritten agreement between the City and the County for an exchange of services, but no one has been able to tell him what that agreement was until he talked to Abbie Mace. The agreement she remembered is the County waiving garbage fees for all of the City’s properties, and the City provided water, sewer, and garbage services for all the County properties within City limits. He proposes the City and County start paying each other what we owe. There is an imbalance in the fees; the County is waiving $7500 per year, and the City is waiving $36,000 per year. Mr. Hall stated he wasn’t aware of this agreement, written or unwritten. That being said, the budget is already set for this fiscal year, so the county likely doesn’t have it in their budget to pay these fees this budget cycle. Mr. Powell understands the budget is an issue and is willing to wait for these payments if we can agree to work them into the next fiscal year budget. Commissioner Hill understands the frustration for the City; the cost difference is significant. However, he knows the City doesn’t pay anything for dispatch now, but they used to. He’s not aware if any other city pays for dispatch services. He also knows there are some fees we have paid to the city for building inspections for our new annex as well as some fees we paid for the jail expansion. The argument was made that City residents are County residents, and their taxes go towards dispatch and the jail, which is why the City no longer pays for dispatch services. Mr. Powell stated if there building inspection fees the county has paid for, the City would reimburse them. Mayor Powell provided a list of city properties the county is waiving the garbage fees for. There are currently 91 properties on this list. Commissioner Chandler agrees it is a fair statement to pay each other what we owe. Mayor Powell stated he isn’t here to cause problems and is willing to work with us when he can, but it isn’t fair to the taxpayers when things are so uneven. Mr. Hall stated it will have to be budgeted in the next fiscal year. He will also need to keep in mind that other cities may have different agreements with the county when it comes to our dispatch and how redistributing funds will affect the City. Commissioners would like to talk with the Sheriff before any decisions are made. Mayor Powell also requested that if there are going to be changes within the county (i.e. GIS or Planning and Zoning), please let the City know so they know what to expect and they know how to work with us. It seems the map/addresses change frequently, but those changes aren’t as frequently communicated with the City so they can stay updated. Miscellaneous Commissioner Hill made a motion to approve the claims for April 13, 2026 as presented. Commissioner Chandler seconded the motion. A full voice vote was heard with all commissioners voting in favor. Commissioner Chandler made a motion to approve the minutes from April 6, 2026 as amended. Commissioner Hill seconded the motion. A full voice vote was heard with all commissioners voting in favor. Commissioner Hill presented a bid from Doug James to remove the drive through awning on the North Annex, as well as the stucco. Commissioner Hill made a motion to approve the bid from Doug James construction to remove the awning and the stucco on the North annex in the total amount of $4,700.00. Commissioner Chandler seconded the motion. A full voice vote was heard with all commissioners voting in favor. Commissioner Chandler discussed the invasive species issue. At this point we are trying to decide if we can afford the security addition. If we decide we cannot, can those funds be reallocated to the Weed Department to address the invasive species issue. Mr. Hall doesn’t know. He isn’t sure if the county is authorized to conduct their own inspections where the state has preempted those inspections. We would need to ask the state. Commissioner Hill asked if we can take those monies out of the ARPA funds and set them aside or if they have to be spent. Mr. Hall stated they have to be spent. ARPA funds can’t be set aside or moved to another fund to be used later. Commissioner Hill feels we could look at PILT to address the invasive species issue if we need to. Commissioner Dance closed the meeting at 2:08 p.m. 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. 612543 Regular Commissioner Meeting 04-13-2026 on 4/20/2026
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