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minutes meeting date 2026-05-11 · fetched 2026-09-09 · 18804 characters · official file · plain text
BOCC May 11 2026 Regular Meeting FREMONT COUNTY COMMISSIONERS MEETING MINUTES May 11, 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. IT Manager Josh Warnke RE: Ref PC Replacement – action item Mr. Warnke presented new bids to replace our pc’s. He presented bids a month ago for these, but we have spent a lot of money since then with ARPA funds; he would like to know if he should plan on budgeting this for next year or if there are any funds available. On April 16th, the bid he had for Hewlett Packard was $57,000.00. In one month, that has already gone up 25%. He doesn’t believe that kind of increase will keep happening through the end of the year, but there is no indication they will come down before 2028. This is the cost for 62 desktop computers, not our laptops, which also need to be replaced at some point, and are more expensive. The bid from the other vendor is $98,000.00. He doesn’t have this in his budget. If we use ARPA, we would have to pay for it this year. Commissioners Chandler stated the new security addition took the majority of what we had left of the ARPA money. Mr. Warnke stated we could wait. He is curious to see if prices stabilize. Commissioner Chandler wondered if he could split his budget and just pencil this in as a need. Mr. Warnke said yes. Vendors are only honoring bids for 2 weeks because of the demand. Commissioner Hill said we could put a placeholder in his budget and take some from PILT if needed when the time comes to purchase them St. Anthony City Mayor Donald Powell, Councilwoman Tessa Schuldies, Councilman Russ Rubert RE: Request to Set Up Meeting with City Council – action item Ms. Schuldies and Mr. Rubert discussed organizing a work meeting between the City Council and the Commissioners to discuss the issues with the finances. Commissioner Chandler feels it would be a good idea. He doesn’t want to lose our working relationship with the City. Commissioner Hill agreed. Commissioners set time during the June 8th meeting to meet with the City Council, with a tentative time set for 3:00 pm. Planning and Building Planners Dusty Rigby and Jacob Farnes RE: Marysville Townsite 2nd Amended Plat – action item; Hidden Estates Subdivision Div #1 1st Amended Plat – action item; Welling Subdivision on IP Bills Island 4th Amended Plat – action item Ms. Rigby presented application #25-092 for Marysville Townsite 2nd Amended Plat along with Findings of Facts, Conclusions of Law and Decision. Commissioner Hill made a motion to approve application #25-092 for WERC LLC (Joseph Corbett) -Marysville Townsite 2nd 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 #26-034 for Hidden Estates Subdivision Div #1 1st Amended Plat along with Findings of Facts, Conclusions of Law and Decision. Commissioner Chandler made a motion to approve application #26-034 for Marlene Bransky – Hidden Estates Subdivision Div #1 1st Amended Plat 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. Mr. Farnes presented application #25-033 for Welling Subdivision on IP Bills Island 4th Amended Plat along with Findings of Facts, Conclusions of Law and Decision. Commissioner Chandler made a motion to approve application #25-033 for Jennifer Mulberry – Welling Subdivision on IP Bills Island 4th Amended Plat 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. Planning and Building Administrator Tom Cluff RE: Department Report; Schedule Road Validation Hearing – action item; Approve Vehicle Purchase – action item Mr. Cluff reported on the building permit comparisons so far this year compared to last year. January and February were unusual permit-wise. Right now, we are trending towards more normal, but we are still 60% higher than last year. He also reported on the year end permits for last year. Total permits were about same last year as they were in 2024. Mr. Cluff discussed population data according to the census versus our building permit numbers, and why they may not match. We do have growth, even if it is different than our perception, but it is manageable. The schools are the biggest indication; school enrollment has stayed relatively the same since 2015, and they aren’t stressed with numbers. If they were stressed with any significant interest, we would know. Mr. Cluff discussed setting a date for a road validation hearing for a road located near Hog Hollow Road (E 500 N). The Rodgers family would like to have the road validated. We would need a 30-day notice for this hearing; he doesn’t expect it to be controversial, so we could hold the hearing during a regularly scheduled Commissioner Meeting. The earliest we would be able to do it is June 15th, or it could be pushed to June 22nd as well. The hearing for the road validation will be on June 22nd 2026 at 1pm. Mr. Cluff discussed purchasing an additional vehicle for the Planning Department. He has 3 bids for a 2026 Nissan Frontier from Sayer, Cole, and Bob Green Nissan. He would like to go with Sayer with the bid of $38,013.60. He does have funding in his budget to cover the cost. Bids Sayer Auto - $38,013.60 Cole Nissan Kia - $38,459.00 Rob Green Nissan Hundai – 38,786.60 Commissioner Chandler made a motion to approve the purchase of the 2026 Nissan Frontier from Sayer Auto in the amount of $38,013.60 for our Planning and Building Department. Commissioner Hill seconded the motion. A full voice vote was heard with all commissioners voting in favor. Sewer Jon Simms RE: Purchasing Waste Disposal Trailers for Last Chance WWTP – action item Mr. Simms discussed purchasing 2 solid waste disposal trailers for Last Chance WWTP. The lowest bid is from High Country Trailer here in St. Anthony for $9,444.00, for a 2026 Double A 7x14 14k Dump trailer, they would like 2 of them. Bids High Country Trailer Sales - $18,888.00, 2026 Double A Dump Trailers x2 Holst Trailer Sales - $19,054.00, 2026 Big Tex Dump Trailers x2 Diamond Quality Trailers - $26,058.00, 20262 Teton Trailer x 2 Commissioner Chandler made a motion to approve the purchase of 2 Duck trailers for the Sewer Department from High Country Trailer in the total amount of $18,888.00. 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 Grader Finance – action item Mr. Harris presented a financing bid for the grader he discussed earlier this fiscal year in his equipment purchasing plan. He received several financing options, but this one from RDQ Equipment Financing was the best option with a payment plan of $110,551.85 per year for 5 years and a 7% interest rate. Commissioner Hill made a motion to approve the RDO Finance quote for the 2026 John Deere Grader in the amount of $110,551.85 for 5 years at 7% interest. Commissioner Chandler seconded the motion. A full voice vote was heard with all commissioners voting in favor. Noxious Weed Supervisor Bryce Fowler RE: Cost Share Agreement – action item; Department Report Mr. Fowler presented a CWMA Cost Share Grant Agreement through RC&D; the total amount of the grant is $315,990.00, and the portion for Fremont County is $136,000.00. Commissioner Chandler made a motion to approve the Idaho State Department of Agriculture Headwaters Cooperative Weed Management Area Disbursement Agreement State Cost Share Funds grant in the amount of $315,990.00, with Fremont County’s portion being $136,000.00. Commissioner Hill seconded the motion. The motion passed by majority vote with Commissioner Dance abstained from the vote due to a conflict of interest as a member of the RC&D Board. Mr. Fowler reported the weed department has been out spraying already. Some of their staff are in training. They are looking for 2 more employees. Commissioner Chandler asked how many employees we would need to run 2 boat washes. Mr. Fowler stated we would need 18 to run them all day, which is how many we had running them before. He can get with Clerk Mattingly to discuss numbers. The meeting with the state went well; they will supply the equipment to allow the counties to run their own stations, and it will be up to us to determine how we want to run them. Finding employees will be the biggest issue, as well as deciding where to have the boat washes. Commissioners RE: IAC Scholarship Presentation for Elias Lankford – action item Commissioners presented the IAC Scholarship Award to Elias Lankford this year. His parents are Tiffany Lankford and Rowdy Rigby. Mr. Rigby is one of our Road and Bridge Supervisors for the County. Mr. Lankford is doing finals at school in Moscow, so his parents accepted the award on his behalf. He is studying his Masters in Electrical Engineering, with plans to use his degree to move forward into Patent Law. He is one of 7 to receive this $1000 award in the state and thanked the Commissioners and the IAC for the award. Commissioners RE: Executive Session IC 74-206(1)(f) – action item Commissioner Dance made a motion to go into executive session pursuant to IC 74-206(1)(f) To communicate with legal counsel for the public agency to discuss the legal ramifications of and legal options for pending litigation, or controversies not yet being litigated but imminently likely to be litigated. The mere presence of legal counsel at an executive session does not satisfy this requirement; at 1:03 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 1:54 p.m. Commissioners RE: Deliberation for Sandbox RV Appeals (#s 25-049 and 25-053) – action item Commissioners discussed the Sandbox RV Appeal Hearing held on April 29, 2026. Commissioner Chandler still had questions about the issue of the land not being platted; the FCDC does not require an RV Park to be platted. If an RV Park doesn’t have any structures on it, it doesn’t have to be platted, correct? Mr. Hall clarified that an RV Park may have structures, but platting is not a requirement under our Code for an RV Park. The individual RV parking spots do not have to be platted because platting allows for ownership of those individual spaces, which is not the purpose of an RV Park. Commissioner Dance asked for clarification about the expiration of the original application, and appeal and how it relates to the original application. Mr. Cluff stated in January of 2023, P&Z approved the Sandbox RV Park. The RV Park owners began working on complying with the things P&Z said they would have to do for their permit, including approaching East Idaho Public Health and DEQ about a septic system that would treat waste water for many RVs. That process proved to be more complicated and take longer than anticipated. Our Code gives applicants 2 years to complete those things, so, when the 2 year expiration date was approaching, they were working on it; P&Z communicated with the Davis’s, DEQ, East Idaho Public Health, and their engineer, and were told they were working on it and approval would be soon. P&Z treated that as them making a good faith effort to complete the permit requirements, and didn’t tell them their permit was expired. This has always been our practice. They also wanted to add some additional things that hadn’t been approved or part of their original permit, so they applied to add those things to their permit. If their permit expired in January, technically that application wouldn’t be valid because there would be nothing to amend. Commissioner Chandler appreciates our Planning and Zoning being willing to work with people while they are trying to get businesses put together. Things happen and sometimes things take time or don’t go as planned; he appreciates that we are willing to work with people who show they are trying to get through the process. Commissioner Hill stated in 2025 they applied for a permit for a drag strip and it was denied. He asked why it was denied. Mr. Cluff stated P&Z determined the drag strip wasn’t compatible with the land use. Commissioner Hill also saw that in 2024 they applied for a lot-split, which is pending. Mr. Cluff stated they filed deeds to split the property into 3 pieces. In their original application, they told P&Z they intended to build houses on the south portion of the property. They filed those deeds, and it had to be done with a plat, but it hasn’t been processed; P&Z is waiting to see the outcome of this situation. There are a lot of things up in the air, and P&Z didn’t tell them they should or shouldn’t move ahead, they’ll need to fix it, but did tell them to wait and see what happens with this permit before they decide how to fix it. Commissioner Hill asked if the lot split was necessary for them to build homes there, or just because they wanted to. Mr. Cluff stated that is a question no one has asked yet. It really hinges on how many uses a property can have on it. Our Code is not clear on that. We allow 2 houses on a property, but the Code isn’t clear on if you can have 2 houses and an RV Park and he doesn’t know if we have a good answer for that. Mr. Hall stated if the RV Park is under the name of one entity, and the lots for the homes are under the name of another entity, it would require the property to be platted. Mr. Cluff stated he could see banks having difficulty financing a house on a lot or parcel that has all of these other things on it. They would want the house to be on its own parcel. Commissioner Hill understood the purpose of our review was to determine whether or not the application was compliant with our Code and all of our requirements. We received a lot of information during the hearing, but he still has questions and would like more time to do some review on his own. He doesn’t feel ready to make a decision on this matter today. Commissioner Chandler agreed. He would like at least another 10 days to review the materials they have gathered before a decision is made. They do have a lot of documentation to look over. Commissioner Dance is of a mind to deny the appeal of the application, and have the applicant start over. Commissioner Hill made a motion to table the discussion for Sandbox for a later date. Commissioner Chandler seconded the motion. Commissioner Dance voted “Nay.” The motion passed by majority vote. Miscellaneous Commissioner Chandler made a motion to approve the claims for May 11, 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 May 4, 2026 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: #48 Trail-Stop Trading Commissioner Chandler seconded the motion. A full voice vote was heard with all commissioners voting in favor. Clerk Mattingly discussed amending the bid totals from last week’s meeting for the sake of transparency. After our discussion about the Annex North Suite A and Stud Mill Office projects, it was discovered there were inconsistencies with the math. For the Annex North Suite A, Commissioners approved a total of $102,121.58, but this needs to be corrected to $126,641.58. For the Stud Mill Office, Commissioners approved a total of $174,485.93, but this needs to be corrected to $174,859.93. The remaining difference is a total of $24,894 that would also come from the ARPA funds. Commissioner Hill made a motion to approve the amended amounts for the bids for the North Annex Suite A Project to $126,641.58, and the Stud Mill Office Project to $174,859.93. Commissioner Chandler seconded the motion. A full voice vote was heard with all commissioners voting in favor. Commissioners discussed a Master Services Agreement from Clearwater Financial. If we engage with them, they will want a $12,000 fee up front. Tom Cluff has some reservations based on discussions he has had with other Planning Commissions. Commissioner Dance is hesitant if Mr. Cluff isn’t comfortable moving forward with them. Mr. Hall wondered if anyone has reached out to other counties that have utilized them and if they feel like they are getting value for the money they’ve spent. Commissioner Hill believes Madison County has worked with them and has some plans for other projects; he is meeting with them tomorrow and can ask their feelings. He can also reach out to other Commissioners who have worked with them. This discussion was tabled for another meeting. Commissioners approved Last Chance WWTP Pay App #16 in the amount of $1,591,161.37. Commissioner Dance made a motion to approve Pay App #16 for the Last Chance WWTP in the amount of $1,591,161.37, and approve his signing the reimbursement paperwork when we receive it. Commissioner Chandler seconded the motion. A full voice vote was heard with all commissioners voting in favor. Commissioner Chandler discussed the invasive species issue. He met with the deputy director of ISPA and was directed to do whatever we need to do to handle the invasive species issue in our county. We are the first in the state to ask for help to handle it, so we are the first to get funding and our first pick of equipment we need to work on the issue. There are still things he is working on, but we are able to move forward with the support of the State. We will also need to work on staffing. Mr. Hall isn’t sure if we will need an MOU with the state or some other agreement, but in the past there has been some kind of an agreement to allow us to do it as long as we are picking up costs; we may want to ask them if there will be an MOU or if we will need to adopt an ordinance. Commissioner Dance adjourned the meeting at 2:21 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. 613023 Regular Commissioner Meeting 05-11-2026 on 5/26/2026
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