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minutes meeting date 2025-10-06 · fetched 2026-09-09 · 24069 characters · official file · plain text
BOCC Oct 6 2025 Regular Meeting FREMONT COUNTY COMMISSIONERS MEETING MINUTES October 6, 2025 Present for the meeting was: Commissioners Blair Dance, Rick Hill, and Mark Chandler Also attended by: Clerk Abbie Mace, Deputy Clerk Kim Fletcher, Civil Attorney Blake Hall, Treasurer Lori Beard, Sheriff Bart Quayle, Planning and Building Administrator Tom Cluff, Parks and Recreation Director Greg Grant, EMS Director Bert Mecham, 5C Director Nicky Chavez, Juvenile Probation Supervisor Darin Burrell, 4H Coordinator Dana Miller, IT Administrator Josh Warnke, and IT Network Manager Chad Quayle Planning and building Administrator Tom Cluff offered the prayer. Parks and Rec Director Greg Grant led the pledge. Commissioner Dance called the meeting to order and welcomed those in attendance. IT Administrator Josh Warnke reported they have a Fibercom outage that is affecting 5C, Road and Bridge and the Weed Shop; they are working to get it resolved. There is an issue in the Appraisers office with their sketching program with this round of windows updates; it isn’t integrating into their property program. It is technically a Microsoft problem, but the vendors are pointing fingers at who’s fault it is so nothing is getting fixed. They are hoping to get it resolved soon but don’t know how long it is going to take. Encryption program has been implemented. M365 upgrade is coming up, no timeline yet. He has a request in to Blackfoot Communications to get a phone line in to the New Annex building, and then we can get cameras in and finish wiring. They have several big projects coming up. The M365 upgrade will be starting soon, so all of our systems will change. There is no timeline yet. The Financial and Payroll package is coming, he doesn’t know when yet. Clerk Mace believes it will be in the spring. P&Z has new software coming soon as well. The Sheriff’s Office also has a new big project coming up as well, so IT will be busy. IT Network Manager Chad Quayle reported the encrypted forms update has been added to our website. So, all of the job applications and forms on the website are now encrypted in order to keep information more secure. 4H Coordinator Dana Miller reported they have been doing market sale checks. They had 300 kids participate at the state fair this year with 416 projects. 4 participated in the horse show, 3 in the swine show, a couple with goat and sheep, and 5 in the rabbit show and 2 in the demonstration contest. We are currently working on the winter schedule with the schools. Our Extension Office Supervisor Tom Jacobsen is in Ashton today working on a video about Liming Research. EMS Director Bert Mecham reported they have been fairly busy the last quarter. This summer has been less busy than previous summers; they are down 61 patients from last year. They collected $139,763.84. They currently have 66 staff. Our ambulances are fully stocked. They are going to do mass casualty training on October 18th at North Fremont High School. CPR recertification will be in November, and they will have their Christmas Party in December. As for community education and involvement, they taught 55 CPR recertifications, and they attended 5 football games, motocross, and a monster truck rally. They ordered a new Tahoe but don’t know when it will get here. They received a new side-by-side to replace another that they currently have in Island Park. He will be meeting with Stryker to look at renewing their ambulance monitors. Probation Supervisor Darin Burrell reported the misdemeanor office is starting to come together. Dayana completed the Misdemeanor Academy and is certified by POST. He is focusing on updating some of his policies, and Sheriff Quayle has been helping with some of those updates. RACE meetings will be starting back up more regularly starting on the October 16th. They have been on hold because North Fremont and South Fremont have separate schedules for their harvest breaks, but everything should come back to a regular schedule moving forward. He is working on his last state report for Clerk Mace and the Commissioners and will present it at a future meeting. Parks and Recreation Director Greg Grant reported he has been learning a lot since he has been here. They finally received their snowmobile funding. We received a total of $565,000, and had a little over 13,000 registrations last year in Fremont County. They are working on signage for this snowmobile season. They took final measurements for the hoist, and it is headed into production. He will be coming to the Commissioners with bids for a new shop door for the snowmobile building; in order to install the hoist properly, the door needs to be raised, which includes all of the railings that are attached to it. He only has 1 bid in, and is waiting for 2 more. The state finally moved forward with the bidding process for a new groomer, but the earliest we would be able to get it is mid-February. Frome Park is closing down for the season. He had 3 demos in the last month to review pay-to-play software, looking at what we could do on our waterways to get funding for that. We have an inspection of the Ora Bridge vault toilet next week, which has never been completed. There will be a discussion to transfer the grant funding from Frome Park to other projects within the park so those funds won’t be wasted. He had a meeting with Fall River Hydro about 3 access sites on Fall River, working with Fish and Game to have those accesses state protected in perpetuity. The golf course continues to have issues. 2 of our greens mowers are in Salt Lake being repaired. The electric one was repaired over the weekend so it will be returning, they’ve given the go ahead to repair the diesel at a cost of $1200 to repair the actuator. Once we have both of them back, the other 2 will be sent down to make sure they are in working order. The mini excavator has been delivered, and Jeff Albiston is already working with it; he expressed his thanks to the Commissioners. He is looking into funding options for a comprehensive study and plan for Parks and Rec opportunities moving forward. Treasurer Lori Beard reported she was able to go to the IAC meetings in Boise and she appreciates the opportunity to go. They started with 11 Warrant of Distraints, they are down to 1, so the sale is still scheduled for October 23rd. We are just under $606,000 remaining for taxes owing. The new bank transition has not gone smoothly at all. We are hoping to get Homeowners Tax Relief and Property Tax Relief done, as well as Levies, by the end of the month. Sheriff Bart Quayle reported they have been busy. He attended IAC in Boise and felt it was productive. Dispatch logged 13,182 activities in the last month. This included 170 911 calls, 84 civil services, 572 traffic stops, 479 incident reports, 44 arrests, 161 citations, 183 offenses. They also helped with 32 traffic accidents. We currently have 43 in house and 1 in Madison county. The floor in the jail is done. They will begin the M2 automation project with the intercoms this month. They successfully completed their Shield 616 fundraiser and were able to get body armor for all of our officers. They are currently taking applications online to fill a couple of positions. We will have a security protocol meeting on the 20th. The single entry on the west side of the courthouse seems to be going well and so far, we have not had any issues. 5C Director Kyle Gould reported 5C has gone under a lot of change over the last few months. They are looking over some future outlooks. Numbers have been low now that other states have pulled their kids back to their own states for treatment. They have cleaned up the buildings. He appreciates working with Commissioner Chandler. They’re doing a lot of work on policy. They hope to have a better idea of what they are doing later this month. Clerk Abbie Mace reported we had the end of our FY2025, so everyone has until next Tuesday to get bills in for that budget. Our outside auditors will be here on the 12th of November until the 21st. We are gearing up for our November election. We received our new Express Vote machines and they are much faster and more user friendly than the old ones. We’ll start early voting next week on the 15th of October in the Clerk’s office. She attended IAC meetings in Boise. The LDS church has decided we cannot use their buildings as polling places in the future. We currently use 6 in our county, so we are working to try to relocate those polling places in the future. We met with the superintendent to see if we can utilize the schools. The Clerks will be proposing a piece of legislation that election days be non-student days so we can utilize the schools, but it needs to pass through the legislature. We need ADA compliant buildings. Some people may be driving farther than they are used to, but our options are limited. She has submitted her retirement date. The Republican Party will likely begin taking applications the end of this month. She has enjoyed working with everyone, it has been a wonderful 25 years and she appreciates all of the working relationships she has made. Commissioner Hill reported they have sealed and striped the parking lots around the courthouse last month. They will be pouring more concrete on the annex parking lot later this week, and installing a drain. The new annex building is getting close; the electrician and plumber have been in and gotten most of their work done. HVAC still needs to come in, as well as a few other things. He’s attended 2 Eastern Idaho Solid Waste Meetings, one was budgetary and the other was a regular meeting. DEQ came to pressure test the membrane and found 4 holes, so the opening is delayed until those are sealed. He and Sheriff Quayle went to Madison and Jefferson Counties to see the security on their buildings and get some ideas. He talked with an architect about modifying the west side of our building to make more room for our security. He will meet with him again on the 15th to talk about what it might cost. He attended the IAC meetings and felt it was very beneficial, and he appreciates all of our county officials that make the effort to attend those meetings. Fair Board had a meeting and went over their last year and preparations for next year; they have a new member and hope to have another new member soon as well. Commissioner Chandler reported he has been working with our new Parks and Rec Director Greg Grant at the golf course. He feels Mr. Grant is doing a really good job and appreciates him taking on their last board meeting; it went really well. He’s also been working at 5C and appreciates what their Director, Kyle Gould, is having to deal with. It’s a bad situation, but Mr. Gould has been handling it well. He has talked to some of the people there, and they are adjusting, but he hopes things can get better. He attended the IAC meetings and met some great people and learned a lot of things. He’s been putting together an invasive species booklet that deals with the quagga mussels and how to deal with those things. Commissioner Dance reported he had a couple of meetings with the Flood50 committee. The BOR is getting active in trying to resolve a graffiti issue and how to get it resolved. He attended the IAC meetings, and the committees he is part of were able to work on some of the legislation they would like to push forward. High Country RC&D had a meeting and worked on their annual budget. Cloud Seeding had a review of what they accomplished this last year; they had a 7.5% increase in water content from its activities which gave us a significant boost. East Idaho Public Health just received notification and are involved in our State of Idaho Controllers Audit. Commissioner Chandler asked that it be recognized that our Assessor Carol Blanchard received the Mills Adler Award at the IAC meetings this year for the Assessors. Each organization gives this award to one member who is outstanding and beneficial to that organization, and she was chosen as their recipient for this year. Chief Deputy Clerk Debbie Biorn RE: Resolution for Destruction of Records – action item Ms. Biorn presented Resolution 2026-01 for the destruction of county records maintained by the Fremont County Clerk’s office. Commissioner Dance made a motion to approve Resolution 2026-01 ordering the destruction of county records maintained by the Fremont County Clerk’s office as listed. Commissioner Chandler seconded the motion. A full voice vote was heard with all commissioners voting in favor. Public Hearing RE: FY2024-25 Budget Opening – action item FREMONT COUNTY COMMISSIONERS PUBLIC HEARING FY2024-2025 Budget Opening Fremont County Courthouse/Commissioners Room October 6, 2025 10:50 AM Present for the meeting was: Commissioners Blair Dance, Rick Hill, and Mark Chandler Also attended by: Clerk Abbie Mace, Deputy Clerk Kim Fletcher, Civil Attorney Blake Hall, and Deputy Clerk Meredith Mattingly Commissioner Dance called the hearing to order and welcomed those in attendance, and introduced county employees in attendance. Commissioner Dance explained the purpose of the hearing and asked Clerk Mace if the hearing had been properly noticed. Clerk Mace stated that it had. Commissioner Dance asked the Commissioners if they had any conflict with this hearing. There was no conflict. Commissioner Dance turned the time over to Clerk Mace to discuss the Fremont County FY2024-2025 Budget Opening. Clerk Mace discussed the budget opening items that have been done over the fiscal year 2024-2025, and explained monies that have been moved from one fund to another and the reasons why, and monies added to funds because of items we had sold, or grants we had received. The hearing was opened for public comment, however we did not have any public or written comment for this hearing. Commissioner Dance closed this hearing at 11:05 a.m. Commissioner Hill made a motion to adopt Resolution 2026-02 opening the FY2025 budget for the purposes of receiving unanticipated monies and to transfer funds from the general reserve and inoperative funds. Commissioner Dance seconded the motion. A full voice vote was heard with all commissioners voting in favor. Dena Jensen RE: Sharptail Lane Road Maintenance Issue – action item Ms. Jensen discussed road maintenance issues on Sharptail Lane in Island Park. Sharptail Lane is a designated county road. There are 21 property owners that live on that road. They met with the commissioners a year ago about this issue but have not heard any updates about this road. She feels most of her calls have gone ignored while the road has continued to get worse. Cherry Butte Road is being maintained by the county and was just paved with county and private funds; it seems Sharptail Lane should also be maintained as they are part of the same subdivision. She doesn’t feel the request is unreasonable. They aren’t asking for the road to be paved like Cherry Butte, only for the road to be graded at least once a year for the purpose of safety. She shared letters from a few of the homeowners who also live on Sharptail lane. She referenced our county ordinance discussing the maintenance of county roads. Even roads with the lowest maintenance receive it at least once every 5 years. She and her husband have lived in their home for 4 years but they’ve never seen a grader on that road. They knew it was a county road, but were told it was privately maintained. They don’t believe this is true. The community is fine with doing the snow removal, but they really would like the road to be graded at least once a year to keep it safe. Debbie Davis stated Cherry Butte road has historically been maintained by the county, so we have the responsibility to maintain it. She doesn’t know why it was called Homestead Road on the plat, but it has always been Cherry Butte. The other roads that are part of the subdivision have never been maintained by the county. Ms. Jensen stated there is no HOA, but they are trying to work with the county, according to their CC&R’s to maintain the roads. Blair Jones stated a large portion of the funding to maintain Cherry Butte comes from a gas tax. Mr. Dimattia stated part of the problem is they don’t know what they are allowed to do to maintain the road. They don’t know if they can add a culvert, grade it, or what else they can do. Commissioner Hill asked if the road is a dedicated county road. Ms. Davis clarified it is dedicated to the public. It becomes a county right of way, but are not maintained by the county. The previous Public Works Director determined it would be ok to maintain 3 subdivisions. Our current Public Works Director has decided not to maintain any more than those 3. Ms. Jensen asked how much it would cost to have a grader go down that small stretch of road. Mr. Jones stated it would be about $1000. Ms. Jensen stated as tax payers, $1000 isn’t that much considering their taxes are tripling. Mr. Jones stated Road and Bridge doesn’t see any of those tax dollars. Taxes don’t actually work that way. Clerk Mace discussed how the tax levies are broken down. Only a few dollars of the taxes people pay in the county goes towards Road and Bridge and the maintenance of the roads. Ms. Jensen would like to know the criteria that was met by those 3 subdivisions, because it doesn’t seem fair that those 3 are maintained, but no one else can be. Mr. Jones stated they could come to Road and Bridge for guidelines about what they can do as far as maintenance on their road, and it can be put into a policy for them. Commissioner Dance feels there are still questions that need to be answered. He would like to look deeper into the road maintenance resolutions. He would also like to look into policy issues and developing policy. He would like to investigate further and apologized that this issue was looked over for so long and they didn’t receive an answer sooner. It is possible the decision made by a previous board may need to be brought forward, or its possible the homeowners may need to maintain the road themselves, but he would like to do more research to be able to make a fair decision. Ms. Davis recalled the 3 subdivisions that are maintained are because of school busses. 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 1:01 p.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 1:17 p.m. Commissioner Hill made a motion appoint Ron Birch to the Fremont County Fair Board for a term of 4 years. Commissioner Chandler seconded the motion. A full voice vote was heard with all commissioners voting in favor. Commissioner Hill made a motion approve a donation of personal leave time for E2026-01. Commissioner Chandler seconded the motion. A full voice vote was heard with all commissioners voting in favor. Hedrick Fire Protection RE: Fire Extinguisher Bid Follow-up – action item This appointment was cancelled. 4H Dana Miller 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 1:37 p.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 2:09 p.m. Fair Board Ange Webster RE: Bids to fix Arena Dirt – action item Ms. Webster presented bids to fix the arena dirt at the fair grounds. She talked with Evan Wise who manages the Madison County Fairgrounds, he studies dirt and helped her find some good dirt that he is considering for their fairgrounds. We currently have 12 inches of just sand. He suggested we pull out 80% of the sand we have and keep 20% of what is left to mix in with the new dirt. She has a bid from Klint Ball of Ball Brothers in the amount of $14,400 and from a bid from DePatco in the amount of $21,537.28. She also has a bid from Dirt Done Right out of Idaho Falls for $18,000. The recommendation is for Ball Brothers, the dirt would be coming from Drummond and is clean with no clay in it so it will be good for the arena. Mr. Wise did not recommend the soil from DePatco or Dirt Done Right because it has clay in it, which has a tendency to clump up and could hurt the horses. We have a demolition derby on the 18th so it wouldn’t be able to be moved before then. Rowdy Rigby from our Road and Bridge Department is worried about his schedule; he is booked until the end of November. It would fall on him and his department to do this work. Ms. Webster said they just need the sand moved out of the arena. They can find other people to haul it away. There was a discussion about the people from the derby moving the sand to the edges of arena at the end of their event to make it easier to move. Commissioner Hill asked if Mr. Rigby knows anyone who might be able to move the sand for us if he can’t. Mr. Rigby doesn’t, but he stated that if the derby people can move the sand to the edges of the arena when they are done to help simplify the job, he could do it on the 20th. Commissioner Hill made a motion have Ball Brothers deliver 900 yards of dirt in the amount of $14,400 to the Fair Grounds Arena out of the Fair Board budget. 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 October 6, 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 September 29, 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 Junior College Application for the College of Eastern Idaho Fall 2025-Spring 2026 year for Brooke Miller. Commissioner Chandler seconded the motion. A full voice vote was heard with all commissioners voting in favor. Clerk Mace discussed a letter from the Madison County Sheriff’s Department about the Shop with a Cop program. We used to take this donation out of our indigent fund, but will need to take it from another funding source. Commissioner Chandler made a motion to approve $1500 to Shop with a Cop with funding from the Commissioners Fund. Commissioner Hill seconded the motion. A full voice vote was heard with all commissioners voting in favor. Commissioners discussed the ICRMP District VI Board of Trustees Nomination. Greg Shenton is our current representative. He is interested in keeping his position, but if they would like to nominate someone else, they can do that. Commissioners did not see a reason to nominate anyone new for the ICRMP Board. Commissioner Hill made a motion to adjourn the meeting at 2:32 p.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: _____________________________ Kim Fletcher, Deputy Clerk HISTORY Recorded by Min. 610114 Public Hearing 10-06-2025 on 10/14/2025
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