Adapted from the official minutes recorded by Deputy Clerk Shanci Dorius

School Superintendent Abrams

Oneida School District #351 Superintendent Jon Abrams shared an update on the past twelve months for the school district. The new elementary school is nearing completion, and a tentative move-in date is January 2025. There is money coming in from the Idaho Home Learning Academy (IHLA), which is serving more than eight-thousand students from around the state of Idaho. Monies received from managing the online learning environment has helped Oneida School District fund much needed projects such as the elementary school and new sports arena. What was not anticipated was what happened on the last day of the most recent legislative session, where House Bill 722 was introduced, and unanimously passed the same day. The bill will retroactively take back funds that Oneida School District previously earned, totaling around eight-to-ten million dollars. These funds were earmarked for building projects in the district.  

Abrams detailed the lawsuit filed by OSD #351 to protest what it sees as the retroactive nature of the change, rather than making the change effective with the current date. More updates will follow as information is available.  

In the meantime, Superintendent Abrams stressed that the goal of Oneida School District leaders is to keep Oneida County as one of the least taxed counties in the state and to use funds responsibly. Mr. Abrams also promised that prior to his retirement at the end of the school year there will be a contingency plan in place to ensure the best possible outcome for Oneida County with regards to the effects of House Bill 722 and results of the court case.

Sheriff’s Office

The Sheriff’s office told the commissioners that it is in need of a supply trailer that is more secure than the one currently being utilized by the search & rescue and sheriff’s departments for storing training materials. The last trailer was purchased using money from the Parks & Recreation fund, as the trailer was being shared with Search & Rescue. Commissioners requested the sheriff’s office be put on a future agenda once a bid and description of the desired trailer was received, as well as confirmation that the purchase would be an appropriate use of the parks & recreation funds.  

Chief Deputy Doug Williams applied for a School Resource Officer (SRO) grant and was approved for $250,000.  These funds would cover the wages and benefits for the school resource officer over the next three years.

Road and Bridge

Dianna Dredge with the road & bridge department is seeking clarification on placement and maintenance of approximately one-hundred existing cattleguards throughout the county, including those at Deep Creek Reservoir.  Ms. Dredge has been tasked with determining if what the county is doing with cattleguards matches current road standards. Commissioner Lewis invited Ms. Dredge to give her recommendations at a future meeting. 

Several months ago, a citizen requested increased safety measures at the intersection at 2000 N 3400 W. Dianna Dredge with Road & Bridge shared the results of a traffic study that was completed this year, and reminded the commissioners that we are now obligated to comply with the findings of the traffic study, where results may not always be what was hoped for or expected. Ms. Dredge also reminded commissioners it is not allowed to have a yield and a stop sign at the same intersection and that those signs shall not be used for speed control.

Local Highway Technical Assistance Council (LHTAC) recommends reducing the speed to 45mph and putting up intersection signs.  Additionally, the stop sign at 2000 N will be removed and the road will become a through-road.  A stop-sign will be placed at 3400 N. 

Deep Creek

John Falk, the Dam Safety Program Manager with Idaho Department of Water Resources, has previously noted the safety issue of the dam at Deep Creek not having a crown. The road across the dam leads to forest service ground. When water puddles there or when there is heavy traffic, it jeopardizes the integrity of the dam. Road maintenance across the dam in is not available in winter as the county road and bridge department has been told they are not to be on the dams. There was discussion about clearing areas for parking during the winter and whether the cattleguard should be converted to a gate or moved higher on the hill to avoid getting clogged, as it frequently does in the current location.  The goal with clearing areas for parking and moving the cattleguard/gate is to keep parked vehicles and animals off the road. Commissioner Jeppsen will review house bill 185 to see if funds are available to help the road & bridge and parks & recreation departments to maintain roads.

The issue was tabled for the present.

Building and Maintenance 

Building Maintenance Manager Tory Richardson presented an updated quote from Beazer Lock & Key for the courthouse doors. The updated quote is for the entire court house with a cloud-based system.  There will be one small change to the quote because Beazer charges per door now.  This will lower the annual cloud subscription portion of the quote from $670 to somewhere around $500 and will be further reduced when removing sales tax, as Oneida County is a government entity. The final billed amount will be $18,628.54, which includes 13 total doors.  The motion was approved.

Fuller and Fuller

The agreement with Fuller and Fuller was discussed after questions about particulars were answered. One question was how Fuller & Fuller would be paid if Oneida County were to have a high-profile (high-cost) case.  The wording in the agreement allows for discussion if additional compensation is needed due to exigent circumstances.  The contract was approved.

Planning and Zoning

Planning & Zoning Administrator Rhonda Neal appeared before the board of commissioners to discuss the Agriculture Protection Area (APA) Model that was recently passed by the legislature and must be in place by January 1, 2025.  The Oneida County P&Z board became aware of the APA during a meeting in April 2024.  Since that time, the P&Z board has communicated with other counties to gauge the best way to implement the agriculture protection area model in Oneida County. The P&Z board recommended that a new chapter be added to the development code (chapter 8) and to form a three-member APA Commission, following state guidelines.  Mrs. Neal has a fee proposal under the development code that will be presented and noted the agriculture protection area model will add a line to that proposal.  

Mrs. Neal also provided a tentative timeline for completing everything in a timely manner, beginning with a meeting on October 2 to discuss the verbiage on the added chapter to the development code.  Results will be published and hearings with both P&Z and the Board of Commissioners should be complete by December 9, 2024.

RACOON Club

Bill Drury with the Racoon Radio Club shared an update with commissioners regarding the BLM agreement for the surplus communications building that has been discussed for the past several months.  The Idaho Military Division owns the building and is willing to give it to Oneida County.  Contracts and discussions were had, but it was never mentioned that the Idaho Military Division would require the building to be moved to another site and away from the main communications building to avoid spurious transmissions from the abandoned building that has been the center of discussion in recent months.  This shut down negotiations. When the Bureau of Land Management learned about the requirement to move the building, they met with the Idaho Military Division.  

As a result of that meeting, the building will be moved by October 7 at the Idaho Military Division’s cost.  The move includes the building, poles, and the tower.  The building will be relocated near the Oneida County TV translator building. This opens the door for the county to re-visit the contract with the Bureau of Land Management for the lease of the land and for the deed to the building to be turned over to the county from the Idaho Military Division.

Mr. Drury shared that the local radio clubs are meeting with the BLM and Rocky Mountain Power on October 1 at the building site to discuss options to renew the discussion about the Racoon Club leasing the building from Oneida County. Once moved, if the building is close enough to the TV translator building there may be options for getting power that are cheaper than previously quoted. More information to follow.

Excess Property

Mandi Armstrong in the clerk’s office gathered an updated list of excess county property. The updated list included items that were previously approved but did not sell on the auction site.  This time it was requested to list the smaller items on local classified and county pages while larger items might be listed on the online auction site.  Items on the list include office furniture, a supply trailer, a 2004 Saturn Ion, and a 2007 Ford Fusion.

Commissioner Lewis motioned to move forward with listing the items discussed and delegate the clerk’s office to list the items by any method in order to get them sold and take any unsold items to the landfill.  Commissioner Lewis also motioned to sell the 2004 Black Saturn Ion on the government surplus site “Public Surplus” along with the sheriff’s trailer once a replacement has been purchased.  The motion carried.

Bulk Fuel Tank

The bulk fuel tank with the FuelCloud system has been in use for the past three months and an update was given at the last commissioner meeting.  A motion was made that was later rescinded because it was listed on the agenda as a discussion topic only. In summary, monthly reports will be run to allow each department to pay for their fuel usage. Commissioners determined that it would be necessary to reach out to at least three companies for refueling once the tank reached 25% capacity.

The clerk’s office also informed the commissioners that the monthly FuelCloud fee that was double billed previously (through FuelCloud and Valley Wide) has been corrected and that Valley Wide will cover the $75 monthly charge from now on.  After the motion was made, commissioners discussed contingency plans to obtain fuel in the event of an emergency (trucker strikes, calamity, etcetera). It was determined that if something ever happened, the commissioners could call an emergency meeting and be able to use a sole-source bid at that time. 

L2 Compliance

Commissioners previously gave approval for an extension for the county’s districts to complete the L2 process, which has now been done. To be compliant, the budget process for local districts is to hold public hearings and turn in projected budgets to the county clerk who will then print the L2 worksheet.  This worksheet will show what each district’s increase or new construction eligibility is. The clerk is required to submit the L2 paperwork with documentation of the budget, published notice, and public hearing.  All districts in the county are compliant and the L2’s are completed.

Airport Issues

A hangar lease agreement application was received for review and approval.  The application is for a land lease agreement for a future hangar. Commissioners discussed the hangar lessee’s responsibility to do a concrete or asphalt ramp outside the hanger (section 12.3 in the agreement) and that the county’s responsibility appears to be picking up the coverage from the ramp to the runway (labeled as the “taxi lane” in the agreement).  Attorney Lyle Fuller suggested that prior to signing, clarifying verbiage could be added to section 12.1 in the agreement.  Mr. Fuller was willing to set up a call with the airport board at the meeting scheduled for 10/1 at 4:00pm to discuss agreement particulars regarding the taxi lane.  The issue was tabled.

Sage Grouse

A sage grouse ordinance was discussed. According to Commissioner Eliason, in early 2004 there was a sage grouse working group that met monthly in Malad. This included people from many counties in Idaho. Commissioner Eliason spoke with Dallin Nalder, who shared what information he had on the topic with Commissioner Eliason.  Commissioner Jeppsen mentioned that the greater sage grouse range covers a significant portion of Oneida County and suggested finding out what the driving force behind the ordinance is, learn what is expected, and what the renewal time frame for the ordinance is.  Discussion will continue once additional information is gathered.

Misc

In 2023, a Malad resident requested a second garbage can and paid for it with their 2023 taxes without ever receiving the can.  The treasurer’s office requested that the funds used to pay for the can in 2023 be moved to the bill for 2024 in order to make things right.

Commissioner Eliason moved to remove the fee for 2024 for William Charles on his taxes because he paid in 2023 and did not receive the service.  Motion carried.

Duties and roles are being clarified and questions and concerns are being resolved with the Deep Creek Irrigation / Forest Service Agreement that has been discussed recently.  The state has agreed to plow the pullout area, facilities will be maintained by fish and game, and the contract has been amended to allow Oneida County to take care of the weeds without having to ask permission each time. Commissioner Jeppsen stated the county is very close to being able to move forward with the agreement.

Oneida County’s Veterans Service Officer has requested $449 per year to pay for VetraSpec, a software-as-a-service system that offers reporting capabilities and facilitates electronic submission of claims to the Department of Veterans Affairs.  Having access to this software would allow the Veterans Service Officer to do his job and serve the county’s veterans more efficiently.  The funds were approved.

A previously approved invoice for Bennett Landscaping was discussed.  The motion approving maintenance on trees, the drip system, and checking sprinklers at the Event Center did not identify the fund the payment would come from.    

A pathology services agreement between Ada and Oneida counties was presented to commissioners. Attorney Lyle Fuller contributed to the discussion by noting that in paragraph twelve it shows Ada County being self-insured while Oneida county is insured through Idaho Counties Risk Management Program (ICRMP). Mr. Fuller also suggested asking if Ada County would be willing to have sub paragraph 7A mirror 7B mirror one another in order to equally balance the two counties. The current agreement ends on 11/1/2024.  The agreement was signed.