Budget Hearing set for August 25; Fruitvale Road in Rough Shape
On Monday, April 14th, the Adams County Commissioners met at the Adams County Courthouse. Commissioners Joe Iveson and Daren Ward were present. County Emergency Management Coordinator, Carol Walsh, had a Western States Fire Management Grant that the commissioners needed to sign. County Clerk, Sherry Ward, asked if the commissioners wanted to move their budget hearing scheduled for August 25th to 1:30 p.m. instead of 5:00 so they would get over with it sooner. The commissioners said the public rarely comes to those meetings, but decided that they should keep it later in the day so someone could come if they wanted to get off work a little early. They moved it to 4:30 p.m..
The commissioners talked briefly about the budget for pest control, and then talked about whether they needed to extend the disaster declaration that was made last week. It lasted for the past seven days. The commissioners didn’t think they needed it anymore for the technicalities of transporting refuse to the landfill, but there were questions about whether it would help local businesses with assistance if they continued the disaster declaration. The commissioners thought that for more aid to be available the state would need to make a disaster declaration. County Prosecuting Attorney, Peter Donovan, said that the state is currently collecting info about the slide online and how it has affected locals and businesses with the possibility of declaring a statewide disaster, which would free up aid for locals. They have not yet declared a disaster. Anyone who wishes to submit information on how the road closure has impacted their business can do so at ioem.idaho.gov/
Meredith Fisher, with Planning and Zoning, had updates about the work at Brundage. She said Phase 1B West final plat has moved into technical review. They had a meeting with DEQ and Southwest District Health, who said they are a month out from reviewing some of the applications and are OK with moving them into technical review. Fisher didn’t think they had to do a public hearing for the final plat but was going to double check. Phase 2 is a preliminary plat application. She mentioned the geotechnical report is over three years old and parts of it had previously said further research was needed, particularly on landslides, but that hasn’t been done yet. Fisher also said a lawyer that had been working with them on Brundage and had developed a good rapport with them was walking away from her firm, but they would possibly be able to retain her individually, which everyone seemed to think would be a good idea.
Steve Shelton, with Solid Waste, talked about upcoming job openings and the commissioners wanted them posted right away. He said someone in New Meadows called about C&D debris, and he told them they can only take one yard at a time to the transfer station. If they have more than that they have to bring it to the landfill. He said it sounded like they were on schedule to pave Highway 95 on the 26th and it was possible it would be reopened soon after. They talked about the work still needed at the landfill. There are still two wells to drill and they need to put two feet of sand on the pond liner. Luckily, they found sand at the site to use which is saving a lot of money, they are hoping it will be enough.
Adam Balderson, with Road and Bridge, had a quote for the warranty for the Indian Valley blade. He also had prices on loaders. A brand new John Deere with the extras would be $394,000, used ones would still be over $300,000. He said he talked to the city about the land they are interested in buying but they still don’t have numbers yet. Balderson said he was contacted by someone at Circle C who was interested in having the subdivision deed the road to the county. The road is not county but the county has been maintaining it. It is currently dirt. Per county ordinance, they would have to pave it to turn it over to the county, but the commissioners didn’t want that either. Commissioner Iveson told Balderson to look into the original agreement to see what it said and why they were maintaining it before doing anything.
Next, Barb Dixon and some other residents of Fruitvale Glendale Rd came in to talk about the condition of Fruitvale Glendale Road. Dixon gave some history and context about the use of the road as an alternative to Highway 95 and how it has been maintained in different circumstances. She said the only thing that really worked was when they graveled it after the fire in 2003. It lasted for almost 6 years and there was no dust. “I know there’s money problems,” she said “I’m not here to complain… I’m just letting you know that this road is a pit.” She said it is very bad right now and if they grade it and it rains after you almost need a four wheel drive to get down it. She wanted to know what the plans were for the road. “There could be an emergency at any moment, and if the road is in this shape when that happens it’s not going to be usable,” said Dixon. Commissioner Iveson said that one problem they have is that their gravel is not very good quality. Balderson said what the road really needs is a good base, and that too much gravel is just as bad as not enough without a good base. To put a good base on it would be potentially a couple hundred thousand dollars. Iveson said that Adam Balderson would put together a plan though, and it has already been on their mind. He told Dixon the squeaky wheel gets the grease, and to keep squeezing.
After an executive session, Lana Wessels came to talk to the commissioners about the Rec Center in Council. Wessels said they are interested in opening the road in the back going towards the library and making it a one way to help with traffic flow and parking by the Rec Center. Commissioner Iveson said Road and Bridge would be working on the parking lot soon, and he would find out why that other section of the road wasn’t originally opened. He thought there was a reason, because it had been part of the original plan. Troy Davis mentioned putting a crosswalk in to help with school traffic. Iveson said that was also originally planned. Commissioner Ward mentioned he’d had complaints about the parking lot too and thought that after they fixed it they could put down mag chloride so it wasn’t so dusty. Iveson said they had to cut the budgets back so much that they cut from Parks and Rec and they needed to start putting more money in so they had some to do projects with. He told Wessels and Davis they were doing a great job with the Rec Center and he loved seeing all the use it was getting.
Wessel said that the west hillside facing the school was ugly and wondered if there was water over there for landscaping. Water was apparently a problem and they talked about the pipes all being sealed into the slab and possible solutions. Iveson said to call the city to talk about water and see what the options were. The electrical in the kitchen also was never finished. They use that room sometimes for elections, which was good because the commissioners said they might be able to use some funds for elections to finish that. Wessels also asked about putting in a second floor instead of just a ceiling. She said their heating costs are huge and are running over $2000 a month. Also mat sports are taking up a lot of the evening and times and if there was a second floor they could put mat sports up there and still have the courts. Iveson said he would show her how to adjust the heat. They also thought they should ask about running the ducts differently to see if it helped with heating.
Next, Sheriff Ryan Zollman arrived and asked if they could get a separate credit card from the Extension Office, because somehow their accounts were attached, and there was an incident with their account being suspended because of an unpaid bill by the Extension Office. The commissioners agreed it should be separate. Zollman said there were some errors in the jail standards deficiencies and they are working to get them all addressed and fixed as necessary. There are 24 state inmates and 3 county.
