County Intends to Purchase a Couple Buildings in Former Council Ind. Park
Light discussion on a variety of topics took place at the beginning of the commissioners meeting on Monday the 11th. Waste management head, Steve Shelton, was at the start of the agenda. He updated the Commissioners of successful equipment performance. Soon, he will need to purchase a new vehicle and suggested pairing with Road and Bridge once they are ready to place an order.
While waiting for Planning and Zoning’s Meredith Fisher to join the meeting, Commissioner Daren Ward and Building Inspector Kody Williams briefly touched on the county’s interest on the sale of buildings currently owned by the city of Council. Ward explained there are still some legal and logistical terms to work through, but the intention is to follow through with the purchase of these buildings.
Fisher announced the county is on schedule to move forward to phase two of Brundage’s preliminary plat application. Solemnly, she went on notify the Commissioners of the sudden and unexpected passing of New Meadows Planning and Zoning Commissioner Albert “Al” Becker. “It’s a big loss of institutional knowledge. He was on that board for so long and gave so much,” Fisher said in his honor. A concern for quorum was considered but will ultimately be met to hold the meeting taking place later in the evening. Updates to geotechnical and engineering reports will be made since first being recorded since the Brundage project first broke ground three years ago. Next month, once questions have been addressed and revisions made, the board will confirm their findings, and the possibility of public hearing will take place. Fisher did not find the need for a public hearing necessary considering that the amount of input received in phase one yielded zero. The commissioners agreed, deciding to move forward in the process. An action item is expected to be presented in September. Ward motioned to sign and approve the findings of facts and conclusions allowed for Brundage Mountain Village phase 1B, both Commissioners, Joe Iveson and Viki Purdy agreed.
Building Inspector Kody Williams followed up on the subject of Brundage development by discussing Mountain Origins, a contractor for Brundage, request for “in phase permitting.” Such a permit can be granted for the construction of foundations. In phase permitting comes with stipulations. In short, code states that the permit holder accepts the risk, absorbs all liability and is limited to what they can construct. Mountain Origins representative, Lane Tompson, was present and acknowledged the acceptance of these terms to expedite the process in a race against time for pouring concrete. Commissioner Viki Purdy questioned how this would affect the standards of both the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) and Southwest District Health. Thompson clarified permitting the foundations does not allow them to create a dwelling, therefore eliminating involvement from DEQ or Southwest District Health since there is no way for a foundation to be occupied. Commissioner Purdy was especially sympathetic toward this proposal after the construction of her house was delayed nearly a year due to poor weather conditions that kept them from pouring concrete. All three commissioners approved the request for the in phase permitting. Next, Williams presented the bid submitted by Comfort Zone Heating and Cooling to replace the County Courthouse HVAC system. The bid total coming to $95,816.42. Commissioner Ward justified the spending as a long-term investment, “In my mind, that’s the only right decision, to put the units in that are going to last.” Choosing to replace the system with quality units rather than purchasing smaller, weaker units over time. Ward motioned to sign and approve the Comfort Zone bid. Iveson and Purdy were in favor. Installation of the new units is estimated to take place sometime within the next six weeks.
Road and Bridge’s Adam Balderson told the commissioners his crew has begun crack sealing on Indian Valley Road. For next year, he would like to start compiling the documents necessary for a chip seal bid. There is extensive work to be done from the Golf Course to Whitefield, cracks that are in desperate need of mending. Balderson broke down bids he received from contractors in preparation to renovate the shop building Adams County is seeking to purchase from the city. Currently, the bay doors are too small to accommodate their equipment. Commissioners agreed the work was necessary for the nature of the building’s future use but are hesitant to place an order on the new doors without the property purchase being finalized. For the sake of efficiency, Commissioners eventually agreed to order the four out of the six proposed bay doors so they will be delivered and ready for installation by the time the property purchase is complete. With Steve Shelton in need of a new vehicle, the two departments thought coming together to make an order would lend to a smoother process. They will begin the process of finding new vehicles and auction off old equipment under Shelton’s department to compensate for the cost. Fruitvale residents have been curious to know of progress being made on a swell forming on the road near the ‘Y.’ Balderson has had trouble getting into contact with the supplier of the replacement culvert but is hoping to hear from him soon. It’s coming up on the three-week shipment period for estimated delivery, so he will make sure to be in contact with the supplier to confirm it has arrived. Once the culvert is in their possession and the right parties are notified, reconstruction on the small portion of road can begin. Currently, the job of crack sealing takes every crew member under the employment of Road and Bridge. Balderson is hoping to review applicants for open positions and fill them soon.
Carol Walsh, the county’s Emergency Management Coordinator, discussed with Commissioner Ward the potential for the new building to in part function as an emergency operations center (EOC). Walsh questioned if it was necessary. Historically, the county has not had need of one. Ward observed that a room inside the building is nearly set up as an EOC already. He does not believe it would take much to meet the necessary requirements to make it official. If they could investigate securing grants to fund the renovations needed, it’s worth looking into. After all, the new building will also be host to future elections. Walsh said she would find out what is available to them. Sheriff Ryan Zollman offered to get quotes from security providers once the building officially belongs to the county. He asked the commissioners to map out camera placement and door upgrades. County Clerk Sherry Ward shared that the closing of the building sales would transpire before the end of this year. Zollman said that since the contractors are so busy, it would be best to schedule them just before closing on the new building. At the very least, get quotes for the work as soon as possible. Zollman moved on to specifics of his proposed budget. He had asked for an increase in his civil hours from 500 to 700 hours. Upon review, he had wondered why the increase did not show. Ward explained she left it the same as it was last year. She felt that it had not been utilized enough in the past to justify the rise. Zollman was hoping to utilize it more, “There is definitely a need for it.” In addition to civil hours, Ward made the decision to leave Sheriff overtime as it was the year before. Keeping the hours at 5,000 instead of the requested 10,000 for the same reason -underutilization. “That one is difficult. We are utilizing it a bit more.” Zollman went on to explain “In order for the deputies to get ITD grants, they must be POST certified officers. They have to go into the Academy. We are so short staffed the guys are working extra shifts to cover.” Ward suggested a re-evaluation in six months. They can review the Sheriff’s budget and determine whether to move existing funds or open the county budget to add more. Zollman agreed and moved on to share that he has another certified deputy ready to start. Currently, all the patrol spots are filled. To compensate for an additional deputy, he suggested they remove one of the two Detention Division openings. This way it has no effect on his budget for wages. To bring the discussion to a close Commissioner Daren Ward said, “It only makes sense to me to hire someone who is here, wanting to be hired.” With that, the Commissioners moved into executive session.
Present for the last topic on the agenda, fire mitigation, was Kalah Miller, equipment operator and part owner of a local excavation company, Jeffery Miller Excavation. Also in the room was Cindy Miller in support of Kalah and their family business, and Carol Walsh, County Emergency Coordinator and Forrester representative. Commissioner Purdy explained her understanding of the relationship between Northwest Management, a third-party company that supplies Adams County with a list of pre-qualified forestry contractors. The hiring of a contractor is ultimately determined by Walsh after all bids and specifications for individual jobs are considered. With this understanding, Commissioner Purdy wants to ensure that every contractor submitting their company to be considered as a pre-qualified candidate has the opportunity to bid for jobs. In order to become pre-qualified, contractors must meet certain criteria for each job description. Equipment, personnel, references, experience, competence, time frame in which a project can be completed and cost are all determining factors for a successful bid. Having a sam.gov number and carrying their own workers comp are recently revised legal requirements. If a contractor meets these specifications, Northwest Management’s Tucker Flaten provides project notices to those that have made the list of consideration. This system allows Northwest Management to appropriately evaluate each individual contractor based on the specific needs of the job.
In the past, Jeffery Miller Excavation has attempted to be placed on the list of considered contractors. Due to miscommunication and oversight, their bid was not considered for a recent project. Walsh admitted that there were likely other contractors that fell to the same fate. Commissioner Purdy confirmed that there was, that another local contractor had made complaints, but she would not speak for them on the matter. Walsh encouraged anyone with complaints to come speak to her. Open discussion is important in nurturing relations between the County and contractors. Purdy emphasized local business is priority. Preference is held for local business’s if they are available in the pool. Flaten spoke up to say the county’s utilization of Northwest Management as a subcontractor procuring a competitive bid market differs from other counties. The system used to vet contractors is set up with the taxpayers dime in mind. Selecting from a pool versus putting out a wide-open bid, shaves off time that can be spent setting up a project, therefore, saving money. The success of this program has bolstered support from the Idaho Department of Lands (IDL). Instead of Northwest Management being paid through grants the county applies for, funds are provided through the IDL shared stewardship contract. Because of this, there is no other county in the state treating as many acres per year, nor doing it for the prices Adams County is. Flaten goes on to commend the Commissioners and Carol Walsh for their part in creating such a successful program.
As a subcontractor, using the pre-qualification list determined by Flaten and Walsh, a contractor’s interaction varies in comparison to surrounding counties when bidding through Northwest Management. Kalah Miller asked for clarification on bid package requirements. Flaten stated that per the county attorney, the procurement contract between Adams County securing Northwest management for competitive bid process’ does not require Northwest Management to put jobs out to bid. Flaten’s position is to facilitate the county and the way the county chose to navigate the bid market. If changes need to be made, he offered to help make it happen. “I would hate for somebody to write up a contract- because it does take time- I don’t want to see them waste their time putting in for something that we already know they’re not going to get” Walsh said. “I think where we are coming from in the bidding process, you would make sure that they (locals) are eligible to bid. That locals are involved. And if they are, that they hold preference,” Commissioner Joe Iveson added. “We don’t have many locals, unfortunately, that can do the work. I would like to try Jeffery Miller Excavation and see how they work out there. See what contracts they can cover,” Walsh said in agreement. Falten asked the commissioners to define the term “Local”. Purdy explained “Adams County has a lot of forest area, so specifically I’m talking about Adams County. If there are people in this county or Idaho County, or this general vicinity, I would sure like to see them have an opportunity to bid on this stuff. Keep them busy and working.” Iveson again added “As far as anyone else goes, they can be from any county, but as far as preference goes, if they can get the job done, preference goes to Adams County.” Miller was satisfied with the clarifications and looked forward to working with the county in the future as a local contractor.
