Jail Numbers & Staff Funding; Heavy Equipment Expenses at Landfill
On Monday, March 11th, the Adams County Commissioners met at the Adams County Courthouse. The day began with a report from Dave Herold with Weed Control who told the commissioners Turkish Thistle was recently added to the states noxious weed list. The only place it has been found in Idaho so far is near Pittsburg Landing in Idaho County. The Forest Service does not allow drone spraying so they are needing to use backpack sprayers to take care of it, but they don’t have enough personnel and are asking for help from Adams County. Herold was asking the commissioners what they thought about sending two people for five days in April to help them. They will not be paying. The commissioners thought two people for five days was a little excessive, they felt better about sending one person for a part of that time.
Commissioner Joe Iveson asked how thick the thistle was. Herold said they have identified a number of infestations down the river and some of it has been identified on the Oregon side as well. Commissioner Daren Ward asked why they don’t allow drone spraying. Herold said he doesn’t know, that would be a question for the federal government. He thought in this situation it would be a no brainer. He has seen this sort of infestation start before and that’s why he is kind of interested in helping because he thinks it should be taken care of. The commissioners asked for some more details as they develop, but they tentatively agreed to have the crew go help for two or three days.
Next, Meredith Fisher, with Planning and Zoning, came and gave an update about Brundage. She said that Brundage had met recently with Sheriff Zollman to discuss dispatch capabilities, which Zollman will update on but seemed to go very well. The new fire chief for Brundage, Travis Smith, has been a good addition and has been doing a lot to bring expectations into perspective for the Brundage team. Brundage is hoping to have a letter to the commissioners in sometime this week. A tentative date of April 8th has been set for the Legacy Ranch final plat application public hearing. Fisher also wanted to see if the commissioners had looked over the ordinance draft yet. They said they would like another week to review it. Next Fisher presented a resident who had a parcel that was under the five acre minimum to be considered buildable, but was split prior to 1981 and should be grandfathered in. However, it was a bit of a gray area as it was not recorded immediately. There was also some confusion about Southwest District Health’s septic approval, and the property owner would like them to come out and look at it again. She would like to get approval to build from the county if she gets Southwest District Health’s approval. Commissioner Iveson didn’t think the recording date was an issue because it was done before 1981, it just wasn’t recorded in time for some reason. The other commissioners agreed that if they get approval and can meet with the setbacks they don’t have an issue with that. Commissioner Viki Purdy made some suggestions to help her get approval from Southwest District Health.
Steve Shelton, with solid waste, gave the final cost of the building with the mini split to the commissioners. The mini split and electrical were extra that they didn’t budget for. They still need to get power to the far end of the building. The commissioner approved the changes and Clerk Sherry Ward confirmed there was the budget. Shelton said he was having a hard time finding a good CAT to get the work done on the landfill so he was thinking about renting one and was wanting to see what the commissioners thought. They are around $19,000 a month, but CAT deals with all the maintenance. He thought they would need it for four or five months this summer. They are over a million dollars new. For a good used one, if they can find one, they are still looking at probably $300,000. Commissioner Purdy asked how long it might be before they can get their CAT fixed. Shelton said parts are still on backorder, and it is a D7, not a D8, which would get the work done much faster. The commissioners weren’t sure, but thought it might be the only option if they couldn’t find a good one or get the parts to fix theirs in time.
Adam Balderson, with Road and Bridge, came next with property owner, Chris Ulmer, to discuss what they would need to do for the county to take over a road. Ulmer said he would like to build a house on the property he owns, he is one of five lots on the road. The road is not up to code yet but they are planning on fixing it and they are interested in knowing whether the county taking it over after improvements is even an option, and what they would need to do exactly to meet county specifications if it was an option. The road is near Kings Pines Estate 2 and Little Ski Hill. It’s about 960 feet long. According to Adams County ordinance, for them to take it over it is supposed to be paved, but the commissioners are not big fans of taking over paved roads due to the ongoing maintenance costs. Fisher mentioned they could do a variance. Ulmer’s preference would be to widen the road with gravel instead of paving it, but part of it is already paved, although it is old. Balderson thought that if they did do anything they would want the same surface on the whole road, not half pavement half gravel. Balderson was wondering if there would be an issue with an easement from a property owner as well. He also thought they might need to bring it to the Fire Department and EMS to check that it would work with them.
Iveson thought that they would probably need to drive it to decide. The commissioners decided they would take a look at the road with Road and Bridge and get back to Ulmer.
Next on the agenda was Sheriff Ryan Zollman, who brought several members from the Council Rod and Gun Club. Zollman said they have been a wonderful partner to the Sheriff’s Office and he presented the Rod and Gun Club with a Certificate of Appreciation for their dedication and support. They give all deputies and local law enforcement members of any sort a free membership to the Rod and Gun Club and the Sheriff’s Department is very appreciative of their great partnership. Zollman then presented a Certificate of Appreciation to Jerry’s Auto Parts in Council, to recognize their many years of support and their generous donations. This year they donated new wiper blades and washer fluid to the Sheriff’s Department. Zollman is extremely grateful for their support.
There are currently 19 state inmates. They have two cells that are down right now and they are waiting on a plumber. They should be back up by the end of the week and they will get those filled. Zollman then reminded the commissioners that last year during budget, they didn’t have funding to maintain their current staffing levels. He was told at that time if they maintain over 20 inmates for 6 months he could have those positions back. He’s sitting at five months of over 20 inmates and he would like one of the spots back now and the other in a few months. Commissioner Iveson and Clerk Sherry Ward were very concerned about budget issues. Ward said she is having a conversation with the state tax commission later to verify numbers and also with the assessor about valuations. Zollman said he was asked to keep the jail full, and he has, but that is not something they have to do. They are bringing up inmates out of Canyon County on a weekly basis and they are doing that so they can have good staffing. Commissioner Iveson said he’s all for it as long as they have the money to pay for it and the other commissioners agreed. Zollman said of the 37 jails in the state they are in the top 5 for lowest costs per day.
Zollman also mentioned that people have been complaining about the noise from the soda machine while they are taking their drivers license tests. He is wondering if they can move it outside, possibly between the door between the two buildings. Also, one of the heaters quit and it was going to be close to $3,000 to replace, but after looking at it, since they have two units, they are thinking of just running one and then doing something different if that one dies. He wants to just disconnect the old one for now. The room that it services doesn’t have to be room temperature and the one unit should be more than sufficient.
Next, there was an update from Rose Advocates Executive Director, Veronica Vasquez, who gave the commissioners a breakdown of the expenditures from last year towards Adams County residents. The county gives Rose Advocates $4,000 per year. In 2023, Rose Advocates had 67 clients in Adams County. There were 20 child abuse cases, they housed 26 people, 32 domestic violence cases, 12 cases of dating violence, and also 6 elder abuse cases. She said numbers have dropped a bit from last year. In the last two quarters they have housed four people from Council. Commissioner Viki Purdy asked if any of these are resulting in convictions? Vasquez said yes they are, but she doesn’t have the numbers yet as some are still going through the process.
The day ended with an executive session for legal counsel with Prosecutor Chris Boyd.
