Report of February 20th Meeting

On February 20th the Adams County Commissioners met on Tuesday instead of Monday due to the holiday.

Building Inspector, Kody Williams, said he will look into putting together a potential ordinance regarding tiny homes and small living spaces so the commissioners can have something to start looking at and start that conversation. Meredith Fisher, with Planning and Zoning, said there was a hearing for Tamarack View Estates later. Per ordinance, they need a sediment detention pond put in place, however, they can apply for a variance which would be up to the discretion of the commissioners to approve or deny. Commissioner Joe Iveson said when they built the Rec Center it was designed to have a runoff pond that would have cost over $100,000, but they thought that it didn’t make sense and it hasn’t been an issue at all with the Rec Center. In the subdivision, there is a lot of soil and no pavement or concrete, it’s a forested hillside, and it doesn’t seem to make very much sense to Iveson when he’s looked at it, but he thinks they should all go look at it with Road and Bridge to evaluate. Fisher said she hasn’t had one phone call about this final plat hearing so she thinks everyone is mostly on board. She also mentioned that legally, they might not have to always do final plat hearings and they tend to be redundant. “I’m a big fan of public hearings” said Iveson. It gives the public a chance to really speak their mind. They thought maybe they could decide on a case by case basis though. Fisher said that Brundage is looking to have their fire district operational by June. Everyone thought that was a lofty aspiration, and they also said they would like to reopen negotiation for fire protection. Meadows Valley still wants to de-annex EMS. Commissioner Iveson asked if there was a boundary they had in mind for de-annexation? He was wondering how many homes were in the area and if there has been a proposed map yet? Fisher said not yet.

Steve Shelton with Solid waste said things are good but muddy at the landfill. They dropped the price of cardboard at Western Recycling (Republic Services). Ward said per their meeting with Republic Services, they should have new prices this week. Aluminum prices are 47 cents a pound in the Treasure Valley. Commissioner Daren Ward said he met with Brundage last week and they would like to do more recycling. They were wondering if they could use metal bins and deliver them to the New Meadows Recycle Center. They are trying to divert everything they can from the landfill. Shelton said it would need to be a covered area because they can’t have them full of water.

Adam Balderson came next to discuss Pleasant ridge rd updates regarding deeded easements. Clerk Sherry Ward said that after the meeting they had several months ago they had the comment that there was a deeded easement on that road, so they started looking, and they were able to find easements for everywhere except for two properties. Those property owners were there to discuss if they are interested in doing a deeded easement. Commissioner Iveson said the main reason they want to do this is to put it on the blue line map so they can collect tax dollars from the state and get some money back for the maintenance they have been doing. The intent is not to open it up for everyone to pass though, just to be able to collect the tax dollars. One resident said they have huge concerns over vandalism and maintenance going forward. They have had three head of livestock shot for sport in their field in the past. They are concerned whether opening it up will open it up for traffic as well. The other property owner said she was in favor of opening up the road because they don’t have good access to the property currently. So it really comes down to one property owner to decide the terms. He said he would never want to deny access to his neighbors, Sheriff Zollman thought they needed to have this established for future property owners too though. Commissioner Iveson asked if they could still keep a lock on it as long as the county and all property owners had a key. The other property owner wasn’t really in favor of that and neither was Clerk Sherry Ward. Commissioner Purdy mentioned even if you lock it people who intend harm anyway don’t have a problem with cutting locks. The resident who was hesitant said he would like to see it surveyed if they grant access, he doesn’t want to move the road and is concerned about it going through the hayfield. He asked if it becomes a full county road will it be shown on the blue line map. Commissioner Iveson said yes, in order to get funds, Balderson said it will be shown the quality of the road though. The map differentiates between paved roads, dirt roads etc. It already shows up on Onx, a popular mapping app used by hunters and other outdoors enthusiasts, as a road, and that is what most people use. Sheriff Zollman said the new state trespassing law means you can put up a sign saying private property on both sides of the road it is valid for however many miles you specify. Commissioner Ward said maybe we should put a sign on both sides saying “No access to public land,” that might help too. The resident who was hesitant said he would be interested in the county fencing both sides of the road. He doesn’t like the idea of having that much fence to fix. Commissioner Purdy said cameras might be less expensive than 2½ miles of fence. Sheriff Zollman said you only have to catch one or two people and word spreads. Commissioner Iveson asked them to think about it and let them know if there are any provisions they would need to include to grant an easement. Clerk Sherry Ward asked what is going on with the claim about Ashley’s bridge. Balderson said they haven’t been able to get a hold of the insurance company lately. Commissioner Iveson said if they keep evading the call to have the county prosecutor send them a letter.

Sheriff Ryan Zollman said he is negotiating with the clinic to see if they might be able to meet their needs still for health care. Commissioner Iveson asked how much they spend with the clinic. Zollman said probably around $2000-3000 a month, for county and state. “We want to maintain that,” he said, but they have to watch out for their liability too. Zollman said it’s nerve wracking to the officers who have gone through post and know what the inmates can do with pills. There were 19 state inmates and 0 county.

Next was the Public Hearing for Tamarack View Estates. There had been some questions about the sediment detention pond. Commissioner Iveson said the option would be to do a variance, which costs a little money, and they would all three go out and look at the situation with Road and Bridge and see if it makes sense. That would be his recommendation. The applicants said that sounds favorable. Notice did go out to the paper and everyone within 300 ft of property boundary, there was no written comment, so Fisher is recommending them for approval. The applicant said utilities are in. They have funded brand new engineering, but everything has been there already. As far as the pond, he doesn’t have a problem doing it, but if there is no reason, he’d rather not. He’d hate to destroy the landscape if it doesn’t need to happen. Fisher said a variance does require a public hearing but that could be done with the site visit, she’ll have to double check if it’s required. Commissioner Purdy thanked them for getting the fence done, they really want the county to stay open range and they don’t like people building homes and not fencing the livestock out. Commissioners motioned for approval of the final plat of phase 2 of Tamarack View Estates. All were in favor and the motion passed.