County Commissioner Meeting 10.7.22

The County Commissioners met the first Friday of October as scheduled to work their way down the list of action items provided to them. They began by approving the expenses, as well as minutes from their prior two meetings. Following this, County Clerk Shelley Essl informed the Commissioners that through Local Assistance and Tribal Consistency Fund (LATCF) funds, the county would receive funding of approximately 6 million dollars. The LATCF funds will be provided in two separate payments just over 3 million dollars. The first payment is expected to be acquired within the following weeks, the second payment in the following year.

After this, the commissioners proceeded to tackle additional action items, they ended the county burn ban, conducted staff recognitions, signed BOE agreements to provide new printers for the fair and Recorder’s office, and made optimistic comments regarding the appointment of Judge Theodore J. Fleming to Elmore County’s new 4th District Judge position.

Sheriff Hollinshead then approached the commissioners, giving an update regarding the missing person who was located and confirmed deceased at Trinity Lake. He thanked the plethora of employees and volunteers who dedicated countless hours searching for the individual. He also informed the commissioners of a deputy leaving the Elmore County Sheriff’s Office, to work in a smaller department in another part of Idaho. He explained that the new department requested that the deputy be able to retain his custom fitted vest if the department paid the Elmore County Sheriff’s Office $200 for the vest.

The commissioners permitted the deputy to take the vest with him at no cost to the other department.

Steve Van Norman followed up Sheriff Hollinshead to request the funds required to update the county’s Microsoft services and AS400 unit. The contract with Microsoft would provide the county with 250 licenses at a cost of $59,000 a year for three years, at which point the contract would be revisited. The cost to upgrade and install the AS400 unit was an estimated $43,000. The Microsoft expenses were approved, and up to $45,000 was approved for the purchase and installation of an AS400 unit, both costs were within the budget of Mr. Van Norman’s budget.

Next, the County Commissioners approved the findings of fact for the proposed Mayfield Springs Development. Following this, a presentation regarding the county’s proposed impact fees and capital improvements plan was given to the commissioners who felt that, by and large, the proposed fees were fair, with one exception. The commissioners were not entirely comfortable with the recommended fee amount for the sheriff’s office. The high fee was driven largely by the estimated cost of building a new jail. Ultimately no decisions were made.

Alan Roberts spoke next, requesting to purchase an automated lift system for an ambulance in Pine. The lift system proposed for purchase is the same model used by other ambulances already. $45,000 of the cost is covered by a grant, the remaining $5,000 would need covered by the county. The commissioners approved the purchase unanimously.

After a break for lunch, the commissioners resumed their meeting, signing a letter of support for the Boise National Forest YCC Crews. They also discussed a request from the Atlanta Highway District for at-large voting. After some deliberation, the request was approved unanimously.

Finally, the commissioners approved payroll for the county, and then motioned to adjourn.