County Commissioner Meeting 10.14.22

In a second, short October meeting the Commissioners met at the Elmore County Courthouse; Commissioner Rodgers was absent.

The meeting began by approving the minutes for the October 7th meeting. Following this, there was a short discussion about the reimbursement of an employee regarding the purchase of drill steel for the fairgrounds. Afterwards, the commissioners approved a catering permit for “Stew’s Place”.

Traci Lefever, E-911 Coordinator, was presented with a certificate of thanks for her tireless work and the grants she has pursued and acquired for the county.

After a brief executive session, the commissioners heard from Dylan Lawrence, Keri Hill, and Terry Scanlan regarding a decision on piping for the South Fork Boise River Water Project. The commissioners and representatives for the project agreed upon using larger piping in order to be prepared for a potential water increase in future years.

The commissioners and members of the county staff including Josh Dison, Elmore County Assesor, discussed transitioning from the current one time monthly payroll, to a bi-weekly system. A poll of a little over 80 employees indicated that, by and large, the staff supported a bi-weekly system. Though after some discussion, it was brought to the attention of the Commissioners that the employees were not made aware that in a bi-weekly system, benefits are detracted from the second paycheck, resulting in the first paycheck being a sizably larger amount than the second check. It was decided that a secondary poll providing additional information would be released to county staff, and for the time being the matter was tabled.

In pursuing transparency in government, the Mountain Home News attempted to present the commissioners with questions regarding the refusal to sign the MOU with the University of Idaho with the prior Extension Educator remaining in his position. We were instructed to submit our questions to Shondi Lott - legal council for the commissioners - for review.

*Publishers Note: We have since requested to be placed on the agenda, Oct. 21, 2022, to retain a public meeting environment.