Adams County Commissioners Forming Emer. Preparedness Groups & More
On Monday, November 13, the Adams County Commissioners met for their first scheduled meeting for the month. Meredith Fisher, with Planning and Zoning, wanted to ask the Commissioners when they were planning to view the roads at the Legacy Ranch development near McCall. The Commissioners decided to tentatively schedule that for Wednesday, Nov. 15th at 2:45 p.m. so they could do a site visit and establish a road agreement. They will meet on Long View Lane and the meeting is open to the public. Fisher also told the Commissioners that she had a meeting recently with the Brundage team and that currently they are looking into forming a subscription or courier service for EMS and Fire protection and will probably have a plan put together by December for review. They would be forming their own District eventually down the road, but would be paying to the service privately.
Steve Shelton wanted to clarify the Thanksgiving Break for Landfill employees. The Landfill will be closed the Friday after Thanksgiving. He also asked if there was a time limit of C&D permits, and how long they can bring it in for. The Commissioners said the first permit is good for six months but can be renewed.
Kraig Spelman with Road and Bridge said they had a call from someone at the Council golf course who asked about a cul-de-sac that is on the county’s map but that the county hasn’t been plowing because there are no houses on it. The resident wanted to know if they could start plowing it so they can access the equipment shed during the winter. The Commissioners said yes they should do that if it is a road they are supposed to be plowing. ITD contacted Adams County to inquire about a bridge across the Snake River at Oxbow next to Copperfield Park. Adams County is on one side and Oregon on the other. The road is maintained by Idaho Power, but ITD was wondering what stake, if any, Adams County had in the bridge. Spelman wasn’t sure what to tell them. Clerk Sherry Ward asked if there were any agreements on similar bridges they could look at. Commissioner Daren Ward said they should probably talk over the agreement with Prosecutor Boyd and then meet with Idaho Power. Commissioner Viki Purdy asked if they had ever paid to maintain it in the past. Spelman said not to his knowledge. Purdy said she didn’t know why they would want to start then and Spelman agreed.
Sheriff Ryan Zollman reported that there were 21 state inmates and 4 county. He also asked the Commissioners for help about a spot at the jail where water drips off the roof, freezes, and becomes hazardous. They came up with a few different solutions to try. Zollman also said he had some new hires he would like to swear in at the next Commissioners meeting.
A couple who had purchased a piece of land at auction from Adams County in 2020 came in because they wanted to sell the property and they could not get title insurance on it. County Prosecutor Chris Boyd came in and apprised everyone of the situation with the land and why they had sold it the way they did, and several different solutions. Because the owners wanted to sell the property to a neighbor, they decided the best thing to do would be to do an amended title if that would work for the title insurance company.
After this the commissioners canvassed the votes from the election last week. They found no issues with the votes.
Later in the afternoon, the Commissioners heard a review on cyber security, followed by Carol Walsh, the Adams County Emergency Management Coordinator, who brought several representatives to talk about the new fuel reduction programs going on in Adams County. Brian Davis, the Shared Stewardship Coordinator, told the commissioners about some of the projects they had going on and planned for Adams County. Projects are all fuel reduction projects on both private and public lands. They coordinate with Forest Service, IDL and private landowners to get work done. They are primarily masticating or chipping fuels, they do not want to create slash piles that require more work to burn later. The program helps reduce losses in event of a wildfire and also reduces strain on local resources during a fire. Additionally, they will help with hardening the power lines and hopefully reducing homeowners insurance costs which have been rising recently due to risks posed by wildfire. The Commissioners were interested to hear about the program and how it could help residents in the future. After this, Indian Valley resident Al Partain came in to talk to the Commissioners about emergency preparedness groups he is coordinating and how they can partner with the county. He is starting to form groups to teach things around personal resilience and preparedness and wanted to be involved in the county’s emergency plans as a part of that. Carol Walsh said the good part of these groups was that since the demographics of the county were changing and not everyone knows each other anymore, she can see this as helping to form a more cohesive town where everyone knows each other and can help each other, however, she warned that it could become a problem if people start playing fireman or EMS and going beyond basic knowledge. The commissioners agreed. Commissioner Joe Iveson said he thinks it’s great the more you can get community members getting together and involved. The Commissioners asked Partain to give contact info for group leaders to local EMS leaders for the future. The group will be having a meeting at 10:00 on Saturday at the Legion Hall and Partain invited everyone to come.
