Board of County Commissioners Caribou 11/25

After the approval of the minutes, payroll, and claims, as well as the pledge and prayer, the Caribou Board of County Commissioners began their regular meeting for November 25.

Kevin McClain—Road and Bridge

Two bridges are potentials for grant money for repair.  The state and federal governments have ongoing programs to bring infrastructure up to code, with a focus on bridges.  Several within the county are in need of attention in that regard.  

Money for the Blackfoot river project department needed a letter of support from the commissioners, as does a traffic plan.

Jack Clark has property in Ivins off the airport road.  He would like to put some cattle guards in.  In the past he has furnished them.   With a jog in the road, it will create two places where the guards aren’t needed.  He is asking for the county to straighten the road in order to make it more efficient.  McClain thinks that it probably will not take a lot to fix the road.  A straightened road would allow the property owner to divide the property more naturally than it currently is, eliminating the need for potentially two cattle guards.  Questions about why the road—which goes out of the way of a natural straight line for unclear reasons—is drawn the way it is were raised.  Chairman Mathews said he did not know, but suggested that realignments had been done in the past, and it was possible to do so again.  The length was estimated at about 3/8 of a mile.  Cinders out of the Ivins pit would be used.  McClain said that he would further verify that the property owners in the area were okay with the plan, and that the road itself would be easily made in its newer form before proceeding.

A contract for winterizing one of the county vehicles, as discussed in recent meetings, was ready to be signed.

Dike Lake plowing was discussed.  BLM was okay with the county plowing out to the boat dock.  Once the snow is deep, McClain feels that the effort might not justify the time and expense for the county.  He also expressed concern about plowing creating potential liability by providing levy access over unpredictable ice. 

Rowdy Larkins—Building 

Building Inspector Rowdy Larkins presented a number of change orders to the commissioners.  They involve the planned Event Center.  One involved having the contractors carry the builders risk insurance.  Both sides had assumed the county would be carrying it, but it turns out that it is not permitted to do so.  Some further questions about how the builders insurance was being accounted for and billed through the process were raised.  Commissioner Somsen moved to approve the insurance for up to $4K which was passed.

Another change order regards the excavation of top soil, which was different in composition than had been predicted.  More organic material than was thought had to be hauled out and then replaced with suitable substrate to bring it to the level needed.  Larkins expressed the opinion that a soil study having been done in the first place would have caught this issue.  He also felt that it should have been included in the original contract.  A change order up to $70K was approved regarding the topsoil.

Before the project can move forward, a special inspection of the soil needs to be completed.  Utah Testing and Engineering bid $15,465 for the soil inspection, which was approved by the commissioners.

Two extra trees that were not included in the original bid for removal needed to be taken down in order to accommodate the fire station footprint.  One of the trees is becoming close to the power line, and the roots may also become an issue.  

There has been a price increase in some of the materials of about 17K$.  

Up to $15K for various electrical material was approved.

Change orders are necessary in construction projects when the original estimate needs to be adjusted to account for additional expenses.  Generally, a limit is set for any changes over a certain amount for approval from the commissioners.     

The actual digging and construction should be able to begin follow these change orders.  The Event Center is scheduled to be completed and up and running sometime during the next
year, 2025.

Sheriff Mabey

Sheriff Adam Mabey reported that one deputy has put in his resignation.  One dispatch position has been filled, by a former employee.  A new detention deputy has been hired for the detention facility. Mabey also reported that the office is expecting that there are two patrol vehicles coming in.  The Tundra will be used for the detective.  The training vehicle has been purchased locally in Soda Springs.  The old transport van was sold, to offset the cost.

The FCC is putting through a rule change which will affect communications with inmates inside the jail.  Billing for the inmates was deemed too high by the FCC, so contractors will take out existing kiosks.  The state sheriff’s association, as well as the sheriff himself, is opposed to the move.  This will remove the ability of inmates to have video calls/conferencing with relatives.  The regulations are national, however, and not withing the county’s ability to make decisions about.

The ordinance project with Attorney Wood is underway, but will be completed after the holiday.  One of the ordinances in question regards exotic animals, which promises to be interesting no matter the outcome.  

ITD engineers have discussed the merge lane near the new Maverik across from the county sheriff’s building, which the sheriff feels has created a dangerous situation involving traffic entering and leaving the building complex.

A Tri-county snowmobile meeting is planned.

Sheriff Mabey has had pneumonia for a few weeks, but he is recovering and is “back up to speed.”  He clarified that “There are no issues with me doing my job as an elected official.”

PZ—Helen Barker

A resolution to support the Improvement Bond for Recreational Subdivisions was
at issue.  

MR&E was also contacted about garbage services, and some other issues related to facility maintenance at areas around the county.  

An estimate of $1200 for dock maintenance was quoted.  7 docks total were listed.  Everything has been pulled for now for the season.  

CloudPermit is a new program/software suite to handle building permit information in place of iWorQs.  It was reported that they (iWorQ) would not be able to pay for the overlapping costs of switching companies.  The county is switching to the new system, and Barker and Larkins both felt that it would be more useful and a better value for a number of people in the county.  The system keeps track of permits filed for building projects, as well as a number of other issues related to the county’s planning and zoning.

The cost to retrieve the county’s data from iWorQ was discussed.  The contract for CloudPermit for PZ software for $12,600 was approved.

Eric Hobson--EMS

Hobson spoke to the commissioners about a number of issues.  

He spoke to the commissioners about the All-County Hazard mitigation plan. Hobson has spoken to the city councils of several cities.  Only 61 surveys have been completed so far, though more are expected.  

Projects need to be outlined in the All-Hazard Mitigation plan.  Hobson explained some of the mechanics by which the AHMP interacts with the granting process.  The AHMP works to prepare communities for risk, both as a financial and loss of life mitigation program.  Creative uses of mitigation projects are the order of the day, and the county can use it to apply for a number of federal grants that generally cover 75-90% of the cost.  The costs to entities can be covered through in-kind donations.

Itafos has offered $10K for an old ambulance owned by the county.  The ambulance would be used on site as a company ambulance.  The commissioners felt that the offer was a good one for the vehicle.  The commissioners voted to accept the Itafos bid for $10K for the old ambulance.

Currently the plan in the county is to purchase a new ambulance every 3 or 4 years through an ambulance grant.  The idea is to make sure that the oldest “backup” ambulance is no more than 20 years old.

Normally, there is a Christmas card for employees, which is a card to Lallatins.  The party will be on December 20 at 6:30.  

Doug Wood   

The issue of Indigent defense was discussed.  The state public defender’s office has taken over the indigent defense cases, which had been handled by attorney Marler. The transition to the public defender’s office has been underway recently.  Concerns about the imbalance between counties of different sizes have been expressed throughout the state, and the commissioners and Wood noted that they had seen some evidence of that imbalance begin to take shape.

Jill Stoor 

Clerk Stoor also brought to the county’s attention the fact that the sidewalk project in front of the building had resulted in the loss of several parking spots.

Molly Besaris

Molly Besaris from 4CASI spoke to the commissioners about a Gem grant underway.  She applied for the city and county for $50K.  She was awarded $18K for the county, which will be their first
Gem grant.  

The funds can be used for anything the commission seems best.  It might potentially be used to compensate individuals who had to pay out of pocket for the Main Street project.  This could be given to the city to compensate the business owners to some extent.  The grant is always available to support economic development and local businesses.  She encouraged the commissioners to keep thinking of things that could qualify for future Gem grants.  She explained that there are many things throughout the year that the county could qualify for.