***Monday, February 8, 2021, at 9:00 a.m., Commissioners met in regular session with Chairman Dan Dinning, Commissioner Wally Cossairt, Commissioner Tim Bertling, Clerk Glenda Poston, and Deputy Clerk Michelle Rohrwasser.
Rick Dinning with Tungsten Holdings joined the meeting.
Commissioners said the Pledge of Allegiance.
9:00 a.m., Road and Bridge Department Co-Superintendents Renee Nelson and Randy Morris joined the meeting via conference to give the department report. A written report was provided.
Ms. Nelson said Road and Bridge worked salting and sanding roads last week, as well as did quite a bit of cold patching, grinding and a lot of sign work. Ms. Nelson said Road and Bridge is currently working on brushing roads in the Crossport area. Other Road and Bridge employees are picking up a pallet of cold patch material today. Commissioner Cossairt mentioned the cold weather that is expected and those present discussed spring breakup. Mr. Morris said a few contractors have contacted Road and Bridge about road conditions as they were thinking about relocating equipment ahead of possible closures.
Ms. Nelson spoke of the documents associated with the Riverside Road Improvement Project and how County Civil Attorney Hull is working on those. Ms. Nelson mentioned looking for contact information for a couple of landowners.
Commissioner Cossairt moved to sign the letters of offer, waiver valuations, temporary construction easement agreements, letters of intent to acquire for temporary construction easements and rights-of-way, and future related documents once County Civil Attorney Hull has reviewed and approved these documents. Commissioner Bertling second. Motion passed unanimously.
Chairman Dinning commented that their prior motion applies for future documents of this nature, but Commissioners want to be informed of any developments pertaining to this project.
Ms. Nelson spoke of Curless Road and Mr. Morris added that there is a heavier traffic flow and it was recently learned there is a school further back on this road. The large rock at the cemetery in this area is causing a hazard as a result of this heavier traffic and the Wayne Jessop is asking if the rock can be blasted down. J7 Construction had commented about using his own equipment on the rock. Chairman Dinning said he would first check to see if a school needs to be approved through Planning and Zoning. Mr. Morris informed Commissioners that he doesn’t want to use Road and Bridge equipment to blast this rock and he doesn’t know if an excavator can break it up.
Chairman Dinning left the meeting due to a conflict of interest in the next discussion.
Ms. Nelson said she was approached by a landowner who owns property off of Stellar Jay Road and this person inquired about a possible road abandonment of a particular access nearby that adjoins one of the parcels. Ms. Nelson said she’s trying to figure out the best way of verification as far as if this road was abandoned or vacated. Ms. Nelson said Rick Dinning has a copy of a right-of-way, an instrument number and Ordinance 65-3, which is supposed to vacate this right-of-way. The purchaser of property wants to verify that this road was actually abandoned, according to Ms. Nelson. Mr. Dinning said he has documents that he can provide Commissioners. Mr. Dinning said on Stellar Jay, there is an extension when you get to the corner beyond the Belmore’s residence. This is a right-of-way and it is 50 feet wide. Mr. Dinning added that he had found a document and the title company also states that some of the road from the Southside Grade School was abandoned to the top of the hill. John Taft is also in favor of abandonment if he can get an easement access for use in case of an emergency, according to Mr. Dinning. Commissioner Cossairt said Commissioners will have to look into this. Mr. Morris said on the map he has, the easement looks to be on the neighboring property, too.
Chairman Dinning returned to the meeting.
Ms. Nelson spoke of assigning addresses in relation to establishing utilities. Chairman Dinning asked why the applications for year 2020 aren’t done and Ms. Nelson said there was a lot of information that was missing or not clear and the applicant had not been made aware of that. Planning and Zoning Administrator Clare Marley is having trouble finding information in the Planning and Zoning files. Chairman Dinning asked if all of the applications can be worked on at the same time. Ms. Nelson said realistically, no, and she explained the process that’s involved. This water utility is a real issue, according to Ms. Nelson. Commissioner Cossairt said the applications for people needing water need to be taken care of. Commissioner Cossairt suggested letting the new applicants know they won’t get a response within the initial two weeks. Commissioners asked Ms. Nelson and Addressing Coordinator Trevor Kempton to meet with them tomorrow at 11:30 a.m. so they can continue this discussion further and give Commissioners time to think about this in the meantime.
Ms. Nelson said as far as the list of matters that are provided in the Road and Bridge report, property owner Garvin Williams has had activity on this property in that he has put a portable sawmill on the concrete slab that is to be removed.
The call to Ms. Nelson and Mr. Morris ended at 9:30 a.m.
9:30 a.m., County Civil Attorney Tevis Hull joined the meeting via conference call. Commissioners updated Attorney Hull on the Garvin Williams matter. Attorney Hull briefly commented that he made changes to the Idaho Transportation Department right-of-way contract so that is still in progress.
Chairman Dinning informed Attorney Hull that Idaho is in Stage 3 as it pertains to COVID-19 restrictions and he asked about not needing to use the conference call line for meetings. Attorney Hull said legally, Commissioners can still use the conference call line, but Commissioners need to think about the size of the meeting room they have. Commissioners could probably accommodate five people, but if there are more, Commissioners would need to pause and move the meeting to a larger venue. Commissioner Bertling commented that he thinks it’s rare that there would be that many people. If Commissioners did have more than five people show up for a meeting, they could give out the conference call line to the people they can’t accommodate in the office. Attorney Hull said Commissioners want to use the conference call line for just one more month, they could send out a public notice stating that during COVID-19 restrictions Commissioners have been using a conference call line, but now that restrictions are relaxed, sometime in March Commissioners will go back to normal business.
9:45 a.m., Commissioner Cossairt moved to go into closed session pursuant to Idaho Code 74-206(1)f, to communicate with the legal counsel for the public agency to discuss the legal ramifications of and legal options for pending litigation, or controversies not yet being litigated, but imminently likely to be litigated. Commissioner Bertling second. Motion passed unanimously. Commissioners voted as follows: Chairman Dinning “aye”, Commissioner Cossairt “aye” and Commissioner Bertling “aye”. Motion passed unanimously. The executive session ended at 9:54 a.m. No action was taken.
The call to Attorney Hull ended at 9:55 a.m.
Clerk Poston informed Commissioners of her difficulty in scheduling an appointment for a family member to get a COVID-19 vaccine and she commented that she would like to get a clinic set up at the fairgrounds as it’s been frustrating trying to get information as to where a person can get the vaccine and set up the appointments. Commissioners were in favor of that.
9:58 a.m., Chief Deputy Clerk Nancy Ryals joined the meeting.
Commissioner Cossairt moved to go into closed session pursuant to Idaho Code 31-874. Commissioner Bertling second. Motion passed unanimously. The closed session ended at 10:10 a.m.
Commissioner Cossairt moved to sign the Certificate of Denial for indigent case 2021-5. Commissioner Bertling second. Motion passed unanimously.
Chief Deputy Clerk Ryals left the meeting at 10:10 a.m.
10:17 p.m., Commissioners held proceedings to consider the transfer of the County Alcoholic Beverage License for year 2021 for Par Hawaii LLC., doing business as Cenex/Zip Trip to Par Hawaii LLC doing business as NomNom. Present were: Chairman Dan Dinning, Commissioner Wally Cossairt, Commissioner Tim Bertling, and Deputy Clerk Michelle Rohrwasser. The proceedings were recorded.
The application is for the transfer of the year 2021 County Alcoholic Beverage License in the name of Par Hawaii LLC, doing business as Cenex/Zip Trip to Par Hawaii LLC doing business as NomNom. The completed application and transfer fee, and the transferred 2021 State of Idaho Retail Alcoholic Beverage License have been received. Yet to be received is the transferred 2021 City of Bonners Ferry Retail Alcoholic Beverage License.
Commissioner Cossairt moved to approve the transfer of the 2021 County Alcoholic Beverage License from Par Hawaii, LLC, dba Cenex Zip Trip to Par Hawaii, LLC dba NomNom, to sell bottled and canned beer and retail wine off premises pending receipt of the transferred 2021 City of Bonners Ferry Retail Alcoholic Beverage License. Commissioner Bertling second. Motion passed unanimously.
The proceedings ended at 10:19 a.m.
10:20 a.m., Trey Dail with T-O Engineering joined the meeting for the discussion regarding airport related matters.
Commissioner Cossairt moved to sign the Property Tax Cancellation Form for tax year 2020 for parcels #RP61N01E014104A, #RP61N01E013801A, #RP61N01E013907A and #RP61N01E013703A and to cancel $552.82 in deferred tax that was a duplicate charge. Commissioner Bertling second. Motion passed unanimously.
Commissioner Cossairt moved to sign the Certificate of Residency for Holly Ansley. Commissioner Bertling second. Motion passed unanimously.
Commissioner Cossairt moved to sign the Findings and Decision for Application #2-2020 for a variance to the Boundary County Road Standards Ordinance 2020-2 requested by applicant Judy Dirks. Commissioner Bertling second. Motion passed unanimously.
Commissioner Bertling moved to reappoint Wade Purdom and Adam Isaac to the Planning and Zoning Commission with terms to expire January 2025. Commissioner Cossairt second. Motion passed unanimously.
Commissioner Cossairt moved to approve and sign the Proposal Agreement with Atlas Boiler. Commissioner Bertling second. Motion passed unanimously.
Airport Board Chairman Jay Wages joined the meeting.
Commissioner Cossairt moved to approve the minutes for the weeks of February 1, 2021 and January 26, 2021. Commissioner Bertling second. Motion passed unanimously.
Commissioner Cossairt moved to sign the Addendum to the Medical Services Contract with Bonners Ferry Family Medicine as it pertain to jail inmates. Commissioner Bertling second. Motion passed unanimously.
Commissioners reviewed claims for payment. Fund totals are as follows:
Current Expense $ 85,512.29
Road & Bridge 239,909.96
Airport 4,594.57
District Court 1,990.40
Justice Fund 44,123.38
911 Funds 11,641.52
Indigent & Charity 18,800.04
Junior College Tuition 1,300.00
Parks and Recreation 2,522.93
Reval 28.00
Solid Waste 26,825.45
Tort 515.11
Veterans Memorial 662.33
Weeds 57.74
Restorium 18,726.52
Snowmobile 1,254.34
Waterways 1,680.08
Grant, Airport 5,316.60
Grant, Boat Safety 71.36
Hospital, Supplemental Levy 9,813.35
Grants, Fire Mitigation 4,860.82
TOTAL $480,206.79
Trusts
Auditor’s Trust 10,948.00
Boundary Co. Drug Court Trust 373.98
Sales Tax Collected 18.00
Driver’s License Trust 8,621.00
Interlock Device Fund 13.00
Motor Vehicle Trust 150,018.78
Sheriff’s Trust Fund 198.55
Odyssey Court Trust Account 19,635.85
Odyssey Bond Trust Account 165.75
Odyssey Restitution Trust Acct 1,120.84
TOTAL $191,113.75
GRAND TOTAL $671,320.54
Citizens are invited to inspect detailed records on file in the Courthouse (individual claims & Commissioners’ allowance & warrant register record 2020-2021).
10:30 a.m., Mr. Wages said this discussion is about the condition of the airport runway, such as the cracks that are approximately one-half inch wide that run the width of the runway. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) recommends maintenance on runways every four to seven years. The main driver behind this is that the runway rehabilitation planned for year 2022 has been pushed out to year 2026 so the plan is to fill the cracks until the FAA provides necessary funding to repair them. The cost estimate is $320,000.00 and that includes filling cracks or paving over them, in addition is removing all markings off all of the taxiways, lanes, and aprons, and then seal coating them and putting new markings on the entire airport. Mr. Dail reiterated that the cost estimate is $320,000.00 and approximately 5% to 7% is the sponsor’s match for that for the entire airport. It was said the county can obtain a grant through the FAA and the State of Idaho. Chairman Dinning asked Mr. Wages about available budget and Mr. Wages informed Commissioners that Airport Manager Dave Parker is going to apply for new Coronavirus Aid Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act funding in the amount of $10,000.00 and there is $4,500.00 in the budget for this. It was mentioned that Mr. Parker had submitted for $30,000.00 through the first CARES Act funding and the county submitted $19,000.00 for the first request for reimbursement and Mr. Parker has the information for the remainder of costs.
Chairman Dinning reviewed the documents associated with the new grant project and Mr. Dail explained what the documents were. This is for the project’s life and he referenced surface maintenance and keeping the airport open as examples of the sponsor’s certifications.
Commissioner Cossairt moved to sign Work Order 20-01 and Exhibit A – Scope of Work with T-O Engineering for Airport Improvement Project 3-16-0004-020-2021 for the Airfield Pavement Maintenance and the Sponsor Certifications and Grant Application. Commissioner Bertling second. Motion passed unanimously.
Commissioner Cossairt moved to sign Federal Aviation Administration Request for Reimbursement #6 for Airport Improvement Project 3-16-0004-018-2020 and the Invoice Summary for the snow removal equipment building (Phase II-Construction). Commissioner Bertling second. Motion passed unanimously.
Mr. Dail explained the status of the airport snow removal equipment building.
The meeting with Mr. Dail and Mr. Wages ended at 10:45 a.m.
Commissioners and Clerk Poston took a tour of the newly remodeled county annex building, the Sheriff’s Office jail and the North Idaho College building.
There being no further business, the meeting recessed until tomorrow at 9:00 a.m.
***Tuesday, February 9, 2021, at 9:00 a.m., Commissioners met in regular session with Chairman Dan Dinning, Commissioner Wally Cossairt, Commissioner Tim Bertling, Clerk Glenda Poston, and Deputy Clerk Michelle Rohrwasser.
County Civil Attorney Tevis Hull and Deputy Clerk/Personnel Director Pam Barton joined the meeting.
9:00 a.m., Commissioner Cossairt moved to go into executive session pursuant to Idaho Code 74-206(b), to consider the evaluation, dismissal or disciplining of, or to hear complaints or charges brought against, a public officer, employee, staff member or individual agent, or public school student. Commissioner Bertling second. Commissioners voted as follows: Chairman Dinning “aye”, Commissioner Cossairt “aye” and Commissioner Bertling “aye”. Motion passed unanimously. The executive session ended at 10:43 a.m. No action was taken.
Attorney Hull and Deputy Clerk Barton left the meeting.
Commissioners tended to administrative duties until their next meeting at 11:00 a.m.
11:00 a.m., Commissioners held a hearing to consider a Hardship Exemption Application for Mary Collett for parcel #MHB00000228425A for year 2020 taxes. Present were: Chairman Dan Dinning, Commissioner Wally Cossairt, Commissioner Tim Bertling, Clerk Glenda Poston, Deputy Clerk Michelle Rohrwasser, and Treasurer Sue Larson. Applicant Mary Collett participated via conference call. The proceedings were recorded.
Chairman Dinning administered the oath to Ms. Collett. Ms. Collett is requesting Commissioners consider her delinquent taxes for year 2020 for a 1977 mobile home. The tax amount owing is $247.63. Commissioners asked Ms. Collett to explain her situation. Ms. Collett stated that she’s in the home health care field and due to COVID-19 she lost one client and had several other clients who were afraid of receiving care so her hours were cut. Ms. Collett listed various utilities she is struggling to pay and she spoke of how expensive groceries have become. Commissioners reviewed Ms. Collett’s income information listed on the application as well as expenses. Chairman Dinning asked Ms. Collett about scheduling payments as opposed to canceling taxes, and Ms. Collette said she feels she can go back to work, but is now so far behind that she won’t be able to get caught up. Ms. Collett spoke of receiving energy assistance. Commissioners asked about the circuit breaker benefit and Ms. Collett replied that she didn’t know if she had filed for that and hasn’t had the chance to look into it. Treasurer Larson commented that the Assessor’s Office can mail the application for the circuit breaker to Ms. Collett, but it won’t apply to year 2020 taxes.
Commissioner Cossairt moved to approve the Hardship Exemption Application for parcel #MHB00000228425A for property owner Mary Collett and to cancel year 2020 taxes in the amount of $247.63. Commissioner Bertling second. Motion passed unanimously.
It was said that this cancellation includes all fees.
The proceedings for the Hardship Exemption Application for parcel #MHB00000228425A ended at 11:10 a.m.
Commissioners recessed until their next meeting at 11:30 a.m.
11:30 p.m., County Civil Attorney Tevis Hull, Road and Bridge Department Co-Superintendent Renee Nelson and Addressing Coordinator Trevor Kempton joined the meeting to discuss addressing issues.
Chairman Dinning said he’s trying to gain an understanding of the process and issues with addressing. Commissioners have been fielding concerns about the length of time the addressing process takes as well as other Planning and Zoning issues that don’t pertain to addressing. If someone needs an address for a home and it’s on a private road, they need to furnish a copy of an easement or access. In some cases, that information is not available and in other cases some people just choose not to give that information to the county. Attorney Hull said with the former Planning and Zoning Administrator, a property owner would want to develop land and they would be asked about their access to that land so they would give information to the Planning and Zoning Administrator referring to an access. Ms. Nelson explained instances where Road and Bridge would need to contact Attorney Hull about this as some people couldn’t find the actual easement documents. Attorney Hull added that people would provide a record of survey and there was nothing tying that roadway to the county. Attorney Hull suggested a disclaimer be added to addressing and approach documents that states the county is assigning this address tied to this particular parcel and the county makes no representation as to whether or not the property owner has legal access to this parcel, no warranty, etc. Attorney Hull said what happens is that the property owner wants to take a statement made by a county employee and then hold the county liable saying the county made this representation and Attorney Hull said we’re trying to get away from that. Ms. Nelson spoke of needing a paper trail and needing information from a title company showing due diligence was taken, but now there is the proposed disclaimer.
Chairman Dinning said the other question he asked Attorney Hull is why do we worry about whether or not the property owner has an easement to their parcel for an address? Ms. Nelson said one reason relates to the Road Standards Ordinance in the section for definitions of a driveway. Ms. Nelson read aloud the definition and commented that the approach location has to come first, then comes the address from that location. If you have an approach in a right-of-way, that’s the point from which Mr. Kempton assigns an address that assists 911 in locating a residence. If the approach is an access to the parcel that is three parcels back, you would assume the access also goes through those other parcels. Ms. Nelson said personally she wouldn’t want people driving over her property to get to another property. Attorney Hull said that is a private sector type of question, but from the public sector, the concern would be if you’re given an address or an approach, and someone blocks the ability to get to that property by putting up a gate, that’s a concern from a law enforcement, fire and first responder standpoint in that there are now gates that are locked, etc. Chairman Dinning said in talking this through, using that as an example, that is still a private sector issue other than for the first responders. Chairman Dinning asked if the county is assigning an address and uses the disclaimer, is it correct that we still have identified where the property is and the access going there? Mr. Kempton said he doesn’t assign an address until the encroachment’s location has been identified. Chairman Dinning said if the driveway is in and the subject property is three properties back, is that information shown on a map for first responders. Mr. Kempton said if there is no easement, there is no address. Chairman Dinning said if there is no easement or the property owner chose not to give the county that information, we can provide the disclaimer about an address. Mr. Kempton said if there is no easement, the process stops right there. Chairman Dinning said that sounds like the heavy hand of government and he’ trying to get away from that. Mr. Kempton referred to the hand of government protecting the property rights of people, but if someone wants an address and the county just gives them one, it then ignores the neighbors and their rights. The heavy hand of government isn’t in there as it is securing private property rights.
Attorney Hull provided an example of what had happened recently. There were two pieces of property and Owner A has property in front of Owner B, but Owner B has an easement over Owner A’s property and they put that easement somewhere other than the legal description of where the access was to be. The property owners will have to rectify that matter, maybe hire an attorney and the county can’t get involved in that. Ms. Nelson spoke of a situation where that occurred near the City of Moyie and they needed information shown on an easement across property that was in the city limits. It just seems like you would ask for those easement documents.
Attorney Hull commented with another example and said that prescriptive easements are 20 years and a property owner had been driving across someone else’s property to access their own property for approximately 15 years, but now that the other property has sold to someone else, the new property owner is saying the other person cannot drive across their property anymore.
Attorney Hull commented that if people come forward with information that they have on their easement, then all is well. It’s only for the few people who can’t find information and then the resolution is to use the disclaimer language. That language could also be used in all of the cases, even if the property owner has the legal access document.
Commissioner Bertling said in the case where Property Owner B wants to drive over Property Owner A’s land and the county just goes with it and assigns an address, Property Owner B would be championing the cause and it would be up to Owner A to undo that, and that’s not right.
Chairman Dinning said people who deal with real estate, from agents to title companies, are extremely frustrated with the process of addressing and Planning and Zoning so he needs to investigate this and he added that he’s trying to figure out if the county needs to change its process to make it easier for the public as we need to remember we’re public servants. Chairman Dinning said he doesn’t have the answer.
Ms. Nelson said she’s shared emails with both title companies and kept Attorney Hull as well as Clare Marley and Janelle Allen in Planning and Zoning updated on the process. One issue Ms. Nelson said she is seeing is that there is a huge influx in the county and in the past a lot of approach permits that were done were located right off of the road and it was easy and now she’s finding that parcels have gotten divided and sometimes easements were not taken care of. Also, it’s finding that subdivisions were done and they don’t necessarily front a county road. There has been confusion with subdivisions in needing the easement information. It’s not that Mr. Kempton is denying access to a subdivision, it’s just that we need to have the information about the access. It just depends on how the subdivision is done and Mr. Kempton needs that information before assigning an address and Road and Bridge needs it for the approach. When 911 first went into effect, there was a time line set and there apparently wasn’t documentation for easements. Everyone thought there was, but there wasn’t. Attorney Hull said he thinks when having an issue with the Planning and Zoning Department, it was because there was no streamlined procedure that was in place to allow things to move quickly through. The Commissioners then made the decision to hire Ruen-Yeager to take care of that. When Ms. Marley reviews an application and she doesn’t have all of the documents needed, she won’t proceed further with the application or process the fee until she gets the information. Real estate agents are not used to that, but this is actually Ms. Marley streamlining the process. Attorney Hull commented on seeing frustration from both the commercial and private sides and government wants to make it uniform for everyone. Nobody is trying to be an obstructionist and we all want to get this done.
Chairman Dinning asked if anyone saw something to make this process more efficient. Mr. Kempton said one part is communication. People will come to the Road and Bridge Office before going to the other departments and when they come in they’re angry, but when they leave they’re less angry. Road and Bridge will talk people through the process. Sometimes people will go another route. People listing their property will throw out a pretend address and only if a buyer knows enough to investigate do they ask the question. If there are a bunch of realtors who are frustrated, have them contact Road and Bridge so they can explain the process to them. Communication is a big part, according to Mr. Kempton. Mr. Kempton said he’s seen frustrations get alleviated when the matter has been talked through. Attorney Hull mentioned the possibility of meeting with realtors and Planning and Zoning about how this works and how it could be streamlined, but still protect the integrity.
Chairman Dinning said we have a lot of things that are administrative that don’t need to be, but it takes time. How much time do we allot to get this process fixed? Attorney Hull said from his vantage point with Road and Bridge, he feels it’s getting streamlined now, but the other side disagrees. If title companies and real estate agents have specific things happen other than just saying to let people do what they want, if they have constructive things to say, the county wants to hear those things. They just need to be specific with it as they don’t understand why it’s necessary to have the information. Ms. Nelson said to add County Mapper Olivia Drake in that conversation, too. Ms. Drake has noticed that when parcels are divided, acreage can go missing in the process, etc. That issue needs to be explained to the realtors, title companies, surveyors and their clients so they know that up front as opposed to finding out later from the Assessor’s Office that something is missing, as that is when there is also frustration and they feel that way toward the entire county.
Mr. Kempton said at the beginning of the process it would be helpful if it started at the same spot. One single starting point in the process and the county can move it along to where it needs to go from there. If the property has the information needed from the start, then the property owner can step out of the process at that point.
Attorney Hull said larger towns have planners and he explained the role of a planner. If this county had a planner, that person would be able to tell the property owner what they can do within a particular zone, give them information and walk through the different steps with people and it doesn’t bind the county, etc., but he doesn’t know if that’s where we are at in this stage as a county. It’s something to think about. The county cannot grow outside of its boundaries, but the density can and it can take this county from a baby county to a metropolitan area. Chairman Dinning commented that he’s seen four of these land booms and he knows it will level out. It was said that it’s already being seen with the inability to get water.
Chairman Dinning said there are older applications where people are waiting for water utilities and there are also newer applications. With information on water, what do we put a priority on? Ms. Nelson said the water association or district has to have a valid address before providing that utility. Mr. Kempton explained some of the reasons applications he has are pending. Mr. Kempton said people know that if they have to apply for a residential placement permit, that they go to the back of line as far as issued permits and they won’t get a water permit, so they go straight to requesting an address and say they’re not going to build for a while. The issue is who is put first. Ms. Nelson said with the new 2021 applications coming in, turning an application to Planning and Zoning starts the two week turnaround time and Road and Bridge will be questioned about the status of an address by a property owner so Road and Bridge will check back with Planning and Zoning about a placement permit, but Ms. Marley will say the property owner is not building on the property for a long time. Ms. Nelson commented about trying to be fair.
Attorney Hull said if you look at a business model, Ms. Nelson could take one day and hold phone calls, sit down and look at all of the applications. If there are 100 applications, you need to find out which applications need additional information and if there were 50 applications that need more information, you can create a list of what is needed and get that list to the property owner and insert a deadline in which to have received that information. Out of the remaining 50 applications, if the access issue is taken care of, then just get those applications processed and done. So then it’s just a matter of the 50 applications waiting for information. Commissioner Bertling said he agrees with that and he commented on getting the low hanging fruit. Ms. Nelson questioned it being okay to hold all calls on a certain day to review the applications. Chairman Dinning suggested she sit down with Mr. Kempton and review the priorities. Chairman Dinning said they’re Road and Bridge, but as far as addressing, give Mr. Kempton the priorities for addressing. The county can afford to lose Ms. Nelson from the Road and Bridge side of work for one day per week to review the priorities. Ms. Nelson explained that Mr. Morris goes out and looks at the site and approaches, etc., then she types up the information and gives it to Mr. Kempton and at that time Mr. Kempton is on his own. Mr. Kempton then talks to Planning and Zoning about areas. Ms. Nelson explained to Commissioners that Mr. Kempton goes out to get a GPS point, but Mr. Morris checks the culverts and sight distance, etc.
Attorney Hull said the reason for charging fees for a planner for a use permit, is that the property owner is asking the county to individually come out to their property to benefit them so they should pay more for that.
The meeting to discuss addressing ended at 12:30 p.m.
There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 12:30 p.m.
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DAN R. DINNING, Chairman
ATTEST:
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GLENDA POSTON, Clerk
By: Michelle Rohrwasser, Deputy Clerk