10/27/2025 BOCC minutes
The Board of County Commissioners of Washington County, Idaho, does hereby meet this 27th day of October 2025.
IN THE MATTER OF ROLL CALL)
Donna White, Clerk, called roll call: Gordon Wilkerson, present; Jim Harberd, present; and Nate Marvin, present.
Jim Harberd opened the meeting and led the Pledge of Allegiance. Gordon Wilkerson gave the invocation.
IN THE MATTER OF CORRESPONDENCE/MEETINGS AND REPORTS)
Correspondence received by the Board was reviewed and disseminated as required.
The Board reviewed an October 20, 2025, letter from Ernie and Laurene Houghton regarding a possible Open Meeting Law violation.
Jim Harberd discussed the Southwest District Health Subgrant letter for funding for the Weiser Ambulance District.
Jim Harberd moved, seconded by Nate Marvin, to approve a demand warrant payable to Wex Bank in the amount of $363.23 for fuel for the Weed Department. Motion carried.
The Board discussed the agenda for November 3, 2025. IN THE MATTER OF MINUTES)
The minutes of the Board not heretofore approved of October 20, 2025, were approved as corrected.
IN THE MATTER OF CLAIMS)
The Auditor was authorized to issue warrants totaling $488.09 for Jury expenses by a motion of Nate Marvin, seconded by Jim Harberd. Motion carried unanimous.
The Auditor was authorized to issue warrants totaling $795.00 for Social Service expenses by a motion of Jim Harberd seconded by Nate Marvin. Motion carried unanimous.
The Auditor was authorized to issue warrants totaling $65,479.50 for general expenses for the 2025 fiscal year by a motion of Jim Harberd, seconded by Nate Marvin. Motion carried unanimous.
The Auditor was authorized to issue warrants totaling $217,210.72 for general expenses for the 2026 fiscal year by a motion of Jim Harberd, seconded by Gordon Wilkerson. Motion carried unanimous.
IN THE MATTER OF ROAD & BRIDGE/SOLID WASTE)
Jerod Odoms, Road and Bridge/Solid Waste Supervisor, met with the Board. Odoms presented Applications for Buried Cable or Pipe Line submitted by Idaho Power for the placement of power poles to the Board for approval.
Jim Harberd moved, seconded by Nate Marvin, to approve the Application for Buried Cable or Pipe Line submitted by Idaho Power for placement of power poles on Cox Road. Motion carried.
Jim Harberd moved, seconded by Nate Marvin, to approve the Application for Buried Cable or Pipe Line submitted by Idaho Power for placement of power poles on Sunnyside Road. Motion carried.
Odoms presented an Affidavit for Equipment Removal to the Board for approval. Odoms stated the 1974 Pug Mill would be traded to Wendell Highway District.
Jim Harberd moved, seconded by Gordon Wilkerson, to approve the Affidavit for Equipment Removal for the 1974 Pug Mill. Motion carried.
Odoms provided a department update to the Board. Odoms reported that the projected start date of construction of the Beaver Creek Bridge on Old Highway is November 14, 2025. Odoms discussed staffing at Road and Bridge and Solid Waste. Odoms presented a copy of the Solid Waste Plan to the Board.
IN THE MATTER OF LIABILITY INSURANCE FOR LAND USE DISCUSSION)
Marvin stated he has not heard back from Justin Nyquist with ICRMP (Idaho Counties Risk Management Program).
Wilkerson has not heard back from local insurance companies either.
IN THE MATTER OF IDAHO OPEN MEETING LAW DISCUSSION)
Jeri Soulier met with the Board.
Gordon Wilkerson stated, “This discussion is for some clarity. Last week Mrs. Soulier was on the agenda, and it was put on the record on the agenda for Public Records Request and Open Meeting Law Violation. Both of those items are not in the Commissioners wheelhouse. It’s not what we would take care of. The Open Meeting Law Violation as put on the agenda would be something for the prosecuting attorney to take care of, and the Public Records Request would be for either the Clerk to address or the Prosecuting
Attorney if there was an issue. That was the reason she was removed from the agenda. We have been asked by several to clean up our act. They feel we have been doing things not correctly so, we are trying very hard to do it correctly. She was put back on the agenda for the discussion of Open Meeting Law discussion, and we will have that discussion today. Thanks for coming in Jeri.”
Soulier, “Thank you.”
Jim Harberd stated, “One thing I want to ask here first, I have a question on how that whole process last week where you guys made a motion and seconded and approved to remove her from the agenda, my question is, ‘How can you do that?’”
Wilkerson, “We can amend the agenda.”
Harberd, “When we have something on this agenda, and we have came to different discussions and stuff, and decided at different times that we would go ahead and vote on it, we were told we could not vote on it cuz it wasn’t labeled as an action item. And so, you can use that same method to get rid of somebody off the agenda without it being an action item?”
Marvin, “That was the advice of our legal counsel.” Harberd, “I disagree. I’m not practicing law either.”
Soulier, “So, thank you for mentioning that, Sir. I submitted in my request, in advance, it was promptly placed on the agenda. Idaho Law only allows for the same date changes for good faith reasons when the matter wasn’t known at the time of posting. In otherwise, anything anyone puts on a public agenda, it has to meet the time frames for public open meeting. Mine did. What I was disappointed about is whatever words I came up with to try and cover what I wanted to talk, nobody asked me. So, both the reasons that were given for me to be removed are absolutely inappropriate and that was unfortunate that you didn’t ask me in person, and that was unfortunate you didn’t ask me in person, that you did it before I arrived. So, I’m gonna put that aside, and I’m gonna move on. Okay?
So, let’s see, I’ll start with this one. Good morning, Commissioners. Last Monday, I was surprised to find when my agenda item came up at 10:30, that Commissioner Nate had made a motion to remove my item, saying public records came from the Clerk, open meeting concerns and questions go to the Prosecuting Attorney. First, may I say that I have the right to speak here, and State Statutes specifically protect my right, which you violated last Monday. State Statute 74-204 (4) does not provide for items to remove from a post-agenda if they were posted with the legal notification timeline. To correct me and tell me where I need to go for information was not applicable. Mine was added the Thursday before, therefore you removed my item when I was not even yet present to ask and, it was a violation of State Law and my First Amendment right for free speech. I intended to begin my letter where I had written it for last Monday but more has been happening since then.
So, I will start here, and then I’ll move back to what I was going to say last Monday. Last Monday, October 20th, 2025, I received notice that the County Sheriff had received a couple of phone calls from citizens in the county in the same restaurant that were sitting with Mr. Pearce and Commissioners Marvin and Wilkerson, where they were dining. The couples dining nearby.
Wilkerson, “Chairman? Is this discussion about open meeting law, or is this discussion about a violation?”
Harberd, “Sounds like it’s both.”
Soulier, “Mr. Commissioner, if I’m filing a violation of an open meeting law, I go to the prosecuting attorney, unless that person may be involved, then it goes the Attorney General. I am talking as a person of the County of Washington that I’ve seen and heard, and I want to bring this open. These are things that are being kept dirty laundry, and I bring them open. I have the right to speak.”
Wilkerson, “It’s being taken care of.”
Soulier, “I haven’t even finished talking about it.” Harberd, “Proceed.”
Soulier, “Thank you, sir. Um, the couples dining nearby have said that they heard phrases and names shared between the three people mentioned that were tied to current issues and people. I also heard that Mr. Pearce had responded, well, we have to eat. Well, of course you do. But really, what does it look like? And particularly when people who know and can identify elected county officials are eating and talking together, and then allegedly hear current county topics and names. The appearance of wrongdoing is sufficient in many people’s minds to assume there is wrongdoing. The only way to undermine, under, overturn and eliminate that appearance is by complete transparency in the airing of dirty laundry, in my humble opinion.
Now on to my original post. On, uh, number one: BOCC agenda for April 7th, 2025. Executive session for 1 hour, 7 minutes, was held. Nothing was shared on the record after the session was ended. On that same date, however, P.A. Pearce wrote a 15-page document called The Memo to the Law Firm Holland & Hart, detailing his perspective on Washington Code regarding original parcels, splits, and asking for confirmation of his law interpretation. Here is the issue. There was never any motion made on the record regarding spending $10,000 for Holland & Hart’s legal advice to confirm Mr. Pearce’s interpretation. Therefore, if it wasn’t done on the record to expend $10,000.00 of taxpayer money, it must have been approved in executive session, or it wasn’t approved by the BOCC prior to the request for legal counsel even being paid for, or ordered. How did that occur? P.A. Pearce then read the paid-for Holland & Hart letter into the court’s record on May 5th. How could commissioners, sorry, jumped ahead. Item number two: BOCC Agenda for May 12, 2025.
Commissioner Marvin made the following motion after almost an hour in executive session, and just minutes after the P & Z Administrator, Bonnie Brent-Dowell, had asked this is of the BOCC. The P & Z Office has received building permit applications that, due to the current confusion regarding interpretation of county code, we need at the least written directive from the Board on how the P & Z office should interpret and apply the code moving forward. We have a couple of building permit applications I would deny based on the interpretation application of the code for the past 22 years.
Since the implementation of the 1- or 20-acre rule. Again, with the current confusion, I would like written discretion on how to move forward on these. The BOCC also had told Brent-Dowell that she was their employee and answered only to them and not the prosecuting attorney. Chairman Marvin, that, Commissioner Marvin then stated that he was not 100% sure, but this needed to be settled, so Bonnie knows how to proceed when someone comes into her office so she can issue permits comfortably, and not have people having to wait. He also felt that the board could just tell Bonnie Brent-Dowell what they wanted. Marvin said there were options that could be looked into to protect farm ground and still needs to be a priority. Marvin said growth needs to be controlled, and it needs to be done right. Has that been made a priority among you commissioners? Commissioner Marvin then made the following motion. Excuse me? Did someone say something? Okay. Oh, thank you. Commissioner Marvin then made the following motion after 47-minute executive session. Nate Marvin moved, seconded by Gordon Wilkerson, to direct Bonnie in the Planning and Zoning Department to honor the settlements that were negotiated by the current prosecuting attorney, and to further direct Bonnie and Planning and Zoning to follow code as written, as per the Memorandum of Opinion from the current county prosecuting attorney, and if P & Z has any legal questions, to contact the county prosecuting attorney. How could the commissioners tell Bonnie Brent-Dowell that the BOCC could just tell her what they want so she could issue permits? Followed by a motion, which was 180 degrees opposing that comment, and written and spoken by Commissioner Marvin. Also, Commissioner Marvin did not return, did not turn any notes to the county clerk regarding the motion he read. All paperwork that refers to a written form, is to be turned into the clerk for a permanent record. That’s my understanding. I’m not an attorney, by the way, and I’m not giving legal advice. How could all this occur?
How could a commissioner know to put in his motion to direct settlements that were negotiated by a prosecuting attorney? And then the little extra bomb, if P & Z has legal questions to contact the county prosecuting attorney when they had just recently said that she was under them and not the PA. That was one of the reasons our P & Z Administrator resigned along with one of her staff. Didn’t he just tell her that they could just tell her what they wanted to do? Now all the questions are directed to P.A. Pearce. As a citizen of this county that follows BOCC and P & Z very closely, unfortunately, I use a phrase that I just heard recently by Carolyn Kiesz. It’s the optics that matter. The optics here appear to look like commissioners were given a professionally written motion to read into the record immediately after an executive session with the prosecuting attorney. Who wrote that complicated, legal-worded motion? Commissioner Marvin? It seems like it turned out after an executive session. The key word here is optics.
Item number three: July 7th, 2025, Commissioner Marvin read a letter to the P & Z Commission after unanimous vote of no confidence given to P.A. Pearce on June 17th. As part of that letter stated, if we cannot find some common ground on this situation, we may need to be forced to take action as the County Commissioners. That letter went on to include a typed page of duties of the Planning and Zoning Commission. However, Commissioner Marvin did not turn in anything to the County Clerk, which is required when something is added to the record in a letter or written format. Again, what does this show to the public? The lengthy letter to P & Z Commission mentioned legal information, itemized about the Commission, professionally, thoroughly written, apparently above the knowledge and skill set of the Board of County Commissioners, maybe I’m wrong. So, who would have most likely written that letter to the P & Z? What do the optics show? What does optics mean in the everyday workplace? Optics is often used to denote perception, and that perception matters. It does matter.
Item number four: BOCC Special Meeting Agenda July 10th, just 3 days later, taking no time to meet with Planning and Zoning Commission or individually call the members to ask what prompted their unanimous vote of no confidence. Yet Commissioner Marvin moved and seconded by Gordon Wilkerson, that the Board of County Commissioners hereby vacate all current appointments to the Washington County Planning and Zoning Commission, effective immediately in order to reduce the size of the Commission and improve its efficiency in operations. We sincerely thank each member for their contributions, and invite all current commissioners as well as interested residents to submit application for the new five-member Planning and Zoning Commission.
Wilkerson, Aye, Harberd, Nay, Marvin, Aye. Motion carries. This motion was read into the clerk’s record by Commissioner Marvin from a 10-page typed document quoting public hearing dates, publication requirements format, locations, times, deadlines for comments, rules for speaking, Title I, Chapter 7, talking points, board size efficiency, blah blah blah blah blah, with a typed motion vacating all current appointments to the Washington County Planning and Zoning Commission. Along with some handwritten penned words. Pro se was written, that means someone is self-represented. That was all created, researched, and typed by Commissioner Marvin and his staff? Which he later mentioned was P.A. Pearce. What are the optics? After a unanimous vote of no confidence, BOCC held no interviews to find out the reasons for the vote. No one listened to the recording from P & Z that itemized the reasons for the vote. Then the following Monday, a letter from Commissioner Marvin asking P & Z to bury their hatchet and work together. Then 3 days later, BOCC’s Special Hearing, Commissioner Marvin read his novel into the record. A dissertation on P & Z, quoting codes and statutes. Who wrote it?
Item five: BOCC Agenda August 4th. After a very unusual meeting on the county budget, the budget was finally approved for print. Several Commissioners and P.A. Pearce questioned several aspects of the government budget process. PILT money, Justice Fund, moving funds, COLAs, levies. With the only folks clearly understanding how the process works, newly elected or long-term elected department heads were the County Clerk, Sheriff Thomas, and some department heads and elected officials. The balance of elected officials clearly had no clue how this process works, even after the state puts on a whole
training for all new and returning elected officials in January. And the County Clerk’s offer, had offered a Budget 101 tutorial.
On Friday, August 29th, Commissioners Marvin and Wilkerson traveled to a meeting with P.A. Pearce to Canyon County. It was related that it was not an open meeting violation because they had an attorney there with them. I requested from the three attendees a public records request asking for any written, texted material related to the trip to Canyon County Clerk, the position of the prosecuting attorney or the county, county treasurer for training, meeting, copies of reimbursement for travel, agenda topics, invitation, training materials, anything. In response to my public records request I received, ‘Monthly Report of the County Treasurer, dated April 11, 2025, and Canyon County Monthly Report for the Canyon County Treasurer from March 1st, 2025, to March 31st. That was all I received. What does appear to have been happening there?
After contentious Washington County budget meeting where an elected official actually left the room, and before the next hearing on the 2025-2026 budget meeting two commissioners in Washington County, PA, head to Canyon County and get their first quarter 2025 documents from Canyon County. Hmm. Did they get training on Canyon County budgets and monthly reports? Or does it appear that they went, as a quorum, privately, to get information on budget balances, accounts/ sources, things that were being argued over just days before in Washington County. What does it look like?
Number 7. On the BOCC agenda for October 14th, under the request for attorney fees discussion, action items with Lawrence Wasden. Former Attorney General Wasden spoke on a Zoom connection, sharing a video made from a current lawsuit quoting the assigned judge’s comments on the lack of some of the defendant’s representation. Commissioner Marvin made a motion against the request from Mr. Wasden for attorney’s fees of
$500.00 an hour from Mr. Wasden, representing Mr. Walker and Mr. Haines, as they had not been assigned representation by the county PA because of a conflict of interest. This legal representation was appropriate as there were both county officials at the time of the alleged incidents the lawsuit was based upon.
Harberd, “You need to wrap it up.”
Soulier, “Okay, thank you. So, penalties for, uh, Open Meeting Law Manual under Attorney Raul Labrador, Penalties for Noncompliance, Validity of Action. If an action, or any deliberation or decision-making leads to an action, occurs at any meeting that fails to comply with the provisions of open meeting law, such an action may be declared null and void. The first violation is $250.00. They need to be charged within 30 days. Second violation, maximum penalty is $2,500. Any governing body member who knowingly violates provision is subject to a civil penalty of not more than $20 or $1,500.00 and they can, if they repeatedly happen they can be a, they become quite an expensive civil thing. Commissioners cannot form an agreement upon motions or take any official action in executive session. I have brought forward what appears to be several violations of the Idaho Open Meeting Law. You may be able to cure a single violation but knowingly violating the law over and over again is treated very differently. Repeated, knowing violations can carry real consequences. I’m putting the Board of County Commissioners
on notice that if this continues, I will be filing a formal complaint in Magistrate Court and seeking enforcement and penalties. Thank you.”
Harberd, “Thank you.”
Soulier, “This is for you. Thank you for your time. Excuse me, Commissioner? Um, is this a give and take with the audience?”
Harberd, “Nope.”
Soulier, “Okay, thank you, sir.”
Marvin, “Mr. Chairman, I have a couple things I’d like to read out of the Open Meeting Law.”
Soulier, “Do you want me still here, sir?” Harberd, “No, we’re done there.”
Marvin, “The Open Meeting Law defines meeting to mean the convening of a governing body of a public agency to make a decision or to deliberate towards a decision any matter. Decision is then defined to include any determination, action, vote, or final disposition upon a motion, proposal, resolution, order, ordinance, or measure on which a vote of a governing body is required at any meeting in which a quorum is present. And on number 10, since any meeting of two county commissioners constitute a quorum under Idaho law, are county commissioners prohibited from having any contact with each other outside of a duly organized open meeting? The answer, while it is the opinion of the Attorney General that the Open Meeting Law must be complied with whenever a quorum of the members of a governing body, of a public agency meet to decide or deliberate on matters which are within the ambit of official business, this Office does not believe that the Legislature intended for the Open Meeting Law to act as a bar to all communications between individual county commissioners outside of open meetings.”
Harberd, “So it’s basically, he said, she said. Or he said, he said.” Marvin, “Well, as long as we’re not deliberating towards a decision.” Wilkerson, “Pending before the body.”
Marvin, “Yeah. We could talk about stuff that’s already been settled in a lawsuit, such as the Dickerson lawsuit.”
Harberd, “Sure.”
Marvin, “That’s what we’re being accused of at the restaurant.”
Wilkerson, “We can even talk about lawsuits that are not in front of us.” Marvin, “Yes.”
Wilkerson, “That we have no decision on.”
Marvin, “Exactly. And we are following guidance of our prosecuting attorney.”
Wilkerson, “And I’ll go further to state that I don’t know if I can count on both hands the amount of times we’ve had to cure open meeting violations that are our prosecuting attorney has brought forward to us. To the point where he made the statement, he’s disgusted in us, and he’s gonna turn this over to another county, and it’s gonna cost us
$2,500.00 personal money apiece if we don’t start doing this more correctly.” Marvin, “I remembered that..”
Wilkerson, “Our prosecuting attorney has got some individuals with bad habits. In the first two years I was in this position. I didn’t know what an open meeting cure was. Since then, in less than six months I went through, like, twelve of them. So, our prosecuting attorney inherited a bad habit and he’s working really hard to get it cleaned up, folks.”
Harberd, “I know as personal experience, it’s, it’s pretty hard to sit down and eat with somebody, if you’re a commissioner and there’s one or two other commissioners there, to sit and have a normal conversation without it eventually coming up to something like that, that were two of us confer… for, you know, and we’ve been reminded of that. I agree with you on that.”
Marvin, “But as long as you’re not deliberating towards a decision…”
Harberd, “That’s fine, but I think the people of the county need to know a lot of this stuff that’s going on.”
Wilkerson, “And our prosecuting attorney has told us, on more than one occasion, that we need to go into some training for open meeting law, and we have intent on doing that. We just haven’t had a lot of time. We’ve been busy doing other stuff.”
Harberd, “We have one coming up.”
Marvin, “The 11th, I think, or 12th of November so…”
Wilkerson, “And getting together and eating lunch, we better not ever have another…” Marvin, “Well, yeah, we had a meeting with all of the elected officials. Yes.”
Wilkerson, “Pizza party and I’m totally in favor of all of that. I think it’s important that we get together and visit.”
Marvin, “And we go to the Association Idaho Counties meeting, and we all sat at one table.”
Wilkerson, “And a workshop.” Marvin, “In a workshop.” Wilkerson, “Training.”
Marvin, “Yeah. So, what’s… what’s different? We’re not deliberating towards a decision.” Harberd, “This one the other day, what was that? She talked about.”
Marvin, “If you want to talk about it, we can. Jim, uh, that’s… I went up to the… Mexican restaurant to have lunch and Gordon walked in, and True, and his deputy came in, and we all sat at the same table. But we did not deliberate towards a decision on anything that was being discussed. We were talking about a former lawsuit…”
Wilkerson, “The Dickerson case.”
Marvin, “The Dickerson case that has been settled.” Harberd, “What is this all about here?”
Marvin, “That’s what I’m talking about. That’s all on the Dickerson…”
Harberd, “How did my name specific, specifically enter into this when I wasn’t there?”
Marvin, “All three of us were talking about the Dickerson lawsuit, and how we got to where we were with the lawsuit, attorney fees, stuff like that, which has already been decided, it’s already been settled, and our attorney advised us, if it’s already a settled case, then you can talk about it.”
Wilkerson, “And the fishing was great, the catching was terrible.”
Marvin, “Exactly. We talk about grandkids, we talk about fishing, we talk about old cars. We talk about hunt… uh, hunting… big game, you know, yeah. We don’t just go up there, Jim, and meet to talk about county issues, because we know we can’t do that.”
Harberd, “Well, how does my…”
Marvin, “Especially if it’s a pending issue.”
Harberd, “How does my name enter into this cuz I haven’t been hunting and fishing with either one of you.”
Marvin, “I don’t know how your name came up, other than we were talking about what the attorney fees amounted to, uh, in that Dickerson lawsuit. And that was already a case that’s been settled in, I don’t know what else is on there.”
Harberd, “Let them sue, it doesn’t matter. I’m not afraid of being sued.” Marvin, “I don’t know who said that.”
Wilkerson, “Or what the context was. This is being investigated.” Harberd, “You guys don’t know? I don’t know, I wasn’t there.”
Wilkerson, “Prosecuting Attorney Pearce is turning this over to the AG’s office for investigation.”
Harberd, “All right, let’s move on, then. Lawrence, you want to come up, please?” Lawrence Wasden, “Yes.”
IN THE MATTER OF REQUEST FOR RECONSIDERATION OF ATTORNEY FEES)
Lawrence Wasden met with the Board.
Wasden, “Thank you, Mr. Chairman. My name is Lawrence Wasden. I’m here on behalf of Delton Walker and Lyndon Haines. I thank you for now the fourth time we’ve had an opportunity to discuss this. Um, and this issue today is really a repeat of what we talked about last time. Just to make certain that we meet all the requirements of open meeting requirements. As you’re aware, this body has made a motion, and uh… allowed attorney fees for, uh, Mr. Walker, and we’re also making that request on behalf of Mr. Haines for an action filed by the Moyes, uh, versus Washington County and a number of current and former county officials. The approved rate is $185.00 per hour. That motion was made under a document that was prepared. Motion was made by, by Commissioner Nate Marvin. I’ve provided you a copy of that document, and I’d like to talk about the, um, the document itself, and the allegations it makes, the statements that it makes, and some of the conclusions that it draws, and why we see that as problematic. First of all, uh, the Moyes case, it says, is a State Court Action, not a Federal Section 1983 matter. And it’s true that Moyes, the Moye case was filed in State District Court, not Federal District Court and it is a civil action. It is not true that the case is not a 42 U.S.C. Section 1983 action. Not only are the complaint and the pleading styled after 42 U.S.C. Section 1983 but, during their oral argument at the hearing on the motion to dismiss, the plaintiffs argued 42 U.S.C. Section 1983. Specifically, the order granting the State of Idaho’s motion to dismiss Judge VanderVelde wrote, quote, ‘At oral argument, plaintiffs also argued that the State of Idaho is required to comply with civil rights law and is therefore subject to the enforcement of the law under 42 U.S.C. Section 1983.’ This case has the same complexity, whether it is filed in State or District Court and therefore, in our view, this is not a basis for a reduced attorney fees in this case.
Number two: The plaintiffs are pro se. That is true. They are pro se. They represent themselves. However, the fact that they represent themselves complicates rather than simplifies this case. The case is pled in a format that requires more, not less, effort to defend. Just for a couple of examples: In paragraph 40E of their complaint, the plaintiffs falsely allege that the county, and this is quote, ‘that County Commissioners and Mr.
Walker voted for themselves to receive a pay raise.’ Now, why is this false? It’s because Mr. Walker did not and cannot vote for himself to receive a pay raise. That, uh, that can only be done by members of the Board of County Commissioners. It requires additional time and effort to disprove those false allegations. Also, in paragraph 11 of their complaint, plaintiffs falsely allege that Lyndon Haines, quote, ‘holds the position of board member for the Weiser Rural Fire Department,’ end quote. Plaintiffs make this allegation to impute liability on Mr. Haines for actions or inactions for which the plaintiffs improperly claim were undertaken by the Rural Weiser Fire Department. And why is this allegation false? It’s because Mr. Haines was not, and is not, a member of the Board of the Weiser Rural Fire District. He’s a fireman, and it requires additional effort and time to disprove this false allegation. And the fact that the plaintiffs chose to proceed pro se is not a proper basis to reduce attorney fees in this case.
Number three: The Board has not pre-authorized Mr. Wasden’s engagement and Mr. Walker didn’t request it. It is true that the Board did not pre-authorize Mr. Walker’s hiring me. However, it is not true that pre-authorization is required. In fact, Idaho Code Section 31-2014 provides, quote, ‘any county elected official, with the approval of the Board of County Commissioners, may hire an attorney to act as his legal advisor,’ end quote.
There’s no requirement in terms of a timing; there’s no pre-authorization requirement. In this case, however, pre-authorization would have been difficult, if not impossible, to obtain because of two issues. First, because the county prosecutor’s office had a conflict of interest, which was occasioned by his filing a lawsuit against Mr. Walker, and therefore he could not represent Mr. Walker. And second, because of the 21-day period to respond to a lawsuit required by Idaho Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 12A. It is true that Mr. Walker did not require pre-authorization. It is not true that he was required to request pre-authorization. It is also not true that Mr. Walker did not request coverage of his attorney’s fees. He did so, when on his behalf, I submitted my September 27, 2025, letter to the Board of Commissioner, County Commissioners through Donna White, the Washington County Clerk. Both Mr. Walker and Mr. Haines have requested the county to cover the attorney fees they have or will incur in this case.
Number four: Comparable County defense work, including related Section 1983 action handled by Canyon County has been compensated at approximately $180.00, and that was stricken through and inserted $185.00 per hour. And although I’m not privy to the rate at which Canyon County was compensated for its work on the Dickerson case, the rate between counties is not a reliable measuring stick. The Moye case does not involve one county representing another. Instead, it is an attorney in the private sector representing persons who were but are no longer Washington County government officials. And this is at least an unusual, if not unique, set of circumstances.
Five: The requested $500.00 per hour rate substantially exceeds prevailing Idaho public sector defense rates and it’s not reasonable for this matter. That’s the claim in the motion. This statement was presented as a foregone conclusion and was not accompanied by any substantiating evidence. Along with the previous statements, this is an indication of an abuse of discretion by the Board of Commissioners. Recognizing that the hourly rate of an attorney is heavily influenced by the attorney’s unique experience, I submit that my experience in this state is singular. I’m the only person who served in the Idaho Attorney General’s, as the Idaho Attorney General for 20 years. I have many years of, of service in the public sector, as well as experience in the private sector. In addition, the average hourly rate of Idaho attorneys significantly exceeds $185.00 per hour. I recommend to you the Clio Study. In the Clio, a study of, uh… legal trends and compare, compare lawyer rates in Idaho. According to that study, quote, lawyers in Idaho typically charge between $96.00 and $594.00 per hour, uh, with the average being $304 per hour, end quote. So, between $100.00 and $600.00 an hour. $500.00 an hour is within that typical range, and very frankly, it’s at the upper end, reflecting my experience. In any event, the average rate of $304.00 per hour is approximately 165% of the rate the commissioners approved at $185.00 per hour. By practice area comparison in the Clio study, the average hourly rate for civil litigation is $307.00 per hour, and civil rights and constitutional law is $327.00 per hour. Both of those rates are significantly higher than $185.00 per hour. In addition, the plaintiffs in the Moye case seek extraordinary relief. They’re seeking a million dollars in punitive damages per defendant, forfeiture of all wages and PERSI retirement contributions, emergency and permanent injunction, injunctive reversal of county land use decisions, $10 million in punitive damages from Washington County and
$10 million, excuse me, $10 million from the State. These are significant claims that were not included in the Dickerson case. So, I also would like to point out that the choice of the forum, that is, um, whether it’s in State Court or Federal Court does not change the risk of the case, the complexity, or need for experienced counsel. Uh, essentially, our submission to you is that the decision is unfair to compare the Dickerson Burnett case, where Canyon County was representing you, to the current case where that is not the situation. I also wanted to make you aware of a couple of things. Um, there were some statements made to the Board that Mr. Walker dodged service on the case. That, that is inaccurate. And that statement was made without any, the other half of the story, as a famous radio personality used to say. He did not dodge service, but simply waited to be served at his regular place of work in Payette County. He works there 3 to 4 days a week. Uh, he had heard about the lawsuit, but he was actually out of the country at the time the lawsuit was filed. So, he was not, he was not, um, dodging service. I would also point out that Lyndon Haines was told on, uh, a number of, or at least on separate occasions by County Commissioners, that Mr. Pearce would handle the matter for him. And he relied on that, and to his detriment, that did not happen. So, um, our request to you is that you consider, reconsider that rate of $185.00 per hour. I also have submitted to you a number of documents, documents that I would like to go through. I think you have them. I would like to turn to Exhibit A. This is page 1 of 2 of Exhibit A. This is a copy of Idaho Code Section 6-903. You should have some language outlined in yellow. Uh, this is, uh, subsection 2. It’s about the middle of the page. It provides a governmental entity shall provide a defense to its employee, including a defense and indemnification against any claims brought against the employee in the employees’ individual capacity when the
claims are related to the course and scope of employment, and be responsible for the payment of any judgment. This is the responsibility that you have. You’re very familiar with this. It was actually quoted in the motion made by Mr. Marvin. But I would also like to point your attention to subsection 3, which is on page 2. It’s at the excuse me, I’m a little dry, but under subsection 3 at the very top of the page it provides, The defense of its employee by the governmental entity shall be undertaken, whether the claim and civil lawsuit is brought in Idaho District Court under Idaho law or is brought in the United States court under federal law. Meaning, there’s no difference between the two. So, I would then like to turn to Exhibit B, and it is 1 of 2 pages. I will tell you that it is the July 10, 2025, minutes of this body. I did not include the entire 10-page document, just the first 2 pages. The, uh, July 10 document has already been submitted, but I just wanted to refer to the first two pages. It’s actually on page 2. There’s a long paragraph, about the middle of the paragraph. It, uh, the minutes reflect that Pearce, meaning Mr. Pearce, the prosecuting attorney, suggested that the hourly rate be between $300.00 and $500.00 That was the recommendation. There is a one-sentence paragraph, Commissioner Harberd suggested $400.00 to $500.00 per hour for attorney rates. Skip a paragraph, and then the next paragraph, which you should have outlined in yellow. Nate Marvin moved, seconded by Gordon, to put a cap on the hourly rate for attorneys at $500.00 an hour cap to include Danny Roark, Bonnie Brent, Jim Harberd, and Nate Marvin. And that motion carried. I simply point that out to say that that’s a difference between $500.00 an hour and
$185.00 per hour. The next document is Exhibit C, and this is called the Combined Transaction Detail. This is a document that is maintained by Washington County, and it shows the payments that have been made, it shows, uh, I think I’ve outlined in yellow the vendor, which is Shep Law Group, Ferguson Durham, Canyon County Prosecutor, Masingill Law, and two more entries by Shep Law Group, meaning that there have been payments to the attorneys of various orders, Ferguson Durham represented the plaintiffs in this case. Shep Law Group and Masingill represented, uh, defendants, uh, that were, that are, County officers, but uh, were represented outside Washington County. And I, the next document I have provided to you is Exhibit D, and I refer you to page 1. It’s a 5-page document. In the very first line, there’s a date, a description, and then it says professional. That person listed as Susan Mimura, two hours, the rate of $400.00 per hour. Susan Mimura was in law school at about the same time I was. I think she was a year or two ahead of me. But we are of the same vintage, similar kinds of experiences. Uh, although I, again, am the only person who served as, for 20 years as Idaho’s Attorney General, and in that, in that environment. Just to show you that the similarity is stark between $400.00 an hour and $185.00 an hour. Um, there are also, in Exhibit D, page 3, a number of entries regarding Susan Mimura at $400.00 per hour, and also on page 4. I would direct your attention, then, to Exhibit E. Exhibit E is a billing from Masingill Law Office, and the rate is $300.00 per hour. Eben Masingill is a very good lawyer, done a great job in this case. However, less experienced in terms of professional experience than I have, and his rate is $300.00 an hour, which is significantly more than $185.00 per hour. I would now draw your attention to Exhibit F which is an entry by Fisher, Hudson, Brown, and Horton. It’s a bill that they submitted, and you will now notice on 1, 2, 3, 4, the fifth line down, there’s an entry, an 8-12-2025 and the initials MMH. That’s Marta Mae Horton who represented, uh Miss, uh, Bonnie Brent in this matter, and you will notice that the hourly rate is $355.00 per hour. And there are numerous entries on that document. Uh, 8-
14, 8-15, 8-19 that show that Marta Mae Horton’s Uh, hourly billing is $355.00 per hour. Again, significantly higher than $185.00 per hour. So, I submit this all to you for the purpose of asking you to reconsider the rate at which you have chosen to compensate defense for Mr. Marvin, excuse me, not Mr. Marvin, Mr. Walker and Mr. Haines. Thank you.”
Wilkerson, “I’d like to ask a couple questions. Mr. Wasden, What’s your standard billing rate for other Idaho counties and public utilities?”
Wasden, “$500.00 an hour.”
Wilkerson, “Do you have proof of that? Can you send proof?”
Wasden, “Um, I can send proof at $400.00 an hour. But I can, but I, I don’t, haven’t actually represented other counties.”
Wilkerson, “You can provide proof that you’ve charged $400.00?” Wasden, “Yes, I can.”
Wilkerson, “Okay. Have you ever charged less for similar?” Wasden, “No.”
Harberd, “Commissioner Marvin, any questions?”
Marvin, “Not any questions, I have comment that I’ve had several taxpayers reach out to me and they think the offer that we put on the table was fair. Since our county prosecutor has done most of the work on getting this case settled they felt that what we offered was fair. They thought they should have some input on what we were negotiating for lawyer fees. And they, and I told them that that wasn’t possible, it wasn’t for public discussion, it wasn’t a public hearing, but uh, I did take their discussions under advisement.
And at this point, I’m not willing to change my motion from, uh, from the $185.00 an hour to $500.00.”
Harberd, “I’ve had several people contact me and want to know why the great difference in the amounts of what the two were talking about on their attorney’s fees. Without going into any great detail and telling very much, I just said that’s what the two commissioners made a motion for, and that’s what they approved per instruction of our prosecuting attorney.”
Marvin, “That’s what we paid Canyon County’s Prosecutor. Uh, for in the, uh Dickerson case.”
Harberd, “But he was the only one paid that rate. Right?”
Marvin, “Right.”
Harberd, “The independent ones were more.” Marvin, “Yes.”
Wilkerson, “Mr. Chair, I suggest we take this, table this for now. Discuss this with our attorney, and we’ll get back with Mr. Wasden.”
Harberd, “We can do that.”
Wasden, “Thank you. I appreciate your time.”
IN THE MATTER OF CITY OF CAMBRIDGE, AREA OF CITY IMPACT CODE COMPLIANCE)
Marvin stated that he thought the Board had been advised by legal counsel that they needed to follow county code or adopt a blended code for the Impact Area. Marvin stated that he didn’t know if they had adopted or come up with a blended code.
Wilkerson stated he thought that was the question for the attorney, if we could actually blend the code.
Marvin stated that he didn’t know if they had any decisions to make today, or if they were to that point. Marvin further stated that he didn’t want the matter to fall through the cracks and get forgotten. Marvin stated that he thought they should discuss the matter with Prosecutor Pearce and then decide when and if code should be adopted.
Wilkerson introduced Bridget Felmley as the new Planning and Zoning Administrator. Marvin stated the code compliance issue will need to be placed on a future agenda.
IN THE MATTER OF PROSECUTING ATTORNEY)
True Pearce, Prosecuting Attorney, met with the Board. Pearce submitted copies of the proposed amendments to County Code Title 1, Chapter 7, Ordinance 58 Providing for Members of the Planning and Zoning Commission to the Board. Pearce stated the proposed amendment needs to be published and a hearing date set. Pearce told the Board, “This, essentially, if you look at the highlighted section on page 2, um, it essentially removes the section that says all appointments will be made during the month of March of each year with the newly appointed member’s term to begin April following, and replaces that with, appointments and reappointments may be made at any time as determined necessary by the Board of County Commissioners, and each newly appointed member’s term shall begin upon confirmation by the Board. So, in the past, we have not done that anyway. In fact, I believe the last person that was added was not done in accordance with this Ordinance.”
Wilkerson, “I’ve been in part of three of them, and none of them have been part of the March, April.”
Pearce stated it needs to be done just because you guys aren’t in compliance with it anyway and haven’t been historically. Pearce further stated this would allow the Board to appoint members when it’s necessary.
Harberd discussed the term period for newly appointed members. “Yeah, any questions about the language? When filling in a spot?”
Pearce stated that it doesn’t change the original code where it says the term of office for the appointed member shall be four years. “So, essentially, when you start, and you appoint a new person, like, let’s say something passes away, their term ends at that point. You appoint a new person; the new person would serve for four years.”
Wilkerson questioned the statement that reads, “all vacancies shall be filled in the same manner as original appointments.” Wilkerson asked if that was contradictory to what they were trying to do? Wilkerson asked if that language should be struck.
Pearce stated, “No. Okay. So, this is now how your original appointments are made. They’re made, um, appointments and reappointments may be made at any time as determined necessary. So, if someone passes away, if a carload of P & Z, heaven forbid, pass away, you guys may reappoint or appoint in the same manner that you appointed.” Pearce clarified that original appointments will not be made only in March if the proposed changes are adopted.
There was discussion of setting a hearing on the proposed changes. The Board agreed to set the Public Hearing date for November 24, 2025.
Nate Marvin moved, to publish the ordinance of the proposed amendment to Title 1, Chapter 7, Ordinance 58 that allows the Board to appoint commissioners as needed. “I would like to have that hearing on November 24th at 11:00.”
Pearce stated he thought the code cited was incorrect.
Nate Marvin moved to amend the motion to have a public hearing on November 24th at 11:00 a.m. to take public comment on the proposed amendment to Title 1, Chapter 7, paragraph 2 amending the Washington County Code. Gordon Wilkerson seconded the motion.
Nate Marvin amended the motion to include it be published in the local paper on the 6th and the 20th and placed on the county website. The amended motion was seconded by Gordon Wilkerson. Motion carried.
Clerk White clarified that because the amendments are to County Code, the Prosecuting Attorney and Planning and Zoning should submit the notice and publication to the newspaper.
Godon Wilkerson moved, seconded by Nate Marvin, to go into executive session at 11:13
a.m. in accordance with I.C. 74-206(1) (f) to communicate with 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. The mere presence of legal counsel at an executive session does not satisfy this requirement. Motion carried unanimous. Gordon Wilkerson, Aye; Jim Harberd, Aye; Nate Marvin, Aye.
Jim Harberd stated they were out of executive session at 11:39 a.m. “No final action or decision was made in executive session. We will now return to our regular agenda.”
IN THE MATTER OF PUBLIC HEARING – AGRICULTURAL FESTIVAL/PUMPKIN PATCH SPECIAL USE REQUEST)
Jim Harberd opened the public hearing at 1:03 p.m. and read the Notice of Public Hearing on the record as follows:
LEGAL NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the Washington County Board of County Commissioners will hold a public hearing on Monday, the 27th day of October, 2025 at 1:00 p.m. in the Commissioners meeting room, in the basement of the Washington County Courthouse, 256 East Court, Weiser, Idaho. Enter through the west door of the building.
The purpose of this hearing will be to receive comment on the following matter. Ray Nevarez – Special Use Request – Agricultural Festival/Pumpkin Patch
The applicant is requesting a Special Use under Washington County Code 5-4-1(G), on property located off W. Indianhead Rd and Upper Rd in Weiser. The request is to allow for an Agricultural Festival tied to Recreational use in the A1 Agricultural zone.
RP11N05W197950
All interested persons are invited to attend the hearing and comment or submit written comment prior to or at the hearing. The hearing will be accessible via zoom. The connection to the meeting is not restricted. Citizens interested in listening to the Board of County Commissioners hearing may do so by accessing it through the URL (https://zoom.us/j/499630910) and connect with a computer, iphone or android phone (you will need to download an app).
Due to uncertainty of the numbers giving testimony, all testimony will be limited to five minutes. Any person needing special accommodations to participate in noticed meetings should contact Washington County Planning and Zoning seven (7) days prior to the meeting at 208-414-2092.
Jim Harberd requested Ray Nevarez provide a brief description of the proposed Pumpkin Patch.
Ray Nevarez addressed the Board. “My name is Ray Nevarez and, um, we submitted for that conditional use permit, so that we would be allowed to do a festival, uh, pumpkin, pumpkin patch festival through the, through the summer and fall months. Um, probably four months out of the year, maybe five, depending on the weather. And, uh, so, with that being said, we are, um installing a little bit of an amusement for kids in the surrounding area, so that when they do come, they could enjoy this, the… location. And that’s one of the reasons why, and that’s one of the reasons why we had to apply for this conditional use permit. If not, we probably would have just continued. At the same token, we plan to do a, if we are granted the conditional use permit, we would like to do, um, a little bit of entertainment. Um, my friend Dan, we mentioned it before, he is, uh, a horse entertainer, and so he puts on a really nice show for kids, for the general public. Um, and he can incorporate his show, um, during the, the few months that we would, uh, be open.”
Harberd, “Commissioners, do you have any questions?”
Marvin, “Well, was we gonna have Bridget read the application? Is that part of the process?”
Harberd, “She said she didn’t have to read anything when she handed this off to me. Yeah, for sure, that’d be great. Anything else you’d like to add, Ray?”
Nevarez, “We plan on having food there, you know, during the time that we’re there, we would like to have, you know.”
Marvin, “So what month specifically, Ray, do you…”
Nevarez, “Well, it starts to warm up in May so, let’s just figure end of May, beginning of June until about end of October.”
Harberd, “What hours of operation?”
Nevarez, “Well, During the, during those months, I’m assuming we would probably, we wouldn’t be doing anything after 10 o’clock at night.”
Marvin, “And starting?”
Nevarez, “Maybe 10:00, 12 o’clock, so maybe from 10 in the morning.” Marvin, “Okay, so 10 to 10, maybe?”
Nevarez, “Yeah.”
Marvin, “And then you’re still planning on using that gravel road as your entrance into that?”
Nevarez, “Correct.”
Marvin, “Okay. And you’ve got permission to do that from all the landowners? That’s not a public road.”
Nevarez, “It is a, um, it’s no, that’s not a public, a private road, but I’m part of that private road.”
Marvin, “Okay.”
Nevarez, “I mean, I own the property all the way till it ends on one side.” Marvin, “On one side. Yeah. Okay.”
Wilkerson, “Are there restrictions for the use of that road?” Marvin, “I don’t know the answer.”
Nevarez, “I doubt it, because, um, there’s big, uh, there’s a big farmer that drives his big equipment through there during the harvest season, and he has, um, and he hires out a lot of trucks to go in, and so…”
Wilkerson, “I guess the concern, and I don’t know, the concern is the road may be restricted to public use, where it’s not restricted for all the farm use. Ag use.”
Marvin, “Uh, yeah, I have that same concern.”
Harberd, “If it was an Ag, Ag-only easement. We don’t know that. If it is or isn’t.”
Nevarez, “That being said, we have two entrances. We have one right on the corner of that road and Upper Indianhead, and then one of, about, at the end of that little seven-acre deal, there’s another entrance.”
Harberd, “Okay.”
Wilkerson, “Uh, one of my, one of the concerns that’s come up was parking. Is parking going to be on the road, or do you have…”
Nevarez, “No, it’ll be inside. So, it’ll be inside our facility. We shouldn’t have any kind of parking blocking the road, per se.”
Wilkerson, “Inside the Event Center?”
Nevarez, “Correct.”
Harberd, “Does it go, will all the traffic go up that road you’re talking about?”
Nevarez, “Yeah. So, so, where the second entrance is, if traffic fills up there, I have an additional road that goes all the way into the field where I have, where I have moved my farm equipment, and they can turn around and come back out.”
Harberd, “Do you have anything else, Ray?”
Nevarez, “Uh, when I, when I fenced in the, that little field on that gravel road, I came in even farther into my property so that we would never have any issues. Um, so if you drive over there, you’ll see that I carried my fence line, like ten extra feet.”
Harberd, “Are you talking across the front or down the side?”
Nevarez, “Along the side. Yeah, so I moved it over. I got with Road and Bridge to see what, what the correct setbacks are, and then I added another ten feet just, you know, in case somebody breaks down. I’m not right on, you know, I mean, somebody can be off the side on my side, even and have no problem, say, changing a tire, or whatever.
Harberd, “Okay, good. Commissioners Marvin, do you have any more questions right now?”
Marvin, “I don’t have any other questions right now.”
Wilkerson, “Event centers such as Sunnyside with the music is limited to decibels. This, too, would be limited to those noise levels, wouldn’t it?”
Marvin, “We can make that part of the permit.”
Harberd, “I have one written comment here. They’re not opposed to it as long as everything’s followed as specified through the permit. Um, okay. Thank you. And we’ll ask for people that are opposed. Katie, would you like to come up?”
Katie Maloney, “Sure.”
Harberd, “Please state your name.”
Maloney, “My name is Katie Maloney, um, okay, okay. I don’t know that, I guess, saying oppose is the right thing to say. Ray has been, uh, he’s a great neighbor. He’s worked really hard on this project. Um, it’s not to say that we’re opposed to the project by any means but, just have some concerns as far as the impact to the immediate community. We believe in, um, property rights with no to low impact to community and neighbors who also have property rights. But, um, I’ll just read through some comments real quickly. I
know I have a time limit. Um, and this is, my husband put together some comments based on, um, he had seen, I think, a report or something from the commissioners, he got something from the commissioners of the proposed project, so that’s where these comments are coming from. Um, it said, the proposed operation is, is, uh, 20 employees, which is more of a commercial development than recreational use. Um, parking for the expected visitors had not been identified on that plat map, per se. Um, parking within the, you know, the area, but I think it was also with the other, um, uh, I guess, just not sure where the parking was gonna go, but I think Ray identified that. Um, the anticipated generation of traffic has not been identified. Existing road network is currently taxed, especially for farm-to-market freight. Um, there’s a large amount of farm-to-market freight used for this route, which is not a lot of options. It gets very congested there. Um, there’s really actually only two half streets with access to town, even though it’s a full street with parking and everything, oftentimes we have to move aside, definitely on 9th Street. Oftentimes you can’t have two cars on that road at the same time, so we’re moving aside, kind of making, you know, it’s just what we do, I guess, in the, as part of that. So, having more, um, more cars are going to impact that. Just something to keep under consideration. Um, the, um, half street, 9th Street is residential with on-street parking and only enough room for one vehicle to pass at a time. The other street in front of the Institute is very narrow, congested, oftentimes with parking up at the high school and Fiddle Fest events and that. Um, so, um, I think there was also maybe a concern with the entrance, um, being right at the road of the intersection of Indian Head and 9th, but I think Ray, um, addressed that as well, too. Possibly moving it to the back area instead.
Um, it’s just a high, cars are just racing by there all the time, just kind of a concern for safety in that poor sight distance, that kind of thing. Um, um, also, let’s see, um… what, um let’s see, I think approve the perimeters, um, what we’re asking, I guess, is approve the perimeters limiting use and mitigating vehicle and pedestrian, um, safety impacts, seasonal approval with start and end dates, accompany with start and, um, end times, um, established. Um, any approval, um, we ask that it be annual only, and so that renewal every year as conditions change to ensure conditions are being met. Um, and asking that possible reduce or eliminate the cost of having to re-permit to lessen the impact to the property owner more so as just making sure that conditions are being met. Um, ask that the permit would need to be daylight, and if the property owner um, sells the property, um, daylight, meaning that it ends when, if Ray were to sell the property, that the new property owner wouldn’t have the same um, kind of conditional use, just to basically avoid future lawsuits, exploiting the, um, use of the property, that kind of thing. Um, since the City of Weiser is adjacent to the property, should they be brought into discussion as well? So, um, we would definitely support a short-term temporary use with a day and time limits with annual approval um, that daylights the current property owner. Um, again, to reduce the, um, county permit fees to following years, just to minimize the impact to Ray. Um, move the business approach to the development to the east end of the current approach line with the subdivision road and away from the intersection of West 9th and Indian Head. Um, just to avoid parking there, and um… the congestion of that intersection there. Um, and I guess, basically, it’s just a, just a yearly permit, just to make sure, just to see how seasonal changes, and then that the, um, Commission can, um, take a look at it once it’s up and going after a year, just to see how it went, and how it impacted the community.”
Harberd, “Thank you. That was the only one, the one comment of that type. There are other folks, would you like to, that have signed in.”
James Cannon, “So, all the parking that we’re trying to do is gonna be, like, at the north side of the seven acres. So, away from all those roads, like, everybody drives in and goes back. Ray also has forty acres meeting next to that. So, like, towards, I guess, the busiest part of the season would probably be, like, harvest season, because we’re also going to try to sell, like, produce and stuff. So, like, hay starts growing at a certain time, parking could be pushed back on, like, five acres back there, so there’s really no limit to parking on where anybody should be parking on the streets. He has 100 acres, you know, so there’s really…”
Wilkerson, “So it could all be on that?”
Cannon, “Yeah, I mean, hay stops growing at a certain time of year. So, and I think, basically, we should all, we all probably agree that harvest is at the end of the year, and, you know, if we had that much parking we would just be pushed back. You know, even if you had to cut it and end it early, you know, on five acres, um… Is that correct? Yeah.
So, we did think of all that, so… Because I had mentioned that road, too, and we just want to keep all cars off that, off from being parking anywhere in any of those facilities, in those areas, where it would…”
Wilkerson, “The concern I had was it wasn’t mentioned on the map you’ve drawn. So, just for clarity, wanted to know where the parking was going.”
Cannon, “This is something that we discussed afterwards, because we… I was brung up, and we’re like, well, what if this is brung up? And we’re like, we can push back. And other than that, it’s just, it’s not just, like, pumpkin, it’s like a whole harvest thing, you know, like… So, we want to have people come here that’s local, like, doing their little ranches and stuff, and anybody wants to buy, like, produce, we’re gonna try to do, like, vegetables and corn and stuff like that, and invite vendors to come sell eggs, you know, just. We want to try to get people together, not, there’s not a whole lot of I mean, there is stuff, but just, um, not just for kids, too. You know, um, older people like to go buy fresh vegetables. And then, I mean, I don’t know about you guys, when I go to town or Fiddle Fest. It’s so awesome just to go around and just say, hey, how you doing? Oh, hey, I spend more time just talking to people than even looking at anything. So, that’s basically what it is. So, okay. But that’s basically all I have.”
Wilkerson, “I don’t know that it’s our concern, but food was mentioned, selling food. Would that be, Mr. Nevarez, would that be…?”
Nevarez, “Yes, sir. So, I own a catering truck and, it’s obviously the, um, licensed with Southwest. So, yeah, we’re, we’re golden there.”
Harberd, “Dan or Yvonne, would you like to…?”
Dan Mink, “Yes, thank you. My name is Dan Mink, I live in Ontario, but I’m partners with Ray on this, uh, on this in endeavor, and I have some photographs of what actually is, is our intention for setting up for the kids.”
Wilkerosn, “Thank you, Dan.”
Mink, “You’re welcome. That first picture is a slide, a slide that we’re setting up. It’s a, you know, it’s a culvert pipe with some extra uh, slick vinyl in the middle of it. The vinyl’s usually used for dump trucks, and the culvert pipe is usually used for, for drainage. So, all this stuff is kind of agricultural based. The second photograph is, uh, is Ray playing on the, uh, the zip line that we’ll set up.”
Wilkerson, “This is in place now?” Mink, “It is. It’s in place now.”
Harberd, “You pay extra to have the dog heel you when you’re going down to that thing?”
Mink, “Yeah. Yeah, he, uh, my grand, once we got that set up, my grandson played on it all day long, and that dog chased him, chased them all day. Uh, the other thing in that photograph is, uh, you know, there’s the two silos on Ray’s place, and that, uh, the hookup for that zipline is on top of that hill there. Um, on the other side of the silos is an open place that is not available for farming, because it’s right between the silos and the road.
And then between the silos and the, uh, and that hillside is a piece of land where we’ll do our show, but, you know, because of the, that hill and the, the silos, that’s not available for farming either. Once we got digging into that hillside to shape it up and make it look like something, um, we discovered, probably something you guys already knew, that in this, this… this spot hasn’t been farmed. Right in this spot used to be a big dairy. And when that dairy burned down, they didn’t, uh, haul all the garbage off, they bulldozed it and then piled dirt over the top of it. So this, this hill is not a hill full of fertile soil that can be spread out and farmed. It’s full of big cement blocks and metal, all kinds of stuff. But really, the festival part is kind of surrounding this… this hillside. The next is a, uh, a silo that we, uh, we’ve got from a farmer that had been in a big fire, so we took it down and refurbished it. We’re going to, uh, fill uh, fill the bottom of that with, uh, with whole
corn, so the kids can go in this silo and play, play in the corn. The next photograph is, uh, is, is for pig racing, and we’ll have, uh, you can see the pig racing track in the foreground. In the background is a corral for horses and other kinds of, uh, small animals for a petting zoo. Uh, the kids will have access to those petting zoo animals, and they’ll be able to see how the pigs live and enjoy watching those piggies run, run in the circle once we’re up and going. The next photograph is a corral that Ray’s built. Uh, the one I just mentioned. And right now, it’s set for horses, but we’ll put smaller pens in there for the, uh, for the smaller animals, for the kids to have contact with the, with farm animals. And Ray did let my grandson ride the zipline a couple times. We got Ray off of it, so, the next picture is my, uh, my grandson, Jace going down on the, on the zipline. Uh, this is the kind of, uh, construction, look, we’ve got for the place. This last photograph, and this is where the
zipline ties at the bottom. But, uh, everything Ray’s designed is, has a, uh, uh, rustic agricultural farm look to it. And I think there’s a couple of you have one more photograph, I don’t think I had enough. Yes, that’s, that’s not taken on, on Ray’s Place, but it is representative of the, uh, of the jump pad that is purchased, and that we haven’t set it up, it’s purchased, it’s sitting out there, but that’s the kind of stuff the kids will be doing. And like James is, uh, partners with Ray on all kinds of stuff, but he’s been out there working with us. As James said, the parking is, uh, on the north end. And I don’t know if you guys got my, my whole drawing, but the parking is marked there on the north, on the north side. It’s our intention to, uh, to not promote, uh, promote anyone driving up and dropping their kids off. So we don’t intend to have anyone, anyone walking on the outside of this, of our area, of our center. You know, they’ll, uh, they’ll come, and they’ll drive to the, to the back of it, to the north edge. And that’s where they’ll park, and they’ll come in from the north side. And the Upper, Upper Road and Indian Head, West Indian Head, is all, is all up here, and that’s a, that’s a complete fence. We will have a, uh, we will have a big gate here that’s mainly a show gate. We can open that for traffic if we have to, but, our intention is to keep that closed. It’s a showpiece people can drive up and see, and, uh, we don’t intend for anyone to be parking along, uh, either the gravel road or along Upper Road up there. Uh, as, uh, James and Ray have said, that Ray owns 100 acres there to the, uh, to the east and to the north, and the properties immediately adjacent to us he’s farming. He’s growing hay, and actually, you can see his haystack right there, right now, he’s, uh, people are coming in that, uh, that north gate, they’re coming in at that north gate and picking up hay that he’s selling as we speak. Um, you know, this is, uh, you know,
we said, we said twenty people, because, you know, we don’t know. Uh, but we didn’t want to be limited. You know, we said twenty just so we weren’t limited to, limited to ten if we put ten, you know, we think a dozen people may be able to run this place. If we’re really successful, we might hire more. But, uh, you know, we see, uh, uh, hire more people as the benefits of the community. Um, and the people we hire will be mainly people walking around, making sure all the kids are safe. We’re designing everything so it’s as close to the ground and safe for the kids, and so, uh, one or two people can walk around and supervise many different things going on at the same time. You know, our, our businesses, uh, depend on families coming and having a good time, uh, adults coming on with their kids and grandkids and enjoying these attractions with us, and enjoying the, uh, the things that, uh, you know, the food, and if, uh, if it comes about that other people are interested in coming and bringing their produce…”
Harberd, “Your time’s up now. That was 5 minutes. Thank you very much. That helped clarify some things. Anyone else care to. Please state your name.”
Yvonne Mink. “I think it would be beneficial to this community. I used to be the administrator at Indian Head Estates. The short time that I worked there, I did turn it around a bit. I met a lot of people, and I had mentioned this to a lot of the families, and the ladies who have their children, and they were very interested. I even got a, I think it was the choir director from the high school came and sang for my elderly patients, and he had stated, talk to FFA for the petting zoo. See if they want to bring, you know, one of their animals to participate with us. So, I just want to say, Weiser’s a great place.”
Harberd, “Thank you. Any more (inaudible), Commissioners?” White, “Mr. Chair. There is someone on zoom who wishes to speak.” Harberd, “Are you there?”
Pearce, “Hey, did you guys specifically advertise that they could participate over zoom? You might be opening a can of worms if you didn’t.”
Marvin, “I don’t know, I’ve never seen the ad.”
White, “The hearing will be accessible via Zoom, is what it says.” Pearce, “Says what?”
White, “The hearing will be accessible via Zoom, it says.”
Pearce, “So, general, I mean, you’re… I would… if you want to, it’s your choice, but if you didn’t advertise that they could speak over Zoom, generally, it’s a matter of they show up and sign in in order to speak, and they can view it via Zoom. It’s not necessarily that they have, like, a statutory right to speak over Zoom. If you want to allow it, that’s your sole choice as the chair, though.”
Harberd, “Not if it’s gonna get us in trouble in any way.”
Pearce, “Oh, I don’t think it’s illegal, it’s just if you’re going to, generally you advertise it that way. But in this case, I think you’ve put a requirement that people come and sign in.”
Harberd, “We do have that.”
Pearce, “But it’s your, it’s your decision.”
Marvin, “Since we advertised it, I, I suppose we should honor it, but it would… we probably should have said from now on, they have to come and sign in to speak, but, but we didn’t put that in our ad.”
Harberd, “You okay with that?”
Wilkerson, “I am this time. Alright. Probably our mistake.” Wilkerson, “We’ll live with it.”
Harberd, “Please proceed.”
Sandy Porter, “Hi, uh, this is Sandy Porter.”
Wilkerson, “Can’t hardly hear it.”
Porter, “My address… yep, 902 Upper Road. And I want to say thank you to the Commission for hearing this on Zoom. I know that’s not ideal for anyone, but I appreciate the opportunity. Um, I, like the Maloneys, would say that I am, um, supportive of this effort, but would like to see some constraints on the permitting. Um, I know that agritourism is a valid industry, and I think our small community could use more activities. Um, I’m very concerned about the access road. Um, the only way to get to my property is on the dirt road. Um, and I appreciate addressing the parking concerns, but, um, with that many people and that business potential, I’d be very concerned about access to my own property and the safety of our neighbors. Um, and during harvest, I think that is a real, a real concern of mine on a personal level. Um, and the ability of fire, EMS to get up that road to the houses that are farther up farther north on that road um, than this business. His crew have done a great job. That property looks better than it ever has, and I am fully supportive of property rights. Um, I’m just concerned, um, about the impact of those activities on the surrounding neighbors, so I would support, um, a permit with some conditional use. Um, a shorter season, I think, would be important, and also in terms of access during the day. So, 10 p.m. Seems pretty, pretty late for those neighbors that are close by.”
Harberd, “Okay, thank you.”
Marvin, “Was that the only person we had on Zoom? Okay.” Harberd, “All right. If there’s no further comments.”
Marvin, “Before we… can we still ask Ray questions, or is that part open?” Harberd, “Yeah.”
Dan Mink, “Can I say something about the traffic?” Harberd, “Quickly.”
Mink, “She didn’t use all her five minutes, so… we’re married. I’ve worked, uh, I’ve worked at a couple of these places, and if it’s successful, at 10 o’clock when it opens up, there is a line of cars coming in, and that’s why we didn’t put our ticket booth on the street going in, we put it out the other side of the parking lot. And there’s a lesser amount of people going out all at the same time, but other than, you know, 10 o’clock in the
morning and maybe 5:30 in the evening, uh, there isn’t a steady stream of traffic going into any of these places. I drove down to the pumpkin patch, it’s in Ontario. I drove down on Saturday, and this is one of their last big days. It’s a Saturday. It was 3:00 in the afternoon and I’ll tell you, I didn’t pass one car on the road. You know, all the people were in there and were enjoying their day, and they were going to leave at closing time, you know. So, at 3 o’clock, there was nobody out there. I couldn’t even tell that they were open until I got there and saw people were actually there, so…”
Marvin, “What time is their closing time?”
Mink, “I didn’t see any lights, so I assume it was 6.”
Yvonne Mink, “Nine, I thought. Because the last day they do fireworks.”
Marvin, “Oh, okay. Ray, is it an opportunity to bring the traffic in off of 9… not 9th Street, Upper Road and not have them go down the gravel road?”
Nevarez, “So, there’s, that place has multiple entrances and, uh, Katie indicated a little bit ago that. Katie indicated that maybe we should move it to the other side, and our original intent was to put it up towards the high school. Um, but it, we had meetings with the high school, and… and they… they felt that their street is so tight, and because of all the events that they have that it was not a convenient spot for us to be able to add more traffic. So, that’s why we moved it on that side. However, the place has multiple entrances. What the other entrance would be, it would be through the little, um, subdivision. I forget the name of that street, do you remember that? What is it?”
Unknown, “Galey.”
Nevarez, “Galey is, uh, runs right into the field. And, um, so that’s… and that’s an actual street. Uh, it dead ends right there. It’s opened into my, that would be another one. But the corner of 9th, Upper, uh, Indian Head and, and the gravel road, I’m gonna call it the Gravel Road. That, that’s an entrance there. They don’t, people don’t have to go on that little gravel road, like, you know, it’s all… What is it? Maybe 500, 600 feet to the other end? It ain’t, it ain’t that, that big of a deal. Um, Ms. Porter said that she was concerned. There’s not going to be any cars parked on the outside of the property. Every car, bus, truck, whatever is going to be parked inside. Not to mention, the road goes in on, where that, where I put that other entrance, the road goes all the way in a half a mile or a quarter of a mile into where I started moving more equipment. So, there’s plenty of parking there, and there’s plenty of access to turn around. There, there will never be any cars parked on, on the outside of the property.”
Harberd, “Okay.”
Nevarez, “Okay. So, Ms. Maloney could, and I already, uh, mentioned it to Sean too, that I wouldn’t have cars and kids roaming around.
And that’s why we put the fence, just to keep everybody on, you know, inside. We haven’t put the wire yet, but we put the post.
Any other questions?”
Wilkerson, “I’ve got one that has to do with noise levels. You’re gonna have your average noise levels, a kid screaming and hollering, events going on. Are you planning on having live concerts?”
Nevarez, “Um… you just never know. We would like to have a few activities, but we are going to keep it down. Um, we will keep the noise down, um, whatever time you guys allow us to, that we’ll be respectful of that.”
Wilkerson, “My concern is if we allow a, a live band concert to be in that residential area we’re gonna not be very popular. We have enough problems with the, with the event centers that are out in the country.”
Nevarez, “No, we wouldn’t have… so… We would never have that type of a concert to where the speakers blow the whole entire town out. No.”
Wilkerson, “Okay.”
Nevarez, “Yeah, I mean, you can rest assured it would not, you know what I mean? If we wanted to do an open mic we are, you know. In between the silos, we created that dirt mound, we made a, like, like a little stage. We, we, uh, feathered it in a horseshoe shape so we can put horse bale, uh, straw bales all the way around, and people can sit down and enjoy Dan’s show. That being said, we can do other things to complement the show, so that entertainment can be there.
Whether it be a little bit of music, or whether it be, it’s gonna be on a low scale.” Harberd, “Okay.”
Cannon, “I think what, um, like, to clarify, like, what we mean by, like, band and stuff like that. Like, we had talked about bringing in, like, the local people here. Like, not… like, um, you know, like Fiddle Fest people, you know, people… they’re, like, a real, like, concert, concert type thing, like. We would never have someone like Aerosmith here, you know, or… but it would be like bringing, like, because we had… I discussed with Ray if there’s some spare time, and we want to do, like, open mic, like, we had talked to Dennis Cooper and stuff, like. You guys…”
Wilkerson, “We’ll call it a jam session.”
Cannon, “Okay, yeah, there you go, thank you. I’m not very good on… so that’s about it. Yeah, yeah, it’s like that. So, nothing crazy. So, just to clarify on that one. And then also, one more thing, for traffic and stuff, I think this is probably important. Me and Ray are contractors, I’m licensed and insured. So, even if a car was to break down, I have, um, equipment out there, Ray has equipment out there between the two of us, we have, like, 6 pieces of equipment.
It would not be a problem to hook onto a, the tow hitch, or… and drag those guys…” Wilkerson, “I used to pull people out of the ditch.”
Cannon, “I was just saying, nothing would ever, even a breakdown, we’d get them out of there. So…. Anyway, thank you.”
Mink, “Yeah, I’ve one more comment about the sound, if that’s all right. You know, we got those two big silos. We’ll be north of the silos, pointed away from the, uh… from the subdivision. So that would be a buffer, uh, plus our space for entertaining people is limited by the hillside. We got the silos on the hillside, people have to fit right here, there’s only room for a couple hundred people, so we don’t need a big sound system.”
Harberd, “Right. Having heard that, then… we’ll close the meeting. Hearing. We take this information and sift through it, and come to a conclusion. Thank you very much for your time.”
Hearing closed at 1:45 p.m.
Marvin, “We will, are you gonna, are we gonna discuss this? Are we… what are you… what’s your… what are you thinking?”
Harberd, “Go ahead and discuss it now?”
Marvin, “I’d… I’d like to. I think… We’ve… we’ve put these people off for a couple weeks, and I would like to try to get them an answer today, but… Uh, I know… we’ve got 45 minutes, and we need to empty this room, but um, I’d like to have an executive session with our legal counsel to address some of these, uh…”
Harberd, “That’s where I was headed.”
Marvin, “And… because I, and I, I did have, I need to disclose, I had some ex parte communications with the Gloria Walker on this talking about, uh, the application, what was being proposed. She wasn’t able to be here. She did send in written comments that we got. And then I talked to Sean Maloney. Uh, he had some questions. I think Katie addressed some of them. Um. But he wasn’t able to be here to, today, because of work. Um, and there again, he had some questions that he’d like to have addressed. So, I would like to maybe talk to our legal counsel, come out, and try to make a decision if we can today.”
Harberd, “That’s where I was headed.”
Gordon Wilkerson moved, seconded by Nate Marvin, to go into Executive Session at 1:48 p.m. under Idaho Code 74-206(1)(F) to communicate with legal counsel regarding pending and imminently likely litigation. Gordon Wilkerson, Aye; Jim Harberd, Aye; Nate Marvin, Aye. Motion carried.
Jim Harberd stated, “This is Commissioner Harberd, it’s 2:09 p.m.
Board is now back in open session. No final action or decision was made during Executive Session. We will now return to the regular agenda.”
Harberd, “Commissioner Marvin, do you want to…”
Marvin, “I thought, well, Gordon can.”
Wilkerson, “I practiced. I can try and hit it. We’ve heard from the community, the ones that spoke were not necessarily opposed to this, but they had great concern. Uh, so start with this special use does fit in our code 5-4-1 (G), or yeah, 5-4-1 (G). Commercial uses tied to recreation, tourism, and neighborhood needs, and also roadside stands for agricultural products. The concerns that came before us, in my opinion, are valid. Uh, noise, length of time into the night. Uh, one thing that was brought up with parking. My opinion, and it’s only mine, they talked about a starting time at 10 o’clock in the morning and going till 10 at night. I think probably 9 o’clock at night would be a more suitable time. Um, the parking, stated there would be no parking on the roads. I think we probably should have requirements of signage, no parking. Uh… noise level, you’re gonna have noise in an event center like this. I don’t know your thoughts on how you restrict conservatively, noise.”
Marvin, “Could I make a suggestion? Um… I would like to maybe pattern it after the Sunnyside Farms. It’s a decibel level, measured, I believe, 150 feet off-site.”
Wilkerson, “I thought about that, and I’m not saying that, uh, I don’t know that I can argue the statute, the code, but this event, this event center happens to be far closer to the residential area than even Sunnyside Farm. I don’t know how you would do it and limit it to what you would classify a concert. Limit it to just a local jam session?”
Marvin, “I think there should be some decibel level, just to protect these folks and the people that live around there.”
Wilkerson, “Correct. That’s what I’m trying to attain.”
Marvin, “Um, and I can’t remember what Sunnyside Farms is, it’s like 89 decibels, I want to say.”
Wilkerson, “I’m not going to say, I know one thing, I have had…”
Marvin, “But I don’t know if, even with Sunnyside Farms, 150 feet, I think Ray’s project is gonna probably be more than 150 feet from the closest houses. Am I…”
Nevarez, “There’s only a handful of houses. Even Ms. Maloney and Michelin, they sit back, their house sits back to where we would probably be almost an eighth of a mile. So, and across the street, they are closer, but, and there’s probably one, two, there’s, like, maybe 6 houses on the, on the actual, across the street, and then there’s a side street that goes in.”
Marvin, “Okay, okay. So, I don’t, I’m not sure how to word that, Gordon. But there needs to be some provisions in there, I think, And I don’t know if that’s something we could add later, or if that has to be in there now.”
Pearce, “I think, I think that you could probably, um… I don’t know what you’re planning on doing. If you’re wishing to, it sounds like you’re planning to allow this. So, maybe you can actually allow them to proceed so they can finish setting up, and then do some digging and make the final provisions on the noise levels, or how you’re going to do that. Set that for a final um, I guess, discussion and vote on how you’re going to deal with noise levels.”
Marvin, “So is that, so we could come back and amend that Special Use, then, to add that?”
Harberd, “Add to it?”
Pearce, “Yeah, I mean, I think you could approve, in part today, so they could proceed, and then as far as maybe, and maybe it’s a sliding scale of the later it gets, the quieter it has to be. I don’t know, I don’t know the answer. This is your call. But, um…”
Marvin, “Yeah, this was a little different than what we’ve dealt with, but uh, but if we had the option of coming back, and once we have more information. Okay, all right.”
Wilkerson, “I think one of the bigger issues we’re going to be dealing with is a noise level that close to the residential area of town. Ingress, egress is another concern that’s been, that’s been, uh, addressed. Sounds to me like, I don’t know the area as well as you guys do, sounds like that’s been addressed and taken care of and is understood, if that’s not mistaken. Uh…”
Marvin, “Probably, for the record, Gordon, we’d need to address that 5-9-1 (G) in our narrative statement. You addressed noise, but I don’t know as we addressed the glare, the odor, fumes, and vibration. And I… I think we just need to address each one of them individually, that I don’t think there’ll probably be any glare.
But it, I think that probably should be, if there is, it should be restricted to Ray’s property. I mean, if there’s any night lights or security lighting, anything like that, should be restricted to his property.”
Wilkerson, “Which, where are you at for sure, Nate?”
Marvin, “G. First page. It’s kind of like we did with that development on Midvale Hill, the night lighting, you know, it has to be the, all the lights shines…”
Wilkerson, “Are you going to have big lights in this event center, or is it going to be daylight only?”
Nevarez, “Well, in the summer, it doesn’t get dark till, what, 11? So lighting is not going to be that big of a deal. Towards the, uh, October, towards the time of year. This time of year, maybe a month you might get to where it gets, obviously gets dark, you know, and
you might need a little bit of light. Our lighting is going to be minimal. Same thing with the noise.”
Wilkerson, “You are going to have pig races?”
Nevarez, “Yeah, so they’re definitely, we only want three.”
Marvin, “So I would say, Gordon, if you just add. We put it, make it, uh, the night light, night skies lighting compliant, that would address it. Okay. Odor, shouldn’t, I can’t…”
Wilkerson, “It is what it is.” Marvin, “Yeah. It’s in the country.”
Harberd, “Shouldn’t be any vibration. The noises. Odor and fumes are the same, I guess. It’s a farm.”
Marvin, “I don’t see anything that’s going to be causing any vibration issues. Okay. Um, you started with, did you start a motion, or were you just talking?”
Wilkerson, “No, I’m just talking.”
Marvin, “Well, it was suggested the five months, June through the end of October. I like that, that idea. Um.”
Wilkerson, “Um, What about extending that to the 15th of November?” Marvin, “We could do that.”
Wilkerson, “Because you got the end of October is Halloween, and that’s basically what this is, that’s their special event wrapped up. Correct. Grace them until the 15th of November?”
Marvin, “Okay? All right.” And then… Yeah. And then it was suggested 10 a.m. close at 9:00 or 10:00 p.m. I would like to see that maybe 9:00 p.m.?”
Wilkerson, “Yeah.”
Harberd, “I think I would, too.”
Marvin, “And if that is just not working out, you guys can come back to us, and we can look at it again.”
Cannon, (Unaudible) “If you wanted to do, like, a special, like, event, like, on a different month would we just have to apply for it, like, say, December or something? Like a small event, like, just…. It would just be like, like, say you want to do, like, a Christmas theme, like three-day bash or whatever, you know?”
Marvin, “We’d have to do a special permit for that. Well, depending what you’re doing, if it meets the criteria of this special use. Yeah, yeah. The reason you have to do this is because you, they wanted to sell pumpkins, and sell some other crafts, I think. Yeah, but it would, you’d have to meet with Bridget and decide if it was going to meet the criteria of a special use. Okay. Um… I, I’m really concerned with the gravel road, and apparently the neighbors are, too. I would like to see, use the access off of Upper Road,
and keep it on your property.”
Nevarez, “In other words, at the corner, enter there, and then, um..,”
Marvin, “Go down the, go down the west side of your property, back to your parking lot.” Nevarez, “And then when they leave, go out the gravel road?”
Marvin, “Hadn’t thought about that.”
Cannon, “Yeah, I didn’t mention something. I don’t know, it was just a talking out in the air out there about this once we went outside. Ray mentioned there’s 10-foot extra right there. You know, he gave a lot of room. I, Ray was underestimate. It’s more like, you know, 15, 20 feet. I mean, technically, we could gravel all that and be, like, an entrance in that way, off the road, and then an exit onto the road. I mean, that would… that would minimize the traffic. Um, if Ray wants to do that, it was just mentioned briefly out there. But, you know, we got dump trucks and stuff, and that’s some (unaudible), we could kind of, cut it in half by doing that, making it like they could go down to Westside, or pull into the property, park. When they leave, then they pull out onto that, and then it’s just an exit for them. What do you think, Ray?”
Nevarez, “Yeah, you’re basically saying enlarge the road a little bit. By adding, you know, that could be done, that’s not a big deal. Maybe it just… it would just be an idea to, to widen that section of the road.”
Marvin, “I think for this first year, let’s just keep everything on your property. That would be my recommendation. And then you can come back to us if you want to modify that.
We’re, we’re just about out of time today. Uh, so if we’re gonna make a decision on this, we’re gonna, we gotta keep moving.”
Bridget Felmley, “Can I ask a question real quick? Um, how many people do you, are you anticipating at this time?”
Nevarez, “We don’t know, just as new to us. I mean, we’re going to start with the… the town, the local town, so… Um, If we do anything this year, it’ll be… very minimal. I don’t, I don’t see anything going on. As it gets cold, and it gets dark at, what, five now?
So, I could honestly say the only thing we’re going to do is wrap up a few more, um, games or slides? And, um, maybe invite the locals to come in and enjoy the swings and the slides this year, because we’re out of time. So, that being said, I mean, you know where we’re at.”
Wilkerson, “Mr. Chair? I’ve got a question I’d like to go into executive session and ask the prosecuting attorney.”
Gordon Wilkereson moved, seconded by Nate Marvin, to go into executive session at 2:25 p.m. in accordance with I.C. 74-206(1) (f) to communicate with 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. The mere presence of legal counsel at an executive session does not satisfy this requirement. Motion carried unanimous. Gordon Wilkerson, Aye; Jim Harberd, Aye; Nate Marvin, Aye.
Jim Harbred stated they were out of executive session at 2:30 p.m. “No final action or decision was made during an executive session. We’ll now return to the regular agenda.”
Wilkerson, “Uh, one of the biggest concerns that I’ve got is gonna be the noise level. And we haven’t got completely… that completely addressed at this point, but we’re willing to move forward with this. I believe.”
Marvin, “We will have to take a vote.”
Wilkerson, “With the understanding that We’ll come back and finish. clean up this application next week on the noise levels, how we address that.”
Harberd, “That suitable? That’ll allow you to move in.”
Wilkerson, “The other thing is, one other thing, you mentioned, I heard you mentioned something about school events in May.”
Nevarez, “Correct. And if I heard, I don’t know if I heard right, but did you say you wanted to cut us out of May, or, because I…”
Wilkerson, “That’s why I’m bringing this back. I was, I was talking the 1st of June to the middle of November, but if you’ve got, I didn’t think about the spring events for schools. So, if we would put it, like, the 15th of May to the 15th of November?”
Nevarez, “Could it be the 1st of May? And I’m gonna explain why. Um, it’s planting season. And, um, you want to explain this? You’re better at it?”
Mink, “Sure. Some of the, uh, you know, schools are looking for, uh, for field trips. Okay, and the schools come out, it’d just be for a few, in the middle of the day, come out, we can show them about planning, and the kids can take home little plants that they planted,
and it’s also Idaho History Month for the fourth graders, and our show deals with anyway…”
Wilkerson, “We’re short on time, I’m good with the 1st of May to the 15th of November for the motion.”
Marvin, “All right. So, I’m going to take a stab at a motion that we approve the special use permit um, for Ray’s, um Pumpkin Patch for lack of a better term, with, with the, that you follow Chapter 9 in our code, Chapter 9, Section 5, Uh, with the stipulations that it can run from May 1st to November 15th with the hours of 10 a.m. and closing at 9:00
p.m. Uh, with the stipulation that you will have your own road into your property and we’ll place…. Do we still want to put the no parking signs on there? On the gravel road? Okay. And no parking signs be put up on the gravel road adjacent to your property, um, uh, and we will address the decibels and sound level next week. But this, My motion is to go ahead and get you started and then we can come back and address the noise level. And I would like to review this once a year? Maybe every May? And I don’t, not with the intent you have to come up with $600 again, Ray, but, but we’d like to sit down with you and see what the plans are for the year, and, and see where we’re at. Okay? Alright, so that’s my motion. Hopefully, Donna can make heads or tails of it.”
Wilkerson, “I’ll second it,” Marvin, “And Bridget.”
Wilkerson, “It’s up to Bridget now.”
Nevarez, “And you were talking about the, uh, no parking. Are you providing that, or do I need to install that?”
Marvin, “That would be your responsibility.”
Harberd, “There’s been a motion and a second to approve the Special Use Permit for the pumpkin patch following the afore mentioned stipulations, and we will work on the, fine- tune it next week. Those in favor?”
Wilkerson, Aye; Harberd, Aye; Marvin, Aye. Motion carried.
IN THE MATTER OF ELECTION LOGIC AND ACCURACY TESTING)
Michelle Hagans, Election Deputy addressed the Board and those present. Hagans stated that per Idaho Code 31-2426 Logic and Accuracy testing is required prior to each election. Hagans and Deputy Election Clerk Stephanie Britton demonstrated the use of the Express Voting System and the DS 200 Ballot Scanner.
Motion by Jim Harberd, seconded by Gordon Wilkerson and unanimously carried to recess at 3:30 p.m. until November 3, 2025, at 8:45 a.m.
Chairman, Board of County Commissioners
ATTEST:
Clerk
A full audio recording of the Commissioner Meeting is available at the Clerk’s Office upon request.