There was strong written opposition to the plan before the IPUC, including a document filed by attorney Jon Steele. Much of the opposition was based upon the contemplated rate Idaho Power proposed to pay for the electricity generated.

Dynamis has already received $2 million from Ada County, but based on lack of financing and other questions surrounding the deal, it looks like it faces a huge battle before it becomes a reality.

The staff report cites older methodology, higher interest rates, prices higher than needed, and even the NEED for the generating capacity at the current time.

Here is a link to the STAFF REPORT.

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1. Jan 13, 2012: Boise Attorney Opposed To Dynamis Deal — 11 comments
2. Nov 22, 2011: PUC Plugs Into Dynamis-Idaho Power Deal — 7 comments
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We talked to a Williams County, ND Deputy who not only confirmed the accuracy of the data, but told us, “We have a fair number of people from your area working here as well.”

Politicos take note: Your wishes may come true…be careful about what you wish for!
A meeting was held of the ND Sheriff’s & Deputies Association in Bismarck, as part of this meeting we had an opportunity to sit down with Law Enforcement from western ND to discuss what they are going through with oil impact. Here is a summary of 34 points made:
1. Currently there are a total of 84 companies involved in the oil industry in western ND.
2. It takes between 2000 and 2200 semi loads of water per well. Currently there are 258 wells in progress with so many scheduled it is hard to determine the exact amount.
3. Traffic accidents, especially fatal traffic accidents are of very high concern. At one location on Highway 85 south of Williston, a traffic count was conducted in October of 2011. In one 24 hour period of time there where 29,000 vehicle through the intersection looked at with 60% of the traffic being semi’s.
4. Traffic is typically backed up for ½ to ¾ of a mile. One of the guys stated that one day last week he sat at an intersection on Highway 85 for about 30 minutes to get a big enough opening to cross over.
5. They have closed the weigh scale house because it was causing such a traffic jam that it was closing the roadway.
6. Rent in Williston currently is: $ 2000 for a one bedroom to $ 3400 for a three bedroom.
7. They have no more hook ups for campers any where in the area.
8. Williams County allows three campers per farmstead, the farmers almost all have three campers on their property and are charging $ 800 per camper per month for rent.
9. Wal Mart in Williston no longer stocks shelves, they bring out pallets of merchandise at night, and set it in the isles, people then take off the pallets what they want.
10. On 1-1-12, the Williston Wal Mart had 148 campers overnight in their parking lot.
11. Willams County wrecked a pickup and ended up bringing it to Bismarck for repairs because there no available body shops to do the work. Williams County has purchased a trailer and has started to bring vehicles to the Bismarck area for repairs. Willaims County took a pickup in for ball joints and front brakes, the shop charged them $ 2800 for the repairs.
12. Williston and Williams County now produces more taxable sales than any other area in ND.
13. The Williams County jail has increased booking by 150%. With a 100% increase in inmate population. Bonds of $ 5k to $ 10 K are typically paid with cash out of pocket. The Williams County Sheriff stated that a couple of week ago he received a $ 63,000 bond in cash carried into the jail in a plastic Wal Mart bag.
14. Williams County Sheriff’s Department has more than doubled in staff over the last two years, they are now buying trailer houses that come up for sale to rent to newly hired deputies.
15. Williams County new starting salary with the academy is $ 46,000 plus 100% of all benefits paid.
16. They are in a continuous hiring cycle, they have no set budget at this time, the Sheriff has been told to manage his office to the best of his abilities and keep the Commission updated, but do not worry about the budget.
17. The Williston McDonalds just announced that they will pay $ 15 an hour, a $ 500 immediate sign on bonus and a single medical plan paid for.
18. The restaurants are full and with limited staff to work in them they usually just have the drive through open. The restaurants that have inside seating are now an hour wait at all times.
19. Law Enforcement in the Williams County area cannot provide training to staff due to time constraints and no location to hold training.
20. The local Motel 6 in Williston now rents rooms fro $ 129.95 per night.
21. Law Enforcement no longer does any proactive work (school programs, community services, house checks) they do very little traffic related issues as well, they just to from call to call. Bars fights are one of the biggest issues.
22. Other law enforcement issues include the strip clubs. The local clubs have now started what is called “babe buses”. These buses go out to areas and pick up people and bus them back and forth to the strip clubs, the buses have poles on them as well as live entertainment.
23. Drug problems are immense, and they are seeing narcotics that they have never seen in the area before, like black tar heroin.
24. The civil process section of the Sheriff’s Department use to average 1800 paper a year, they are now doing 4500 processes a year.
25. Law Enforcement said that they make as many Driving under the influence arrest at 10 Am as they do at midnight.
26. Illegal aliens have become a huge problem, especially getting the proper authorities do remove them from the Country.
27. The current thought from the oil companies is that the area will continue to grow as it has over the past two years for the next five years and stay for ten years. At the end of the ten years they feel the communities will drop in population somewhat.
28. The current thought is that the oil companies will be drilling wells on every 1280 acres of leased land, this way they have tied up the land and do not have to release the property.
29. The Williston General Motors dealership has now become the number 1 seller of Corvettes in the upper Midwest.
30. The bigger oil companies are doing very well in hiring good people. They run checks and make sure the people they hire are drug free; it is the smaller companies that are having trouble-hiring people that will look the other way on hiring issues.
31. They said they do not know anybody anymore. The Sheriff of Williams County he use to be able to go to Wal Mart and not be walk very far without knowing somebody, now he does not know any of the people in there.
32. Many of the local citizens are taking retirement and moving out of the area.
33. They have an extreme amount of alcohol abuse going on. They have more calls than ever of drunk people trying to get into houses, to find out they are at the wrong place.
34. Minot population has grown by a projected 9000 people since the completion of the census. Minot is expecting to reach a population of 75,000 in the nest five years. Trinity Hospital in Minot has just hired 115 nurses from the Philippines to work at the hospital, as they cannot get enough local nurses to apply.

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Plans enthusiastically endorsed by Boise Mayor Dave Bieter and the city council to locate F-35 fighter jets at Gowen Field could devestate the lives of thousands of residents, according to an opponent of the plan who based his conclusions on an official AIR FORCE REPORT.

A just released environmental impact statement conducted for the U.S. Air Force shows that at least 10,000 homes in a five mile swath between Columbia Village and Maple Grove would be classified as “NOT SUITABLE FOR RESIDENTIAL USE due to high noise levels according to an opponent of the plan who estimated the loss of home value will be in the $50 to $70 million range. Under one scenario nearly 7,000 acres off the airport would be in the impact area. Numerous Churches and schools have been identified as “noise sensitive sites,” in the report. The report also concluded “air operations” (take offs and landings) could increase as much as 50%.

Boise resident Monty Mericle has led the fight against locating the F-35 fighters in Boise, citing existing bases at Mountain Home and in Arizona as much more appropriate than a metropolitan area such as Boise.

“About 1,400 sorties will be with full afterburner and 1,400 will be at night. Four schools and 13 day care centers will exceed government noise levels for learning, and over 300 cases of hearing loss are estimated. All of this is documented in the 980 page EIS,” Mericle told the GUARDIAN.

Public meetings are scheduled for Friday February 27th from 5 till 8 at the Capital City Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 63, 8931 W. Ardene St, Boise, and Saturday February 28th from 5 till 8 at the Boise Hotel and Conference Center at 3300 Vista, Boise.

“Hopefully State, City, Airport, and County representatives will be in attendance to explain why they continue supporting this plan with its now documented devastating consequences. After all, they are the elected officials who brought this catastrophe to us,” concluded Mericle.

Monty Mericle is the chairman of the SaveOurValleyNow.org group trying to inform the citizens of the valley what the F-35 mission will do to our valley. The web site is currently disabled.

More information can be found at these links:

BOISE SITE

MAIN SITE FOR EIS

HEARING SCHEDULE

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–We met people from Utah State who not only didn’t visit the Famous Potato Bowl, but didn’t think much of it.
–We met lots of BSU supporters, watched the “Body Shop Bowl,” in Vegas and again not much good was voiced. It appears the plethora of college bowls is self destructing. Even the Hawaii Bowl was played to a nearly empty house.
–There is a lot of action in the field of waste-to-energy projects in Ada, Kootenai, Clark, Freemont, and Bonneville counties and from our standpoint it looks like various government credits are the driving force rather than electricity generation.
–The hang glider folks will probably get “grandfathered into using Hammer Flat if they play nice with Idaho Fish and Game. The best flight path right now is to give Director Virgil Moore a way to ALLOW recreational use of the land rather than bombing him into submission.

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If class action is granted, Nampa could have every property owner in the city seeking refunds for a sewer fee that many claim is an illegal tax.

A class-action complaint filed Wednesday seeks to have Nampa’s $3-per-month-per-resident storm­water fee and ordinance declared invalid and all fees collected under the program refunded. The plaintiffs are Ronald W. Van Auker; JBR LLC; RVRV LLC; Hogan LLC; Deere 1 LLP; Par 3; Idaho Industrial Development and “all others similarly situated.” Commercial properties are charged based on square footage.

Republic Storage filed a similar complaint against the city on Dec. 14. The GUARDIAN warned of potential class action at that time.

The Supremes ruled in November the city of Lewiston’s stormwater fee was illegal because the state has not authorized cities to collect a stormwater tax.

The plaintiffs’ attorneys, E. Don Copple and Heather Cunningham of Davidson, Copple, Copple & Copple, say Nampa’s stormwater ordinance and fee is nearly identical to Lewiston’s and should also be declared illegal.

Nampa’s legal team is a private firm that probably advised the city regarding the ordinance that created the fee.

Read more here: http://www.idahostatesman.com/2011/12/22/1926794/class-action-suit-filed-against.html#storylink=latest#storylink=cpy

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However, Mayor-elect Greg Nelson didn’t have much good to say about planning and Zoning Director Steven Hasson and that probably stems from a dispute over $36,000 in fees the city claims it is owed by the new mayor for water and sewer hook-up fees for the Creekside Lounge and Peregrine Steaks and Spirits Restaurant built in 2005/06 by Nelson.

Caldwell GUARDIAN editor Paul Alldredge did the leg work after reading the DAILY PAPER and found the alleged non-payment was discovered in a state DEQ financial audit of Kuna’s city sewer and water records.

Public records include a series of communications, including demand for payment, between Hasson and Nelson beginning in March.

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Now the City has to defend a lawsuit asking for declaratory judgement to cancel the “fee.” Paul Alldredge of the Caldwell GUARDIAN filed this report:

Republic Storage of Nampa (aka Twin Islands LLC) is seeking declaratory or injunctive relief from “Nampa Storm Water Utility” fees imposed by Ordinance 3928. Republic is asserting the storm water fee is a tax implemented without Constitutional, State Legislative, or police power to enact. Further, Republic is citing this tax/fee as a violation of the Idaho Constitution Art. 7 sec. 5 as the tax/fee amounts to a non uniform tax on all property. Republic also claimed there is no discernible service connected with the Storm Water Utility fees.

Republic is seeking injunctive relief to preclude any further collections of the Storm Water Utility fees pending litigation challenging the validity of Nampa Storm Water Utility fees.

Nampa’s privately contracted legal firm will potentially be able to have a really happy New Year with more legal fees if they defend a class action suit representing 80,000 residents. Seems more responsible to call a tax a tax and live with it.

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For 35 years, silent and beautiful Hang Gliders and Paragliders have graced the Boise skyline above the Highway 21 and the iconic Crow Inn.

Many have enjoyed eating steamed clams and just watching the gliders. Generations of Boise gliders have enjoyed their first flights on the Crow’s gentle hill. There is nothing like it in Boise–it cannot be replaced.

Ten years ago, Boise voters approved a $10 million Trust Fund Serial Levy that promised to acquire open space for public use. A year and a half ago, we were excited to learn that Boise had used the Trust Fund to purchase the Crow Gliding Area along with Hammer Flat. Shortly after the announcement, glider pilots enthusiastically met with Boise Parks and Recreation to discuss our rich history of gliding at the Crow Hill. We shared our willingness to partner with Parks and Recreation and to have a community gliding site similar to that in Salt Lake City or Missoula Montana. Not unlike the special use kayak course currently under construction in the river west of Fairview.

Although we did not understand his relationship to Boise City at the time, Ed Bottum from Idaho Fish and Game was also at the meeting. Bottum manages the wildlife management area adjacent to the city land.

A few weeks later, we learned Boise City officials were planning to sell Hammer Flat and the Crow Gliding Area to the Idaho Department of Fish and Game. Through a public records request, we learned that Boise Park and Recreation Director-Jim Hall told Fish and Game in a closed door meeting the deal would have to include the “Boise City Council concerns of no recreational access or dogs, except for hunting.” Hall discussed “firearm safety, short range weapons, and season closures” with Fish and Game. Records also show that Hall was “not inclined to allow” our silent and compatible gliding activity.

In March of this year, and while refusing public comment, the Mayor and the Boise City Council followed Jim Hall’s recommendation and gave complete management control of the property to Fish and Game. Public records show that Ed Bottum from Fish and Game drafted and now enforces the ownership bridge agreement. Bottum is also conducting the “Base Line Inventory” that Boise City claimed was the reason for the management agreement.

Bottum was recently quoted in the Statesman disclosing the study is “…not going to tell us anything we don’t already know.” What Bottum is not sharing, is an internal Fish and Game memo he wrote about hundreds of deer, elk, and pronghorns wintering on the property during the SAME TIME we were hiking, biking, and gliding at the Crow year round.

The bridge agreement gives Fish and Game total control of our city property and allows only “wildlife related activities.” The agreement does not define the term, but references the Boise River Wildlife Management Area Plan also authored by Bottum. The plan states that wildlife related activities include hunting and trapping. The stated purpose of the Fish and Game area overlooking Boise is to “increase game populations to meet the demand for hunting and trapping.” Bottum’s plan does not consider visitors hiking, running, bicycling, or exercising their dogs to be wildlife based recreation. This is a direct conflict with our serial levy trust.

Ironic that we coexisted for 35 years with the deer and antelope, now F&G seeks to ban the gliding public so those same animals can be shot to death.

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A recent examination of rate cases before the Idaho Public Utility’s commission on three separate rate cases all involving renewable energy show some startling differences in the electricity rates that have been agreed to between small power producers and the Utility’s involved.

A case in North Idaho involving the burning of waste wood for energy and just recently approved by the IPUC shows a 5 year contract with a purchase price which averages near $60/megawatt-hour.

A wind energy case before the commission between  Idaho Power and High Mesa Energy LLC is a 20 year contract with a levelized price of $56.43/megawatt-hour.

Also recently filed is a case between Idaho Power and Dynamis Energy LLC with a negotiated price which averages $92.35/megawatt-hour. This involves burning garbage at the Ada County landfill which has made the news recently because of the $2 million already forked over to Dynamis by Ada County Commissioners.
 
Granted, there are some differences in these contracts as to cost to utility’s and costs to developers but short of hiring a lawyer who is knowlegeable in energy law how, how does John Q. Public know whether the Utility’s and Generators of Electricity are acting in the public interest?

I would submit they are acting in their own interest. Without a consumer advocate, the IPUC will not have a chance to hear the other side of the story.

It’s not unreasonable for two people to look at the same project and come to different conclusions. Three knowlegeable people would be more fair.

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By Jimmy D. Bus,
Guardian Transportation Correspondent

When it comes to electric buses in America, it appears Communist China’s Zonda Corp. attempted to establish a marketing beach head in the Treasure Valley six months ago when they approached Valley Regional Transit with a request for a “letter of interest.”

It was a carrot on a stick type of deal with no real commitments from either side. It offered the potential of a factory, up to 1,000 jobs, and an all electric bus fleet for VRT. To borrow a phrase from a Boise City attorney, it was “squishy.”

Public documents reveal the following about the proposal.

As part of a regularly scheduled VRT Management Committee meeting on May 9th, local politicos reviewed a proposal “… to explore an opportunity to expand transit services in the region through an economic development project that is considering locating in the region.” Basically the proposal would have provided VRT with a fleet of electric buses which would become an all electric transit system world showcase. All at little or no additional burden on taxpayers according to the document.

Local politicos did something the local media didn’t do with this proposal – they looked this gift horse in the mouth and said WHOA !

They were shocked at what they saw. Initially they were energized by the prospect of all the jobs this economic development (always key words) proposal would bring, but then they began to find faults in it. Little details like who would actually pay the operating costs for all this expanded service were not addressed clearly in the proposal. And, according to my sources, apparently the “style” at the initial presentation prior to this meeting didn’t sit well with some of local politios either.

According to VRT minutes of this meeting, the VRT attorney was directed to bring back to the Committee at a future date a simplified draft “Letter of Interest” indicating VRT’s possible interest in the project.

On May 11th– two days after the VRT meeting at which Zonda USA was not represented– Zonda USA issued a press release saying it would establish a headquarters in Boise sometime in 2011. That same release also said the company had met with Valley mayors and with State government representatives to finalize details of the move. It appears Zonda USA either got their wires crossed or they were out of phase with what had transpired at the VRT meeting just two days before. Six months later we hear that office will be established by the end of 2011. Promises, promises, isn’t that what the world is made of now?

At a special VRT Management Committee meeting on May 18th, VRT Management Committee members approved a rather vaguely worded LETTER to Zonda USA expressing interest in exploring the proposal further. Again, no commitments.

News about this proposal apparently remained dormant for about six months until the DAILY PAPER, and other local media, reported on it recently. So the obvious question is why now? Why six months after the proposal was first broached?

Local politicos were correct in looking this gift horse in the mouth and saying WHOA ! The transit bus building business is a tough one. According to both Federal and university study documents only about 5,000 transit buses of all sizes and types are built in the US each year by the five major bus builders – one of whom controls almost 40% of the market. Unpredictable demand, extreme challenges, tenuous financial condition of bus manufacturers, serious concerns regarding the state of the industry, general lack of volume in orders, and thin profit margins are all words found in these publications.

So just how does Zonda USA intend to be financially successful in this challenging, competitive environment where so many others have failed? And how does it intend to meet the “Buy America” requirements, the Altoona Test requirements, and other requirements imposed on transit authorities using Federal transit funds to purchase vehicles? We don’t know. We do know that they already have competition from other bus manufacturers, one of whom announced an all electric prototype bus this past October. Another claims to have 80% domestic content in their vehicles, well exceeding the “Buy America” threshold.

Will enough orders be obtained, a condition for building the plant according to the daily story, to build an all electric bus manufacturing plant in the Treasure Valley? More importantly, will it employ thousands of workers? And lastly, where in the Valley will it be built? The answer to all those questions is we will have 2C.

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