He contacted the owner, only to learn the property was in the midst of a legal battle and subsequent foreclosure action. He followed the land dealings through the legal process and ended up on the steps of the Ada County Sheriff Tuesday at a public auction.

Long story made short: Ada County sent a couple of employees–at least one was probably from the Prosecutor’s office–and bid the price up in $10,000 increments fast enough to scare off Wood. They got it for $240,000. Opening bid started at $211,000.

The GUARDIAN has made calls and sent e-mails to the Commisioners and their administrator–no one has responded. Statesman reporter Cynthia Sewell had better luck and posted the COUNTY VERSION of events.

Based on the Statesman account the deal looks clean and tidy, all done for the benefit of county citizens. We hope that is true, but still note it is “irregular” to authorize a bid/purchase only two hours prior to acquiring land.

According to the Statesman report, Commish Ullman implies the county acquired the land at least in part to satisfy a tax lien of $10,403 and unspecified legal fees. While the county may now have land, it is off the tax rolls and cost taxpayers an additional $240,000 cash.

No related posts.

The Dynamis project and the $2 million payment in taxpayer money to the firm are focal points in the Commish primary race.

The GUARDIAN has been monitoring the project and talking to scientists familiar with the process and the specific Dynamis proposal. Simply put, the project is full of holes with regard to waste sorting and who will pay for sorting (cement, iron, and other waste simply will not burn or provide fuel for the system), emissions, and other issues including things like who owns the trash that will be used to fuel the system.

The firm has applied for an expedited “15 day permit” from the Idaho DEQ. That will allow them to begin construction, but if the project is not approved someone will be left holding the bag. Prior financing has fallen through and Dynamis was refused to provide details with regard to the current financing while touting job creation, economic development, etc. The 350 page applications can be seen HERE.

They have previously pushed for a “world headquarters” operation in Garden Valley in conjunction with the South Fork Landing development which is failing and owes Boise County hundreds of thousands in back taxes. See STATESMAN story.

Environmentalists are now claiming the issue of emissions is a serious concern–noting Dynamis has removed references to certain carcinogens from its web site. Says opponent Erik Jensen, “Dynamis has absolutely zero experience building, operating, and maintaining a facility like the one they want to build right at the population center of Idaho.”

Dynamis has been touting projects all over the world from Alaska to Italy, but when examined closely they either don’t exist or are not at all what they claimed to be. A consortium of several Eastern Idaho Counties have reportedly abandoned plans to use the Dynamis trash burning technology at a proposed facility in Clark County.

While the firm does have an agreement to sell electricity to Idaho Power, the deal is only good IF they “produce the juice.”

We see the proposal as a way to take advantage of public funding for something that is not needed and will most certainly cost taxpayers more than the $2 million already spent when it is all over.

UPDATE 4/30/12–The IDAHO CONSERVATION LEAGUE blogs in opposition to the project.

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MODERN PARKING VENDOR IN PARIS

We hear the “multi space” parking vendor machines tested previously at City Hall didn’t pass the public acceptance test. Folks just weren’t ready to go to the kiosk and return to their vehicle and display the receipt on the dash.

Some even newer machines will soon be tested in the BoDo area that will cover multi car spaces. These solar powered devices will rent individual spaces by the numbers–like some of the private lots downtown. Instead of a meter maid (or butler) being forced to check the spots or look for dash displays, they will have a hand held “app” that will tell them which spaces are expired. Those machines could be more profitable for the city because they eliminate the need for individual meters and allow those friendly meter monitor people to make a single stop without checking an entire block.

If we can just get an “app” to track a GPS on the bicycles peddled by the meter monitors and sound an alert, it could save everyone some cash (or credit card) money.

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This was first suggested by Gov. Jerry Brown who let his distaste for these agencies be known when he went after way to cut the state deficit.

Here’s the entire L.A. TIMES article.

The abuses and waste in California are similar to what is going on in Idaho. Look for some legislation during the current Idaho session.

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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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Idaho Power is happy to expand its transmission lines to take care of growth, but wants those who benefit and create the demand to pay for it, according to a new filing before the Idaho Public Utilities Commission.

Under the proposal, Idaho Power seeks to charge what amounts to “impact fees” to cut down on rate hikes borne by all the rate payers. That goes along well with the GROWTHOPHOBE idea that growth for the sake of growth is not a worthwhile endeavor. However, if someone wants to come here and pay their way–not with public money–we will welcome them.

Here is the text of an IPUC press release on the topic.

Idaho Power wants to shift more line extension costs to new customers

A full text of the commission’s order, along with other documents related to this case, is available on the commission’s Web site. Click on “File Room” and then on “Electric Cases” and scroll down to the above case number.

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The agency turns 40 this week and–not surprising–had its genesis in bad government. They like to say the issue was potholes, but it was much deeper.

When each city had its own street department and the county had a road department, there was always the issue of ANNEXATION.

The city wouldn’t fix roads outside the city limits and the county officials were loath to make improvements only to be gobbled up by the city. Hence, a 1971 election created what is touted as a “model system” to place road planning, construction, and maintenance under one countywide district.

Along with the highway system, ACHD began a commuter ride van program that now claims 900 riders aboard 94 vans from Oregon to Mountain Home. The brag an estimated 13.8 million miles were saved by the program.

The cities and ACHD have had their differences over the past 40 years, but taken as a whole, the roads, bike paths, traffic signals, and van pool are valuable additions to the community.

If we could get the same expertise and cooperation on a bus system, we could have something.

There will be a “birthday party” at noon Wednesday at the ACHD HQ building , 3775 Adams in Garden City. If weather predictions are correct, many of the staff will be manning sand trucks and snow plows by that time.

UPDATE 4:30 p.m. Tuesday–
CHD Crews Prepare for Incoming Winter Storm

Ada County Highway District (ACHD) Winter Street Service crews are ready to take on what has the makings of this winter’s first snow storm. Crews got a jumpstart on pre-treating Ada County roadways with de-icer this morning (Jan. 17) in advance of the evening commute and forecasted snow. Thirty five de-icer trucks took to the streets, with a focus on major intersections, hills and heavily traveled roads.

Using de-icer on the roads before the evening commute will allow the rush hour traffic to help spread the product over the road, which will provide for good coverage before the snow starts falling. De-icer works as a pre-treatment to help prevent snow from sticking to the roads and forming ice and also works to melt snow once it’s on the ground.

Tonight, crews will attach plows to trucks and will have sand and de-icer trucks staged and ready to go. ACHD will closely monitor the weather conditions over night and crews will be called in before the morning commute if necessary.

So far this season, crews have been out just three times to treat the roads for winter weather. ACHD’s Winter Street Service supplies are fully stocked with sand and de-icer.

ACHD uses a priority system when responding to winter storm events. Major intersections, bridges, schools and hills are among the top priorities. ACHD staff monitors weather forecasts and road conditions in the early morning hours and throughout the day during weather events. ACHD also works closely with Ada County Dispatch on requests for sand or anti-icing applications from police or sheriff deputies.

ACHD provides Winter Street Services to more than 2,200 miles of local roads in Ada County. State highways including Eagle Road, Chinden Boulevard as well as the Interstate and the Boise Connector are managed by the Idaho Transportation Department.

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These taxing districts are limited in their legal ability to levy taxes and as property values declined, they have almost uniformly “gone to the max.” City and county governments can raise budgets up to 3% and levy accordingly to pay for their decisions. The following have set limits.

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