Lincoln County Commissioner Mel Shumway stepped into the SVI Radio studio on Monday, January 26 for the monthly report from the commission. Commissioner Shumway discussed the final report on the Strawberry Rd. relocation project in Star Valley, update on IDAWY, update on the new District Courthouse and a summary on recent reports given to the commission by both Criterium and TriSight.

(0:00) In studio this morning is Lincoln County Commissioner Mel Shumway with the monthly (0:04) report from the County Commission. Commissioner Shumway, good morning. Your ears didn’t freeze (0:09) off on the way into the studio, so I’m happy for that for you.

They did a little bit, but yeah, (0:13) it’s a cold one this morning. But you know, we get up, get going, gives a little extra time to get (0:18) the vehicles warmed up so we can see. So safety first, right? Yep, that’s what we do.

Absolutely. (0:24) We’ll appreciate your time as always. Just a few housekeeping items on some of the most recent (0:29) commission meetings.

Sounds like the Strawberry Road relocation project, that’s all buttoned up (0:34) and 100% officially done, right? Yes, it is. Yeah, the completion of the Strawberry Road, (0:39) the realignment, the commissioners, we approved the final plat and accepted the new easement. (0:45) This was a long process, but once the dirt started to move, it was completed on schedule and without (0:51) any really major hurdles.

It’s a great enhancement to the safety down on that corner, traveling (0:56) through the narrows, that it extends that sight line further down the road away from that corner. (1:01) So anything we can do to enhance the safety on our roads, because as we know, they’re not getting (1:07) any less busy at any time of the year, it seems like. So projects like this will continue to (1:14) enhance safety around the county.

Yeah, that was a project a long time coming, multiple years to (1:20) get that all done. So it probably felt pretty good to get the final stamp of approval on that. (1:24) Yeah, it’s, you know, I get to come in and see the finish line.

So I didn’t get to see the start (1:29) of it. But it’s been a long process, but it’s been a good one. So just as a note to the old highway (1:35) location is tore up and reclaimed back to native plants and grass.

So that’s going to, you’ll see (1:44) that scar disappear over the next few years as going back to native. So absolutely. Okay, (1:50) Commissioner Shumway in studio this morning, another project happening right now (1:54) in Kemmerer, the new district courthouse, and that that reached a little milestone (1:59) a couple of weeks ago.

Yeah, the work is on schedule for the completion of the (2:05) Justice Center addition. Anticipated completion is the end of July of this year. So that will be (2:12) exciting to see that folks might have recently read or seen in the paper about the topper ceremony.

(2:20) We weren’t sure what a topper ceremony was, but it was kind of fun. It’s the last piece of steel (2:25) in the erection process on the highest point. So it’s kind of goes back to some old traditions.

(2:31) But it was fun to sign her name and to kind of put a date and will be a part of history out there, (2:37) the county employees and the people involved with it. So that was fun to do. (2:44) Most folks, we know that construction costs have escalated in the last few years.

And (2:50) unfortunately, some of them costs have caught the Justice Center. So there’s been some cost (2:54) increases, but hats off to the CERC team and to the building team and to the county, the justice (3:01) people, they’ve really put their heads together to keep things moving ahead and to try to cut (3:06) costs where they can. Some of the plate was the finishes, the flooring, and the furniture.

(3:14) They, you know, we can make do with a little less. But the main thing is we want it to look nice, (3:19) but predominantly, it’s got to be secure. So safety is paramount, security is paramount.

(3:25) But kudos to the team to find ways to shave some costs in the face of escalating costs, (3:30) we was able to save a few costs. So without compromising the aesthetics and security, (3:35) Commissioner, another topic that we haven’t haven’t talked about in in a number of months is (3:40) Idyllwy. Yeah, and wanted to get an update on that.

And if that if that is still progressing (3:45) forward. And there was, of course, the new transfer station and thing that looks like (3:49) it’s been started. Just give us an update here.

You bet. Yeah. Idyllwy, for those that don’t know (3:54) is our regional solid waste district.

This is a back a number of years just as a quick refresher (4:02) course. It’s a solid waste district form several years ago as a regional district for solid waste (4:08) management, comprising of Lincoln County, Bear Lake, Oneida, and Caribou County, Idaho’s (4:16) landfills and transfer stations are very costly to operate many locations. (4:22) In those individual counties, they were near or exceeding capacity, and they’re struggling to (4:28) find the room, a huge demand for increased capacity for all counties involved.

So (4:35) counties kind of got together many years ago and formed this district and it’s unique. It’s (4:40) kind of a first one in the country with not only multiple counties, but multiple states. So (4:47) the regional pit will be located between the Georgetown Hill and Soda Springs kind of up on (4:54) those dry farms and Idyllwy bought a large amount of acreage there to put the pit into there.

The (5:00) pit is dug and it is ready to put the liner down. They’re waiting for this spring to put the liner (5:05) down because they want to put it over the winter to fill full of water and what little snow we’ve (5:09) had. But anticipation is to start hauling there by the mid to late summer of next year.

So jump (5:19) to Thane transfer station, the foundation, the cement work is done. The building is on site and (5:26) stacked there. The plan was to pull the crew off of that building and send them over the hill to (5:31) Idaho area where it’s a little milder winters.

But we got fooled on that one. They could have (5:38) stayed there and built a building. It don’t matter.

It don’t matter. It’s all part of the (5:42) plan. It’s all part of the sequence.

So with this milder winter, we’re actually ahead of schedule. (5:49) They’re actually ahead of schedule. So that’ll be nice to get that done.

One last thing on (5:56) Idyllwy. The people in the district office in Soda Springs, they do a tremendous job. (6:00) There’s three people in that office.

So it’s a big job for the three people. They handle a lot. (6:07) They’ve launched a new service for the Lincoln County residents.

You can now pay online with (6:12) a credit debit card. So the Idaho website is Idyllwy.com. Or it’s linked through the Lincoln (6:23) County website through Idyllwy. And there’s a Lincoln County customer payment portal where (6:30) you can access your account online and pay.

You’ll need your account number and it is password (6:34) protected. But this has been a huge labor saver so far. Since adopting the online payment process, (6:41) the office been able to just reduce monthly invoice mailings from around 1800, which are (6:47) hand stuffed, and addressed and sealed and shipped out of the district office down around 300.

So (6:54) it’s a tremendous saver for labor, postage, paper, etc. So we’re excited about that. And if you have (7:01) any questions, you can reach out to the district office and they can help out.

So it’s been (7:05) embraced favorably and it’s going to be a good thing. Lincoln County Commissioner Mel Shumway (7:10) in studio this morning. Commissioner, a couple of other items from recent commission meetings in (7:14) January at both Criterium and Tri-Site.

Both were on the agenda for recent commission meetings and (7:22) gave some reports. And just wondering, I’ve reached out to both and hope to have both on the air at (7:28) future times, but wanted if you could just give us a summary on what they reported on to you. Of (7:35) the involved in the the original pitch for the service district, the the Lincoln Star (7:41) Improvement Service District, which has been tabled for now.

So maybe just report on Criterium. (7:45) Yeah, the ball’s kind of back in their court. And they’re they’re keeping moving forward, (7:50) finding landowners to get into the Improvement Service District, it’s imperative to get (7:58) infrastructure in the ground to support mid level industry anywhere in the county.

They’re (8:04) focused on South Lincoln County for now. Tri-Site, the ball’s back in their court, (8:10) they have, they’re looking for their funding, I think they’ve got their funding, but and the (8:15) ball’s kind of back in their court to see as that progresses. And we anticipate hopefully to see (8:20) Tri-Site breaking ground here in the near future for that coal to products processing that they’ve (8:27) talked about.

Commissioner Mel Shumway in studio. Anything else you’d like to mention? (8:32) Um, no, it’s it’s just been a kind of a different winter for us here in Lincoln County. I just, (8:39) my heart goes out to the recent tragedies we’ve had, we’ve had our fair share in our communities (8:44) and our love, support and heart goes out to those that are experiencing loss.

Just as we (8:51) go through our day to day, our daily work and an interaction, let’s just try to cut people a (8:57) little slack. There’s some really good people in our communities, in our schools, in our (9:03) industries, in our businesses, in our communities, in our government, let’s, let’s just try to make (9:09) sure we’re cutting each other a little slack and going a little bit further to be kind. It’s just (9:16) been really sad the last few months, and I hope we can get past this and look forward to a great (9:20) spring.

Well said that’s Lincoln County Commissioner Mel Shumway this morning. It’s all part of the (9:24) weekday wake up on SVI radio.