Meeting Minutes
February 25, 2019

Attendees

Staff and Guests

Welcome and Introductions

Chad welcomed everyone to Star. In Star, they have several opportunities coming their way. Things are growing fast and they, as a City, are trying to keep up with it. Just recently, they hired a full-time planner, and this is expected to help lessen the load.

They have been involved with a re-write of their comprehensive plan and it is expected to be done in April. They also are in the middle of re-writing uniform development code at the same time.

There are several large projects that have came their way. One project encompasses 1,550 acres north on the foothills. This has caused a little stir; however, this should lessen as the project concept plans are due to be submitted.

Being on Hwy. 44 creates an ongoing battle. There is a lot of interest in the City of Star, but ITD does not want to grant access. This is a major problem for them. They have hired two consultants and are doing traffic studies and transportation plans to take to ITD.

Economic development for the City rests on the two highway corridors of Hwy. 44 and Hwy. 16. They know they will not get direct access on 16 but were originally promised frontage and backage roads. Now they are not even getting access those. On Hwy. 44, ITD doesn’t want any more traffic signals. There are a lot of big players that want to be at 16 and 44. There are big box retailers and others that want locations at this intersection, and they can’t get access for them.

They meet with ITD several times a month on these issues and they haven’t made a lot of progress. Their answers are always by the book and according to policy. Dealing with ITD is not a fun and easy process. However, Chad hopes they won’t have to end up in court over it.

Open Discussion

Polling Places

Tom mentioned that several school districts in Canyon County were not going to allow election polling in the schools. Districts are citing security issues as the reason. The March election polling places are all set. The May elections however will lack poling places because of the elimination of schools.

They have been in contact with LDS churches in the area to solve the problem, as LDS churches are utilized as polling places in other parts of the State. But for some reason, they are resistant in the Canyon County area.

One of the problems this creates is for outlying rural areas as people will have to drive a long way to vote. This is a concern.

Debbie and others mentioned they been working with other church and civic groups and they are willing to be polling places around Canyon County. However, a lot of these facilities in rural locations are no longer being used, or there are other problems such as ADA accessibility requirements that restrict the types of facilities that can be used.

This is growing national trend. More and more school districts around the country are opting out of being polling locations.

Legislature

John said there was a hearing this morning by Representative Monks that would change the redistribution formula for sales tax revenue to a zero-sum gain. It would move the model to a population based model. And this would create winners and losers.

It is a very complicated formula and would be re-set each year. It would make it very challenging for long-range budget stability. Many cities’ revenues would be frozen. On the county side, many counties would end up with frozen revenues. The distribution would move to populated or growing counties.

It was held at the discretion of the committee because according to legislative services, Association of Idaho Cities and others have discovered the calculations in this incredibly complicated spread sheet, still aren’t accurate.

The City of Ammon has been working on this for years. They are a fast growing, city suburb that doesn’t have a commercial base and their population is outrunning their ability to fund services.

John said there are several taxation bills. HB 25 was already passed. This bill would prohibit the forced annexation of 5-acre parcels or larger that meet the definition of ag. It was signed by Governor.

HB 128 has not been heard at the time. This will do away with class B annexations which would be devastating for cities. It is still awaiting a hearing in the House Local Government Committee.

HB 130 will be heard soon. The sponsor is Representative Wagoner. Its intent was to do away with class C annexations, reduces the numbers that qualify under both class A and class B annexations without specific forms of written consent. The House Passed 55-14-1; Held in Senate Local Government & Taxation Committee.

HB 127 would make planning in unincorporated areas, optional. It would relieve counties of the obligation to create a comp plan. Counties and Cities are both opposed to this. The Bill failed in the House.

The effort to make local elections partisan died. Also, it doesn’t appear that there is going to a requirement that city elections be done by district.

There is liquor license reform underway by Senator Rice. Had a bill under rewrite that will be going back to committee. The bill would cap at its current number the number of legacy licenses. HB 140 held in Senate State Affairs Committee. HB 160 died in Senate State Affairs Committee

John mentioned that AIC is busy at the legislature this year. Throughout the year, we need to encourage our legislative representatives to talk to cities and counties over issues that happen, instead of blind siding us during the legislative session.

He did mention that we may be seeing an urban renewal bill. Evidently there is a group that wants to restrict using any URA money on public facilities.

John encouraged everyone to follow the AIC and IAC legislative updates so you can be informed.

On the County side, Diana said Medicaid is the big issue. Some of the JFAC appropriations at this point regarding Medicaid are of concern. One would strip the indigent levy. Right now, in Ada County, they are paying $3.4 million/year for indigent medical expenses. But they are paying $3.7 million for involuntary mental health commitments. Currently those aren’t covered under Medicaid and it will require some time for these to be covered.

One of the sideboards being mentioned in Medicaid expansion is the work requirement. This is a concern as the most expensive people being served by counties are people who have dual diagnosed mental health and substance abuse issues. This population is not a prime target for the work requirement, at least in the short term.

Diana said there was watching a bill in progress that would hasten evictions to 12 days. Given we have a 3% vacancy rate, this could lead to a big spike in homelessness.

Annual Planning Meeting

Chad said, April 12th will be the date of our Annual Planning meeting this year. It will be held from 9 am – 3 pm. Chad asked for input from the members on what agenda items should be this year.

Bill reiterated that we will leave at least ½ of the time during the meeting for open discussion. Therefore, he was looking for just a few suggestions. He mentioned that the new Director of Corrections, Josh Tewalt is scheduled for a meet and greet session and talk about the SAUSA Program and Justice Reinvestment.

Additionally, Mary Ann Nelson, the IPDES Program Manager is slated to come talk to us about that program, how it is working and future requirements.

Debbie said that Health and Welfare Director Jeppeson is new and we might be a good have discussions around mental health and what local jurisdictions face. Bill said he would follow up with Director Jeppeson.

Opioid Strategic Plan Update

Jodi McCrosky passed out a handout identifying the goals and strategies of the Opioid Strategic Plan and said she would walk through our current progress. She introduced Officer Cody Evans with the Law Enforcement Assistance Diversion Program (LEAD). He is new to running this program and takes over or Officer Terry Weir.

Cody said in a nut shell this is a diversion program for opioid addicted individuals in Ada County. They have a criterion that identifies potential participants for the program. For example, there can’t be a violent crime involved. The participants then undergo opioid addiction treatment in the valley and there is intensive follow up.

Currently, there are four people in the program. The first person, whom got identified as a result of shop lifting violation, is doing well. However, she has had some ups and downs with her addiction.

This LEAD Program is just for Ada County. Jodi indicated there are representatives from other law enforcement jurisdictions in the valley involved with this goal. They have put together MOU’s with Health and Welfare and developed a policy and criteria for the project. They have shared this information with the other local jurisdictions, and they will have this as part of their tool kit when they are ready to pursue a similar diversion program.

Jodi said that part of their strategy involves developing a communication plan. Currently there are several jurisdictions involved and they are looking to have their plan developed this spring.

There is a new Director of the Office of Drug Policy. She is continually meeting with them to ensure that the Treasure Valley Opioid Plan sync’s with what is going on at the State level.

HB 12 was signed this session. This relaxes use and distribution of Naloxone.

One of the goal groups priorities is education. This group put together a flier that has been distributed very widely on the signs and symptoms associated with opioid abuse. Jodi showed this flier as an example of the good work being done.

They are planning on June 27 as the Annual Meeting. All groups will be present during the full day meeting. Elected Officials will be invited in the morning. Information on this will be forth coming and she will forward the invitation over to Bill when it is available.

Bill said he is the lead of one of the goal groups for the Strategic Plan and has been amazed at the individual efforts being undertaken. One member of that group took on the task of increasing the number of MAT (Medication Assisted Treatment) providers. He helped drive a training recently that signed up 34 new MAT providers in the valley. Additional trainings are in the works.

One of their group, an ER physician with St. Al’s has taken it on herself to develop a policy and procedure for a soft hand-off for patients that come in as a result of overdoses. The policy has been developed, treatment provider MOU’s are in place and a process to comply with HIPPA requirements has been developed. Bill anticipates that this process should be in place real soon.

TV Opioid Treatment Programs

Jason Austin thanked everyone for the opportunity to share what they do regarding opioid treatment.

It has been interesting sitting in on both the State local level Opioid Planning meetings. The words MAT typically comes up a lot. There are levels of MAT providers. Typically, this means a physician that is licensed by the DEA to provide one type of medication. However, at Raise the Bottom, they are monitored and licensed by SAMSHA, the DEA, State Health and Welfare as well international accreditation. As a result of their treatment provider licenses and status, they are able to provide numerous types of medications for treatment.

They recently randomly screened 50 customers. At the end of a year, 85% of those screened are now employed. The average percent of illicit use dropped from 100% to 24% in that year.

They bill Medicaid, take private insurance and have a membership program. This membership program costs about $300 per month and includes a medication treatment and counseling sessions both individually and group.

Tammy said, what they see at Allumbaugh House is patients are dual diagnosed with a substance abuse problem and a mental health problem. What is the mix at his facility? Jason said roughly 85% of their patients are dual diagnosed.

Diana asked what he has heard about Medicaid Expansion and how that is going to impact people seeking their services. Jason said, his believe is more people will qualify.

Jodi asked about capacity. With the work the Opioid Planning groups are doing, it is anticipated there are more folks that are going to pursue treatment. How will Raise the Bottom be able to handle an increase in patients seeking services.

Jason indicated they are at about 50% of capacity in what they can do at their Boise location. In their Nampa location they also ample capacity.

Director’s Report

Bill mentioned that the Officers and he met prior to the meeting. It is his recommendation that we keep annual dues for next fiscal year at the same level we had this year. Brad moved to keep dues at the same level. Diana seconded. Motion carried for annual member dues to stay the same.

Bill indicated we started to pay for the annual meeting but other than that, there were no unusual expenses for the month.

Tammy moved to accept the minutes and financial report. Debbie seconded. Motion carried.

Meeting Adjourned.