Bannock County opens, closes public hearing on Airmo area of city impact

Bannock County commissioners opened and then closed a public hearing to begin renegotiation of the area of city impact (ACI) for the municipality identified in the transcript as Airmo; the transcript does not specify the meeting date.

The hearing addressed a new state statute that, according to county staff, went into effect on July 1 and requires counties and cities to establish updated ACIs by the end of the year. Hal Johnson, planning director for Bannock County, told the commission the statute frames an ACI around whether a city can provide services to the area within five years.

"A new statute was passed ... went into effect the July 1. We are required, to have a new area of city impact between the county and the city of Airmo by the end of the year," Johnson said. He summarized that under the statute the relevant test for inclusion in an ACI is whether the city can provide services to the area within the next five years.

Tom Colton, identified in the hearing as a city council member for Airmo, asked why some areas requested by the city were not included in the negotiated ACI. Johnson said the county excluded certain "protectionary areas" because the statute does not allow protective-area designations within an ACI; he explained that some properties currently served by the city's water system but lying outside the city limits were therefore not included in the ACI map.

Jenny Foster, who identified herself as the city clerk and treasurer for Airmo and said she was speaking on behalf of Mayor Lonnie Gunther, told the commission she had conveyed the city council's questions to county staff and that the city supports the negotiated ACI as presented to the commission. The transcript records no members of the public offering testimony on the item during the hearing.

A commissioner moved to open the public hearing and the commission approved it by voice vote; no roll-call tally was recorded in the transcript. After the brief discussion and confirmation from city representatives, a commissioner moved to close the hearing and the commission closed it by voice vote; again, no roll-call vote totals were provided.

The record in the transcript is limited to the public-hearing proceeding: staff explanation, a city representative's endorsement, a city council member's question about excluded areas, and two voice votes to open and close the hearing. The commission did not take a formal vote on an ACI map or adopt changes during the recorded exchange; the hearing was stated as part of the renegotiation process required by the statute and the county staff said the updated ACI must be completed by the end of the year.