Residents urge McCall city council to press county over impact-area decisions and to challenge Stibnite project; commissioner explains timing

A McCall resident told the City Council that Valley County commissioners fast‑tracked a hearing approving a development application in the city’s impact area and urged the council to file for reconsideration when the commissioners’ findings are released. The speaker also asked the city to consider legal action against the U.S. Forest Service over the Stibnite Gold Project, saying the federal analysis omitted McCall from the transportation scope and raising concerns about groundwater and truck traffic.

David Gallipoli, of Market Road, addressed the council during public comment and told members that at a recent county hearing “they ignored the unanimous denial from our zoning board based on zoning codes, our county comprehensive plan, and a flood, traffic and groundwater study.” He said local waterways are already impaired and urged the city to “file a reconsideration as soon as the facts and findings are released” and to challenge the county decision for procedural errors.

Gallipoli also asked the council to consider suing the Forest Service over its approval of the Stibnite Gold Project, saying the agency’s transportation analysis failed to include McCall and raising the prospect of a toxic spill. He said Perpetua, the company behind the project, had stated it would not be responsible for trucks going into or out of the mine.

Valley County Commissioner Sherry Muppin delivered a county‑commissioners’ report to the council and explained why the county scheduled its hearing at 9 a.m. on a recent Monday. “As you all know, when we do judicial proceedings, we become judges,” Muppin said, and the county’s prosecuting attorney advised the commissioners to hold the hearing while all three elected commissioners were still in place. She said that constituted the reason for the earlier hearing time and declined to discuss ongoing adjudicatory matters further at the council meeting.

Muppin also reported the county’s engagement in wildfire mitigation funding through partnerships with the Boise Forest Coalition and the National Forest Foundation, saying combined grant and match funding could put roughly $49 million into southern Idaho landscape work. She described local planning teams that will seek community input and said the county will play a communications role for landowners interested in mitigation work.

Other items in Muppin’s county report included formation of an agricultural preservation board, concern about reductions to Secure Rural Schools (SRS) funding and a tax‑assessment issue involving railroads and Idaho Power that could require local taxing districts to make up roughly $120,000 in withheld tax revenues. Muppin also noted a new commissioner, Caitlin Caldwell, would begin representing Cascade.

The council and the county discussed a proposed joint meeting to talk about the city’s impact‑area boundaries and rules. City officials asked the county to hold the meeting in McCall to make it easier for residents to attend; the council proposed Feb. 12 as a possible date, but commissioners indicated some members would be unavailable on that date. Council members and Commissioner Muppin agreed to continue coordination to set a mutually acceptable time and to include staff briefings and a public, accessible venue.

No formal council action on the county approvals was recorded in the meeting minutes; the transcript records public comment and a subsequent exchange between the council and Commissioner Muppin about scheduling a joint meeting and about county processes.