Latah County Commissioners Meetings Debrief from 7/23/23 – 7/29/23

A summary of the Latah County Commissioner meetings from the week of July 23rd, 2023.

The main highlight from this week’s meetings was a discussion regarding the relocation of the Latah County extension department. With new real estate having become available in the form of the Latah County Blaine building, the county is trying to reshuffle their departments so as to give them adequate office space to suit their needs, given the recent changes in real estate options as well as the sudden growth of several departments. This week, the extension department met with the commissioners to discuss the pros and cons of a previously discussed relocation option for the entire department. The building in question, referred to as the Reo House or the Reo Lloyd Property in the proceedings, is a good distance away from populated areas of the county, and comes with some acreage on which the extension department could conduct activities or events.

The general feedback from extension department was that the Reo Lloyd property in its present state is lacking in features that would meet the needs of the department, including HVAC requirements, ADA access, quality high-speed internet, and adequate office space to conduct private meetings with clients and individuals seeking county services. While adding a number of these features to the property would be possible, it would represent an expense that has not yet been accounted for in the annual county budget, and extension suggested that a remodel of the second floor of the Latah County Annex would be better for their purposes. While the commissioners are interested in examining the cost of all potential construction, it was the opinion of Commissioner Lamar that relocating the extension department to the Reo Lloyd Property would be very positive for the department in the long run, and would better take into consideration the needs of the other county departments. With the relocation of the extension department to take place sometime in the August-September period, the department will continue to discuss options with the commissioners until construction expenses are enumerated and on-site visitations of the properties in question are complete.

Further information on the Latah County Extension Department can be found below.