The County Meeting was PACKED this week!

It’s rare to see the courthouse as busy as it was on Tuesday! Find out what the county discussed, and hear about potential changes coming to Moscow’s police dispatch system and utility rates in this week’s report!

Read the full transcript of the video below:

AI: coming soon to a city near you! But, maybe not in the way you think.

How’s it going y’all? Aiden Anderson here with the Moscow Minutes. As the weather begins to heat up here in Moscow, so does the political activity. The primary elections will be here before you know it, but before we get into that, let’s take a look at this week’s meetings.

Following proclamations on fair housing and Arbor Day, the Mayor and the Moscow City Council heard public comment from Joann Muneta at the Monday night meeting regarding the ongoing East City Park Stage Project. Joann expressed her appreciation for requested changes that had been implemented in the current design plans, and encouraged the consideration of further changes, including a change to the materials for the stage’s main platform. Mayor Hailey Lewis assured the audience that further public comment opportunities on the stage would be available at later stages of the design process.

Following that, Police Chief Anthony Dahilinger, alongside some representatives from Whitcom presented on a new AI software to help police dispatchers with taking calls. Before we get into this, I just want to clarify: absolutely no robots are taking your 911 emergency calls.

Instead, the software which Whitcom is working with acts as a means to aid dispatchers with the constant stream of phone calls they receive, in particular non-emergency calls such as requests to pay parking tickets. 911 calls, of course, will always connect to a live dispatcher, and there are no plans to cut staff based on any implementation of this software.

Wendy Barrett, representing Whitcom, explained that 17 counties in Washington have made use of this software, and now can’t imagine not using it when it comes to the relief it provides their dispatchers. Wendy fielded further questions from the council about the software’s functionality and its interactions with dispatchers. While the AI software has not yet been implemented in our area, Whitcom intends to do so before the end of the year. This will likely come before the council again.

Next up, Chief Brian Nickerson presented the annual fire department report, and once again, it was a record year. The department fielded 3,046 calls, which was its highest number of calls so far, with 77% of those calls being EMS related. Nickerson proceeded to break down the past year of fire department activities, including listing the department’s busiest times of year, their various community outreach events, and the implementation of the firefighter stipend program.

Nickerson also highlighted his priorities for the future of the department, including sustaining and expanding the volunteer and student resident program, and enhancing the experience levels of the firefighters currently on staff. He also indicated that the record number of calls here in Moscow is following a national trend, having to do with aging populations and the fire risks of certain construction materials.

Councilor Scott Sumner recused himself from the first action item of the meeting, which consisted of some amendments to the development and monumentation agreements for the Woodbury 1st Addition. Bob Buvel of city staff explained that while all of these amendments have been previously agreed upon as they have come before council, they need essentially a final signoff before the documents can be recorded with Latah County. These amendments included changes to the sidewalk paver construction requirements, paver maintenance agreement, and adjustments to the phases of construction. These were all approved unanimously by the Moscow city council.

Tyler Palmer brought the last item of the night before the city: the results of the 2025 water, sewer, and storm utility rate study. The city partnered with the FCS firm to conduct the study in question. A representative of the firm walked the council through the study’s findings and resulting recommendations.

The study looked at the expenses associated with the city’s water, sewer, and stormwater utilities, for which city residents pay fees. The study examined the actual costs for the city providing these utilities, the target revenues to cover those costs, and any recommended changes to meet those targets. Apparently the study found that current city revenues are not sufficient to cover utility costs, particularly those costs associated with capital improvements and stormwater operation goals.

As such, the study recommended phased increases of all these different utility rates over the course of the next 5 years. What increases will go where is largely dependent on the type of utility and the type of utility customer. Dan Schoenburg, representing the Citizen Rate Committee, has been involved in helping form some of these recommendations, and he addressed the council regarding potential challenges ahead associated both with housing and with these coming rate changes.

When the council had asked questions of the study, they voted to approve the recommendations that the study made regarding changes to utility rates. However, this doesn’t necessarily mean your utility bill is going to spike next month. Rather, the city will take these recommendations under consideration when it comes to the formation of their annual budget for the coming year. Further hearings and workshops regarding that budget will be coming up, so stay tuned for that.

The county commissioners had a fairly typical set of meetings this week, including a visit from Snickers, the dog that does work with the county’s probation department. However, there was one glaring exception.

County residents had the chambers absolutely packed for when County Clerk Julie Fry gave a presentation on the 2026 Election Cycle. There are some changes being implemented this year, and she took the opportunity to address concerns and answer questions ahead of the actual elections coming up next month.

First up, early voting for the primary this year is running from May 4th to May 15th, and is taking place at the Latah County Fairgrounds, rather than at the courthouse. Julie explained that the location change would allow for better voter accommodations, such as space and parking. While early voting could begin as early as April 27th per Idaho statute, Latah County is keeping its traditional timeframe, as state law allows some flexibility here, and such a timeframe better accommodates the staff and facilities which Latah County has available.

Audience members raised questions about P.O. Box availability for absentee ballots, indicating a faulty address listed for one of them. Julie confirmed the accuracy of the addresses presently listed, as well as the procedures in place for ballot collection. 

Another change this year is to some U of I polling locations. If you live in Precincts 1, 8, 13, 16, or 18, you likely voted at the Kibbie Dome in previous years. This year, however, you will be voting at the Bruce Pittman Center, and this change allows for better accessibility and hopefully a quieter place to vote. If you don’t know which precinct you’re in, you can check online, but also the county intends to send out postcards to all those voters who have been affected by this change.

The audience continued to ask questions about poll worker opportunities and conditions, including the possibility of food accommodations, split shifts, and public engagement on the subject. Julie indicated that while they have a list of confirmed poll workers, they would welcome more folks signing up, and that there will be a poll worker training taking place at the end of the month on April 28th and April 30th. Speaking of which, working the polls is a great way to get involved during election season, and I’d encourage you to take a look at it. If you want to sign up, now is the time!

At the end of all this, the commissioners voted to approve the polling locations for the 2026 election schedule, as well as approve the amendment to the U of I locations. Additional polling location updates for the Troy Lions Club and the Viola Community Center will be coming up soon.

That’s all I have for you this week. It seems election season is now upon us, so I encourage you to get to know the candidates and get involved yourself. As always, we’ll have the relevant links posted with this video, and if you have any questions, please reach out. I’m Aiden Anderson with the Moscow Minutes. We’ll see you next time!