Strong Demand Generates $8.4 million in Bids for Six Endowment Parcels
IDL sold six endowment-owned lots at Payette Lake during a public, oral auction on Thursday. The sales generated $8.4 million, which is nearly $5 million over the appraised value, for the Public School and Normal School endowment beneficiaries.
All six properties were vacant, unleased lots with no buildings on the property. The largest upbid was for nearly $1.7 million over the appraised price. The second largest lot offered at auction ended up selling for the highest price. That .43 acre parcel sold for $2.9 million. The largest percentage for an upbid was 471%, with the bidder paying $1 million for a non-lake front property appraised at $175,000.
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Fire Protection Offset Agreement Negotiations Underway with USFS,BLM
This week IDL met with representatives from the U.S. Forest Service's Northern and Intermountain Regions, and the Bureau of Land Management to renegotiate the cooperative agreement the agencies use to manage fire suppression across state, federal and private ownerships in Idaho.
The current agreement will expire December 31, 2021. It is in the process of being extended for one calendar year.
The negotiations have been challenging and are far from complete. Central to the current agreement is the concept of balancing or offsetting forested acres across forest protection boundaries, which streamlines fire billing. USFS and BLM expressed an unwillingness to continue using the current offset approach due to federal Office of Inspector General audit findings and recommendations that the USFS reassess its fire protection responsibilities with the California fire management agency (CALFire). IDL firmly believes the offset model has worked well for the state of Idaho, providing effective and efficient fire protection for Idaho’s federal, state and private timber resources.
IDL will not deviate from its statutory mandate to suppress wildfires aggressively yet safely.
SpeedyQuick Networks, Inc. Communications Site Lease
Land Board members may be contacted by residents from Canyon, Gem, Payette or other surrounding counties who subscribe to wireless internet services provided by SpeedyQuick Networks, Inc. You are welcome to refer these calls to Scott Phillips, (208) 334-0294, for response.
SpeedyQuick Networks is formally an endowment lessee that took assignment of a communications site lease in 2014. The original lease, issued in 2010 and as assigned, has expired.
IDL believes SpeedyQuick Networks violated the lease terms by altering the use of the leased property approximately seven years ago without clearing the change through the department which the contract required. At that time, had the department been aware of the change in use, the lease rate would have dramatically increased. The leased property benefits the Public School endowment, and is located West of Emmett and North of Middleton.
Efforts to remedy this issue have been unsuccessful to date and SpeedyQuick Networks has ignored requests to provide information about site co-locators, and other financial data, which may have been helpful in resolving the matter to both parties’ satisfaction.
Under the terms of the original 2010 lease, the initial annual rate was set at $2,128.32 with 3% adjustments each year. Given the change in use from providing radio services to internet services that IDL is now aware of and per the Land Board approved Communication Site Fee Schedule, the department offered SpeedyQuick Networks a new lease with a base rate of $15,045.24 per annum. SpeedyQuick Networks failed to respond to the department with written acceptance or repudiation of the proposed base rate before an IDL imposed deadline of November 29, 2021, as requested.
The department’s conversations with SpeedyQuick Networks’ leadership, in order to find common ground, are ongoing. If this matter cannot be resolved through the issuance of a new lease, which is the preferable outcome, SpeedyQuick Networks will be required to remove their improvements from the property by the end of this year.
Holiday Choir, Big Check Presentation in the Rotunda
The regularly scheduled December Land Board meeting was cancelled, but holiday cheer remains on the calendar. The Board's traditional holiday gathering in the State Capitol's 2nd floor rotunda, with choir, refreshments, and a "big check" presentation will still take place. The event begins at 8:30 AM on Tuesday, December 21. Staff members from Board members' offices and IDL are invited to attend.
Fall Leadership Meeting Highlights
About 35 IDL managers including bureau chiefs, division administrators and executive staff convened in Moscow this week for the agency's Fall Leadership meeting.
State Controller Brandon Woolf kicked off the conference with remarks about leadership. He also helped IDL managers understand the many functions of the Controller's Office beyond his Land Board responsibilities.
The meeting included presentations by IDL's Leadership Development Program participants. They provided management with recommendations for improving Financial Stewardship for Non-Timber Assets, Endowment Education, and Firefighter Recruitment and Retention. Managers also discussed future proofing IDL, a variety of budget and compensation topics, and how Land Board policies may be managed for better transparency.
Website, Social Media Stats Reveal Banner Year for Public Outreach
After incorporating more GIS technology and near real-time wildfire information into its website, IDL experienced significant increases in online public engagement.
The website's user count increased by nearly three-fold over the prior year with total page views more than doubling. These big gains in user analytics were driven to a large degree by the new Fire Information News Feed, Fire Restrictions Finder, and a technology upgrade that seamlessly connect website content with social media.
On the social media front, the prior year's decision to deprecate the stand-alone IDL Fire Facebook page, rolling fire and non-fire content into one page, paid significant dividends with Facebook's reach for the prior 12 months approaching 2.3 million people.
Website Analytics
 Social Media Analytics
Cold Hands & Warm Hearts Drive
You're invited to join IDL in helping give our fellow neighbors in the Treasure Valley the gift of warmth this holiday season. Bring in a donation of new winter hats, gloves/mittens, socks and scarves.
Please leave your donations in the gift-wrapped boxes located in the the main lobby of our downtown Boise office.
Donations are accepted until Tuesday, December 14.
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