THE BIG STORY SUNDAY, JULY 15, 2018 | magicvalley.

com | SECTION E

Now

CLARENCE E. BISBEE PHOTO

DREW NASH, TIMES-NEWS
Eastern Technology has increased the
ho soils, artificially filling the efficiency of irrigation system
Gravity irrigation drenched Ida this July 4 photo of low-emissi s, as seen in
reach of water wells. on nozzles on a pivot east of
Snake Plain Aquifer to within Twin Falls.
Then

How did we get here?

A solid foundation and diversification
MYCHEL MATTHEWS | mmatthews@magicvalley.com

M
Growing
ost of the emigrants who traveled the Oregon Trail in 1859
walked right past Idaho. A year before permanent settlers
laid roots here and decades before there was a Twin Falls,
UP
Magic Valley’s
vision for
the future
several hundred thousand people settled in the West Today, the
booming town of Twin Falls is home to nearly 50,000 residents,
Editor’s Note: This Big
serving as the economic base to some 200,000 people in the eight Story package is the first
counties of south-central Idaho — a startling number considering installment in a 10-part series
on growth in the Magic Valley.
the near absence of naturally appearing water in this desert. In As the region continues to
the 2020 U.S. Census, Twin Falls is set to officially hit 50,000 grow, we wonder: What will
the Magic Valley look like
people, defining it as an urbanized area. What does that mean for in the years to come? Using
a place that’s defined itself as rugged and rural, and how did we other cities in the West as a
guide — Bend, Ore., Flagstaff,
get here? President Abraham Lincoln signed the Homestead Act Ariz. and Idaho Falls, to name
in 1862 — a year before Idaho became a territory — to encourage a few — we’ll explore how the
Magic Valley plans to handle
Western settlement. STORY CONTINUES ON PAGE E3 its rapid population growth.

Irrigation is more
efficient today than in
the past, reducing water
consumption, as seen
July 4 east of Twin Falls.
DREW NASH, TIMES-NEWS

M
1
E2 | Sunday, July 15, 2018 BIG STORY Times-News

CLARENCE E. BISBEE PHOTO‌ CLARENCE E. BISBEE PHOTO‌

The first Hansen Bridge was the highest suspension bridge in the world when it Hay is stacked on the Mark Bennett ranch along Orchard Drive south of Twin Falls
was built in 1919. The bridge was replaced with the today’s Hansen Bridge in 1966. in this early Clarence E. Bisbee photo.

THE MAGIC VALLEY OF

YESTERYEAR

Internees at the Minidoka Internment Camp worked the fields during World War II.

CLARENCE E. BISBEE PHOTO‌

CLARENCE E. BISBEE PHOTO‌
Amalgamated Sugar Co. is seen south of Twin Falls in this early Clarence E. Bisbee
photo. The Winona Stock Farm is seen in this early Clarence E. Bisbee photo.

Questions? Comments? Concerns?

Want to talk about this story or the full series on growth in the Magic Valley? Reporter Mychel Matthews, Enterprise Editor Alex
Valentine and Publisher Kevin Kampman will be at Twin Beans in downtown Twin Falls Tuesday from 10 a.m. to noon. Let’s chat.

M
1
 TIMES-NEWS BIG STORY SUNDAY, JULY 15, 2018 | E3

100,000 Growth across the valley (101.6%)

The Magic Valley is growing across the board. While (xx%)
Twin Falls County outpaces the other seven Percent
Twin Falls County
85,000 south-central Idaho counties, every county has change from
experienced some population growth in the past 1970 to 2017
few decades. Most counties saw a small population
dip in the early 1990s, but trajectories for each
70,000 county has headed in the same direction since then.

55,000

(38.5%)
40,000
Cassia County
(127.7%)
(277.5%)
Jerome County
25,000 Blaine County

20,000
(30.4%) Minidoka County

15,000

(72.9%) Gooding County

10,000
(72.8%) Lincoln County

5,000
(52.8%) Camas County

0
1970
1971
1972
1973
1974
1975
1976
1977
1978
1979
1980
1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
1987
1988
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
Source: U.S. Census Bureau Lee Enterprises graphic

In the next decade, a few hardy

souls began to stake claims in Then Now
south-central Idaho. Cattlemen
brought in herds to graze the hills
and others moved into the Snake
River Canyon in search of gold.
Others made their livings ferrying
miners across the Snake River or
selling provisions to travelers.
Homesteaders settled in the
South Hills and at the mouths of
Rock Creek and Dry Creek, where
they raised livestock and farmed.
Tiny communities formed at Al-
bion and Rock Creek — both on the
Oregon Trail. Other communities
such as Almo, Elba, Marion and
Oakley formed in massive Cassia
County, covering all of south-cen-
DREW NASH, TIMES-NEWS
tral Idaho south of the Snake River. CLARENCE E. BISBEE PHOTO
Still, the only sign of population Twin Falls was reduced to a single waterfall after Idaho Power Co. installed a
Twin Falls is shown three miles upstream from Shoshone Falls on hydropower plant at the southernmost cataracts, seen July 4 on the Snake River
in what would later become Twin the Snake River in this early Clarence E. Bisbee photo.
Falls was a stage stop — two miles north of Kimberly.
downstream from modern-day
Rock Creek Park — called the Des-
ert Station. uncle to goldfields in the Wood Walgamott wrote in his book “Six enue and Shoshone Street — sev- soon towns in the former des-
By the end of the 19th century, River Valley. Ira Burton Perrine Decades Back.” eral miles south of Perrine’s Blue ert looked like any other early
most of the inhabitable land in was a small but ambitious man Lakes Ranch. 20th-century towns. But one ob-
the West had been claimed. But who quickly realized his physi- Milner Dam The Twin Falls city limits were stacle still blocked Twin Falls from
desert land in Wyoming, Nevada cal stature limited his ability as a Others had seen the same vi- defined by Blue Lakes Boulevard to the rest of the world: a world-fa-
and Idaho remained undeveloped. miner, early Twin Falls publisher sion, but the task was considered the east, North Road (later called mous canyon.
The U.S. government understood H.J. Kingsbury wrote in “Bucking a monumental folly by those before Addison Avenue), Washing-
it would take a special effort to the Tide.” Perrine. ton Street to the west, and Rock The Canyon
attract settlers to such lands that Perrine traded his mining claim The Carey Act provided the Creek to the south and southwest. The Snake River runs from east
could barely provide a drink of wa-for a herd of dairy cows and went to tools to accomplish such a feat, For several years until canal wa- to west through the Magic Val-
ter, let alone raise a crop. work selling milk to other miners. but Perrine had difficulty finding ter made its way to the new town, ley, a slight hindrance for the east
Wyoming Sen. Joseph Carey While searching for land to keep investors. Even his best friend, drinking water was hauled by the and west ends of the valley, but a
sponsored the Desert Land Act of his cows for the winter, he pushed Shoshone Journal editor Bob Mc- barrelful in wagons from Rock 500-foot-deep obstacle dividing
1894, better known as the Carey his herd south and found early Collum, told him it was a crazy Creek to homes and businesses. Twin Falls and Jerome counties.
Act, as a way for private compa- pioneer Charles Walgamott, who proposition. Milner Dam first diverted irri- For decades, ferries carried
nies to create townsites and large-operated a ferry and tent hotel at “If you are damn fool enough gation water to several hundred passengers, livestock, wagons and
scale irrigation systems to disperse
Shoshone Falls in the Snake River to think you can dam that water thousand acres of newly broken automobiles from one side of the
semi-arid federal lands to settlers.
Canyon. Walgamott introduced back, I.B., you go ahead and do it ground on the south side of the river to the other. The Shoshone
In short, the land act put Perrine to two crystal-clear blue but I want nothing to do with it,” Snake River in March 1905. When Falls Ferry, Blue Lakes Ferry, Auger
south-central Idaho’s progress on lakes three miles downstream. McCollum said, as recalled in Wal- canal water finally arrived in Twin Falls Ferry and Clark’s Ferry were
fast forward. The Magic Valley’s Perrine claimed the canyon gamott’s book. Falls, household plumbing fre- the only ways to cross the river in
numerous canal systems eventu- for his own and built an agricul- Perrine initially filed on the quently became clogged with small its canyon until I.B. Perrine built,
ally made Idaho a crown jewel of tural paradise. He operated a ferry rights to 3,000 cubic feet per sec- fish from the river. in about 1910, a small toll bridge on
the Carey Act project. across the river at his Blue Lakes ond of water entering the Snake The Oregon Short Line railroad the Blue Lakes Grade. The bridge
The project was heavily pro- Ranch, ran stagecoaches from the River Canyon at the Cedars. He established service through the can still be seen today between the
moted throughout the East and Shoshone train depot to Shoshone crossed the country gathering sup- area, connecting new towns along Blue Lakes Country Club and Can-
Midwest and brought more than Falls, and sold his fruit and produce port for his project — capitalists, the south side of the river. Burley, yon Springs Golf Course.
5,000 settlers to Twin Falls just all over the valley. engineers and a steel magnate. Murtaugh, Hansen, Kimberly, Filer The second significant bridge
after the turn of the 20th century. On many trips to the Cassia Familiar names such as Kim- and Buhl all came to be shortly af- was the 1916 Murtaugh Bridge
Growth was steady through the County seat of Albion, Perrine berly, Hollister, Filer, Bickel, Mil- ter Twin Falls. downstream from Milner Dam.
early decades, but the population would stop at the Cedars, some ner, Murtaugh and Buhl jumped on Soon, the population base of The bridge was replaced in 1983.
of Twin Falls jumped significantly 25 miles upstream from his ranch. board Perrine’s vision. the county shifted to the west, The first rim-to-rim bridge was
in the 1940s and 50s before stalling
The Cedars was a popular rest stop and Twin Falls County was carved built in 1919, connecting Twin Falls
in the second half of the century. for emigrants on the Oregon Trail; Twin Falls, a new town from Cassia County in 1907. and Jerome counties north of Han-
But the valley is now in anotherit was the last time they would see While the Twin Falls Land As the irrigation project grew, sen. The Hansen Bridge — once
boom time. As Twin Falls’ popu- the Snake River before it plunges and Water Co. built Milner Dam, Perrine relinquished much of his touted as the highest suspension
lation approaches 50,000 and the into the 500-foot-deep canyon. Murtaugh Lake and the south- control. But he continued to stay bridge in the world — was sus-
overall population of south-central While sitting at his campfire at side canal system, the Twin Falls busy by turning his attention to pended 325 feet above the river by
Idaho creeps toward 200,000, it’s the Cedars one evening, Perrine Townsite Co. and the Twin Falls hydropower. With Harry Hollis- giant cables strung from two tow-
worth taking a stop back to won- envisioned a diversion dam there — Investment Co. developed the ter’s money, Perrine built a power ers, one at each end of the bridge.
der: How did we get here? where the river was still at ground Twin Falls townsite and surround- plant at Shoshone Falls, which The bridge was replaced in 1966.
level. He could see irrigation water ing farmland. started producing electricity in A second rim-to-rim bridge,
I.B. Perrine flowing into canals on both sides of In 1904, surveyor John E. Hayes 1907. the Twin Falls-Jerome Inter-
In the early 1880s, a young man the river to hundreds of thousands set a stake at the center of a school Twin Falls quickly flourished.
from Indiana followed his aunt and of acres of farmland in the desert, section — at what is now Main Av- Streets were paved in 1910. And STORY CONTINUES ON PAGE E4

Then Now

CLARENCE E. BISBEE PHOTO DREW NASH, TIMES-NEWS

The Hotel Perrine at Main Avenue and Shoshone Street is shown in this early Clarence The center of Twin Falls is shown July 4 at Main Avenue and Shoshone Street.
M
1 E. Bisbee photo, looking southeast.
E4 | SUNDAY, JULY 15, 2018
Then
I.B. Perrine’s electric rail cars carried students to Twin Falls High School next to
the Twin Falls County Courthouse from 1913 to 1916. Eventually the railroad was
extended all the way to the canyon rim above Shoshone Falls.
county Bridge, was built in 1927
north of Twin Falls. Traffic could
cross the bridge for free from the
Jerome County side, but paid a
toll to cross from the Twin Falls
County side. The Idaho Highway
Department, a predecessor of the
Idaho Department of Transporta-
tion, purchased the bridge a de-
cade later and changed the name
of the bridge to the I.B. Perrine
Memorial Bridge after Perrine’s
death in 1943.
The third rim-to-rim bridge
was built in 1976 to replace the
Perrine Bridge just upstream
from the original. The two bridges
stood side by side for a short time
before the old bridge was disman-
tled.
Today, the bridge is a staple of
the Magic Valley, showing up on
city and county buildings and
commerce of all kinds. It also
represents thrill-seekers who
travel to the Magic Valley, as the
Perrine Bridge is the only place in
the world where BASE jumping is
allowed without a permit.
Coming of age
While the rest of the nation ex-
perienced the Roaring Twenties,
south-central Idaho experienced
what local newspapers called a
“trough of depression.” The Magic
Valley had barely begun to recover
when the stock market crashed in
1929.
The 1930s were the “years
that shook the world, bounced
it around, left it dazed and jum-
bled…,” the Times-News wrote
in 1940.
“What is there to do in the
1940s? Plenty. The biggest prob-
lem of the world in general is to
find a new kind of peace — a peace
that will outlast the powerlust of
selfish men. Whatever Amer-
ica can contribute toward such a
peace, it should offer unhesitat-
ingly. There will be plenty to do in
the next 10 years. We had better
roll up our sleeves and get going
before time slips away.”
As Idaho celebrated its 50th an-
niversary in 1940, Twin Falls had
reached a population of 13,000.
Reality set in as the Idaho Eve-
ning Times reported an alarming
number of traffic deaths in the
county during 1939 — 14 — twice
the number as 1938.
“Leading all other counties in
the state in the number of deaths
from traffic accidents, Twin Falls
County has established a record of
which no one can be proud,” The
Times wrote on New Year’s Day,
1940.
Nearly two years later, the Japa-
nese bombed Pearl Harbor. Soon,
stories from the front lines would
dominate the newspapers.
Driven by wartime hysteria,
the U.S. government rounded up
13,000 people of Japanese de-
scent and “relocated” them from
their homes on the West Coast to
a desolate internment camp north
of Eden. While able-bodied local
men fought in World War II, men
from the Hunt Camp — and Ger-
man and Italian soldiers from a
prisoner-of-war camp near Paul
— stepped in and worked the fields,
keeping afloat the Magic Valley’s
agricultural economy.
Twin Falls had a surge of build-
ing permits in 1948, as large de-
partment stores — Sears, C.C.
Anderson and Falk’s Department
Store came to town.
After decades of flood irriga-
tion in the Magic Valley and in
the Upper Snake River Basin, the
Eastern Snake River Aquifer had
artificially filled to within reach grow its population to 25,000 for
of water wells. By the end of the
1940s, Twin Falls County’s tax
valuation reached nearly $35 mil-
lion due to an enormous increase in
farmland irrigated by groundwater. the commissioners and city man-
Across the Magic Valley, irrigated ager Joe Latimore are making
lands went from 202,000 acres in
the Twin Falls tract to more than
600,000 acres.
1950s
Sagebrush that hadn’t been resident living on the outskirts of
cleared during the initial growth town to cooperate with the annex-
of the Magic Valley started to dis- ation efforts “for the good of all.”
CLARENCE E. BISBEE PHOTO
Then
The Twin Falls-Jerome Intercounty Bridge nears completion in
1927. The bridge was replaced in 1976 with the second I.B. Perrine
Memorial Bridge.
The Shoshone Falls Ferry is seen in this Clarence E. Bisbee photo.
appear as farms grew in the 1950s
and 1960s. And as farms grew, so
did the towns. The 1940s saw the
fastest growth of any decade in
Twin Falls history, as the popu-
lation jumped nearly 50 percent
during the decade.
Over in Mini-Cassia, Rupert
was crossed off the “small town”
list when mail carriers no longer
knew by memory where all the
residents lived, wrote the Times-
News in 1950.
In 1956, Idaho Frozen Foods
opened in Kimberly, joining
longtime businesses Amalgam-
ated Sugar Co. and Independent
Meat Co.
Rogers Brothers Seed Co. and
Gallatin Valley Seed Co. brought
the seed-bean industry to the
Magic Valley, where the dry
weather — and the absence of
disease pathogens — were perfect
for growing seed stock. Also in the
‘50s, the trout industry helped to
stabilize the agricultural econ-
omy.
Plans to build an interstate
through Idaho eventually created
a population shift as traffic moved
faster across the state. Big towns
became larger and little towns be-
came smaller.
In Twin Falls, residential pop-
ulation shifted from downtown to
north and east of town in the mid-
1950s through the ‘60s. Some
fought such expansion, including
the Lynwood Shopping Center
and other business centers.
1960-1980
A big push to rezone and annex
followed as the city attempted to
the 1960 census. That milestone
would bring in more state revenue
from liquor and highway funds.
“It’s encouraging to note that
plans to annex as many new areas
as possible in the hope of bring-
ing the Twin Falls population to
25,000,” the Times-News editorial
board wrote in 1959, pleading with
BIG STORY
Now
Hundreds of kids get on school buses May 22, 2017, at Kimberly Elementary School.
Now
CLARENCE E. BISBEE PHOTO
Visitors take photos of the Snake River Canyon near the I.B. Perrine Bridge on
July 4 in Twin Falls.
But the 1960 census revealed a
population of barely 20,000. Dis-
appointed city leaders then took
a more active role in community
planning, resulting in municipal
water and sewer improvements.
In late 1964, voters in Twin Falls
County approved a junior college
district, which would eventually
lead to the College of Southern
Idaho.
Several older buildings such as
the Hotel Perrine were torn down.
Urban renewal took over develop-
ment downtown Twin Falls, and
Main Avenue was given a new face
to make the old look new again.
Wages increased significantly
from 1965 to 1972, CSI pro-
fessor Jim Gentry wrote in his
book, “In the Middle and on the
Edge — The Twin Falls Region of
Idaho.” Manufacturing picked up
in the 1970s. Numerous factories
opened in both Twin Falls and
Jerome, including a Tupperware
plant, Longview Fibre cardboard
factory and Kellwood, a manufac-
turer of pantyhose. In addition,
automobile dealerships and fast-
food outlets opened on Blue Lakes
Boulevard North.
1980s
Beginning in 1980, the Magic
Valley experienced a “sour econ-
omy,” Gentry wrote. High fuel
costs drove up operating costs,
while commodity prices and
property values fell. By early 1983,
the Magic Valley’s unemployment
rate was at an all-time high. Res-
idents seemed to be leaving in
droves. A sandwich-board sign on
Addison Avenue West read, “Last
one out of Twin Falls, please turn
off the lights,” said former KMVT
general manager Lee Wagner.
To jumpstart its regional econ-
omy, Magic Valley leaders turned
to diversification.
Jim Herrett, owner of Acme
Manufacturing, explained in 1986
how he had “reshaped” his busi-
ness during the sluggish economy
to focus efforts away from making
complicated machinery and to-
ward fabricating parts — things
that made up most of their sales.
“Farmers aren’t spending any
CLARENCE E. BISBEE
money on products they don’t ab-
solutely have to have,” Herrett told
the Times-News. “We’re being
successful at it. We’re a smaller
company, downsized from what
we were, but we’re hoping we’re
working smarter and in the right
area” by diversifying out of some
agricultural areas.
Dairies
In the 1990s, California dairy-
men moved into the area, bringing
in more jobs but creating much
controversy. Some say the dairy-
men came to Idaho to escape Cal-
ifornia’s prohibitive zoning and
environmental regulations; others
say the high price of land pushed
dairies out of the state. Either way,
new waves of dairy cows entered
the valley. Twin Falls County
commissioners placed a morato-
rium on new large dairies until the
wrinkles could be ironed out.
Dairies dramatically changed
the Magic Valley’s landscape over
the next few decades. Large dair-
ies bought out many small farms
to raise corn and alfalfa and to
dispose of the large amounts of
manure generated by the cows.
Only about a hundred small, fam-
ily-operated dairies — those with
less than 200 cows — now exist
in Idaho. Nearly half of the 470
dairies in the state house more
than 1,000 cows each, according
to Idaho Dairymen’s Association’s
website.
A whopping 73 percent of the
dairy cows in Idaho now reside in
the Magic Valley. That’s 422,000
dairy cows.
Idaho’s dairy industry sup-
ported nearly 40,000 jobs in 2015,
according to the IDA: 8,100 work-
ers in dairies, 3,100 in dairy pro-
cessing, and 27,600 in supporting
businesses.
These supporting businesses,
food processors such as Glanbia,
Jerome Cheese and Chobani, are
what brought wealth to the Magic
Valley, said Twin Falls City Man-
ager Travis Rothweiler. As the
agriculture base switched from
producing a raw product, such as
milk, to a value-added product,
such as whey protein, the valley’s
TIMES-NEWS
DREW NASH, TIMES-NEWS FILE PHOTO
DREW NASH, TIMES-NEWS
economy has become more stable.
“Whether it be milk or potatoes,
the more times (a commodity) can
rotate through the community, the
more jobs, wealth and opportunity
are created,” Rothweiler said.
While the rest of the nation was
experiencing the Great Recession
of the late 200s, the Magic Valley
experienced more of a slump than
a recession. Reduced numbers of
building permits, high unemploy-
ment, and delinquent water bills
and property tax bills are common
indicators of a faltering economy,
he said.
“We certainly saw those during
the recession to an extent,” said
Twin Falls Mayor Shawn Barigar,
“but because of our diversity, our
highs and lows are balanced more
than an economy that relies on
only one sector.”
Barigar, as president and CEO
of the Twin Falls Area Chamber of
Commerce, was part of the team
that brought the Greek yogurt gi-
ant Chobani to town.
“Chobani presented an oppor-
tunity to support the dairy produc-
tion, to strengthen the food-pro-
cessing sector, and innovation for
the future,” he said. “Chobani gave
us a positive outlook for the future,
a chance to grow.”
Agriculture has always been the
cornerstone of our economy, he
said, and, over recent years, the
food-science sector has grown
tremendously by finding ways to
produce more food more econom-
ically.
What would Perrine do?
I.B. Perrine, guided by a seem-
ingly impossible vision, trans-
formed the desert into a flour-
ishing “magic” valley. He saw
his dream come true during his
lifetime, but could he have ever
imagined where the Magic Valley
is today?
There’s a common saying in
municipal economics: If a town
isn’t growing, it’s dying. But with
the limited availability of water,
the Magic Valley also must keep
an eye on the aquifer to assure the
region’s growth does not outpace
its resources.
In an unprecedented agreement
to restore the Eastern Snake Plain
Aquifer, surface-water users and
groundwater pumpers in 2015
secured the future of the aquifer
that supports life in south-central
Idaho. Groundwater users agreed
to reduce their consumptive water
use by 13 percent and the state of
Idaho agreed to fund aquifer re-
charge.
Plenty has changed in the Magic
Valley since President Lincoln’s
1862 Homestead Act. The arid
desert can now sustain life. The
small farming communities — es-
pecially Twin Falls — have blos-
somed into large towns and small
cities. And the region’s economy,
which experienced plenty of ups
and downs over the past century,
has been bolstered and diversified.
Now, as south-central Idaho ap-
proaches two population thresh-
olds — 50,000 residents in Twin
Falls and 200,000 residents in the
eight-county region — a new ma-
jor question has arisen: Where do M
we go from here? 1
 THE BIG STORY
TIMES-NEWS SUNDAY, JULY 22, 2018 | E1

SUNDAY, JULY 22, 2018 | magicvalley.com | SECTION E

THE BIG STORY

Inmates walk the yard during recreation time July 13 at

the Twin Falls County Jail in Twin Falls.
PAT SUTPHIN, TIMES-NEWS

Twin Falls jail in

‘CRISIS,’
but is local growth to blame?
GRETEL KAUFFMAN
Gkauffman@magicvalley.com

A
s Twin Falls expands as a regional hub, the jail and prosecutor’s desk are overflowing with felons
and felony cases.
The county prosecuting attorney’s office is on track to deal with an estimated 900 felony cases
this year, nearly double what the office saw 10 years ago.
Meanwhile, the Twin Falls jail population is exploding, in what Sheriff Tom Carter describes as a
“crisis.” The 224-bed jail has housed as many as 270 inmates at a time over the past year; on July 18, the
facility held 253, with 42 others scattered around to other jails across the state.

Some of the increase in fel-

ony cases and jail population is
due to regional growth and the
uptick in passers-through that
comes with it. But that may not
tell the whole story. Some county
officials also point to the broader
issue of prison overcrowding
throughout the state as a con-
tributing factor.
“Everything’s coming to a
head right now,” said jail ad-
ministrator Capt. Doug Hughes.
“There’s a lot of dynamics to it
that are creating the problem.”
Growth in Twin Falls County
— and the state of Idaho as a
whole — doesn’t show signs of
slowing anytime soon. As the
population continues to in-
crease, crowding in local and
statewide jails and prisons will
become an even more urgent
issue.
Jail crowding is a relatively new
problem in Twin Falls County.
In 2016, the jail held a steady
population of about 180 people,
with a high of roughly 200. That
Growing
UP
Magic Valley’s
vision for
the future
2015, the average length of time
an inmate stayed at the jail was
12 days. Today, the average stay
is 24 days.
In the past, specialty courts —
which offer alternative sentenc-
ing options for nonviolent drug
addicts, veterans, and others —
PAT SUTPHIN, TIMES-NEWS
have been effective in keeping
the jail population in check. But
Detention Deputy Kevin Coggins, center, performs a pat-down of an with a skyrocketing number of
incoming inmate as arresting officer Justin Clark observes July 13 at the felony cases and limited space
Twin Falls County Jail in Twin Falls. available, these programs are
no longer enough to keep the jail
number started to climb toward The spike in felony cases isn’t under capacity.
the end of last summer. helping, they say: More than 80 County prosecutor Grant
The exact reason why is diffi- percent of Twin Falls inmates Loebs has seen a consistent rise
cult to pinpoint, though Hughes today are felons, who typically in the number of felony cases
and other county officials have must stay at the jail longer and
some suggestions. are held under a higher bond. In Please see JAIL, PageE3

MORE INSIDE:
Safety agencies strive for collaboration, E2 | Small police departments manage growth, E3 | Costs of incarceration, B4

M
1
 TIMES-NEWS
Fire chief Les Kenworthy talks about safety concerns when firefighters have to drop what they’re doing in the kitchen in order to go on a call July 12 in Twin Falls. When alarms come on
many stations have automatic shut-offs on kitchen appliances.
As the Magic Valley grows, public safety agencies strive for
COLLABORATION
GRETEL KAUFFMAN
Gkauffman@magicvalley.com
TWIN FALLS — Public safety
agencies in the Magic Valley are
relying more heavily on a valuable
tool: each other.
The Twin Falls Fire Depart-
ment, Police Department, and
Sheriff ’s Office are putting a new
emphasis on inter-agency collab-
oration, city officials say.
It’s largely a development
born of necessity. Twin Falls is
an increasingly popular destina-
tion for visitors from around the
south-central Idaho region and
elsewhere.
But the city itself isn’t actually
growing that quickly: The aver-
age rate of population growth in
recent years has been just under
2 percent, a much lower rate than
the city saw a decade ago.
The heads of these agencies say
they don’t have the intention — or
the resources — to hire new staff
en masse anytime soon. Instead,
to deal with the natural uptick in
calls that comes with population
growth, they’re making the most Firefighter suits in Twin Falls have to be air dried because they don’t have the right kind of dryer at their stations.
of what they have by finding new
ways to work with their neighbors.
Brian Pike, former police chief
and current deputy city manager
for public safety in Twin Falls, sees
the shift as a departure from the
ideology of rugged individualism
that has characterized south-cen-
tral Idaho — and policing here — in
the past.
“That sense of independence is
a part of our Idaho heritage, and
I don’t think we’re ever going to
lose that,” Pike said. “But we’ve
also been willing to realize that
no one is able to make it on their
own.”
Fire
The Twin Falls Fire Department
hasn’t increased its staff count
since the 1970s. That hasn’t pre-
sented a major problem until re-
cently, Chief Les Kenworthy said,
because the growth of the city
hasn’t had a significant effect on
the number of calls the depart-
ment receives.
Two years ago, however, the
department added EMS to their
services — and saw their calls
skyrocket.
Before adding EMS, TFFD re-
ceived about 1,900 calls per year.
In 2017, the first full year that
EMS services were in effect, the
department received nearly 5,500
calls, city spokesman Josh Palmer
said. About 3,800 of those calls
were EMS-related.
EMS, combined with other
specialized services that the de-
partment began offering in re-
cent decades, means that the 39
firefighters in Twin Falls today
are going through more exten-
sive training — and shouldering a
M
heavier workload overall — than
1 the 39 firefighters in Twin Falls 40
Fire chief Les Kenworthy discusses
the needs of the department July 12
in Twin Falls.
years ago.
“We’re struggling, to be hon-
est,” Kenworthy said. “We need
more staffing. So far we’re do-
ing okay, but it’s tough. It’s a big
workload.”
Complicating the matter is the
city’s position as a regional hub
of a rural area. Because the Twin
Falls Fire Department is the only
fully-staffed, full-time depart-
ment for miles around, it offers
certain kinds of specialized exper-
tise that nearby cities don’t have.
The department does hope
to expand its personnel and re-
sources over the next few years,
Kenworthy said. He’s applied for
a federal grant to hire five more
employees, and a recent study
suggested that it might be in the
department’s best interest to
build an additional fire station in
the northeast part of town in the
coming years – a development
that would also require additional
staffing.
BIG STORY
A new Ram 5500 sits outside of station 2 July 12 in Twin Falls. The station
doesn’t have the space to fit some of their fleet inside.
But Kenworthy, who joined the
department as chief in March,
is also bringing a new focus on
collaboration with other depart-
ments in the region, including
Buhl, Filer, Jerome, Rock Creek,
Salmon Tract, and Castleford.
Working together doesn’t just
benefit the smaller departments,
he emphasized. It also helps out
Twin Falls.
Already, the strategy has paid
off: Three fires simultaneously
popped up around the city on
July 4, and the department didn’t
have the manpower to handle on
its own. They called for backup,
which swiftly arrived to lend a
hand.
“Because of our growth...
working more regional is kind of
the way of the future,” Kenwor-
thy said. “The idea of a regional
approach to things and how we
can help each other works both
ways and makes all the sense in
the world.”
Policing
Despite some uptick in calls for
service, the Twin Falls Sheriff ’s
Office doesn’t have plans to hire
a lot of new deputies anytime
soon, Sheriff Tom Carter said. In
the first six months of 2018, the
office received about 2,400 more
calls than it did in the first six
months of 2015.
The office is working on a grant
to hire two more patrolmen. But
the workload facing deputies isn’t
Carter’s top priority right now.
Instead, he said, his focus is on
addressing crowding in the county
jail, a situation that Carter de-
scribes as a “crisis.” The 224-bed
facility held 248 inmates on July
13, with about 50 others housed in
SUNDAY, JULY 22, 2018 | E2
DREW NASH PHOTOS, TIMES-NEWS
other jails across the state.
“The patrol deputies can keep
up with the call level,” Carter said.
“As long as we can answer calls,
I’m not going to go to the taxpay-
ers and ask for more money for
more personnel.”
The Twin Falls Police Depart-
ment, like the fire department, has
seen an increase in calls for service
in recent years. The department
received 58,655 calls in 2017, about
a 7 percent increase from the pre-
vious year.
TFPD has added four new of-
ficers since 2016, bringing the
total up to 77, but doesn’t antic-
ipate dramatically expanding its
workforce in the coming years,
Chief Craig Kingsbury said.
Instead, Kingsbury said, the
department is asking how it can
“police a little bit smarter.”
“What we’re trying to do now
as we look forward to what’s next:
we want to make sure we’re uti-
lizing our resources in the proper
way,” Kingsbury said. “How are
we allocating our officers? How
are we allocating our personnel?
And is that the best way to serve
our community?”
Exploring ways to increase the
department’s efficiency includes
experimenting with various set-
ups and strategies for policing,
such as different patrol shifts. It
also means looking for oppor-
tunities to collaborate with the
sheriff ’s office and other agencies.
A new special investigations
unit is the result of an inter-
agency partnership between the
Twin Falls Police Department and
Sheriff ’s Office. The seven-de-
tective unit targets repeat violent
offenders throughout Twin Falls
County, such as people who ille-
gally own firearms or those who
are involved in organized criminal
or gang activity.
Twin Falls City Manager Travis
Rothweiler described the collabo-
rative nature of the special inves-
tigations unit as a more effective
way to police the area.
“We recognize that there is a
migratory trend, and if we can
work crime where crime is oc-
curring, we’ll have greater success
than just trying to fortify our own
borders,” Rothweiler said. “That
does not work in the area of po-
licing.”
That hasn’t always been the
mindset in the Twin Falls Police
Department, noted Pike, who
served as police chief from 2011
to 2014 after 17 years with the
department.
“When I started here as a police
officer, we were, as a law enforce-
ment agency, an island…and I
think that was probably true of the
city in and of itself,” Pike said. “If
you went back 20 years ago, it was
a mentality. If you fast forward to
today, we’ve realized that we’re a
regional player.”
 Times-News
Small police departments make available resources work
GRETEL KAUFFMAN
Gkauffman@magicvalley.com‌
‌TWIN FALLS COUNTY — As
the population of Twin Falls
County rises, small police de-
partments surrounding the city
of Twin Falls say they’re making
do with the resources they have
— for now.
Growing towns like Kimberly
and Jerome have seen a slight, but
not dramatic, uptick in workload
in recent years. It’s not enough
to warrant an immediate hiring
spree or addition of specialized
units, the police chiefs in those
towns say.
But if the region continues to
grow at the same rate, they note,
expansion will likely be necessary
several years down the road.
“We’ll absolutely have to make
changes in the next few years, if
for no other reason than as the
communities grow there will be
a natural increase in the work-
load,” said Jerome Police Chief
Dan Hall. “It may not be leaps and
bounds...but who knows what’s
going to happen.”
Jerome hasn’t seen a significant
increase in criminal activity as the
population has grown over the
past decade — in fact, the arrest
rate has gone down significantly
since 2008. The city’s arrest rate
Jail
From E1
filed by office over the past de-
cade. But that number went up
dramatically – roughly 20 per-
cent – between 2016 and 2017.
In 2008, the prosecutor’s office
filed 475 felony cases. This year,
they’re on track to file roughly
900 cases, said county prosecu-
tor Grant Loebs — nearly a 100
percent increase from a decade
ago.
Across Idaho, prisons and jails
are stuffed to the brim. As state
leaders send hundreds of inmates
out of state and consider spend-
ing $500 million on prison ex-
pansions, some state leaders have
discussed declaring a “criminal
justice crisis.”
And with a lack of room in state
prisons, Hughes said some state
inmates have had to stay at the
county jail longer. Some have re-
mained in the Twin Falls facility
as long as 90 days after they were
sentenced.
Loebs also sees statewide
prison crowding as a source of
his office’s case overload. Because
of crowding, he said, some con-
victed felons are spending less
time in prison than they would
have otherwise. Many of the
cases his office files are against
repeat offenders — people already
on probation or parole.
The convergence of factors —
a crowded jail, filled with high-
er-level offenders than its con-
struction originally intended
— has created an “agitated” at-
mosphere for both inmates and
jail staff, Hughes said.
“Something needs to be done.
We can’t just keep operating the
M
1 Inmates pass the time within their cell block July 13 at the Twin Falls County Jail in Twin Falls.
BIG STORY
full-time officers and four reserve
officers.
Going forward, he speculated,
the department may look into
adding specialized units, such
as a dedicated traffic unit or of-
ficers who deal specifically with
drug crimes. The department
also doesn’t have a victim witness
coordinator to work with victims
and their families, Hall noted.
“I think that even though we’re
holding our own, this is some-
thing that we’re definitely go-
ing to have to monitor and plan
DREW NASH, TIMES-NEWS‌ for,” Hall said of the population
Filer Police logo Monday, Aug. 7, growth. “It’s definitely going to
2017, in Filer. change how things are in our area
— not just for law enforcement,
was 8,932 per 100,000 people a but for everyone.”
decade ago. In 2016, the most re- Police in the rapidly growing
cent year available, the arrest rate community of Kimberly have
was 2,439 per 100,000 people. seen some increase in caseload
The department added two and calls for service in recent
new officers between 2011 and years, Kimberly-Hansen Police
2012, but hasn’t expanded since Chief Jeff Perry said.
then. “We haven’t seen it where it’s
If Jerome keeps growing as ex- gotten out of control, but our
pected, however, its police may numbers have gone up,” Perry
need to make some adjustments, said.
Hall said. The department dealt with
That would likely mean adding a total of 179 offenses in 2016,
more officers, and possibly addi- nearly double the number of
tional services as well. Currently, offenses in 2008. That increase
Hall said, Jerome offers a “very would appear to be largely a nat-
basic level of policing,” with 19 ural consequence of population
PAT SUTPHIN, TIMES-NEWS‌
A temporary bed sits on the floor July 13 at the Twin Falls County Jail in
Twin Falls. The jail is currently overcrowded and unable to provide bunks
to every inmate.
way we are,” Hughes said. “Jail’s Looming above the overcrowd-
a bad enough place.” ing issue is the possibility of
building a new, larger jail in Twin
Overcrowding‌ Falls County. But questions of
With more felony filings comes when, where, and what that would
a need for more resources across look like remain unanswered.
the judicial system. The prose- The Twin Falls County Com-
cutor’s office has requested three mission hopes the public will help
new employee positions this year: come up with some answers. The
a felony attorney, a support staff board recently accepted applica-
member and an additional victim tions for a citizen’s committee to
witness coordinator. discuss expansion of the judicial
The public defender’s office complex, which includes the jail,
also requested two additional staff courtrooms, and space for other
members — one attorney and one legal offices and services.
support staff — after receiving two The committee will have nine
new employees last year, commis- members, ideally with three from
sioners said. each of the three districts in Twin
“As this office goes, the court Falls County. It will also have five
system goes, the jail goes, the need ad hoc members, including repre-
for judges, the need for public de- sentatives from the county’s legal
fenders, prosecutors, probation team, the sheriff’s office, and the
officers…all of that just expands,” court system. Together, they will
Loebs said. explore needs, costs and funding
growth: the proportion of arrests
per 100,000 residents only went
up slightly during that time, from
4,013 to 4,429.
Some of the major crimes com-
mitted in Kimberly and Hansen
recently, such as burglaries and
home invasions, have been com-
mitted by people passing through
town on the interstate, Perry
noted.
The department currently has
eight officers, including Perry,
and one administrative staff
member. It’s grown by one offi-
cer since Perry joined the depart-
ment in 2013.
“Dealing with our growth has
been challenging,” Perry said.
“But we just don’t have the re-
sources to add additional officers
at this time.”
He anticipates that in the next
decade, both personnel and infra-
structure will become an issue:
the building that houses the po-
lice department was remodeled
in 2012 and, according to Perry,
“wasn’t built for growth.”
“We’re really going to have to
start thinking outside the box 10
years from now,” he said. “We’ve
already outgrown our building as
it is.”
The population of Filer has
been slowly but steadily rising
Two inmates watch television from inside their cell block July 13 at the
Twin Falls County Jail in Twin Falls.
mechanisms for a new judicial
complex.
County officials close to the
problem largely agree that the
biggest question is not whether
the jail needs to expand. It’s when
and how.
If approved this year, a new
facility could be built within the
Sunday, July 22, 2018 | E3
over the past several decades. Be-
tween 2006 and 2016, the town
added about 650 new residents.
Since 2010, it’s added about 200
residents.
But over that time, its small
police force has shrunk, Chief
Jeff Troumbley said. Last year,
the department downsized by
one person due to budgeting is-
sues, bringing the total number of
officers from six to five.
The loss of one person is “sig-
nificant” in such a small agency,
Troumbley noted.
“At times it can be difficult,”
he said.
But the department hasn’t seen
a noticeable increase in service
requests and calls in the past
couple years, and surrounding
agencies have lent a hand when
needed, Troumbley said. There
were 32 offenses reported there
in 2016, almost twice as many as
in 2008 — but the rate of arrests
in proportion to the population
didn’t go up significantly.
If the rate of growth continues,
Filer Police – like many smaller
police departments in the Magic
Valley – may need to expand five
or 10 years down the road. But
for now, Troumbley said, “we’re
holding our own with what we
have.”
PAT SUTPHIN, TIMES-NEWS‌
next three years or so. It’s esti-
mated that construction of the
new complex would cost $200 per
square foot for the courts section
and $400 per square foot for the
jail, not including other infra-
structure or equipment.
Please see JAIL, PageE4
PAT SUTPHIN, TIMES-NEWS‌
 Times-News BIG STORY Sunday, July 22, 2018 | E4

PAT SUTPHIN, TIMES-NEWS‌

A temporary bed has been added to a cell to allow a third inmate to sleep their July 13 at the Twin Falls County Jail in Twin Falls.

Jail
From E3

Costs‌
A county report released last
summer projected that a to-
tal of 65,000 gross square feet
of courthouse space and 79,178
gross square feet of jail space will
be necessary to accommodate the
growing population of Twin Falls
over the next 30 years. And even
those numbers may be low esti-
mates, said Commissioner Don
Hall.
The current judicial building,
which includes six courtrooms
and other offices, is 25,298 gross
square feet, and the jail is 27,000
gross square feet — meaning that,
even if the county decides to add
on to the existing buildings rather
than constructing entirely new
ones, both will need significant
additions.
A new judicial complex would
require asking the public for a
bond, as the money in the county
reserves wouldn’t be enough to
cover the entire project.
If voters reject the bond, the
county will need to get creative
in finding beds for inmates in
the short-term. Right now, jail
officials are exploring the possi-
bility of buying temporary forms
of housing to supplement the ex-
isting jail space until the county
comes up with the funds for a new
or larger facility.
Adding a layer of urgency to the
matter is the high cost of housing
inmates out of the county. There
are about 50 Twin Falls inmates in
jails around the state on any given
day.
The county budgeted roughly
$100,000 this year for the cost of
housing excess inmates in other
counties — an expense that in-
cludes the cost of transporting the
inmates, sometimes hundreds of
miles, as well as fees paid to the
other counties. Carter estimates
that the actual yearly cost will end
up being closer to $1 million.
“The only answer to this di-
lemma is we’re going to have to
expand our jail,” Carter said. “If we
don’t expand, we’re going to run
up right past the expansion costs
An inmate reads a book from the library July 13 at the Twin Falls County Jail in Twin Falls.
for housing outside the county.”
Carter said Twin Falls inmates
have been housed as far away as
Nez Perce County. Those long
trips can require additional em-
ployee time, gas money, and over-
time pay — plus the estimated $50
to $75 per day that counties charge
for each bed.
The county also has a contract to
lease 25 beds at the Jerome County
Jail, an arrangement that costs
Twin Falls upwards of $500,000
a year.
These housing costs, Twin Falls
commissioners say, are perhaps
the most significant and immedi-
ate issue that’s come out of the jail
crowding situation.
As Commissioner Terry Kramer
put it: “The out-of-county is re-
ally a killer.”
The choice, then, may be be-
tween building an expensive new
facility now, or waiting 10 years
and paying additional costs to
house inmates in the meantime.
“At the end of the day, we’re go-
ing to pay one way or the other,”
Hall said. “We’re either going to
pay by expanding our facilities and
having a better, more conducive
environment to do business...or
Detention Deputy Josh Pehrson talks to an inmate in receiving July 13 at
the Twin Falls County Jail in Twin Falls.
we’re going to pay money to house
them somewhere else outside our
community.”
Commissioner Jack Johnson,
who is spearheading the com-
missioners’ exploration of jail and
courthouse expansion, put it more
directly.
PAT SUTPHIN, TIMES-NEWS‌
PAT SUTPHIN, TIMES-NEWS‌
“If we’re going to drop a million
a year on housing, it would be very
nice to invest that in our commu-
nity instead of other communi-
ties,” Johnson said.
If the county does decide to
build a new facility sooner rather
than later, it won’t be an immedi-
PAT SUTPHIN, TIMES-NEWS‌
A set of handcuffs sit attachec to a
phone in the entryway July 13 at the
Twin Falls County Jail in Twin Falls.
ate solution. A new jail and court-
house would take at least two to
three years to build, and would
require significant planning before
construction.
The county report estimated
that, to sufficiently accommodate
the growing inmate population
over the next 30 years, a new jail
would need up to 400 beds.
But Hughes and the commis-
sioners now fear those numbers
may be outdated.
“You look at the population and
how things have grown around
Twin Falls and I don’t think we’ve
put into perspective exactly how
much is this going to increase over
the next couple years,” Hughes
said. “We can take current infor-
mation and the past couple years
of information, but we can’t proj-
ect where this is going to lead or
where the tidal wave is going to
stop.”
In the meantime, options are
limited for keeping the number
of inmates down, Hughes said,
especially as the high percentage
of felons in the facility poses diffi-
cult questions about who can and
should be released to free up space.
“As that population goes, you’ve
really got to weigh: can you cut
somebody loose on a felony and
still offer a safe side to the com-
munity?” Hughes said. “And the
argument is probably not. So we’re
kind of in between a rock and a
hard place.”

PAT SUTPHIN, TIMES-NEWS‌

PAT SUTPHIN, TIMES-NEWS‌ PAT SUTPHIN, TIMES-NEWS‌
Summit Food Service Director Christina Anderson talks
about the challenges of meeting all of the inmates dietary Doors leading to numerous cell blocks line the hallway July An inmate talks on the phone July 13at the Twin Falls County
M
restrictions July 13 at the Twin Falls County Jail in Twin Falls. 13 at the Twin Falls County Jail in Twin Falls. Jail in Twin Falls.
1
 THE BIG STORY SUNDAY, JULY 29, 2018 | magicvalley.com | SECTION E

Twin Falls’
founders set
up the region
for generations
to come

Third in a
10-part series

PAT SUTPHIN
psutphin@magicvalley.com

T
WIN FALLS — Despite
Twin Falls’ top living in the High Des-
ert, Magic Valley resi-
water usage accounts, 2017 dents are rarely forced
to consider their water usage.
User Gallons Conservation is a constant
ConAgra/LambWeston 852.1 million point of emphasis, of course,
and for good reason. But the
Chobani Idaho, Inc.* 302.1 million region has sufficient water to
go around, at least for the time
Glanbia Food, Inc.* 90.9 million being. For that, they can thank
the Magic Valley’s founders.
Independent Meat Co. 69.3 million In a state where water rights
are “first in time, first in line,”
Chobani Idaho, Inc. 57.5 million having a 100-year-old wa-
ter right can be the difference
Lazy J Ranch 45.7 million between thriving and simply
Glanbia Food, Inc. 45.7 million surviving. According to the
Idaho Department of Water Re-
Skylane Park 31.5 million sources, Twin Falls owns water
rights that date back to October
Glanbia Food, Inc. 31.1 million 11, 1900. That puts the city 14
years before Pocatello’s first
St. Luke’s Health System 28.2 million water right and 27 years before
*Chobani Idaho, Inc., and Glanbia Food, Inc., have several ac- Idaho Falls.
counts through which the companies use water. “Our forefathers here were
brilliant when they bought all
the water rights,” said Drew
Foster, senior water supply
technician for the city of Twin
Falls.
All of the region’s drink-
ing water comes in the form
of groundwater pumped from
wells. But our access to surface
water is what set up Twin Falls
for the growth it’s experiencing
today. Having the right to use
surface water – instead of just
groundwater – allows the city
to save millions of gallons of
potable water each day.
The city’s relationship with
Twin Falls Canal Company puts
it in a steady position to handle
growth.
Jeff Malina, a senior water
supply technician with the city
of Twin Falls, said the city owns
PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY PAT SUTPHIN, TIMES-NEWS
the largest portion of shares in

PREPARED
the canal company.
“Back in the ‘40s and ‘50s we
used canal water and filtered it
for city drinking water,” Malina
said. “That was such a costly
process that they went to drilled
wells, but we kept our shares of
the canal company water.”
Today, surface water is used
in the city’s pressurized irriga-
tion system to water lawns.

FOR GROWTH
“We’re probably ahead of
the curve on any other city in
the state with our pressurized
irrigation system,” Malina said.
The water used for pressur-
ized irrigation is dirty water
that is unfit for consumption.
It’s surface water drawn from

Please see WATER, Page E2

PAT SUTPHIN PHOTOS, TIMES-NEWS

Water makes its way through the Sodium Hypochlorite Generation System July 9 at a
Hypochlorite station in Twin Falls. The system shocks water with 34 amps of electricity to
cause the water to release a hydrogen ion, changing its composition from salt water to
sodium hypochlorite. Senior Water Supply Technician Jeff Malina said the city can chlorinate
between 0.20 to 4.0 ppm. Twin Falls chlorinates at 0.35 ppms to clean the water.
M
1
Senior Water Supply Technician Jeff Malina takes a water sample from a faucet July 9 at the
Harrison Booster Station in Twin Falls. Malina said the DEQ and EPA require random water
checks based on population size. Throughout the month, Malina and his crew sample 54 differ-
ent sites within Twin Falls. Malina said if a test fails, it can usually be traced back to the techni-
cian who took the sample. ‘A little bit of dust or dirt in the jar will fail that sample,’ he says.
 E2 | SUNDAY, JULY 29, 2018 THE BIG STORY TIMES-NEWS

PAT SUTPHIN PHOTOS, TIMES-NEWS

Water runs through the pump station July 9 at the Harrison Booster Station in Twin Falls. Jeff Malina, senior water supply technician for the city of Twin Falls, said 70 to 80 percent of the
city water is pumped from the Blue Lakes wells. ‘We can pump 24,000 gallons a minute from that facility,’ he said.

Water
From E1

canals and rivers, and cannot be

used in homes. Domestic water,
however, is potable groundwater
pumped from wells for people to
drink, cook and bathe.
“We’re saving ourselves prob-
ably 8-10 million gallons a day,”
said Water Superintendent Rob-
ert Bohling. Unlike cities such as
Pocatello and Idaho Falls, Twin
Falls’ pre-existing infrastructure
and relationship with the canal
company allow the city to use a
resource that others don’t have.
“They watch the water run by,”
Foster said.
Twin Falls uses about 25 million
gallons of potable water a day in
the summer. Pocatello Water Su-
perintendent Justin Armstrong
said his city, whose population
is roughly the same size as Twin
Falls, uses 32 million gallons a day
in the summertime. In the winter,
both cities use about 8 million to
10 million gallons a day.
Pocatello does not have a pres-
surized irrigation system, so all of
the water used in the city is pota-
ble groundwater.
The summertime difference
can mostly be attributed to Po-
catello’s lack of a pressurized
irrigation system that supplies
surface water.
“Some of our peak days actually Twin Falls Water Superintendent Robert Bohling discusses water conservation June 26 at his office in Twin Falls. ‘Water is life,’ Bohling said. ‘It made
exceeded 37 million gallons a day, this valley happen.’ Bohling said the city needs to focus more efforts on xeriscaping and water reduction. ‘A lot of places are going to xeriscaping to be
and that was when the population able to sustain.’
was smaller,” Armstrong said. For
Pocatello, Armstrong believes the Idaho Falls faces a different set Without meters, their water use vation tool,” Richards said. The spring 2017 and spring 2018.
future lies in conservation. of challenges. The city, with a is significantly higher. city is now retrofitting non-resi- “It’s like a glass,” Bohling said.
A tiered rate structure pro- population of roughly 62,000, In 2013, when the population dential users with meters. “We’re “If you keep putting straws in it,
vides citizens with incentives to doesn’t have a way of tracking was 4,000 fewer residents than it starting with the largest users pretty soon the inflow can’t han-
conserve water, as it gets more their groundwater consumption. is today, Idaho Falls used an aver- and working our way down from dle the outflow, and that is a huge
expensive the more you use, and “What would have been great age of 43.6 million gallons a day in there.” concern. There’s no doubt in my
new water meters are being in- is an installation of meters back the summer and 11.4 million gal- With aquifers across the state mind that (recharge efforts) have
stalled that can track up to a quar- when the city was founded,” Wa- lons in the winter. According to on the decline, most cities are to happen or we will dry the aqui-
ter-gallon per minute. ter Superintendent David Rich- the Water Facility Plan, research looking at conservation as the fers up,” Bohling said.
“Every drop is being accounted ards said. estimates a 30 percent reduction key for sustainability. But there When it comes to conservation,
for,” Armstrong said. “To preserve According to a Water Facility in daily use and 40 percent reduc- is reason for optimism: The State everyone has a part to play. Joe
our resources and actually know Plan the city published in 2015, tion in peak day demand of water Water Board said in mid-July that Russell, owner of Rocket Express
what you’re utilizing, it is vital to the total cost predictions for in- when metered. the Eastern Snake Plane Aquifer Car Wash in Twin Falls, installed
meter.” stalling meters throughout the “There’s no doubt that water enjoyed its largest year-over-
Fifty miles up Interstate 15, city will exceed $166 million. meters would be the best conser- year increase in 80 years between Please see WATER, Page E4

WATER WAYS:
Growing the
Magic Valley

The results of a water test are charted July 13 at Magic Valley Labs in Twin Falls. Owner Samples sit in an incubator in the chemistry lab July 13 at Magic Valley Labs in Twin Falls.
Shelly Kolar says the city is proactive with their testing. ‘The city of Twin Falls exceeds the Owner Shelly Kolar said results for microbiology tests come back within 24 hours, but other
M amount they are required to do on a monthly basis with their bacteria testing,’ she said. tests can take anywhere from three days to three weeks to complete.
1
 TIMES-NEWS THE BIG STORY SUNDAY, JULY 29, 2018 | E3

A water sample is taken July 9 at the Harrison

Booster Station in Twin Falls. The city samples 54
different sites throughout the month. The number
of required water samples changes based on
population size.

WATER WAYS: Fourth in a

Growing the six-part
Magic Valley series

PAT SUTPHIN PHOTOS, TIMES-NEWS

General Manager Justin Russell sprays down a car before it enters the car wash July 17 at Rocket Express Carwash in Twin Falls.
Owner Joe Russell says the business uses 30 gallons of water per car and reclaims 80 percent of the water that they use. ‘Our water
use is about 25 percent of the average water use of people washing their cars at home,’ Joe Russell says.

5 TIPSFOR
CONSERVING
CITY WATER

1
Plant more
trees in
your yard.
“Bluegrass grows
really well in shade.
If you have more
trees and shaded
areas, it takes a lot
less water.”
—Drew Foster,
Twin Falls senior water
supply technician

2
Avoid peak
water hours.
“Watering
during the day will
save water and help
the city.”
—Jeff Malina, Twin
Falls senior water
supply technician

3
Convert to
xeriscaping
or desert-
scaping. “There’s 15
million gallons a day
that we’re putting on
the grass.”
—Jeff Malina

4
Buy
conservation
shower
heads, take shorter
showers and don’t
continuously run the
water when washing
dishes by hand. “It’s
the little things that
count.”
—Drew Foster

5
Keep your
pressurized
irrigation
filters clean to
ensure your
sprinkler system
works properly.
“Groundwater is not
an infinite source.
We need to save that
groundwater for
drinking.”
—Robert Bohling,
Twin Falls water
superintendent.

A car exits the car wash

July 17 at Rocket Express
Carwash in Twin Falls.
Rocket Express uses
solar energy and a water
reclamation system to
reduce their carbon
footprint. ‘It doesn’t make
economic sense today to
do what we’re doing with
the solar power, but it will
over time,’ said owner Joe
Russell.
M
1
 E4 |  Sunday, July 29, 2018  THE BIG STORY Times-News

PAT SUTPHIN, TIMES-NEWS‌

A car goes through the car wash July 17 at Rocket Express Carwash in Twin Falls. Owner Joe Russell said his business uses both solar power energy and renewable water. ‘We’ve tried to step
things up in the car wash industry,’ he said.

Water averages have decreased from 5.3

From E2
water reclamation systems in
all of his carwash locations. The
system reclaims 80 percent of
the water used.
With each car requiring 30
gallons of water and Rocket Ex-
press serving thousands of cars
a month, water reclamation
systems can make a significant
difference.
Rocket Express also uses so-
lar energy with their car washes.
Russell admits that the solar
energy doesn’t make economic
sense yet, but it will over time.
“Energy costs and water costs
will continue to rise,” Russell
said. “I believe businesses that
are being responsible and mak-
ing these improvements will be
the best businesses in the fu-
ture.”
Larger companies such as
Chobani are evaluating their
conservation efforts. Michael
Gonda, senior vice-president
of corporate affairs, said the real
focus over the past few years is
how they can conserve and pre-
serve what resources they have.
“When you take a topic like
water, it is emotional because it
is so vital,” Gonda said. Within
the last five years Chobani has
installed a reverse osmosis fil-
tration system in the Twin Falls
plant. The system extracts water
from whey, a byproduct of yo-
gurt, that can be reused within
the facility.
“Whether you are in a plenti-
ful or scarce environment, you
have a responsibility to do ev-
erything within your power to
take seriously the role of conser-
vation,” Gonda said. To do that
well, Gonda believes companies
need to invest in the technology
available.
As companies find creative
ways to conserve, water usage in
several cities is on the decline – a
positive sign for the state’s long-
term outlook. Research from a
growth study in Pocatello shows
that 10-year water consumption
billion gallons a year to 4.8 bil-
lion gallons.
Statistics for Twin Falls show
the same results. “Even though
Twin Falls is growing, our po-
table water usage is trending
downward,” Bohling said.
Without water meters, it’s
difficult to tell if Idaho Falls is
reducing their water consump-
tion, but the city is taking the
initiative in addressing their
problems and finding conser-
vation solutions for the future.
“What we’ve done well cur-
rently is cleaning up our own
act,” Richards said.
In addition to metering, Idaho
Falls is considering converting
green spaces such as parks and
cemeteries onto surface irri-
gation water. They’re also ex-
ploring new ways to make their
existing water rights more effi-
cient.
“For the city of Idaho Falls,
it begins and end with water
rights,” Richards said. “There’s a
lot of tools in the toolbox and we
have to make sure we are willing
and capable of using all of them.”
Even in Twin Falls, more can
be done to conserve. Xeriscap-
ing or desert-scaping are be-
coming more popular methods
to reduce water usage on lawns.
Bohling also recommends a
re-evaluation of our current
rate structure to encourage peo-
ple to use less.
“When you look at other cities
comparable to us...their water
rates are the opposite,” he said.
“The more you use, the higher
it gets.” Twin Falls currently of-
fers discounts at different stages,
making the water cheaper the
more you use.
With countless court battles
and a statewide adjudication
process to catalog and confirm
current water rights, the vitality
of water is clear. The resource is
a precious commodity that is be-
coming scarcer throughout the
PAT SUTPHIN, TIMES-NEWS‌ state, and people are willing to
Lab Technician Sarah Hoy vacuum seals a sample sheet July 13 at Magic Valley Labs in Twin Falls. Owner Shelly fight for their share.
Kolar said E. coli and coliform are the main concerns with drinking water. ‘For microbiology testing, we probably “Water is the new gold,” Boh-
test about 6,000 samples a year,’ she said. ling said.

PAT SUTPHIN, TIMES-NEWS‌ DREW NASH TIMES-NEWS FILE PHOTO‌

Potable water runs through pipes July 9 at the Harrison Booster Station in Twin Falls. Potable Marc Abjean, a senior vice president with Chobani, gives a partial tour of the plant’s reverse
water is water pulled from a well that is treated and used in homes. Unlike pressurized osmosis filtration system in 2014. Michael Gonda, senior vice-president of corporate
irrigation water, potable water is safe to drink. Drew Foster, senior water supply technician affairs, says utilizing conservation technology like the reverse osmosis system is crucial for
for the city of Twin Falls, said preserving our potable water is the key to sustainability. ‘In the companies looking to be economically and environmentally sound. ‘When you look at it, it’s
last 20 years, we’ve added over 20 pressurized irrigation skids,’ he says. ‘That’s one of the a bunch of pipes, but when you see the impact it has it’s pretty extraordinary,’ Gonda said
M
1 steps we’re taking to save our potable water.’ during a July 24 interview at Chobani.
 THE BIG STORY SUNDAY, AUGUST 5, 2018 | magicvalley.com | SECTION E

Construction
is underway
July 12 at
Kimberly
Elementary
School.

‘TREMENDOUS
GROWTH’
Magic Valley schools
are coping with an
influx of students and
planning for the future
Story by JULIE WOOTTON-GREENER | jwootton@magicvalley.com

T
WIN FALLS — When a school
Enrollment growth in Magic Valley schools district has fewer than 2,000
The bigger school districts in The Magic Valley are growing rapidly, but the biggest enrollment change has students, gaining several hun-
happened in Kimberly, a smaller school district than Twin Falls, Jerome or Cassia County.
dred within six years is a big deal.
10,000 (11.2%) That’s the case at Kimberly School
2012-13 2013-14 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17 2017-18 District, where enrollment has in-
creased 15 percent since 2013.
8,000 “Since the 2011-12 school year,
we’ve had some years of some tre-
mendous growth,” Superintendent
6,000 (10.5%) Luke Schroeder said.
(PERCENT Voters passed a $14 million bond
(3.9%)
INCREASE in May 2016 to address growth and
OVER FIVE
alleviate overcrowding. The bulk
4,000 YEARS)
of the money was used to build the
town’s second elementary campus
(14.7%) — Stricker Elementary School —
2,000 which opens this fall. A major re-
model is also underway at the ex-
isting Kimberly Elementary School
0 campus.
Twin Falls Cassia County Jerome Kimberly
DATA: Fourth Friday in DATA: Third Tuesday in DATA: Last day of school DATA: Last day of school But as one overcrowding problem
September each year September each year each year each year
is addressed, another arises. Kim-
Lee Enterprises graphic
berly Middle School and Kimberly
High School are now becoming over-
crowded too, Schroeder said. “We’re
probably three to five years out from
even considering asking voters for
another bond to build something to
accommodate that growth.”
The district plans to bring a group
back together this school year to up-
date a 25-year master building plan,
based on enrollment and market val-
ues.
The district — which had 1,935 stu-
dents last school year — has mapped
out enrollment projections based on
a 2 percent annual growth rate. But
estimating how many more students
will arrive in the district on the first
day of school is still a guessing game.
Plus it’s extremely challenging
for the Kimberly School District to
build new facilities, Schroeder said.
Compared with other school dis-
tricts that have similar enrollments,
such as Buhl and Filer, Kimberly has
roughly $100 million less in market
value, he said. And the school dis-
trict’s boundaries are small — only
PHOTOS BY DREW NASH, TIMES-NEWS about four miles wide.
Students attend class July 2 at Jerome High School.
Please see GROWTH, Page E2

M
1
E2 | Sunday, August 5, 2018
“We’re probably three to five years out from even considering asking voters for another
Work is being done outside of Kimberly Elementary School July 12.
Growth
From E1
Kimberly is largely a bedroom
community, with many of its
residents commuting to work in
Twin Falls.
“There are some of the high-
est-valued residential dwellings
in the Magic Valley, but very lit-
tle commercial and industry to
support that,” Schroeder said.
As a result, “we’re always play-
ing catch-up when it comes to
building buildings.”
The community has been sup-
portive and only one bond has
failed in the past 40 years. But
since school districts can only
bond for up to 5 percent of the
total market value, “we’re always
hitting the ceiling of that debt ca-
pacity,” Schroeder said.
Accommodating enrollment
growth – a byproduct of boom-
ing population growth – is a
challenge faced by Magic Valley
school districts, especially bigger
ones like Twin Falls and Cassia
County.
And other than pursuing
bonds, school districts don’t have
many options to accommodate
growth. Still, Magic Valley school
districts have had more success
pursuing bonds than some other
districts across Idaho and the
Mountain West.
‘Staggering growth’‌
The Twin Falls School District
has gained more than 1,800 stu-
dents since 2010 — from 7,777 in
2010 to 9,602 in 2017. The annual
growth rate has ranged from 1.7
to 5 percent.
Several years ago, schools
were filling up quickly and ex-
ceeding building capacities. In
2014, voters approved a nearly
$74 million bond to build three
new schools: Rock Creek and
Pillar Falls elementary schools,
which opened in 2016, and
South Hills Middle School,
which opened in 2017.
To prepare for opening three
new schools, a committee of
community members redrew
elementary and middle school
attendance zones.
Through the process, one of
the lessons learned was “new
schools fill up faster than you
think they’re going to,” said Brady
Dickinson, superintendent of the
Twin Falls School District. And
it’s important, he said, to be stra-
tegic when drawing attendance
zones.
Pillar Falls Elementary has
a comfortable capacity of 650
students. In two years, the school
has already reached capacity —
much faster than the five years
the school district was originally
projecting.
People like sending their chil-
dren to new schools, Dickinson
said. Although there haven’t
been any more transfer requests
for new schools than older ones,
families tend to purchase homes
near new schools, he said.
As enrollment across the dis-
trict continues to grow, Dickin-
bond to build something to accommodate that growth.”
Luke Schroeder, Kimberly superintendent
Students attend an English class July 2 at Jerome High School.
son said he’d like to avoid hav-
ing to adjust school attendance
zones. It’s a difficult and unpop-
ular proposition, he said, and
would only be considered as a
last resort.
Redrawing attendance zones is
unpopular because many fami-
lies buy or rent homes based on
which school they want their
children to attend. Plus, it can be
emotional leaving a school where
a child has friends and knows the
teachers.
But the district can’t have an
overcrowded school while an-
other is half empty, he said. If
that ever happens — which Dick-
inson predicts won’t be in the
near future — the district would
likely ask for volunteers first to
move to a different school.
In Cassia County, the school
district’s long-range facilities
planning committee will pres-
THE BIG STORY
ent a formal recommendation in
August to the school board.
“The facilities group is consid-
ering every option and not ruling
out a school bond at some point,”
said Debbie Critchfield, spokes-
woman for the Cassia County
School District.
The group has been meeting
since October to discuss facility
needs, Critchfield said, including
“learning from missteps” sur-
rounding a 2015 bond election
seeking public input.
Voters approved a $37 million
measure in 2015, which included
opening Burley’s new John V. Ev-
ans Elementary School in 2017.
But an architect underestimated
costs, so the district pursued a
$15 million bond in 2016 to try
to make up the difference. Vot-
ers rejected the additional ballot
measure, forcing the district to
scale back its list of facility proj-
ects.
This fall, Burley will have
four neighborhood elementary
schools for the first time. “We’re
feeling comfortable with the el-
ementary situation,” Critchfield
said.
Now the concern is that Bur-
ley Junior High School and Bur-
ley High School are overcrowded.
The 2015 bond called for class-
room additions at each of the
buildings, but those projects
were nixed due to the funding
shortfall.
The school district is conser-
vatively predicting a 2 percent
annual growth rate. It had 5,531
students enrolled last school year
— a few hundred more than the
2012-13 school year.
In Kimberly, Schroeder said
he doesn’t think people realize
how much the school district has
grown in recent years. “Growth is
Times-News
DREW NASH PHOTOS, TIMES-NEWS‌
a problem, but it’s a good prob-
lem to have. I’d much rather be
dealing with growth than a de-
clining enrollment.”
Beth Stanger has lived in the
district for nine years. When her
oldest daughter — now in middle
school — started kindergarten at
Kimberly Elementary School,
there were 650 children at the
school.
Last school year, there were
about 1,000.
“We’ve been here through the
little growth — the 1 or 2 percent
growth — but we were also here
when they hit the 5 or 6 percent
growth,” said Stanger, who has
two children in the school system
and is president of Kimberly’s
Parent Teacher Student Organi-
zation.
Schools have done a good job
pushing to keep student-to-
teacher ratios low and hiring
paraprofessionals to help out
classroom teachers, she said. “I
didn’t feel like the kids’ educa-
tion was affected.”
Large school districts tend to
be better equipped than smaller
ones to handle growth. In big
districts, more school campuses
and space are usually available. In
Kimberly, a district that will add
its fourth campus this fall, stu-
dent growth has been equivalent
to an entire new school over the
past six years.
“We’ve seen some staggering
growth,” Schroeder said.
What about rural
schools?‌
While Twin Falls and Bur-
ley-area schools are growing
quickly, that generally isn’t spill-
ing over to the smallest, most ru-
ral Magic Valley school districts.
In some communities with lim-
ited housing and not much new
business activity, school leaders
say their enrollment isn’t fluctu-
ating much.
The Valley School District in
Hazelton — about a 30-min-
ute drive from Twin Falls — has
about 600 students.
“The trend so far is just that
we’re holding steady,” Superin-
tendent Eric Anderson said.
Other small, rural Magic Valley
school districts—Buhl, Hansen,
Bliss and Shoshone — also told
the Times-News in April they’re
predicting flat enrollment num-
bers for next school year.
The biggest reason for Valley’s
flat enrollment, Anderson said, is
a lack of new subdivisions in Eden
or Hazelton. “I don’t suspect that
will happen in the immediate fu-
ture. Until that happens, I see us
staying about where we’re at,
unless something changes in the
next several years.”
But when homes do come on
the market, he said, they sell
quickly.
Anderson describes Hazelton
and Eden as a “very rural area.”
It’s possible if Twin Falls contin-
ues on pace with growth, he said,
the spillover effect on Kimberly
could continue out toward Ha- M
zelton and Eden. 1
 Times-News THE BIG STORY Sunday, August 5, 2018 | E3

DREW NASH PHOTOS, TIMES-NEWS‌

Balloon wallpaper is seen from outside the building July 12 at Kimberly Elementary School. The entire foyer is being redone.

The guessing game‌

School districts try to predict
how many students they’ll gain
each year, relying on information
about new companies coming
to town and planned new
subdivisions. Ultimately,
though, it’s just an educated
guess in the weeks leading up to
the first day of school.
The Twin Falls School District
has grown about 3 percent each
of the past two years. Like
other growing Magic Valley
school districts, the district
has budgeted conservatively,
assuming only 2 percent growth.
The Jerome School District —
which has about 4,000 students
— has gained more than 460
students since the 2010-11
school year. District leaders
expect to see about 75 to 100
more students next school year
and again the year after that.
“We believe the most growth
is going to be at the high school
for the next two years due to
the sizes of the classes that are
moving through the system,”
Superintendent Dale Layne said.
In Kimberly, enrollment
growth has been as high as 7
percent some years. Student
numbers are expected to surpass
2,000 by the 2019-20 school
year.
“It’s very hard to guess from
year to year what percentage
of growth you’re going to see,” Noble Smith attends an English class July 2 at Jerome High School.
Schroeder said. He anticipates
seeing another enrollment
spike around 2020, once more Soccer Complex in northwest wing, including more classroom regulated by the Idaho Public any other region in the state.
subdivisions are built. Twin Falls. space and a second gymnasium. Charter School Commission. As student numbers increase,
Stanger is a member of There are two philosophies Money was also used to add Xavier ended the school year so does state funding based on
the school district’s 25-year to handling growth, Dickin- classrooms at other campuses. with 705 students and expects average daily attendance. That
facilities planning committee, son said: wait until schools are Although classrooms were at least 720 when classes resume allows school districts to hire
and said the district is prepared overcrowded and there are lots added on, the problem is “the this fall. more teachers.
for growth and has back-up of portable classrooms, or get infrastructure of the building “I believe if we add more But many Magic Valley school
plans. ahead of the growth by building itself isn’t always conducive,” modular units, we’d be near our districts hire more teachers and
“I know they’re already schools to grow into. Layne said. So while districts capacity of 810 students,” Moon support staff than state funding
planning,” she said, and she In Twin Falls, the community can add additional classroom said covers. And they often boost
doesn’t envision huge class sizes has been supportive, he said, space, common areas like school Unlike traditional public salaries above the state mini-
becoming an issue. noting the ideal window of op- cafeterias and hallways remain school districts, Idaho charter mum to help attract and retain
School officials are going portunity to build a new school overcrowded. schools aren’t allowed to bring educators.
into the future with eyes wide is when buildings are “full, but The Jerome School District is ballot measures to voters to help For next school year, Jerome
open, Schroeder said, but “just not overcrowded.” scoping out land for a possible pay for operating or building School District plans to add
because you have a plan doesn’t “Building new schools is a new school, with a construction expenses. seven new job positions. Three
mean it’s going to be seamless.” huge commitment from the timeline still unknown. “We have to come up with of them hadn’t been filled as of
community,” Dickinson said. Layne said his best guess is different means of funding and early July, even though the dis-
‘A huge commitment’‌ In Kimberly, despite over- a new campus will be an ele- expansion,” Moon said. trict began looking for teachers
With more enrollment growth crowding in the middle and high mentary school, but “we’ll go Xavier has two modular in February.
expected in the next few years, schools, Schroeder said there are through a process with the com- buildings — another word for If a school district hires too
several school districts are ex- no plans to build new schools on munity as far as input.” portable classrooms — on campus, many teachers, it may not have
ploring the need for new schools. the heels of the new Stricker El- Jerome Middle School — the with a total of four classrooms. enough state funding to cover
The Twin Falls School District ementary. only middle school in town — School officials have worked the costs. But if it doesn’t hire
is predicting it will need to build In the meantime, the district has about 1,000 sixth through with a Boise-based architect enough teachers, it’s nearly im-
a new elementary school in five plans to explore options for how eighth-graders. to figure out how to maximize possible to find them once a new
years and a new high school in to utilize available square foot- “That’s a large middle school,” and expand classroom space, school year starts.
12 years, Dickinson said. The age at Kimberly Elementary — Layne said. “We’re trying to fig- and build science labs. The In Kimberly, enrollment began
district will likely reconvene its such as for College of Southern ure out if there’s a way to help school also has a marketing and growing just after the economic
long-range facilities planning Idaho classes for high schoolers there also.” fundraising director, allowing recession of the late 2000s — a
committee in two or three years. or specialized academies. The Xavier to pursue outside sources time when the district had cut
Dickinson said he predicts the school has two portable class- Charter schools‌ of funding to work around its job positions.
new elementary school could rooms – buildings that resemble Xavier Charter School in funding restraints. Teachers can be added using
be in south Twin Falls, but it mobile homes with classrooms Twin Falls is also coping with state funding, Schroeder said,
depends on how quickly new inside. enrollment growth, but it’s Demand for more but enrollment growth has also
homes are built in that area. Using portables isn’t ideal, restricted by charter and facility teachers‌ put a strain on support staff such
In May, the Twin Falls school Schroeder said. “It definitely is constraints. as administrative, clerical and
board voted to buy 58.7 acres of not something our school board “We know we’re limited by the As students pour in, school maintenance workers.
land — with a $520,000 price tag and our community likes hav- size of our facility at this point in districts naturally require ad- “We haven’t been able to keep
— that could be used for a future ing.” time,” administrator Gary Moon ditional teachers. But finding up with the pace of enrollment,”
high school site. The parcel is at In Jerome, voters approved a said. teachers to fill open positions he said. “Those positions are be-
Blue Lakes Boulevard South and nearly $24 million bond in 2014. The school’s enrollment — is difficult because of a state- ing stretched very, very thin.”
M
3600 North. The school district The bulk of the money was used including the number of students wide teacher shortage that’s hit
1 also owns land near the Sunway at Jerome High School for a new allowed in each grade level — is south-central Idaho harder than Please see GROWTH, Page E4
E4 | Sunday, August 5, 2018 THE BIG STORY Times-News

DREW NASH PHOTOS, TIMES-NEWS‌

Jerome High School is shown July 2.

Growth
From E3

How are other school

districts coping?‌
Plenty of other growing cities’
school districts in Idaho and the
western U.S. have grappled with
enrollment growth. But since
many of those are significantly
larger, their solutions for absorb-
ing students would be tough to
emulate here in the Magic Valley.
West Ada School District in
Meridian — Idaho’s largest school
district — has about 39,500 stu-
dents. That’s more than four
times the size of the Twin Falls
School District, by far the biggest
district in the Magic Valley.
It has seen explosive enroll-
ment growth, gaining an average
of 975 children each year. Over
the past 20 years, the district has
built 23 new schools.
“It’s just kind of a way of
life here in West Ada,” district
spokesman Eric Exline said.
A few years ago, when the
Twin Falls School District was
preparing to redraw elementary
and middle school boundaries to
accommodate three new schools,
Exline explained West Ada’s pro-
cess to Twin Falls’ attendance
zone committee.
West Ada serves all or part of
six different cities, spanning 382
square miles. Under a long-term
facilities plan, the district ex-
pects to build seven new schools Lockers line the halls July 2 at Jerome High School.
in the next 10 years — two high
schools, two middle schools and high school and a new elemen- Some Fort Collins high schools 3 percent annual enrollment in- lots and lots of trailers to our high
five elementary schools. tary school. that were originally built to ac- crease for the past 15 years. school.”
Within school district bound- “Management of the bond commodate 1,600 students now The early 2000s is “when we The district purchased por-
aries, 14,000 home sites have projects and trying to keep them house more than 2,000. really started to see the uptick table classroom buildings from
been approved for construc- on time and budget is a difficult Enrollment growth has now in our enrollment,” said Scott neighboring school districts and
tion. Using U.S. Census data, task,” Exline said. “It’s very time slowed down a little bit com- Woolstenhulme, assistant su- private schools. That helped get
that means an estimated 11,000 consuming. You can be caught pared with what school officials perintendent of the Bonneville through the next few years.
more students could be in the off guard by just changes in the were projecting, Clark said. But Joint School District. Until then, On the district’s third attempt,
pipeline to come to West Ada bid environment and the cost of still, “we’ve really started to feel student numbers had remained voters passed a $55.3 million bond
schools in the next decade or so, construction.” the pinch within the last couple fairly stable. for a new high school in 2015 —
Exline said. School bonds require a two- of years.” Woolstenhulme said he has plus $8.2 million for an athletics
There’s only one real mech- thirds supermajority vote to pass, In November 2016, voters ap- heard anecdotally when a city complex and performing arts
anism to deal with enrollment providing another barrier for proved a $375 million bond to hits around the 50,000 popu- center at the new school — and
growth, he said, and that’s pur- schools to acquire the funding. build three new schools: an el- lation mark, “it’s almost like a the campus opens in August.
suing bond measures. “When Though the 2014 ballot measure ementary school and two sixth magic number” for how it fuels New schools will take care of
you’re running bonds and open- is the only one in West Ada that through 12th grade campuses. further growth. Idaho Falls’ pop- middle and high school needs for
ing new schools every two years, has failed in recent years, the su- But construction hasn’t started ulation is about 61,000, accord- the next 15 to 20 years, Woolsten-
that’s a lot.” permajority requires communi- yet. ing to 2017 U.S. Census Bureau hulme said. But now the district
It also means changing school ties to be fully on board with the Projects have been tied up in estimates. is again over capacity at its ele-
attendance zone boundaries fre- measure. litigation — a series of rulings and Another factor in Bonneville mentary schools.
quently. “It’s emotional and it’s “That means that you have to appeals involving community school growth: One major home- The district plans to gradually
a really charged process,” Exline have the trust of your commu- activist Eric Sutherland and the builder was building homes in- move portable classrooms from
said. nity,” Exline said. “They have to topic of tax-increment financing expensively on the Bonneville the high schools to elementary
Voters approved West Ada know you’re planning well and — for the past two years, Clark school district’s side of Idaho schools, he said, but will need
school bonds in 1996, 1998, 2002 spending money well.” said. She hopes a decision will be Falls, which brought a lot of permanent classroom space in
and 2005. The 2005 bond was Idaho is the fastest-growing made by the Colorado Supreme young families into the area, the future.
the largest, at $139 million. One state in the U.S., but it’s hardly Court in the coming months. Woolstenhulme said. For Woolstenhulme, the big-
of the last facilities built before the only state where cities are Back in eastern Idaho, the Over more than a decade from gest surprise of coping with en-
the recession was Rocky Moun- grappling with growth. Fort Col- Bonneville Joint School District 2000 to 2013, the district built rollment growth and building
tain High School, which opened lins, Colo., for example has seen has about 12,500 students. The seven new elementary schools. new schools was community op-
in 2008. persistent enrollment growth in district’s boundaries include a “We basically doubled the num- position to the high school bond.
“When we were thinking about recent years. portion of Idaho Falls, along with ber of elementary schools we had Bonneville passed five bonds
running another bond, the reces- The approximately Ammon, Iona and Ucon. at that time,” he said. for elementary schools without
sion hit,” Exline said. 30,000-student Poudre School District officials wanted to But district officials knew they any significant organized oppo-
West Ada has often been able District in Fort Collins has grown build a new middle school and weren’t meeting the needs at the sition, Woolstenhulme said, but
to run new bonds without the 1 to 1.5 percent annually for the a new $25 million elementary high school level. A decade ago, a they didn’t increase the levy rate.
property tax rate going up, he last five years. school to help alleviate over- facilities planning study showed With the high school, “we
said, due to an increase in market That equates to about 300 to crowding, Idaho Education News it was “very evident we needed faced quite a bit of unexpected
value, but that wasn’t possible 500 more students each year — reported in January. But com- to be bonding for a high school,” criticism,” he said, and the level
during the recession. about the size of an elementary munity pushback and concerns Woolstenhulme said. of opposition and tactics “really
A 2014 attempt to pass a bond school – but growth is inter- led the school board to pursue a But like in West Ada, it was caught us by surprise. None of us
was unsuccessful. The district spersed in different geographic bond just for a middle school and around the time of the economic were really geared up for that.”
tried again in 2015 and the $96 areas, said school district spokes- other smaller projects. Voters ap- recession when a recommen- Woolstenhulme said he hears a
million measure passed, pro- woman Danielle Clark. proved the $35.3 million measure dation came to the Bonneville question from community mem-
viding money for two middle It’s easier to absorb students in March. school board. bers: “When are you going to stop
schools, an elementary school in larger school districts, Clark Unlike Twin Falls and neigh- “The school board said abso- asking for bonds?”
and the expansion of an existing said. “Up until this point, we’ve boring Magic Valley school dis- lutely not,” Woolstenhulme said, But as long as enrollment keeps
high school. been able to accommodate the tricts, Bonneville’s growth has because it would have meant a growing, the district will need to
This March, voters approved a growth with things like modular been slow and steady. The dis- tax increase for property own- keep building schools, he said. M
$95 million bond to build a new classrooms.” trict has seen an approximately ers. Instead, “we started adding “It’s just not going to stop.” 1
 THE BIG STORY SUNDAY, AUGUST 12, 2018 | magicvalley.com | SECTION E

PAT SUTPHIN TIMES-NEWS

Dr. John Hanowell speaks with his patient, Larry Shepherd, on July 6 at St. Luke’s Magic Valley Medical Center emergency room in Twin Falls.

Creative solutions
Magic Valley health care providers adapt to booming population
STORY BY JULIE WOOTTON-GREENER | JWOOTTON@MAGICVALLEY.COM

T
WIN FALLS — More than a year ago, North
Canyon Medical Center contemplated the
future of its Gooding hospital and how to
Magic Valley medical centers: By the numbers
extend its reach.
Since it received funding through a taxing dis- St. Luke’s Magic Valley 192
trict, the medical center was limited to providing Medical Center Employees
services in Gooding County. But in a county with Data from the 2017 fiscal year:
fewer than 16,000
residents, “it’s diffi- 1,811 10,750
Newborns Rehabilitation visits
cult to have traction to (physical, occupational
be a viable enterprise,” and speech therapy)
said Chief Executive 10,855
Officer Tim Powers. Surgeries
In May, Gooding 22 24 percent
Medical staff Population increase
County residents 2,777 from 2000 to 2013 in
voted overwhelmingly — with 87 percent sup- Number of employees Twin Falls and Jerome
port — to dissolve North Canyon’s hospital taxing (hospital and clinics) 8,954 counties
district and allow it to become a nonprofit. The Clinic visits
hospital had already cut tax revenue out of its
operating budget in July 2017. 436,525 16,705 23.3 percent
The change means North Canyon — an 18-bed Clinic visits Idahoans who have any
Hospital outpatient
critical access hospital that’s independent and mental illness – one of
St. Luke’s Mountain visits
locally-controlled by a board of directors — can the highest rates in the
now expand outside its primary service area. States Tumor Institute nation
After conducting a feasibility study last sum- – Twin Falls 4,683 Source: 2017 St. Luke’s Magic
mer, results showed expansion was a difficult Data from the 2017 fiscal year: Emergency department Valley Community Health
proposition, Powers said, but the board felt it visits Needs Assessment
was the right avenue economically to support 5,711
the hospital. Chemotherapy infusion 458 Family Health
Services
Today, construction is underway on a clinic in visits Hospital in-patient
Buhl — the hospital’s first test market outside of admissions
Gooding County — which finally fulfilled a re- 8,592 11.2 percent
quest Buhl business leaders brought to North Patients best served in
Canyon more than six years ago.
Clinic oncology visits 596 a language other than
Surgeries performed English.
In the future, North Canyon may consider
expanding its health care services to Jerome and 4,484 Source: North Canyon Medical
parts of Twin Falls, such as the industrial area Radiation oncology
provider visits
Center’s 2017 annual report 41.4 percent
near Chobani and close to Kimberly. Patients who don’t
“I think there’s room enough for a lot of players Magic Valley have health insurance,
down there,” Powers said. 70 Paramedics Medicare or Medicaid.
As the Magic Valley’s population booms, more Number of employees
patients are coming into hospitals, medical clinics 79,144 26,508
and dental offices and more residents are seeking Service calls since 2009 Clinical patients treated
4,923
North Canyon Medical Behavioral health visits
health care services such as physical therapy and Center in Gooding
assisted living. An aging population and a physi- 44.9 percent 60,002
cian shortage compounds the challenge. 30,342 Increase in volume from Medical visits
34,456
Hospital systems are exploring options such Outpatient visits 2009 to 2017 Prescriptions filled
as expanding their service areas, building new
facilities and offering more health care options
87,030 17.5 percent 246 $22.6 million
— whether in-person, via telehealth or by affil- Babies delivered
iating with larger hospitals to provide specialty Lab procedures Increase in staffing, by Total revenue
care. And a tighter focus is on keeping people adding 8.4 job positions,
healthy and encouraging them to seek interven- 11,164 during that same time 22,264 Source: Family Health Services’
2017 annual report
period Dental visits
tion earlier, instead of dealing with worse issues Imaging studies
in an emergency room.
At North Canyon Medical Center, hospital
officials are preparing for growth and expan- Competition erage.”
sion “in anticipation of the Magic Valley just Several government agencies and medical cen- A second hospital in Twin Falls could provide
mushrooming,” Powers said. “How do you have ters — including the Federal Trade Commission competition for St. Luke’s. But if and when that
an infrastructure to support that? That’s truly and Idaho Attorney General — filed an anti-trust second hospital will come is still unknown.
concerning to us.” lawsuit against the St. Luke’s Health System in 2012. During summer 2017, St. Alphonsus Regional
Growth across the Magic Valley puts a strain U.S. District Court Judge B. Lynn Winmill ruled in Medical Center — which operates in Boise, Nampa,
on health care providers, Powers said. And even 2014 the St. Luke’s broke antitrust laws when it and Ontario and Baker City, Ore. — was in talks with
in Twin Falls, the valley’s population and health acquired Saltzer Medical Group, based in Nampa. city officials about building a hospital and emer-
care hub, St. Luke’s Magic Valley Medical Center Regulators cited the Magic Valley as an example gency department in Twin Falls. It contacted the
is the only hospital in town. of alleged anti-competitive practices. The com- city’s building department and asked to meet about
“Without any direct competition from anyone plaint also alleged rates at St. Luke’s Magic Valley a conceptual plan.
M
else,” Powers said, “that really leaves the com- are “among the most expensive in the entire state,
1 munity and the marketplace at a disadvantage.” with rates rising much faster than the national av- Please see SOLUTIONS, Page E2
 Times-News
Dr. John Hanowell, left, and Certified Nursing Assistant Molly Veenstra prepare an arm sling for 15-month-old Amayrani Yescas Damas before her broken arm can be put into a cast July 6 at
St. Luke’s Magic Valley Medical Center emergency room in Twin Falls.
Solutions
From E1
In late July, a St. Alphonsus
spokesman said there wasn’t
anything new to report, and the
health system continues to eval-
uate communities where there’s
a need but isn’t prepared to make
any announcements.
St. Luke’s Magic Valley — a 224-
bed hospital in Twin Falls — has
a daily average of 128 in-patients,
so it still has space still available.
Elsewhere across south-central
Idaho, St. Luke’s operates 25-bed
critical access hospitals in Jerome
and the Wood River Valley.
St. Luke’s Magic Valley is a
medical hub for a population of
between 200,000 and 250,000
people. A lot of those people are
from rural communities and drive
into Twin Falls to receive medi-
cal care, said Debbie Kytle, a St.
Luke’s east region administrator
overseeing physician services and
population health.
With overall patient numbers,
“we’re experiencing very signif-
icant growth,” said Mike Fenello,
the hospital’s site administrator.
As the population continues to
grow, St. Luke’s will continue to
seek creative ways to connect pa-
tients with care, he said, such as
through telehealth — a way of de-
livering patient care remotely by
using a live video system.
To keep up with the Magic Val-
ley’s population growth, “we have
to start transforming health care,”
Kytle said, including addressing
fragmentation in care. St. Luke’s
wants to provide proactive health
care, she said, instead of reactive
health care that just provides fixes
when a patient is sick.
Another big consideration for
hospitals and patients alike is the
price tag.
“We know the cost of health care
is unsustainable,” Fenello said.
The only way to truly change
that is to keep people healthy and
intervene faster. That, he said,
would help St. Luke’s Magic Val-
ley focus on a small population — 5
percent of patients — that account
for 50 percent of total health care
costs.
‘The demand is growing’‌
It’s a common trend among
Magic Valley health care provid-
ers: They’re seeing more patients
and figuring out how to meet their
needs, including cost-effective
care for those who have a high-de-
ductible health insurance plan or
no insurance.
For Family Health Services —
with locations in Buhl, Fairfield,
Jerome, Twin Falls, Kimberly,
Burley and Rupert — new patients
are still accepted at all clinics, but
some individual providers have
full caseloads and aren’t accepting
new patients.
FHS provides medical, dental
and behavioral health care on a
sliding fee scale that’s dependent
on income, and they also provide
affordable prescription drug cov-
erage. About 41 percent of pa-
tients don’t have health insurance,
Medicare or Medicaid.
“That number does seem to be
rising,” said Aaron Houston, chief
M
executive officer for Family Health
1 Services.
Economic impact of Magic Valley hospitals
Total sales impacts derived from all
hospital expenditures
St. Luke’s Magic Valley Medical Center
$642.8 million
St. Luke’s Jerome Medical Center
$30.4 million
St. Luke’s Wood River Medical Center
$98.5 million
Source: 2017 Report on the Local and Statewide Economic Impact of Idaho’s Community Hospitals
More people have jobs that don’t
offer health insurance, he said,
noting costs are rising and it’s
difficult for companies — espe-
cially small ones — to cover them.
That’s despite a low unemploy-
ment rate, 2.5 percent in June, for
the south-central Idaho region.
Nationwide, 88 percent of full-
time workers have access to health
insurance benefits, according to
the U.S. Department of Labor’s
Bureau of Labor Statistics. But
for part-time civilian workers,
that number is just 21 percent. The
Idaho Department of Labor used
to compile a fringe benefit survey
but doesn’t anymore due to a loss
of grant funding.
There’s also a trend toward a
“gig economy,” where workers fill
temporary jobs in areas like house-
keeping and ride-sharing. Almost
25 percent of Americans fill these
types of positions, according to
the Pew Reseach Center. While
some workers say they enjoy the
flexibility, the downside is no em-
ployer-provided health insurance.
Approximately 64 percent of
FHS’ patients are below 200 per-
cent of the federal poverty level,
meaning they’re eligible to re-
ceive discounts on primary care
health services. And 11.2 percent
are best served in a language other
than English.
For low-income residents, an-
other option for health care is
Wellness Tree Community Clinic,
a nonprofit in Twin Falls that pro-
vides medical and dental care for
those living at or below the pov-
erty level or who don’t have health
insurance.
Low-income Shoshone-area
residents who don’t have health
insurance can access the Good
Samaritan Clinic, operating out of
Shoshone Family Medical Center.
At FHS, Houston has also no-
ticed a recent increase in the num-
ber of patients who have high-de-
ductible health insurance plans.
With that kind of plan, it’s tough
for a parent to take their child to
a doctor, he said, if they’re paying
more than $100 out of pocket for
an office visit, testing and medi-
cations.
The same is true at Cassia Re-
gional Hospital, where adminis-
trator Ben Smalley said he’s seen
an influx of patients who have
high-deductible plans and are
seeking cost-effective care.
The 25-bed critical access hos-
pital in Burley has seen overall
growth in patient numbers and
the number of surgeries per-
formed. Most patients are from
Mini-Cassia, although some come
from Twin Falls and the surround-
ing areas.
“I think we’re seeing that as the
population grows, the demand is
THE BIG STORY
Wage and salary earning impacts
$293.1 million
$12.9 million
$46.5 million
An airy reception area greets patients July 17 at North Canyon Medical Center in Gooding.
Employees go about their business July 17 at North Canyon Medical
Center in Gooding.
growing as well,” Smalley said.
At nearby Minidoka Memorial
Hospital in Rupert, “we’re defi-
nitely growing,” said chief execu-
tive officer Tom Murphy.
Within the past year, the hospi-
tal has added a couple more pri-
mary care providers. It also saw
300 more in-patient days —visits
where a patient is admitted to the
hospital — than the previous year.
“That’s quite an increase for us,”
Murphy said.
At North Canyon Medical
Center, patients often hail from
Total jobs created
6,532
300
776
DREW NASH, TIMES-NEWS‌
as far away as northern Nevada,
Mini-Cassia and Glenns Ferry. But
Powers said the number of emer-
gency room visits are fairly flat, if
not dipping a little. One possible
explanation is a walk-in clinic
opened one-and-a-half years ago,
so people may be going there for
minor issues instead of the ER.
Hiring and expanding‌
Magic Valley hospitals are push-
ing to recruit more medical staff.
But to fill the gaps and provide
more specialized care, many small
Sunday, August 12, 2018 | E2
PAT SUTPHIN TIMES-NEWS‌
Indirect tax effect
(mostly sales and property taxes)
$10.5 million
$490,357
$1.46 million
Lee Enterprises graphic
DREW NASH, TIMES-NEWS‌
hospitals are turning to telehealth
services or establishing partner-
ships with larger health care orga-
nizations. And they’re using tech-
nology to help patients more easily
communicate with providers and
schedule appointments.
In 2006, 84 percent of Twin
Falls County voters approved
selling the county-owned Magic
Valley Regional Medical Center
to the St. Luke’s Health System.
Since then, St. Luke’s has hired 152
physicians and 77 advanced-level
providers, such as nurse practi-
tioners and physician assistants.
When providers come to visit
the Magic Valley, they tend to like
the area’s culture, Kytle said. “Of
course, having a new hospital has
been huge to recruitment.”
Many of the physicians hired
have a connection to the region,
and they like that Twin Falls is
a small but vibrant area with a
strong hospital system, Fenello
said.
There is a nationwide physician
shortage, and Idaho and the Magic
Valley are no exception.
In south-central Idaho, Fenello
said, there’s an acute shortage of
physiatrists and adolescent psy-
chiatrists. Addressing mental
health needs is “an enormous is-
sue for every hospital and commu-
nity across the country.”
St. Luke’s is working to inte-
grate licensed clinical social work-
ers into its primary care clinics,
Fenello said, and several are work-
ing there already. The Twin Falls
hospital has also integrated social
workers into the emergency de-
Please see SOLUTIONS, Page E3
 Times-News THE BIG STORY Sunday, August 12, 2018 | E3

DREW NASH, TIMES-NEWS‌

Physician assistant Todd Thorne talks with a patient July 19 at Family Health Services in Jerome.

PAT SUTPHIN TIMES-NEWS‌

Dr. John Hanowell inspects the arm of Amayrani Yescas Damas on Friday,
July 6, 2018, at St. Luke’s Magic Valley Medical Center emergency room in
Twin Falls.

Dr. Guy Grooms meets with a patient July 17 at North Canyon Medical Melchor Avila Ocarranza, right, is examined by physician assistant Todd Thorne July 19, at Family Health
Center in Gooding. Services in Jerome.

Solutions
From E2

partment.
Family Medicine Residency of
Idaho has a Magic Valley rural
training track to bring residents to
Twin Falls and Jerome. St. Luke’s
also takes in a lot of students in
areas like nursing and pharmacy.
Since 2016, Cassia Regional
Hospital has hired seven physi-
cians, including in primary care.
In August, it plans to add a general
surgeon. It will also add providers
in podiatry and internal medicine.
For years, the hospital hov-
ered around 27-28 physicians on
its medical staff, which includes
those employed by the hospital
and with affiliated organizations.
It’s now up to 31 physicians.
The hospital reaches out to
medical students to encourage
them to rotate through, and it in-
vests in tuition reimbursement —
more than $30,000 so far in 2018
— to help its employees pursue
more education and advance to
higher-level positions.
To expand available services for
patients, Cassia Regional Hospital
— which is part of Intermountain
Healthcare — uses a high-defi-
nition camera system to connect
with specialists in other Inter- The radiography room is shown July 17 at North Canyon Medical Center in Gooding.
mountain hospitals.
For example, local patients may added a general surgeon about 18 With Medicaid, Family Health put services more away from our at other areas of Jerome as possi-
receive chemotherapy at Cassia months ago. Services would receive a much campus,” Fenello said. bilities. Officials hope to purchase
Regional Hospital so they don’t Minidoka Memorial Hospital higher level of reimbursement. There’s still the possibility of land within the next month, then
have to drive to another city and has visiting specialists from St. “We’d be able to offer a lot more building more facilities at the it will take about a year to build a
can stay close to their family. Pa- Luke’s Magic Valley, but doesn’t services,” Houston said. Twin Falls hospital campus, he new facility.
tients can have face-to-face inter- have affiliation agreements with Even without Medicaid expan- said. But the hospital’s first pri- In Burley, Cassia Regional Hos-
action with an oncologist via video other health care organizations, sion, FHS has hired several new ority is starting small primary care pital sits on a 30-acre campus,
system. Murphy said. “We’re pretty inde- providers recently, including a clinics, which will likely include where it has been since 1995.
Telehealth services are also used pendent.” new physician who started in mid- rotating specialists. Despite the “We’re just ready for this growth
for intensive care. And the emer- The hospital is fully owned July in Burley and one who starts hospital’s stated focus on areas whenever it comes because we
gency department can connect by Minidoka County and is gov- this month in Rupert. In January, outside of Twin Falls, Kimberly have plenty of land for that growth
with a neurologist who can assess erned by a seven-member board a new physician started in Jerome. and south Twin Falls are two ar- to take place,” Smalley said.
patients for stroke symptoms. appointed by county commission- “We don’t hire physicians very eas where Fenello said a new clinic The hospital recently expanded
Specialists are available through ers. But the hospital’s operations often,” Houston said. “They’re would make sense, as the popula- its emergency room and imaging
Intermountain Healthcare’s vir- and revenues are separate from the very hard to come by.” tions there grow rapidly. facilities. And it remodeled much
tual hospital. county. For instance, FHS spent about St. Luke’s is building an ex- of its building space, purchasing
At North Canyon Medical Cen- Minidoka Memorial isn’t look- five years recruiting for a Burley panded clinic in Buhl, which will new boiler and air systems.
ter, the hospital began a relation- ing to sell to any other health sys- physician. The only providers who accommodate more patients and
ship with Mayo Clinic Health tem, Murphy said. It may look come have ties to the community, services. It’s tentatively set to Assisted living‌
Solutions about three years ago. to collaborate with larger health he said, adding they can make open in early 2019. Hospitals and traditional health
Previously, the hospital had a rela- systems, though, to provide tele- more money elsewhere. St. Luke’s also recently built care providers aren’t the only
tionship with St. Luke’s, but Pow- health services in areas where it’s Still, FHS has doubled the num- new facilities on its Twin Falls facilities feeling the effects of
ers said it was an “amicable split.” not feasible to provide local ser- ber of providers in its behavioral hospital campus. An outpatient growth. Assisted living centers
North Canyon also offers tele-be- vices, he said, such as burn, stroke health program over the past 18 surgery center opened in No- — providers of services such as
havioral health in partnership with and intensive care. months. At the beginning of 2017, vember 2016 and a new medical nursing and rehabilitation — are
the University of Utah. “We’re excited about telehealth FHS had four counselors and a office building — Medical Plaza 2 also stretched thin.
For patients, it means having to afford us opportunities to access psychologist in Twin Falls, and one — opened to patients this March. Bridgeview Estates in Twin Falls
more specialized physicians who specialty care,” Murphy said. It counselor in Burley. Now, it has a Family Health Services plans is 75 percent full, although occu-
can review their case. And there’s would allow for treating patients total of seven counselors in Twin to build a new clinic in Jerome, pancy rates vary depending on
the opportunity for referrals to locally instead of having to trans- Falls, Jerome and Burley, one psy- which will double its dental ca- whether it’s independent living,
travel to Mayo Clinic hospitals for fer them to other hospitals. chologist in Twin Falls and three pacity. Right now, it’s hard to get assisted living (which is tradi-
testing and treatment. For Family Health Services, be- integrated counselors in Twin new patients in, Houston said, tionally more full) or skilled care.
North Canyon also brings in ing able to expand services would Falls, Jerome and Burley. even though the dental clinic is Bridgeview’s resident numbers
about a dozen rotating specialists require funding through grants open 10 hours a day, five days a have increased within the last
and is hiring more of its own pro- and donations from foundations New facilities‌ week. year, executive director Joanne
viders. or individuals. Expanding Med- To offset recent population The current facility in Jerome is Johnson said, as more people
Starting in April 2017, North icaid coverage in Idaho, Houston growth, some Magic Valley hos- only about six years old, Houston come to the facility from the Wood
Canyon brought in an orthope- said, would be a big help. pitals are looking to build new said, but FHS has already out- River Valley.
dic surgeon one week per month. Patients in what’s commonly facilities. But they want to focus grown the space. Bridgeview opened in 1992 and
Several months ago, the physician referred to as the “Medicaid gap,” more on outlying areas rather than Finding land along the South doubled its number of rooms in
from Oklahoma agreed to practice receive subsidized health care ser- Twin Falls, where St. Luke’s Magic Lincoln Avenue corridor has 1996 during the second phase of
M
in Gooding full-time. He started vices from FHS and some are only Valley’s often has available beds. been a challenge, though. FHS is
1 on staff June 1. The hospital also paying $20 for a doctor’s visit. “Our five-year plan is looking to on its fifth bid and is now looking Please see SOLUTIONS, Page E4
 Times-News THE BIG STORY Sunday, August 12, 2018 | E4

DREW NASH, TIMES-NEWS‌

Employee Annika Eames greets Sherry Hann while Keelee Graves, right, works July 17, at North Canyon Medical Center in Gooding.

Solutions
From E3

construction. “They planned for

the growth, and that’s why we’re
so big,” Johnson said.
In addition to the elderly, Brid-
geview cares for young people
who have conditions that require
long-term care. People can also
live at Bridgeview while undergo-
ing physical rehabilitation before
returning home.
Bridgeview is a continu-
um-of-care facility, which means
residents can move among the
different levels over time as their
needs change. It’s one of the only
centers in the Magic Valley that
provides that option, Bridgeview
executive director Cindy Riedel
said.
Bridgeview offers speech, oc-
cupational and physical therapy
on site, and employs its own pro-
viders.
The facility provides medical
care, but is also a fun place to live,
Johnson said, offering activities
such as a luau in August. “We also
provide that social part of your life
that’s so important.”

What are other

hospitals are doing?‌
A major need for Eastern Idaho
Regional Medical Center in Idaho
Falls — along with most hospitals
in Idaho and across the western
United States — is physician re-
cruitment.
“A bit of a double whammy,
of course, is population growth
coupled with an aging physi-
cian population,” said hospital
spokeswoman Coleen Niemann.
Eastern Idaho Regional Medi-
cal Center — a 334-bed hospital
— primarily serves Bonneville
County, which includes Idaho
Falls. But it’s also the primary
trauma facility near Yellowstone
National Park, and sees patients
from areas of nearby Wyoming
and Montana.
There’s already a physician
shortage with today’s current
population in southeast Idaho,
Niemann said. “When you fac-
tor in growing communities and
retirements within the next five
years or so of specialists in Idaho
Falls and the surrounding com-
munities, the shortage is even
greater.”
Physicians who have roots in
Idaho or are drawn to the lifestyle
and recreational activities are the
two types of providers most likely
to move to Idaho Falls, she said.
The hospital spends a signif-
icant amount of time and re-
sources working to recruit phy-
sicians, Niemann said. A new
strategy for EIRMC has been es-
tablishing a residency program.
“We already know that resi-
dents have a higher probability
of practicing in the community
in which they did their training,”
she said.
The hospital’s first group of
10 internal medicine physicians
started in July on a three-year
residency. The hospital will add
10 more residents each year. It
also intends to start other spe-
cialty residency programs, Nie-
mann said.
M
In Corvallis, Ore. — a city only
1 slightly larger than Twin Falls —
Maria Chavez arrives for a dental appointment Thursday, July 19, 2018, at Family Health Services in Jerome.
The MRI zone is seen Tuesday, July 17, 2018, at North Canyon Medical Center in Gooding.
Samaritan Health Services hasn’t
necessarily seen an increase in
the number of hospital stays, de-
spite population growth, spokes-
woman Julie Manning said.
That’s because five years ago
— using a waiver from the fed-
eral government — Oregon es-
tablished regional Coordinated
Care Organizations, she said.
They focus on caring for Medicaid
patient needs earlier on, reducing
the number of emergency room
visits and hospital stays.
The regional health system —
based in Corvallis — serves three
Oregon counties and includes five
hospitals, three of which are criti-
cal access with fewer than 25 beds.
The health system is building new
hospitals in Newport and Lincoln
City to replace aging structures.
The health system’s service
area includes about 275,000 res-
idents — only slightly larger than
the St. Luke’s Magic Valley ser-
vice area. But Corvallis is home
to Oregon State University, so its
demographic makeup is much
different than Twin Falls.
“Corvallis is a little bit of an
enigma, in the sense that (of)
56,000 people, half of the popu-
lation are OSU students who live
in the city limits,” Manning said.
Despite the disproportionate
number of college-aged stu-
dents in Corvallis, however, the
city has seen the fourth-largest
increase in Oregon for the num-
ber of residents ages 65 and older
since 2010 — a surprising figure,
DREW NASH, TIMES-NEWS‌
Manning said.
The main driver of patient
numbers has been Medicaid ex-
pansion, Manning said. The big-
gest uptick was in 2015 as more
people came onto the Oregon
Health Plan.
Medicaid expansion is a major
topic of discussion here in Idaho.
An expansion proposal has re-
ceived enough signatures to get
a spot on November ballots, and
it was recently backed by Rep.
Fred Wood, a Republican from
Burley and chair of the House
and Welfare Committee. If the
ballot initiative passes, it could
mean coverage for about 62,000
low-income Idahoans.
Back in Oregon, the state has
faced a lot of challenges with get-
DREW NASH, TIMES-NEWS‌
ting Medicaid enrollment infra-
structure up and running, Man-
ning said, and accurately tracking
who’s eligible or ineligible for the
Oregon Health Plan.
With Medicaid expansion, Sa-
maritan Health System has seen
more low-income community
members beginning to access ser-
vices in a primary care settling in-
stead of through a hospital emer-
gency department, Manning said.
“We’ve definitely seen that has
been the case,” she said. “Folks are
having their preventative care.
They’re accessing services in a
more typical way. That has helped
us contain costs.”
The real focus for the health
system is population health,
Manning said. It’s about help-
ing people try to stay healthy
and manage chronic conditions
— such as diabetes, high blood
pressure and congestive heart
failure — that can greatly impact
their health and quality of life.
“We’re working more closely
than ever with community-based
organizations,” she said.
With more people accessing
primary care, “it means we really
need to ramp up ways people can
receive primary care,” Manning
said, such as quick care, online
appointments and walk-ins.
Eastern Idaho and Corvallis
are just a few examples of com-
munities of a similar size to Twin
Falls. Like Twin Falls, they’re
exploring new ways to treat pa-
tients, including putting a larger
emphasis on reaching people in
clinics earlier to help to reduce
the number of emergency room
visits and hospitalizations further
down the road.
“We are really trying to broaden
the front door to our system,”
Manning said.
 THE BIG STORY SUNDAY, AUGUST 19, 2018 | magicvalley.com | SECTION E

LAURIE WELCH, TIMES-NEWS

Derek Larson harvests a grain field on July 26 between the new John V. Evans Elementary and Cliff Goichoechea’s home.

THE RURAL-URBAN
DIVIDEAs cities expand, rural residents feel the squeeze of population growth
MYCHEL MATTHEWS | mmatthews@magicvalley.com

T
WIN FALLS — Magic Valley resi-
dents have a complicated relation-
ship with agriculture.
We love seeing horses frolicking in a
pasture, but we hate listening to farm-
ers bale hay at night. We love food, but
we hate the noise and dust that harvest
creates. We love the taste of cheese, ice
cream and yogurt, but we hate the smell
of dairies.
We love the wealth that agriculture has
given us, but we hate the nuisances that
come with agriculture.
For the past few years, Twin Falls
County has played catch-up trying to
keep pace with its rapid growth. But in
the not-so-distant future, zoning issues
between rural and urban areas are likely to
come to a head. The impending collision
of incompatible land uses, commissioners
say, is a recipe for conflict.

The collision
“Not in my backyard,” some disgruntled
residents say. But just whose backyard is
it anyway?
Jill and Tom Skeem own a home on one
acre on Champlin Road west of Kim-
berly. A little more than a mile west of the
Skeems’ home sits Amalgamated Sugar
Co.’s century-old processing plant. Just
north of the sugar factory sits Jayco Inc., a
manufacturer of recreational camp trail-
ers, and a half-mile south of the Skeems’
home sits a dairy.
For years, the Skeems fully expected
to retire and live happily ever after in
their home, directly surrounded by farm
ground. But nearly six years ago, Cho-
bani purchased land a mile north of the
couple’s home, followed soon by Clif Bar.
Now Twin Falls city limits are within a
half-mile of their home.
The Skeems and their country neigh-
bors are feeling the pinch.
Kimberly recently approved two sub-
divisions in the city’s impact area east of
Champlin Road, also known as 3300 East,
just up the road from the Skeems. Phase
I of Evening Star Subdivision includes 10
homes on 10 acres and Sugar Slope Subdi-
vision includes four homes on five acres.
Impact areas are not inside a city’s legal
bounds but are areas a city expects to an-
nex in the future.
PAT SUTPHIN, TIMES-NEWS
Amalgamated Sugar Co.’s processing plant is seen in the background on July 27. Twin Falls County Planning and Zoning Commission denied a
request to build two potato cellars at this site on 3300 East south of Clif Bar in the agriculture zone in the city of Twin Falls’ Area of Impact.
Eagle Eye Properties has appealed the decision to the county commissioners.
“If we break the cow’s back, the county Planning and Zoning Com-
mission in May, but not because of the
she won’t give any milk. neighbors’ argument. The Idaho Falls-
If we break agriculture’s based business has appealed the decision,
and it will go before the county commis-
back, we won’t have to sion on Aug. 30.
worry about zoning.
There will be no Chobani. Finding a balance
Because the company is appealing the
No Glanbia. No Clif Bar.” P&Z’s decision, Administrator Bill Craf-
ton couldn’t comment on the case but
Bill Crafton, Twin Falls County Planning and The Skeems and their neighbors sprang agreed to discuss the county’s growing
Zoning administrator into action to oppose the spud cellars. The pains. The county will probably see more
cellars are part of a commercial operation land use conflicts as urbanization contin-
In May, local potato growers proposed and shouldn’t be allowed in an agriculture ues, he said.
to construct two spud cellars on 38 acres zone, they protested. Idaho’s Right to Farm Act protects
in the agriculture zone west of Champlin The applicant, Eagle Eye Properties, farmland from urbanization, Crafton
Road. Complicating the issue, the pro- represents a cooperative of five local said, but it also empowers counties to en-
posed site of the spud cellars is in Twin growers whose potatoes are packed and act restrictive codes to protect everyone’s
Falls’ impact area, but because the site is in shipped by Eagle Eye Produce. property rights.
an ag zone and is more than 20 acres, Twin Eagle Eye Properties’ application for
Falls County has zoning jurisdiction. a conditional use permit was rejected by Please see DIVIDE, Page E4

M
1 MORE INSIDE: Nearby growth trickles into small Mini-Cassia towns, E2 | A Right to Farm state, E4 | Components of a comprehensive plan, E4
E2 | Sunday, August 19, 2018 THE BIG STORY Times-News

LAURIE WELCH, TIMES-NEWS

Glenna Hansen and her son William Praegitzer discuss how Heyburn is changing on July 26 at their home.

Nearby growth trickles into small Mini-Cassia towns

LAURIE WELCH
lwelch@magicvalley.com‌
‌BURLEY — When Cliff Goicoe-
chea bought his home in 1985, it
was nestled just beyond Burley’s
southwest city limits. It repre-
sented an idyllic rural lifestyle.
Thirty-three years later, all that
has changed.
Growth across Mini-Cassia
brought more traffic, neighbors
and noise and a lot less privacy.
It also left him wondering if he
should sell his home and move
farther away from the city.
Between 2007 and 2017, Cassia
County’s population increased
9.4 percent, the third-largest
growth of the eight counties in
south-central Idaho.
The region’s population grew
steadily over the same period,
from 177,235 to 196,712, an 11-per-
cent increase. Twin Falls topped
the chart at 15.4 percent growth
and Jerome came in at 14.9 per-
cent.
Mini-Cassia’s two biggest cit-
ies, Burley and Rupert, contrib-
uted to most of the population
and economic growth in the two
counties. But the tiny towns and
rural spaces around the two cities
are starting to feel the ripples of
change.
In 2015, Burley annexed a 14-
acre parcel of property that was
previously used as farm ground to
build the new John V. Evans Ele-
mentary School and add city util-
ities. One of those fields was north
of Goicoechea’s home.
“We like to live outside of town
where there’s not a lot of traffic,”
Goicoechea said.
Since the school opened last fall,
traffic on the county road in front DREW NASH, TIMES-NEWS‌
of his home increased about five- Tony Morley, Heyburn city administrator, discusses possible upgrades July 5 at the Heyburn Wastewater Treatment Facility.
fold, he said.
“We have to keep our animals that’s caused a
penned, and our dogs can’t run,” drastic shift in
he said. “It’s really changing my farmland.”
attitude about living so close to Exactly how
town, and we are thinking about much land has
moving.” been diverted from
Most residents in the area feel farm use remains
the same way, he said. murky.
“The city is encroaching on our Packham The USDA’s
life,” Goicoechea said. “It has hurt agriculture cen-
my quality of life. I can’t even sit sus tracks the number of farms
on my deck without having people and farm acres by county, but the
looking at me. It’s a privacy issue. census is only completed every five
It changed quickly, but the whole years. The next one is due out in
community is changing quickly.” the spring of 2019.
Goicoechea is not alone. As The most recent census showed
urban areas continue to grow, he that farmland in Cassia County
is one of many Magic Valley resi- declined from 644,740 acres in
dents who feel the city’s presence 2007 to 611,055 in 2012. Residents
creeping into their rural way of and officials have mixed opinions
life. about whether that downward
trend in farmland will continue
Disappearing when the next census data is re-
farm ground?‌ leased.
Cassia County Assessor Dwight
Between Goicoechea’s home Davis said older computer soft-
and the school, wheat in a field ware in his office makes it im-
swayed in the hot breeze on July 27. possible to run a report showing
Harvesters shot plumes of dust how much farm ground exists in
into the air as they cut grain stems DREW NASH, TIMES-NEWS‌ the county. Planning and Zoning
and poured the golden kernels into Ultra violet rays are used as a disinfectant July 5 at the Heyburn Wastewater Treatment Facility. Director Kerry McMurray said his
waiting trucks. office doesn’t track it either.
Derek Larson, of Burley, leases surrounding the city diminish – said most of the shift from farm- “Most of the homes out in the But when changes hamper
the field along with others to grow replaced by subdivisions, busi- land to commercial or residential county that have been built in the farmers’ bottom lines, they tend
his crops each year. nesses and the school. in the county has occurred in the past few years were set apart for to notice the shift.
In the past few years, he’s Joel Packham, extension edu- industrial area on Burley’s south- that purpose quite a while ago,” M
watched the available farm ground cator with the University of Idaho west side. Packham said. “So I don’t think Please see MINI-CASSIA, Page E3 1
 Times-News THE BIG STORY Sunday, August 19, 2018 | E3

LAURIE WELCH, TIMES-NEWS

The city of Paul on Ellis Street is shown looking west on Aug. 1.

Mini-Cassia
From E2

“A lot of the younger farm-

ers rent ground to farm,” Larson
said. “And it’s getting harder to
find ground to rent. It affects me
a lot. All the subdivisions and
businesses that have taken up that
ground mean the available acres
are shrinking.”
The number of dairies in the
county has also increased, making
it more difficult to find farmland
that’s farther away from the city,
he said.
It’s also frustrating to watch
the water diverted from irrigat-
ing crops to water lawns, Larson
said, and sometimes the acreage
is broken up, making pivots less
effective.
The rented field next to Goicoe-
chea’s property used to be irri-
gated by a center pivot. But af-
ter the school was built, hand
lines had to be installed because
the pivot could only go halfway
around its circle course.
“It makes it tougher to irrigate,”
Larson said.

A localized economy‌
The towns surrounding Burley
and Rupert are also starting to
see gradual changes. But Hey-
burn – sandwiched between the
two bigger cities – is taking the
brunt of it.
The town, population 3,329,
added 430 residents from 2010 to
2017. And more growth is on the
horizon, with a backlog of subdi-
visions and commercial ventures
in the pipeline.
“If you drive around you may
not notice a lot going on yet,”
Councilwoman Joanne Justesen
said. “But there are a lot of things
in the development stages.”
The city launched a new build-
ing department to handle com-
mercial and residential building
permits this spring, a project
that was in the works before the
growth spurt occurred.
All of the money from the build-
ing permit fees will now go directly
to the city. Prior to the building
department, the fees were shared
with Minidoka County, which
handled all of the city permits.
The change will streamline the
process for developers in the fu-
ture, Justesen said, because they
won’t have to deal with the both
the city and the county.
Tony Morley, now the city’s
administrator, was the former
administrator for the county
building department, so he has
the expertise to run the new city
department, Justesen said.
“We have people knocking on
our door all the time asking if there
are any places to develop where
they can put industry,” Morley
said.
Other changes the city faces will
hit residents solidly in the pock-
etbook.
Machinery is shown in the headworks building July 5 at the Heyburn Wastewater Treatment Facility.
in July to ask a judge for a court
order for a $7 to $8 million bond
issue for upgrades to its waste-
water treatment plant, which is
out of compliance with U.S. En-
vironmental Protection Agency
standards.
“Growth is good, but it causes
problems,” Morley said. “It causes
a lot of growing pains, but it’s ben-
eficial in other ways.”
Rupert and Burley have done a
good job of attracting new busi-
nesses in the past few years, Mor-
ley said.
“People have to understand that
this is not a localized economy,”
Morley said. “Industry benefits all
of us. We are all in this together.”
When there is a tight labor and
housing market, for example, it
affects everyone throughout the
region, he said.
The Minidoka County School
District also announced this year
that several of its elementary
schools, including Heyburn’s, are
bursting at the seams.
The school is so crowded that
safety has become an issue be-
cause there is not always enough
space between the tables and
desks for a safe exit plan in case of
an emergency, Minidoka School
District Superintendent Ken Cox
said in April.
Despite Heyburn’s growing
pains, neighbors still chat across
fences, children still play in their
front yards and tractors still roll
down 21st Street, which was wid-
DREW NASH, TIMES-NEWS‌
in traffic load.
Few people would dispute that
the town is on the threshold of
change.
“There is more growth in the
area,” said Heyburn resident
Glenna Hansen “But I don’t see
our quality of life changing, unless
all the farmers sell out.”
In the midst of the growth, Han-
sen and her adult son, William
Praegitzer, moved back to Hey-
burn after living in Arizona and
then Twin Falls for several years.
They now live with Hansen’s
daughter, Kasi Praegitzer. The
house is nestled into a cozy neigh-
borhood on the northwest edge
of Heyburn, with the back yard
bordered by a field and a view of
Interstate 84.
William Praegitzer spent his
childhood in Mini-Cassia. When
he returned in March as an adult,
he was struck by everything that
had changed.
“It literally has been torn down
and rebuilt,” he said.
His old stomping grounds have
disappeared, along with personal
childhood landmarks like friends’
houses.
Most of the old mom and pop
shops that once dotted the streets
are gone, replaced in part by big
box stores.
“It was like a consolidation,”
Praegitzer said. “All the small
stores dried up and were replaced
by big stores. There’s been rejuve-
nation.” DREW NASH, TIMES-NEWS‌

M
After facing fines stiff enough to ened a few years ago to accom- Water trickles from a clarifier July 5 at the Heyburn Wastewater
1 bankrupt the city, officials decided modate the anticipated increase Please see MINI-CASSIA, Page E3 Treatment Facility.
 E4 | Sunday, August 19, 2018
Mini-Cassia
From E3
Kasi Praegitzer bought her
home in Heyburn because it was
close to her job as a truck driver
for Dot Foods.
Dot Foods was one of several
large businesses that moved to
Mini-Cassia after the J.R. Sim-
plot Co. shuttered its Heyburn
plant in 2003. The closure elim-
inated about 650 jobs and rocked
Mini-Cassia’s economy.
Since then, the two counties
have steadily rebuilt their econo-
mies. Hansen sees the economic
benefits of growth far outweigh-
ing any negatives.
“We welcome any changes that
come,” she said. “Build us some
more places for people to work.”
Her family, she said, would ea-
ficial Twin Falls County Zoning Map
Divide
R 13 E From E1
“There are no carte blanche
zoning ordinances,” he said.
To mitigate conflicts over pri-
vate property, the state requires
counties and cities to have up-
to-date comprehensive plans and
impact area agreements to guide
a town’s growth in a structured,
logical manner and to stave off
urban sprawl.
“You can’t control growth,
but you can guide it into a better
form,” said Jonathan Spendlove,
OWSLEY
Twin Falls Planning and Zoning
BRIDGE
director.
The comprehensive plans and
impact area agreements are to be
updated every 10 years, but 10
years may not be often enough,
Twin Falls County Commissioner
Don Hall said. Residential and
commercial development may
outpace local government’s abil-
ity to guideR it.14 E
36 31
“Ten years ago, no one saw
1 6
Chobani coming,” said Hall, a
former Twin Falls mayor and city
councilman.
Spendlove emphasized the re-
lationship between a city’s com-
prehensive plan and its zoning
codes.
“Comp plan is the vision, and
Buhl
the zoning codes are the blue-
36 31
prints,” he said. 36 31
Twin Falls County’s current
1 6
plan was completed in 2008.
1 6
Commissioners have taken the
first step to update it by soliciting
consultants to do the job. And
they aren’t alone. Kimberly is
gearing up to update its plan in
the next two years.
“The adopted area of impact
Castleford
is to be renegotiated (with the
36 31county) in approximately 36 two31
years,” Kimberly Planning and
1 6
Zoning Administrator Craig 1 6
Eckles wrote in an email. “At
such time the City of Kimberly,
Twin Falls, Twin Falls County
and staff shall be meeting on this
issue to determine any boundary
changes.”
When founded, Twin Falls
and Kimberly sat six miles apart.
36 31 Today, only one mile separates
36 31
the eastern city limits of Twin
1 6
Falls and the western city1
limits
6 “If we break agriculture’s
of Kimberly. The cities’ areas of
impact touch for 3 1/2 miles along
3300 East and 3800 North.
Twin Falls now consumes some
50 square miles, including its
impact area. Kimberly controls 7
1/2 square miles. The city limits
of Twin Falls now extend east to
36 31 include most of the mile 36 section
31
containing Chobani, Jayco and
1 6
Clif Bar. Kimberly now1 extends 6
west to include a subdivision at
3400 East and Orchard Drive.
THE BIG STORY Times-News
gerly accept the town’s growing city’s wastewater system would
pains in exchange for the gains not handle commercial develop-
“Small businesses can’t afford
to hire anyone,” Wilmot said.
There is a quarter-mile buffer
zone around the city. Officials
those companies bring to the area. ment, Hossfeld said. “And you can’t hire workers if have considered annexing areas
“It would have to be upgraded there are no rentals and no houses of growth, but have yet to reach a
Smaller towns, for that to happen,” he said. for sale.” consensus.
smaller growth‌ Growth in Albion, Mayor Sha- Development outside the city, Good planning during the early
ron Wilmot said, is in the valley which is surrounded by moun- stages of growth, she said, is cru-
The smallest of Mini-Cassia rather than in town, as some peo- tains, comes with its own set of cial.
towns, places like Paul and Al- ple buy up old farms. problems and could potentially Across the Magic Valley, resi-
bion, are also feeling the effects of “We’ve had five or six big homes wreak havoc on the city’s water dents of tiny towns are feeling the
regional growth, but on a smaller built south of Albion in the last system, she said. sting of nearby growth. For some,
scale. couple of years,” she said. Country homes have septic like Goichoechea, the growth has
A new 58-lot subdivision in The city also has one newer systems, and that water can run had a profound effect quality of
Paul is still in the planning stages. subdivision with several lots still downhill toward the city, po- life, and is enough to consider
It will be the first subdivision built available, and another one under tentially contaminating the tiny moving elsewhere.
in Paul since the 1970s. development. town’s enclosed aquifer, the city’s “The whole Mini-Cassia area
“I think our housing is like the Albion, Almo and Elba, are all only water source. is changing so fast,” Wilmot said.
rest of the area,” Mayor Bruce considered bedroom communities “We have a contained aqui- “We all really need to be looking
Hossfeld said. “It is really tight, for people working in Burley and fer and water is pulled from the 20 years ahead. These problems
and there is nothing for rent.” Rupert. But business in Albion has ground to a tank,” she said. “We are affecting all of us in Cassia
There is no industrial or com- remained stagnant, Wilmot said. have no reservoir and no way to County and Minidoka County. I’m
mercial growth in the town yet. One reason is the lack of hous- control it. Without water you have not saying they are bad problems
While the rest of the city’s in- ing. The other is a dearth of avail- nothing. Water is so vital to life. to have, but officials certainly
frastructure is in good shape, the able employees. It is life.” need to stay on their toes.”
Approved By:
I hereby certify that this is the Official Zone
Map of Twin Falls County, which was adopted Legend
by the Board of County Commissioners
on this 23rd day of January, 2012. Agricultural
COURTESY TWIN FALLS COUNTY PLANNING AND ZONING‌ Agricultural Preservation
Commercial
George Urie
______________________________
George Urie
Industrial Zone- County Landfill
Rural Residential
Chairman
Airport Overlay
Terry Ray Krammer
______________________________ City Limits
Terry Ray Kramer
Vice Chairman Impact Area
Recreation Overlay
Leon Mills
______________________________ Wellhead City
Leon Mills
Water bodies
Streams
January 23, 2012
______________________________
Roads
Date
Highways
Sawtooth National Forest
A Right to Farm state
The Idaho Legislature reveals the
intent of its Right to Farm Act in
Title 22, Chapter 45:
The legislature finds that agricul-
tural activities conducted on farm-
land in urbanizing areas are often
subjected to nuisance lawsuits, and
that such suits encourage and even
force the premature removal of the
R 15 E PAT SUTPHIN, TIMES-NEWS‌ lands from agricultural uses, and in
Jill Skeem discusses zoning clashes July 27 from the deck of her home west of Kimberly. The road in front of her some cases prohibit investments in
house — 3300 East — where sheRlives agricultural improvements. It is the
16 with
E herTWIN husband, Tom Skeem, is the dividing line between the Kimberly
intent of the legislature to reduce
Area of Impact and the Twin Falls Area of Impact. FALLS
the loss to the state of its agri-
R 17 E
land in the country. They say we cultural resources by limiting the
Components of a comprehensive plan: should be building on marginal circumstances under which agricul-
PERRINE land – land that is rocky or hard tural operations may be deemed
The state requires each city and county to have an up-to-date comprehen- SHOSHONE to be a nuisance. The legislature
BRIDGE to farm.
sive plan addressing the following components: FALLS also finds that the right to farm is a
36 31 36 31 “We need more people in the
„„ Property rights „„ Public services and utilities city and fewer in the R 18 E ”
county, natural right and is recognized as a
„„ Population 1 6
„„ Transportation
1 6
Spendlove
1 6 said. HANSEN
permitted use throughout the state
„„ School facilities and transpor- „„ Recreation BRIDGE of Idaho.
tation „„ Special areas or sites Needs vs. desires‌
„„ Economic development
Filer
„„ Housing Water is essential to sustaining about theR 19 E future should
valley’s
„„ Land use „„ Community design life in the Magic Valley, and se- no longer be made in isolation.
„„ Natural resources „„ Implementation rious consequences are brought Neighboring towns and the
„„ Hazardous areas „„ Airport facilities down on those who don’t play county need to know what the
„„ Agriculture „„ ElectricText transmission corridors
byFalls
Twin the rules. Idaho Department other is planning.
of Water Resources recently
Kimberly is-
Hansen “Cities drive growth,” Johnson R 20 E
Will Twin Falls36 grow 31 to the public services
36 31 and utilities, sued
36
curtailment
31
orders on 38 36 31said, “not counties.”
36
east and west to eventually sur- transportation and economic de- groundwater users for failing to MURTAUGH
BRIDGE
round nearby towns like Boise
1 6
velopment 1 — in
6 their plans. comply
1 6 with the conditions of an
1 6
Weighing the possibilities‌
1 6
surrounded Garden City in Ada Updating Twin Falls County’s agreement with surface-water So how do we protect agri-
County? comprehensive plan will be a users. culture — the valley’s economic
“We don’t see that coming be- time-consuming process, in- Water is a serious subject, Hall foundation — while balancing Murtaugh
cause we don’t have the (natural) volving tremendous amounts of said. And much is at stake. society’s needs? Spendlove has
resources,” Crafton said. There is community input, Hall said. “We have to ask ourselves, ‘Do suggested the towns and county
not enough water or farm ground “It’s going to take a lot of com- we want lawns or industry?’” form a community planning as-
in the county to support that munication — we’ve got some As growth continues, waste- sociation to talk about the future.
much population. hard questions to ask.” water will become a more urgent The key is creating a compre-
“If we break the
36 cow’s
31 back, We have36 enough 31 farmland to issue
36
between
31
communities. 36 31hensive plan that reflects 36
the31
she won’t give any milk,” he said. keep our food-processing facil- Even today, Twin Falls and Kim- desires of the community while
back, ities working at
6 capacity. But as berly “share” a wastewater treat- addressing its current and future
4000
4300
1
4100
4200
4400
4500
4600
4700
4800
6 1 1 6 1
we won’t have to worry about more people move here, housing ment facility. needs, community leaders say.
2800
zoning. There will be no Chobani. will eat up more and more open Kimberly has no sewer plant We need clean drinking water.
No Glanbia. No Clif Bar.” land, and residents will consume of its own and the city pays We need water for industry. We
2700
more irrigation water. Twin Falls to treat its wastewa- need water for recreation.
T 12 S
‘We’ve got some hard Both Hall and Spendlove ter. While proponents of a new 2600
We need good roads. We need
questions to ask’‌ say builders should focus on wastewater treatment plant in schools. We need clean air.
2500
developing subdivisions and Kimberly say gaining indepen- We also need a vibrant econ-
Agriculture, land use and multi-family housing units in dence from Twin Falls is essen- omy with agriculture as its base. NW1/4 NE1
Hollister 2400 NW1/4 NW1
property rights are36 only
31 a part of cities and36impact 31
areas to ensure tial to the community’s growth, “We need to find a common
36 31 36
what will be considered in coun- residential growth doesn’t con- a 2015 proposal to build a plant vision for people and that’s one
2300
ties’ comprehensive 1 plans.
6 The sume farmland. 1 6 overwhelmingly
1 6 failed at the bal- 1 tough thing to do,” Crafton said. NW1/4 SW1/4 SE1
NW1
state requires each entity to con- Both question the “estate sub- lot box. “Common vision takes a long
2200
Sawtooth
M
sider 17 components — including divisions” built on prime farm- Officials agree that decisions time.” 1
2100 NW1/4 NE1
SW1/4 SW1
13 S
2000
SW1/4 SE1/
 THE BIG STORY SUNDAY, AUGUST 26, 2018 | magicvalley.com | SECTION E

GROWING UP | MAGIC VALLEY’S VISION FOR THE FUTURE

Upgrades and catch-up

WATER WAYS:
Growing the
Magic Valley

A history of
upgrades to Twin
Falls’ wastewater
treatment plant
 1961 – Primary clarification,
digestion, disinfection
 1974 – Secondary treatment
(biotower, aeration basins 1
& 2, clarification)
 1980 – Intermediate clarifier,
aeration basin No. 3, anaer-
obic digestion
 1995 – Headworks facility,
UV disinfection
 1999 – Aeration basin No.
4, secondary clarifier No. 3,
gravity belt thickening
 2010 – Chemically Enhanced
Primary Treatment (CEPT)
 2012 – UV disinfection
system upgrade, aeration
blower No. 4
 2013 – Conversion of inter-
mediate clarifier to primary
clarifier No. 3

DREW NASH, TIMES-NEWS

M
1 A secondary clarifier helps separate sludge from water Aug. 15 at the wastewater facility in Twin Falls. Story begins on E2.
E2 | SUNDAY, AUGUST 26, 2018 BIG STORY TIMES-NEWS

After water clears the secondary clarifier, sludge comes here and is pumped back through the integrated fixed-film activated sludge process.

Magic Valley wastewater plants grapple with growth, plan for future
STORY AND PHOTOS BY DREW NASH | dnash@magicvalley.com

J EROME — Gilbert Sanchez, waste-

water superintendent with the city
of Jerome, is less concerned about
Environmental Protection Agency vi-
olations these days and more worried
about picking up loose screws found
outside his plant.
Jerome is investing 35.7 million
dollars into upgrades for its plant, in-
cluding intermediate clarifiers, a pump
station and a control building. In years
past, Jerome struggled to keep up with
EPA requirements. But now that the
plant is in compliance after finishing an
emergency storage pond and work on
membrane basins that are part of the
filtration system, it’s turning its focus
toward updating equipment. The city
signed a consent decree giving it six
years to finish the plant’s upgrades.
“We’ve only had two violations since
I’ve come here in 2012 and (it) wasn’t
because we did it…but outside factors,”
Sanchez said. “Prior to that, there were
1,500 (violations).”
Sanchez expects construction on the
plant to be completed by the end of De-
cember. Once upgrades are complete,
the facility will be capable of handling
5 million gallons of inflow, up from its
previous capacity of 3 million.
As the Magic Valley’s population
continues to boom, small towns and
bigger cities alike are monitoring their
core services, like wastewater plants, to
determine whether they’re prepared for
future growth.
Over in Cassia County, Heyburn is
just getting started. The city’s waste-
water plant is out of compliance with
the EPA, and faces massive fines if it
does not rectify the issues.
The first phase of Heyburn’s up-
grades must be finished by June 19,
2020, according to an EPA draft con-
sent order, and the second phase must
be finished by May 31, 2022. If the city
does not comply, it may face fines in
excess of $50,000 per day.
“Those kinds of fines could bank-
rupt the city,” City Administrator Tony
Morley said in early July. “And in the
engineering, construction and waste-
water world, that is a really short time-
line.”
The key to staying on top of waste-
water upgrades, Sanchez said, is to
have different city departments on the
same page.
“You have to have a city council,
a city manager and people on board
to give you the tools that you need to
make things successful,” he said.
When Sanchez was hired in 2012,
he took a 1994 report, which he had
helped create while working for a pri-
vate wastewater company, to the city
Please see WASTEWATER, Page E3

About two-thirds of the Twin Falls’ sewage comes down the pipe shown here Aug. 15. An
elevation fall across the site allows the water to flow gradually, saving more energy than if
M
the city had to pump it. Construction continues on an intermediate clarifier Aug. 15 in Jerome. 1
 Times-News BIG STORY Sunday, August 26, 2018 | E3

Construction workers stand atop two anaerobic digesters that will create Class B biosolids when completed. Class B biosolid is a designation for treated sewage sludge that meets U.S. EPA
guidelines for land application as fertilizer with restrictions. The tanks can hold 545,000 gallons of sludge apiece.

Wastewater with, and that’s

From E2
council and told them the sug-
gestions in that report were still
relevant.
Jerome’s population sits
around 11,000, but 64 percent
of the plant’s capacity is used
by non-residential customers.
There have been organic loads
(matter that contains more than
oxygen, carbon and hydrogen)
come into the plant that equate
to a population of 150,000.
According to Jerome’s web-
site, when a new business wants
to discharge wastewater to the
city of Jerome’s publicly-owned
treatment works, the city must
determine the characteristics
of the business’ wastewater to
evaluate the potential impact.
“We have the same amount of
water we started in this world
what we’ve got to
work with. So we
need to make sure
we take care of
it,” Sanchez said.
“When I first got
here, our facility
Vitek was the laughing
stock of the state
of Idaho, and now we have really
kicked it into high gear, and I’d
say we’re one of the diamonds
and I can prove it with our per-
sonal and our operating records.”
In Twin Falls, where the city
shares a wastewater treatment
plant with nearby Kimberly, a
similar approach has taken hold.
In March 2013, voters ap-
proved a $38 million bond elec-
tion to pay for the expansion
of the wastewater treatment
facility and its collection lines.
The treatment plant was nearing
maximum capacity and needed
gallons of wastewater into the
plant with a capacity set at 18
million gallons. Around 750,000
of those gallons come from
Kimberly.
“We created a great system
here,” Vitek said, “and the op-
erators here are proud of it and
take really good care of it.
Growth in the Magic Valley
brings plenty of positives, but
city officials emphasize the need
to keep core services in step
with population growth. If they
don’t, falling out of compliance
– like Heyburn – could present a
bevy of new problems and fines.
“If you want growth in your
area, then look at the wastewa-
Water is discharged back into the canal system from the wastewater ter plant, look at your services,”
treatment plant Wednesday, Aug. 15, 2018, in Jerome. There were Sanchez said. “Are we gonna
numerous fish found at the confluence. be able to grow? Growth means
jobs, opportunity, all these
to be expanded to accommodate Troy Vitek, assistant city things. When people don’t in-
growth in the Twin Falls/Kim- engineer, said Twin Falls is cur- vest, they don’t get anything in
berly area. rently averaging 8.25 million return”, said Sanchez.

Dozens of certificates from the Idaho Board of Drinking

Water and Wastewater Professionals hang in the operations
office during an Aug. 15 tour of the Jerome wastewater
treatment plant.

Piping is shown on an Aug. 15 tour of the Twin Falls

Dan Black, operator, explains the aeration process during an Aug. 15 tour of the Twin Falls wastewater treatment plant. wastewater treatment plant.

M A secondary clarifer helps seperate sludge and water Wednesday, Aug. 15, 2018, at the Zane Austin, operations supervisor, talks about the updates happening during a tour of the
1 facility in Twin Falls. wastewater treatment plant Wednesday, Aug. 15, 2018, in Jerome.
E4 | Sunday, August 26, 2018 BIG STORY Times-News

Gilbert Sanchez, wastewater superintendent, discusses lab work during a tour of the wastewater treatment plant Aug. 15 in Jerome.

Tiny discs called ‘media,’ shown here Aug. 15 at the Twin Falls wastewater plant, help with the biological processes of cleaning water.

(From left) Gilbert Sanchez, wastewater superintendent, and Zane Austin, operations supervisor, check on the membrane bioreactor during an Aug. 15 tour of the Jerome wastewater
treatment plant. M
1
 THE BIG STORY SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 2018
Amanda Ely, general manager at TRPTA, discusses the company’s facilities July 26 in Idaho Falls.
Fixed-route public transportation?
Not so fast Ahead of planning requirements, Twin Falls
considers how and when to install buses
HEATHER KENNISON
Hkennison@magicvalley.com
T
WIN FALLS — Every week,
newcomers to Twin Falls
rely on crowded, rundown
vans to get them to essential ser-
vices. Senior citizens take taxis
and buses to medical appoint-
ments. And people with disabil-
ities or chronic illnesses rely on
last-resort services to get around
town.
There’s no doubt that some
form of public transportation is
needed in Twin Falls. But how that
service will look down the road is
anyone’s guess.
When Twin Falls’ population
hits 50,000 — as is expected after
the 2020 Census — the city will
become an urbanized area. And
barring a rule change, Twin Falls
will have to plan for public trans-
portation.
“We don’t know what we’ll do,”
Deputy City Manager Mitch Hum-
ble said. “At this point, there’s a lot
of unknowns.”
For now, Twin Falls relies on ser-
vices such as Trans IV Buses, the
College of Southern Idaho Refu-
gee Center, taxis and ride-sharing
companies such as Uber to meet
the needs of citizens.
“We know that as we grow,
that’s not going to continue to be
adequate,” Humble said.
But a fixed-route system would
be costly — and a transit study two
years ago “rudely awakened” the
city to the reality.
“If we do a fixed route bus sys-
tem, it’ll likely fail — unless we do
some other things first,” Humble
said. “It’s just a huge ugly down-
ward spiral. I’m not going to at-
tempt to do that poorly.”
In the meantime, the city has
agreed to assist Trans IV Buses
with more funding. Twin Falls pays
a local match of about $25,000
annually but will increase that to
M
1 MORE INSIDE: Magic Valley bus services by the numbers, B2 | What can Twin Falls learn from Idaho Falls? B3 | Hailey bus service seeks to change attitudes, B4
| magicvalley.com
Driver Max Haderlie waits at a transfer stop and converses July 26 in Idaho Trans VI-College of Southern Idaho:
Falls.
$45,000 in the next two years.
But Trans IV Director Lynn
Baird says CSI isn’t so sure it’ll
continue the service unless city
leaders say they want it — “they
haven’t done so at this point,” he
said.
“I’m guessing the college will
probably do it another two to four
years,” Baird said in late July.
Metropolitan planning
Once the 2020 Census data is
verified, around 2022, the urban-
ized area boundaries will be deter-
mined. Twin Falls and Kimberly
are lumped together because of
population density, and it’s esti-
mated they will continue to be in
the future. When the urbanized
area is established, the cities and
counties involved will be required
to set up a Metropolitan Planning
Organization.
An MPO is a type of regional
planning organization that works
with Idaho Transportation De-
partment to plan and coordinate
local transportation policies —
and one of those will incorporate
| SECTION E
$404,234
transit, said ITD Public Transpor-
tation Manager Kim McGourty.
“It’s a function of the MPO but
it’s just a small piece,” she said.
The plan also includes other trans-
portation needs, such as widening
roads and building bridges.
The planning organization could
operate as a separate entity or as
a function of the city or county,
said ITD Senior Transportation
Planner Maranda Obray. And if it
doesn’t have a sustainable transit
plan, it won’t receive the federal
funding to provide transit.
The rules could still change —
and there’s a chance Twin Falls
could get out of having to form
an MPO for a few more years. The
Fixing America’s Surface Trans-
portation Act expires in 2020. Its
replacement could change the
funding formula or even the MPO
requirements.
“We ultimately don’t know
what that bill will say,” Obray said.
But for now, ITD is moving for-
ward as if nothing will change, and
it’s helping Twin prepare to create
an MPO.
DREW NASH PHOTOS, TIMES-NEWS
2018-2019 transit
funding for District 4
5311 formula grant for rural ar-
eas — general population transit
funding program
Mountain Rides Transportation Au-
thority: $1,268,065
5310 formula grant for elderly
and persons with disabilities
Living Independent Network Corpo-
ration (LINC): $89,565
5339 grant for bus and bus facil-
ities
Mountain Rides Transportation
Authority: $968,000 for vehicle
purchases
Vehicle Investment Program
Mountain Rides Transportation Au-
thority: $112,000
Minidoka Memorial Hospital:
$57,864
Crisis Center of South Central Idaho:
$27,200
“What we’re doing right now is
kind of preparing for what we’re
anticipating to come out of the
2020 Census,” McGourty said.
Funding formula
The Idaho legislature does not
allocate funding for public trans-
Please see TRANSPORTATION, Page E2
E2 | SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 2018
Suad Saeed, center, sits in the CSI Refugee Center van July 31 as she waits to go home after class at the College
of Southern Idaho Refugee Center in Twin Falls.
The bus depot sits empty July 26 in Idaho Falls.
Magic Valley bus services
Ridership is up for both Mountain Rides
Transportation Authority in Hailey and
Trans IV Buses in Twin Falls. At Targhee
Regional Transportation Authority in Idaho
Falls, the number of passenger trips has
fluctuated in the past few years.
Passenger trips: Demand response
Mountain Rides
Transportation Authority (Hailey)
500
400
300
200
100
0 0
2013 2014 2015 2016
Passenger trips: Fixed route
Mountain Rides
Transportation Authority (Hailey)
500K
400K
300K
200K
100K
0 0
2013 2014 2015 2016
Source: Idaho Transportation Department
Transportation
From E1
portation, McGourty said. But
ITD distributes $12 million in fed-
eral funds each year. These funds
are available to both government
and private entities.
The Twin Falls area receives ru-
ral funding for now, but after its
population surpasses 50,000, the
city will need to take from “small
urban” money pool. This money
is awarded competitively based on
population and need.
And Twin Falls would be com-
peting with more populated areas.
There are five MPOs throughout
Idaho that vet projects for fund-
ing. ITD provides federal over-
sight for some of those grants, and
bus systems are required to secure
a local match.
Some of the federal funding
money goes specifically to pro-
grams that serve senior citizens
and people with disabilities. But
some funds are also available for
general operations and capital
projects such as buying buses.
The Twin Falls MPO would
BIG STORY TIMES-NEWS
BEND, ORE.
Recreation,
downtown
transit in
Oregon
HEATHER KENNISON
hkennison@magicvalley.com
BEND — Public transporta-
tion plays a vital role in Bend,
Ore., a booming city in Oregon
that’s nearly doubled its popu-
lation since 2000.
A free seasonal shuttle runs
every 15 minutes to take people to
PAT SUTPHIN, TIMES-NEWS DREW NASH, TIMES-NEWS destinations downtown. Recre-
A money box on a bus is shown July ational shuttles go to the nearby
26 in Idaho Falls. river and mountains. With all of
its services, the Cascades East
Transit offers approximately
750,000 rides annually.
“For a growing city, it’s one
of the best things cities can do
to curb congestion and reduce
greenhouse gas emissions,”
said Derek Hofbauer, outreach
and engagement administrator
with the Central Oregon Inter-
governmental Council.
Nationwide, ride hailing
companies and the popularity
of bicycles has led to a decline in
transit. But as it becomes more
expensive to live in Bend, more
people are choosing to commute
from outside of town, and social
behaviors toward public transit
are changing.
Who runs it
Cascades East Transit, a di-
vision of the Central Oregon
Intergovernmental Council,
operates the public transporta-
tion in Bend. The COIC has been
around since 1972 as a council
of governments within central
Oregon.
How it got started
As is often the case, Bend’s
bus system got off to a bumpy
start. The city of Bend initially
started offering a fixed route
in 2006 with the Bend Area
DREW NASH, TIMES-NEWS Transit. According to the U.S.
Census Bureau, the city’s pop-
ulation around that time was
about 72,000.
Operating costs per vehicle revenue mile (2016)
Its mistake: The half-dozen
Targhee Regional Transportation Authority – Demand Response $1.73 buses it purchased from a Cal-
Targhee Regional Transportation Authority – Fixed Route $3.57 ifornia company were in bad
shape with major mechanical
Trans IV (Demand response only) $5.33 issues. The buses had initially
been sold to that company
Mountain Rides Transportation Authority – Demand Response $3
for scrap, and the city sunk
Mountain Rides Transportation Authority – Fixed Route $4.14 $100,000 into repairs, accord-
ing to The Source Weekly.
Four years later, the COIC
Trans IV Buses Targhee Regional Operating costs per passenger trip took over the transit.
(Twin Falls - Demand response only) Transportation Authority (Idaho Falls) (See key at left) “It seemed like a natural fit,”
60K 100K $25 Hofbauer said.
50K Funding was a challenge, given
80K $20 that several ballot measures that
40K would have funded public transit
60K $15
were turned down.
30K
$10 “It takes some stable funding
40K
20K to really get a transit system off
20K $5 the ground,” he said.
10K Cascades East Transit re-
0 $0 ceives funding primarily
2013 2014 2015 2016 2013 2014 2015 2016 2013 2014 2015 2016 through federal, state and local
governments and public/private
partnerships.
Targhee Regional Operating costs per passenger trip
Transportation Authority (Idaho Falls) (See key at left)
How they’re doing it
50K $ 25 Cascades East Transit has
more than 80 buses and nine
40K $20 fixed routes around the city,
Hofbauer said. It based its
30K $15 routes on where people live,
20K $10
work and recreate.
“Bend is not that dense, and I
10K $5 think that’s been an issue,” Hof-
bauer said.
$0 Rides cost about $1.50 for the
2013 2014 2015 2016 2013 2014 2015 2016 Lee Enterprises graphic general public, and 75 cents for
senior citizens and people with
disabilities.
The city also started doing a
Public
Ride the River shuttle. For $3 a
day, people can ride the shuttle
transportation key an unlimited number of times.
This shuttle is offered in part-
PASSENGER TRIPS: The num- nership with Bend Parks and
ber of passengers who boarded Recreation and a local kayaking
public transportation vehicles. company, Hofbauer said. On
This includes each time a pas- the busiest days, there are more
senger boards and then disem- than 1,000 riders.
barks from a vehicle. Another service Cascades
East Transit provides is a free
OPERATING COST PER PAS-
summer shuttle with a focus
SENGER TRIP: Calculated
on recreation and downtown.
based on the agency’s annual
The shuttle runs from noon
operating costs divided by the
to 10 p.m., every 15 minutes.
number of passenger trips
It’s paid for with a partnership
provided during the reporting
between the COIC, the city of
period.
Bend and Visit Bend.
DREW NASH, TIMES-NEWS
OPERATING COST PER REVE- Hofbauer said this free shut-
Mike Pressler, Operations Manager at TRPTA, discusses public NUE MILE: Calculated based on tle can help a lot with reducing
transportation while on a route July 26 in Idaho Falls. the reporting agency’s annual traffic during the busy tourism
operating costs divided by the season when “Our little city gets
need to have a public transporta- response program” where riders number of miles driven while crowded.”
tion plan that showed the rider- are asked to call and schedule a ride in service during the reporting Bend also offers some other
ship and community needs. These a day in advance. The ride costs $5 period. recreational shuttles and di-
plans are typically for a 20-year and includes the return trip. al-a-ride services, as well as
timeframe, Obray said. Of Trans IV’s 13 buses, about 10 buses that connect Bend with
are on the road most days, Baird Funding is the major limiting the communities of Redmond
Fixed route — said. Some of these trips are con- factor for doing a fixed route, or and Terrebonne, for example.
why or why not? tracted for through the Office on even expanding the current service, The Oregon legislature recently
Aging or Independent Living Net- M
Trans IV Buses offers a “demand work. Please see TRANSPORTATION, Page E4 Please see OREGON, Page E4 1
 Times-News
‘In Twin Falls, you have to have a car’
HEATHER KENNISON
hkennison@magicvalley.com‌
TWIN FALLS — A power-
‌
ful smell of cigarettes and food
permeated the van as it rattled
around Twin Falls.
The inside of the van bore the
scars of its many journeys: gashes
in the ceilings, a defunct door
handle and a seat cushion with
the foam innards exposed. The
driver’s seat appeared to have
been re-stuffed with an old bed-
sheet.
Still, the occupants of the ve-
hicle didn’t seem to notice these
imperfections on July 31. Most sat
in silence as driver Bob Schmidt
drove through older parts of town.
A few talked amongst them-
selves in their native languages.
They had just finished with their
English class at the College of
Southern Idaho’s Refugee Center.
“We provide transportation to
all newly arrived refugees,” refu-
gee center director Zeze Rwasama
said. “We take them basically ev-
erywhere.”
But because of the cost, that
service doesn’t continue for them
forever. So the center aims to
make them independent as soon
as possible.
“In Twin Falls, you have to have
a car,” said Lea Raly, a 19-year-old
refugee who got a job working for
a local manufacturing company.
Raly had just earned her driv-
er’s license the day before but
was saving up for a car. After five
months in Twin Falls, she was still
using the CSI Refugee Center van
for medical appointments.
Most of the homes Schmidt
drove to on July 31 were older
brick buildings, with several bikes
out front and few, if any, cars.
Typically, refugees receive
an intro to Twin Falls via the
van during their first month,
Rwasama said. That includes trips
to various grocery stores.
But after that, they have to rely
on other refugees, friends and
volunteers to take them anywhere
besides medical appointments or
employment. Most refugee arriv-
als get a job within three months,
and they can use the center’s
transportation services to travel
to and from the job for another
three or four months.
IDAHO FALLS
Idaho Falls seeks to expand bus routes
HEATHER KENNISON
hkennison@magicvalley.com‌
‌IDAHO FALLS — A man car-
rying a white cooler boarded the
Blue Route bus at Idaho Falls’
aquatic center on the afternoon
of July 26.
While this was the Targhee Re-
gional Transportation Authority’s
most consistently busy route, Ben
Worth was only the second pas-
senger that hour. He’d just fin-
ished a few errands and shopping,
and transferred over from another
route on his way home.
“I find it helps me get around
town so I can do things I want
to do,” said Worth, who doesn’t
drive.
The TRPTA buses aren’t his
only option for transportation,
but having more choices has cer-
tainly helped in the decade or so
that he’s used the buses.
Bus driver Max Haderlie has
been driving for 3 1/2 years and
sees all age groups use the bus to
get around to work, medical ap-
pointments and shopping. And
yet there are still many passen-
gers who say they’d never heard
of TRPTA before, he said.
“I think ridership could be bet-
ter,” TRPTA Operations Manager
Mike Pressler agreed.
With limited funding, the
transportation authority has
little ability to advertise its ser-
vices. But ridership has ticked up
recently, especially since a new
grant allowed the authority to
provide rides to seniors for free.
Here in Idaho, he said, public
transportation isn’t something
a lot of people think about until
they need it.
“I think it’s growing pains. Peo-
ple in southeastern Idaho are very
independent,” TRPTA Assistant
General Manager Bob FitzGibbons
said. “But there’s still a great need
for public transportation.”
Who runs it‌
The Targhee Regional Trans-
portation Authority is the inde-
pendent government entity that
has operated the buses since 2006.
How it got started‌
The 1990 Census determined
M
the population in the Idaho Falls
1
Wi Mana, center, sits in the back of the van as she travels home from class at the CSI Refugee Center July 31 in Twin Falls.
If a refugee has children
younger than 18, they won’t be
charged for employment trans-
portation. But those without
children pay $25 per week if they
have a job for which they require
transportation, Rwasama said.
“In this city where we don’t
have public transit, the No. 1 goal
is to buy a vehicle and get a driv-
er’s license,” he said. “If there
was a public transportation, they
would rather use it.”
And Trans IV Buses, which
offers rides on-demand in Twin
Falls, isn’t used by most refugees,
Rwasama said. That’s because the
bus is not available during the
hours they need them; refugees
often work odd shifts at dairies
or manufacturing companies.
The Refugee Center now trans-
ports about 30 people, but in past
Driver Max Haderlie drives the blue route July 26 in Idaho Falls.
area had reached 50,000. So
around 1992, the city established
a Metropolitan Planning Orga-
nization and began planning for
public transportation.
But in this case, it wasn’t the
MPO that started the public
transportation services, Bonne-
ville Metropolitan Planning Or-
ganization director Darrell West
said. A nonprofit known as CART
Inc. had been offering a deviat-
ed-route service in partnership
with the city. But a federal review
identified that CART was not
meeting its grant requirements,
West said.
“It was all very complex and
very complicated,” he said. “A
lot of tension and anger.”
The city decided to ask voters
to create a transportation author-
ity to run the buses.
Voters approved the transpor-
tation authority in 1994, and for
the first few years, it contracted
for urban transit services with
the nonprofit, according to the
TRPTA website. West said the
authority had a rough start with
some leadership changes.
In 2002, it began operating its
own buses as the Public Transit
Authority with four new routes.
TRPTA later purchased a transit
facility and grew to 2,500 passen-
ger rides in October 2003.
Then, in 2006, the entity pur-
chased and assumed transpor-
tation services previously being
BIG STORY
years has transported around
100-150 in its 13 vehicles. Under
current restrictions on refugee
resettlement in the U.S., the CSI
Refugee Center has a lot less to
do. Schmidt said he’s gone from
driving about 310 miles a day to
about 100 miles per day.
But refugees aren’t the only
ones who could benefit from a
fixed-route transportation sys-
tem.
“Anything is going to be better
than what we have right now,”
said Edie Schab, executive direc-
tor of Interlink Volunteer Care-
givers.
Interlink serves as a last-resort
transportation option for people
who are elderly, chronically ill,
or have disabilities. Volunteers
shuttle them to medical services
and essential errands after all
DREW NASH, TIMES-NEWS‌
provided by CART Inc. under
TRPTA’s management. It began
offering fixed routes in 2013.
How they’re doing it‌
TRPTA operates with a slim
staff of about 10 people and 27
drivers. Its transit facility is set
back from West Broadway Ave-
nue, with room for buses to ma-
neuver. On July 26, the empty
terminal featured short benches
under dim lighting, while most
of the work was done behind the
scenes.
“We’ve been talking about
what to do with this because we
don’t do much with it,” General
Manager Amanda Ely said as she
walked through the spacious
lobby with high ceilings.
TRPTA has considered put-
ting some kind of concessions
or shaved ice stand inside the
terminal to bring more people in.
Today, the authority offers
several types of busing services,
including four fixed routes, rides
on demand, paratransit rides and
routes to other smaller commu-
nities. These communities also
have seats on the TRPTA board.
“Every year, ridership has gone
up,” FitzGibbons said.
Still, in a 2016 case study done
for the Twin Falls Transit De-
velopment Plan, consulting firm
Gridworks reported that Idaho
Falls “currently has a relatively
low performing transit system. …
other resources are exhausted.
“A lot of the people we serve —
they wouldn’t be able to walk to a
bus stop,” Schab said.
But about 25 percent of them
would benefit from a fixed route
— or even a demand-response
service that had longer hours or
went to more places.
“When Trans IV pulled out of
Jerome, that really hurt us,” Schab
said.
In 2017, Interlink offered more
than 4,000 rides free of charge.
But a lot of Interlink’s clients first
use Living Independent Network
Corp., an organization that helps
people 65 and older, or with dis-
abilities, by paying for up to eight
one-way rides per month — up to
$7 per ride.
As LINC doesn’t have any
working vehicles, its customers
Its lower ridership levels make it
difficult to convince elected lead-
ers to invest adequate funding.”
Today, TRPTA operates on a
$2.6 million budget, FitzGibbons
said. Of that, about $1.6 million
is from federal funds. The rest is
supplied from the city of Idaho
Falls, Bonneville County, rider-
ship fares, Medicaid and other
grants.
The general public pays $1.75
one way for the fixed routes,
or $6 one-way for an arranged
pickup that’s not on the route.
Senior citizens and students are
offered a discounted rate. How-
ever, the agency has funding
from Eastern Idaho Commu-
nity Action Program, the Area
Agency on Aging and Develop-
ment Workshop Inc., to pay for
rides for seniors and people with
disabilities, FitzGibbons said.
The EICAP grant has helped
significantly with ridership,
Pressler said.
The authority has plans to
grow its services even more.
By October, TRPTA will take
its plans to the public, hoping
to expand from four to seven
fixed routes — all with the same
resources, FitzGibbons said.
That’ll be done with a reconfig-
uration of existing routes.
“We’ll actually cover more
area in a more efficient way,” he
said.
TRPTA has also applied for a
grant that would pay for larger
buses that could hold 26 pas-
sengers — up from the 16-pas-
senger buses it currently oper-
ates. These new buses would not
require a wheelchair lift, so it
would speed up the time at stops
for riders who use wheelchairs.
Takeaways for Twin Falls‌
Twin Falls Deputy City Manager
Mitch Humble is wary of follow-
ing in Idaho Falls’ footsteps. Grid-
works’ consultant two years ago
told the city, “You guys look a lot
like Idaho Falls — but 20 years ago.”
Gridworks told Twin Falls of-
ficials that a transit system here
would likely perform similarly
to TRPTA if existing funding and
land use policies remain the same.
Humble and other Twin Falls
Sunday, September 2, 2018 | E3
PAT SUTPHIN TIMES-NEWS‌
may use Trans IV or a taxi within
the city limits. The ride can be to
anywhere they need to go, not
necessarily just to medical ap-
pointments.
“Most use a taxi,” said Melva
Heinrich, LINC’s community and
resource integration director.
More of them would use a ser-
vice such as Trans IV, she said, if
they didn’t have to schedule the
ride so far in advance. Trans IV
requires rides to be scheduled by
2 p.m. the day before, according
to the CSI website.
Heinrich believes there are
many people in the community
that would use a fixed route if
it was available. LINC pays for
1,200 to 1,300 rides per month.
Between October 2017 and June
2018, the organization’s paid one-
way rides totaled 11,825.
leaders argue that Idaho Falls’
system costs more than what
they’re getting for it, creating
a “huge ugly downward spiral”
with low ridership.
Twin Falls also has concerns
about infrastructure for creating
a similar fixed-route system.
But Idaho Falls’ infrastructure
for buses is minimal: Each stop
has a semi-permanent TRPTA
sign, and occasionally a seating
area. If there are no passengers
waiting at the time of the sched-
uled pickup, the bus won’t stop.
Most stops didn’t have a desig-
nated pullout area for the bus,
and some of the stops were in
private parking lots.
On July 26, Haderlie drove
the Blue Route from the TRPTA
terminal to the aquatic center,
announcing each of the bus’s
15 stops over an intercom. Road
construction and a bumpy road
in one part of town delayed the
route by a few minutes.
“Now folks, I tell ya, this is
one rough road so hold on to your
shorts,” he announced.
The challenges Idaho Falls faces
with its public transportation are
hardly unique to the city, FitzGib-
bons said.
“There’s always struggles in
public transportation,” he said.
“You’re never going to get the true
cost of what it costs to run that
bus. That’s why it’s called public
transportation.”
And in his opinion, fixed routes
are a proactive way to increase
ridership and local funding.
“That gets you in the public’s
eye a lot better,” he said.
FitzGibbons does warn about
some hurdles TRPTA faced in its
first few years.
“Make sure you have people in
place that understand the govern-
ment regulations behind the pub-
lic transportation,” he said.
Also, look at other cities’ ex-
amples for guidance. And if you
can start with at least some fixed
routes, it isn’t a bad way to go, he
said.
“If you don’t have it, then peo-
ple don’t know about it and peo-
ple don’t use it,” FitzGibbons said.
“You have to build it now for the
future demand that’s coming.”
E4 | Sunday, September 2, 2018 BIG STORY Times-News

WOOD RIVER VALLEY

Bus service aims to change behavior

HEATHER KENNISON ronment. In about 2 1/2 years,
hkennison@magicvalley.com‌ Mountain Rides intends to spend
‌KETCHUM — At certain times $3.22 million for electric vehicles
of the day, trying to turn onto — eventually replacing its entire
Main Street in Hailey, Ketchum fleet in five years. The initial pur-
or Bellevue can be next to impos- chases include $2.54 million in
sible. federal funding with $680,000
The busy Idaho 75 corridor can in local match money.
become gridlocked several times “The industry is changing
a day, especially in winter when rapidly in terms of its technology
traffic picks up for skiing, Tom and communication,” Blanchard
Blanchard said. But Blanchard, a said.
board member for Mountain Rides Mountain Rides uses an app for
Transportation Authority, has users to find routes, but he pre-
also seen bus ridership increase dicts that in time, bus stop signs
during the winter months. will be able to tell riders how far
“We just passed a half-million the bus is away from the stop.
riders last year,” he said. “That
takes a significant number of ve- Takeaways for Twin Falls‌
hicles off the road.” Having a successful bus system
In his opinion, cars are the all comes down to changing peo-
problem — sucking up large bud- ple’s behavior, Blanchard said.
gets for street repairs. But to get “That takes a lot of time,” he
people out of them, you have to said. “You’re not always going to
change behaviors, which can be get it right.”
an uphill battle. It’ll also take a lot of politi-
cal commitment and money. To
PAT SUTPHIN, TIMES-NEWS FILE PHOTO
Who runs it‌ encourage ridership, Mountain
Mountain Rides is operated by A bus drives by Dec. 8, 2016, in Hailey. Some of Hailey’s local option tax revenue is used to pay the city’s Rides has tried to adapt its routes
Mountain Rides Transportation contract with Mountain Rides Transportation Authority. to make it as convenient as pos-
Authority. The board represents sible for people.
the cities of Ketchum, Hailey, How they’re doing it‌ way, depending on distance trav- needs public transportation be- “People will walk a certain dis-
Bellevue, Sun Valley and Blaine Officials around the state have eled. And special seasonal routes cause they want to go places and tance — but they won’t walk too
County, which have filed a joined lauded Mountain Rides’ perfor- to Galena Lodge also cost a fee. they can’t drive,” he said. far,” he said.
powers agreement and help fund mance in a rural area. But the Mountain Rides is experi- Other services are set aside In time, he hopes most routes
the transit system, Blanchard said. numbers speak for themselves. menting with transportation for specifically for people with dis- will run every 15 to 20 minutes.
With a $2.8 million annual specific purposes in Ketchum. abilities or those who need to But Blanchard can agree that
How it got started‌ budget, Mountain Rides operates In a test run this summer, a free schedule a pickup from some- Mountain Rides’ approach to
Public transportation got an 13 vans and 20 buses with 21 driv- evening bus takes people to local where that’s not on the route. public transportation might not
early start in the Wood River ers in the summer and about 35 eateries in Ketchum, specifically Disability services are free in necessarily work in Twin Falls.
Valley. In the 1930s, Sun Val- drivers in the winter. With these targeting those living in short- Ketchum, but cost about $6 in The Wood River Valley is unique
ley Co. bused tourists from the resources, it offers a wide selec- term rentals, Blanchard said. other cities to take someone because of seasonal influxes and
Ketchum train depot to the re- tion of services for Blaine County This bus is sometimes called the from their home to the clinic or the residents who want to get out
sort, Blanchard said. Then, dat- residents and visitors. “gourmet bus” or “bus appetite.” hospital. of their cars and go to specific
ing back to the 1970s, there were a The cities of Ketchum and Sun And later in the evenings, a Of Mountain Rides’ nine destinations like Bald Mountain,
few short-lived efforts to provide Valley have free bus routes within separate “Night Owl” service fixed routes, five are year-round he said.
public transportation in the dif- their cities, paid for by a local op- through Ketchum aims to pre- and four are in the winter only, He could see Twin Falls adopt-
ferent cities. tion tax to support transportation vent DUIs. Blanchard said. And for those ing some routes by partnering
In the 1990s, bus systems efforts. Free routes also link be- Some employers buy bus passes who prefer alternative or addi- with big employers and school
owned by Ketchum, Sun Valley tween cities and recreational ar- for their workers, but others make tional modes of transportation, districts. There are also opportu-
Co. and Blaine County merged eas, but not all of them run year- use of a vanpool system offered by bicycles for rent are stationed nities to use buses to take people
when public officials decided to round. Mountain Rides. Schoolchildren around Ketchum, Sun Valley and from outlying residential areas to
join forces, Blanchard said. Additionally, a year-round val- in Blaine County, meanwhile, Hailey. downtown, Blanchard said.
“It’s been a long process — 10 ley route runs from Bellevue to get a free bus pass for anywhere, The transportation company “Twin is behind in terms of
to 15 years at a minimum — in the Sun Valley — and all the cities in Blanchard said. isn’t done with its movement their adoption of public trans-
building,” he said. between — at a cost of $1-4 one- “That’s an age group that really to reduce impacts on the envi- portation,” he said.

“For the first time

ever we have kind of a
stable funding base.”
Derek Hofbauer, outreach
and engagement administrator
with the Central Oregon
Intergovernmental Council

Oregon
From E2

approved a new statewide

payroll tax for expanding public
transportation service. The state
begins collecting the tax this
year, with disbursements starting
in early 2019.
“For the first time ever we
have kind of a stable funding
base,” Hofbauer said.

Targhee Regional Public Transportation Authority’s terminal is shown July 26 in Idaho Falls.
The view from the back of the bus
while on a route July 26 in Idaho
Falls.
Transportation
From E2
which is available 7 a.m. to 5 p.m.
on weekdays, Baird said.
“There’s not a lot of infrastruc-
ture currently to support a fixed
route system,” he said.
Another limiting factor is how
Twin Falls has grown. There ar-
en’t a lot of high-density areas in
the city, nor a lot of mixed-use,
Humble said. The city also faces
problems with making a bus
system accessible, since many
neighborhoods have missing or
damaged sidewalk. These things
could make it difficult to get reg-
ular ridership.
“If we’re paying for something
Takeaways
for Twin Falls‌
Getting people to use public
transportation can be a chal-
lenge, especially in places where
downtowns have free parking,
Hofbauer said.
“When parking is free, their
behavior shifts to that economic
mindset,” he said.
But Hofbauer predicts as
more millennials come to a
DREW NASH PHOTOS, TIMES-NEWS‌ town and Baby Boomers lose
mobility, public transportation
use will also grow. Millennials,
in general, are less into driving
and more into living in walkable
cities, he said.
This could prove challenging
in Twin Falls, where sidewalks
are absent or in poor shape
across the city.
To make the public trans-
portation simpler, Cascades
East Transit recently began us-
ing an app to help people know
when their next bus is coming
to where they are, based on the
schedule.
When it comes to funding,
Hofbauer says partnerships are
key. He, too, recommends hav-
ing a fixed route to give a city or
organization a higher return on
its investment.
If it doesn’t invest in public
transportation, a city will inev-
itably have to widen its roads to
handle all the increased traffic,
Hofbauer said. It’s either that,
or it will need to become more
bicycle friendly and walkable to
relieve congestion.
One of the many routes for the Targhee Regional Public Transportation Authority stops at Walmart July 26 in Twin Falls could look for
Idaho Falls. partnerships similar to those in
Bend with other cities or tour-
that nobody uses, we’re a failure,” And if you don’t, you pay for what the future of public transpor- ism groups. Hofbauer recom-
Humble said. more road maintenance and con- tation in Twin Falls will look like. mends focusing on what brings
Still, other cities argue the phi- struction due to congestion. “We will start doing it when we people to the area: recreation.
losophy of “if you build it, they The city and Trans IV have agreed have to start doing it,” Humble said. “The partnerships are key,” M
will come.” to work together when deciding “Until then, it is really expensive.” he said. 1
 THE BIG STORY
TIMES-NEWS SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2018 | E1

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2018 | magicvalley.com | SECTION E

PAT SUTPHIN TIMES-NEWS

players
Sophia Vandenberg, 12, prepares to serve the ball July 6 during the CSI Volleyball Camp at the College of Southern Idaho gymnasium in Twin Falls.

All the right

Growth may bring new teams, sports facilities to the Magic Valley
VICTOR FLORES

T
Vflores@magicvalley.com
WIN FALLS — A minor
league baseball team. A
recreation center. A better
talent pool for the College
of Southern Idaho.
The surging population growth in
the Magic Valley has transformed
local sports, but it’s rarely a straight
line between population growth and
bigger and better sports options.
A professional or semi-profes-
sional team is the biggest prize for
some Magic Valley residents, and a
larger population will increase the
odds of landing one. But fielding a
pro team, like building a commu-
nity recreation center or starting a
CSI soccer team, doesn’t just require
more people. It requires the right
people.
The incoming wave of new res-
idents is sure to reshape the Magic
Valley sports landscape 15 years from
now, just like they have so far this
century. In some areas, the effects
of growth are already taking hold. COURTESY OF TWIN FALLS COUNTY HISTORICAL MUSEUM

If they come, will it be built?
Twin Falls City Councilwoman
Suzanne Hawkins sees the dream
site of a future minor league base-
ball field every day when she goes to
work.
Hawkins often sneaks away to a
conference room on the third floor
of the Twin Falls Council Chambers
building on Main Avenue and Han-
sen Street East. Among the many
large glass windows in the room is
one window in particular that faces
south down Hansen Street. The
view spans five blocks, just past the
TF Brickhouse to the railroad tracks
that run parallel to the Rock Creek
canyon.
Hawkins talked longingly about
the area — currently occupied by
rusty sheds, light poles, an oil der-
rick and sagebrush — on June 29 with
Laird Stone, a Twin Falls attorney
Twin Falls’ first baseball team, the Irrigators, are photographed at the Twin Falls Athletic Park on Second Avenue South.
and a member of the CSI Board of
Trustees.
“I stand up on the third floor of
city hall, look south and look out that
window and say, ‘I can just see my
baseball park right there,” Hawkins
said over iced tea at the Wok ‘n Grill
in Twin Falls. “If you build it, they
will come.”
“It’s not a cornfield, Susan,” Stone
joked.
“No, but it’s an empty field,” Haw-
kins replied.
Hawkins and Stone have been two
of the Magic Valley’s biggest propo-
nents of bringing a minor league or
semi-professional baseball team
to Twin Falls. Or, more accurately,
bringing a team back to Twin Falls.
The city first formed a baseball
team, called the Irrigators, in 1905.
The team became the Bruins and
joined the minor leagues in 1925, but
it disbanded four years later. In 1939,
the Twin Falls Cowboys formed, and
the New York Yankees affiliate played
at Jaycee Field next to Harmon Park.
The team became the Magic Valley
Cowboys in the early 1950s, and it
was affiliated with several major
league teams until 1971.
Stone was raised in Gooding and
attended Cowboy games as a kid.
Hawkins didn’t move to Twin Falls
until she was 13, so she never expe-
rienced a professional baseball team
in the Magic Valley. But Hawkins,
like Stone, played on the diamond
growing up (fast-pitch softball for
her, baseball for him). They both had
children who played baseball, and
they frequently traveled the coun-
try for their sons’ American Legion
games.
That bond led to discussions about
the Cowboys, and the chances of
bringing a team like that back to
Twin Falls.
In the 1990s, city officials held
discussions with several Major
League Baseball organizations about
Please see SPORTS, Page E2

M
1 MORE INSIDE: Could Canyon Ridge High School be on the move?, E3 | Cultures develop, but challenges remain for entertainment scene, E3
E2 | Sunday, September 9, 2018
Sports
From E1
bringing a minor league team
to town, Stone said, but it never
turned into anything material. In
1999, an idea was floated to create
an independent league involving
Twin Falls, Boise, Pocatello and
Ontario, Ore., but the idea never
moved forward.
Despite Hawkins and Stone’s
vision, at this point it’s still a
dream. No plans to bring a minor
or independent league team have
come to fruition since then.
“The farm teams now are re-
quiring so much about what they
want their stadiums to hold — the
hotel accommodations you have
to provide for your team as well
as the traveling teams, the bene-
fits they want — and that has to
come from local support,” Haw-
kins said. “There are just a lot of
pieces that have to come together
with all the right players.”
The No. 1 factor for bringing a
team to Twin Falls, Hawkins and
Stone said, is money. The city
needs capital outlay to get the ball
rolling, Stone said, and that can
come from multiple sources. But
Hawkins doesn’t believe public
funding — typically an economi-
cally dubious proposition — for a
ballpark is a viable option, so the
money would need to come from
a private source.
“We need a Melaleuca,” she
said.
Melaleuca is an Idaho Falls-
based wellness company founded
by Frank Vandersloot, a prominent
businessman and Republican do-
nor. In 2007, Melaleuca Field was
built, and the Pioneer League’s
Idaho Falls Chukars, a Kansas City
Royals affiliate, have played in the
3,600-seat stadium ever since.
The city of Idaho Falls launched
a fundraising campaign, but the
ballpark project was carried to the
finish line thanks to a $600,000
donation from Vandersloot.
Idaho Falls’ longtime ballpark,
McDermott Field, was in disre-
pair, so building Melaleuca Field
was vital for the future of baseball
in Idaho Falls.
“We never threatened to leave,”
said Kevin Greene, the Chukars’
general manager. “However,
the reality was if we didn’t get a
new ballpark, at some point we
would’ve had to.”
Even after clearing financial
hurdles, Twin Falls would need to
find a league that wanted to put a
team here. Minor league expan-
sion is one avenue, but no plans
exist to expand the minors or
the Pioneer League, said Pioneer
League president Jim McCurdy.
Minor league teams relocate with
relative frequency, but there’s no
guarantee a major league fran-
chise would want to move its farm
team to Twin Falls.
For one, Twin Falls is in a tricky
location, on a high desert island
more than 100 miles away from
Boise and Pocatello, and three-
plus hours away from Salt Lake
City. That alone isn’t a major ob-
stacle since the Pioneer League
has teams as far north as Mon-
tana and as far south (and east) as
Grand Junction, Colo. Idaho Falls
is not much closer to any other Pi-
oneer League team. Still, location
is not an asset for Twin Falls.
And it’s not just population and Falls.
accessibility where a city must
prove itself, McCurdy said. De-
mographics play a role, and Twin
Falls has some hope on that front.
An area with high disposable in-
come is attractive to franchises,
especially if there’s a passion for growing for years. According to larger the market, the better.”
baseball, which Hawkins and
Aiden Humble, center front, swims a set with other members of the Canyon Ridge High School swim team during practice Sept. 6 at the Twin Falls City
Pool in Twin Falls.
Chukars’ Kyle Kasser tags out Kenneth Betancourt at second base as the Idaho Falls Chukars take on the Ogden Raptors at Melaleuca Field on Sept. 5.
Community leader Suzanne Hawkins talks about why she’d like to see a minor league baseball stadium built
Aug. 22 in downtown Twin Falls.
Fans cheer as the Idaho Falls Chukars take on the Ogden Raptors at
Melaleuca Field on Sept. 5.
Stone believe is present in Twin ulation increased 23 percent in
the 1990s and 28 percent in the
There’s also a simple equation: 2000s. The 2020 Census is ex-
more people in an area equals a pected to show at least 15 percent
higher likelihood for good atten- population growth during the
dance, and thus a better chance 2010s.
for the franchise to make money.
Twin Falls, of course, has been for things,” McCurdy said. “The
U.S. Census data, the city’s pop-
BIG STORY
JOHN ROARK, POST REGISTER‌
“You need to rely on fan support
Still, McCurdy said market
Times-News
JOHN ROARK, POST REGISTER‌
Falls would also be taking a major
economic risk by building a sta-
dium without a guarantee that a
team was on the way. If you build
it, they might not come.
The Hansen Street area that
Hawkins envisions for a ball-
park might not be doable, either,
even in her dreams. Twin Falls
city manager Travis Rothweiler
said a ballpark site needs to be
eight-to-13 acres large, and he’s
not sure the Hansen site is big
enough. A ballpark can only be so
close to railroads tracks, he said,
so that would also be an obstacle
in an area with already limited
space.
Hawkins said she would em-
brace a semi-pro team, which
wouldn’t require nearly as much
work to get off the ground as a
minor league team. She’d love to
tack on a ballpark with the pro-
posed recreation center, but she
hasn’t gained much traction on
that front.
DREW NASH, TIMES-NEWS‌ Hawkins’ inner circle is enthu-
siastic about the prospect of a
team in Twin Falls, but they’re all
baseball people. They can get the
size is not everything. He prefers ball rolling, but they’ll need more
to think of markets as “strong” support for it to pick up serious
or “weak”, rather than “large” or speed.
“small” because size doesn’t al- The population growth might
ways equal viability. Twin Falls’ provide the fuel Hawkins and
population growth is a step in the Stone want. The influx of new
right direction for a pro team, but people could bring extra baseball
it’s only a step. fever or, perhaps more impor-
“Growth always helps in the tantly, a Vandersloot-type figure
sense that you’re gonna get more who is willing to provide a large
major industries and businesses chunk of the necessary funding.
that want to have more entertain- The field of dreams might be built
ment, more recreation centers, by those who come.
more baseball parks, those types “I’d really like my legacy to be, I
of things,” Stone said. “But that got this project started,” Hawkins
by itself isn’t gonna be enough to said.
get it going.”
The Chukars provide a model Recreation creation‌
for Twin Falls’ baseball dream, butUnlike a pro or semi-pro base-
only to an extent. The Kansas City
ball team, a community recreation
affiliation and the Chukar mascot
center in Twin Falls does appear
have been around since 2004, butto be on the horizon. The city has
tried to measure interest for a rec
Idaho Falls has fielded a Pioneer
League team every year since thecenter over the past several years,
1940s. It’s been almost 50 yearsand it sent out surveys this sum-
since Twin Falls has had a team.mer.
CSI’s Skip Walker Field would Most of the pushback for a city
not be a long-term minor league rec center relates to the cost. Taxes
ballpark option for many reasons,
or a bond would likely pay for the
from its relatively small size to
building. But another community
the fact that CSI owns it and re-
facility — the city pool — is losing
money.
stricts its use, Stone said. Twin
“I’m not really ready to step
into a new facility if it’s going to
be another drain,” Councilman
Greg Lanting told the Times-News
in May.
Proponents of the center, such
as city recreation supervisor Stacy
McClintock, see clear needs that a
rec center could address.
A communal gymnasium is at
the top of the list. For one, it’s
versatile, providing opportuni-
ties for basketball, volleyball and
indoor soccer. Second, there are
few places in town that offer those
sports to even gym members. The
College of Southern Idaho has a
basketball gym open to paying
community members, but the
school occasionally utilizes it for
practices and workouts for its ath-
letic teams.
Right now, the Twin Falls Parks
and Recreation Department
(headquartered in the area where
Hawkins envisions a ballpark)
uses middle and high school gyms
for its youth and adult league
games.
“It’s hard on the staff there, it’s
hard on the facilities there, so for
us to have our own space where we
could kinda pull out of the school
and give them a little bit of re-
prieve… would be nice,” McClin-
tock said. “It would be nice to have
other people using gym space and
PAT SUTPHIN, TIMES-NEWS facilities because, in the winter
M
Please see SPORTS, Page E4 1
 Times-News BIG STORY Sunday, September 9, 2018 | E3

Could Canyon Ridge High

School be on the move?
VICTOR FLORES
Vflores@magicvalley.com‌
‌TWIN FALLS — Ten years ago,
Canyon Ridge High School be-
came Twin Falls’ rival and some-
what of a savior.
Canyon Ridge opened in 2009
on the west side of Twin Falls. In-
stead of one 5A school (TFHS), the
city’s high school population split
between the two 4A schools. In-
stead of traveling to eastern Idaho
for all of their 5A District games
— the closest region to the Magic
Valley that houses 5A schools —
the Bruins joined the 4A Great
Basin Conference, which included
District 4 teams Burley, Jerome,
Minico and Wood River.
All six Magic Valley schools have
played in the GBC since Canyon
Ridge’s inception. But two years
from now, the Riverhawks might
find themselves in the same shoes
that their east side rivals wore a
decade ago — playing at the 5A
level in a conference with schools
that are hours away. They have the
Twin Falls population growth to
thank.
Canyon Ridge is the largest 4A
school in the state, with a two-
year average enrollment of 1,235.5 PAT SUTPHIN, TIMES-NEWS FILE PHOTO‌
students, according to the Idaho Canyon Ridge senior Robert Swoboda slides past Jerome shortstop Mason Rue and into second base Wednesday, April 18, 2018, at Canyon Ridge High
High School Activities Associ- School in Twin Falls.
ation. That number is narrowly
below the maximum enrollment There aren’t a lot of places to
for 4A schools: 1,279. build,” Reynolds said. “You can
“With the big incoming fresh- build out by Kimberly, but then
man class that’s coming in, and you’ll go to Kimberly.”
you compare it to the senior class If and when Twin Falls does
that was much smaller that we reach a 5A enrollment, Ahlquist
lost last year, it looks like we’re and Reynolds expect they’ll
gonna be over that 1,280 mark,” have no choice but to move to
said Canyon Ridge athletic direc- the state’s largest classification.
tor Lonnie Ahlquist. Pitching petitions to stay in 4A
So the Riverhawks are staring at for both schools, especially one
a near future where they may be as athletically successful as TFHS
the only 5A school within a 100- has been this decade, would be
mile drive. difficult, they said.
But not every school in the state TFHS might be better suited
is tied to its enrollment classifica- to handle a move up. For one, the
tion. Idaho Falls High School, for Bruins played in 5A as recently as
instance, had an enrollment of DREW NASH, TIMES-NEWS FILE PHOTO‌ 2008-09, so many people still at
1,294.5 in the most recent two- South’s Caitlin Crist takes a shot on the school remember those days.
year classification cycle, placing it goal against the North during the TFHS has also been more success-
narrowly above the 5A minimum. District IV All Senior Game Tuesday, ful than Canyon Ridge in almost
But the Tigers petitioned to stay DREW NASH, TIMES-NEWS FILE PHOTO‌
Oct. 24, 2017, at Wendell High every sport the past 10 years.
at the 4A level, and the IDHSAA School. But growth might also lead to
Canyon Ridge’s Athletic Director Lonnie Ahlquist makes the rounds Sep
approved their petition. more success for the Riverhawks,
24, 2015, at Canyon Ridge High School in Twin Falls.
The Boise-based 4A South- petitive history petition process, mostly because the pool of avail-
ern Idaho Conference includes tition to remain in 4A when its things,” Ahlquist said. “It would Jones said. able athletes will be bigger. A
four teams with 5A enrollments: enrollment inevitably surpasses make much more sense to keep The entire city of Twin Falls is handful of star players and a little
Nampa (1,502 students), Kuna 1,280. us at 4A then it would be to move experiencing growth, but Canyon more depth could mitigate a move
(1,493.5), Caldwell (1,398) and “Obviously, I can’t predict it to 5A.” Ridge is feeling it more than TFHS, to a 5A conference that includes
Columbia (1,323). Though all 100 percent, but I feel strongly The IDHSAA often discusses said TFHS athletic director Ted powerhouses such as Highland
four are comfortably above the 5A about what our argument is, espe- changing the classification Reynolds. The Bruins’ most re- High School or Rocky Mountain
minimum, they were able to drop cially if our crosstown rival, Twin thresholds, but the organization cent enrollment count was 1,176, High School.
down a level because of Idaho’s Falls High School, is still 4A, and hasn’t received any proposals, and Reynolds doesn’t expect that “It would not be the end of the
new competitive history guide- what our conference would look said IDHSAA executive director number to exceed 1,280 for at least world,” Ahlquist said. “Canyon
lines. like if we had to move to 5A — the Ty Jones. The IDHSAA is consid- two classification cycles. Ridge would keep going, and we’ll
Canyon Ridge also plans to pe- travel, the expense, those kinds of ering small tweaks to the com- “We’re kinda landlocked here. get stronger and better.”

Challenges persist in Twin

Falls entertainment scene
BOWEN WEST
Bwest@magicvalley.com‌
‌TWIN FALLS – In the early
1920s, the Orpheum housed 900
seats, an orchestra pit and a stage
that could host movies, vaudeville
acts and stage plays.
About 30 years later, it was
converted into a movie theater.
Then, in 2014, it was purchased
by Larry and Stephanie Johnson
and Ovation Performing Arts.
Major renovations were made to
the now-97-year-old building.
Upgraded light systems were
added and a changing room was
built beneath the stage. The Or-
pheum came full circle, hear-
kening back to its heyday as the
DREW NASH PHOTOS, TIMES-NEWS‌
hub for live performances in
Twin Falls, whether in the form People dance to the Eric May Band during Twin Falls Tonight Aug. 15 in
of comedy shows, Tedx Talks or downtown Twin Falls.
musicals.
The Magic Valley is growing, Communities‌ they ultimately served as artistic
and its art scene is growing along The drag community is one of expression.
with it. Venues like the Orpheum several cultures that has found a “Right now, we are in a time
are leading the way in transform- home at the Orpheum Theatre. where anyone can join in and do
ing the valley into a place where The leading force behind that has what they want,” Tesch said.
recreation does not just happen been Twin Falls resident Brandon Kindsey Taylor, the owner
outdoors. Tesch. of Brass Monkey, is one of the
The resurgence of arts in the Tesch started his drag career in downtown business owners who
area can be chalked up to one 2015 with the production “Snips has taken the reins in organizing The Orpheum Theatre has become a symbol of entertainment in
thing, said Orpheum manager and Snails and Puppy-dogs’ Tails,” events downtown. downtown Twin Falls.
Jared Johnson: an influx of people as part of the CSI Stage Door Se- For the past five years, she has
who want to put their skills to use. ries. Throughout the show, Tesch organized Oktoberfest. When the local artists are offered more ex- the four years his brewery has
With growing communities of would gradually transform into old organizers quit, Taylor and hibits than ever before. been open, he’s seen an increase
refugees, Hispanic residents and Ursula, his drag persona. her friend decided to pick up the The Arts Council aims to create in travelers coming to town to try
LGBTQ members, Magic Valley Later that year, he performed torch. new programs and activities to get local beer.
residents have plenty of different his first full Ursula show with a Public art is also popping up the community involved like Art “Beer is like an intellectual
perspectives and cultures to ex- Christmas special titled “XXX- around downtown, as shown and Soul and Art in the Park, said sport. It’s like art you can taste,”
plore. mas.” The drag shows didn’t face by the recent murals in the new executive director Carolyn White. King said. “A brewery is more than
M
“This venue’s heart and soul in opposition, Tesch said, because Downtown Commons. As the Martin King, head beer brewer
1 this town,” Johnson said. they weren’t too offensive and Magic Valley Arts Council grows, at Von Scheidt Brewing, said in Please see ENTERTAINMENT, Page E4
E4 | Sunday, September 9, 2018
Sports
From E2
here, there’s nowhere to go.”
Twin Falls’ population growth
didn’t spark the rec center dis-
cussions, McClintock said, but it
did accelerate the process. In the
not so distant past, people would
routinely wait until the late regis-
tration period to sign up for var-
ious leagues, she said, and they’d
usually be able to join without
issue. Recently, those late regis-
tration slots have filled up more
quickly, putting more people on
waiting lists.
Population growth doesn’t nec-
essarily correlate to more interest
in rec leagues — the demographics
of population drive that too — but
McClintock believes it’s a major
explanation for the increasingly
packed leagues. She knows that
leagues can’t stay the same size
forever if the city continues to
grow, but the leagues need enough
time and space to play in order to
expand.
Funding is no small obstacle,
and Twin Falls residents will have
plenty of opportunities to voice
their opinions about a rec center.
Perhaps a donor will swoop in and
cover the cost for a community
gym, as happened in Hansen back
in February, when a private family
donated $1 million for a new high
school gym that doubles as a com-
munity gym.
Whatever the method, McClin-
tock hopes enough people see the Kadance Jacobson, 12, bumps the ball July 6 during the CSI Volleyball Camp at the College of Southern Idaho
utility not just of a gym but of gymnasium in Twin Falls.
an indoor running track, a rock
climbing wall and more.
“I’d love to offer cooking
classes. I’d love to offer those
types of things, and I can’t,” she
said. “I don’t have anywhere to
do it.”
The recruiting trail‌
In some ways, the College of
Southern Idaho is more immune
to the effects of population growth
than the rest of the city, especially
when it comes to sports.
On the surface, CSI’s additions
of a cross country/distance track
program and proposed multipur-
pose field look like reflections
of growth, and they are in some
ways. But the city population has
little to do with it.
The running program was easy
to start financially and logistically,
given the lack of facilities needed
for its athletes, and athletic direc-
tor Joel Bate hoped it would serve
as an enrollment prop. The mul-
tipurpose field broke ground last
summer, and CSI hopes it will be
home to a future Golden Eagles
soccer program.
“Those were just projects that
were time to come,” Bate said.
“Doesn’t really have anything to
do with the growth in the area.”
While more people are moving
to the Magic Valley, CSI’s home
game attendance numbers have
not skyrocketed at the same rate.
Some CSI coaches believe that
team success and local athletes
(or lack thereof) on their rosters
Entertainment
From E3
just getting drunk. It’s about a
sense of community.”
Limiting factors‌
For performers in the Magic
Valley, creating a new scene from
scratch often comes with unrest.
The fear, performers say, is if one
person takes on too much respon-
sibility, the scene will die if that
person steps away from a leader-
ship role. Without the support of
the community, the scene cannot
thrive.
Jordan Thornquest, a Twin
Falls-based musician, knows
that fear well. Thornquest has be-
come one of the faces of music in
the Magic Valley. He is a founder
of the Neighborhood Sounds, a
group that brings new musicians
to Twin Falls for concerts. Still, he
shies away from the role.
“I don’t want to run Neighbor-
hood Sounds. I just want to play
music,” Thornquest said. “If I
stopped pushing for new music
here I’m not sure the community
would pick up the reins.”
He said creating a new music
scene requires people to get out-
side of their comfort zones, and a
lack of venues for young people
to visit makes expansion difficult.
“It’s tough to point fingers at
anyone. The blame comes from
the mentality that where I live
limits what I can do,” Thornquest
said.
One outlet for local musicians
is Twin Falls Tonight, a series of
summer concerts that has just
wrapped up its 19th season.
Tony Prater, the co-organizer
for Twin Falls Tonight, has orga-
nized the event since its inception.
The first concert that he and his
wife put together had four attend-
ees, he said. Now, they average be-
Zach Haake pitches as the Idaho Falls Chukars take on the Ogden Raptors at Melaleuca Field on Sept. 5.
play roles in attendance, as does
the recent ability for fans to live
stream every game.
CSI head men’s basketball
coach Jared Phay believes popula-
tion growth might even be hurting
attendance.
“When people talk about the
old days when the gym was packed
People dance to the Eric May Band during Twin Falls Tonight Aug. 15 in downtown Twin Falls.
tween 1,500 and 2,200 attendees
per concert.
“The real reason why we do this
is for our kids and grandkids,”
Prater said. “This, the arts, it’s all
about what we leave behind.”
For years, the entertainment
scene in Twin Falls was stagnant.
But now, he said, residents can
find a different form of entertain-
ment any day of the week.
‘We have artists here’‌
K.C. Hunt, founder of Liquid
Milk Comedy Stuff, has been ac-
tive in the Boise comedy scene for
the past four years. Now he wants
to bring that entertainment to
Twin Falls.
Hunt has begun hosting open
mics and bringing well-known
comedians to Twin Falls. But
without a home in the TF Brick-
house, he said, it would be impos-
sible to grow an audience.
BIG STORY
every night and people were wait-
ing in line, attendance is down in
that sense,” he said. “Back then,
there was literally nothing else
to do in town. Now, we still get
good crowds and good support,
but there are just more options in
town.”
One area that has been mini-
Neighborhood Sounds promoter Jordan Thornquest adjusts audio levels
Aug. 26 at the former Idaho Youth Ranch building in downtown Twin Falls.
“I’m lucky I contacted Brick-
house when I did,” Hunt said.
“They were looking for entertain-
ment there. People recognize that
there is a need for this stuff.”
PAT SUTPHIN TIMES-NEWS‌
JOHN ROARK, POST REGISTER‌
mally affected by growth, coaches
said, is recruiting players outside
of the Magic Valley. Jim Cartis-
ser has coached volleyball at CSI
since 2005, back when Twin Falls’
population was about 38,000.
That number is around 50,000
today, and business growth has
followed suit.
DREW NASH PHOTOS, TIMES-NEWS‌
Acy Maldonado, co-owner of
TF Brickhouse, said they give new
acts three to six months to see how
they perform. It takes a while for
Twin Falls to get into something,
Times-News
“(When) I got here in 2005,
they’d just opened the Costco.
None of this stuff was open on the
Canyon Rim. We had the mall. …
We didn’t have the hospital,” Car-
tisser said. “There’s been a ton
of growth, but we really haven’t
changed that much. I think the
area can absorb quite a few more
people — there are lots of areas to
grow in — and it’s not really gonna
change this particular pocket very
much.”
Cartisser, who is in his first year
as CSI’s head coach following
the death of his wife Heidi, said
a recruit has never turned down
the Golden Eagles because the
town wasn’t big enough. Maybe a
school like Salt Lake Community
College has served as a tiebreaker
over CSI because of Salt Lake
City’s size, but if it has, Cartisser
hasn’t heard.
Phay echoed Cartisser’s senti-
ment. At the junior college level,
a program’s success and its track
record for sending athletes to big
schools are far more important
than where the athletes will live
for one or two years with sum-
mer breaks and holidays sprinkled
in. Even if the recent growth had
drastically changed Twin Falls’
identity, that factor would largely
be beside the point.
Those CSI coaches, as well as
head running coach Lindsey An-
derson, also believe Twin Falls sits
in a sweet spot.
“A lot of the small-town kids
feel like they’re in a really big city,”
Anderson said. “But it’s also big
enough that kids coming in from
big cities still feel like they have
everything here.”
One difference Cartisser has
noticed is the talent level in the
Magic Valley has improved.
When he started Club Can-
yon in 2006, it was one of the
few club volleyball programs in
the state, and the only one in the
Magic Valley. In those early years,
CSI would often sign one or two
local volleyball players per class,
but their local ties and potential
often outweighed their abilities
to immediately play at the college
level, Cartisser said.
As more people have funneled
into the area, more youth club
sports programs, such as Twin
Falls Elite, have formed. As a re-
sult, local athletes have become
more prepared for the college
level.
This year’s CSI volleyball roster
features four Idaho natives: Twin
Falls High School graduate Kylie
Baumert, Brianna Bart (Centen-
nial), Tausha Cummins (Butte
County) and Payton Spoja (Boise).
All four played club volleyball be-
fore signing with CSI.
“With the growth of the town
and volleyball backgrounds mov-
ing in, we’ve been able to take lo-
cal kids like a Kylie Baumert, who
started playing club when she was
10 years old,” Cartisser said. “It’s
made it so we can take those local
kids now and really count on them.
It’s not just bringing them in for
potential anymore. They’ve got a
lot of realized potential already.”
Green Citrine lead singer Antonio
Macias plays music Aug. 26 at the
former Idaho Youth Ranch building
in downtown Twin Falls.
The Eric May Band plays during
Twin Falls Tonight Aug. 15 in
downtown Twin Falls.
he said, but scenes can thrive once
the city settles into a schedule and
expects the entertainment.
“The big thing is to give your-
self credit. Twin Falls is growing.
There are talented people here
who don’t have an outlet,” Hunt
said. “We have artists here. This
isn’t a Podunk town anymore. It’s
growing, and I want to be a part M
of that.” 1
 THE BIG STORY
TIMES-NEWS SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2018 | E1

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2018 | magicvalley.com | SECTION E

DREW NASH, TIMES-NEWS

Elvis Martinez, left, talks with friend and Realtor Tami Gooding while looking at a house for sale Sept. 4 in Twin Falls.

A major housing
SHORTAGE Housing crunch worsens in Mini-Cassia
LAURIE WELCH

B
lwelch@magicvalley.com
URLEY — When Katie and
Brad Mitchell moved to
Mini-Cassia, they found
a housing market that
didn’t leave much room
to be picky.
Purchasing a home that met all of
their needs was an impossible task,
and finding a home to rent wasn’t
much easier.
“There are not a whole lot of houses
for rent that are decent,” said Katie
Mitchell, formerly a resident of Fargo,
N.D. “At first we looked for a home
to buy, but we couldn’t find what we
needed in our price range.”
On Aug. 30, Mitchell walked back
and forth from her family’s new rental
house in southwest Burley to a moving
truck full of their belongings parked
at the curb.
Clipboard in hand, she checked off
items that had safely arrived.
The items had been on the truck for
LAURIE WELCH, TIMES-NEWS
two weeks while the family patiently
waited and slept on air mattresses in- Katie Mitchell watches as workers from a moving company unload her family’s household goods in Burley on Aug. 30.
side their new rental home.
“It was really hard to find a home
that was clean and in a good neigh-
borhood to rent,” Mitchell said.
The Mitchells and their three boys,
ages 4, 6 and 8, moved to Burley on
Aug. 17 after her husband took a po-
sition at Double L Manufacturing Inc.
in Heyburn.
They originally planned to buy a
home, but nothing was the right fit.
“There was nothing in our price She’s heard veteran agents discuss
range that met our needs,” she said. the days when there were 300 homes
“We felt like we’d grow out of the for sale. But for now, at least, those
space right away or they were just not days are long gone.
very nice.” And a tighter housing market means
The Mitchells’ experience is not more houses receive multiple offers.
uncommon. Despite a recent popula- When those offers come in, money
tion and business boom, Mini-Cassia usually talks. But other factors might
residents are finding that affordable sway a seller’s decision, including how
housing, whether they’re renting or quickly the buyer is able to close the
buying, is almost nonexistent. deal.
LAURIE WELCH, TIMES-NEWS The average number of days that
Need a house? Better act fast Katie Mitchell, formerly of Fargo, N.D., helps move her family’s belongings into a houses remained on the market in
“The housing market is crazy right new Burley rental home on Aug. 30. Cassia County shrank from 69 in 2017
now,” said Alyssa Terry, a real estate to 60 in 2018. In Minidoka County,
agent for Century 21 Riverside Realty. Since Terry became a real estate scarcer. But during the past year, she houses stayed on the market for an
“Just like the rest of the country, we agent five years ago, houses for sale in said, the market has tightened even
are having a major housing shortage.” Mini-Cassia have continually grown more. Please see HOUSING, Page E2

M MORE INSIDE: Homebuilding rebounds as buyers struggle with tight housing market, E3
1
E2 | Sunday, September 16, 2018 BIG STORY Times-News

LAURIE WELCH, TIMES-NEWS

The new Mountain Heights Apartments on Hiland Avenue in Burley are being offered for rent for $850 for a two-bedroom, two-bath apartment.

Housing
From E1

average of 91 days in 2017. This

year, that number fell to 58 days,
according to the Intermountain
Multiple Listing Service.
Most families, Terry said,
seek houses in the $130,000 to
$180,000 range, and there are only
about a half-dozen that fall in that
category for sale in Burley. Rupert
has 11 houses for sale in that range,
but five of them are new construc-
tion that will not be finished until
the end of January. There are nine
homes in that range in Heyburn.
“When you’re buying a home
you have to be quick and have
a set of eyes watching for you,”
Terry said. “You have to look at the
home quickly and if you’re inter-
ested you have to be prepared to
move in and make an offer.”
More than ever, Terry said, home
buyers need to work with a real es-
tate agent who can watch the mar-
ket for them in order to be success-
ful in this competitive market.
“I’ve had times where I’ve spo-
ken with a client that wants to list
a house and I have a client looking
for one and I’ve been able to put
them together before the house
was even listed. You really need
to have someone in your corner
looking out for you,” she said.
Houses in one Burley subdivi-
sion that’s under development
will start at $197,000, which is
PHOTO COURTESY ALYSSA TERRY, CENTURY 21 RIVERSIDE REALTY
more than many families can af-
ford, Terry said. But even that is This house, 1209 Boardwalk Ct. in Burley, is listed at $385,000. Built in 2003, it is 4,100 square feet and includes seven bedrooms and 3 1/2
on the low end of available hous- bathrooms.
ing. More than half of the available
homes cost $200,000 and up..
For families like the Mitchells,
who could not nail down a home
to buy, renting is often the backup
plan. But the rental market in
Mini-Cassia is even faster-paced
than the buying market.
Terry’s office keeps a list of
rentals that are available in the
area. The list typically includes
about six to eight listings.
“We have seven to 10 people
coming in every day for that list,”
she said. “The rental market is just
insane right now.”
People who are caught in the
tight rental market should consider
at least looking into the option of
buying a home, she said, because
sometimes a rent check costs as
much as a mortgage payment.
“I’ve had clients who didn’t
think they could buy but when
they checked with a lender, they
found out they could. It’s worth it
to at least check it out,” she said.
So is relief for homebuyers on
the horizon?
“I don’t see houses flooding the
market in the near future, and I
don’t really see people moving PHOTO COURTESY OF ALYSSA TERRY, CENTURY 21 RIVERSIDE REALTY‌
out of the area,” Terry said. “Why This house, 2031 Z St. in Heyburn, is listed at $167,500. Built in 1975, it is 1,824 square feet and includes three bedrooms and one bathroom.
would they want to leave? It’s an
amazing place to live.”

An organic process‌ Increasing prices and stagnant quantity *2018 data is year-to-date, as of Sept. 5.
Despite the tight housing mar-
Twin Falls average price of homes Jerome average price of homes Homes sold in Twin Falls Homes sold in Jerome
ket, city officials say new devel- sold 2014-2018 sold 2014-2018
opers approach the city every day. $250K $250K 995 984
The supply has yet to materialize, $222,222 911
but there is demand from both $189,190
$200K $200K 762
prospective buyers and builders.
633
“We have not seen housing $150K $150K
growth slow down at all in the
last year,” Kelly Anthon, Rupert $100K $100K
city administrator said. 235 231 218
In recent memory, Rupert was $50K $50K 181 151
downright stagnant. Five years
ago, the average age Rupert homes $0 $0
was 63 years old, one of the oldest 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018* 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018* 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018* 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018*
Source: Multiple Listing Service Lee Enterprises graphic
M
Please see HOUSING, Page E4 1
 TIMES-NEWS BIG STORY SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2018 | E3

DREW NASH, TIMES-NEWS

Realtor Tami Gooding shows a house for sale Sept. 4 in Twin Falls.

Homebuilding rebounds as buyers

struggle with tight housing market
HEATHER KENNISON
Hkennison@magicvalley.com
TWIN FALLS – Realtor Tami
Gooding could see the indecisive-
ness in her client’s eyes.
“You don’t have to make a de-
cision right this minute,” she said.
“Have you seen this market?”
Elvis Martinez replied. “Yes, you
do.”
After nine months of house
hunting, Martinez was feeling
the pressure to buy. She was un-
sure about the small house on
Cherrywood Road, but she knew
it wouldn’t stay on the market for
long.
“There’s been times when I’ve
slept on it, and the next day it’s
gone,” Martinez said.
When Gooding showed up to
the house at 5:30 p.m. on Sept.
4 — its first day on the market —
two other real estate agents were
already there with clients.
“This is not uncommon,” Good-
ing said, especially for houses
listed at less than $200,000.
In both Twin Falls and Jerome,
prospective homebuyers are grap-
pling with a tight housing market.
Homebuilders, desperate to keep
up with demand, are turning in
building permits as fast as they
can fill them out.
It’s difficult to predict how long
the tight housing market will last.
But for now, as the Magic Valley’s
population booms, sellers and
builders are reaping the benefits Masyn Malmstrom takes a look at the backyard while he and his girlfriend look over a house for sale Sept. 4 in Twin Falls.
while buyers like Martinez scram-
ble to find housing within their amount of inventory in over five able homes,homebuilding is on
budgets. years,” Gooding said. Housing snapshot Sept. 5, 2018
the rebound. The only question is
As of Sept. 5, there were only Jerome Twin Falls whether it will rebound enough to
A seller’s market 201 active listings in Twin Falls Active listings: 39 Active listings: 201 meet the high demand.
The house Gooding showed on and 39 in Jerome. Countywide, Twin Falls’ building depart-
Sept. 4 was listed at $159,900, Twin Falls County had 19 percent ment approved 220 permits for
the high end of Martinez’s price fewer listings than last September, new homes between October 2017
range. She’d been pre-qualified and Jerome County had 17 percent and August 2018.
for a mortgage in November 2017 fewer. “We are seeing a continual in-
in anticipation of her lease ending And while demand is high and Average listing price Average listing price crease of new single-family per-
in February. supply is low, it’s an ideal time for $288,491 $289,331 mits,” Twin Falls Building Official
“We thought if we started in homeowners to sell. Jarrod Bordi said.
November we’d have just enough “Equity is high too,” said Ryan Average days on market Average days on market Builders are having a heyday as
time to find something,” she said. Swinney, association executive. farmland is converted into subdi-
“That wasn’t the case.” “If you purchased your home in 0 84 365 0 76 365 visions throughout town. And it’s
Some of the houses in her price 2014, you’ve got equity already.” Source: Multiple Listing Service Lee Enterprises graphic all market-driven, Bordi said.
range didn’t qualify for a fed- Zillow’s Home Value Forecast Still, the city issued only 212
eral loan because they needed estimates the median home price erage of 55 days. In Jerome, 151 tle for anything else. home permits for the entire 2017
too many repairs. Martinez put has climbed 12.4 percent over the homes have been sold, and they’ve “They want it, and they want it calendar year, 37 fewer than the
offers on two different houses, past year in Twin Falls, and 9.4 stayed on the market for an aver- now,” Gooding said. year prior. While these are still
but neither one of them worked percent in Jerome. age of 57 days. The most popular homes higher numbers than Twin Falls
out. Still, she felt she could trust Starter homes are one of the in Twin Falls right now are in has seen in a decade, Bordi doesn’t
Gooding, who was renting a Starter homes biggest needs real estate agents the price range of $160,000 to know why home permits spiked in
place to Martinez while she and While housing is generally tight see for both cities. In Jerome, $180,000, she said. In Jerome, it’s 2016 and declined the following
her boyfriend, Masyn Malstrom, across the Magic Valley, one seg- that’s in the $130,000 to $160,000 between $130,000 and $150,000. year.
looked for something perma- ment of houses has been more range, while in Twin Falls it’s in “We are seeing younger people But it looks like they could be
nent. available than the others: expen- the $150,000 to $200,000 range. who want their own home because going up again. He already has
“She’s not going to let me get sive homes. Jerome’s housing market, Mower it’s cheaper to buy than to rent,” another 17 or 18 home permits in
into something that I regret,” “The higher-end homes we said, hasn’t come back from the Gooding said. the queue, pending approval.
Martinez said. seem to always have plenty of,” Great Recession as strongly as On Sept. 5, there were only six Detached homes aren’t the
But the inventory of homes Mower said. expected. listed homes in Jerome and seven only thing that’s in demand. For
continues to decrease, said Beth Still, even those are moving “I think there are a lot of peo- in Twin Falls that were priced the first time in years, Twin Falls
Mower, board president of West- much quicker than expected. ple who are still reluctant to buy between $130,000 and $150,000, is seeing multiple multifamily
ern Magic Valley Realtors. At one And for houses listed at less than a home in Jerome,” Mower said. and several of them were fix- dwellings cropping up. For the fis-
time, Gooding could spend two to $150,000, having multiple offers Today’s “starter home” isn’t er-uppers. cal year through August, the city
three full days showing homes to is the new normal. what it used to be, Gooding said. has issued 25 fourplex permits,
a couple from out of town. Now As of early September, 633 The first-time homebuyer of to- Single-family and “which is a record as far back as
she struggles to find enough home homes have been sold in Twin day wants a big backyard, two multifamily rebounds I can tell,” Bordi said.
M
showings for even one day. Falls this year. Those homes bathrooms and three bedrooms.
1 “We haven’t had an abundant stayed on the market for an av- And the buyer is less likely to set- Despite the shortage of avail- Please see HOMEBUILDING, Page E4
E4 | SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2018
This house, 545 Terrace Dr. in Burley, asking price is listed at $655,000. Built in 1994, it is 3,542 square feet with another 1,111 square feet of unfinished basement, and it includes three
bedrooms and 2 1/2 bathrooms.
Housing
From E2
averages of any city in Idaho.
“It’s really interesting that Ru-
pert is seeing this kind of con-
struction,” Anthon said. “We ha-
ven’t seen this kind of growth for
decades.”
As of early September, more
than 200 homes were under de-
velopment in Rupert. A variety of
housing, including duplexes and
single-family homes, are being
built. Much of the development is
being done by outside investors,
he said.
In the meantime, a tight hous-
ing market is part of a natural
growth cycle, Anthon said.
“Growth happens through this
organic process,” Anthon said.
First jobs are created, and then
it’s time for more places for peo-
ple to live, Anthon said. Amenities
and retail soon follow.
Creating amenities and a place
where people want to live and have
a business are crucial parts of that
cycle. In the past few years, Rupert
has opened a Boys and Girls Club
of Magic Valley and is now in the
process of revamping the Rupert
Square.
“The Square is a way of secur-
ing Rupert’s future. The city has
always been identified with the
Square. When you beautify the
Square, Rupert is beautified,” An-
thon said.
Workers in short supply
Jan Roeser, a regional econo-
mist with the Idaho Department
of Labor, said she’s surprised that
there aren’t more newly con-
structed homes on the market in
Homebuilding
From E3
Combined with 220 sin-
gle-family homes and seven du-
plexes, that makes 334 new dwell-
ings within the city. Bordi expects
even more multifamily housing
will follow. Several townhouse
projects are also getting close to
This house, 1700 Conant Ave. in Burley is listed at $139,000. Built in 1915, it is 1,540 square feet with another
594 square feet of unfinished basement, and it includes three bedrooms and one bathroom.
Mini-Cassia.
It’s helpful for a community to
have some extra housing to pull
out of its “back pocket” for emer-
gencies during a big company ex-
pansion or relocation, she said.
Still, it’s not uncommon during
a period of growth for a commu-
nity to experience a lag in housing
availability.
“No one wants to build a home
without a job,” she said. “I think
we’re just playing catch-up right
now.”
submitting permits, he said.
Jerome, too, has experienced an
increase in builder activity. The
city had issued 38 single-family
permits through August, com-
pared to 25 last year.
Despite growing numbers of
housing and rentals, the costs
for renters are continuing to rise
around the Magic Valley, said
Toni Shinn, office supervisor for
BIG STORY
PHOTO COURTESY OF ALYSSA TERRY, CENTURY 21 RIVERSIDE REALTY
But Roeser is confident that as
the labor force continues to grow,
available housing won’t be far be-
hind. Part of the existing lag may
be left over from the Great Reces-
sion of the late 2000s, she said, as
Idaho’s construction industry has
struggled to regain solid footing
since then.
“The construction industry has
never really recovered its work-
force,” Roeser said.
The total number of non-
farm jobs statewide in 2006 was
the Twin Falls branch of the Idaho
Housing and Finance Association.
“The rents in our community
are absolutely increasing and
they’ve been steadily increasing
for the last several years, in fact,”
Shinn said. “The problem is, we
have way more renters than rent-
als available.”
Her clients for the federal Hous-
ing Choice Voucher Program
PHOTO COURTESY OF ALYSSA TERRY, CENTURY 21 RIVERSIDE REALTY
640,300 and in July 2018 that
number rose to 740,000. Over
the same span, the number of
construction jobs dropped from
52,900 to 47,300, according to the
Idaho Department of Labor.
“I think those numbers are very
telling, especially for our area,”
Roeser said.
Meanwhile, for families like
the Mitchells who need to find
housing, compromises are often
necessary. The rental home they
chose has three bedrooms and 1 ½
Above: Katie Mitchell marks off items on a clipboard on Aug. 30 in Burley
as her household belongings arrive from North Dakota.
Left: New Burley resident Katie Mitchell watches workers unload boxes
and furniture on Aug. 30. in Burley.
LAURIE WELCH PHOTOS, TIMES-NEWS
sometimes have trouble getting
into apartments because land-
lords already have a line of people
waiting to rent with cash in hand.
The voucher recipients must pay
at least 30 percent, and often 40
percent, of their adjusted income
toward rent.
One-bedroom and studio apart-
ments, especially, are hard to find,
Shinn said. But even two- and
TIMES-NEWS
Rent by wages
How much does a person need to
make per hour to afford a
two-bedroom rental in each of
the eight south-central Idaho
counties? Blaine County checks in
as the most expensive rental
county in the state, while the
other seven counties are cheaper
than the statewide average.
CUSTER
Statewide
average:
$15.44/hour
CAMAS
BLAINE
$13.40 $19.54
BINGHAM
GOODING LINCOLN
$13.40 $13.40
JEROME
$14.50 MINIDOKA
$13.40
CASSIA
TWIN FALLS
$14.33 $13.40
Source: National Low Income Housing Coalition
Lee Enterprises graphic
baths. It rents for $950 a month,
and it has some problems. There’s
not enough room in the kitchen
for a table, so the family will use
one of the bedrooms as a dining
area.
“But it was clean,” she said, and
it has a backyard.
While some towns are faring
better than others, and busi-
nesses continue to boom, a lack of
housing across Mini-Cassia could
temper growth across the board.
“The process has been really
difficult,” Mitchell said. “The
rental prices are really high for
what you get and although there
are some new apartments avail-
able, they rent for what it costs to
rent a house.”
three-bedroom apartments are
needed.
With a limited market, the new
homes and apartments will be a
welcome addition to an area that
has demand for more housing. In
the meantime, finding a home isn’t
impossible, Mower said. But you
must be aggressive and act fast.
“I think we’re on the map,” Bordi M
said, “and people want to live here.” 1