FRIENDS SITES >>>
Alfresco
art is the city's grace Enjoy art outside, from Dale Chihuly's glorious and sometimes
gloppy glass at New York Botanical Garden to an eccentric 'Corner Plot' near Central
Park
Bar
is denied license for a beer garden
Busch
Gardens to detail new attraction on Wed
Citizens sue over approval of 606 homes in Garden Valley Group says Boise County
Commission called a private session on Southfork Landing without following law
Commissioner's
idea makes Lake Tobesofkee home to butterfly garden
Enjoy
rhythm and blues at Botanical Garden
Garden
oasis opens at Arlington Memorial
Garden
of youth Middle schoolers' summer project is a part of a national trend that lets
students learn how to grow, distribute and enjoy organic food
GARDEN
STEPPINGSTONES
Hillside
garden a labor of love
On
the grounds New gardens, old buildings will greet 2006 Fair visitors
Plant
a rain garden
Retail
'village' rises in Winter Garden
Time
to give your garden a late-summer pick-me-up
Water,
water everywhere Going away Planning will keep your garden green
Citizens
sue over approval of 606 homes in Garden Valley Group says Boise County Commission
called a private session on Southfork Landing without following law
A
citizens group filed suit Friday against Boise County commissioners, contending
they held an illegal executive session before approving a controversial 606-home
riverside development planned for Garden Valley
If commissioners are found
guilty of violating the open meeting laws, they could face $150 fines, and decisions
made at the meeting could be voided.
Commissioners called an executive session with Boise County Prosecutor
Theresa Gardunia at a July 24 meeting, but gave no reason. The private session
was not on the agenda and violates several requirements of Idaho's open meeting
laws, including not citing what part of the open meeting laws authorized the session,
a lawsuit by Garden Valley Citizens alleges. The suit also claims Southfork Landing
was not a legitimate topic of discussion for an executive session.
After
the executive session, commissioners Roger Jackson, Fred Lawson and Paul Stutzman
reopened the meeting and unanimously approved the Southfork Landing development.
"We
can't let people just break the law left and right just because they think they
have the power," Garden Valley Citizens member Jayne Reed said.
Commissioners
have defended the executive session as appropriate, but Gardunia said earlier
this month that it was unauthorized. Gardunia, who has since been appointed a
4th District magistrate judge, did not return a phone call Friday.
The planned
use development, the first of its kind in Boise County, could transform the rural
community, potentially doubling its population, raising the tax base and improving
business.
Commissioner Stutzman said the commissioners needed legal advice
from Gardunia on the project, but he is not sure if the session was legal.
"That
remains to be decided by the courts, I guess," said Stutzman, who is serving
out his term after being defeated in a May primary.
Stutzman said Friday
that he wasn't told of the executive session until board Chairman Jackson called
it and said Jackson often calls unscheduled executive sessions. That complaint
has been leveled against Jackson in the past by residents and Boise County Sheriff
Drew Bodie.
Jackson, who also was defeated in the May primary, could not
be reached for comment.
Asked for reaction to the complaint, commissioner
Fred Lawson said, "I don't react to nothing" before hanging up.
Southfork
partner Lloyd Mahaffey said that his team started surveying and staking roads
for the development this week and that his group has complied with the county's
planned use development ordinance. "I'm disappointed in the open meeting
complaint because it just seems to be malicious and (Garden Valley Citizens) seeking
legal fees," he said.
