In June of 2007, I was contacted by a constituent who had a bad experience regarding gravel coming off of a truck on the freeway and wondered why this activity was allowed in Ada County.  As I checked into the issue further, it appeared that regulations addressing the securing of loads is supposed to be regulated under state and federal regulation.  As I inquired with other jurisdictions in the Treasure Valley on whther this was an issue of concern, it was clear that the lack of enforcement was creating not only a public safety hazard but a cost burden on local governments in maintaining and cleaning the roadway, not to mention an air quality nuisance. 

Since local governments are charged with providing for the health and welfare of our tax paying citizens, I proposed that each local jurisdiction in Ada and Canyon County adopt an identical ordinance to require loads to be secured in a manner as to prevent the escape of any component of the load.  All members of the Treasure Valley partnership agreed.

The ordinance provides for a consistent application across jurisdictional lines to address the concerns of sand, gravel and dirt companies.  It also provides for an effective date of October 1 to allow time to come into compliance.  Lastly, violators will face a $50 fine which is not considered a moving violation that would appear on one’s driving record.  This is to allow for the ordinance to take effect and will be revisited if the fine fails to result in significant compliance.

The Associated General Contractors have provided a legal opinion that they believe shows that the authority to regulate loads of this nature is reserved to the State of Idaho.  I respectfully disagree based on the State’s failure to allocate sufficient resources to address this serious problem. 

Ada County passed the new Covered Load Ordinance on June 18, 2008.  Other jurisdictions have introduced the ordinance and are in the process of considerint adoption.  I have greatly appreciated the regional cooperation of my fellow elected officials in the Treasure Valley Partnership.  This initiative is another successful product of the partnership and I will continue to take on issues like this on behalf of the citizens of Ada County.

Regional cooperation in land-use and infrastructure planning was a cornerstone of my campaign in 2006.  In past years, there seemed to be a trend of competition between Ada County and the cities, and between individual cities as well, for development projects.  Competition is generally good for consumers, but in this instance it often results in patchwork infrastucture that is more expensive and inefficient for citizens and taxpayers.

Ada County took a leadership role in bringing all of the jurisdictions together and agreeing on planning boundaries for future growth.  This was no small task in our rapidly growing county, but we thank City leaders for their work in this effort.  Now we can get back to the hard work of developing well defined plans for infrastructure that seems together the individual visions for growth.