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1 SWAN VALLEY, IDAHO, WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 1997, 10:00 A. M.
2
3
4 COMMISSIONER HANSEN: Good morning, ladies
5 and gentlemen. This hearing will now be in order. This
6 is the time and place set by the Idaho Public Utilities
7 Commission for a public hearing in Case No. GNR-T-96-6,
8 known as in the matter of the petition from residents of
9 Swan Valley, Irwin and Palisades requesting extended area
10 service to all of Bonneville County and the towns of
11 Ririe, Victor and Driggs.
12 My name is Dennis Hansen and I'm a member
13 of the Commission. I'll be Chairman of today's hearing.
14 At my left is Commissioner Ralph Nelson and
15 Commissioner Marsha Smith is excused today for another
16 commitment that she has. The three of us make up the
17 entire Commission and we will be the ones that will
18 decide this case.
19 First off, I'd like to take the appearances
20 of the parties and we'll start with the Staff,
21 Mr. Howell.
22 MR. HOWELL: Don Howell, Deputy Attorney
23 General, representing the Commission Staff.
24 MS. HOBSON: I'm Mary Hobson. I'm an
25 attorney for U S WEST Communications.
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CSB REPORTING COLLOQUY
Wilder, Idaho 83676
1 MR. WARD: And my name is Conley Ward. I'm
2 an attorney for Silver Star Telephone. On my left is
3 Allen Hoopes, the president of Silver Star and on my
4 right, Ron McCue, the vice president of Silver Star.
5 COMMISSIONER HANSEN: The purpose of this
6 hearing today is to hear from you, but before we start,
7 I've asked each one of the parties to give a brief
8 summary of their position on this case and to enlighten
9 you just a little bit of what has happened and so we'll
10 start with Mr. Ward or Mr. Hoopes, okay.
11 MR. HOOPES: Yes, I am president of Silver
12 Star Communications. We want to start out by making a
13 statement that we support the inclusion of the Swan
14 Valley/Irwin area into this calling area and feel that it
15 will be good for the community. We realize the
16 remoteness of Swan Valley and Irwin without the ability
17 to have hospital or your high school is not here and over
18 the years some of the services have declined in the
19 valley. As we've seen changes in society, you have less
20 access to some of the things that you used to have, so we
21 do support this inclusion into this calling area and feel
22 it will be a good thing for you as citizens.
23 Not only do we support that you be in the
24 Idaho Falls area, but also the Pocatello calling, so you
25 would basically have the same calling area that the
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CSB REPORTING COLLOQUY
Wilder, Idaho 83676
1 U S WEST customers received earlier in May of this year.
2 We actually have rate three options which
3 the Commission is considering from our side and they will
4 be considering some from Staff, also. The first option,
5 which is the option the company supports, is a levelized
6 rate of 17.51 for both business and residential service,
7 and when I say 17.51, that is the total amount that you
8 would pay for your service, including the calling area.
9 There is also a second option which would
10 be 17.51 for residence and 36.57 for business, and the
11 last option is option three, it's 17.51 for residence and
12 26.27 for business, and what the company is proposing is
13 that the residential rate be taken to the statewide USF
14 threshold, which is 125 percent of the statewide average,
15 and any remaining deficiency in revenues come out of that
16 universal service fund in Idaho.
17 Again, the company supports this, we feel
18 it's good for the community. We would encourage you to
19 support it and to testify for it today and thank you very
20 much.
21 COMMISSIONER HANSEN: U S WEST?
22 MR. SOUBA: Good morning, ladies and
23 gentlemen. My name is John Souba. I'm here representing
24 U S WEST Communications. U S WEST, as you know, is the
25 provider of the local calling region that we recently
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Wilder, Idaho 83676
1 established in May. U S WEST's position is very simple.
2 If the Idaho Public Utilities Commission determines there
3 is sufficient community of interest to grant expanded
4 local calling in this case, U S WEST recommends that the
5 Idaho communities served by Silver Star and Teton who
6 have petitioned the Commission in this case be made part
7 of U S WEST's new eastern Idaho local calling region.
8 This region includes, and again this region
9 was established in May of 1997, this region includes the
10 following communities that are served by U S WEST today:
11 American Falls, Bancroft, Blackfoot, Dayton, Downey,
12 Firth, Franklin, Grace, Idaho Falls, Inkom, Lava Hot
13 Springs, Lewisville, Menan, McCammon, Montpelier,
14 Pocatello, Preston, Rexburg, Rigby, Ririe, Riverside,
15 Roberts, Shelley, Soda Springs and Thatcher. Now you
16 know why I had to read this.
17 U S WEST recommends that both telephone
18 companies be allowed to recover the costs of providing
19 the expanded local calling through increases to local
20 rates. U S WEST also recommends that any expanded local
21 calling be made two way and should be mandatory versus
22 optional. Thank you.
23 COMMISSIONER HANSEN: Staff.
24 MR. SCOTT: Hi, my name is David Scott.
25 I'm the public information officer with the Public
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Wilder, Idaho 83676
1 Utilities Commission. For those of you who have come in
2 late but would like to testify, we do have a sign-up
3 sheet over here that we'd like you to register your name
4 on so that we can call you in order. Print your name,
5 please. We're having difficulty reading some of these.
6 I'll just go ahead as people walk in.
7 Before I begin, let me just explain the
8 terminology you'll be hearing a lot of and that is
9 extended area service or EAS. That term is synonymous
10 with toll free calling.
11 Today's proceeding involves Case GNR-T-96-6
12 and GNR-T-97-3. The Commission initiated Case GNR-T-96-6
13 in response to a petition from residents from the Irwin,
14 Swan Valley, Wayan and Palisades communities requesting
15 toll free calling to Idaho Falls, Soda Springs and the
16 surrounding areas. Case GNR-T-97-3 was initiated in
17 response to a petition from residents of the Irwin and
18 Swan Valley area wanting EAS calling into Driggs and
19 Victor.
20 The Commission Staff conducted an
21 investigation which looked at both community of interest
22 issues and the costs associated with these petitions.
23 When we refer to community of interest issues, we are
24 speaking specifically about such things as school
25 districts, government services, medical services and
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Wilder, Idaho 83676
1 other essential-type services.
2 Probably of little surprise to most of you
3 here this morning, Staff found there's a strong community
4 of interest in calling Idaho Falls and Driggs for the
5 customers from Irwin and Swan Valley. Staff also found a
6 very strong community of interest for the customers of
7 Wayan to call Soda Springs and the surrounding areas.
8 The purpose of today's hearing is to gain further insight
9 into the community of interest with these exchanges and
10 the eastern Idaho region. We also hope to gain
11 additional insight into the willingness of customers to
12 pay for the cost of this EAS.
13 As in all contested cases, there are some
14 differences between Staff and, in this case, Silver Star
15 over the cost of this proposal. Consequently, the
16 numbers I am about to give you represent Staff's analysis
17 and will differ from the company's. Staff's analysis
18 indicates that the total cost of calling the entire
19 eastern Idaho region and the Driggs exchange will be
20 $21.00 per month per residential line and $36.57 per
21 month per business line. These monthly rates reflect an
22 increase of $7.00 per month for each residential line for
23 Wayan customers, $6.00 a month for each Irwin residential
24 customer line and $14.01 per month for each business
25 line. The remaining revenues under Staff's
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Wilder, Idaho 83676
1 recommendations would be paid from the Idaho universal
2 service fund.
3 Staff has recommended that the Commission
4 grant EAS to the eastern Idaho region as well as into the
5 Driggs exchange, which will allow Silver Star customers
6 larger EAS region than what U S WEST customers currently
7 enjoy. I would also like to note the importance of your
8 attending today's hearing and giving your testimony.
9 We have a court reporter, as you can see,
10 that will register your remarks and those remarks will be
11 entered into the official record by which the Commission
12 will render a decision. When you come up, you'll be
13 sworn in and then you'll take your seat and there's a
14 microphone up here that you can use similarly to how I'm
15 using it now so that those in the back of the room can
16 hear you. Thank you.
17 COMMISSIONER HANSEN: Thank you. I'd just
18 like to mention sometimes there's a little confusion, the
19 Staff is not the Commission and the Commission will make
20 the decision on this matter. The purpose of this hearing
21 today is to hear from you people to help us in making
22 this decision and those of you that would like to get up
23 and make a statement publicly, we'd love to hear from
24 you.
25 If some of you would rather not make it
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Wilder, Idaho 83676
1 publicly, but would like to make a statement in writing,
2 we have sheets there available that you can write out
3 your opinion or statement and give it to a member of our
4 Staff and that way we can incorporate that into the
5 record and have your views and feelings on these
6 matters.
7 Our procedure today, as you entered the
8 room, we had a sign-up sheet and some of you have come a
9 little bit late and so we do have a sign-up sheet and
10 we'll give you an opportunity to -- maybe we could ask
11 Mr. Scott if he'd just maybe pass one out at the back of
12 the room and if you want to sign up, you can sign up on
13 that. That way, you will not have to come up to the
14 front and we can get you on there.
15 Basically, I'll call your name and, as
16 Mr. Scott mentioned, we'll ask you to come forward.
17 Commissioner Nelson will ask you to raise your hand and
18 he'll swear you in that you'll tell the truth, and we
19 know that you'll all tell the truth over here, but we
20 need to do that and then after you're sworn in, if you'd
21 just like to take a seat there or if you'd prefer to
22 stand, whichever, and the Deputy Attorney General,
23 Mr. Howell, will ask you a couple of questions, mainly
24 your name and ask you to spell your last name for the
25 record and your address.
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Wilder, Idaho 83676
1 After that, you will be free then to make
2 your statement. After you've made your statement, I need
3 to ask the parties if they have any questions that they
4 want to ask you or if the Commission does and you don't
5 need to be worried. If you have the answer, you can tell
6 them and if you don't, you can just tell them you don't
7 know and we'll support you on that; so anyway, we will
8 start.
9 Our first person to sign up is R. M.
10 Kelly. Would you like to come forward? Okay. Sometimes
11 there's a little confusion in that people sign up and
12 they may not want to make a statement, but they were
13 signing in, so if that's the case and your name is
14 called, you can just tell us that you'd rather not make a
15 statement.
16 The next person we have is Joan Weeks.
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CSB REPORTING COLLOQUY
Wilder, Idaho 83676
1 JOAN WEEKS,
2 appearing as a public witness, having been first duly
3 sworn, testified as follows:
4
5 EXAMINATION
6
7 BY MR. HOWELL:
8 Q Good morning. I need you to state your
9 full name and spell your last for the record, please.
10 A Joan N. Weeks, W-e-e-k-s.
11 Q And, ma'am, can you give us an address?
12 A Irwin, Idaho, Post Office Box 135.
13 Q And are you a customer of Silver Star?
14 A Yes, I am and I have been ever since the
15 phones came into the valley.
16 Q And when was that?
17 A Heck, I don't remember. It was, like,
18 about '66. It seems like a lifetime ago, but it's been a
19 long time ago.
20 Q And do you have a statement you'd like to
21 give us today?
22 A Yes. I think this is well overdue. I
23 think we should have been on this here deal a long time
24 ago and I think that we have been kind of, you might say,
25 stranded up in here. A lot of times the phones don't go
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CSB REPORTING WEEKS
Wilder, Idaho 83676 Public
1 through and a lot of times we can make local calls but no
2 long distance and so I feel like that we really need this
3 service.
4 We're a long ways away from our families.
5 Our families are all out of here. My families are in
6 Idaho Falls and Rigby and Star Valley and I feel like
7 that it really costs a lot of money for long distance
8 calls all the time and I feel like that other people in
9 the other towns have had this privilege, so why shouldn't
10 we. We should have this same privilege that other people
11 have had and it's long overdue. I feel like this should
12 have happened to us a long time ago because we have been
13 Silver Star patrons for a good many years.
14 COMMISSIONER HANSEN: Thank you. If you'll
15 just stay there just a moment and let's see if we have
16 any questions.
17 Do we have any questions?
18 MR. WARD: No questions.
19 COMMISSIONER HANSEN: Commissioner Nelson,
20 did you have a question?
21 MR. HOWELL: I had a question.
22 COMMISSIONER HANSEN: Oh, excuse me,
23 Mr. Howell.
24
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CSB REPORTING WEEKS
Wilder, Idaho 83676 Public
1 CROSS-EXAMINATION
2
3 BY MR. HOWELL:
4 Q Ma'am, can you tell us what your average
5 long distance bill is?
6 A Our phone bill averages, we have a son in
7 Utah, also, so our average long distance phone calls is
8 around $50.00 every single month.
9 Q And how much more would you be willing to
10 pay to pay for free calling?
11 A What are we paying now? $19.00, average
12 about $20.00 for local, isn't that about right?
13 AUDIENCE: 20.01.
14 THE WITNESS: 20.01 after taxes was added
15 on. It was 19 some, plus a little few cents each time,
16 and it came up a whole lot since we first started.
17 Q BY MR. HOWELL: I guess my question is the
18 people in Idaho Falls are now paying $5.50 extra a month
19 for that --
20 A I would be willing to pay a reasonable
21 price extra.
22 Q And what is a reasonable price in your
23 mind?
24 A Well, it depends on how much you are going
25 to offer us. I'm not going to make that statement
12
CSB REPORTING WEEKS (X)
Wilder, Idaho 83676 Public
1 because I wouldn't say $20.00 when you're going to offer
2 six or five and in the paper what did it say, something
3 about $3.00 that some people were getting into Wayan and
4 into Soda Springs and some of those places, so why
5 shouldn't we get this same rate as other people are
6 getting?
7 I don't think we should be hit with a big
8 price to get to, what, 30 miles to Idaho Falls or to
9 Ririe or even 50, 45 miles into Idaho Falls, so I don't
10 think our price should be really high for it. I think a
11 few dollars, everybody would be willing to pay a few
12 dollars extra.
13 MR. HOWELL: All right.
14 COMMISSIONER HANSEN: Thank you.
15 Commissioner Nelson had a question for
16 you.
17
18 EXAMINATION
19
20 BY COMMISSIONER NELSON:
21 Q Do you use an alternate long distance
22 carrier for your calls into Idaho Falls and around
23 eastern Idaho?
24 A We use AT&T.
25 COMMISSIONER NELSON: Okay, thank you.
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CSB REPORTING WEEKS (Com)
Wilder, Idaho 83676 Public
1 COMMISSIONER HANSEN: Thank you very much.
2 (The witness left the stand.)
3 COMMISSIONER HANSEN: The next person we
4 have is Bernell Clark.
5
6 BERNELL CLARK,
7 appearing as a public witness, having been first duly
8 sworn, testified as follows:
9
10 EXAMINATION
11
12 BY MR. HOWELL:
13 Q Mr. Clark, could you give us your full name
14 and spell your last name for the record?
15 A Bernell Clark, C-l-a-r-k.
16 Q And how do you spell your first name?
17 A B-e-r-n-e-l-l.
18 Q Thank you, sir, and could we have your
19 address, please?
20 A I live in Idaho Falls, 1375 East 49th
21 North, Idaho Falls, Idaho.
22 Q So you are a U S WEST local exchange
23 customer?
24 A Yes, I am.
25 Q And do you have a statement you'd like to
14
CSB REPORTING CLARK
Wilder, Idaho 83676 Public
1 give?
2 A Yes. We have property up at the upper end
3 of the valley by Palisades Reservoir. We've been trying
4 to get a telephone system up there for the last four or
5 five years and it sounds like possibly next year we'll
6 get it. They began talking about putting us on the Star
7 Valley exchange and that's not a good deal for us that
8 live there. We go to church, we associate with folks
9 here in the valley and so it's really important to us
10 that we be hooked up on the system down in this area.
11 I've been on the Idaho Falls exchange when
12 it switched and we have a larger calling area now and I
13 run a small business and it has really been an advantage
14 to us as well as, you know, residential calls, the
15 business aspect of it has really been appreciated. Our
16 phone bill didn't go up when this service went into
17 effect. It may in the near future, but it's really been
18 well worth it to us and I think we ought to do everything
19 we can to get this service available in this area. We
20 need it and we need it bad.
21 As far as the costs are concerned, I am
22 more impressed with the prices that Silver Star came up
23 here with than I am with the Utilities Commission, but it
24 would be nice if we could hold it at about $17.00, but I
25 know that it costs money to put these systems in. I
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CSB REPORTING CLARK
Wilder, Idaho 83676 Public
1 don't have anything more to say, but I am really for it
2 and I represent about 15 people up in our area and they
3 are all for this system overwhelmingly.
4 COMMISSIONER HANSEN: Let's see if we have
5 any questions.
6 Questions? I just have one comment. It
7 was the Commission Staff that came up with those numbers,
8 not the Commission. Thank you.
9 THE WITNESS: Sorry.
10 (The witness left the stand.)
11 COMMISSIONER HANSEN: Dennis Bitton.
12
13 DENNIS BITTON,
14 appearing as a public witness, having been first duly
15 sworn, testified as follows:
16
17 EXAMINATION
18
19 BY MR. HOWELL:
20 Q Sir, could you please state your full name
21 and spell your last name for the record?
22 A My name is Dennis Bitton. I better get
23 this thing up here. Can you hear me now?
24 Q I can hear you. How do you spell your last
25 name?
16
CSB REPORTING BITTON
Wilder, Idaho 83676 Public
1 A B-i-t-t-o-n.
2 Q And your address?
3 A It's Box 115, Swan Valley, Idaho.
4 Q And you're a Silver Star customer?
5 A I sure am.
6 Q And do you have a statement you'd like to
7 give?
8 A Yes, I do. First of all, might I state
9 that my wife Juanita Bitton, and she asked me to speak
10 for her, too, has been instrumental in getting this, what
11 do you call it, anyway getting it started. She had the
12 petition sent all around the valley and all that and I
13 might say she likes to use the phone.
14 AUDIENCE: Can I have an extra line?
15 THE WITNESS: So naturally, we're totally
16 in favor of this. Now, your Commission also sent her a
17 copy of the plan that was presented to you and we both
18 went through it quite extensively and I saw in there, oh,
19 a couple of different options for prices. The one that
20 was recommended by the lady that did so much work on the
21 plan on the Commission, what's her name?
22 AUDIENCE: Carolee.
23 THE WITNESS: Out of those plans, it looked
24 to me like the one that recommended a cost of maybe $6.00
25 extra over what we're paying now would be the best one
17
CSB REPORTING BITTON
Wilder, Idaho 83676 Public
1 simply because we were guaranteed of not having raises in
2 the near future and that sort of thing, so I'd be totally
3 in favor of anything that went up to that figure and the
4 extra cost that we would have to pay, because it's going
5 to eliminate, hopefully, so many of our long distance
6 calls, and I just asked the wife how much our long
7 distance bill had been, she says as high as $160 at one
8 time.
9 Well, there was a period back not too long
10 ago when a big part of that cost was payment to U S WEST
11 for in-state calls. That was the biggest bill we'd get.
12 I have a son that lives McCammon, Idaho, and we've got
13 relatives in Idaho Falls, we make a lot of calls to
14 there. Our medical service comes largely from the Driggs
15 area, so we make a lot of calls there and these areas
16 that have been requested are very important areas.
17 I think most of the residents of this
18 valley, I think I can speak for most of the residents of
19 this valley in saying that I'm sure that they would all
20 be up to paying a little extra on their phone bill to get
21 this kind of service. I guess that's all I need to say.
22 COMMISSIONER HANSEN: Let's see if we have
23 any questions.
24 Any questions? I just have one.
25
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CSB REPORTING BITTON
Wilder, Idaho 83676 Public
1 EXAMINATION
2
3 BY COMMISSIONER HANSEN:
4 Q You mentioned your wife likes to use the
5 phone and you never mentioned, do you like to use it or
6 just her?
7 A I have to use it.
8 Q You have to use it. That's normal, isn't
9 it, most of the men have to use the phone.
10 A I have to use it.
11 Q I just had one question. Do you see value
12 to being able to call in the total U S WEST extended
13 area, like down in the Pocatello area and as far as
14 Preston and Bear Lake area, or is the value mainly just
15 to Idaho Falls and Ririe?
16 A No, I want to see the extended area. As I
17 said, my son lives in McCammon and there's where a big
18 part of our phone calls go through, for instance, and I'm
19 sure other people here have similar situations.
20 COMMISSIONER HANSEN: Well, thank you very
21 much for your testimony.
22 THE WITNESS: You bet.
23 (The witness left the stand.)
24 COMMISSIONER HANSEN: Mrs. C. V. Campbell.
25 MS. CAMPBELL: Dennis spoke for me.
19
CSB REPORTING BITTON (Com)
Wilder, Idaho 83676 Public
1 COMMISSIONER HANSEN: I'm sorry, but the
2 person that signed in just below Mrs. Campbell signed
3 their name like maybe I sign my checks sometimes and I
4 can't -- and there's not an address, so if I miss you or
5 if you remember of signing in number seven on this sheet,
6 please come forward. I'll ask the Commissioner if he has
7 any idea what that is.
8 COMMISSIONER NELSON: It looks like it
9 could be Ryan.
10 AUDIENCE: I think it's me.
11 COMMISSIONER HANSEN: Okay, would you care
12 to come forth and identify yourself and make a
13 statement? Probably just you and the bank are the only
14 two that know that signature.
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CSB REPORTING BITTON (Com)
Wilder, Idaho 83676 Public
1 BRIAN CAMPBELL,
2 appearing as a public witness, having been first duly
3 sworn, testified as follows:
4
5 THE WITNESS: I like to sit down and when I
6 signed that, I really didn't know what I was signing.
7
8 EXAMINATION
9
10 BY MR. HOWELL:
11 Q To start things off, sir, why don't we get
12 your full name and you could spell your last.
13 A Brian Campbell, Box 102, Swan Valley.
14 Q And do you have a statement, Mr. Campbell?
15 A The only thing I had some questions on --
16 COMMISSIONER HANSEN: Mr. Campbell, I
17 should have stated before we started this hearing, the
18 procedure that we follow is a judicial-type procedure and
19 where we have the different parties that register as
20 intervenors in the case, they're the only ones that
21 really can offer live questions at a hearing and so what
22 we need to do is if you have questions or any other
23 members of the public, we will take a break or
24 immediately after the hearing you would be able to ask
25 the parties here those questions and they would,
21
CSB REPORTING CAMPBELL
Wilder, Idaho 83676 Public
1 hopefully, be able to answer those for you, but right
2 here in this proceeding is mainly just a statement that
3 you'd be able to make.
4 THE WITNESS: The only statement I want to
5 make is that it looks like a good thing to have and I'm
6 all for it.
7 COMMISSIONER HANSEN: Do we have any
8 questions?
9 Yes, Mr. Howell has a question for you,
10 sir.
11
12 CROSS-EXAMINATION
13
14 BY MR. HOWELL:
15 Q Mr. Campbell, how much would you be willing
16 to pay to get the additional calling area?
17 A That's part of what I didn't understand
18 about all this.
19 Q Would you be willing to pay $5.00 more?
20 A You bet.
21 Q Ten dollars more?
22 A Ten?
23 MR. HOWELL: I'll stop there.
24 (The witness left the stand.)
25 COMMISSIONER HANSEN: Steven D. East.
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CSB REPORTING CAMPBELL (X)
Wilder, Idaho 83676 Public
1 STEVEN EAST,
2 appearing as a public witness, having been first duly
3 sworn, testified as follows:
4
5 EXAMINATION
6
7 BY MR. HOWELL:
8 Q Sir, could you state your full name and
9 spell your last for the record, please?
10 A Steven D. East, E-a-s-t.
11 Q And, Mr. East, can you give us an address,
12 please?
13 A 176 North Irwin Road, Irwin, Idaho.
14 Q And do you have a statement you'd like to
15 make regarding this matter?
16 A Yes, I do, both as a resident and as a
17 teacher at the local school. As a resident, I would like
18 to see this come in because I believe that it would be
19 beneficial on my personal phone bill. As a teacher, I
20 work with technology and I'm responsible for all the
21 technology in the school and currently, without this, we
22 have extremely limited access to the Internet and there
23 is, as everyone knows, a world of information available
24 on the Internet and we have records at the school where
25 they have expended up to $300 a month for long distance
23
CSB REPORTING EAST
Wilder, Idaho 83676 Public
1 services for the Internet. We have curtailed that way
2 back, but in so doing, of course, it does limit our
3 access to the Internet and that's pretty much it.
4 COMMISSIONER HANSEN: Do we have any
5 questions?
6 Thank you very much for your testimony.
7 (The witness left the stand.)
8 COMMISSIONER HANSEN: Gary J. Hunter.
9
10 GARY HUNTER,
11 appearing as a public witness, having been first duly
12 sworn, testified as follows:
13
14 THE WITNESS: Gary Hunter, H-u-n-t-e-r,
15 232 Chapel Road, Swan Valley.
16 MR. HOWELL: And do you have a statement,
17 Mr. Hunter?
18 THE WITNESS: Yes. Knowing the bills that
19 we get for long distance with U S WEST and all the calls
20 I have to make to Idaho Falls, primarily Idaho Falls, I
21 know some people would like to make calls to more
22 extended areas, but I noticed that my phone calls having
23 to call the driver's license bureau as a driver ed
24 teacher and beginning January 1st as a driver's license
25 tester, I have to call Idaho Falls all the time.
24
CSB REPORTING HUNTER
Wilder, Idaho 83676 Public
1 That means 31 to $.33 a minute with
2 U S WEST. I finally got smart with the help of Silver
3 Star and I now access AT&T at $.15 a minute, so everybody
4 is commenting -- I mean, right now our phone bill
5 probably dropped 10-$15.00 a month by eliminating
6 U S WEST and going with AT&T and accessing their number.
7 How much would I be willing to pay? Well,
8 certainly not more than $.15 a minute because I can pay
9 that with AT&T. How many calls do we make? Well, that
10 probably varies, of course, and I don't know how much
11 it's going to be after the first of year, probably a lot
12 more, but I feel that if we're going to have an extended
13 area, the amount that we pay certainly shouldn't exceed
14 what we can get through our long distance service whether
15 it's $.10 a minute or $.15 a minute, whatever it is, and
16 should be comparable with what the people in Idaho Falls
17 pays.
18 Personally, I don't have any need to call
19 Pocatello or Soda Springs or wherever, mostly Idaho
20 Falls, probably, maybe Driggs and Victor, so that would
21 be a personal thing with me. Thank you.
22 COMMISSIONER HANSEN: Thank you.
23 Do we have any questions?
24 Thank you very much for your testimony.
25 (The witness left the stand.)
25
CSB REPORTING HUNTER
Wilder, Idaho 83676 Public
1 COMMISSIONER HANSEN: Jim Osterhout?
2 How about Carol?
3
4 CAROL OSTERHOUT,
5 appearing as a public witness, having been first duly
6 sworn, testified as follows:
7
8 EXAMINATION
9
10 BY MR. HOWELL:
11 Q You know the drill, I need your name and
12 address.
13 A Okay, Carol Osterhout. I live at Post
14 Office Box 130, Irwin.
15 Q Could you spell your last name, please?
16 A O-s-t-e-r-h-o-u-t.
17 Q And do you have a statement?
18 A Yes, I do. I work in Idaho Falls and I
19 also see a lot of billings that come in through
20 businesses and businesses in Idaho Falls and Pocatello
21 are saving between, some of them as much as 4 and $500 a
22 month since this new thing has gone through. Especially
23 the businesses that have toll free 800 numbers, they no
24 longer need them when they're just doing business in
25 southeast Idaho.
26
CSB REPORTING OSTERHOUT
Wilder, Idaho 83676 Public
1 I feel that this program should be more
2 towards the residents instead of the businesses and some
3 of your pricing that you're saying is the residential is
4 going to go up $6.00, businesses, what did you say?
5 COMMISSIONER NELSON: About the same.
6 THE WITNESS: Well, that's doesn't seem
7 fair to me. You know, our bill here in Irwin, the
8 cheapest we probably had is $70, the most expensive
9 probably 340 because we both work in Idaho Falls and it
10 just doesn't seem fair to me that a large majority of the
11 money is coming from the residents when in actuality
12 businesses would be saving probably three to four times
13 more than most of the residents here.
14 Anybody in this valley, every call they
15 make is long distance. For my work I do a lot of
16 collection calls and I either have the choice of driving
17 into town on Saturdays to do those or every call I make
18 in this whole entire area is long distance just to
19 complete work that I cannot do from 8:00 to 5:00 on my
20 job and I don't think that is fair, and I just think that
21 each individual rural area should be able to call a
22 larger city to be able to call the doctors, schools or
23 even to order flowers. Anything you do in this area has
24 to be long distance and I just feel that, I think the
25 whole program should be geared more towards residential
27
CSB REPORTING OSTERHOUT
Wilder, Idaho 83676 Public
1 than business and that's all.
2 COMMISSIONER HANSEN: Thank you.
3 Do we have any questions?
4 Commissioner Nelson.
5
6 EXAMINATION
7
8 BY COMMISSIONER NELSON:
9 Q Who do you use for your long distance
10 carrier for calls around eastern Idaho?
11 A We were using U S WEST. We have a daughter
12 in Idaho Falls and we have a son in Phoenix and our calls
13 to our daughter in Idaho Falls were twice as much as they
14 were to Phoenix, so we are now also using AT&T.
15 COMMISSIONER NELSON: Thank you.
16 COMMISSIONER HANSEN: Thank you for your
17 testimony.
18 (The witness left the stand.)
19 COMMISSIONER HANSEN: H. W. Bitton.
20
21
22
23
24
25
28
CSB REPORTING OSTERHOUT (Com)
Wilder, Idaho 83676 Public
1 H. W. BITTON,
2 appearing as a public witness, having been first duly
3 sworn, testified as follows:
4
5 EXAMINATION
6
7 BY MR. HOWELL:
8 Q I need your name and address, sir.
9 A My name is H. W. Bitton, B-i-t-t-o-n. My
10 brother spoke just a while ahead of me, so I guess we've
11 got a reputation.
12 Q And your address?
13 A Box 114, Swan Valley, Idaho.
14 Q And do you have a statement, sir?
15 A Yes. I'm very much in favor of this
16 extended coverage. Our bills for long distance run
17 anywhere from -- well, I've got to go back a ways when we
18 were on U S WEST and we've run the gamut. We've been
19 through a lot of them. At the present time we are on
20 MCI. At the present time our bill is running anywhere
21 from 25-$40.00.
22 My wife loves the telephone, like a lot of
23 others and that's a good deal and it keeps her in good
24 nature and so she has relatives in Star Valley and she
25 has relatives in Idaho Falls/Rigby area. I don't call
29
CSB REPORTING BITTON
Wilder, Idaho 83676 Public
1 near as much as she does, but I do call occasionally and
2 it's essential when I do.
3 I'm very much in favor of this extended
4 coverage and anything that would be less than our long
5 distance bill would be an advantage, let's put it that
6 way and it looks to me like it would be a big advantage.
7 I believe that's all I have to say.
8 COMMISSIONER HANSEN: Do we have any
9 questions?
10 Thank you very much for your testimony.
11 (The witness left the stand.)
12 COMMISSIONER HANSEN: Leah Bitton?
13 MR. BITTON: That's my better half.
14 COMMISSIONER HANSEN: Does she wish to
15 testify?
16 MR. BITTON: Do you want to testify?
17 AUDIENCE: She said she'd write you a
18 letter.
19 COMMISSIONER HANSEN: This would be your
20 chance to tell us how much your husband uses the
21 telephone.
22 Okay, Jerry Pope.
23
24
25
30
CSB REPORTING BITTON
Wilder, Idaho 83676 Public
1 JERRY POPE,
2 appearing as a public witness, having been first duly
3 sworn, testified as follows:
4
5 THE WITNESS: Jerry Pope, P-o-p-e,
6 P.O. Box 122, Irwin. First, I'd like to apologize for
7 being a couple of minutes late, so some things might have
8 been covered that I was omitted from seeing and that's my
9 fault, but it's too bad that a percentage of the people
10 that were in this room today weren't in the meeting a
11 week-and-a-half ago up to the school that Silver Star
12 held. Perhaps they would have been a little more
13 enlightened, so to go from there, there were only three
14 showed up to that.
15 Some of the things that Silver Star
16 represented that I understood was that the cost increase
17 would only be $2.51. That's a reasonable figure. Some
18 of the information that -- I spoke in the back of the
19 room with one of the fellows and he said that they talked
20 about $6.00, I don't know who came up with that, to
21 $10.00. One of the things that they did say is the
22 service could go into effect as close as this July.
23 With the technology that's available today,
24 there should be no reason that people couldn't make an
25 option as to whether they wanted to be in the Pocatello
31
CSB REPORTING POPE
Wilder, Idaho 83676 Public
1 region and/or the Idaho Falls/Driggs region and pay a
2 bill according to that, such as the $2.51 they
3 explained. The reason they said it was $2.51 had
4 something to do with a subsidy from, I'm not sure if it's
5 an Idaho fund, Idaho user's fund I think it was,
6 something like that, and it had an effect for all
7 residents and businesses. Like I said, it's just too bad
8 that people weren't more informed. We come to these
9 meetings blind.
10 They represented also that there were going
11 to be a lot of other services available in the near
12 future and one of the concerns that I asked about was
13 what was spoke about earlier, also, was most of the
14 people now are having computers and would have to tie a
15 main line up to do anything and then they're not
16 available to do things.
17 They're saying that every new home is going
18 to have six lines coming in so they can have security
19 systems, alarm systems, Internet access, two phone lines
20 and all these things cost money of which they're planning
21 to spend. They've spent it in the past. I have no
22 problem with Silver Star as our carrier. Every so often
23 they decide to raise our bill. About 10, 12 years ago,
24 they raised our bill double, but it took us about a
25 year-and-a-half we got our money back, so I think that
32
CSB REPORTING POPE
Wilder, Idaho 83676 Public
1 these kind of meetings are the thing that control the
2 rates that they get, but I'm surely disappointed that
3 we're not more informed and that's about all I have to
4 say.
5 COMMISSIONER HANSEN: Thank you.
6 Do we have any questions?
7 Okay, thank you very much for your
8 testimony.
9 (The witness left the stand.)
10 COMMISSIONER HANSEN: We'll now call on
11 Brit Ross.
12
13 BRIT ROSS,
14 appearing as a public witness, having been first duly
15 sworn, testified as follows:
16
17 THE WITNESS: My name is Brit Ross,
18 R-o-s-s. I live at 2400 Olderman Road. I think, like
19 everybody else, I'm in favor of extending it. I'm a
20 rancher. If you need a part, you need anything, it's --
21 I do a lot calling as far as Pocatello for haying parts,
22 machinery parts, brand inspectors, cow trucks.
23 I'm with MCI right now. My bill averages,
24 I'd say, probably close to 80 bucks a month because I do
25 almost all my business, just like everybody else, out of
33
CSB REPORTING ROSS
Wilder, Idaho 83676 Public
1 town or out of this town, but that's about all I have to
2 say. I think everybody will benefit from it.
3 COMMISSIONER HANSEN: Okay, do we have any
4 questions?
5 Yes, Mr. Howell.
6 MR. HOWELL: Sir, what city is your mailing
7 address?
8 THE WITNESS: Irwin, Idaho.
9 MR. HOWELL: Thank you.
10 COMMISSIONER HANSEN: Thank you for your
11 testimony.
12 (The witness left the stand.)
13 COMMISSIONER HANSEN: Wayne Christiansen.
14
15 WAYNE CHRISTIANSEN,
16 appearing as a public witness, having been first duly
17 sworn, testified as follows:
18
19 THE WITNESS: My name is Wayne
20 Christiansen, C-h-r-i-s-t-i-a-n-s-e-n. I live at
21 3471 Swan Valley Highway and a statement I'd like to make
22 today is that Silver Star has come a long ways. I can
23 remember when I first got my first phone, Mr. Hoopes come
24 down and helped wire it in himself because they had to
25 help out at the time. I think this valley has grown a
34
CSB REPORTING CHRISTIANSEN
Wilder, Idaho 83676 Public
1 long ways and I think to keep up with the outside world
2 we're going to have to go to these types of phone
3 systems.
4 As far as computer lines and these things,
5 I think in the near future people is going to be taking a
6 lot of home courses through their computers and different
7 things and I think we need to access the -- have the
8 phone service into this valley. I know over the past
9 that a lot of people that moved into the valley have done
10 work as far away as Salt Lake. They come in and do their
11 job from here through computers and different things that
12 they had. In fact, we ended up fixing a telephone line
13 after dark on a Sunday night after they put a phone into
14 a neighboring house and had cut their lines just so he
15 wouldn't have to make a trip back to Salt Lake and I
16 think Irwin is growing up to the point that they really
17 need this and I think most people will support it. Thank
18 you.
19 COMMISSIONER HANSEN: Thank you.
20 Do we have any questions?
21 Thank you very much for your testimony.
22 (The witness left the stand.)
23 COMMISSIONER HANSEN: Lynn Ricks.
24
25
35
CSB REPORTING CHRISTIANSEN
Wilder, Idaho 83676 Public
1 LYNN RICKS,
2 appearing as a public witness, having been first duly
3 sworn, testified as follows:
4
5 THE WITNESS: My name is Lynn Ricks,
6 R-i-c-k-s, 147 Gilda Drive, Palisades, Idaho. One of the
7 things neglected to be said today is thanks to Silver
8 Star for the service that they're giving us. Two years
9 ago I built a home. I couldn't have been more happy with
10 the people that your company sent down, extremely
11 professional.
12 Another thing I'd like to suggest is let's
13 not discourage the community from putting in small
14 businesses or large businesses, businesses of any kind.
15 Let's not penalize them for wanting growth and to
16 participate in our valley.
17 Another thing that we might want to
18 consider, again the computers, that is, that has become
19 as important as a kitchen sink. Most of our businesses
20 today, how large, how small doesn't make any difference,
21 are going to computers, and another thing, something we
22 should address is the income of the community. I was at
23 the school the other day and I saw a piece of paper
24 showing the income in this valley. This valley does not
25 compete with Idaho Falls or Pocatello as far as income
36
CSB REPORTING RICKS
Wilder, Idaho 83676 Public
1 goes, so let's not consider penalizing this valley for
2 our long distance services just because we want to get
3 in. We need -- the people up here need a break as well.
4 They didn't come here -- I believe the high
5 was around 26,9 and the low was around 19,000. That's
6 not the same as Idaho Falls, Pocatello, it would be
7 considerably less, and that's all -- oh, do you want to
8 know my carrier? It's Excel. I get $.10 a minute and,
9 yes, we still spend a lot of money on our telephone
10 bills.
11 Another thing I'd like to say is all of our
12 business is done out of this valley. Everybody up here
13 is saying the same thing. We don't have anything up here
14 to draw from. If you want lumber, if you want a plumbing
15 part, if you have an emergency of any kind, we call out
16 of this valley and we need some help, certainly, and I'm
17 in favor of this program 1,000 percent and now I'm
18 finished.
19 COMMISSIONER HANSEN: Thank you.
20 Do we have any questions?
21 Thank you very much for your testimony.
22 (The witness left the stand.)
23 COMMISSIONER HANSEN: Toni Philbrick.
24 This concludes those that have signed up.
25 Do we have someone --
37
CSB REPORTING RICKS
Wilder, Idaho 83676 Public
1 AUDIENCE: I had signed up over here and
2 you didn't call me.
3 COMMISSIONER HANSEN: Why don't you come on
4 up. If you'd like to just come up, ma'am, and we'll just
5 swear you in and get your name.
6
7 JOANNE CROMWELL,
8 appearing as a public witness, having been first duly
9 sworn, testified as follows:
10
11 THE WITNESS: My name is Joanne Cromwell,
12 C-r-o-m-w-e-l-l, and I was asked by several people to let
13 you know that there would be more in the crowd today
14 except for the funeral that's going on today and that the
15 people who asked me also wanted me to let you know that
16 they was for the extended service.
17 Okay, my address is Box 65, Irwin, Idaho.
18 I belong to one lifetime membership of Bonneville
19 Historical Society and I also belong to Timeless Treasure
20 Club of Idaho Falls. We have memberships from McCammon
21 through Rexburg. We also have -- all of our members are
22 changed periodically for offices. We need to be ahold of
23 these officers and access to our membership, so we
24 definitely could use the extended area all the way from
25 McCammon as we do have one member in McCammon.
38
CSB REPORTING CROMWELL
Wilder, Idaho 83676 Public
1 I generally end up with telephone calls on
2 U S WEST and AT&T both. I average around $80.00 a month,
3 sometimes as high as 200, depending on how many calls and
4 what it is that I'm taking care of. I would just like to
5 say that I think that the service has been very good
6 lately. Early on we had a lot of problems, but I think
7 they've been fairly well ironed out, and also I'd like to
8 say that I know of quite a few people here that their
9 income is on a fixed income and there are quite a few
10 that are under 19,000, including myself; therefore, I
11 would like to see that the prices be held down for those
12 people on fixed incomes that are retired and have other
13 reasons; so that's the end of my comments.
14 COMMISSIONER HANSEN: Thank you.
15 Do we have any questions?
16 Thank you very much for your testimony.
17 (The witness left the stand.)
18 COMMISSIONER HANSEN: I kind of get an idea
19 from all of you in attendance today, I'm going to ask all
20 those that would be, would like to see expanded local
21 calling service, would you please stand up so we can just
22 get an idea?
23 I can't see anyone sitting down. Okay,
24 what I'm going to ask you, those that would be willing to
25 pay $2.50 a month for this, would you remain standing?
39
CSB REPORTING CROMWELL
Wilder, Idaho 83676 Public
1 Those that would be willing to pay $5.50 a
2 month, please remain standing.
3 Those that would be willing to paying
4 $8.00, please remain standing.
5 Just to kind of get an idea, those that
6 would be willing to pay $10.00 extra a month, please
7 remain standing.
8 I'm just trying to get, this doesn't have a
9 lot to do with the case, an idea of the support from all
10 of you here at the different rates.
11 This concludes all those that have signed
12 up to give testimony here today. Is there anyone that
13 did not sign up that would like to come forward and make
14 a statement? Yes, ma'am, if you would like to come
15 forward.
16
17 JULIE HAAS,
18 appearing as a public witness, having been first duly
19 sworn, testified as follows:
20
21 THE WITNESS: My name is Julie Haas. My
22 address is Post Office Box 123, Irwin, Idaho. The last
23 name is spelled H-a-a-s.
24 MR. HOWELL: And do you have a statement?
25 THE WITNESS: Yes, I do, I have a statement
40
CSB REPORTING HAAS
Wilder, Idaho 83676 Public
1 to make. One subject that hasn't been brought up that I
2 was kind of hoping would be, this is a community that
3 mainly caters to the senior citizens; however, there are
4 families moving in here daily and the families sometimes
5 are bringing in children with them. I have a teenage
6 daughter at home. She did have to go to school in Idaho
7 Falls, as most of our students here that are in the
8 teenage group need to be transported to Ririe or Idaho
9 Falls. For them to keep a social life, every call that
10 they make is long distance. They don't receive calls
11 from Idaho Falls students because they have to pay a long
12 distance phone call, so our young people are being
13 penalized for living out here because of the
14 inaccessibility by phone and their social life suffers
15 from this.
16 My daughter has her own phone, because if
17 she didn't, we'd never get to use ours, and she does pay
18 her own phone. She does make long distance calls to
19 Idaho Falls to her friends and this is costly to her, but
20 she is managing. We do keep a monitor on it and this is
21 a good reason for us personally to encourage the extended
22 calling area.
23 Also, we also, my husband and I, have
24 in-home businesses, a shuttle service and a tow service.
25 We also are having to pay the phone, business phone fee
41
CSB REPORTING HAAS
Wilder, Idaho 83676 Public
1 for having our in-home business; however, when it comes
2 to tax time, we can't deduct our room in our house for
3 tax purposes, but yet, we have to pay the extra fee for
4 the business phone.
5 We don't qualify for the savings on AT&T
6 for the $.10, $.15 a minute because we are business and
7 they don't give us that privilege, so we have to pay the
8 regular fee a month and a business monthly bill. We make
9 a lot of long distance phone calls. We have had to
10 resort to going to a cell phone. We carry a cell phone
11 and make all of our long distance phone calls to Idaho
12 Falls through our cell phone because it saves us the
13 U S WEST phone bill which is our Idaho Falls carrier and
14 we do have the long distance out of state AT&T.
15 I am encouraging, as I said before, the use
16 of the extended calling area. I kind of feel the
17 question that you asked, sir, as to what the crowd here
18 would go to pay for the added service is, actually to me
19 it's wrong, because it sounds like maybe you're going to
20 base your fee on what the consensus was here instead of
21 what is possibly favorable to the people to use this
22 service and I believe that's my statement.
23 COMMISSIONER HANSEN: Okay, thank you.
24 Let's see if we have any questions.
25 Yes, Mr. Howell.
42
CSB REPORTING HAAS
Wilder, Idaho 83676 Public
1 CROSS-EXAMINATION
2
3 BY MR. HOWELL:
4 Q Mrs. Haas, what is your monthly in-state
5 toll charges for your phone?
6 A We don't use U S WEST any more. We use our
7 cell phone and we have a flat fee for 24.95 for 85
8 minutes on our cell phone.
9 Q Do you know what your daughter's toll bill
10 is?
11 A She has tried several avenues. She's tried
12 credit cards that you buy for $10.00 for so many minutes
13 and they didn't come out too reasonable. We've
14 discouraged that end of it. Since she pays her own bill,
15 I really can't say for sure.
16 Andrea, do you know what your phone bill is
17 for long distance calls to Idaho Falls area and Ririe?
18 She does keep a curve on it, so she's had to pay about
19 $17.00 a month more, is that about right, on top of her
20 basic phone bill which is the basic monthly. She's not
21 on a business line, so, like I said, she takes care of
22 her own phone bill.
23 MR. HOWELL: Okay, thank you.
24 COMMISSIONER HANSEN: And thank you for
25 your testimony.
43
CSB REPORTING HAAS (X)
Wilder, Idaho 83676 Public
1 Do we have anyone else who did not sign
2 up? Yes, sir, please come forward.
3
4 HART LEDBETTER,
5 appearing as a public witness, having been first duly
6 sworn, testified as follows:
7
8 THE WITNESS: My name is Hart Ledbetter,
9 H-a-r-t L-e-d-b-e-t-t-e-r, 140 Wadsworth Drive,
10 Palisades, Idaho. There has been some controversy of the
11 distance for this range of service. A lot of people here
12 would not call beyond Blackfoot, for instance. Most of
13 them would be Idaho Falls, Ririe, Rigby, Rexburg. I
14 think a lot of people will be paying unnecessary monthly
15 expense to extend all rates as far as Pocatello, for
16 instance. A lot of people here will not call Pocatello
17 that much. It seems to me it would be economical for it
18 to be contained within the local long distance calling
19 area. That's all I have to say. Thank you.
20 COMMISSIONER HANSEN: Do we have any
21 questions?
22 Thank you for your testimony.
23 (The witness left the stand.)
24 COMMISSIONER HANSEN: Do we have anyone
25 else that would like to make a statement that did not
44
CSB REPORTING LEDBETTER
Wilder, Idaho 83676 Public
1 sign up?
2 Okay, this then brings us to an end of our
3 hearing today and brings us to the end of the hearing of
4 this case. The Commission will deliberate on this and in
5 the near future a decision will be forthcoming from the
6 Commission.
7 We thank you all for your attendance
8 here today and those that would like to make a written
9 statement, be sure and either leave it here with us, the
10 Staff or you can mail it into the Public Utilities
11 Commission, and with that, this hearing will be
12 adjourned.
13 (The Hearing adjourned at 11:00 a.m.)
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CSB REPORTING COLLOQUY
Wilder, Idaho 83676
1 AUTHENTICATION
2
3
4 This is to certify that the foregoing
5 proceedings held in the matter of the petition from
6 residents of Swan Valley, Irwin and Palisades requesting
7 extended area service (EAS) to all of Bonneville County,
8 and the towns of Ririe, Victor and Driggs, commencing at
9 10:00 a.m., on Wednesday, November 19, 1997, at the Swan
10 Valley American Legion Hall, Swan Valley, Idaho, is a
11 true and correct transcript of said proceedings and the
12 original thereof for the file of the Commission.
13
14
15
16
CONSTANCE S. BUCY
17 Certified Shorthand Reporter #187
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CSB REPORTING AUTHENTICATION
Wilder, Idaho 83676