Nov. 7--BURLEY -- The Burley City Council voted not to turn off the gas heat in the city-owned building occupied by the Civil Air Patrol this week while the patrol seeks funding to pay the bill.

The motion was made after Carol Rogers, administrator for the Civil Air Patrol in Idaho, and Joe Engle Squadron Cadet Commander Ruth Lovelace met with the council Tuesday todiscuss what would happen concerning the gas heat in the building at 1050 Airport Road.

The gas was shut off by the city on Sept. 30 and turned on again Oct. 26. The council will review the status of the bill each month until the organization arranges its own payment of the bill.

At the time the heat was shut off, the building was also occupied by the Mini-Cassia Veterans Service Office, which has since moved to a Minidoka County-owned building at 625 Fremont Ave., in Rupert.

Just how the order to turn off the heat came about is still under dispute by Burley Mayor Jon Anderson and Councilman Jay Lenkersdorfer.

Lenkersdorfer said City Administrator Mark Mitton acted on his own in turning off the heat without notice. But Anderson said during an interview Friday that even though the council did not officially vote on it, the shut-off comes down to semantics.

"Mark did turn off the heat but he did it after Jay questioned the bill for the third time and said 'Why are we still paying this?'" Anderson said. "Mark took that as a signal that it shouldn't be paid. On the city's part, it was poorly done and they (the building occupants) should have been notified."

Mitton did not return phone calls from the Times-News Friday.

Rogers said the CAP had a verbal agreement with the city, which allowed them use of the building rent-free with the city paying the utility bills and the CAP providing building maintenance.

Rogers said the unit spent $1,000 on roof repairs and $3,000 to replace flooring in the past couple of years.

Rogers told the council that First Federal had approached the group to inform it of a $5,000 grant that was available that could help with replacing the inefficient furnace, but the city of Burley, as owners of the property, would have to apply for it.

The council unanimously voted to proceed with filling out the grant application.

Anderson said the Federal Aviation Administration, which also has sensitive equipment stored in the building, has contacted the city and wants to just box the equipment in and use an electric heater.

Laurie Welch may be reached at lwelch@magicvalley.com or 208-677-8767.

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