This is Part Three of IFF’s investigation into Lava Hot Springs, please read Part One HERE and Part Two HERE.

In Part Two of Idaho Freedom Foundation’s (IFF) investigation into Lava Hot Springs, we covered a sewer extension project the city had committed to partly funding. The development sparked backlash after a survey characterized an access road as vacated.

During the investigation, IFF reached out to the city with questions, and City Clerk/Treasurer Amantha Sierra provided answers. 

But nine days later, Sierra sent IFF new — and substantially more evasive — answers, which are detailed below.

IFF also spoke by phone with former City Councilman Rickey Frandsen, who voted in favor of signing the sewer extension agreement. Sierra’s new answers were provided to IFF hours after Frandsen requested revisions to statements he had given IFF during a separate phone call. 

For full transparency, IFF chose to publish both his original and revised answers, which are detailed later in this article. 

So, we have two city employees (one hired and current, the other elected and termed out) willing to answer questions and give candid responses. Within days, both want to change or revoke some of their answers. 

Just what is going on in Lava Hot Springs’ City Hall?

“I Do Not Have Information”: City Changes Answers Provided to IFF

IFF published City Clerk/Treasurer Amantha Sierra’s original answers to IFF’s questions about the development in IFF’s prior story.

IFF is publishing the aforementioned questions, along with both the city’s initial responses and its new responses, below. It is unclear what prompted the city to suddenly contact IFF with new answers. The email does not even acknowledge the city had already provided answers to IFF’s questions.

Furthermore, the city’s new answers are in stark contrast to its prior responses.

So, what happened between September 21 and September 30?

Below is IFF’s correspondence with Sierra:

1. What is your response to the allegation that Fish Creek Road was falsely listed as vacated in the Sunrise Engineering surveys?

September 21: The City is unaware of any allegations against Sunrise Engineering. We understand that the adjoining property owner disagrees with Sunrise Engineering’s representation of the road as being vacated. The City has no authority over, nor does it exercise any regulatory function associated with private property surveys. The Sunrise Engineering survey, which was completed several years ago, was not commissioned by, nor performed at the request of, the City.

(IFF obtained two Sunrise Engineering surveys – one from 2025, and one from 2026.)

September 30: I do not have sufficient information to determine whether Fish Creek Road was incorrectly identified as vacated on the surveys, and I am not in a position to offer a personal opinion regarding that allegation. Any determination regarding the accuracy of the survey should be addressed through the appropriate surveyor, engineer, or legal professionals.

2. Can you verify which excavation company, KTX or KT Excavation, was used for the project?

September 21: The City participated as a financial partner with Kody Tillotson in his project to install a public wastewater infrastructure extension to the KOA East project. The City was not involved with, nor did it have any input, recommendation, selection, or oversight regarding the contractors Mr. Tillotson hired for his project.

September 30: I have previously provided the records in the City’s possession that I located concerning the KOA East sewer expansion project. I do not have additional information that would allow me to independently verify whether KTX or KT Excavation performed the excavation work beyond what is reflected in those records.

3. Are Kris and Victor Lyon the sons of Mayor Vicky Lyon? Did they have any involvement in the development project?

September 21: Yes, Kris and Victor Lyon are sons of Mayor Vicky Lyon. Mayor Lyon is not currently, and has not in the past, been an owner or employee of KTX or KT Excavation.

IFF followed up on the second question after not receiving an answer. 

September 25: Regarding your question about whether Kris and/or Victor Lyon had any role in the KOA East project, I do not have personal knowledge of their involvement with the company or the project and therefore cannot answer that question. I also cannot verify their involvement based on the City records I have reviewed.   

September 30: I do not have information through my official duties that would allow me to answer questions regarding family relationships, nor do I have knowledge of Kris or Victor Lyon having a role in the KOA East development project. I do not want to speculate or provide personal opinions regarding their involvement.

September 17: When IFF sent out the questions, IFF also contacted a KTX 83246 LLC email. Mayor Vicky Lyon, from that email address, replied to IFF four minutes later: “The company is actually registered under KT Excavation LLC not KTX 83246.”

4. I am noting that the City of Lava Hot Springs is noncompliant regarding my August 5 public records request. Would the city like to comment?

September 21: The City strives to comply with its obligations under Idaho’s public records laws and has responded to your public records requests by providing the responsive records located by the City.

Because of the number and size of the documents involved, records were provided through multiple email transmissions. One of the City’s transmissions included 10 attachments totaling approximately 28 MB, including City Council materials, the sewer extension agreement, engineering and design review documents, invoices, billing records, and other documents responsive to the request. Additional records and correspondence were also provided in subsequent transmissions.

To the best of my knowledge, the City has provided all responsive records in its possession that were located in response to your requests.

If there is a specific record or category of records from your request that you believe has not been provided, please identify the specific item and I will review the original request along with the records previously transmitted.

IFF then followed up and forwarded the records request originally sent on August 5.

September 22: I apologize, but I did not see your August 5 public records request or your follow-up emails at the time they were sent. During that period, I was handling the City’s budget process and training three new part-time employees while serving as the only full-time office employee. Thank you for forwarding the request again. I am reviewing it now and will follow up regarding the responsive records. 

September 25: Sierra submitted five attachments and requested clarification on IFF’s request for “any and all records concerning KTX/KTX 83246 LLC.” IFF reiterated the timeline for those records, as well as followed up on requests for two outstanding City Council meeting transcripts. IFF has not yet heard back from Sierra on those records as of publication.

September 30: I was not aware of the August 5 public records request when it was originally submitted. Once the request and subsequent correspondence were brought to my attention, I reviewed the request and provided the responsive records I was able to locate. To my knowledge, I have provided the City records in my possession responsive to the request.

If you believe there is a specific record that has not been provided, please identify that record as specifically as possible and I will review the City’s files again.

5. Is there anything else you would like the public to know about this development project?

September 21: As was discussed at the time, at some length and in more than one public City Council meeting, the City’s decision to financially participate in Mr. Tillotson’s extension of public wastewater infrastructure to his KOA East project was based on two key components.

First, the project allowed for the extension of public infrastructure through a public-private partnership, where most of the cost was borne by the private entity, thereby greatly reducing the use of public funds for the public infrastructure extension.

Second, the financial analysis indicated that the City’s contribution would be repaid over approximately five years. This repayment is based on the user fees associated with the KOA East development. After the City’s initial contribution is repaid, the additional user fees generated from the project will help the City improve its aging wastewater system throughout the City.

Please let me know if you have any additional questions or if there is a specific public record you believe remains outstanding.

September 30: I do not have any additional factual information to provide beyond the City records and responses already provided. I prefer not to provide personal opinions or speculation concerning the project or the individuals involved.

“Best Investment We’ve Ever Made”

Readers who are familiar with IFF’s previous investigation will recall Sunrise Engineering’s traffic study, which, based on IFF’s review, failed to mention Jonathan White’s residence and claimed a “portion of Fish Creek Road” was vacated.

Sunrise Engineering’s Traffic Impact Analysis claimed, “The portion of Fish Creek Road that goes through the proposed campground is only used as an access road to the existing hydro plant and has been vacated.” Based on meeting minutes from the Lava Hot Springs Foundation and documents obtained by IFF, it would appear Commercial Energy Management, Inc. is the company associated with the hydro plant.

Notably, on February 13, 2025, Lava Hot Springs’ City Council approved signing the sewer extension agreement, and then-Council President Rickey Frandsen voted in favor. Frandsen confirmed to IFF he purchased the hydro plant. 

DISCLOSURE: IFF interviewed Frandsen over the phone and informed him at the beginning of the call that the conversation was being recorded. As a courtesy, IFF sent him quotes prior to publication; however, no agreement required Frandsen’s approval for publication. Frandsen later requested changes to multiple statements. In the interest of transparency, IFF chose to publish his original statements alongside his requested changes. Some of his quotes have been edited for grammatical or clarity purposes, which is noted.

Frandsen told IFF he believes the sewer extension agreement was cost-effective. He said the KOA East campground owner, Kody Tillotson, had informed the City of Lava Hot Springs that he wanted to expand the sewer system, but it would “cost him at least $800,000.”

“The city has been wanting to, especially I myself, ever since I was on the council and [Planning and Zoning], to try to expand our infrastructure out so we can expand the City,” Frandsen said. “So, this was a great opportunity to get the utilities out that way, because we’ve looked at it in the past, because people wanted to have utilities out to their places, but it was so cost-prohibitive, the city could not do it in any way.”

He said Rodney Burch, who acts as the city’s planner, advised the $100,000 investment would be paid off in three years because of the fees charged to sites at the campground. (Sierra told IFF five years, and Burch’s memo said six years. Frandsen later clarified that five or six years is the correct timeline.)

“So I thought, ‘well, that is the best investment we’ve ever made,’ and then we’ve got money in CDs and stuff, but 30% is a darn good investment,” he told IFF. “And then, once the project is done, it becomes the total property of the city, anyway.”

(Frandsen later clarified he meant 16%, not 30%. He requested “it becomes the total property of the city” be removed and replaced with: “the sewer and water line infrastructure extension are turned over to the City.” He told IFF a 16% return on the city’s money “is still a very good return.”)

“So in my mind, the mathematics was the most responsible thing that we could do for the City, and that was the only basis we voted on,” he added. “It wasn’t whether we’re playing favoritism to this contractor, that contractor.”

Frandsen requested his statement be revised to instead read: “So in my min[d] according to just the mathematics, it was the most responsible thing we could do for the city, and that was not the only basis I voted in favor of investing the $100,000.00. There was no favoritism to any contractor. We were working with the KOA owner only.”

As of publication, the Idaho Secretary of State’s (SOS) website identifies Maher Wissa as the registered agent for Commercial Energy Management, Inc. Another entry, for Commercial Energy Management, is listed as active-current but has no agent.

IFF asked Frandsen why he purchased the hydro plant. 

“That’s personal information … but I will tell you, I have been working for [Wissa] for many years, and he’s getting older, and he needed to sell it,” Frandsen said during the phone call. “And so he offered me to buy it, and he would work with me and help me take it over. So I thought, ‘well, that’s a good opportunity.’”

He later told IFF he would “rather not have any mention about [him] purchasing the power plant because it has no bearing on this case.” IFF chose to disclose the purchase to be transparent with the public. 

During the phone call, Frandsen pushed back against allegations of favoritism and pointed to a rumor he said he had heard.

“So, there’s never any direct money going from the City to KT Excavation and I’ve heard rumors that the mayor was paying money to her sons out of the City budget, and that was a total 100% fabricated lie,” he told IFF. 

The mayor broke a tie vote to approve signing the sewer extension agreement. Frandsen asserted to IFF that Mayor Lyon had the authority to cast the tiebreaking vote.

“We’ve always been advised since day one through the two different attorneys that we’ve had that the mayor has total authority to break [a tied vote], and that’s the position of having the mayor as a tiebreaker as a fifth voter,” Frandsen said, claiming he has spoken with members of other councils who agree on the mayor’s authority to break a tie — specifically, an unnamed person who had served on McCammon’s City Council. (Quote edited.)

Frandsen asserted to IFF that people, specifically the Whites, were able to bring their concerns to the City Council about the development project. 

“We welcomed [the Whites] to come and talk and tell us their concerns and also told them what our position [was] and what we could do here … the lawyer also informed them that this lease that’s going on up there in this development is not [within] the city limits. That we don’t own the land,” Frandsen said. “[The city does not] have any jurisdiction. Now, if the property were to be annexed in, then we would. Right now, we do not have any say-so. As much as one way or another, if we’d like to do something, we can't if it's not ours." (Quote edited.)

If residents want to submit an item to discuss at a City Council meeting, they must, according to the city’s website, fill out a “mandatory agenda form and submit [it] to the City Clerk for the Mayor’s approval.” The City reiterated that “timely requests are subject to Mayor approval.”

It is unclear when this statement was added to the website. A web archive screenshot from April 2019 — prior to Mayor Vicky Lyon’s election — does not include that language. The most recent screenshot available, from April 2026, does note that submissions are subject to mayoral approval.

Frandsen further contended the city did not purchase ownership of the campground but rather invested in its sewer and water infrastructure.  

The agreement obtained by IFF states that the “Property” — to which the sewer line would connect — is inside city limits (as of 2025).

“The Foundation owns property located on the northeast corner of Highway 30 and Blaser Highway intersection; location shown in Exhibit A attached hereto (the ‘Property’) which is located inside the current city limits,” the document states.

IFF followed up with Frandsen after the phone call for clarification on how the city does not have jurisdiction when the sewer extension project is, as he previously stated, “total property of the city” upon completion.

“Sewer and waterline extension, once completed, are turned over to the city. The $100,000.00 will be returned to the city from fees generated from the campground extension,” he wrote.

“Again the city does not get the total property, only the sewer and water line extension are turned over to the city. The KOA expansion project is on State owned land and is governed by [the] State not the city. That is why the city does not have jurisdiction,” Frandsen added. 

For clarification, IFF contrasted what Frandsen previously claimed the lawyer had said to the language of the signed agreement.

“I did not, and do not have the minutes of the meeting, when we talked, to be able to correctly quote what the lawyer said,” Frandsen wrote back. “You will have to refer to those minutes. It has always been my understanding that the city limits did not go across Hwy 30.”

It is unclear when that specific City Council meeting took place. IFF, as of publication, is still waiting on transcripts for the February and April 2025 meetings from Lava Hot Springs. 

Lava Hot Springs is a small city and tourist attraction facing growth pressures. City officials have an obligation to follow all laws of transparency, compliance, and proper city governance. The city’s actions regarding the KOA East development, as well as its inactions on transparency and compliance, have raised concerns within the community.  

IFF’s investigation did not uncover information to allay many of those concerns. Instead, the responses to IFF’s questions raised additional concerns, and the revised statements cast even more doubt on the integrity of city governance in Lava Hot Springs. 

Stay tuned for IFF’s next article on the city’s correspondence with the State Controller’s Office regarding its noncompliance with reporting requirements — and the potential fines it could face.

IFF will continue investigating local governments and ensuring transparency. Idahoans may submit tips about their counties and cities HERE.