IN THE COUNTY COURT OF THE STATE OF OREGON IN AND FOR THE COUNTY OF GRANT

Access the court’s weekly Agenda and approved Minutes on the Commissioners page at www.gcoregonlive2.com.

OCTOBER 15, 2014

Pursuant to notice made to the newspaper of general circulation throughout Grant County, the radio station, county website, and e-mail distribution list, a regular meeting of the County Court was held at the County Courthouse in Canyon City OR.

9:00 am — Call to Order. Present were Judge Scott W. Myers, Commissioner Boyd Britton, and Secretary Mary Ferrioli. Commissioner Chris Labhart was excused to attend the Oregon Rural Health Conference in Sunriver. A Pledge of Allegiance was given to the United States flag.

AGENDA. MSP: Britton/Myers — to accept the agenda as presented

ANNOUNCEMENTS.

Britton attended a Stock Grower’s meeting on Thursday. Last week he visited Canyon Meadows Dam along with Ferguson Surveying & Engineering (Doug Ferguson, Werner Arnst), Assistant Water Master Hailey Boethin, Harney County Water Master JJ Johnson, and Oregon Water Resources Dam Inspector Keith Mills. He plans to bring a proposal to the court soon that involves exploratory work at the dam. He’ll attend the general meeting of Blue Mountain Forest Partners this week at the airport and the county’s 150th Anniversary in Canyon City on Sunday.

9:10 am – Cleo McCluskey and Brenda Percy entered

Myers attended the Cattleman’s Association range monitoring workshop on Thursday at Hog Creek along with Pat Larson, an OWEB rep, plus one or two demonstrators from Malheur County. Monday he attended CIS Distracted Driver’s training at 1 pm at the airport with 35 to 40 others including our road and sheriff employees. Yesterday he had a Safety Committee meeting at the Road Department and is working with Elaine Husted this week to gather memorabilia for Grant County’s 150th Anniversary this Sunday in Canyon City.

MINUTES. MSP: Myers/Britton — to approve the October 8 minutes as amended.

TAX APPEALS. As requested by the Clerk, the court appointed Scott Myers, Clair Kehrberg, and Bob Quinton to serve on the 2014-2015 Board of Property Tax Appeals. MSP: Myers/Britton — to appoint Scott Myers, Clair Kehrberg and Bob Quinton to serve on the Board of Property Tax Appeals.

LGPI WAGE PLACEMENT. Court members considered adopting Local Government Personnel Institute’s evaluation and wage placement of a new “District Attorney Office Manager” job description previously discussed on October 1. Results of LGPI’s evaluation place the position at Category K-6 on the wage scale (no change). MSP: Britton/Myers — to accept LGPI’s wage placement for the new District Attorney Office Manager job description at Category K-6. Myers stated there will be no more job description charges until after the new DA takes office. At Britton’s request, McCluskey talked about her previous experiences working in the DA office over the years during the time four different DAs have served.

HAND CHECK. MSP: Myers/Britton — to approve a hand check that Judge Myers signed Monday to the US Postmaster for November 4, 2014 postage totaling $748.40.

ELECTIONS. Clerk Brenda Percy gave the court an update about the increased activity with new voter registration cards (about 50) that she’s received in her office. Today is the day ballots go out to registered voters. Other discussion took place about thoughts and predictions regarding the variety of initiatives appearing on the ballot next month.

ROCK QUARRY LEASE. Last week Judge Myers was asked to obtain more information from the Road Department about the Rock Quarry Lease and Mining Agreement for the Howell Pit. Today Myers reported the Road Department (Kelly Brown) thinks it’s crucial to keep this pit as a vital rock source in this area. It has been used several times this year to supply rock for county roads and will be needed to get more rock crushed this year. Britton said he would sign the lease, if the 20 year term is reduced to 5 years. Myers agreed that a 20 year term was too long and would ask the Road Department to modify the lease.

9:45 am — Ashley McClay and Shanna Northway entered

VOCA GRANT AWARD. Victim Assistance Program Director Ashley McClay requested signature on Amendment No. 1 to the 2012 VOCA Non-Competitive Grant Award Agreement. The grant supports approximately 0.36 FTE of the Victim Assistance Program Director position. The amendment extends the duration of the current grant period by one year and allocates $21,362 for the October 1, 2014 to September 30, 2015 period. McClay said the extension is designed to synchronize the different grant award periods. MSP: Myers/Britton — to authorize Judge Myers to sign Amendment No. 1 to the 2012 VOCA Non-Competitive Grant Award Agreement as presented.

10:15 am – Jim Sproul and News Reporter Scotta Callister entered

EXTENSION DISTRICT. OSU Extension County Leader Shanna Northway gave an informational update to the district governing body about the various 4-H and Ag program activities, outreach to the outlaying communities, and new endeavors for the office. She reported on a variety of summer activities and events, partnership building activities, and housing an Outreach Coordinator in the office for a private forestry grant in the Ritter area. Currently there are 3 full time staff and 2 students who come in daily for one hour each. Northway explained she has a pending proposal with OSU to hire a 0.50 FTE Open Campus Coordinator for Grant County to act as an advisor.

10:45 am – Lane Burton entered

Northway discussed the district’s growing need for a larger office space to accommodate the new programs and all those related materials. Ideally, she would like to have an office space with safe storage, a certified kitchen, science lab, classroom, and conference / meeting room. Northway indicated that space at the former Blue Mountain Junior High building could provide great opportunities for extension, and she would like to further pursue looking at that option. She understood the district may end up paying more rent for a larger space, but it would provide the opportunity to run the program she would like to provide. Britton indicated that, in the future, the court would need to know all of the financial details involved with that proposal.

ASSESSOR. Assessor Lane Burton appeared in court to report there is a glitch in the hospital district budget — too much money was certified on their bonded debt. He explained that the hospital district will hold back the additional money (over and above) this year and deduct it next year. Burton said this was done with the City of Mt. Vernon water bond about 10 years ago.

He also reported, according to DOR, if Monument Rural Fire District fire equipment is sold and proceeds go to the General Fund, it could be treated as an off-set for those people in the district who paid taxes in the past. He clarified that the county would get the first $6,000.00 to offset expenses previously incurred to form the district, with anything above that going to offset previously paid district tax. Burton added that the district can continue without taxes being levied for a period of 3 years. Other discussion followed about the process the County Court would follow (again), if needed to recruit and appoint three members to serve on a new district board.

PUBLIC COMMENT. An opportunity was given for the public to comment. Jim Sproul reported that it looks like Harney County may be addressing an Ordinance similar to Grant County Ordinance 2013-01. He added that Lake and Klamath counties have also indicated some interest. Sproul distributed a draft resolution provided by Association of Oregon Counties, “Request for State Study of a Utah-style Oregon Transfer of Federal Lands Act.” He felt the counties should have first option to control federal lands.

11:05 am — Adjourned

Respectfully Submitted,

Mary R. Ferrioli

County Court Secretary