Grant County Court minutes from Feb. 1, 2017:

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, Commissioners Jim Hamsher and Boyd Britton, Administrative Assistant Laurie Wright, Katy Nelson, Jim Spell, Gail Beverlin, John Morris, Frances Preston, Ron Rue, Sandy Rue, Judy Kerr, Darin Toy, Mark Cerny, Adele Cerny, Judy Schuette, Rick Minster, Tim Unterwegner, Raymond Cox, Francis Kocis, Sally Bartlett, and Pastor Mark Majors. A Pledge of Allegiance was given to the United States Flag. The invocation was given by Pastor Majors.

HAND CHECKS. The court had reviewed and approved two hand checks for payment of the transient room tax. #37492 to OR Dept. of Revenue in the amount of $129.16 and #37493 to Grant County Chamber in the amount of $574.05.

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

ANNOUNCEMENTS. Commissioner Britton said he talked with Steve Parsons this morning about concerns Parsons has regarding the Magone Project. Britton went to Portland last weekend and attended the play “Astoria” and said it was very good.

9:02 am Reporter Rylan Boggs entered.

Judge Myers announced he and Laurie Wright traveled to Fossil on Monday to purchase the new county vehicle, a 2017 AWD Chevy Equinox. Myers conducted a name change hearing yesterday and this Friday will attend an Internet Task Force meeting at the John Day Fire Hall.

9:04 am Reporter Logan Bagett entered.

Commissioner Hamsher met with Prairie City’s Public Works Director to ask him to contact ODOT to remove ice from the main street in Prairie City and about having the Senior Citizens parking lot plowed and sanded prior to lunch today. Hamsher met with Sally Bartlett yesterday to discuss the grant she has been working on.

MINUTES. MSP: Britton/Hamsher — to approve the January 25th minutes as amended.

NEW COUNTY VEHICLE. A 2017 Chevy Equinox was purchased from Wright Chevrolet in Fossil, Oregon. $35,000 was budgeted for fiscal year 2016-17 for the purchase of a new county car. The Equinox was purchased to replace the current county car (2007 Ford 500) which has over 170,000 miles on it. The Ford 500 will be transferred to the airport for use as a courtesy car. Myers explained other vehicles were researched and Wright Chevrolet was chosen after providing a quote of $28,264 which included $3,500 in incentives that would expire on January 31st. MSP: Myers/Hamsher — to approve the purchase of the Chevy Equinox from Wright Chevrolet in the amount of $28,264.

DISTRICT ATTORNEY COPIER LEASE. District Attorney Jim Carpenter had sent a written request to the court for review of three price quotes he obtained for a new copier lease and service agreement. The current copier is failing and must be repaired frequently. Carpenter’s choice for a new copier lease and service agreement would be with TEC in the amount of $120.59 per month. MSP: Britton/Myers — to approve the new copier lease and service agreement with TEC in the amount of $120.59 per month.

9:13 am Dan Becker, Callie Moss, Alan Hickerson and Mindy Winegar entered.

FAIR CONCERT STAGE. Fair Manager Mindy Winegar presented three quotes to the court to provide the stage for the concert at this year’s Fair. Winegar recommended going with Yoakum Sound & Light for a cost of $12,463. This cost also includes the set up and tear down of the stage. Winegar said Yoakum is the company that was used last year. MSP: Myers/Hamsher — to accept the bid from Yoakum Sound & Light in the amount of $12,463.

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT. Blue Mountain Resource Conservation & Development Area Dissolution: Bartlett explained this organization used to receive funding from the USDA, but no longer does. Bartlett was a member of this RC&D and due to not having funding the decision was made to dissolve the organization.

9:18 am Elaine Smith and Roger McKinley entered. 9:19 am Dave Traylor entered.

Canyon City Natural Hazard Mitigation Plan: Bartlett updated the court on the Addendum to the NHMP. Today is the last day for comments regarding the plan and Bartlett provided those in attendance with her contact information. Myers and Bartlett explained this addendum must be completed in order to receive the FMAG Grant for flood prevention. Bartlett said many groups have been involved in the development of this plan since after the fire in 2015. Bartlett believes public meetings will be held in the future to keep the public updated on the flood mitigation project.

9:24 am Ryan Nehl and Steve Beverlin entered.

FMAG Grant: Economic Development Coordinator Sally Bartlett updated the court on the status of the FMAG Grant application. The grant was submitted to FEMA. Bartlett believes it may take a couple of months to hear back on the grant results.

9:31 am Chris Labhart and King Williams entered.

9:32 The court took a short break. 9:42 am The court returned to session.

In-Attendance: Judy Kerr, Chris Labhart, Roger McKinley, Logan Bagett, Darin Toy, Jim Morris, Frances Preston, Gail Beverlin, Alan Hickerson, Adele Cerny, Judy Schuette, Rick Minster, Tim Unterwegner, Raymond Cox, Dan Becker, Katy Nelson, Jim Sproul, King Williams, Zach Williams, Francis Kocis, Jim Sproul, Dave Traylor, Elaine Smith, Sandy Rue, Ron Rue, Mark Webb, Rylan Boggs, Mark Cerny, Ryan Nehl and Steve Beverlin.

STATUS OF PUBLIC FOREST COMMISSION. Mark Webb asked the court for the official status of the Public Forest Commission. Webb read portions of a letter he submitted to the court and asked the court to confer with County Counsel about the statutes he referenced and for his opinion on the status of the commission. Webb referenced a letter sent to the Bureau of Land Management in which Kenneth Medenbach demanded federal lands be turned over to the Public Forest Commission and stated if the BLM did not a “well-regulated militia” would be raised up. Myers expressed his opinion that former members have the right to meet either in public or private, but not as a formal body. Myers said he believes questions should be addressed to Judge Cramer in Circuit Court. Frances Preston, Judy Kerr, and Elaine Smith expressed frustration with the decision and the process involved in reaching the decision. Discussion followed about who was at the Circuit Court hearings and who was not present. Myers asked if members of the commission ever completed paperwork with the Secretary of State regarding conflicts of interest and ethics and believes if they did not the Secretary of State’s office has never recognized the commission members as valid elected officials. The court members were asked if they believe this decision is a final order and when the appeal time was over. Myers said the appeal time was over on December 17th. Judy Schuette and Jim Spell encouraged the court members to make a strong statement on whether or not they accept Judge Cramer’s decision. Myers stated in past court meetings the record will show the county court made the decision not to appeal the order and anything further should be addresses to Circuit Court. Attendees, including Jim Sproul and Dave Traylor, expressed their opinions about why a lawsuit was filed to nullify the initiative and their disagreement with the decision. Other attendees pointed out that the Circuit Court posts a calendar upstairs and the issue was well covered in the local newspaper. Forest Supervisor Steve Beverlin advised the Forest Service also received a letter from Medenbach making the same demands. Beverlin read portions of the letter to the audience. Myers said he believes Judge Cramer considered, researched and justified the decision and Cramer’s ruling invalidated the Public Forest Commission. Britton agreed with Judge Myers and with Judge Cramer’s decision. Hamsher stated since he wasn’t involved in the litigation lawsuit and was not privy to the correspondence with county counsel regarding the Forest Commission he doesn’t feel he can offer an opinion. Hamsher added he doesn’t believe county funds should be spent on legal fees to review Ordinance 2013-01 and that if someone wants to challenge it they can at their own expense. Discussion followed regarding review of ballot initiatives.

ORDINANCE 2013-01. Webb requested review by the court of the legal validity of Ordinance 2013-01 regarding public road closures. Webb is concerned about the portion of the ordinance that states roads cannot be closed without approval of the County Court and County Sheriff. Webb believes the ordinance is unconstitutional and would like the ordinance sent to Legal Counsel for review. In Webb’s opinion the ordinance should be invalidated by the county court. Comments were made regarding Webb’s request by Preston and Sproul disagreeing with Webb’s opinion. Webb again asked the court to review legal validity of the ordinance.

ZONE 1 LANDS. Mark Webb said he received the opinion letter prepared by Ron Yockim, but he believes Yockim may have misinterpreted Oregon Statutes regarding liability issues to landowners with Zone 1 lands. Webb asked for clarification regarding the liability issue. Britton believes this process is necessary to get discussions started with the Oregon Department of Forestry. Webb said it seems unfair for a Zone 1 landowner who provides fire protection to have the same liability as a landowner who does not. Frances Preston and Callie Moss asked how Zone 1 fire protection plans would affect other landowners. Webb stated questions are being asked of county counsel for clarification. Myers said once things are clear it will benefit all Zone 1 landowners. John Morris would like the county court to contact landowners and hold a meeting so everyone can attend and hear the same information. The assessment costs and land differences for Zone 1 versus Zone 2 lands were talked about. Webb also explained the fire protection plan is to offer equipment and service in lieu of payment of the assessment. The other goal of this is to give landowners more say in how fires are fought on their property. Myers pointed out all of this is just to get a discussion started with ODF.

PUBLIC COMMENT. Preston said when Representative Bentz was here last week he mentioned a meeting where returning some public lands to the county’s would be discussed and asked if the county were ready to take over and manage public lands if given the chance. Britton stated his belief that if this ever happened the land would go to the State first.

11:13 am – Adjourned

Respectfully Submitted,

Laurie Wright

Administrative Assistant

**** Please note the court minutes are a summary of the court proceedings. An audio recording of each court session is available, after approval of the minutes, by contacting Laurie Wright at 541-575-0059 or wrightl@grantcounty-or.gov ****