Grant County Court minutes from July 12, 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, Tanner Elliott, Frances Preston, Katy Nelson, Angie Jones, Jim Sproul, Alan Hickerson, Rick Minster, Jim Spell, Judy Kerr, Reporter Rylan Boggs, Dan Becker, and Pastor Wes Aasness. A Pledge of Allegiance was given to the United States Flag. The invocation was given by Pastor Aasness.

CLAIMS. The court had reviewed and approved claims and extension district warrants #1-10. The court also approved three claims on June 29, 2017 for yearend expenses.

AGENDA. MSP: Myers/Britton — to accept the agenda as amended. Judge Myers advised he misspoke when he had the road contract review placed on the agenda as any discussion regarding the contract must be held in executive session. An executive session will be scheduled for July 19th, 2017. Commissioner Britton would like to add a brief discussion regarding the possibility of selling the building Community Counseling Solutions currently occupies.

ANNOUNCEMENTS. Judge Myers met with members of the Forest Service, JD Police Department and Dispatch on July 3rd regarding potential abandoned pets from the Rainbow Gathering. Myers declared an emergency after this discussion which allows the county to hold the animals for 3 days and then send them to a shelter. Hope 4 Paws and the City of John Day have made arrangements for locations to hold the animals and then the Portland Human Society will transport the animals to Portland for adoption or to be euthanized if necessary. On July 10th Myers attended an airport commission meeting. At 4 pm today an eclipse meeting will be held at the Canyon City Community Hall and tomorrow he will perform an employee evaluation at 10 am for the Fair/RV Park Manager and then at 2 pm Myers will conduct a guardianship hearing. On Friday the 14th will meet with Tucker Billman who grew up here but now works for Greg Walden’s Office.

Commissioner Hamsher said he has been emailing the past head of the Oregon Humane Society to try to get additional funding for abandoned animals left behind after the Rainbow Gathering. Hamsher attended a cooperator’s meeting regarding the Rainbow Gathering last week at the Airport and yesterday he rode through the gathering area and said clean-up is being conducted by the Rainbow people left. Hamsher attended the 4th of July festivities in Prairie City and had the honor of driving the Grand Marshall in the parade. Hamsher thanked Commissioner Britton for working on the fireworks. On August 1st a work day will be held at the Fairgrounds and Hamsher invited anyone interested to attend. Last Friday evening Hamsher went to Silvies Valley Ranch and toured the facilities and advised they have invested a lot of money into the project and it is very impressive. Hamsher said the local golfers will be able to golf at Silvies for a reduced rate. He advised the City of Prairie City is currently working on water issues left over after the recent large storm.

Commissioner Britton went to the Silvies Valley Ranch pre-opening as well and yesterday Britton went to the John Day Golf Course and explained the reduced rate the Silvies Valley Ranch will be implementing for members of the John Day and Burns Golf Courses. Britton said the resort will be a world class golfing destination. Britton commended Hamsher for riding through the Rainbow Gathering and said the Forest Service will be in at some point to give an update to the court on the impact of the gathering. Britton has been speaking with CCS and Ted Williams about the problems they anticipate having with people in mental crisis during the eclipse and Williams is trying to get radios for them to use in case cellular service fails. Britton told the audience that Prairie City resident Burke O’Brien (Road Master for Morrow County) and Tom Fellows (Umatilla Public Works Director) pushed for transportation funding that will be very beneficial to Grant County along with other small counties. Britton asked those in attendance to thank O’Brien, Fellows and also Representative Bentz for the work on this if they see them.

9:15 am Reporter Logan Bagett entered.

Britton said he had the honor of being a co-official at the funeral of Dorothy Blasing. Britton worked at the 4th of July fireworks where thankfully no fires occurred this year and thanked all of the local fire departments for helping with the event.

EMIGRANT CREEK RANGER DISTRICT. NEPA Coordinator Lori Bailey, Writer/Editor Melissa Ward and Silviculturist Travis Swain from the Emigrant Creek Ranger District presented an update to the court on the Flat Project. A PowerPoint was shown to those in attendance. Bailey explained the general boundaries of the project along with some of the landmarks in the project area. One purpose of this project is to improve vegetation resilience and resistance to insects. Bailey said this area has a significant amount of pine beetle damage that needs to be treated. Bailey explained additional purposes and needs for this project. Swain said there are more aspen stands in this project than in other projects he has seen in the ranger district and one of the goals is to restore these stands. Frances Frances Preston asked if the cost of restoring aspen stands is really worth it considering they are easily damaged by fire and other environmental factors. Swain believes it is worth restoring the aspen stands and said in their district they have been successful with restoration. He added having commercial harvesting in this project will assist with the cost of the aspen restoration. Jim Sproul wanted to know if any studies had been conducted regarding the amount of water aspens use. Swain explained removing the conifers around the aspen stands improves the water table, but he would have to look into whether or not there is a study regarding how much aspen actually affects the water table. Judy Kerr inquired if removing trees from the meadows created a wildlife corridor and also asked why the Forest Service seemed to be fighting against the natural progression of nature with these treatments. Swain stated their mandate is to restore the forest back to what it was in the mid 1800’s era. Bailey went on to explain the process they went through to come up with the project alternative that was decided upon. Hamsher asked if the timber harvest proposed would be put out as timber sales and believes this is the only way our schools and communities will see revenue from timber. Swain said they try to put as many timber sales in the projects as they are allowed to do. Harvest treatments were explained along with how many board feet of timber may come off the project.

9:39 am Steve Parsons entered.

Bailey talked about the prescribed burning planned for the project. Hamsher asked how much marketable timber would be burned and Bailey said the plan is to burn after the other treatments are completed. Sproul asked if an incidental fire ignited would it be allowed to burn or would it be suppressed and also if any salvage would be conducted after a fire. Sproul suggested salvaging timber in the form of a timber sale after a fire would go a long way in gaining the respect of the citizens. Swain said if an incidental fire ignited prior to the treatments being completed it would be suppressed, but if the treatments were already completed and the conditions were right an incidental fire might be allowed to burn. Bailey explained the proposed road activities and proposed closures. In the future Britton would like more information on roads that are identified as closed or that are naturally closed and would like these statistics to be presented to the court in future presentations. Ward said an interactive map was available online for people to view that shows the proposed road actions. Discussion about road closures followed. 224.71 miles will remain open in the project. The preliminary EA comment period began on June 21st and ends on July 21st. The website for the documents is http://www.fs.usda.gov/project/?project=47364 Judge Myers suggested having court presentations on projects at the beginning of a comment period instead of closer to the end.

10:16 am The court to a short break. 10:24 am The court returned to session.

TEMPORARY ROAD CLOSURES. Road Master Alan Hickerson had received requests from landowners to temporarily close county roads during the eclipse and fire season. Property owners had expressed concern about safety issues associated with the estimated volume of traffic, congestion and possible trespassing and vandalism on their property due to the large number of people expected for the eclipse. The required criteria for a temporary road closure would be: 1) roads that do not access City, State or Forest Service roads; 2) roads that dead end, with small or no turn around areas; and 3) roads that have ALL property owners’ consent prior to closure of the road. The temporary closures would begin on August 17th and end on August 23rd, 2017. Two additional landowners, Joe Burke and Ken Brooks also had requested a temporary closure of County Road 28 through the end of fire season. Hickerson said CR 28 was closed last year and he would like to close it again this year. This is a dead end road and Hickerson has talked with all the landowners. They expressed concern that the influx of traffic associated with the events this summer and feel closing CR 28 would aid in wild fire prevention. Temporarily closing the roads would be in the interest of public safety. MSP: Hamsher/Myers — to approve temporary road closures recommended by Hickerson.

10:35 am Rob Raschio entered.

HEALTH DEPARTMENT BUILDING. Myers said this building was formerly a Forest Service building that the county now owns. Community Counseling Solutions currently rents this building from the county for public health and mental health services. Hamsher asked if CCS wanted to purchase the entire complex or just the building they are in. Britton said CCS is interested in purchasing the building they occupy now and renting additional space in the L-Building. Britton advised CCS has been looking at other options as well, including building a new facility. Britton and Myers both said the current building will need some major upgrades in the future that will cost the county substantially. Britton would recommend having another discussion on this matter at the next court meeting so interested parties would be able to attend. Preston asked why this building wouldn’t be put out for bid. Myers said this is just the beginning of the discussion and options will need to be looked at. Parsons asked how much of the parking lot would be included with the sale. Myers suggested the parking lot would probably need to be split up, but the property should be two separate parcels already because it has different addresses. Hamsher and Myers are not opposed to continuing this discussion and Britton advised he will have more information for the court at the next meeting.

COMMITTEE VOLUNTEERS. The court reviewed applications from volunteers to serve on county committees. No volunteer applications were received for the Extension & 4H Service District Advisory Council, Fair Board, Mental Health Advisory Board or Planning Commission.

Road Advisory Board: Dave Sandersfeld, John F. Eley, and Bob Stewart all requested re-appointment to the Road Advisory Board. MSP: Myers/Britton — to re-appoint Dave Sandersfeld, John F. Eley and Bob Stewart to the Road Advisory Board with terms expiring on June 30, 2020.

Senior Citizens Advisory Council: Jan Ensign requested re-appointment to the Senior Citizens Advisory Council. Joe Phippen no longer wished to be on the council. MSP: Myers/Hamsher — to re-appoint Jan Ensign to the Senior Citizens Advisory Council with a term expiring on June 30, 2020 and to send a letter of thanks to Joe Phippen for his service on the council.

IGA – UNION COUNTY. The court reviewed the Intergovernmental Agreement between Grant County and Union County for Grant County to provide jail space for Union County inmates. Union County will pay $50 per inmate per calendar day for jail space. MSP: Hamsher/Myers — to approve the IGA with Union County to rent jail space and circulate for signatures.

COMMUNITY COUNSELING SOLUTIONS CONTRACTS. The court reviewed two contracts between Grant County and Community Counseling Solutions (CCS) to provide public health services and mental health services. The current contracts with CCS expired on June 30, 2017. The new contracts would expire on June 30, 2019. MSP: Myers/Britton — to approve the contract with CCS to provide mental health services and to approve the contract with CCS to provide public health services and circulate both for signatures.

COMMUNITY COUNSELING SOLUTIONS LEASE. The property lease with Community Counseling Solutions (CCS) expired on June 30, 2017. CCS rents the facility located at 528 E. Main Street in John Day for $30,000 annually. The new lease term would expire on June 30, 2019. MSP: Myers/Hamsher — to approve the lease for the term of July 1, 2017 to June 30, 2019 and circulate for signatures.

GRANT COUNTY FOOD BANK LEASE. The property lease with the Grant County Food Bank expired on June 30, 2017. The GC Food Bank rents suites 8 & 9 located at 530 E. Main Street in John Day for $120 per month. The new lease term would expire on June 30, 2019. MSP: Myers/Hamsher — to approve the lease for the term of July 1, 2017 to June 30, 2019 and circulate for signatures.

JUSTICE COURT COMPUTER. Justice of the Peace Kathy Stinnett presented a written request to the court for approval to purchase a new computer for her courtroom. Stinnett explained the current computer her clerk utilizes in the courtroom is failing and she was advised by ESD that it should be replaced. Stinnett had not budgeted for a new computer as this was an unexpected computer issue. Three quotes for computers were provided by ESD: Lenovo ($731); Dell ($797); and Hewlett Packard ($662) from Connection. Three quotes for monitors were also provided by ESD: Acer ($125.85); ViewSonic ($123.14); and Acer ($114.26) from Safarimicro. ESD recommended the $731 Lenovo computer and the $123.14 ViewSonic monitor. MSP: Myers/Hamsher — to approve the purchase of a new computer for the Justice Court in the amount of $731 and the new monitor in the amount of $123.14 to be paid from equipment reserve 116100-5400001.

MINUTES. MSP: Myers/Hamsher — to approve the June 28th minutes as amended.

PUBLIC COMMENT. Jim Sproul expressed his opinion that the county court should “step up and do the right thing” with regard to the legal fees incurred by the Sheriff. Myers said the court will not comment on current litigation or litigation likely to be filed, but he will accept Sproul’s comment on the record.

11:00 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 ****