Grant County Court special meeting minutes: March 18, 2020

Published 4:22 pm Thursday, April 23, 2020

Grant County Court special meeting minutes from March 18, 2020:

Pursuant to notice made to the radio station, county website, and e-mail distribution list, a special 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 Sam Palmer, Administrative Assistant Kim Puckett, Human Resources Manager Laurie Wright, Justice of the Peace Kathy Stinnett, Clerk Brenda Percy, Deputy Clerk Brooke Griffith, Treasurer Julie Ellison, Planning Director Shannon Springer, Legal Assistant Michelle McManama, Victims Assistance Director Kimberly Neault, Safety & Risk Manager Ryan Palmer, Airport Manager Haley Walker, Fairgrounds Manager Mindy Winegar, Jim Spell, Judy Kerr, Frances Preston, Steve Fletcher, Jessica Winegar, Sabrina Walker, Dr. Louise Leduc, Reporter Steven Mitchell, Reporter Logan Bagett, and Community Counseling Solutions Director Kimberly Lindsay (via phone). A Pledge of Allegiance was given to the United States Flag.

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

ADMINISTRATIVE POLICY. The court reviewed a proposed temporary administrative policy regarding Coronavirus. The purpose of the temporary policy is to recognize the novel coronavirus, also known as COVID-19, may impact Grant County locally. The employees are at the forefront of the concern as we work to adapt quickly to this emergency public health threat and navigate new business practices in order to continue to serve the community to the best of our abilities. It is in times like these that our community may need our services most. In response to the COVID-19, Grant County is proposing temporary telecommuting assignments to designated positions. Eligible positions will be determined by Department Heads and County Liaisons and will be based on functional role and business needs. Telecommuting is a voluntary alternative work arrangement in which part of, or all the weekly scheduled work is performed at an alternative work location. Telecommuting is neither a benefit nor an entitlement and in no way changes the terms and conditions of employment. Telecommuting is only viable in cases where the Employee and the Department Head and County Liaison mutually agree that the job characteristics are well suited to an alternative work location. Telecommuting may be appropriate for some employees, Department Heads and County Liaisons and duties, but not necessarily viable for everyone. In the event the Telecommuter does not provide the required status reports, and/or the Department Head and County Liaison cannot verify the quality and quantity of work done, the telecommuting agreement may be discontinued. MSP: Myers/Palmer–to approve and adopt the temporary administrative policy T-1.

Dave Dobler entered 9:10am

TEMPORARY EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT COORDINATOR. The court discussed the formal appointment of an interim temporary Emergency Management Coordinator and request for supply procurement. MSP: Myers/Hamsher–to approve and appoint Dave Dobler as the temporary interim Emergency Management Coordinator. MSP: Myers/Hamsher–to approve the supply procurement. Any future purchases over $200.00 would need to be approved by the County Court and those under the amount of $200.00 could be approved by the Department Liaison.

Commissioner Hamsher stated he wanted to clarify some misinformation and said “First the emergency meeting in which was called by the County Court that was held a week ago last Friday, they did not transfer the control of Emergency Management over to the Sheriff’s Department. What we did is appointed an Incident Commander (IC) that happens to be a Sheriff’s Department employee. The County Court still remains in control of Emergency Management. This is no different than what we did last March in the wake of the floods, we appointed an IC then and had Ted Williams as the Emergency Management Coordinator, his job is to coordinate all of that because at times like this we may be facing this right now that’s one incident, we could have a big snow fall and melt off and then have a flood incident come up too. It’s not just one incident that is why we have IC’s to manage them. I just wanted to clear up that misconception and the minutes of our emergency meeting reflect that.”

EMERGENCY STATUS. The court discussed whether or not to declare an emergency status. Judge Myers recommended not closing the court house at this time to the public. The court will follow state and federal guidelines that are dictated to us. Declaring an emergency will assist local businesses to get low or no interest loans. MSP: Myers/Hamsher–to declare an emergency status and sign resolution #20-03.

Dr. Louise Leduc complimented the County and thanked them for taking these actions and wanting to be proactive.

PUBLIC COMMENT. Several members of the public provided comments to the court.

10:04 am Adjourned

Respectfully Submitted,

Kim Puckett

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 Kim Puckett at 541-575-0059 or puckettk@grantcounty-or.gov **