Grant County Court minutes from Oct. 28, 2020:

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 Commissioners Jim Hamsher and Sam Palmer, Administrative Assistant Kim Puckett, State Representative Mark Owens, Economic Development Director Tory Stinnett, Fairgrounds Manager Mindy Winegar, Robert Pereira , Mike Slinkard, Justin Deming, Sherri Dowdy, Frances Preston, Reporter Steven Mitchell, Reporter Logan Bagett, and Pastor. A Pledge of Allegiance was given to the United States Flag.

AGENDA. MSP: Hamsher/Palmer– to accept the agenda as amended.

ANNOUNCEMENTS. Judge Myers out on excused absence.

Commissioner Palmer attended a Blues Intergovernmental Council (BIC) Subcommittee meeting by phone and a BIC Conveners Meeting. Palmer participated in weekly calls with State Senators, Representatives and Commissioners, he said these have been ongoing and very informative. He attended a workshop with the City of John Day. Palmer met with Economic Development Director Tory Stinnett, in regards to CARES items for businesses. He attended a funeral for Jim Ennis and expressed his condolences to his family. He also participated in phone calls and met with Fairgrounds Manager Mindy Winegar trying to get things finished up.

Commissioner Hamsher attended multiple meetings via phone: to include the Eastern Oregon Council & Recovery meeting, county calls with State Senators and Representatives, Eastern Oregon Caucus update call, Blues Intergovernmental Council (BIC) Steering Committee Meeting for Socioeconomics, Association of Oregon Counties (AOC) meeting, National Association of Counties (NACO) Public Lands Steering Committee meeting, Association of Oregon Counties Covid-19 weekly call meeting, BIC Forest Access Steering Committee meeting, weekly Covid calls with State Representatives, BIC Sub Committee meeting for livestock grazing, Eastern Oregon Counties Association (EOCA) meeting, Eastern Oregon Regional Recovery meeting, BIC Steering Committee meeting for Socioeconomics again, Oregon Health Authority weekly Covid call, League of Oregon Cities Covid weekly call, weekly update with Senator Findley with State Representatives & Commissioners, Eastern Oregon Counties pre BIC meeting and yesterday the regular BIC meeting. He said they also completed the permit application in Prairie City for the deer composting site, they look forward to getting it built. He talked with Economic Development Director Tory Stinnett. Hamsher also talked with the City of Seneca about proposed ways they can use their CARE Act allotment. He also spoke with Veteran’s Services and Emergency Management about different projects being worked on.

MINUTES. MSP: Palmer/Hamsher– to approve the October 14th minutes as presented.

REPRESENTATIVE MARK OWENS. State Representative Mark Owens visited the court and gave an update on conversations happening on a state level. Owens discussed how to learn to live with Covid-19 vs Covid-19 live our lives. He said most people are ready to move on. He also discussed that House District 60 consists of 5 Counties. He has been participating in weekly calls with Legislature and County Commissioners. There have been two emergency sessions held, the Capital is locked down and the public has not been able to participate. Owens believes without good public participation good public policy can’t be made. Owens spoke about some of the Legislative Concepts 5 of the 35. 1.) Emergency Declaration End Date 2.) Dispatchers as 1st Responders 3.) County Commissioner Courtesies 4.) PILT/SRS 5.) Disconnect Ag from CAT Tax.

CARES ACT. Commissioner Sam Palmer discussed with the Court the allocation of funds. He identified the Fairgrounds Pavilion, Broadband/Telecommunication upgrades to Schools and the Courthouse, Covid-19 related sanitation and Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), and local businesses to deal with food security. Commissioner Palmer introduced Mike Slinkard local business owner of HECS who discussed the need for Broadband at the Industrial Park at the Airport. Commissioner Hamsher then pointed out certain provisions within the CARES Act. Commissioner Palmer indicated that those provisions as outlined in the letter were still applicable. MSP: Hamsher/Palmer –to table until next court meeting when Judge Myers is present, gather more eligible candidates, and send to legal counsel for review.

Stephanie LeQuieu entered 9:35am

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT. Tory Stinnett Director of Economic Development stated funds were approved back in March for the renewal of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). Stephanie LeQuieu presented all of the work that is being done with OREGON Rain.

TREASURER. The court reviewed resolutions# 20-31 and # 20-32. MSP: Hamsher/Palmer –to approve and sign Resolution #20-31, Airport will be purchasing equipment and repairing the fence and will need to move funds from Materials & Services to Capital Outlay Equipment and Capital Outlay Bldg/Grounds. From: Materials & Services $22,516 To: Capital Outlay Equipment $8,273.00 To: Capital Outlay Bldg/Grounds $14,243. MSP: Hamsher/Palmer –to approve and sign Resolution # 20-32, the Airport will be repairing the perimeter fence and have need of the contingency they have set aside for such short falls, now therefore From: Contingency $6,941 To: Capital Outlay Equipment $6,941.

VOLUNTEER COMMITTEE MEMBERS. Volunteer applications were reviewed by the court.

Southeast Area Commission on Transportation: Tory Stinnett requested appointment to this board. MSP: Hamsher/Palmer to appoint Tory Stinnett with a term to expire December 31, 2021.

EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT. The court reviewed the Oregon Military Office of Emergency Management Performance Grant No: 20-512. MSP: Hamsher/Palmer –to approve and sign Grant No: 20-512.

AIRPORT. Haley Walker, Airport Manager requested approval from the court to purchase acoustic panels for offices 2A and 2B. Offices 2A and 2B are now being rented. Office 2A rents for $250 per month, and office 2B rents for $500 per month. The walls are not insulated well and the two tenants can hear each other’s conversations with ease. Both of their businesses require confidentiality when having conversations, and with the current state of the offices they do not have confidence in confidential conversations and meetings. As a result, the airport would like to support its tenants by providing acoustic panels to increase the soundproofing for these offices. After researching acoustic panels and measuring the walls Walker would like to purchase 34 panels at $54.95 each for a total of $1,868.30 plus shipping $304.70 for a total purchase of $2,173. These panels would be purchased from ATS Acoustics. The office rent for three months ($2,250) for both offices will cover the cost of the acoustic panels, and both offices have already been rented for three months. The cost of the acoustic panels will be paid from budget line 124100-5200007 – Maintenance, and this has been discussed with the County Treasurer. MSP: Hamsher / Palmer –to approve the purchase of the acoustic panels.

PUBLIC COMMENT. Citizen Frances Preston said she has a lot of concerns, both Commissioners have been attending a lot of meetings and she wants to know at what point the citizens have a right to know what is going on in the meetings and the status of those meeting and how it relates to the County. She said they report that they have been to meetings but do not report what is being discussed, they don’t have town hall meetings, and they do nothing that explains to the citizens what is happening in Grant County as it relates to all those specific meetings. Commissioner Hamsher said he is always available if she would like to know what goes on in the meetings. He said if they discussed what went on in several different meetings the court meeting would go on for hours. Some of the meetings are advertised if the public wanted to listen in. Preston said that Blues Intergovernmental Council (BIC) is not the only concern, it is very important that the citizens know what decisions are being made and information shared as it relates to the County. She suggested a newsletter or if someone could take notes and share, just so people know what is going on.

10:39 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 **