Grant County Court minutes from March 10, 2021:

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 Sam Palmer, Administrative Assistant Kim Puckett, Airport Manager Haley Walker, Sheriff Todd McKinley, Frances Preston, John Morris, Steve Fletcher, Dustin Oates, Reporter Steven Mitchell, Reporter Logan Bagett, and Pastor Levi Manitsas. A Pledge of Allegiance was given to the United States Flag.

CLAIMS. The court had approved claims & Extension Warrants #197-201.

AGENDA. MSP: Myers/Palmer–to accept the agenda as presented.

ANNOUNCEMENTS. Judge Myers authorized an emergency acquisition yesterday for a failed desk top computer within the Justice Court office. The new one will be purchased through the Educational Service District (ESD). He had his first Covid-19 vaccine and thanked all of the hard working staff and volunteers from several different organizations, who have really streamlined the process. Myers said that once given the first vaccine, before you leave they schedule you for the second one. He said if you get the opportunity to thank anyone involved with this to please do so. He met with the Treasurer and Judge Raschio about Family Court. They would like to start this up, it is still up for discussion with Circuit Court. This has been a trial with Harney County and has been very successful. On March 3rd a special court meeting was held for the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) to read the public notice. He also listened in on a Town Hall meeting with Senator Merkley’s office involving interesting discussions and questions. Myers attended an Intergovernmental Council meeting regarding 911 at the John Day Fire Hall. He attended a Heritage Foundation meeting at Keerins Hall. On March 9th he participated in an Association of Oregon Counties (AOC) Public Safety Committee meeting and an AOC Legislative Committee meeting both via phone. Tomorrow he will attend a meeting with Human Resources Manager Laurie Cates, and virtually with City County Insurance Services (CIS) regarding a Best Practices Survey. March 16th he, will attend a Safety Committee meeting at the Pavilion.

Commissioner Palmer attended the weekly update call with Kimberly Lindsay. He attended a full Blues Intergovernmental Council (BIC) meeting and talked about the draft plans that will be coming up for votes. He continued his Eastern Oregon Leadership calls and testified on Senate Bill 21 that has to do with the Murderer’s Creek area involving new planning. He attended the special court meeting for the CDBG and later that evening participated in the Grant County Cap meeting. March 4th he attended a Natural Resources Steering Committee meeting with AOC discussing Ag and Natural Resources and House Senate Bills. Palmer also took part in the meeting with Senator Merkley’s office.

Commissioner Hamsher attended the court special meeting for the CDBG. He attended an Eastern Oregon Economy Recovery Council meeting. He participated in the weekly update call with Kimberly Lindsay about vaccines. Hamsher attended several meetings via phone to include, the weekly Oregon Health Authority Commissioner Covid-19 call, BIC, Eastern Oregon Leadership, Governor’s office, Veteran’s Steering Committee for AOC, Steering Committee for Public Safety, Natural Resource Steering Committee, National Association of Counties (NACO) briefing, League of Oregon Cities, AOC Legislative and Board of Directors call. He talked with Kathleen Kathy about Forest counties money. He met with various Department Heads and attended the Fair Board meeting and inspected the new floor.

MINUTES. MSP: Myers/Hamsher– to approve the February 24th minutes as presented. Myers/Palmer—to approve the March 3rd Special Meeting minutes as presented.

GRANT COUNTY ARES. Steve Fletcher, Grant County Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) Emergency Coordinator discussed with the court changing Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to Emergency Radio Infrastructure Coalition (E.R.I.C). He discussed the repeater coverage. The amateur radio communication is grateful of the support from the county over the last few years, all in attempt to serve the members of Grant County in the best way possible. He passed out a document with detailed description of the progress, a description of what E.R.I.C. actually is, and a discussion of the advantages and disadvantages of amateur radio in an emergency communications situation as a backup strategy, and specifically how E.R.I.C. would address these issues. He requested that the existing agreements with Amateur Radio Repeaters and equipment be changed to the E.R.I.C. model. Fletcher stated that all the owners of amateur radio equipment currently deployed anywhere in Grant County have agreed that the E.R.I.C. model is the best way to go forward to ensure the longevity of availability of these repeaters. Commissioner Hamsher asked how is this different from ARES? Fletcher said ARES is more on the operational side and its training focus is more on the operational side and E.R.I.C. is more specialized on the equipment side to make sure the equipment is available and working. Commissioner Palmer asked what will happen to ARES? Fletcher replied by saying that is still to be decided. Hamsher said he knows the Emergency Management Coordinator, Paul Gray has been developing some kind of a plan or a grant for communication upgrades to several different sites. Sheriff McKinley said he has visited with Gray after reading his email that went out which concerned him because E.R.I.C doesn’t have anything to do with that. McKinley said that these are two completely different separate entities and would not involve his grant seeking for communications. Hamsher requested Sheriff McKinley and Emergency Management Coordinator Paul Gray schedule a meeting to discuss this. MSP: Hamsher/Palmer–to table this until the next court meeting pending further clarification. Dan VanDehey & Tim Beymer entered 9:30am, Mindy Winegar & Dusty Williams entered 9:33am.

VALLEY WIDE COOPERATIVE. Dan Vandehey proposed the following to Grant County for their propane needs. 1.) Valley Wide Cooperative would provide their propane at the $Government rate delivered. 2.) Valley Wide Cooperative would swap out, with no charge for labor involved, and provide all new equipment necessary for the storage and distribution of propane. The lease for all propane tanks would be at an annual rate of: $100 for the first tank then $10 for each additional tank. The first year would be free with no tank rental charges. 3.) Valley Wide Cooperative would install a new 1,000- gallon tank at the Grant County Corrections facility, a 500-gallon tank at the Grant County Road Department, and three 120-gallon tanks at the Grant County Fairgrounds. Tanks would be installed with a new first stage regulator and a full safety leak check would be completed. Appliances would be re-lit if needed. 4.) Valley Wide Cooperative would file the one time propane tank permit with the Oregon State Fire Marshal’s office, covering the fees of $50 per tank. 5.) Valley Wide Cooperative would provide any and all necessary training to employees of Grant County. 6.) Valley Wide Cooperative would install tank level monitors, at no additional charge, to ensure the tank is kept full. Commissioner Palmer thinks it would be best for Valley Wide Cooperative and Ed Staub & Sons Petroleum, who is the current provider, to each provide bids. Judge Myers suggested that we get clarification on what our provider responsibility is and how often we have to go out for bid. Myers believes that we have not been in any kind of violation by keeping the same provider, and feels that it is safe to say that we need more information as to when and how often and how long the contracts should be, and if they are of limited duration. Myers said we will have to review the Ed Staub & Sons contract, assuming that it just renews unless the renewal is interrupted. He will look at the contracts and find out how they are currently set up and see if we need to make any changes. Myers also said it was a good time to seek out bids pending a new budget year beginning July 1st.

SHERIFF’S OFFICE. The court reviewed an Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA# 6129) between Grant County, Grant County Sheriff’s Office, and the Oregon Department of Corrections (ODOC). MSP: Hamsher/Palmer–to approve IGA #6129 and authorize Judge Myers to sign the agreement.

AIRPORT. Haley Walker, Airport Manager, requested approval to purchase two replacement laptops for the airport. The two laptops will replace the pilots lounge laptop and the fuel processing laptop. The pilots lounge laptop has been removed from service for several months due to its failure to operate correctly. The Education Service District (ESD) has tried to repair this laptop but is unable to do so due to the old and outdated hard drive. The fuel processing laptop is also old and outdated and due for a replacement. The cost of replacement for both laptops was provided by ESD and is $1,698.00. The laptops will be updated with Microsoft Windows 10 from ESD and will have a lifespan of several years. The cost for replacement will be paid from budget line 124100-540001-capital outlay – equipment which has a balance of $15,313.41. MSP: Myers/Palmer –to approve the purchase of the two replacement laptops in the amount of $1,698.00 if other laptops within the organization can’t be found instead of purchasing new ones.

VICTIMS ASSISTANCE. Kimberly Neault, Victim Assistance Program Director, requested approval from the Court to allow her to apply for the 2021 Child Abuse Multidisciplinary Intervention (CAMI) Multidisciplinary Team (MDT) Grant. It is a non-competitive grant through the Oregon Department of Justice. The award period is July 1, 2021-June 30, 2023. The purpose of the CAMI Program is to support a multidisciplinary approach to child abuse interventions. This program provides funding to counties for the development and ongoing support of community child abuse intervention centers and for development and maintenance of child abuse multidisciplinary teams. These funds will be used to pay for child forensic interviews, provide training to professional, and support a portion of the Victim Assistance Program Director’s salary/benefits to act in the capacity as the MDT Coordinator. Applications are due by Monday April 12th, 2021 at 11:59 PM PST with awards being announced in June of 2021. Actual funding numbers are not available until after the legislative session. MSP: Myers/Hamsher–to approve application for the CAMI Grant.

FAIRGROUNDS. Mindy Winegar, Fairgrounds Manager, requested approval from the Court to move forward with agreements for Fair with Hamsher Fighting Bulls, Buckin’ In The Bonnies Evente, Carlson Sound & Lights, The Hypnotist Company, Claude Rickman Lazy H, and Afton Ticket Sales. MSP: Myers/Palmer–to approve moving forward with the contract with Hamsher Fighting Bulls. MSP:Myers/Palmer–to approve moving forward with the contract with Buckin’ In The Boonies Evente. MSP: Myers/Palmer–to approve moving forward with the contract with Carlson Sound & Lights. MSP: Myers/Palmer– to approve moving forward with the contract with The Hypnotist Company. MSP: Myers/Palmer–to approve moving forward with the contract with Claude Rickman Lazy H. MSP: Myers/Palmer– to approve moving forward with the contract with Afton Sales.

BUDGET RESOLUTIONS. The court reviewed Resolution #21-05, In the Matter of Intrafund Transfers, General Fund District Attorney. From: Materials & Services $10,000. To: Personnel Services $10,000. MSP: Myers/Hamsher –to approve and sign budget Resolution# 21-05.

COMMITTEE VOLUNTEERS. Volunteer applications were reviewed by the court. Road Department: Mark Lysne requested appointment to this board. MSP: Myers/Hamsher–to appoint Mark Lysne with a term to expire 06-30-2023.

MARIJUANA TAX. The court reviewed the Marijuana Tax Collection Agreement. MSP: Myers/Palmer –to approve and authorize Judge Myers to sign the Marijuana Tax Collection Agreement.

PUBLIC COMMENT. Public comment was accepted.

10:05am–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 ***