Grant County Court minutes from May 26, 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, Economic Development Director Tory Stinnett, Frances Preston, Charlene Morris, Reporter Logan Bagett, Reporter Steven Mitchell. A Pledge of Allegiance was given to the United States Flag.

HAND CHECK. The court approved outside of normal claims day checks#61801, 61802, 61803, 61804, 61805.

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

ANNOUNCEMENTS. Judge Myers participated in the Budget Committee meeting on May 12th from 1pm-4pm. He continued weekly calls with Kimberly Lindsay from Community Counseling Solutions. He attended an Intergovernmental Council (IGC) meeting at the John Day Fire Hall.

Commissioner Palmer attended both Budget Committee meetings. He continued his weekly Eastern Oregon Summit calls with Legislators and County Commissioners. Palmer participated in the Eastern Oregon Counties Association (EOCA) calls. He attended a few local Town Hall meetings that were very well attended, and he said it was nice to see the citizens get involved.

Commissioner Hamsher participated in Covid-19 calls with Kimberly Lindsay. He participated in several meetings including National Association of Counties (NACO) Public Lands Steering Committee meeting, County Commissioner weekly calls with the Oregon Health Authority, Eastern Oregon Leadership updates discussing different Bills going through the State Government, Eastern Oregon Counties Association (EOCA), Joint Seact meeting, and he met with Emergency Management.

MINUTES. MSP: Myers/Palmer– to approve the minutes as presented.

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT. Tory Stinnett, Economic Development Director, discussed with the Court Grant # 2533-1 disbursement. Options for New Business Grants $243,472.82. Option 1: Community Lending Works (CLW) will do a lottery for the 30 businesses who were not drawn in the last round of funding (564k). The businesses will still need to meet requirements of having LOST REVENUE due to Covid-19. CLW will lower their admin fee to 3.5% since there isn’t as much administrative work. Grants will be able to be rolled out sooner. This is following a model of distribution Business Oregon has been using. Admin Fee: $8,521.55 Grants: $234,951.27. Option 2: Community Lending Works will open the grant program to all businesses in the county again. This will be a lottery system. There will need to be marketing to notify all businesses. CLW will charge around 5% for an admin fee. The program will be rolled out at a slower pace. Admin Fee: $12,173.64 Grants: $231,299.18. MSP: Hamsher/Palmer–to approve Option #2.

ASSESSOR. The court reviewed order# 2021-01 for the sale of land acquired by Grant County through foreclosure of taxes or otherwise. MSP: Hamsher/Palmer–to approve and sign Order# 2021-01.

BUDGET RESOLUTIONS. The court reviewed Resolution # 21-08, In the Matter of Appropriating Specific Purpose Grant Funds. From: Mental Health Revenue/Mental Health Services $553,590.00. To: Expense MH & DD Service Contract: $553,590. MSP: Myers/Palmer–to approve and sign budget Resolution # 21-08. The court reviewed Resolution # 21-09, In the Matter of making Transfer from Contingency to General Fund Relief Help for Covid-19 Tracking. From: Contingency $40,000. To: Materials & Services $40,000. MSP: Palmer/Myers –to approve and sign budget Resolution # 21-09. The court reviewed Resolution # 21-10, In the Matter of Making Budgeted Transfers. From: Emergency Management $52,189. To: Senior Citizens $56,469. MSP: Palmer/Hamsher–to approve and sign budget Resolution # 21-10. The court reviewed Resolution # 21-11, In the Matter of Making a Cash Loan from General Fund to Domestic Violence Fund. From General Fund: $25,000. To: Domestic Violence Fund $25,000. MSP: Myers/Hamsher–to approve and sign budget Resolution # 21-11.

WAGE SCALES. The court reviewed the wage scales for 2021/2022. MSP: Palmer/Myers –to approve the wage scales for 2021/2022.

PUBLIC COMMENT. The court accepted public comment.

10:25am–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 ***