Grant County Curt meeting minutes for Dec. 22, 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, Reporter Steven Mitchell, Katy Nelson, Title III Administrator Beth Simonsen and Irene Jerome of Jerome Natural Resource Consulting. The Pledge of Allegiance was given to the United States Flag.

AGENDA. MSP: Myers/Hamsher – to approve the Agenda as presented with the addition of Item G- Discuss Travel Policy and define “Travel” in and outside of county borders. There is question as to which is the most economical and efficient: to use a personal vehicle within the county on county business or to require employees to go through the process of checking out a county vehicle which includes the time to pick it up, take care of tasks, refuel and return the vehicle.

HAND CHECK. The court approved outside of normal claims day checks #62965 and 62966.

CLAIMS. The court approved claims & Extension Warrants #76-79.

ANNOUNCEMENTS. Judge Myers attended the Heritage Foundation annual meeting on December 9th at the Snaffle Bit Dinner House. All officers in place were re-elected. On December 15th courthouse employees enjoyed their annual Christmas potluck and gift exchange, which Myers called “a rousing good time.” On Friday, December 17th he traveled to La Grande where the Community Connections Executive Board met for the hiring process as they seek to fill the position of executive director. Today, as time allows, Myers will be taking part in employee performance reviews. The county offices will be closed on Friday for the Christmas holiday as Christmas falls on Saturday this year. Myers has not yet heard whether Circuit Court will remain open on Friday.

Commissioner Palmer also attended the Christmas potluck and gift exchange and had a good time. He thanked Laurie Cates for putting it together. Palmer attended the Oregon Cattlemen’s Association meeting at the Snaffle Bit Dinner House. He conducted a performance evaluation for Human Resources Manager Laurie Cates and will be meeting with Emergency Management Coordinator Eric Bush later today. Palmer attended a Blues Intergovernmental Counsel (BIC) convener’s meeting. He also met with city Council Member Haberly and Sheriff McKinley to begin talks about policing issues.

Commissioner Hamsher attended the BIC convener’s meeting by phone. He also took part last week in a Natural Resources Steering Committee meeting. He had an interview with Oregon Solutions on deprivation in our county and area and will be taking part in an Eastern Oregon commissioners call this afternoon. He talked to the state on the recently passed drought relief package and how it will help ranchers and farmers in our county and in Prairie City. Hamsher took part in the National Association of Counties (NACo) Public Lands Steering Committee meeting and visited with several department heads since last week. He was part of the interview panel for the hiring of the legal assistant in the District Attorney’s office. He attended the county Christmas party, commenting that it was very nice with lots of good food. Hamsher was appointed to the League of Oregon Cities Board of Directors. He is the only representative from eastern Oregon and feels that it is important to have voices from our small communities, as most are from the other side of the state.

MINUTES.

MSP: Myers/Hamsher – to approve the minutes of December 8, 2021 as presented.

MSP: Myers/Hamsher – to approve the minutes for the December 1, 2021 Special Meeting regarding Greater Idaho/ Move Oregon’s Border meeting as presented.

FIREWISE COMMUNITIES PROGRAM. Irene Jerome of Jerome Natural Resource Consultants gave a summary of the FireWise program over the last year. The community wildfire predictions and revisions are complete: dated, signed and being implemented as we speak. The purpose of the Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP) is for communities to take full responsibility and advantage of wildland fire and fuel management opportunities. It allows us to address issues such as community wildfire risks, structure flammability, fuels and non-fuels, community preparedness and emergency procedures. It should be tailored to meet the needs of the community. Jerome noted that Covid has made it more difficult to meet and discuss issues, which she believes to be the most productive method. FireWise operates in cooperation with the Soil Conservation and Water District (SCWD), Search and Rescue and the Sheriff’s Department. She sees the potential of a county position housed with the SCWD. Jerome would also like to establish an emergency phone number for residents to get up-to-date emergency information. Phone contact is important, as not all residents have internet access. Emergency Management Coordinator Eric Bush was mentioned as a possible source for this issue. Jerome said it has been rewarding work; Palmer and Myers commented on the progress that has been made and the benefit of preventative measures. Jerome sees one of the biggest on-going challenges to be sustainability and maintaining the progress that has been achieved.

9:25 am- Mindy Winegar entered

9:35 am- Shannon Springer entered

TITLE III CONTRACT REQUESTS. Title III Administrator Beth Simonsen presented the court with three requests. The first is to initiate formal talks with the Soil Conservation and Water District (SCWD) about creating and contracting the FireWise position when Jerome retires; one of the benefits being that SCWD has more access to Title II & III funds. The second request is to renew Jerome’s contract for two years with a limit of $125,000 per calendar year; the third is to extend Simonsen’s contract to facilitate the program, not to exceed 10% of the amount received by the county during the calendar year. Commissioner Palmer expressed concerns about turning over an independent contracting position to a government entity. Myers does not see it as detrimental, due to the positive working relationship we have with SCWD and noted that we would have control over how much money is used from Title II and Title III.

MSP: Myers/Palmer- to 1) continue talks with SWCD about creating and contracting the FireWise position, 2) renew the contract with Jerome Natural Resource Consultants not to exceed $125,000 per calendar year, 3) to renew Title III Administrator Beth Simonsen’s contract not to exceed 10% of the amount received by the county during the calendar year.

SEARCH AND RESCUE. Commissioner Palmer took this opportunity to note that Grant County Search and Rescue gave mutual aid to Morrow County in the recent search for a missing girl, who was found deceased. Our team located the missing person and much effort was put forth by both the Search and Rescue and the Sheriff’s Department.

FAIRGROUND CONCERT HEADLINER 2022. Fair Manager Mindy Winegar requested permission from the Court to begin putting in offers for the 2022 Fair Concert headliner. She noted that prices have gone up, so it is a little challenging. Under consideration so far are Craig Morgan and Sawyer Brown. They actually made a little money on last year’s concert, but would like to protect themselves with cancellation insurance due to the unknowns of future Covid restrictions.

MSP: Myers/Palmer: to give Fair Manager Mindy Winegar permission to proceed with offers for the 2022 Fair Concert headliner.

OUTGOING VOLUNTEER COMMITTEE MEMBERS. The Court received letters of appreciation for signature for outgoing committee members, including David Kebler, Rick Minster, Lance Zweygardt, Doug Cox, Jonna Radinovich, Lucas Palmer and Dale Stennett. Myers noted that some of these committee members have served for several years.

MSP: Myers/Hamsher- to sign letters thanking outgoing committee members for their volunteer service to the county.

ARPA FUNDS REIMBURSEMENT. Emergency Management Coordinator Eric Bush submitted this request for the reimbursement of $7000.00 from the County ARPA Fund to the Grant County Emergency Communications Agency (911)/Inter-Governmental Council. The reimbursement is for premium pay personnel costs during the 2020-2021 Fiscal Year Covid-19 response. It has been cleared with the Inter-Governmental Council, as well as approved by County legal counsel as an allowable expense of the American Recovery Program Act (ARPA) funds.

MSP: Myers/Palmer- approve the reimbursement of $7000.00 from County ARPA funds to the IGC for 911 bonuses.

APPROVAL OF FUNDS TRANSFER FROM UNANTICIPATED GRANT FUNDS. The Court acknowledged the work of former Emergency Management Coordinator Paul Gray in writing the Sheriff’s Department grant and current Coordinator Eric Bush for seeing it through.

MSP: Myers/Palmer- to approve Resolution 21-28 for the transfer of Unanticipated Grant Funds to State Workforce Grant Funds in the amount of $9317.62 for new Library computers and furniture.

MSP: Myers/Hamsher- to approve Resolution 21-27 for the transfer of Unanticipated Grant Funds from the State of Oregon lottery funds to the Sheriff’s Department for a specific purpose grant for Public Safety Network/Communications in the amount of $650,000.

BUILDING PROGRAM OPERATING PLAN. Planning Department Director Shannon Springer began by noting a correction in the agenda. She is presenting the Building (not Planning) Department Operating Plan. The plan does not require a signature. Springer said that she cleaned up some typos and changed the date to today’s date and current year. It was decided to use the term of “normal office hours” in order to allow for sickness or other unexpected closure. Shannon credited Warren at the State Building Codes Department for his help with the operating plan.

MSP: Myers/Hamsher – to approve the Building Program Operating Plan to move forward to the state for approval.

DISCUSS CURRENT TRAVEL POLICY. It has come to the attention of the Court that it is often handy for employees to use their own vehicles when operating locally. It is not always in our best interest to demand that employees use a county car. Under current travel policy, those using their personal vehicles to perform local county tasks are reimbursed for mileage at half the standard reimbursement rate. Hamsher gave the example of an employee at the L-Building having to drive to Canyon City in order to get a county car to run errands back in John Day. He noted that at that point we are paying more for their time (salaries and benefits) than we would be paying for mileage. If the Court encounters abuse of the policy, those issues can be addressed on an individual basis.

MSP: Hamsher/Palmer- to change the County Travel Policy to allow full mileage reimbursement to employees using personal vehicles for in-county business use.

10:00 am– Adjourned.

Respectfully Submitted,

Laurie Stinnett

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 the County Court at 541-575-0059 or GCCourtAdmin@grantcounty-or.gov ***