Grant County Court minutes from Nov. 2, 2016:

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 Chris B. Labhart and Boyd Britton, Administrative Assistant Laurie Wright, Jim Spell, Beth Spell, Judy Schuette, Katy Nelson, Jim Sproul, Judy Kerr, Dan Becker, Bill Turner, Patty Turner, Tom Winters, Alan Hickerson, Vicki Thompson, Reporter Rylan Boggs, Tandi Merkord, Kathy Stinnett, and Adele Cerny. A Pledge of Allegiance was given to the United States Flag. The invocation was given by Commissioner Britton.

CLAIMS. The court had reviewed and approved claims and extension district warrants #221-225.

AGENDA. MSP: Myers/Labhart — to accept the agenda as presented.

ANNOUNCEMENTS. Commissioner Britton told those in attendance that sadly Grant County lost a great friend recently as Gregg Smith passed away. Britton continued to speak with ODF during the week regarding Zone 1 lands and fire protection.

Judge Myers performed a wedding last Thursday at the courthouse. Myers will conduct a name change hearing today at 3 pm and next Tuesday will attend a safety meeting. Myers will go to a court security meeting next Thursday the 10th and advised there will be no court meeting on November 16th because the court members will be attending the annual AOC Conference in Eugene. Myers traveled to La Grande on October 25th with Al Altnow for a Community Connections meeting and said Altnow has agreed to serve on this board as has Jan Ensign from Monument.

9:05 am Reporter Logan Bagett and Kathy Smith entered.

Commissioner Labhart went elk hunting last week and has a Department of Veteran’s Affairs luncheon coming up on Saturday, November 12th.

MINUTES. MSP: Britton/Labhart — to approve the October 26th minutes as presented.

9:08 am Susan Church entered.

ELEVATOR MAINTENANCE AGREEMENT. The court reviewed an elevator maintenance agreement with Straight Up Elevator for the courthouse elevator. Straight Up Elevator installed the elevator in the courthouse. Myers said the elevator was installed in June or July of 2015 and it was a welcome addition to the courthouse. There have been no problems with the elevator so far, but without the maintenance agreement the elevator will not be under warranty. Myers advised with the expense of the elevator installation it makes sense to maintain it. The agreement cost will be $1600 per year. Treasurer Kathy Smith stated the elevator is used a lot and the elevator was a good investment that should be maintained. The agreement would be paid from the maintenance line in the budget. MSP: Myers/Labhart — to approve the maintenance agreement with Straight Up Elevator and authorize Judge Myers to sign.

EMPLOYEE REQUEST FOR LWOP. Road Secretary Tandi Merkord requested court permission to take time off in December as leave without pay. Merkord requested December 12th through December 23rd off and explained she will be traveling out of state for a planned family vacation. Road Master Alan Hickerson said he approved Merkord’s request for this in October and then realized this request should be brought before the court per county policy. Myers asked Merkord if she was aware she will not receive accruals for the December pay period and will have to pay her insurance premium for the month of December. The insurance payment will be deducted from her December paycheck. MSP: Myers/Britton — to approve Merkord’s request for December 12th through December 23rd as leave without pay.

JUSTICE OF THE PEACE. Justice of the Peace Kathy Stinnett sent a written request to the court for a credit card for her office. Myers stated the Justice of the Peace Office does not currently have a card issued for their office and although she can use cards from other departments it is more convenient for each office to have its own. Britton feels this is appropriate due to Stinnett’s new position at which time Myers advised Stinnett has been elected by her peers as President of the Oregon Justice of the Peace Association. MSP: Myers/Britton — to approve Stinnett’s request for a county credit card for her office.

EASTERN OREGON COUNTIES ASSOCIATION. The court discussed the EOCA dues for fiscal year 2016-17 in the amount of $10,800. Myers explained two invoices were received from EOCA, one for debt reduction and one for dues. The debt reduction portion was approved for payment by the court and was to make up the shortfall for last year’s dues not paid in full by other member counties. Smith stated this should be paid 95% from the road department and 5% from the general fund since this is for SRS and PILT funds. Myers explained SRS funding and PILT funding as it relates to our county. Labhart said he has lobbied for SRS and PILT funding over the years and believes the funding is a win-win for the county as a whole. The dues paid to EOCA are used for continued lobbying for SRS and PILT funding. Myers agreed with Labhart. Myers said SRS funding replaced timber receipts and approximately 2.8 million in SRS funding was received last year and around $580,000 in PILT money. MSP: Myers/Labhart — to authorize payment of the EOCA dues in the amount of $10,800 with payment to be split 95% from the road department and 5% from the general fund. Myers and Labhart voted yes and Britton voted no and thinks between Congressman Walden and Senator Wyden already advocate for these funds and the county should only pay half of the dues.

ROAD DEPARTMENT. Pay rate request. Road Master Alan Hickerson presented a request to the court to pay a flat rate of $19 per hour for temporary and seasonal equipment operators. Hickerson checked with local companies to find out what the local economy is paying equipment operators. Hickerson would like to pay enough to get good qualified operators. Hickerson stated there has never been a policy for payment of the temporary operators and would like to implement one like they have for temporary/seasonal flaggers. The flat rate of $19 per hour would have no COLA increases or benefits and would remain at $19 until changed in the future. The union does not care what temporary or seasonal workers are paid. Temporary workers can work for up to 12 weeks and seasonal workers for 6 months. MSP: Myers/Labhart — to approve Hickerson’s request and authorize a flat pay rate of $19 per hour for temporary and seasonal equipment operators.

Notice of Award for Snow Removal. Hickerson asked the court to approve and sign the Notice of Award for Snow Removal for Grant County Road 24 and Baker County 520 for the Granite Area to Columbia Basin Helicopters, LLC. The Notice of Intent to Award was signed last week by Judge Myers and the time for filing objections has passed. Hickerson checked out Columbia Helicopters equipment list and said when they plowed the roads approximately five years ago they did a good job. The contract is for November 15th through April 15th and has been working well according to Hickerson. MSP: Myers/Britton — to accept the recommendation of the Road Master, approve the Notice of Award and authorize Judge Myers to sign.

VETERAN’S SERVICE OFFICE. The court reviewed a request for a new printer for the Veteran’s Service Office. Three quotes were provided. A hinge broke on the current printer in the VSO’s office. Smith said she looked at the printer and the hinge is plastic and she doesn’t think it can be fixed. Myers asked if Nate Hughes has looked at the printer and Smith said he has not. The low quote for a new printer was $129.99 on sale from Quill. Smith wasn’t sure if the printer would still be on sale so she requested a maximum approval of $150. MSP: Labhart/Myers — to approve purchase of a new printer for the VSO Office in the amount of $150 to be paid from general fund capital outlay if Nate Hughes can’t fix the current printer.

PUBLIC COMMENT. Myers offered public comment and received no response.

9:40 am The court took a short break. 10:00 am Kimberly Lindsay entered.

10:03 am The court returned to session.

COMMUNITY COUNSELING SOLUTIONS. CCS Executive Director Kimberly Lindsay explained CCS operates the health department and Juniper Ridge. Lindsay advised the court CCS received the 2016 Oregon Rural Health Hero of the Year award after being nominated by Oregon Health Sciences University. Lindsay said this award is an honor to receive and shared a brochure with the court regarding the award. Lindsay showed the court the glass award CCS received. The court members congratulated Lindsay on the award. Lindsay said she has an amazing staff and it was nice to present the award to them. The community based health center at the high school will have a site review tomorrow and so far the school has been very happy with the health center. The center is very busy and Karen Triplett sees students all day long. Lindsay believes there were over a thousand visits last year. Lindsay reported several town hall meetings were held earlier in the year regarding mental health issues in the state and based on the meetings a collaborative was put in place to review the issues. The largest concern was access to mental health services. Lindsay explained the different options presented after the third collaborative meeting and reviewed a brochure with court members.

10:15 am King Williams entered.

Lindsay was surprised county court’s weren’t presented with the different options and wanted to bring this to the court’s attention. Lindsay presented a proposed fifth option to the court as well. Myers advised a few years ago he would have been in support of the State taking over mental health services, but since CCS began taking care of the program he doesn’t feel the same way. Britton agreed with Myers. Lindsay told the court of different issues other counties have had in the past. Labhart asked if the financial impact would be more or less if the county gave mental health services back to the State. Lindsay wasn’t sure about the fiscal impact, but said she would be concerned with the lack of local control and responsiveness. Lindsay advised she has appreciated the advocacy and support she has received from county commissioners. Discussion was held regarding what might happen if a Community Counseling Organization (CCO) took over. Lindsay reported on public health modernization and stated a bill was passed (HB 3100) requiring health departments to look at health modernization. All county health departments had to do an assessment of where they were currently and a cost estimate of what the cost for modernization will be. The current Oregon statute mandating what health departments must do was discussed along with current funding issues. Lindsay explained how future funding might filter down to local departments if and when funding is made available. Lindsay believes modernization is good, but is very concerned about the process and funding. Labhart asked if the county should plan on providing additional funding and Lindsay said she hoped not. Counties currently pay more into local health departments than State of Federal. The statute contents were discussed along with current issues with mental health services. Kimberly Lindsay announced to the court that Family Nurse Practitioner Lindsey Maghan received an award and sent an email thanking CCS for giving her a second chance at employment in the health care field and presented a copy of the email to the court members.

PUBLIC COMMENT. Myers again offered a chance for public comment and no responses were received.

10:51 am – Adjourned.

Respectfully Submitted,

Laurie Wright

Administrative Assistant