Grant County Court minutes from Aug. 31, 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, Beth Spell, Jim Spell, Mike Cosgrove, Sara Russ, Rick Minster, Rob Seaver, Judy Kerr, Airport Manager Haley Walker, Steve Parsons, Dan Becker, Janine Goodwin, and Pastor Wes Aasness. A Pledge of Allegiance was given to the United States Flag. The invocation was given by Pastor Aasness.

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

ANNOUNCEMENTS. Commissioner Britton reported he was out of state last week in New Mexico and Arizona and arrived home yesterday.

9:03 Reporter Logan Bagett entered.

Judge Myers conducted a name change hearing last Thursday and on Sunday played in a golf scramble fund raiser for Blue Mountain Hospital at the John Day Golf Course. Myers and Laurie Wright attended human resource training yesterday in Pendleton and Myers said it was an excellent training.

Commissioner Labhart attended lunch at the John Day Senior Center on August 29th and met with the interim CEO of Blue Mountain Hospital on August 30th. Labhart reported two new doctors will be coming to our area, one will arrive in September and the other in October. The new CEO for BMH will also arrive in September. Labhart will be driving the VA Van to the Boise VA Hospital on September 1st.

9:06 Ryan Nehl entered.

MINUTES. MSP: Labhart/Myers — to approve the August 24th minutes as presented.

JUSTICE COURT CLERK. The court reviewed the placement letter received from LGPI (Local Government Personnel Institute) for the revised job description for the Justice Court Clerk. The placement remained at a grade 5. MSP: Myers/Britton — to accept the placement from LGPI of Grade L-5 and to adopt the revised job description for the Justice Court Clerk position. Britton asked about the sentence in the job description that states the employee may be exposed to communicable diseases and asked the Wright and Myers find out if this is something that should be added to other job descriptions.

LIBRARY ADVISORY BOARD. The Library Advisory Board term ending dates were found to be in error and needed to be adjusted. The positions are supposed to have staggered term ending dates and it was discovered a mistake was made at some point.MSP: Myers/Britton — to approve adjustments to the Library Advisory Board as follows: Mary Michael with term ending 06-30-2018, Dolores Ostberg with term ending 06-30-2018, and Marlou Fronapel with term ending 06-30-2019.

9:14 am Hilary McNary, Shannon Springer and Tammy Bremner entered.

PLANNING DEPT. ECLIPSE PERMITTING PROCESS. Planning Director Hilary McNary updated the court on the permitting process for the 2017 solar eclipse. McNary said Chris Griffith from Ron Yockim’s office discovered the planning department does not need to require permits for small gatherings of less than 3000 people. Property owners will still be required to comply with State rules and regulations and all liability is on the property owner as well. McNary would encourage people to register as a courtesy with the Chamber of Commerce so that law enforcement and emergency services will know of the locations of the gatherings. Tammy Bremner from the Chamber of Commerce reported she has talked to Sheriff Palmer and John Coombs from the Health Department. Both of them said they didn’t feel they needed to be involved, but the Sheriff would like to know the location of the gatherings. McNary believes the State will address the eclipse issue and implement a statewide plan prior to the event. Bremner understands that ODOT is working with emergency management to address highway safety issues. Steve Parsons asked why the county would want to be involved with a gathering on his property and Britton advised the county doesn’t want to be involved. Discussion followed about whether or not DEQ would be involved in this process. Britton stated the county is in no way trying to limit what property owners do with their land, he would just like individuals to have as much information as possible. Judy Kerr asked if Emergency Management Coordinator Ted Williams was involved with ODOT in the emergency planning and Myers advised her Williams is involved and has been from the beginning. Ryan Nehl told the court the Forest Service has been planning for this event and holding meetings as well. Labhart read the conclusion of the legal counsel memo to those in attendance. MSP: Myers/Labhart — to accept the memorandum prepared by legal counsel and the findings within it.

PLANNING DEPT. FLOOD STUDY. Planning Director Hilary McNary presented flood study submittal documents to the court for review. McNary advised the court that the City of John Day approached FEMA and the Army Corp of Engineers to request revised flood mapping. The current FEMA maps are from 1982 and inadequate. McNary explained the process for updating the maps and the county’s jurisdiction area. What McNary is requesting the court to sign today is a letter in support of the revision request and the revision request form. The new maps will allow the planning department to be much more confident in telling property owners they are in a flood plain. Submitting these documents allows the county to facilitate public meetings to answer and address public concerns. Planning Assistant Shannon Springer advised affected property owners will be sent letters inviting them to the public meetings that will be held. Myers commented on how much clearer the study map is versus the current map. McNary pointed out this is only a rough draft and not the final map.

9:37 am Steve Beverlin entered.

McNary has been told different time frames for completion of the new maps and believes the process will take 3 to 5 years. Britton has concerns that if the large flood project comes to fruition the maps will be incorrect again. McNary said the county could approach FEMA with new hydrology information at that time and request the maps be amended. McNary advised the Army Corp has funding to assist jurisdictions with hydrology studies. The importance of having current maps that actually follow the topography of the land was pointed out. MSP: Labhart/Myers — to approve the flood study submittal and authorize Judge Myers to sign.

AIRPORT HANGAR SITE LEASE AGREEMENT. Airport Manager Haley Walker had sent a revised airport hangar site lease to the court for review and approval. Walker explained she discovered there was no consistent program to provide leases to hangar owner and most of the leases were not recorded with the county as they should have been. Walker does not intend to change the current leases, but she does want a standard lease agreement on file to be used in the future. Walker presented the proposed lease to the Airport Commission as well as county legal counsel for review. She intends to meet with the lessees of the hangars after the court approves the lease presented. This is the same lease used in the past; the only addition Walker made to the lease was the addition of her signature line as airport manager.

9:53 am BME Editor Sean Hart entered.

Labhart received a letter from Eva Harris, who leases a hangar. In the letter Harris is concerned about not being notified of the revised lease and Labhart wanted this on the record. Labhart and Myers would like to postpone adopting the lease agreement until after the next airport commission meeting so hangar owners can have input and understand what is happening. Walker said she has no problem with postponing this until after the next commission meeting. Labhart commended Walker for her professionalism. Britton suggested discussing the 40 year term of the leases with the airport commission and lessees as well to see if the time frame should be changed. Walker also told the court the electric gate should be completed soon and the airport sign has been ordered. The fly-in will be taking place on September 10th from 7 am to 11 am and Walker explained some of the events that will be taking place to the audience.

10:03 am Carol Benkosky and Stacy Forson entered.

OCHOCO BLM & USFS. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Ochoco District Manager Carol Benkosky and Ochoco National Forest Supervisor Stacy Forson presented a federal land management update to the court for the Ochoco BLM District and Ochoco National Forest. Benkosky told the court the BLM has requested the use of 14 herbicides for weed management and the request was appealed by the Blue Mountains Biodiversity Project/League of Wilderness Defenders (BMBP), who requested a stay. Once a court decision is made the BLM will either move forward with weed treatment or the stay will continue. Forson is hopeful a decision will be coming soon. Benkosky further explained the process they went through prior to the appeal. Malheur National Forest Supervisor Steve Beverlin advised the Malheur has been approved to use one herbicide already. Benkosky said medusahead weed treatment has been successful in some areas and they will now be drill seeded. She advised that fires exacerbate the spread and growth of medusahead and cheat grass and will choke perennial grass out of an area if not treated. Britton would like to know what content of the seeding mixture and also suggested Benkosky contact Grant Soil and Water Conservation District as a possible entity that can conduct drill seeding. The BLM and Forest Service continue to work on wild horse management. Britton asked who owns the wild horses and Benkosky stated if they are in a herd management area the federal government does and they must follow what Congress dictates. She explained the guidelines they follow in dealing with the wild horses and the process they follow to attempt to keep a census of the horse population. Benkosky said they are working on a gather to assist with wild horse population control. The BLM is currently working on re-routing Mallory Creek and do not intend to close any roads during the construction. The re-routing will remove the road from the stream channel. Benkosky discussed environmental assessments (EA) for grazing allotments and stated two were appealed and are located in Grant County. She explained the reason the EA was requested was because the BLM believed the grazing area classification could be downgraded from not-likely to adversely effect land to no effect to land.

Ochoco National Forest Supervisor Stacy Forson advised the court the Forest Service has been invited to a meeting with the state tourism division and state emergency management on September 21st to discuss the eclipse. Forson explained the efforts the Forest Service is making to plan for the event. Benkosky told the court about the discussions she has been having with the Fire Chief from Mitchell with regards to eclipse planning for that area. Forson said the Blue Mountain Forest Resiliency Project proposes to treat over 600,000 of acres in the Umatilla, Wallowa-Whitman and Ochoco National Forests. Britton asked if the project was a result of the success the Malheur National Forest has had and Forson said she believes it is. Forson explained the Ochoco Summit OHV Trail Project and the intention creating a sustainable place for recreational off road vehicle use.

10:57 am King Williams entered.

Forson talked about wild horse management in her district and the various groups involved. She estimated the herd level is 150-155 animals and their management level is recommended at 55-60 head. Forson told the court they requested and received permission to administer PZP dart administered birth control on a trial basis to horses and although this won’t solve the population problem it will hopefully slow it down for awhile. Myers asked if the forest service fed the animals during the winter and Forson stated they do not. Britton asked if sterilization had been researched instead of birth control. Forson replied it has, but it is a more contentious issue and not as socially accepted. The Ochoco plans to treat 10,000 acres of weeds and Title II funds are used to pay for the treatments. Forson commented that the Ochoco Forest Restoration Collaborative was instrumental in providing recommendations for the Gap Fuels and Vegetation Management Project planning area and the group has around 12 members. Also, she was pleased to announce that around 100 youth were hired this year for the Youth Conservation Corp.

PUBLIC COMMENT. Myers offered the public a chance to comment and no responses were received.

*** Myers announced there will be no county court on September 7th.

11:19 am — Adjourned

Respectfully Submitted,

Laurie Wright

Administrative Assistant