Grant County Court minutes: Sept. 14, 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, Economic Development Coordinator Sally Bartlett, Jim Spell, Judy Kerr, Jim Sproul, Rob Seaver, Emergency Management Coordinator Ted Williams, and Pastor Al Altnow. A Pledge of Allegiance was given to the United States Flag. The invocation was given by Pastor Altnow.

CLAIMS. The court had reviewed and approved claims and extension district warrants #191-204.

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

ANNOUNCEMENTS. Commissioner Britton attended a Stock Growers meeting last week where Breeder’s Awards were presented and he also worked at the Stock Growers beer garden at the rodeo over the weekend. Britton went to the Road Department to visit with the mechanics, Greg Bremner and the Western States Representative. Britton will be going to an OTC meeting in Silverton in October.

Commissioner Labhart reported he has been driving the VA Van to Boise a lot and has been enjoying it. This afternoon he will attend an eclipse meeting at the Canyon City Community Hall. Labhart will be attending a Health Technology and Assessment Subcommittee meeting in Wilsonville tomorrow and on Monday he will chair the Senior Citizen’s Board meeting. Labhart advised he will not attend this year’s annual AOC conference so the funds can be used by Commissioner Elect Jim Hamsher to attend instead.

9:05 am Mike Cosgrove entered.

Judge Myers was at the airport on Saturday assisting with the fly-in and stated it was very well attended. He said 6 planes and pilots took up 123 passengers for rides (63 flights). On Monday the 12th he went with Airport Manager Haley Walker to conduct some hangar inspections and then attended the Airport Commission meeting Monday night where hangar leases were discussed. Myers conducted a name change hearing yesterday and will attend the eclipse meeting at the Canyon City Community Hall this afternoon. Tomorrow Myers will be going to the third and final meeting regarding Bates Pond. Myers has a name change hearing on Friday the 16th and advised Fire Pro will be here on the 19th and 20th to conduct fire safety inspections. Myers plans to view the chip seal project on the Middle Fork either this afternoon or over the weekend.

9:12 am Logan Bagett entered.

MINUTES. MSP: Britton/Labhart — to approve the August 31st minutes as amended.

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT. Economic Development Coordinator Sally Bartlett presented a request to the court for approval of a Request for Proposals to hire a consultant to prepare the Natural Hazard Mitigation Plan (NHMP) for Canyon City. Bartlett would like to release this RFP tomorrow. Myers explained Grant County and the City of John Day created a hazard mitigation plan in the past, but Canyon City did not participate at that time. Bartlett said the reason the county is assisting Canyon City is because they don’t have the ability to create the plan themselves. The RFP is due on September 30th and a committee will need to be in place before then. MSP: Labhart/Myers — to approve the Request for Proposals and authorize Bartlett to release it for advertisement.

Bartlett also asked for court permission to request an extension on the FMAG/HMGP projects grant application and to request an exception due to extraordinary circumstances on behalf of Canyon City for the NHMP. Bartlett explained after the wildfire last year the State released a pilot program to Wallowa, Baker and Grant Counties for grant money. Bartlett would like to request an extension to apply for the grant money and at the same time request an exception for Canyon City. She said the money can’t be applied for until a hazard mitigation plan is in place and she estimates the Canyon City plan won’t be in place until May of 2017. Bartlett explained to the court how the process works and some of the confusion there was initially. The grant money is already set aside for Grant County, but if it is not applied for it will be lost. She believes this a good opportunity to be able to mitigate future flood issues. Discussion followed about who would be involved in this process. MSP: Labhart/Myers — to authorize Bartlett to request an extension on the FMAG/HMGP grant application and to further authorize Bartlett to request an exception for Canyon City for the NHMP. Britton and Mike Cosgrove complimented Bartlett on her good work. Cosgrove further commended the court and Bartlett for the dramatic decrease in unemployment in the county, especially in the private sector.

EMPLOYEE EVALUATION FORM. Human Resource Manager Laurie Wright presented a new employee evaluation form to the court for review and possible approval. Wright sent the revised form to CIS for review and approval. Sharon Harris, CIS Human Resource Senior Consultant, approved the form on August 29, 2016. MSP: Britton/Myers — to approve and adopt the new employee evaluation form.

EXTENSION OFFICE. An amendment to the Space Use Agreement between Oregon State University and the Grant County Extension & 4H Service District was presented to the court for approval. The amendment extends the OSU space use agreement expiration date to June 30, 2017. MSP: Britton/Labhart — to approve the amendment to the Space Use Agreement with OSU and authorize Judge Myers to sign.

PLANNING DEPARTMENT COMPUTER. Assistant Planner Shannon Springer’s computer hard drive failed on September 6th and the computer is no longer functional. The Assistant Planner cannot function without a computer so Judge Myers authorized the order for a new computer and the use of three quotes that were recently used for the Sheriff’s Department for a new computer since they were so recent.

9:37 am Shannon Springer entered.

Planning Assistant Shannon Springer said ESD was able to retrieve some information from the failed hard drive and put it on a temporary hard drive until the new computer is ready. Springer explained her back up procedures to the court and the issues she had attempting to retrieve information from flash drives. Springer suggested the court look into a backup system for departments. MSP: Labhart — to declare an emergency and approve the purchase of a computer for the Planning Department in the amount of $865 to be paid out of the general fund capital outlay.

9:41 am Gregg Smith, Rusty Wright, Dusty Williams and Mindy Winegar entered.

Labhart suggested having ESD complete an audit of our current system to review potential backup problems.

9:45 am Kathy Smith entered.

FAIRGROUNDS. Fair Secretary Mindy Winegar and Groundskeeper Dusty Williams have comp hours in excess of 60 hours. Treasurer Kathy Smith explained comp time and the county comp time policy to the audience. Smith said due to the decreased hours the Fair Manager is currently on it will be nearly impossible for Winegar and Williams to use the comp time they have now. Smith suggested paying their comp time down from the general fund to 60 hours each. The Groundskeeper would be paid for 82.75 hours and Secretary would be paid for 47 hours with the understanding they will not accrue additional overtime hours. MSP: Myers/Britton — to approve payment of accumulated comp hours of 47 hours to Mindy Winegar and 82.75 hours to Dusty Williams.

Britton commended Winegar and Williams for the good work they did at this year’s fair.

MEDIATION SERVICES CONTRACT. A mediation services contract for the Grant County Domestic Relations Program was presented to the court by Circuit Court. This is an annual agreement and is paid for with filing fees paid to Circuit Court. Labhart pointed out mediation is a law and not a choice. MSP: Myers/Labhart — to approve the mediation services contract with Christy Waldner.

LIBRARY ROOF. The court reviewed a quote to repair and replace the membrane on the library roof. Last winter the roof was damaged by wind that split the current membrane which then leaked and caused water damage to microfilm and books. Property Maintenance Specialist Nate Hughes and Judge Myers patched the roof, but it needs to be replaced. Myers obtained a quote from Palmer Roofing in Pendleton and also contacted other contractors who did not wish to provide quotes and said John Day was too far away for a 3 day roof job. Palmer Roofing bid $25,175 for a 15 year roof system and $26,650 for a 20 year roof system. Myers highly recommended this project be started right away. Labhart would like to approve the 20 year roof quote. MSP: Myers/Labhart — to accept the quote from Palmer Roofing in the amount of $26,650 for the 20 year roof system to be paid from the courthouse reserve fund.

ASBESTOS ABATEMENT. The court reviewed a quote in the amount of $5,875 from Alpine Abatement for asbestos abatement in the old Watermaster’s Office and the Planning Department Office. Property Maintenance Specialist Nate Hughes had begun to remove the carpeting in the old Watermaster’s Office and the asbestos tiles underneath started pulling up with the carpet. Hughes contacted three companies for bids and the only response received was from Alpine Abatement. Myers stated the only rooms downstairs still containing asbestos tiles are these two and Hughes office. Britton suggested having Nate Hughes’ room abated at the same time if it can be done. MSP: Britton/Myers — to accept the quote from Alpine Abatement in the amount of $5,875 to be paid from the courthouse reserve fund and to have Hughes’ room abated as well if it can be done.

OHA AGREEMENT #148010 – 9TH AMENDMENT. The Oregon Health Authority sent the court a 9th Amendment to agreement #148010 to receive an additional financial award for public health services in the amount of $35,117 and for WIC in the amount of $704. MSP: Britton/Myers — to approve the 9th Amendment to OHA Agreement #148010 and authorize Judge Myers to sign.

LETTER TO THE COURT. Labhart and the other court members received a letter from Glen Johnston of Backlund Logging regarding his concerns that the Forest Service is issuing service contracts to non-local contractors disproportionately compared to local contractors. Labhart wanted this included in the record. Myers explained the basic content of the letter to the audience. Britton would like to be the court member who follows up on this issue to find out if the Forest Service responds to Johnston’s letter. The other court members are in agreement with Britton following up.

PUBLIC COMMENT. Gregg Smith introduced himself to those in attendance. Smith said he attended an Oregon Consensus meeting regarding Bates Pond where he was called a racist by a representative of the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs because Smith said our area was a Paiute area. The representative claimed this area was a Confederated Tribes area. Smith brought in a copy of a report written by an anthropologist proving this area was never inhabited by the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs. Smith stated this entire issue seems to be about fish and then handed out a printout showing 2 Chinook Salmon were counted in 2010. Smith is in favor of keeping the pond and went on to discuss an email he received from Scott Nebeker of Oregon Parks and Recreation Department (OPRD) and the different options proposed for the pond. He urged the court to pay attention and work to keep the pond. Jim Sproul said the State had ensured assistance with a water impoundment site in Grant County and suggested requesting increasing the size of Bates Pond. Sproul feels this would be a win-win because the impoundment permit is already in place and if the request was denied then the pond could be left the way it is.

Jim Sproul understands tomorrow the Blue Mountain Forest Partners are going to be going to the Camp Creek area to discuss road access issues and would like a court member to find out why two roads off of the 36 road are being looked at for closure. The roads are currently open and Sproul feels it is important to keep them open for fire suppression.

10:40 am Brenda Percy entered.

PUBLIC FOREST COMMISSION. Clerk Brenda Percy brought in a decision she had just received from Circuit Court. Judge Myers read the decision to the audience written by Circuit Court Judge Cramer in which he nullifies the measure that created the Public Forest Commission. Clerk Brenda Percy said these positions will be removed from November’s ballot.

PLANNING DEPT. FLOOR. Shannon Springer asked if there was a plan in place to replace her floor tiles once the abatement is complete. Myers said Springer may just be working on bare concrete for a little while as there is no plan right now.

YARD SALE. Kathy Smith explained how the county yard sale went and said only one pickup load had to be taken to e-cycle and nothing had to be taken to the dump. $744 dollars was the gross total of the sale.

10:56 am — Adjourned

Respectfully Submitted,

Laurie Wright

Administrative Assistant