Grant County Court minutes from Dec. 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, Jim Spell, Beth Spell, Katy Nelson, Frances Preston, Judy Kerr, Steve Hopper, Judy Schuette, Haley Walker, Reporter Rylan Boggs, and Pastor Mark Majors. A Pledge of Allegiance was given to the United States Flag. The invocation was given by Pastor Majors.

LORENE ALLEN DAY. Judge Myers announced today is Lorene Allen Day and she was the first and as of now the only female Grant County Judge. Lorene Allen Day was proclaimed last year and will be acknowledged each year on December 14th.

9:04 am Mindy Winegar & Dusty Williams entered.

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

ANNOUNCEMENTS. Commissioner Britton said he was blessed to work with Mark Bagett at the Timber Truckers Light Parade on Saturday and the weather was the best it has been in years. Next week Britton will travel to Baker for a SEACT meeting which will be the last one Judge Grasty will attend. Britton remarked on how wonderful the transition is going in the Treasurer’s office.

Commissioner Labhart drove several veterans to the VA Hospital in Boise last Thursday. The emergency management meeting last Friday was cancelled due to road conditions. Labhart will be going to Prairie City on Friday to the Blue Mountain Care Center for the annual Christmas party and will hand out gifts. On Monday he will travel to Hermiston for a Regional Community Advisory meeting regarding health care. Tomorrow Labhart will drive the VA Van to Boise.

Judge Myers performed a wedding last Thursday and conducted an employee performance review that afternoon. On Monday Myers attended an Airport Commission meeting. Yesterday Myers and Treasurer Kathy Smith met with Robert Waltenburg from ESD regarding a new telephone system for the courthouse. The current system has been in place for numerous years and the new system would save approximately $1500 per month.

9:08 am Reporter Logan Bagett entered.

Myers said the employee Christmas Potluck will be held today from noon to 2 pm and a gift exchange will follow. Myers has a name change hearing this upcoming Thursday and will assist with interviews for a new Veteran Services Officer on Friday. Our current VSO has taken a position in Polk County.

9:10 am Kathy Smith and Julie Ellison entered.

MINUTES. MSP: Labhart/Myers — to approve the December 7th minutes as presented.

FAIRGROUNDS. Fair Secretary Mindy Winegar presented a request to the court to keep the Groundskeeper position at 32 hours per week for the months of January and February. Winegar will become the Fair Manager on December 26th and would like to take some time to transition into the position before she decides on hiring a Fair Secretary. Winegar said Williams has been helping her prepare for the eclipse. The eclipse preparations being done at this time were discussed.

9:16 am Mike Springer entered.

Winegar doesn’t believe they will need to hire extra staff for the eclipse because everything will be prepaid and reserved ahead of time. MSP: Labhart/Myers — to approve keeping the Groundskeeper position at 32 hours per week for January and February. Winegar said she would not plan on hiring a fair secretary until sometime after February to ensure the budget contains the necessary funds.

ODOT MICROWAVE PROPERTY LEASE. The court reviewed a lease agreement between the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) and the Grant County Regional Airport for the lease of ODOT’s wireless communications site at the airport. ODOT has had their equipment at the airport for quite some time and this agreement is to lease the property. Airport Manager Haley Walker said she found an old lease agreement, but it didn’t contain any financials. The annual rent will be $835 and will go to the airport fund. MSP: Labhart/Myers — to approve the lease agreement and circulate for signatures.

SURVEYOR. County Surveyor Mike Springer requested court approval of a plat. Springer advised this is a re-plat of three lots in Seneca and in order to place a dwelling on the lots the City of Seneca required lot line adjustments. Springer said pursuant to statute anytime a change like this is made in a subdivision the County Court must approve it. MSP: Myers/Labhart — to approve the re-plat as presented and circulate for signatures.

AIRPORT HANGAR SITE LEASE AGREEMENTS. The court reviewed the final draft of the new airport hangar site lease agreements approved by the Airport Commission. Walker has been working on updating the hangar leases and organizing them since she started as Airport Manager. Walker advised a small committee was formed to work on the hangar lease revision and involved hangar owners. Walker also had the agreement reviewed by the county attorney and insurance company. MSP: Myers/Labhart — to approve and adopt the revised hangar lease agreement.

ASSISTANT WATERMASTER CELL PHONE. Watermaster Eric Julsrud sent a written request to the court to approve issuance of a work cell phone to Assistant Watermaster Hailey Boethin. Boethin currently receives a stipend to use her personal cell phone for county business, but wishes to have a work phone issued to her instead. Issuing a dedicated county cell phone would avoid issues with using personal property for County business. The cost of purchasing an Apple iPhone 7S and protective case from Verizon Wireless would be paid from the Watermaster’s budget – phone line item in the amount of $258.99. The monthly cost of the cell phone will be $49.99 per month. The current stipend to the Assistant Watermaster is $51.00 per month. MSP: Myers/Britton — to approve a county issued cell phone for Hailey Boethin and authorize the purchase of the iPhone 7S and protective case in the amount of $258.99 to be paid from the Watermaster budget – phone line item.

Judge Myers advised the audience the court would be going into Executive Session at 9:45 am.

EXECUTIVE SESSION. At 9:48 am court members held an executive session under ORS 192.660(2)(h) to consult with the county attorney regarding legal rights and duties in regard to current litigation or litigation that is more likely than not to be filed. Judge Myers recited the State Attorney General’s Sample Script to Announce the Start of Executive Session. Present were Judge Myers, Commissioner Britton, Commissioner Labhart, Reporter Rylan Boggs, Reporter Logan Bagett and Administrative Assistant/Human Resource Manager Laurie Adair. The court exited executive session at 10:36 am.

10:37 am Jim Spell, Beth Spell, Judy Schuette, Steve Hopper, Shannon Springer, Jim Sproul and Judy Kerr entered.

10:40 am The court returned to general session and Judge Myers advised no motion would be considered after Executive Session.

PLANNING DEPARTMENT. Planning Director Hilary McNary had sent a written request to the court to extend the fee waivers for properties affected by the Canyon Creek Complex Fire. The planning and building code fee waivers are set to expire at the end of 2016. McNary proposed making the fee waivers indefinite. Assistant Planner Shannon Springer explained the background of how the fee waivers came about and concerns her office received from landowners who are not yet ready to rebuild. Springer advised only around half of the people who lost structures have received zoning approvals and less than a quarter of those have had building permits issued.

10:47 am King Williams and Zach Williams entered.

Springer explained the fee waivers are to allow replacement of what was lost. Springer said the county can address the zoning and building permit fees and make the decision to waive those fees.

10:51 am Gail Beverlin entered.

Springer thinks Mr. Bagett from the DEQ tried to get DEQ fees waived, but she wasn’t sure he had any success. Britton urged Springer and McNary to urge DEQ to waive fees as well and get it in writing if possible. MSP: Britton/ — to approve all planning and fee waivers with no expiration dates. MSP: Britton/ Myers — to approve fee waivers for building and planning permits be waived indefinitely for those affected by the Canyon Creek Fire.

IGA US MARSHAL SERVICE & GRANT CO. JAIL. The court reviewed a modification to the Intergovernmental Agreement between the United States Marshal Service and the Grant Co. Jail. The purpose of the modification is to add restrictive housing instructions to the statement of work as required by the United States Marshals Service. MSP: — to approve the modification to the IGA and authorize Judge Myers to sign.

11:01 am Bill Davis, Christy Cheyne, Travis Swaim, Melissa Ward, Lori Bailey, and Mark Webb entered.

USFS EMIGRANT CREEK. Emigrant Creek District Ranger Christy Cheyne made a presentation to the court of the Flat Project. Cheyne said the Flat Project is a large vegetation management project and the scoping period for this started on December 7th and will end on January 6th. Travis Swain (Planning Forester), Melissa Ward (Writer/Editor) and Lori Bailey (NEPA) introduced themselves. The majority of this project will be in Grant County. The purpose and needs of the project were presented to the court and those in attendance via a PowerPoint presentation. The project proposes closing some roads and it was explained they must follow their forest plan and closed roads are based on watershed location. How road closure decisions are made was explained to those in attendance. Project information is available online at http://www.fs.usda.gov/project/?project=47364.

PUBLIC COMMENT. Mark Webb asked if the court was content with the work the collaboratives have been doing. Myers said he is concerned SRS funding will be going away and would like to see it like it was in the past with timber receipts, but other than that he welcomes the collaborative assistance.

11:44 am – Adjourned.

Respectfully Submitted,

Laurie Wright

Administrative Assistant