Canyon City has always been the county seat for Grant County. The current Courthouse was built in 1952 when O.L. Dickens was county judge and Dick Schouten and John M. Damon were the commissioners.

Grant County Court minutes from June June 29, 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, Linda Gingrich, Frances Preston, Jim Sproul, Judy Schuette, Judy Kerr, Airport Manager Haley Walker, Mike Cosgrove, Billie Jo George, Logan Bagett, and Pastor Mark Majors. A Pledge of Allegiance was given to the United States Flag. The invocation was given by Pastor Majors.

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

ANNOUNCEMENTS. Commissioner Labhart reported he had an LCAC meeting last week here in John Day and went to La Grande for an Eastern Oregon Job Council Board meeting on the 21st. On Monday, June 25th he attended a Regional Citizens Advisory Council (RCAC) meeting in Burns regarding health care issues.

9:04 am Dan Becker entered.

Commissioner Britton attended a joint legislative meeting in Ontario that was organized by Representative Bentz regarding transportation issues in our region. Britton said he told those at the meeting our citizens would not be in favor of the low carbon fuel blending gas tax and feels it should be abolished. Britton suggested an indexed gas tax as an alternative the citizens may support. He stated it was an interesting exercise and the senators and representatives wanted to hear opinions from local citizens.

Judge Myers said he attended a mental health advisory board last Thursday, and then had a name change hearing that afternoon. Last Friday he met with Nancy Moffett and Farrell Clark of Clark’s Disposal regarding recycling issues. Myers assisted with interviews at the airport for airport assistants the afternoon of Friday the 24th. Yesterday Myers went to Baker City for a Community Connections Budget meeting where the budget was adopted. Tomorrow Myers and Laurie Wright will be participating in an HR Webinar presented by CIS Insurance. July 19th will be the first of a series of three meetings regarding the future of Bates Pond and Myers will be representing the county at these meetings. Myers reported the county court intends to work for the preservation of Bates Pond and encouraged those in attendance to contact him with opinions on this matter. He would like to have information from local citizens to present at the meeting.

Britton also encouraged those in attendance to attend the meetings because there are a lot of outside interests attempting to have the Bates Pond drained. Myers stated the reasoning behind wanting to drain the pond has to do with fish issues. Myers explained some of the alternatives that have been discussed. Myers again encouraged public comment on the Bates Pond issue.

9:12 am Kathy Stinnett entered. 9:14 am Peggy Gray and Nick Green entered.

MINUTES. MSP: Labhart/Myers — to approve the June 22nd minutes as amended.

CITY OF JOHN DAY REIMBURSEMENT. Peggy Gray, Retiring City Manager for John Day, and new City Manager Nick Green presented a request to the court for reimbursement for police officer training costs. Myers explained legislation was passed recently that provides for reimbursement to an entity that pays to train an officer when the officer leaves that entity within 3 years to work for a different entity. The Sheriff’s Department recently hired an officer from the John Day Police Department that JDPD provided paid training to. Green explained the legislation to those in attendance and that there is a three year window in which training costs can be prorated. The JDPD officer was a certified officer with the City for less than 12 months and so the City is requesting full reimbursement for his training costs in the amount of $15,965.90.Treasurer Kathy Smith advised the court she reviewed the documentation the City provided and it was very good and she arrived at the same calculations. Frances Preston asked if this payment will come out of the sheriff’s budget and if it was budgeted for. Myers said it will come out of the sheriff’s budget and wasn’t something that was budgeted for. Labhart pointed out the statute says an entity “shall” reimburse. Labhart also said he would not vote for any money to be added to the sheriff’s budget to cover any deficit this cost may cause. Smith advised the Sheriff was aware of this legislation because she discussed it with him when it was first passed. Britton would prefer this be paid out of this year’s budget. Smith said there is money in the current budget to cover this cost. MSP: Britton/Myers — to approve payment to the City of John Day in the amount of $15,965.90 for reimbursement of patrol officer training costs to be paid from the Sheriff’s budget – materials and services from FY 15/16. Labhart voted no because he thinks this should be taken from the Sheriff’s personnel services line item.

AIRPORT MANAGER. Haley Walker introduced herself as the new Airport Manager and stated she wanted to update the court on what has been going on at the airport. Walker said she has been at the airport for six weeks and has created a spreadsheet of projects that need to be completed or things that need to be addressed. Walker reported she has been able to hire two permanent part-time employees and one seasonal part-time employee. Walker explained her background to the audience including that her family is from Harney County, she has family here as well and formerly was a manager at Horizon Air and Cabelas in Montana. Walker wants the airport to be a focal point of the county. Walker reported Pendleton may be losing their air service with Sea Port due to increased costs. Walker explained commercial flights out of our airport are being investigated and talked about some of the possible options. During fire season the airport will be open 7 days a week from 7 am to 7 pm. Walker advised she has the video security system up and working properly around the building and the cameras pointed in the directions they need to be. She also feels there is a need for additional hangars at the airport and would like to bring a flight instructor back to the airport as well. Walker has been updating the airport operations manual. Kathy Stinnett reported she recently obtained her pilot’s license and it took her two and half years and thousands of dollars because she had to travel out of town for the training. Judy Schuette said she doesn’t fly, but whenever she has visitors she takes them to the airport because it is a crown jewel in our area. Schuette encouraged others to do the same. Walker does get visitors who just want to see the facility. Walker reported she has already developed an excellent relationship with the Forest Service. Walker explained her priorities for projects at the airport, needed repair items, and her ideas for grounds maintenance around the airport.

RESOLUTION 16-19. Myers explained this resolution is to loan money to the domestic violence fund until the funding from the grant arrives and then the money is reimbursed to the county. The loan is from the general fund to the domestic violence fund in the amount of $16,000. MSP: Labhart/Myers — to approve Resolution 16-19 to loan $16,000 from the general fund to the domestic violence fund and circulate for signatures.

SVAA BASIC ACADEMY TRAINING. Victim Assistance Director Andrea Officer had presented a request to the court to approve Victim Intervention Specialist Kathy Smartt’s attendance at the SVAA Basic Academy Training in Oregon City in August with a cost of $1,390. Myers reported this is mandatory training and will be paid for by the VOCA Grant. MSP: Myers/Britton — to approve the request for Kathy Smartt to attend the SVAA Basic Academy Training to be paid from the VOCA Grant in the amount of $1,390.

CLAIMS. The court reviewed and approved year end claims.

FIRE PRO CONTRACT. The court had previously awarded the fire protection services bid to Fire Pro Fire Protection Services. This contract provides fire protection services, such as fire extinguisher maintenance, sprinkler system maintenance and inspections to all county buildings and vehicles. MSP: Myers/Labhart — to approve the Fire Pro contract and circulate for signatures.

RECYCLING ISSUES. Myers told the audience that some of the recycling receptacles that Clark’s Disposal has around the county have been removed. Clark’s is no longer obligated by DEQ or anyone else to provide service at satellite sites and excess garbage and non-recyclable items have been being placed in the bins. Myers said the site in Prairie City has been especially bad with garbage being dumped there and at one point Clark’s debated only pulling this site. Clark’s contract only requires them to accommodate recycling at the transfer station. Myers believes the cardboard bins will remain in place at this time. Jim Spell is frustrated that Clark’s didn’t reach out to the public and attempt to educate the public so the sites could possibly remain open. Schuette said since a site was provided at Suzy Q’s it’s been a disaster and very messy. Mike Cosgrove doesn’t blame Clark’s for pulling the sites and thinks maybe the community can come together to provide something. Dan Becker explained his experience with the recycling in Prairie City and issues they have had with Clark’s Disposal. Becker feels the issues are much broader than just problems with garbage. Labhart has had complaints about the cardboard bins always being full.

PUBLIC COMMENT. Jim Sproul asked if any of the court members would be interested in going with the public forest commission to review the Wickip Road. Sproul said the new landowner has concerns about accessing the back side of his property. Sproul said they want to view the road in its entirety to determine if hazards exist and why the road remains closed. Myers believes this is a temporary closure and in his opinion this is Forest Service jurisdiction and not county jurisdiction. Sproul again invited any court member who would like to go with them to attend and said the road is open to foot traffic.

Mike Cosgrove commented he and Commissioner Britton have had disagreements at times, but he has never questioned Britton’s commitment to attempt to do what is best for local citizens and the county. Cosgrove believes one of Britton’s biggest accomplishments was getting the 10 year stewardship contract to happen and he thanked Britton for his efforts to strengthen Grant County.

Billie Jo George asked where the third meeting was on the Bates Pond and Myers said he isn’t sure yet, but he will let her know as soon as he does. George also said plans at Magone Lake include placing fish traps and falling trees around the shore line for fish habitat. George is concerned this will cause additional swimming hazards. Jim Spell said he went there recently and there is no need to fall trees, there are enough in the water already.

Dan Becker said a few years ago we had a hate group attempt to come to Grant County and it is starting to occur again on a media outlet on Facebook calling itself the Voice of Grant County where some anti-Semitic rhetoric has been posted recently. Linda Gingrich advised she has seen what Becker is talking about and she doesn’t want a reoccurrence here.

Frances Preston asked if an earlier letter referenced in court minutes regarding recommending Susan Jane Brown for a committee is appropriate since she isn’t a Grant County resident. Britton said this is for a federal committee and he is the one who prepared and signed the letter and he is proud of it. Britton stated Brown has done a great job advocating for our county.

Jim Spell told the court he feels Airport Manager Haley Walker was a good choice for the position. Britton told Walker he didn’t vote for her, but he will publicly admit if he is wrong and he looks forward to her proving him wrong.

10:46 am — Adjourned

Respectfully Submitted,

Laurie Wright

Administrative Assistant