Grant County Court meeting minutes from Dec. 8, 2021

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 Jim Hamsher and Sam Palmer, Administrative Assistant Laurie Stinnett, Gary Cockrell, Millie Lysne, Beth Simonsen, Nancy Nickel. The Pledge of Allegiance was given to the United States Flag.

Invocation was offered by Gary Cockrell.

AGENDA. MSP: Myers/Hamsher – to approve the Agenda as presented.

HAND CHECK. The court approved outside of normal claims day checks #62920 and 62937.

ANNOUNCEMENTS. Judge Myers last Wednesday, Dec 1st, attended the Move the Oregon Border meeting. The Court was asked to create a letter to send to Senator Finley and Representative Owens for them to take to the legislature. Myers took part in a photo opp on Sunday at the Domestic Violence Shelter. Some of those attending were in the original groundbreaking photo. On Monday, Myers drove through Baker City on his way to LaGrande for a Community Counseling Solutions (CCS) meeting. He re-routed back to Baker and participated as a Zoom participant from the Bi-Mart parking lot due to extremely slick roads. Next Monday they will finish interviews for the position of the CCS executive director. On December 9th Myers will attend the Heritage Foundation annual meeting at the Snaffle Bit Dinner House. Thursday he met Congressman Cliff Bentz’ staffer, Sage DeLong, from Vale. The Christmas potluck and gift exchange will take place on December 15th from noon to 2 p.m.

Commissioner Palmer attended the Greater Idaho meeting. He attended a Zoom meeting with the CCS Board of Directors, in regards to questions about budget and budget committee issues.

He stated that they were able to set some of that record straight and alleviate fears and animosity stemming from the previous meeting. On Friday he carried out a performance evaluation for Human Resources Manager Laurie Cates.

Commissioner Hamsher took part in the Greater Idaho meeting. He attended a Training and Employment Consortium (TEC) board meeting via phone, a National Association of Counties (NACo) Steering Committee meeting, and took part in a couple of job evaluations this week. He also met with Cliff Bentz’ aide, Sage Delong.

MSP: Palmer/Myers – to approve the minutes of November 24, 2021 as presented.

HEART OF GRANT COUNTY. Heart of Grant County Executive Director Beth Simonsen began with the reminder that the Meredith House is holding an Open House this week from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. The Heart Board of Directors includes Chair Nancy Nickel, Rick Minster, J.J. Collier, Stacey Bailey and Sandy Murray. Along with Heart staff Rayme Lacey and Simonsen, they would like to thank Grant County for sponsoring the Community Development Block Grant to help build this facility. They would also like to thank Sally Bartlett, Allison Fields and Economic Development Director Tory Stinnett for their part in grant writing and oversight of the project.

The new facility brings many benefits to the staff and recipients, including sufficient area for counseling services and coordination with law enforcement. The Meredith House is an emergency shelter to be used until arrangements can be made for longer-term housing.

Beginning in January they will be offering programs to improve communication, respect, life balance and basic life skills. Simonsen noted the increase in conflict and stress with the advent of Covid-19. Myers and Simonsen agreed that changes and problems during construction were minimal, and overall, the project went very smoothly. Chair Nancy Nickel stated that anything we, as citizens, can do to de-escalate the current rhetoric is a positive. She referred to her concern over recent statements by the Health Department staff regarding the abusive language and attitude they are experiencing when dealing with the public during the Covid-19 crisis.

PAYROLL STAFFING – Human Resources Manager Laurie Cates expressed the need for a backup system in place for payroll processing. Cates noted that events beyond her control this year had the potential to interrupt the timely processing of payroll. She asked that Court Administrative Assistant Laurie Stinnett be given an additional five hours per month to be trained in this process. Myers noted that it is necessary and that there were times when they had to find ways to avoid a “void” in payroll.

MSP: Myers/Palmer – to approve five hours per month to be added to Laurie Stinnett’s time in order to assist in payroll processing.

Shannon Springer entered at 9:28 am

PLANNING DEPARTMENT OPERATING PLAN. Planning Department Director Shannon Springer told the Court about a recent request she received from the state asking for documentation on the building program administration in the county. This requires the backing of an Operating Plan, which, due to a variety of circumstances, is not currently in place. Historically, building program inspection and enforcement was administered wholly by the state through 2008. At that time the counties took responsibility for this service. Grant County entered into an Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) with the Mid-Columbia Council of Governments and operated under their plan. In late 2013, Mid-Columbia ceased providing services to the county. The county continued using that program while entering into a partnership with the state of Oregon Building Codes Division. The state supplied plan review, inspection and building inspection services for the county. Springer has tried to put together an Operating Plan throughout the interim. Turnover within the State Planning Department contributed to the difficulty in creating a plan, which now must be submitted by January 31st. At this time she has a plan that is 90 to 95% complete, but has never been reviewed by the court. Springer does not have the knowledge to carry out building inspections and enforcement. When Myers asked what other counties are doing, she said that they have people in place who handle those tasks. Myers asked if it might be possible for four or five counties to work together in providing that position.

Springer stated that some of the operating plans have ORS or OAR penalty structures built into them. Myers suggested that we research the possibility of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with one or more adjoining counties. He urged Springer to contact legal counsel as she feels is necessary.

Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT)/Grant County Road Department Fund Exchange Agreement (FEX). This contract allows the cost share of projects that involve both county and state roadways.

MSP: Myers/Palmer — to send to legal counsel for review and sign the contract before sending it back to Roadmaster Alan Hickerson.

9:50 am– Adjourned.

Respectfully Submitted,

Laurie Stinnett

Administrative Assistant

**** Please note the court minutes are a summary of the court proceedings. An audio recording of each court session is available, after approval of the minutes, by contacting the County Court at 541-575-0059 or GCCourtAdmin@grantcounty-or.gov ***