Commissioners Proceedings

June 3, 2019

Commissioners met for their weekly meeting with Donna Giacometto, Lee Randall, and Rod Schaffer present.

Meeting was called to order.

No public comment was received at this time.

Consent agenda – Rod moved, Donna seconded this motion, all in favor, motion carried. Consent agenda approved. The board discussed getting weeds sprayed around the county building, reviewed the workman comp. quotes, and updated Commissioner Giacometto on last week’s events.

Road Supervisor, Teel Mullanix, met with board. He reported Powder River County is the only county in the eastern side of the state that ended up putting in for MDOT disaster funding. Discussion was held to put Doyle creek on a higher priority list. County bus signs were discussed and it was concluded that they are county responsibility. Mullanix reported where his crew will be working this week, on the Ranch Creek project, and asking DES for assistance in the flood funding.

The “hot wash” aka debriefing for the flood back in April was held. In attendance were Darlynn Williams, Becky McEuen, Teel Mullanix, Cass Zimmer, Raymond Ragsdale, and Matt Hagedorn. Discussion was held on the positives and negatives that happened during this crisis. It was suggested to have a meeting in late winter, early spring to get a flood plan in place. The land owner, county, city, and core of engineers will all need to a part of this meeting. Meeting ended.

Public hearing to rescind Resolution 2003-14 began. No public comment was heard. The board reviewed the resolution to amend and rescind the resolution of the hiring policy for retired employees. Resolution 2019-32 was presented, and reviewed by the board. Rod motioned to accept Resolution 2019-32, Rescind Resolution 2003-14, Amend the Hiring Policy. Donna seconded the motion, all in favor, motion passed.

The board discussed a keyless entry for county buildings/facilities.

Public hearing for Resolution to Amend the Budget 2019-29. No public comment was heard. The board reviewed the resolution, Rod motioned to accept Resolution 2019-29, to amend the budget for the Step Grant. Donna seconded, all in favor, motion carried.

Nursing Home Administrator, Cheri Stachey, met with board. She presented the emergency plan and reported 24 residents. The commission asked Stachey about the need for 2 full time activities employees. Stachey stated it was needed due to the director doing charting and the assistant doing the activities.

The board discussed the agreement with the Broadus IGA and the box crusher. Rod motioned to accept the proposal from Broadus IGA stating the county would reimburse the IGA $50/week for electricity and labor to keep the box crusher at the store. Donna seconded the motion, all in favor, motion passed. Lee will have Jeff Noble get an official agreement written up.

Mary Rumph, Extension office, met with the board for her monthly meeting. She reported that there was a lamb and pig weigh-in on the past Saturday and it went well. Discussion was held on a solution to paint the panels at the fair barn, but no decision was made. She also reported on various items in her department.

Teel Mullanix stopped back in to discuss the purchase of cold patch material. The board informed Teel he needed to contact Marty Drane about this issue and work with him.

Ron Hecker, Forest Service, met with the board to discuss various issues regarding the Forest Service. They discussed controlled burns and the upcoming forest plan that is due June 6. He updated the board on the 3 Mile veg project, the salvage opportunity, and the Ash Creek project. Hecker wanted to know how Powder River County would like to be involved and support these projects.

Billy Stuver stopped in to update the board on a court ruling to allow the Crow tribal members to hunt on forest property.

No public comment was heard at this time.

Meeting adjourned.

June 4, 2019

Commissioners met for their weekly meeting with Donna Giacometto, Lee Randall, and Rod Schaffer present.

Meeting was called to order.

No public comment was received at this time.

Consent agenda – Rod moved, Donna seconded this motion, all in favor, motion carried. Consent agenda approved.

Community member stopped in with questions about the landfill. They discussed how things have improved out at the landfill since Betty was a commissioner, the recycling of cardboard, how the recycling market has gone way down, and how certain items cannot be burned due to EPA regulations.

Road Supervisor, Teel Mullanix, stopped in. Teel and the board discussed getting people to come down right away to start crushing gravel. Teel will contact DEQ to get approval. Teel is trying to speed up the process of getting permits to get into Clarys’ and Randall’s gravel pits. Teel and the board discussed the possibility of rotating the guys blading the roads around the different districts. No decision was made. Teel informed the board that if he can find another person to hire to blade roads, his plan is to pull a couple guys from the blades to start building roads. The board and Teel discussed interviews for next week.

Transportation supervisor, Kathy Roberts, was in to give her monthly report. Weed Coordinator and Roberts will work together to get the weeds sprayed at the trans. facility. Kathy is happy with the results of the county auction.

At this time, the commission entered a joint meeting with the Predator Control Board and the Board of Commissioners. Bud Williams, Arnie Mader, Dan Hartman, Mike Moullett, & Tom Bowers, were present. Tracy Anderson and Alan Lloyd were absent from meeting. Commissioners Lee Randall, Donna Giacometto Rod Schaffer were present, along with Clerk & Recorder Cynde Gatlin. Lee Randall called the meeting to order. Mike Moullett reported old minutes. Bud moved to approve the minutes, Arnie seconded, all in favor, motion carried. The budgets were reviewed next. The meeting was opened for public comment, no comment was heard at this time. Doug Mraz presented his kill report, Arnie Mader read the report. Bud Williams asked Doug to take photos of his work, and presented Doug with a photo album to put the pictures in. O’Gorman’s kill report was presented. Bud asked if there were criteria of where O’Gorman hunts. Dakota Helicopter’s kill report was presented. The helicopter started too late to really get a lot of coyotes this year due to the time it took to get all the paperwork in order. Doug Mraz flew with the helicopter and he believes they could have started earlier and not wasted so much time bouncing around from ranch to ranch if there were better sign up numbers. Glenn Gay housed the helicopter at no cost. Contracts were reviewed next. Huseby Flying Service requested $200/hr. Arnie moved to accept, Bud seconded, all in favor, motion carried. O’Gorman’s contract was next. The board discussed this contract. The predator board came up with additions for the contract. Tom motioned to send the changed contract. Mike Moullet seconded. Motion passed. They discussed schedule a budget meeting, no official date was set. Mike would like to see the helicopter fly during calving season. No public comment was heard.

Meeting adjourned.

June 10, 2019

Commissioners met for their weekly meeting with Donna Giacometto, Lee Randall, and Rod Schaffer present.

Meeting was called to order.

No public comment was received at this time.

Interim Administrator for the Nursing Home, Nadine Elmore, met with the board to discuss the expected duties for the facility during her interim time. It was decided the weekly meeting with the commission will continue. Elmore will get a full staff meeting scheduled for next week. Special medical districts were briefly discussed.

The board phone conferenced with Shane Mintz, MDT, to discuss the upcoming change of speed limit on Highway 212. A special district that will raise truck speeds to 65mph and lower car speeds to 65 mph.

Billy Stuver stopped in to visit with the board concerning predator control and county roads.

The board discussed keyless entry for the airport. The board will ask Marty Drane to get one ordered.

Darlynn Williams, Public Health, met with the board for her monthly meeting. She reported many happenings in her department. She updated the board on the 2019-20 PHEP grant. The county will have to do an emergency assessment with assistance from the state. It is also required by the state that she do an offsite immunization clinic. Williams also updated the board that the healthcare coalition is updating their system. She reported the Eastern MT Mental Health Board meeting she attended went well, and she informed the board of upcoming meetings she will be going to. Lawn care at the clinic was briefly discussed. The new eye machine was discussed, and the payment will be made in this fiscal year as the grant money has been receipted in this fiscal year.

Donna Giacometto updated the board on her recent trip to Malta for the MACO conference.

Discussion was held regarding the creation of a medical advisory board. The commissioners will work on the criteria of this board in the future meetings.

A local rancher phoned in to ask the commissioners if there was any assistance for land owners that had flood damage on their property. The rancher lost a bridge due to the flooding. The board will look into this.

Clinic employees Vikki Klemm, Kerry Gardner, and Jaci Phillips met with the board for their monthly meeting. Gardner updated the board of the status on the Fuji computer; it will be requested in the upcoming budget year. Discussion was held regarding the billing at the clinic. The eye machine and the computers that have been ordered were discussed. They discussed lawn care at the clinic, the new medical advisory board, and the Medical Administrator CEO.

Deputy Brendon Stevenson stopped in to discuss the law regarding the traffic on the Ranch Creek Road. It was explained to the commissioners that once the construction site has been taken over by the construction company, they are responsible for what is on the road.

Donna left after lunch to attend an Oil and Gas Production meeting in Lewistown.

Maint. Supervisor, Marty Drane, met with the board. He informed them of multiple false fire alarms at the nursing home this past weekend. Collins Communications has been contacted and they are getting a quote for a new fire panel. Drane reported that the pool is up and running, and he is pleased with the new supervisor. Marty has ordered a new vac pump and the part for the kiddie pool. Mowing county facilities was discussed. He will also get the big baseball field mowed as soon as it dries up. Discussion was held regarding Marty helping Katie Ward get new cemetery signs. The board informed Marty of the need for the fence to be fixed at the Willow Crossing cemetery, and that a local resident is working on getting the headstones repaired. A local resident called the board to inform them that TV stations are still not coming in good. Don Kogele will be contacted. The community garden well is up and running but has to be turned on manually, Marty is looking for a part to keep the pressure up. They discussed getting a keypad at the airport ordered. The road dept. will take gravel to the cemetery, and the maintenance department can spread it.

Road Supervisor, Teel Mullanix, met with the board. He reported they are getting roads fixed at the TA Corrals. They discussed the need for a bridge at Pilgrim Creek. The new signs and some of the errors that have been brought to the attention of the board and Mullanix were discussed.

Nadine Elmore, Interim Administrator, stopped back in to report her day at the nursing home.

The board began the process of fulfilling the open vacancy positions on the Library and Planning boards. Clerk and Recorder reported the names of the volunteers; Julie Riley has expressed interest in the Planning Board and Shane Copps for the Library Board. Rod motioned to approve the board vacancies with the two volunteers; Lee seconded the motion, all in favor, motion passed.

Pete Wenzel stopped in to have the commission sign the airport insurance agreement.

No public comment was heard at this time.

Meeting adjourned.