Powder River Examiner -

April 1, 2019

Commissioners met for the first meeting of April with Donna Giacometto, Lee Randall, and Rod Schaffer present.

No public comment was received at this time.

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

Maint. Supervisor, Marty Drane, met with board. Discussion was held regarding the operation of maintenance. There are new door knobs installed in the hallway between the Dept. of Revenue office and Treasurer’s office. Discussion was held regarding winter damage to county property that is slowly being revealed during the thaw. The commission asked Drane to get quotes for sound pads for the community center for the new budget year. Drane checked the clinic building for water leaks and found nothing.

Rod Schaffer reported he contacted Tim Fortner, weed board member, over the weekend regarding the board meeting with the commissioner. The meeting today at 3 has been cancelled. Commission decided that the presiding officer of the weed board should sign off on her timesheet. The commission will set a future date to meet with the weed board.

Road Supervisor, Teel Mullanix, met with board. The board updated Teel on their conversation with the DES Coordinator last Friday. Discussion was held regarding the damaged roads and the meeting Tuesday with Jeff Gates. The group discussed expanded metal bridges vs wooden bridges vs culverts. Teel is getting steel posts and will get them on some of the roads to narrow the traffic to one lane to keep people from driving in the ditch. Heavy wet snow today is keeping the road department from working outside; they will be organizing and getting cost reports for the damaged roads. Richard Clarys contacted Teel in regards to the shale pit, and is willing to work with the county. He is offering ½ million yards of scoria in return for the move of a couple cargates. He is ok with the county making that a permanent pit.

The board received a phone call from the nursing home requesting a commissioner to come over at 2:30 for an interview.

The board received a call from a local resident stating that the tv antennas are not working correctly. Don Kogele was contracted and he will get to it Tuesday.

Nursing Home Administrator, Cheri Stachey, met with board. 22 residents were reported. The commissioners let Stachey know someone will be there for the interview at 2:30 and the Clerk and Recorder presented a new hire form to Cheri. Board asked about the CNAs getting in more hours to keep their insurance; Cheri had a staff meeting and everyone doing better. There will be a dementia in service open house on April 4. The community garden was briefly discussed, and the garage has been cleaned out. They discussed the upcoming summer and lawn care. There are no anticipated issues with the lawn this year. They discussed the weeds in the parking lots and garage area. The board will contact Todd Gardner, Gardner Spraying Services to kill the weeds around the dumpsters, employee parking, and garage. There are no visual damages from the winter thaw at this time. The board discussed the pay scale.

Billy Stuver, Powder River Examiner, joined the meeting. The board updated Stuver on the county roads.

Mary Rumph and Julie Riley, Extension office, met with the commission to report on monthly happening in their office. 4-H workshops are at the Manor this weekend. They discussed the prairie dog, bugs and weed issue in the county. Mary updated the board on the prairie dog control and the use of Rozol products to kill them. Julie attended the rural health summit in Utah and updated the board on what the conference was about. Discussion was held regarding Steps for Charity, replacing their printer, Demonstration Day and 4-H. Demonstration Day is April 7 @ the courthouse.

The DPPHS contract was present to be reviewed and signed.

Excess comp time report was presented to board.

Teel Mullanix joined the meeting again. He reported he spoke to the gentlemen doing the road signs and they are ready to be put up just waiting on the muddy roads to dry up. He reported he met with Marion Barber and they discussed narrowing the Ranch Creek Road from 28’ to 26’. 24’ is the rule of thumb for county roads. Board approved the change to 26’.

Randy Shannon stopped in to give an update on Aletta Shannon. Aletta is doing great and the county missed her.

No public comment was heard at this time.

Meeting adjourned.

April 2, 2019

Commissioners met with Donna Giacometto, Lee Randall, and Rod Schaffer present.

No public comment was received at this time.

The Board of Commissioners, Teel Mullanix, Road Dept., Cass Zimmer and Peggy Fruit of the Town of Broadus, and DES Coordinators for the State of MT, Jeff Gates, Amanda Avard, Betsy Ross and Becky McEuen met to discuss the flooding disaster. Gates recommended getting all the cost numbers figured, all estimates needed, pictures taken, and the 402-permit needed to start the disaster process. The road department must put the roads back as they were before the disaster in order to get funding. The gravel pits that will be used must be Shippo approved. Gates informed the town employees they will be subject to the same rules as far as putting the city damages back as they were if they want funding also. Discussion was held regarding hidden damages yet not seen. They discussed water rights and Gates informed the group that is a DNRC issue. Timeline for the process is to have the estimates in by next week. Raymond Ragsdale joined the meeting. The average cost to repair a gravel road is $50,000 a mile. Gates informed the group of various rules and regulations they must follow, for example gravel cannot be reclaimed if it is out of the right of way. He also recommended doing each road as a disaster and then doing sub-disaster points on the road.

Kathy Roberts, Transportation Department met with the board. They discussed if the board would create a ground rules/sign off sheet. They will also move the extra van that is being used by the county employees to the county car fund. Roberts presented a list of vans that are not being driven. The board discussed this issue and will move forward with the auction of these vehicles.

Resolution 2019-26 Declaration of Flood Disaster- commission reviewed, and signed.

The board reviewed the procurement policy.

Road Supervisor, Teel Mullanix, joined the meeting to show the board pictures of the road damages and to get copy of the Resolution 2019-26. He will be working on getting estimates as soon as possible.

No public comment was heard at this time.

Meeting adjourned.