Powder River Examiner -

May 7, 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.

Rod Schaffer left the meeting to go the Safety meeting from 9-9:30.

Commission signed the FAA Entitlement share paperwork.

Kathy Roberts, Transportation Department met with board for her monthly meeting. Discussion was held on the vehicles in the silent auction. The department has hired a backup driver to be a fill in driver. There will be some upcoming trainings he will need to do and Roberts will get these scheduled. She reported she attended the Drug and Alcohol training in Billings two weeks ago. First-aid needs to be updated in her department. They discussed the need for a purchase order for new vehicles now that the county has a procurement policy. The transportation department will not need to fill a purchase order out for the county as they already do one for the state. Roberts reported the department is running smoothly.

Powder River Recyclers, Karen Amende, Larry Woolston and Julie Riley, along with Rita Harden, Broadus IGA, and Cass Zimmer, Town of Broadus met with the commission to discuss the future of the box crusher at the IGA and the recycling issues in the county. Karen updated the board that China is no longer taking US’s cardboard and the bottom has dropped out on recycling. Harden is concerned with where the IGA is supposed to store the cardboard bales now that the truck that previously took them to Billings no longer will. The main issue is to where to store the bales until the market comes back up. It is in the best interest of the county to keep the cardboard out of the landfill. Harden is concerned over cost of the baler being at the store. The board asked Harden to come up with a suggested proposal to help offset the cost. Zimmer offered to haul the bales off to help with Harden’s dilemma of storing them. Karen Amende updated the group on the history of the landfill and the process of how the community obtained the box crusher. Karen asked if the board would consider asking the road crew to possibly get the gaylord boxes from the recycle center to Billings. There are 7 bales of plastic and 2 bales of cans. The county agreed to work on getting the baled cardboard to the old fair barn and Harden will work on a proposal.

Cass Zimmer updated the board on the progress at the baseball field. The concession stand will be here next week. He also mentioned possibly asking for more funding in the upcoming fiscal year for help with the sprinkler system. Zimmer will ask the city council for help also with the upcoming water bill. Zimmer will also be getting SHPO approved gravel to fill in the divot by the arena where the flooding occurred.

Kristy Elgin, Physical Therapist, met for her monthly report. Elgin confirmed Kate Riley will be coming to work in the PT department while she is on maternity leave. She will start May 28. Elgin updated the board on the PT billing and possibly changes that would benefit the department. This issue will be discussed further in the budget process. Elgin also asked about a county credit card. The board explained the issue with having to have a person give their social security number on a card to get one being one reason the county does not have one. Briefly discussed the possibility of an Occupational Therapist.

The Board of Commissioners attended a joint meeting with the Weed board. The board will hire Gardner Spraying Services for the 2019 summer. The commission asked the weed board to add dye to the chemical. The group discussed the new procurement policy. Commission asked the weed board to review claims submitted by the weed coordinator. Discussion was held in regards to the FWP fishing access. The weed board asked about using a smaller vehicle than a pickup to spray with. The commissioner agreed that a side by side would be a better form of transportation while spraying. Meeting Adjourned.

The board then met with Todd Gardner to discuss the county contract with Gardner Spraying Services. The county will renew their contract with Todd for the 2019 summer. Gardner requested the new contract states he will spray 8-10’ from the shoulder of the road. The contract will also state county will provide the E-2 and Escort. Gardner also asked for an ad in the paper in regards to what he will be spraying.

No public comment was heard at this time.

Meeting adjourned.

May 13, 2019

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

The 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.

Maint. Supervisor Marty Drane met with board. The electricity outage the previous evening was discussed. The board asked Marty about the trailer behind the Manor, and Marty believes that the trailer is no longer needed. The board will talk to the landfill about the trailer. Marty informed the board that the wind has damaged some of the gate posts at the pool, so he has ordered two new ones. CPO training will be held in Billings on May 21 and 22. Powder River Heating and AC came down and recharged the fridge at the Manor. They are getting quotes for moving the condenser outside. Powder River Heating & AC came down again this past weekend to recharge the condenser. Marty informed the board that they are still waiting on the last lamp post to be delivered as they are having shipping issues. Marty reported that the tin at the fair barn is progressing well, the pressure system for the well at the Manor is in, and they hope to get the parking lots painted soon. The commission asked Marty if he could get one more quote for the termite issue. Donna asked Marty to ask Dave Hoppe not to cut the lawn quite so short on the top. Marty reported that he will need to dig out the drain by the front doors of the courthouse as it is not draining.

Road Supervisor Teel Mullanix met with the board. Teel reported that he received an email with information regarding all the counties around the state of Montana. This email stated that Powder River County was the only county in Montana that did not take raises for their elected officials in 2018. The commission and Teel discussed the possibility of hiring someone to help crush gravel and someone to help Teel prospect for new gravel pits. Teel reported that he had talked to Craig Randall and Samuelsons about using their gravel pits and they both gave Teel permission to go look at the pits. They discussed the issue of something needing to be done about the roads in the county. They are all in need of repairs and new gravel. Teel reported that Richard Clarys is wanting more money from the county to use his gravel pit. No decision was made. They discussed the current crusher is not big enough to produce enough material to stockpile; thus, the need for hiring a contract crusher. They also discussed the possibility of buying a new trailer to help spread the increased piles of gravel.

The Flood Debriefing/Hot Wash meeting was rescheduled for June 3, 2019 due to low attendance.

Darlynn Williams met with the board for her monthly report. Darlynn reported that she will be gone two days this week for an emergency preparedness workshop. Darlynn reported that they are expecting $27,000 from the emergency preparedness grant. She does not know a number for the Tobacco grant but reported that last year between Powder River and Custer counties, they received $36,000. The board and Darlynn discussed the cases of whooping cough throughout the state, the vaccine budget, and panic buttons through DIS.

Teel stopped back in to discuss the gravel issue more. They discussed buying gravel and hauling it in themselves. Teel will call around to get prices. Teel estimates $1,000,000 budget for the county road projects. Teel stated that they can only put scoria through the crusher until things dry out, which he predicts that will be around July.

Nursing Home Administrator, Cheri Stachey, met with board. She reported 22 residents. Cheri reported that the surveyor was back on Tuesday. He was in and out pretty quickly and reported that all was good. Cheri presented an emergency plan for the commission to review and sign. Commission signed the plan. Cheri will bring a copy to the commissioners. Cheri reported that the new grass is growing in really well and they will start mowing tomorrow. Donna asked Cheri when the activities director and activities assistant jobs became full time. Cheri didn’t know. Donna suggested that the activities assistant job be moved to part time. No decision was made. Cheri was asked when her last day as Administrator/DON would be and Cheri stated she did not have a date yet. Rod asked Cheri who would be doing the budget for the upcoming fiscal year, her or the new admin, and how difficult would the process be. Cheri told Rod that the department heads take care of their own budgets and the admin. budget was quite small and easy to do. Cheri reported that there are no big upcoming budget items that she is aware of at this time.

Shane Copps stopped in to visit with the commission. Shane reported that Powder River First Responders and Jesse Ambulance Service have been awarded a two-year pilot project grant.

Pat Phillippi, Treasurer, was in to discuss protested taxes.

The board took executive action on the Landfill Resolution. Rod moved to approve Resolution 2019-31, to change the landfill fee schedule. Donna seconded. Motion passed.

The board entered a closed meeting.

No public comment was heard at this time.

Meeting adjourned.