Powder River Examiner -

July 8, 2021

Commissioners met for their weekly meeting with Lee Randall, Donna Giacometto, and John Olson present.

Meeting was called to order. No public comment was received at this time. Consent agenda approved.

Clinton Watters stopped in to ask the board if he could burn the burn pile at the dump. The board instructed Watters to contact fire chief Raymond Ragsdale. Watters called Ragsdale and Ragsdale approved the burn.

The board then entered closed meeting to conduct interviews for Transportation Director.

Shane Copps, EMS Director, stopped in to inform the board the billing company, Pintler Billing, has requested three more charges be added to the fee resolution. The board will review the charges and re-agenda this matter.

A budget meeting for Molly Lloyd, Superintendent of Schools was held. The board reviewed and discussed Lloyd’s request for new FY. No decision was made.

The board then met with Will Zilka, Blakeman Propane, and Teel Mullanix, Road Supervisor, to discuss encroachment request by Blakeman Propane to utilize the parking area across the county yards to enter the E Powderville Road. Zilka stated his only concern is safety for a truck with a pup trying to enter and exit Highway 212. It would be safer if they could pull on and off of the county road. Zilka stated he would visit with his supervisor and possibly be able to gravel the parking lot in question in return to use of the area as an approach. Commissioner Randall stated the county may not be able to stop Blakeman utilizing the area as it is public access to anyone that wished to use it. Teel Mullanix stated he is against Blakeman Propane utilizing the area at all. Further discussion was held, and the commissioners requested Mullanix to contact Bill Gay and get a cost on improvements to create an approach and Will Zilka can take this dollar amount to his supervisors to see if this would be approved. Further discussion will be held on this matter.

The board then met with the Weed Board, John Barbero, Tim Fortner, and Jerry Wilson; Mary Rumph and Teel Mullanix also joined the meeting. Discussion was held on cost of spraying weeds. The Weed Board is interested in possibly taking over all spraying for the county. Discussion went on to the vision of the Weed Board for the county. No final decisions were made.

Donna Giacometto reported her attendance of the Town Council meeting with Sheriff Drane to discuss the interlocal agreement.

No public comment was heard at this time.

Meeting adjourned.

July 12, 2021

Commissioners met for their weekly meeting with Lee Randall, Donna Giacometto, and John Olson present.

The meeting was called to order. No public comment was received at this time. Consent agenda was approved.

Resolution 2021-25, Resolution to adjust fee schedule for ambulance fund was presented. The board read and reviewed, John Olson motioned to approve, Donna Giacometto seconded, all in favor motion carried. Shane Copps was present.

Shane Copps stopped in to visit with board regarding ambulance issues. Copps informed the board there is an ambulance in the repair shop for a minimum of a week. Copps has found a company that will take the box off the current ambulance and put it on a newer vehicle. This company will also loan the county an ambulance while the transition is being done. No final decision was made. Copps then informed board he is struggling with finding individuals willing to be on call.

The board then entered a closed meeting to discuss and vote on the hiring of the Transportation Director.

Jessica Malone, Museum Board member, met with board to request funding for the museum in the FY 21-22 year.

The board then discussed the agenda item of moving the commissioners pay from full time to part time. Members from the public present were Les Thompson, Darold Zimmer, Vic Phillippi, and John Robinson. Vic Phillippi asked the county’s position on the nursing home; brief discussion was held. Commissioner Randall then opened the floor up for discussion on the agenda’s issue. Public comment was heard. Public exited the meeting. The board continued discussion and Resolution 2021-26, Resolution to change Commissioners from Full Time status to Part Time status was reviewed and John Olson motioned to approve, Lee Randall seconded, the board then voted with John Olson and Lee Randall voting in favor, Donna Giacometto opposed, motion carried.

Teel Mullanix, Road Supervisor, and Bill Gay, local contractor, met with board to discuss Blakeman Propane request for encroachment. Teel Mullanix stated he does not feel county should allow encroachment. No final decision was made.

Teel Mullanix then met with the board for the FY 21-22 budget meeting.

At 11:30 a.m., members from the public Dan Davis and Charlie Russell joined the meeting with Teel Mullanix and commissioners to express road concerns.

The 2021-22 Compensation Board meeting was held. Lee Randall, Donna Giacometto, John Olson, Jeff Noble, Allen Drane Jr., Cynde Jo Gatlin, Pat Phillippi, Cathy Landa, Vanna Byrd, Molly Lloyd, and Billy Stuver were present. Julie Collins was present by phone. Commissioner Randall called in to the meeting. Previous year’s minutes read by Clerk & Recorder, Cynde Gatlin. Thumper moved to approve the minutes. Molly seconded. All in favor, motion carried. A .93% inflation rate was reported by the DOR. Several members of the board agree that this number seems low, with the way costs have gone up since January 2021. Jeff pointed out that this inflation rate is calculated from December 2017 to December 2020. Salary survey results were discussed. Powder River County is on the low end of the spectrum compared to other counties in Montana. Prairie County and McCone County both have lower populations than Powder River but have higher salaries for elected officials. Lee called for public comment. None was heard at this time. The $2000 stipend was discussed. Sheriff Thumper Drane automatically receives that stipend. Jeff Noble, County Attorney, is not eligible for the stipend. Cynde Gatlin, Pat Phillippi, Vanna Byrd, and Molly Lloyd all requested the stipend. Justice of the Peace, Cathy Landa, declined the stipend. It was noted that Molly Lloyd, County Superintendent, receives a $400.00 stipend. Thumper moved to approve all requests for the stipend. John seconded. All in favor, motion carried. Lee informed the board that the commissioners voted by resolution to take a cut in their pay from Full Time to Part Time this morning. Due to this cut in pay, the commissioners will now be taking the $2000 stipend. Donna would like it noted that she did not ask to receive the stipend. At this time, the board moved on to discuss the possible raise for elected officials. Jeff moved to give the elected officials a 2% cost of living increase. Billy Stuver asked how the county’s financials were looking. Lee reported that the county is in good financial shape, and he does not foresee any significant raises in mills. Thumper seconded Jeff’s motion to approve a 2% cost of living raise. No further discussion held. All in favor, motion carried. Thumper informed the board that the State of Montana has passed a new law that changes the rate of pay for the Undersheriff to 98% of the Sheriff and the Deputies to 95%. This law also allows the Sheriff to request an extra bump in pay. Thumper would like the board to know that he will not be requesting this extra pay, and would like it noted that he sent the state a letter opposing this bill. The bill will take effect October 1, 2021. Hearing no further comment from the Compensation Board or the public, the meeting was adjourned.

Sean Hill, Medical Administrator, met with board. 29 residents were reported. Hill stated the facility is still in need of more staffing. The back-patio project was discussed and no date has been set for the project to begin. The old garage out back was discussed and Hill would like to see it torn down. Hill suggested putting up a steel building with an insulated office for maintenance.

Jeff Noble, County Attorney, and Kacey Stanley met with board to discuss FY 21-22 budget.

Local resident, Dan Davis stopped back in to express concerns regarding the fairgrounds.

Marty Drane cancelled his meeting due to illness.

The board then went to nursing home to inspect old building that Sean Hill has requested to tear down.

No public comment was heard at this time. Meeting adjourned.