Commissioner Meetings

APRIL 2014

COMMISSIONER MEETINGS

Sweet Grass County Commissioner meetings are held in the office of the county commissioners in the Sweet Grass County Annex in Big Timber, Montana, unless otherwise noted in the minutes. Regular commissioner meeting days are the first working day of each week (usually Monday unless Monday is a holiday then Tuesday) and every Thursday during the month. These are the days to schedule issues that require the commissioner to take action. The first Monday of each month a department head staff meeting will be held at 9:30 a.m. Claims will be reviewed and approved for payment every Thursday unless a conflict arises. At least one commissioner will be in the office from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. daily unless they are at a conference or a meeting requiring them to be out of the office.

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Acronyms

BC – Billings Clinic

DES – Disaster and Emergency Services

CCR – Coordinated Community Response

FLAP – Federal Lands Access Program

IC – Incident Command

L.E.P.C. – Local Emergency Preparedness

MACo – Montana Association of Counties

MDT – Montana Department of Transportation

MOU – Memorandum of Understanding

PMC – Pioneer Medical Center

RC&D – Rural Conservation and Development

RFR – request for reimbursement.

TSEP – Treasure State Endowment Program – provides matching grant funds to local government agencies for construction of infrastructure projects.

Tyler Technology – CAS sold to Tyler – the company that Sweet Grass County contracts with for all of our financial software.

Tuesday, April 1, 2014

Commissioners Wallace, Mosness and Faw were all in the office for the day.

The morning was spent going over correspondence and checking e-mails.

At 2:00 p.m. a meeting was held to discuss a request from Windata LLC for a letter of support for the Crazy Mountain Wind project. Attending the meeting were Jan Engwis, Karen Engwis, Lindsey Kroskob, Pat Dringman, Cindy Selensky, Bill Hibnes, Jami Moody, Marty Wilde, Lois Huffman, Rick Jarrett, Page Dringman and Robyn Roberts.

Commissioner Wallace announced that the meeting is being taped and the purpose of the meeting is to address a request from WinData LLC for a letter of support for the Crazy Mountain Wind project.

Marty Wilde stated that this wind project has been in the works for about ten years and the project received a letter of support from the Board of County Commissioners in September of 2012. In 2013 WinData LLC submitted a new application for the Crazy Mountain Wind project using the 2012 letter of support. It is the intention of WinData to go forward with the project one way or another. He is asking the commissioners to see the benefits of the project and is asking for their support. A lengthy discussion followed with many topics being brought up:

The project has no CREP designation

What route will be used to access the construction site?

Has the county granted other letters of support for wind energy? None requested to date.

Have there been any county funds committed to this project?

This is a private project

The subject of Stillwater Mining project process vs. this project was discussed.

Stillwater mine is on public land making the process different than a project on private land.

The effect on taxes in Sweet Grass County was discussed.

Jan Engwis produced a six page document that had been prepared by Stephen Woodruff of Huppert, Swindlehurst & Woodruff, and P.C., which contained a list of questions for the commissioners.

Commissioner Mosness made a motion that the Sweet Grass County Commissioners write a general letter of support for the WinData LLC Crazy Mountain Wind project. Cindy Selensky feels that will set precedence for other industries. Commissioner Wallace seconded the motion. It was requested that a draft letter be sent out for public comment. Commissioner Faw feels that we have not had enough public input to make this decision. Robyn Roberts asked how the letter is going to be used. The motion passed with Commissioners Mosness and Wallace voting Aye and Commissioner Faw Nay. A copy of the recorded meeting is available for a full and accurate accounting of the meeting.

Wednesday, April 2, 2014

Commissioners Faw and Mosness arrived for work and Commissioner Wallace is tending to the burn pit at the Fairgrounds.

The commissioners took part in a short conference call with the Park County Commissioners to discuss the FLAP for the Main Boulder Road project.

Clerk Bjorndal stopped in to go over the agenda for the period of April 7th through April 11th.

Commissioners Faw and Wallace attended a Weed Board meeting at noon.

Commissioner Faw attended a Fair Board meeting at 7:00 p.m.

Thursday, April 3, 2014

Commissioner Wallace is out of town until next Tuesday.

Commissioners Faw and Mosness traveled to Bozeman with Sheriff Tronrud and Lindsay Kroskob from the Big Timber Pioneer to tour the Gallatin County Detention Center. Sweet Grass County has a contract with this facility to house our prisoners.

Commissioner Mosness reviewed and stamped payroll checks.

Friday, April 4, 2014

Commissioners Mosness and Faw were in for the day.

Claims for the week were reviewed and approved by the commissioners then sent to Vera to process. Commissioner Mosness and Clerk Bjorndal compared the warrants to the claims and stamped the warrants for payment.

Jessica Talkington brought the PMC claims report and the warrants over for the commissioners and Sherry to review. Commissioner Mosness stamped the warrants for Commissioner Wallace and Sherry also stamped the warrants.

Monday, April 7, 2014

Commissioners Mosness and Faw were in the office for the day. Commissioner Wallace is on his way back to Montana.

Staff meeting for the month of April was held at 9:30 a.m. with Deanna Novotny, Lindsey Kroskob, Vicki Uehling, Suisan Metcalf, Evie Halverson, Pat Dringman, Brooke Osen, Cory Conner, Jane Stene, Dan Tronrud and Jerry Mahlum attending.

Treasurer Stene was in Hawaii for two weeks for her son’s wedding. Now she is trying to catch up on what has been going on.

Deanna went to a district meeting at Chico on planning the Clerk of Court’s annual convention, which will be held in Livingston this year. She has been busy with five new cases in March. They now have 8 civil cases and 2 new felonies pending. She has also been implementing some of the suggestions that the auditor had.

Susan Metcalf announced that filings are winding down for the school trustee elections. Big Timber Grade school is the only school with a race. Susan will be gone Wednesday then off to Fairmont for her convention.

Cory Conner reported that Travis Klein quit. He and some of his crew were in Great Falls for the MACRS annual convention. Willie and Monte are now ROADS Scholars. Willie is also the Dist. #5 representative for MACRS. The crew is plowing roads in the Rapelje area today. They also helped remove trees from the west side of the football field.

Sheriff Tronrud announced that things have been busy in his world. They had 437 calls for service in March and 28 citations. He will be attending the Sheriff and Peace Officers meeting in Lewistown on Thursday and Friday.

DES Coordinator, Brooke Osen, has ordered new computers as XP is no longer working. They have been working on the Active Shooters class and EMPG notices of intent. Search and Rescue has been approved for $48,000 and Sheriff Tronrud had to tweak his application. Sand bags are available at the sheriff’s office for 25¢ per bag.

Financial Officer, Vicki Uehling held a cash meeting for the months of November – February during the month of March. The audit and audit findings have been issued. She attended Homeland Security grant meetings.

Weed Coordinator, Evie Halverson held a weed summit last month and about 90 folks attended. She went to the Spring Coordinators training in Bozeman and will travel to Miles City this week for more training. She received a grant from the noxious weed trust for in the amount of $30,000 for Bridger Creek and Deer Creeks. Chemical bids have been let and Justin Ferguson was the successful bidder. She will also be swapping vehicles.

County Attorney Dringman had a busy month with two extraditions, two changes of plea and several felonies filed. He traveled to Helena twice for MADIC board meetings and is on the 24/7 advisory board. Pat also traveled to Seattle for MADD seminar. His office has been dealing with a lot of civil issues. He has also been working with the PMC on the affiliation with Billings Clinic. Pat will be gone next week and Linda Hickman from Harlowton will be filling in for him.

Planner, Page Dringman held a Growth Policy meeting, has been working on City / County zoning, and will hold a meeting tomorrow on the permitting process during an emergency flood situation.

Commissioner Mosness attended several meeting on the Crazy Mountain Wind project. She also traveled to Billings for a Mental Health Governing board meeting. The Commissioners met with the board of directors for the Senior Center to talk about concerns with the building. Susie, Bob and Sheriff Tronrud traveled to Gallatin County to tour the detention facility. She attended the Weed Summit and reported that Evie did a great job. Commissioner Mosness congratulated Vicki Uehling, Jane Stene and Sherry Bjorndal for our good audit report for the FY 2013 audit.

Commissioner Faw has been involved in meetings on the TSEP Pony Truss Bridge project. The EA and public hearings are completed. Bob also traveled to Hardin for an RC&D meeting and saw what the coal tax money has done for Hardin. All of the commissioners were involved in many of the same meetings as Commissioner Mosness.

The wind farm issue had taken a lot of time. The insurance committee has been meeting to get quotes for our group health insurance plan. Meetings were held to talk about panic buttons and door locks for Annex offices. Bob announced that PERS us dwindling and it is something we all need to think about.

Deanna Novotny made a motion to adjourn the meeting. Cory Conner seconded the motion and the meeting was adjourned.

County Attorney Dringman, Cory Conner and the commissioners met to talk about issues with the Fire Department. The City, County and BTVFD are in the process of forming a committee oversees the new administrative position that the BTVFD is seeking. An agreement is being drafted and the City Attorney has some concerns with the draft. The commissioners need to do what they feel needs to be done to make the legal agreement between the City, the County and the BTVFD. The county is willing to contribute $20,000 which includes worker’s comp.

Tuesday, April 8, 2014

Commissioners Faw, Mosness and Wallace all arrived ready to tackle another day of county happenings.

Financial Officer Uehling and Clerk & Recorder Bjorndal met with the commissioners to go over the Schedule of Audit Findings. Laura Nelson was also present at the meeting. The group went through all of the findings and discussed each one.

A meeting was held at 1:30 p.m. to go over flood plain emergency permits. Present for the meeting were Pat Dringman, Page Dringman, Guelda Halverson, Jan Engwis, and Laura Nelson from the Big Timber Pioneer, Cory Conner Public Works Director and Brooke Osen DES Coordinator.

Wednesday, April 9, 2014

Commissioner Faw was out of the office for the day. Commissioner Wallace was in briefly and a conference call was made to Maria Ferre about the county website. Maria brought the commissioners up to date on what is happening with the website.

An addictive disorders board meeting was held at noon in the Board room.

Earl Atwood and Luke Walawander from Beartooth RC&D stopped in and will schedule a meeting for a later date to go over the MOU between RC&C and Sweet Grass County.

A resident of West Bridger Creek stopped in to thank the Commissioners for the job that the county has done with snow removal this winter.

Commissioner Wallace attended the Airport Board meeting at 6:00 p.m. in the Board Room.

Thursday, April 10, 2014

All of the commissioners were in for the day.

The interlocal agreement between the City of Big Timber, the BTVFD and Sweet Grass County was signed at 9:30 a.m.

Commissioner Mosness attended a Sweet Grass Health and Wellness Board meeting at noon at the Fairgrounds.

The weekly claims were reviewed and approved for payment.

At 7:00 p.m. a public hearing was held on the Windata LLC request for tax abatement at the conference room in the ambulance barn.

Friday, April 11, 2014

All of the commissioners arrived to finish off the week.

A discussion was held about the new letter of support for the Crazy Mountain Wind project.

Monday, April 14, 2014

All of the commissioners reported for duty.

At 9:00 a.m. the commissioners reviewed encroachment permits for Martin Stene on the Old Boulder Road and for Windsor Wilson on the Howie Road. Both parties need to fill out the weed form that is part of the application. Commissioner Mosness made a motion to approve both applications. Commissioner Faw seconded the motion and it passed with 3 ayes.

The commissioners took part in another conference call with the designers of the website. This call was to discuss the hosting contract for the new website.

At 1:00 p.m. Alex Siekieuicz, Lauren Oswald, and Mary Erickson from the USFS met with the commissioners to talk about the office space and the loss of 34 employees between Big Timber and Livingston in the last year. Gardiner is a larger district. They will reduce Big Timber office space by half and administration will be done out of Livingston. Budget cuts are driving these decisions. They will look at locating visitor’s services in the county. Sweet Grass County will be a field station and have two fire engine modules. Mary hopes that at some time it will turn around as far as the funding. Everyone will keep their jobs.