County commission minutes, August 6-7 |
| August 22, 2012S |
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***Monday, August 06, 2012, Commissioners met in
regular session with Chairman Ron Smith,
Commissioner Walt Kirby and Deputy Clerk
Michelle Rohrwasser. Commissioner Dan Dinning
was out of the office. 9:00 a.m., Road and Bridge Superintendent Jeff Gutshall joined the meeting to give the departmental report. Mr. Gutshall did not present a written report. Mr. Gutshall said employees are still working on chipsealing and have started working on Meadow Creek Road this morning. Mr. Gutshall said the work on Deep Creek Bridge #4 is going rather smoothly, but drivers have been turning around in people’s driveways so he will put a barricade in a certain area so people know it is not worth traveling further down the road. The signs said the “road is open to local traffic only” and that the road is closed a certain distance ahead. People have been turning around in the Mace’s driveway so Mr. Gutshall said he would try to help them out. In another instance a large truck had come out of the Snow Creek area and probably didn’t see the sign so maybe a barrier will get more attention. Mr. Gutshall reported he emailed John Thomas, Public Works Director for Shoshone County, and asked how Shoshone County enforces vehicle weight restrictions. Mr. Gutshall said from the response he got, Boundary County is giving this issue more thought than other areas. In Boundary County, a driver either gets a permit or they’re in violation. A permit just makes sense as it is entering into a contract, according to Mr. Gutshall. Chairman Smith asked Mr. Gutshall to contact Attorney Phil Robinson and have him draft an ordinance for weight limit enforcement for Commissioners to consider. Mr. Gutshall said he would like it so a deputy can issue a ticket and then let the judge decide. Those present briefly discussed damage to the docks and the need to contact Waterways Board member Mike Naumann in order to get a status update. The meeting with Mr. Gutshall ended at 9:25 a.m. 9:30 a.m., Commissioners continued the bid decision for contractors for the Restorium elevator project. Present were: Chairman Ron Smith, Commissioner Walt Kirby, Deputy Clerk Michelle Rohrwasser, and Blue Sky Broadcasting Reporter Mike Brown. The proceedings were recorded. Chairman Smith said the bid totals received had both been more than the grant award and Sherri Wastweet with Panhandle Area Council was going to see if any more funding was available. Commissioners should know in a day or two if there are additional grant funds. The advice Commissioners were given was to continue the bid decision process for one week. Commissioner Kirby moved to continue the bid decision for contractors for the Restorium elevator project for one week. Chairman Smith yielded the chair to second. Motion passed unanimously. 9:35 a.m., Cory Trapp from Longwell Trapp Architect joined the meeting. Longwell Trapp is the architectural firm that was awarded the Restorium elevator project. It was said it’s possible there is a savings of $7,000 to $10,000 from Bonners Ferry Builders. Chairman Smith said he doesn’t want to get into a bind with the two bidders, but in this case the lowest bid was approximately $60,000 to $70,000 less than the second bid. Mr. Trapp agreed there should not be an issue. Mr. Trapp said Ms. Wastweet had asked him to contact her about potential cost savings. Commissioners contacted Sherri Wastweet from Panhandle Area Council via telephone at 9:40 a.m. Chairman Smith said he asked for figures set aside for this project and was told there is $75,000 in County funds, $8,350 from the Friends of the Restorium and another $230 received in donations. The total is $83,580. Chairman Smith questioned the grant application documents form showing local cash and local in-kind. Ms. Wastweet said those were preliminary dollars that have already been spent and some had been paid to Mr. Trapp for his services. Mr. Trapp clarified that those costs came out of the total of $83,580. Chairman Smith asked if the changes discussed will be forwarded to the State. Ms. Wastweet said she has already forwarded the information to the Department of Commerce so they could see why there was a difference. Ms. Wastweet said she is looking to see what the outcome is of eliminating a landing pad for a sidewalk. Chairman Smith questioned if information will be sent to the state notifying them the bid may be $15,000 to $20,000 short rather than $20,000 to $30,000 short. Ivan Wedel, Treasurer/Office Manager at Bonners Ferry Builders joined the meeting at 9:45 a.m. The call with Ms. Wastweet ended at 9:45 a.m. Mr. Trapp provided Commissioners with a draft of a contract for their review and said a change order can be done if the bid amount changes. Mr. Trapp said possible cost reductions included $3,000 for a sidewalk landing, approximately $5,000 in windows and $2,000 in electrical costs. The meeting with Mr. Trapp and Mr. Wedel ended at 9:50 a.m. Commissioner Kirby moved to grant an extension of time to pay year 2008 taxes for parcel #RP60N01W244050A until September 4, 2012. Chairman Smith yielded the chair to second. Motion passed unanimously. Commissioner Kirby moved to authorize the Chairman to sign the 2012 Idaho Counties Risk Management Program (ICMRP) renewal policy for anti terrorism policy. Chairman Smith yielded the chair to second. Motion passed unanimously. Commissioner Kirby moved to cancel year 2010 taxes totaling $195.96, fees totaling $131.48 and penalties totaling $6.54 and all late fees for parcel #SR011600010030A as the subroll billed for a cabin that was not there. Chairman Smith yielded the chair to second. Motion passed unanimously. Commissioner Kirby moved to accept the resignation letter from Dan Studer who is resigning from the Planning and Zoning Commission. Chairman Smith yielded the chair to second. Motion passed unanimously. Commissioner Kirby moved to authorize the Chairman to sign the 2012 Bureau of Homeland Security Pre-Disaster Mitigation Grant Award and related documents. Chairman Smith yielded the chair to second. Motion passed unanimously. Commissioner Kirby moved to sign a letter of support to bring broadband services to Boundary County. Chairman Smith yielded the chair to second. Motion passed unanimously. Deputy Clerk Nancy Ryals joined at 10:30 a.m. Commissioner Kirby moved to go into closed session under Idaho Code #31-874. Chairman Smith yielded the chair to second. Motion passed unanimously. 10:45 a.m., Commissioner Kirby moved to go out of closed session. Chairman Smith yielded the chair to second. Motion passed unanimously. Commissioner Kirby moved to deny charges incurred from May 24, 2012 to June 1, 2012 and to put the remaining charges in suspension on indigent application #2012-26 as per the Clerk’s recommendation. Chairman Smith yielded the chair to second. Motion passed unanimously. Commissioner Kirby moved to review indigent account #2011-41 again for monthly reimbursement in one year and write off $3,280 on account #2011-41 as the patient qualified for Medicaid for months the County paid PCIP premiums and paying the PCIP premiums was to the State and the County’s advantage at the time. Chairman Smith yielded the chair to second. Motion passed unanimously. Deputy Clerk Nancy Ryals left the meeting at 10:50 a.m. There being no further business, the meeting recessed until tomorrow at 9:00 a.m. ***Tuesday, August 7, 2012, Commissioners met in regular session with Chairman Ron Smith, Commissioner Dan Dinning, Commissioner Walt Kirby, and Deputy Clerk Michelle Rohrwasser. 9:00 a.m., Solid Waste Superintendent Claine Skeen joined the meeting to give the departmental report. Chief Deputy Clerk Tracie Isaac and Clerk Glenda Poston also joined the meeting. Mr. Skeen said he had questions about part-time employees as it relates to a holiday. Mr. Skeen said he budgets a total of 1,820 hours per year per part-time employee. That consists of 52 weeks per year at 35 hours per week. Mr. Skeen said if a holiday falls on a part-time employee’s workday, they aren’t able to make up that time and he used the 4th of July holiday as an example. The landfill and monitored sites close on holidays and the full-time employees receive that pay benefit, but the part-time employees don’t have that same benefit, according to Mr. Skeen. Mr. Skeen said if there is something that speaks to this in the County’s Personnel Policy, he hasn’t seen it. Commissioner Dinning said this benefit is not there for part-time employees as it is a benefit for full-time employees only. Chairman Smith said he feels it is also different for part-time employees and he used the Restorium employees as the example. The part-time employees at the Restorium are able to cover for full-time employees on these holidays. Chairman Smith said one suggestion was to budget the hours for the part-time employee and have that employee make up the holiday hours on another day. If there is a Monday holiday and the landfill or monitored site are closed, have the part-time employee work on another day at any location to make up that time lost. Commissioner Dinning said the employees understood this scenario when they hired on as part-time so he doesn’t want to have an employee stand around just to make up hours. In this case, part-time is part-time. Commissioner Dinning asked if this situation is causing employees to leave County employment. Chairman Smith said the issue is the employee is hired to work 35 hours per week, but then they don’t work those 35 hours when there is a holiday. Mr. Skeen said it works out to 10 hours per part-time employee per year if a holiday falls on a certain day of the week otherwise it can be a reduction of 20 hours per year. Chairman Smith said the only thing he can think of is to give the part-time employee an additional day to work or pay them more, which cannot be done. Mr. Skeen said it’s hard for him to say three employees are going to miss out on four holidays while the other three employees will have more budgeted hours as those holidays don’t fall on their day off. In the past, the part-time employees did work the holiday, but the landfill was open on holidays then as well. Mr. Skeen said if the monitored sites are opened, then he would open the landfill as well as people will want to know why all sites aren’t open. Chief Deputy Clerk Isaac said part-time employees do not get holiday pay, but if they work on the holiday, they get additional pay. Clerk Poston said the Restorium Administrator prepares her budget accordingly for this. Clerk Poston explained there are part-time employees in the Courthouse that also don’t receive the holiday. Clerk Poston said just because certain hours are budgeted doesn’t mean they have to be used. Chairman Smith said he doesn’t think the County could hire someone at 35 hours per week, but then not work and pay them for those hours. Chairman Smith said this is discussing part-time employees, but holidays aren’t included in those benefits and that should be understood from the beginning. Chief Deputy Clerk Isaac said the Personnel Policy says employees who are full-time receive the holiday pay, but the Policy doesn’t say specifically that part-time people don’t. Mr. Skeen said when the July Fourth holiday fell on Wednesday six employees lost five hours. Commissioner Dinning said those employees knew that. Mr. Skeen said he personally feels with part-time and full-time there are benefits. Part-time employees don’t receive that gift day. Mr. Skeen said the part-time employees don’t receive health insurance, but he feels the County is not giving them true 35 hours per week, 52 weeks per year. Chairman Smith said part-time employees are not entitled to certain benefits, but if they’re hired for 35 hours per week, these employees should be told from the beginning the hours may be less if a holiday falls on a day they work. Chief Deputy Clerk Isaac said if there are part-time employees who want to make hours lost due to a holiday, Mr. Skeen could ask them if they want to work extra hours on random days. Commissioner Dinning said if employees have not actually voiced complaints about this, this is creating an issue. Mr. Skeen said someone if hired on for a specific number of hours, they won’t receive those hours if there is a holiday. Commissioner Dinning said there is a fine line of looking out for county budgets and just because certain things are budgeted, the County doesn’t spend it all of the time. Chief Deputy Clerk Isaac left the meeting at 9:25 a.m. Mr. Skeen informed Commissioners that recycling is up to 40 tons per month so from October 2011 to this year recycling will reach 480 tons. The meeting with Mr. Skeen and Clerk Poston ended at 9:30 a.m. 9:30 a.m., Restorium Administrator Karlene Magee joined the meeting to give the departmental report. Chairman Smith updated Ms. Magee on the bid status for procuring contractors for the Restorium elevator project. Commissioner Kirby questioned why the City of Bonners Ferry is burdening the grant process by requiring a concrete slab to be located off Restorium property. Chairman Smith mentioned City of Bonners Ferry Administrator Stephen Boorman had said something to him about pouring a slab on a corner. Chairman Smith resumed discussing the outcome of the bid opening and what is taking place now. Chairman Smith said Denny Wedel of Bonners Ferry Builders had thought of various deductions he could do. Ms. Magee said an area of concrete on the Restorium grounds will be repaired and not replaced. There is a small concrete lip that was sticking up so it will be ground down. Ms. Magee asked Commissioners about the proposed rental rate increase of 4.9%. The State of Idaho requires a 30 day notice be given to residents so she wondered if that notice should go out now. Commissioners explained how the budget is not set and the budget hearing won’t be until September. Commissioner Dinning suggested giving the residents a heads up memo. Commissioner Dinning said Ms. Magee could send the notice of increase to residents and if there happens to be less of an increase, she could just let them know the increase will be less and that way the notice timeframe is covered. Ms. Magee informed Commissioners there are 32 residents and 33 rooms rented with one resident renting two rooms. There are two vacant rooms remaining, according to Ms. Magee. The meeting with Ms. Magee ended at 9:45 a.m. Commissioners tended to administrative duties. 10:00 a.m., Chief Probation Officer Stacy Brown joined the meeting to give the Probation Office Department Report. Ms. Brown provided a written report. Ms. Brown said the number of 15 juveniles is higher for the Youth Accountability. There are 50 juveniles on probation and six of them have warrants. Ms. Brown said her department has six new juveniles receiving probation soon. The numbers for adult misdemeanor offenders is about the same. This list has been broken down into the level of risk of re-offending and Ms. Brown said those at a high risk have to be watched more carefully. Level of Service Inventory (LSI) is an assessment tool used to see if there is a risk for re-offending, according to Ms. Brown. Ms. Brown said number of 280 is a decrease for those on unsupervised adult probation. Ms. Brown informed Commissioners her office will be closed September 17 through 20, 2012 for the annual Idaho Juvenile Justice Association training in Pocatello, but she and her staff will be reachable by phone. Law enforcement has also been notified of this, according to Ms. Brown. Ms. Brown said she is taking over as President of the Idaho Juvenile Justice Association and she will plan the 2013 conference to be held in Boise. Ms. Brown said she has also been asked to participate in the curriculum review for the Basic Misdemeanor Academy. Commissioner Dinning said the more things Boundary County stays engaged in the better. Ms. Brown said she agreed and added that it benefits by giving input. The meeting with Ms. Brown ended at 10:15 a.m. There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 10:20 a.m. /s/ RONALD R. SMITH, Chairman ATTEST: /s/ GLENDA POSTON, Clerk By: Michelle Rohrwasser, Deputy Clerk |