April 4, 2016
COMMISSIONERS’ PROCEEDINGS
April 4, 2016
Commissioners Doug Tucker, John Grewell, and John Prinkki were present.
8:30 Pledge of Allegiance
Commissioners received a letter from Lola Ashby regarding a slip and fall on the street in front of the personal services building on Friday (attached). Commissioners discussed what the County’s responsibility is for snow removal between the sidewalk and the City Street.
Commissioner Tucker moved to accept Commissioners Proceedings for March 17th and 21st; Commissioner Grewell seconded; motion carried.
Commissioner Tucker moved to accept District Court Fees Distribution Report for March 2016; Commissioner Grewell seconded; motion carried.
9:00 Commissioner Tucker moved to accept Last Chance Road Bridge Replacement Preliminary Engineering Report and Environmental Assessment; Commissioner Grewell seconded; motion carried.
Commissioner Tucker moved to accept the Treasurer’s Cash report for March 2016; Commissioner Grewell seconded; motion carried.
Commissioner Tucker moved to accept Clerk and Recorder’s Monthly Deposit Reconciliation for March 2016; Commissioner Grewell seconded; motion carried.
9:30 Commissioner Grewell moved to award the bid for the Boyd Cooney Road Scrub Seal Project to Hard Drives Construction as they were the lowest qualified bidder; Commissioner Tucker seconded; motion carried.
10:00 Sanitarian Josh Juarez met with Commissioners for his monthly update. Josh has received his Floodplain Administrator Certification. He noted that CTA kept good records of floodplain issues while they were administering the regulations; CTA also created standardized procedures for processing permits which has made for a smooth transition. He is working with DNRC to change language on the joint permit to clarify when applicants need a floodplain permit in addition to the 310 permit issued by DNRC. Josh has had some conversations with DNRC regarding Engineering requirements for projects; he noted the County has some leeway to approve a project without an engineered design when the project is not protecting a structure. Commissioner Grewell asked Josh to also get clarification on engineering requirements for rip rap projects to protect county bridges. Josh noted an issues regarding the revised Floodplain map that resulted from the Montaqua Bridge Letter of Map Revision (LOMR). The preliminary map provided by GreatWest Engineering for the LOMR did not include a portion of the Butler property, however the final map adopted by FEMA included the property. He is investigating how the map changed between the public notice and its adoption by FEMA. Josh also noted he is taking advantage of the nice weather and starting licensed establishment inspections. He is also working with the Clerk and Recorders Office and DIS Technologies to incorporate Septic Permits into the County Silo database system.
10:30 DES Coord. / GIS Mgr. Tom Kohley met with Commissioners for his monthly update. Report attached. He also discussed issues raised by the Commissioners and the Road Crews regarding operating equipment on wildland fires.
11:00 Kristen Hollum from the Red Lodge Community Foundation and VISTA volunteers Katelynn Essig, Energy Corps; Jenel Bloom, Early Childhood Education; Yvonne Johnson, Poverty; Natalie Wilson; Housing; Garrison Daily; Community Health; Beth Williams, Food Corps; Sam Italiano, Youth; and Alex Albright, Arts and Culture met with Commissioners to update them on their community project for the National Day of Service. Kristen Hollum gave an overview of the VISTA program; in the last five years there have been nineteen Americorps VISTAs in the Community and those individuals have contributed over 52,000 service hours. Each individual gave an overview of their program. Sam Italiano coordinates the Youth Mentoring program which is in its third year with fifteen (15) mentor pairs in the Middle School and its first year with two (2) mentor pairs in the High School. Sam is also working with a Youth Steering Committee to build partnerships with various stakeholders to provide opportunities for youth in the community. Jenel Bloom is focusing on early childhood education. This is the first year there has been a VISTA in this area. She is working to develop a needs assessment and to address gaps in childcare especially with regard to infant care. She will be developing multi-year plans for the Red Lodge Community to address child care needs. She would also like to start a Resource Fair to bring resources into one place for families and individuals to learn about what programs are available. Yvonne Johnson is in her second year with the program. She has partnered with the Elks on toy drives to replace the Toys for Tots Program, with the Human Resource Development Council (HRDC), the State, and City Public Works Director Jim Bushnell to develop a firewood assistance program. The program has provided free firewood for 40 families. Yvonne has also developed a Lunch in the Sun program which provided 543 meals for youth last summer; she is also working with School Administration to develop a backpack program to provide meals to school children over the weekend and school holidays. Beth Williams works through the Red Lodge Area Food Partnership Council. She is very active in the schools and has worked with Food Service staff to increase local food procurement. She has also provided nutrition education at the elementary school and works with youth in the garden at the old Roosevelt School. The program has had a VISTA for the last five years and as this will be the last year Beth is working on a plan to transition the program to local volunteers. Garrison Daily works with the Beartooth
Billings Clinic to assess community health resources and developing goals and strategies to connect the community to those resources. Natalie Wilson is focusing on assisting with the development of a strategic plan to address housing gaps for low income individuals and families. She noted this effort is critical to provide housing for service industry employees so they can both work and live here. Alex Albright is working on the Old Roosevelt Revitalization project. He has been working with a steering committee and other stakeholders to purchase the building from Red Lodge Schools so it can be transitioned into a community and performing arts space. Katelynn Essig is working with the City of Red Lodge on a number of renewable and efficient energy projects. She is currently working on a LED lighting retrofit analysis for street lights and municipal buildings, an analysis for the solar panel installation at the Waste Water Treatment Plant; she estimates the County has saved $30,000 since the panels were installed and a 30 year return on investment for the project. Katelynn also noted the City has received funding for the installation of electric vehicle charging stations. The city plans to use a donation box to cover electric costs of operating the stations. She is also looking at the possibility of home pickups for recyclables. Kristen noted that the grant programs and assessments being conducted are county wide and not specific to Red Lodge.
11:45 Commissioners processed employee time approvals for March 20 – April 2.
12:00 Adjourned
Respectfully submitted: Angela Newell, Administrative Assistant