April 13, 2015

COMMISSIONERS’ PROCEEDINGS       

          April 13, 2015

          Commissioners Doug Tucker, John Grewell, and John Prinkki were present.

8:30 Pledge of Allegiance.

          Commissioner Tucker moved to accept Justice Court’s End of Period Disbursement report for March 2015; Commissioner Grewell seconded; motion carried.

          Commissioners received report from Planning Board Representative Annette Anderson regarding the reliability of information presented to the Planning Board and the Board’s responsibility to executed due diligence when considering information during policy consideration.

          Commissioners received the application for the New and Expanding Industry Tax Abatement from Basin Electric. A public hearing is scheduled for April 23, 2015.

          9:00 Treasurer Jane Swanson-Webb met with Commissioners for the quarterly collateral report. Commissioner Grewell moved to accept Treasurer’s 1st Quarter Collateral and Cash Report; Commissioner Tucker seconded; motion carried.

          Commissioners discussed lower cash balance compared to past years and noted that capital projects in the last several years have depleted cash balances.

          Commissioner Tucker moved to amend March 30, 2015 minutes to clarify that Alison Brewer met with the Commissioners to request that barriers be dropped along the sidewalk and within the existing right-of-way so that people do not use the dead end Vaill Avenue as a through street and continually drive over the sidewalk along Vaill Avenue; Commissioner Grewell seconded; motion carried.

          10:00 Red Lodge Rural Fire Chief Tom Kuntz, Sheriff Josh McQuillan, and Disaster and Emergency Services Coordinator Darrel Krum met with Commissioners regarding the Search and Rescue Coordinator Reduction in Force and Search and Rescue Interlocal Agreement with Red Lodge Rural Fire #7. Sheriff McQuillan would like to contract with Red Lodge Rural Fire Dist.# 7 for Search and Rescue services for an annual fee paid by the County. Fire Dist. #7 would report to the Sheriff, but would be responsible for paid personnel, volunteer training, and other day to day operations. This agreement would eliminate the part-time Search and Rescue Coordinator positon in the Sheriff’s Office. The eight year average for Carbon County Search and Rescue expenses has been approximately $24,000. Chief Kuntz is concerned that Rural Fire has been supplementing some of the Search and Rescue costs such as volunteer trainings. Under the current agreement Carbon County pays Rural Fire #7 for four (4) hours a week, Chief Kuntz believe his staff time is closer to ten (10) hours per week for Search and Rescue related activities.  

10:25 Undersheriff Dan McJunkin joined the meeting. Commissioners requested that Chief Kuntz ask the Fire board if they would accept $29,000 annual fee for the proposed Interlocal Agreement.

In view of the current Interlocal Agreement and the proposed amended Interlocal Agreement Commissioner Grewell moved to remove Search and Rescue Coordinator from Carbon County Payrolls per the County’s Reduction in Force Polic effectively immediately; Commissioner Tucker seconded; motion carried.

          11:00 Sheriff Josh McQuillan, Undersheriff Dan McJunkin, and Disaster and Emergency Services Coordinator Darrel Krum met with Commissioners to discuss implementing a burn ban for Red Flag Warnings and other National Weather Service issued fire weather watch/warning. Historically dispatch does not allow open burning on days where the National Weather Service has issued Red Flag Warnings and other fire weather notifications. Under Montana Law the Sheriff’s office does not have the ability to enforce the ban without the County establishing a fire season and burn permit.

          Commissioners requested that Sheriff McQuillan gather copy of the permit and fire season resolution from Yellowstone County so that Carbon can implement a similar system.

          12:00 Commissioners met at Bogarts for lunch with Stephen Streeter, Gary Neville, and Randy Roth of the Montana Department of Transportation (MDT) to discuss road construction projects. MDT plans to soon begin replacing sidewalks on the east side of Highway 212 through Joliet as part of an effort to improve sidewalks along highways through small towns across the State. Riverside Construction was recently awarded the bid for the Red Lodge Northwest Project on Highway 78, the notice to proceed is expected to be issued in June 2015. In fiscal year 2016 MDT also plans to replace 1.12 miles of guard rail on Highway 308 coming out of Bearcreek and make repairs to slopes on the Beartooth Pass. MDT expects the .67 mile reconstruction project on Highway 212 through Roberts to go out for bid in March 2016. Other projects that are still in the design or right-of-way phase include: Highway 212 from Red Lodge to Roberts, Roberts to Boyd, and Rockvale to Laure (north bound lanes); reconstructing 1.7 miles of Highway 78 five (5) miles north of Roscoe going north; and a pavement preservation project on the Beartooth Highway that is expected to go out for bid in January 2016.

Adjourned