April 14, 2022
COMMISSIONERS’ PROCEEDINGS
April 14, 2022
Commissioners Scott Miller, Scott Blain, and Bill Bullock; and Administrative Officer Angela Newell were present.
8:30 Pledge of Allegiance.
Steve Roi in attendance.
9:00 Treasurer Lori Lynde met with Commissioners for her quarterly Collateral report. Lynde reported $28,746,900.03 in Banks and $2,500 in cash for a total of $28,749,400.03. Discussed the school bonds that have been drawn down and reduced overall cash from this time last year. Lynde hopes to have all entities transferred to Bank of Red Lodge for the 2022-2023 Fiscal Year. Blain moved to accept the Quarterly Collateral as presented; Miller seconded; motion carried. Bullock thanked Lynde and her staff for their diligence. Lynde noted her upcoming vacation, noting she will be in Mexico and Deputy Leah Neimi will be in charge.
Blain attended the Joliet Town Council meeting regarding repealing their Ordinance prohibiting marijuana businesses; all attendees but one spoke against repealing the ordinance.
9:20 Red Lodge Mayor Kristen Cogswell met for her regular meeting. Discussed Airport MOU revisions. Discussed Zoning regulation changes specific to marijuana regulations. Also discussed lighting ordinance which has been more contentious than she expected. Bullock noted issues with group who believes there was significant voter fraud in the State and specifically in Carbon county. The group believes ballot tabulation machines are flawed and able to be hacked or altered and would like all ballots to be hand counted. Bullock noted his frustration is from their reference to issues in other states and machines that are not used or allowed in Montana. Clerk and Recorder Christine Stovall was in and discussed the judge training process and public testing that is done for the machines.
Discussion with Roi regarding Montana Election Integrity project and municipal marijuana regulations.
10:00 Geospatial Information Systems Coordinator / Fire Warden Tom Kohley met with Commissioners regarding specifications for a surplus generator. Blain agrees the generator would be good for county operations or as backup for the Joliet Fire station.
10:05 County Attorney Alex Nixon met with Commissioners for his regularly scheduled meeting. Election Administrator Crystal Roascio and Deputy Macque Bohleen were in attendance and discussed their anticipation of people requesting to count ballots after the primary election with Nixon. Roascio expects there will be a request for a recount, but she is not sure that can be requested by private individuals, although a party or the Board of Canvassers (which is the Board of commissioners), or a governing body of a political subdivision can request it. Bohleen noted the group’s goal appears to be to do away with tabulation machines. Stovall noted the need for judges would increase significantly if they were to hand count. Discussion regarding testing and post-election audit procedures. Discussed Collective Bargaining Agreement negotiations; propose dates May 11th or 25th. Discussed burn permit violations with Kohley; agreement that Sheriff can cite violations for people not following requirements under burn permit system. Discussion regarding the burden on volunteer fire departments and dispatch chasing smoke. Discussion regarding adding a code enforcement position; Bullock would advocate for a sworn officer to be involved for inspections. Nixon noted some of the investigation could be done by Department Heads and submitted to County Attorney via sworn affidavit. Bullock is concerned that it may get lost in the shuffle if there is not a dedicated enforcement officer. Kohley agreed that having a point person would be the most efficient, rather than relying on department heads to push violations. Nixon discussed having the position be a civil officer that could also do civil service. Nixon agreed for the need to address violations before things get more out of control.
10:30 HR Specialist Kate Asbury met with Commissioners regarding implementing policy to address inclement weather absences, especially for employees who are still in their probationary period and cannot use vacation leave.
Miller moved to approve Commissioners Proceedings for March 17 and March 22; Blain seconded; motion carried.
12:00 Lunch.
Respectfully submitted: Angela Newell, Administrative Officer