December 15, 2020

COMMISSIONERS’ PROCEEDINGS
December 15, 2020

Commissioners Scott Blain and Bill Bullock; Administrative Officer Angela Newell; and Commissioners’ Secretary Barbara Krizek were present.

8:30 Pledge of Allegiance

Discussion regarding Conservation District board member expirations. None of the three members who are expiring December 31, 2020 applied for re-election. Newell stated that all wish to continue on the Board; Commissioners will need to appoint in January.

Discussion regarding the challenges addressing COVID-19 (roles/responsibilities of the County, the County Public Health Officer, Public Health, and Beartooth Billings Clinic).

Commissioner Bullock moved to approve Commissioner Proceedings for November 19, November 24, and December 1, 2020; Commissioner Blain seconded; motion carried.

Geospatial Information Systems Coordinator / Fire Warden Tom Kohley joined the meeting to provide an update on equipment procurement (auger/blade delivery). Rock Creek Tower foundation been poured; the tower itself has not been delivered yet.

9:00 Commissioner-elect Scott Miller, Sheriff Josh McQuillan, and Disaster and Emergency Services (DES) Coordinator Cyrina Allen joined the meeting. Discussion regarding the 2021 State of Montana 911 Grant application. DES/Sheriff would like to apply for Public Safety Call Handling software for the following enhancements to Dispatch: helps emergency Dispatchers through case entry and the necessary questions; assists with identifying the correct call for service code and displays the response according to policies/procedures set by the agency; guides Dispatchers in providing post-Dispatch and pre-arrival instructions; helps lessen employee (Dispatch) turnover by helping provide consistent processes for call taking; and will be compatible with the new Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) system, Zuercher, that will be implemented in the Spring. Commissioner Bullock would like to wait to approve applying for the grant until Deputy Kelly Carrington is able to provide hard quotes for costs to include on-going maintenance costs for the system; discussion will continue at a future date. Transition to discussing having a backup person for Allen since the State requires a Deputy DES Coordinator; decision to have former DES Coordinator Kohley be appointed Deputy. Tele-work is often needed for DES work, so Commissioners approve it, but they prefer Allen and Kohley be at the office when possible.

Election Administrator Macque Bohleen and Deputy Clerk and Recorder Crystal Roascio joined the meeting to discuss the proposed Detention Facility bond election. Commissioners must pass their Resolution of Intent to hold the election between 85 to 60 days before the election. In order to not conflict with the upcoming Red Lodge school election, Commissioners would need to pass their Resolution before January 29, 2021 for a March 30 election, or February 5 for an April 6 election, or February 12 for an April 13 election. Commissioner Bullock inquired about the bogus survey mailers sent posing as “CCDFC” to Joliet citizens posing a “Yes/No” question regarding proposed Annexation of the proposed Detention Facility property; Commissioners will inquire with the Montana Office of Political Practices and the Secretary of State’s office so that there is no confusion or liability in that these were not, in fact, tied to the real Carbon County Detention Facility Citizen Advisory Committee in coordination with the County.

Commissioner Blain recounted a conversation he initiated with Representative Seth Berglee last week regarding funding for the proposed Detention Facility. Commissioner Bullock recommended advocating that the Montana Department of Corrections increase their reimbursement for Counties from $69.00/day to the market rate of $100.00/day charged by Yellowstone County or $75/day charged by Gallatin County.

Newell detailed bookkeeping regarding the Zuercher contract and a duplicate payment that was mailed to and cashed by the vendor. Commissioners indicated they would like the Clerk and Recorder to initiate processes to receive full refund of the duplicate payment and then send a separate payment for the upcoming invoice (as opposed to applying the duplicate overpayment to the upcoming invoice).

11:00 County Attorney Alex Nixon joined the meeting (tele-conference). Discussion regarding the proposed Detention Facility and annexation of the Stevens’ property into the Town of Joliet. Nixon recommended completing Joliet’s Application for Enlargement of Services since that was the sole condition the Joliet Town Council stipulated when it conditionally approved annexation; no Interlocal Agreement required.

Commissioner Blain reported that Sheriff McQuillan has set up a meeting for the next Tuesday with representatives from the Yellowstone County Detention Facility to get a detailed report of their Operating Budget for comparison with the County’s proposed project.

Commissioner Bullock moved to approve Claims for an early December check run; Commissioner Blain seconded; motion carried.

12:00 Adjourned.