COMMISSIONERS’ PROCEEDINGS
June 23, 2020

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

8:30 Pledge of Allegiance

Newell presented Commissioners with historical and present time commitment and payroll figures for the stipend for the County Public Health Officer, Dr. Bill George. Commissioners approved providing hazard pay of an additional $400/week to Dr. George for the remainder of the duration of the COVID-19 emergency.

8:40 Gordon Sirrine tele-conferenced into the meeting.

Disaster and Emergency Services (DES) Coordinator Tom Kohley joined during the Public Comment Period to discuss the future staffing of the DES and Geospatial Information Services (GIS) positions. Kohley provided the recommendation that the new GIS Manager position be allocated .8 FTE for GIS and .2 FTE for Fire Warden. Commissioners would like to keep the DES Coordinator under the Board of Commissioners rather than shifting it under the Sheriff’s Department. Kohley researched other counties and it’s a mix of whether the DES Coordinator and Fire Warden are the same person. Discussion about combining the hospital’s Public Health Emergency Preparedness (PHEP) and DES. 8:50 Sheriff Josh McQuillan joined the meeting. Discussion regarding Deputy Carrington’s work on the County radio system. Commissioner Blain recommended advertising a position encompassing DES/radios and Carrington transitions out of radios with a return his Deputy duties. Newell outlined the process to proceed: creating a GIS department and job description/posting, advertising it internally, then advertising for any vacancies created through the internal hiring process.

9:00 Election Administrator Macque Bohleen and Clerk and Recorder Christine Stovall joined the meeting to present their preliminary budget requests. Stovall would like to bring Bohleen to 90% of Elected Official’s salary as Deputy due to her increased roles and responsibilities. Stovall will wait until September to bring her other Deputy to 80% since their time to train has been shortened due to unexpected circumstances. Bohleen is planning and budgeting for both poll and mail-in elections because it’s unclear at this time which format the November general election will be.

Newell presented discussion regarding upcoming CARES Act reimbursement for COVID-19 expenses; Commissioners opted to re-build cash reserves with the reimbursement.

Commissioner Bullock reported on the clinical results of the Carbon County drive-through COVID-19 Sentinel testing that was done on June 12th and 13th at the Red Lodge High School parking lot. Of the 925 citizens who participated in testing, zero are positive for COVID-19 (two individuals who initially tested positive were re-tested and determined to be false-positives).
Treasurer Lori Lynde joined the meeting to present her preliminary budget request. No major changes from the previous year, with the exception of postage due to increased mailings due to COVID-19.

10:20 Red Lodge City Attorney Rebecca Narmore, Red Lodge Mayor Bill Larson, and Bearcreek Mayor Debbie Surwill joined the meeting to discuss the Interlocal Agreement for the Administration of the Red Lodge Roberts Ambulance District. Commissioner Bullock discussed whether there should be a local mandatory mask policy. Mayor Larson has been leaving it to individual businesses to decide for themselves whether to institute a mandatory mask policy for patrons; Commissioners concurred. City Hall construction is nearly complete with plexi-glass and other COVID-19 mitigation measures.

Commissioner Bullock moved to approve the Interlocal Agreement for the Administration of the Red Lodge Roberts Ambulance District; Commissioner Blain seconded; motion carried.

Commissioner Bullock moved to approve Employee Time as submitted; Commissioner Blain seconded; motion carried.

Commissioners Blain and Bullock approved filling an upcoming vacancy at Sheriff’s dispatch.

Commissioner Blain moved to approve the Floodplain Services Agreement with Sweet Grass County; he voiced that he appreciated that the contract specified an upfront payment for half with the second half payment being adjusted for actual time billed; Commissioner Bullock seconded stating that the contract is effective July 1st; Sirrine asked whether there was a minimum charge for services to which Commissioner Blain responded that there is not; motion carried.

11:30 Superintendent of Schools Lori Kane and Treasurer Lori Lynde joined the meeting to present her preliminary budget request. Only deviation from previous budget year is for a new computer. As with other departments, due to COVID-19, budgeting for travel is presumptive, but unknown, at this time.

11:35 Commissioners departed the meeting to provide assistance in the Personal Services Building. Miller and Sirrine departed the meeting.

12:00 Commissioners returned and adjourned.

1:00 Meeting resumed to meet with Gary Levine of Spectrum Architects. Scott Miller and Gordon Sirrine (tele-conference) in attendance. Discussion regarding designing Courthouse modifications to bring it closer to COVID-19 compliance with physical/social distancing and how much of these costs could be reimbursable through the CARES Act. The size of the existing courtroom is sufficient, but access to it is currently restricted and bottle-necked. Issues with the jury set-up, lack of elevator, limited lobby/foyer, and lacking Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) compliant restroom facilities upstairs. Per Newell, the building is on the National Historic Register. A remodeled Courthouse building would not be able to accommodate Sheriff and County Attorney offices; they would need to be re-located. Levine will do preliminary work billing hourly, and eventually put a formal proposal together when measurements and information has been gathered.

Discussion regarding the Personal Services Building and better utilization and segregation of offices. With potential expansion of Public Health staffing during the COVID-19 emergency, their space needs to be expanded accordingly for separation, distancing, and privacy. Levine will meet with Public Health staff to discuss space needs.

Levine will prioritize his work on the Public Health component of the Personal Services Building, then the Courthouse.

2:20 Miller and Sirrine departed the meeting.

2:45 Adjourned.