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Commissioners minutes, June 11-12
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June 26, 2012 |
***Monday, June 11, 2012, Commissioners met in
regular session with Chairman Ron Smith,
Commissioner Dan Dinning and Deputy Clerk
Michelle Rohrwasser. Commissioner Walt Kirby was
out of the office attending the Idaho
Association of Counties Commissioners and Clerks
Conference.
Blue Sky Broadcasting Reporter Mike Brown was in
attendance of the meetings throughout the day.
9:00 a.m., Road and Bridge Superintendent Jeff
Gutshall joined the meeting to give the
departmental report. Mr. Gutshall presented a
written report.
Mr. Gutshall said he is still working on Pine
Island Road and working on culverts for Fawn
Lane. Mr. Gutshall said because of the weather
it doesn’t look like he will be able to use the
hot patch until later in June.
Mr. Gutshall spoke of Fawn Lane and said the
resident living at the end of Fawn Lane
mentioned something about the business of milk
trucks and that there may not be as much truck
traffic any longer. Mr. Gutshall said he doesn’t
know for sure if Fawn Lane will be surfaced this
year, but if not it will be surfaced next year.
Mr. Gutshall said if the weather breaks he will
stop all gravel hauling and switch to grader
patching on a variety of roads. Road and Bridge
will begin chip sealing after July 4th and that
should only take one to two weeks. After chip
sealing Road and Bridge will jump back to
finishing Fawn Lane and District 5 Road. Mr.
Gutshall said he will try to get the worst part
of Moon Shadow Road cut out and repaired.
Mr. Gutshall said the Deep Creek Bridge bid
opening is tomorrow. The project cannot start
until late July or August, but it is supposed to
be completed this season.
Mr. Gutshall discussed the erosion on Deep Creek
Loop located at the first curve near the golf
course. A section of guardrail had been taken
out and the sheet metal that was placed there
has failed. Mr. Gutshall said he will place
jersey walls in that location and a street drain
to catch the water. Mr. Gutshall said he is to
receive three loads of jersey walls tomorrow.
Mr. Gutshall said he will try to work on the
drainage issue on Holmes Road and after looking
at the issue there is no possible way the water
diverts to the nursery there.
The meeting with Mr. Gutshall ended at 9:13 a.m.
Commissioners tended to administrative duties.
Commissioners discussed receiving correspondence
regarding county funding of the proposed Mental
Health and Intoxication Center.
Commissioner Dinning moved to authorize the
Chairman to sign the Idaho Department of Health
and Welfare Contract #HC755000 pertaining to
mosquito surveillance, speciation, and/or
pathogen detection. Chairman Smith yielded the
chair to second. Motion passed unanimously.
Commissioner Dinning moved to sign the
Independent Contractor Agreement with Panhandle
Pest Control pertaining to mosquito
surveillance. Chairman Smith yielded the chair
to second. Motion passed unanimously.
Commissioner Dinning moved to authorize the
Chairman to sign the agreements with the Forest
Service Resource Advisory Committee (RAC) for
funds for the Community Forest Landscape
Approach. Chairman Smith yielded the chair to
second. Motion passed unanimously.
9:40 a.m., Gary Leonard contacted Commissioners
via telephone to inquire about waiving rental
fees for use of the pavilion for the Fourth of
July event he is hosting. Mr. Leonard said an
art group would like to have an art show at the
Pavilion. Commissioner Dinning said
Commissioners have been instructed they can’t
waive fees unless it was for another government
entity. Commissioner Dinning asked if the art
would be for display only or for sale. Mr.
Leonard said he would talk with the group and
find out if there was going to be art sales.
The call with Mr. Leonard ended at 9:41 a.m.
Commissioner Dinning moved to sign the letter to
the Kootenai Tribe of Idaho regarding an
increase to the annual fee for law enforcement
services. Chairman Smith yielded the chair to
second. Motion passed unanimously.
10:00 a.m., Boundary County Emergency Services
Incident Commander Bob Graham and Director Dave
Kramer joined the meeting to discuss
notifications pertaining to emergencies and
disasters.
Mr. Graham said he wanted to talk about Boundary
County not receiving notification about
Transcanada Gas’ natural gas leak that occurred
a week ago last Friday. Mr. Graham said this
release occurred at 10:00 a.m., Pacific Time and
Statecom was not notified by the National
Response Center (NRC) until 1:00 p.m., which is
three hours later. Mr. Graham said Transcanada
Gas informed Statecom at the time the emergency
was over. These actions make a difference for
Homeland Security, according to Mr. Graham.
The natural gas release took 90 minutes and was
over by 11:30 p.m., Pacific Time. Mr. Graham
said he has been working for one and one half
weeks with Homeland Security, Statecom and
Transcanada Gas to find out why Boundary County
was not notified of this gas release. Statecom’s
position was that Boundary County was not to be
notified, but to notify the Local Emergency
Responding Agency (LERA) representative. Mr.
Kramer said he was the LERA representative at
the time he worked at the City of Bonners Ferry.
Commissioners reviewed a document listing the
protocol for notification and in this case, the
emergency was not called in by the local
jurisdiction. This emergency was called in by
NRC who had been notified by Transcanada Gas,
but not until the gas release was over.
Commissioner Dinning said when the first agency
was notified the incident had already been
concluded. Mr. Graham said that is one of the
complaints he has.
Mr. Kramer said to clarify, Transcanada Gas had
a gas release, and their crew shut it down then
notified the NRC who then alerted the State
Bureau of Homeland Security. At that time
Transcanada Gas said there was no emergency.
Transcanada Gas did notify the City of Bonners
Ferry who asked what they should do and was told
nothing because the incident was already done.
It was said a mass emailing about this was sent
out, but Mr. Kramer was not on the list. Bureau
of Homeland Security Local Area Field Officer
Jay Baker also forwarded an email to Mr. Graham
and Mr. Kramer and this was how they found out
about the incident. Mr. Kramer said his concern
is this incident was established as a regulatory
event. Mr. Kramer said he does have a meeting
with Transcanada Gas to correct any concerns and
regardless of whom the spiller is, it would be
nice to have local eyes on the scene.
Commissioner Dinning said being how the incident
reported was already over Transcanada Gas
probably felt there was no need to notify anyone
else. It was said although Transcanada Gas
contacted the City of Bonners Ferry to notify
the LERA, it was done incorrectly. Commissioner
Dinning said Transcanada Gas had made the
decision on how to notify agencies.
Transcanada Gas made a mistake and did not
notify anyone until the incident was over,
according to Mr. Graham. It’s been learned over
the past that you can’t rely on the spiller
until the incident was over. Mr. Graham said he
wants what the flow chart says should’ve been
done. Mr. Kramer said there may be confusion
over the flow chart. Mr. Graham said it doesn’t
matter if the event was regulatory or not, the
flow chart was not followed. Statecom was
notified first who then contacted the Bureau of
Homeland Security who contacted the City of
Bonners Ferry who was told they didn’t need to
do anything. Mr. Kramer said the LERA
representative contact information needs to be
updated.
Commissioner Dinning asked if Mr. Graham wanted
Transcanada Gas to notify the County even if it
is a regulatory event and Mr. Graham said yes.
Mr. Kramer said the first step to work on is
updating the LERA contact with Transcanada Gas
and the next thing is to have the local agency
notified so the State is not taking the word of
the spiller that the spill is over, etc.
Mr. Graham said if the flow chart was followed,
the County would have been notified shortly
after Statecom and he could’ve taken a look at
the incident and notified Statecom to let them
know the status. Mr. Graham reviewed the
protocol to follow: a subsequent conference call
would be set up with the necessary agencies and
the Bureau of Homeland Security sets up a
moderator for a conference call involving 143
individuals. Mr. Kramer clarified the list of
143 individuals involves those who wanted to be
notified of events, but wasn’t specific to this
event.
Chairman Smith said it looks like the
notification needs to be made locally whether it
is regulatory or not and he asked what
Commissioners need to do to correct this for
future events.
Mr. Graham said the way it has always worked is
the County gets notified of any incident in
Boundary County and once that happens, he goes
to the site of the incident to make an
assessment. Once he makes an assessment, Mr.
Graham will contact Statecom, which is a
requirement for all hazmat events. Statecom will
determine who they are to notify about this
incident, then call Mr. Graham back to set up a
conference call with those who have been
notified.
Commissioner Dinning asked if there is a
different protocol than this. Mr. Graham said
after he makes an initial call to Statecom they
set up a conference call. The moderator of this
call asks Mr. Graham what the incident is and he
describes it. After the incident is known, the
moderator asks Mr. Graham for the plan of
attack. Once the conference call is over the
moderator and Statecom communications officer
decides if the incident is a level one, two or
three, or regulatory or non regulatory. Mr.
Graham said he doesn’t care if the incident is
non-regulatory or not, he and Mr. Kramer want to
know what the incident is.
Commissioner Dinning said what happened was the
event occurred and was corrected in 90 minutes.
During that time or after, however the state was
contacted they were at Statecom. The incident
was over as reported by Transcanada Gas. At that
point Statecom made a decision there was no need
for any other calls or emails based on what
Transcanada Gas told them. So the trust issue is
with Transcanada Gas who reported the incident
so that is where the County will want to check.
It was said the flow chart was sent to Mr.
Graham and Mr. Kramer by the Bureau of Homeland
Security. Mr. Graham said he wanted to know from
Statecom what their protocol was and why
Boundary County was not notified.
Mr. Graham said he hopes Commissioners will
write a letter to the Bureau of Homeland
Security about that their flow chart and to
correct the LERA contact information. Mr. Kramer
said he would like to talk to Fred Apt or Mr.
Baker with the Bureau of Homeland Security about
their flow chart. Commissioner Dinning said
there is no check and balance system for the
spiller and Mr. Kramer said that is correct. Had
Transcanada Gas contacted the County it would
have been a different situation.
The meeting with Mr. Graham and Mr. Kramer ended
at 9:30 a.m.
9:30 a.m., Deputy Clerk Nancy Ryals joined the
meeting.
Commissioner Dinning moved to go into closed
session under Idaho Code #31-874. Chairman Smith
yielded the chair to second. Motion passed
unanimously. 10:40 a.m., Commissioner Dinning
moved to go out of closed session. Chairman
Smith yielded the chair to second. Motion passed
unanimously.
Commissioner Dinning moved to review indigent
account #2012-7 for reimbursement purposes in
January 2013. Chairman Smith yielded the chair
to second. Motion passed unanimously.
Commissioner Dinning moved to write off indigent
account #2005-5 in the principal amount of
$1,990.32 plus all accrued interest due to it
being past the statutory time limit to collect.
Chairman Smith yielded the chair to second.
Motion passed unanimously.
Deputy Clerk Nancy Ryals left the meeting at
10:44 a.m.
Commissioners tended to administrative duties.
11:00 a.m., County Attorney Phil Robinson
contacted Commissioners via telephone.
Commissioner Dinning moved to go into executive
session under Idaho Code #67-2345(1)c; to
conduct deliberations concerning labor
negotiations. Chairman Smith yielded the chair
to second. Commissioners voted as follows:
Chairman Smith “yes” and Commissioner Dinning
“yes”. Motion passed unanimously. 11:45 a.m.,
Commissioner Dinning moved to go out of
executive session. Chairman Smith yielded the
chair to second. Motion passed unanimously.
Commissioners reviewed claims for payment. Fund
totals are as follows:
Current Expense $40,374.99
Road & Bridge 40,875.73
Airport 4,051.40
District Court 4,001.30
Justice Fund 33,135.86
911 Funds 4,135.44
Indigent & Charity 7,820.09
Parks and Recreation 3,536.40
Revaluation 589.87
Solid Waste 9,356.14
Tort 714.70
Veterans Memorial 155.53
Weeds 6,711.12
Restorium 2,994.06
Waterways 1,473.83
Juvenile Probation, Lottery 990.58
Grant, Fire Mitigation 25,715.00
Grant, EECBG 6,487.00
TOTAL $193,119.04
Trusts
Auditor’s Trust 2,928.00
Drivers License Trust 8,683.50
Magistrate Trust 31,238.09
Motor Vehicle Trust 93,650.28
Sheriff's Trust Fund 887.66
TOTAL $137,387.53
GRAND TOTAL $330,506.57
Citizens are invited to inspect detailed records
on file in the Courthouse (individual claims &
Commissioners’ allowance & warrant register
record 2012).
Personnel Classification Committee members
Tracie Isaac and Ken Carpenter joined the
meeting to discuss positions at the Sheriff’s
Office.
Ms. Isaac said the Committee reviewed a couple
job descriptions; one being the current job
title of Administrative Officer/Civil
Deputy/Drivers License/Marine Supervisor and the
other is an Assistant position to the first
listed. The Sheriff’s Office has requested the
first job description change to be called 911
Operations Manager. It was said the bottom line
is this change would lower the employee’s grade
who fills this position from 14 to 12. The job
description is just not there to support the
existing job grade of 14, according to Ms. Isaac
and Mr. Carpenter.
The proposed Assistant position is a grade 8 and
the person in this position will be very busy.
Mr. Carpenter said if the position of 911
Operations Manager is seen as a sideways step,
he doesn’t have a problem with keeping a grade
level of 14, but otherwise the points didn’t add
up. The duties of Communication Supervisor in
the original description of job functions had
been left out so if the Committee reviewed the
information again, the grade level could maybe
increase to 13, but Mr. Carpenter said he didn’t
know if that could be possible.
Those present discussed the question of existing
employees deciding to change their current job
duties, but not lowering their pay. Commissioner
Dinning said the change would affect a new hire
coming on board. Commissioner Dinning said he
disagrees somewhat by keeping the grade the same
as the employee knows and is making a conscious
choice to change duties.
Commissioners said the job description for the
Administrative Assistant position is fine, but
it won’t be submitted just yet as it may not
take affect if the proposed 911 Operations
Manager position is not created.
The meeting with Ms. Isaac and Mr. Carpenter
ended at 12:00 p.m.
There being no further business for the
remainder of the or for Tuesday, June 12, 2012,
the meeting adjourned at 12:00 p.m.
/s/
RONALD R. SMITH, Chairman
ATTEST:
/s/
GLENDA POSTON, Clerk
By: Michelle Rohrwasser, Deputy |
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