CARTER COUNTY COMMISSION PROCEEDINGS

06-13-2022

The Board of Carter County Commissioners met in regular session on June 13, 2022 in the Carter County Commission Board Meeting Room of the Carter County Courthouse at 214 Park Street in Ekalaka, Montana. Present were Steve Rosencranz, Chairman; and Rod Tauck, Vice Chair. Mike Watkins, Member was absent.

There was no public comment.

Guests included Road and Bridge employee Joe Schmid, Road Supervisor Carl Knapp and Attorney Corbit Harrington. Joe has been employed with the County 6 months and has met the requirements of the County’s probational period. Commissioner Tauck made the motion to remove Joe from probation, which includes the use of vacation, sick leave, and an increase in wages to $23.44 per hour. Commissioner Rosencranz seconded the motion. There was no public comment and the motion carried.

There was some discussion regarding the upcoming plans to reclaim at the Ned Summers gravel pit and transport the bridge purchased from the County by Greg Harris. Joe and Carl left the meeting.

Commissioner Mike Watkins called into the meeting to join the discussion about the new hospital generator. Commissioner Watkins made the motion to pursue Slate Architecture for a feasibility study for additional emergency power with clarification on all required contracts and proposals. Commissioner Tauck seconded the motion. There was no public comment and the motion carried.

Clerk and Recorder Pam Castleberry joined the meeting with a letter from the Bank to approve a signature card. Commissioner Tauck made the motion to approve Ashlee Thomas as an official signee for School District 56 in Alzada. Commissioner Rosencranz seconded the motion and there was no public comment. The motion carried unanimously. Pam left the meeting.

There was a brief review of the custodial job list, work duties and personnel policies.

The Commission reviewed and approved Carter County Treasurers 2022-2023 Fiscal Year Budget.

The Carter County Conservation District Board members, Wayne Yost, Jim McCabe, and Doug Bonsell joined the meeting to review their 2022-2023 Fiscal Year budget.

The district is still in the process of purchasing the no-till drill due to the fact that they are still waiting for delivery from the dealer. Monies for drill include $20,000.00 funds from DNRC, and $10,000.00 from a McCone County Grant. The Board also reported that they ordered approximately 5,000 trees this year. They are planning for workshops again this year, including grazing, drip irrigation and the winter ag series. The Conservation District Board left the meeting.

The Commission meeting broke for lunch at 12 noon and returned to work at 1 p.m.

Salary Compensation Board Meeting, members in attendance included: Commissioners Steve Rosencranz, Rod Tauck and Mike Watkins via phone. Elected officials Tracey Walker, Clerk of Courts/Superintendent of Schools, Pam Castleberry, Clerk and Recorder, Kathy Rosencranz, Justice of the Peace, via phone, and members representing each commissioners District, Tom Courtney, Bill Kennedy, and Tena Ketchum.

Several members of the Board and employees received a letter of recommendation and packet of information prepared by Treasurer, Jesi Pierson and Attorney Harrington. This included information on the increase in inflation of 8.58%, Social Security payment increase of 5.9%, and the increase in living wage in Montana to $9.20 per hour. It also included a wage and taxable value comparison of payments by Montana Counties of similar size.

There was discussion regarding the Counties starting wage and probational period, as well as making a change to the Cost of Living for employees at a lower percentage and revisiting the decision in January.

Kathy Rosencranz asked if pipeline funds go to the payment of salaries to which the answer was yes, with 95% of central assessed taxes and only 5% from agricultural taxes and licenses.

Clerk and Recorder Pamela Castleberry made the motion for a salary increase of the base salary of elected officials by 6.5%. The vote was 6 to 3 in favor. The motion carried. The Salary Compensation Board meeting adjourned at 1:50 p.m.

Commissioner Tauck made the motion to approve the meeting minutes from June 9th, 2022 with corrections. Commissioner Rosencranz seconded the motion. There was no public comment and the motion carried.

The commission called attorney Corbit Harrington to request that he send a letter to Dahl Memorial that would require them to remove all items from the old hospital building by June 30, 2022, as per the motion made by the commission at the January 10, 2022 meeting.

Clerk and Recorder Pam Castleberry and Deputy Clerk and Recorder Judy Wright stepped into the meeting to present the Clerk and Recorders 2022-2023 Fiscal Year budget Topics included preservation of records, Alzada cemetery records grant funds, and the Federal Audit overage.

Judy presented the request to hire an assistant clerk for the Clerk and Recorders office to train for the position of Deputy Clerk and recorder in so doing giving the Deputy and Judy 6 months’ time to train for their new positions that would start January 02, 2023. The commission stated that they would wait to fill the position until Judy is elected as Clerk in November before hiring someone to fill her vacancy as Deputy. Pam and Judy left the meeting.

The commission discussed the hire of a custodial, job duties, personnel policies and the pay scale to which Deputy Treasurer Cecile Kuehn answered questions.

The commission received a call from Randy Arpan who had questions on the start of the work on the Cottonwood Creek Rd. including the installation of car gates.

There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 3:45 p.m.

Board of County Commissioners

Carter County, Montana

/s/ Steve Rosencranz, Chairman

Attest:/s/ Pamela J Castleberry, Clerk of the Board

06-20-2022

The Board of Carter County Commissioners met in regular session on Monday, June 20, 2022 in the Carter County Commission Board Meeting Room of the Carter County Courthouse at 214 Park Street in Ekalaka, Montana. Steve Rosencranz, Chairman; Rod Tauck, Vice Chair and Mike Watkins, Member; were present.

The meeting was called to order at 9 a.m.

There was no public comment

Road and Bridge Supervisor Carl Knapp joined the meeting to request that the Road Department rent a bucket for the loader. The road department plans to remove the weeds and dirt that have filled the Sand Creek Road ditch. Commissioner Watkins made the motion to approve rental of the bucket for the loader at a cost of $1,000.00 a month. Commissioner seconded the motion. There was no public comment and the motion carried. Carl left the meeting.

Valorie O’Connell from the Sagebrush Service Club stepped into the meeting to request the use of the Old Hospital lawn for the Shakespeare in the Parks program that is scheduled on July 05, 2022. The service club would like to make the use of the lawn a yearly event. The commission approved Valorie’s request for as long as the lawn area is available. Valorie left the meeting.

The 2022 Official Primary Electoral Canvas was completed by the Carter County Commissioners.

Commissioner Watkins made the motion to accept the resignation of Tori Tooke from the Carter County Conservation District Administrator position. Commissioner Tauck seconded the motion and there was no public comment.

Airport Board president, Troy Fruit joined the meeting for the Airport Board Manager position opening. The commission tabled the decision on hiring until the Airport Board has provided a complete job description for the Airport Board Manager position.

The 2022-2023 Airport Board budget - Troy will schedule an Airport Board meeting to review the budget and turn the final review into the Clerk and Recorder. Troy left the meeting.

Deputy Clerk and Recorder Judy Wright joined the meeting with a replacement warrant Commissioner Tauck made the motion to approve the replacement warrant in the amount of $222.43 to Oil, gas, and coal counties insurance. Commissioner Watkins seconded the motion. There was no public comment and the motion carried.

Pam Castleberry, Clerk and Recorder joined the meeting.

Judy requested permission to hire an assistant clerk so that they may begin training for the position of Deputy Clerk. Steve stated that the commission would like to wait to advertise the position until November and hire in December, after the election when Judy has been elected to the position of Clerk and Recorder.

Commissioner Watkins made the motion to approve the hourly employees raise of $1.64 per hour which is figured at 90% of the base salary of the Clerk and Recorder. There was no public comment. Commissioner Tauck seconded the motion. The motion carried.

Public Heath Personnel meeting. Present: Commissioners Rosencranz, Watkins and Tauck. Clerk and Recorder Pam Castleberry, and Public Health Department manager Stefanie Harrington. Call in to the meeting Public Health nurses Trish Loughlin and Kirstie Nelson.

The Health Department in conjunction with the Carter County Museum sponsored The Amazing Race tobacco prevention program. The program had 10 participants and is slated to run again next year.

The billing and credentialing software program has not been selected as Dr. Espeland has not received the contracts. Stefanie will have them prepared and Trish will hand deliver them to Dr. Espeland on Wednesday, June 22, 2022 to get them reviewed and finalized.

Trish and Ryan have made plans for the installation of additional outlets and cupboards in the Public Health Offices. Trish and Kirstie will finalize the plans with Ryan on Wednesday.

The Public Health Department has scheduled a shot clinic for Pre-K through 7th grade on July 22, 2022 with the Care Van.

Public Health will reach out to Dahl to offer assistance with sports physicals.

The Commission requested the County advertise for the position of Public Health Officer.

County maintenance Bob Jacobs joined the meeting where he asked if the old hospital boilers will be in use this winter. He will schedule and prepare for an inspection if the commission decides to continue to use the boiler system. The County does not plan to use the old heating system next winter. Bob left the meeting.

The commissioners requested that Deputy Clerk and Recorder Judy Wright advertise for bids to hay 9.6 acres on the old Airport property, with the hay to be removed from the property by August 15, 2022.

The meeting adjourned at 12:00 for lunch and reconvened at 1 p.m.

Carter County Museum Executive Director Sabre Moore and Nate Carroll, Museum Curator, joined the meeting for the 2022-203 Budget Review which the commission approved with additional funds from Capital outlay for the repair of the museum storage buildings.

The group discussed the plans to repair the roof and interior of the museum storage buildings. Clerk and Recorder Pam Castleberry will place an ad in the Ekalaka Eagle requesting bids for the repair.

The commission returned a call from Montana State Representative Jerry Schillinger. Jerry requested that the Commission apply for funds to be used for repair and maintenance of roads.

Dahl Memorial Board member and DES Coordinator, Georgia Bruski and Deputy Clerk and Recorder Judy Wright joined the meeting for the update of Dahl Memorial Fire Life Safety Survey reports. Dahl Memorial CEO Ryan Tooke did not attend the meeting due to a conflict in schedules. The Fire Life Safety review will be set for a later date.

Carter County Custodial position was discussed, including job duties and hours needed to complete the duties. Deputy Treasurer Cecile Kuehn joined the meeting with points of clarification on starting salaries, probation periods and benefits. Commissioner Tauck made the motion to approve the custodial task list. Commissioner Watkins seconded the motion. There was no public comment and the motion carried. The commissioners requested that an ad for the position be placed in the paper this week for the custodial position.

Commissioner Watkins made the motion to send a letter of approval of the Keith Ranch Fish Wildlife and Parks Land Grant. Commissioner Tauck seconded the motion. There was no public comment and the motion carried unanimously.

Clerk and Recorder Pam Castleberry stepped into the meeting for approval of the ad for the museum storage building repair. There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 3:45 p.m.

Board of County Commissioners

Carter County, Montana

/s/ Steve Rosencranz, Chairman

Attest:/s/ Pamela J Castleberry, Clerk of the Board