CARTER COUNTY COMMISSION PROCEEDINGS

04-29-2022

The Board of Carter County Commissioners met in regular session on Monday, April 29, 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 Mike Watkins, Member. Rod Tauck, Vice Chair was absent.

County attorney Corbit Harrington joined the meeting.

The commission approved claims in the amount of $183,144.02 and payroll in the amount of $223,180.07

The commission approved the updated MOU of Janssen Opioids settlement. Carter County attorney Corbit Harrington will electronically sign the document.

The regional DES Pre-mitigation plan was reviewed and signed by commissioner Rosencranz.

The Board signed the action For Eastern Montana Results Oriented Management and Accountability plan (ROMA).

Public Health personnel meeting update. Present included Clerk and Recorder Pam Castleberry and Public Health administrator Stefanie Harrington. Call in: Public Health Officer/Nurse Trish Laughlin and public health nurse Kirstie Nelson.

The county Public Health Department has received equipment approved for purchase at the last meeting. The staff have streamlined storage area in the courthouse basement and found they have an over stock of gloves and masks that will expire before Public Health will use all of them. Public Health will share with Dahl.

Clerk and Recorder Pam Castleberry joined the meeting. There was discussion regarding the Public Health budget. The monthly budget report will be sent to Trish and Kirstie as well as Stefanie.

The department is in the process of updating the credentials in conjunction with Dr. Espeland. They are also in the process of reviewing the programs needed for electronic health records and billing. Trish stated that they are working with a 2-week timeline to get the electronic records and billing set up.

There are Montana Department of Health and Human Services (DPHHS) grant workshops in Miles City that Kirstie will attend and one in Billings that Stefanie will attend. There is free training and Montana Public Health conference they are looking into attending in Helena.

The Mammography coach bus was in Ekalaka to see patients the end of March. They had a full schedule and plan to schedule another visit for the end of May.

The Carter County Health Department received a mental health grant in conjunction with Billings Clinic to provide pediatric remote mental health services. The funds have been used to purchase a laptop.

There was discussion regarding the spending guidelines for the Congregate Living Coordinator program (CLC) grant. The health department is unsure of how the funds should be dispersed. Pam will check with other counties. Trish called back to the meeting after speaking with Kevin Laughlin of MDHHS. He will be helping with the CLC grant at the Miles City meeting next week. Tish will attend this meeting with Kirstie. Public Health would like to schedule regular updates with the commission on the third Monday of each month at 11 a.m. The Health Department Personnel meeting adjourned.

Pam presented the final adjustment to the FY2021 financials for the County funds in the CARES/COVID-19 Fund 2979. The funds will be dispersed to Public Safety, Public Health and Senior Citizens accounts to audit findings. The meeting broke for lunch at 12:00.

Ryan Devore and Brett Dorak from Fish Wildlife and Parks (FWP) and Clerk and Reorder Pam Castleberry joined the meeting at 1 p.m.

They met with commission to update them on the conservation easement they are proposing. This would be a 2-3-year process mainly set in to practice to protect wildlife habitat and grasslands. The program would help with funding for water infrastructure and fencing. The FWP may request approval from the commission as well as review by the land planning committee just before the program is finalized. Ryan and Brett left the meeting.

The commission received a call in from Steve Bergeron and Jack Maddox of WANRack Company. There are reaching out to rural communities in hopes that they can assist the areas in applying for the COVID-19 grant funds to install fiber optic lines and install the lines that would be used by a third party to provide the services. Jack will send video, 2 white papers to the commission for their review. The call ended with Steve and Jack at 2:38.

Weed Board present for end of the year Work plan. Present: Jesse Scott, Gabe Carroll, J.O. Tooke, Lee LaBree, Amanda Williams and Joshua McTeer.

The Board requested that Jesse speak to the board when issues arise. The Board will require requests for purchases. She will provide an itemized report for the next Weed Board meeting.

There are 3 weed grant contracts: Little Beaver $1,983.00 - cost share, Capitol $35,345.00 - cost share, and Hammond $7,239.00. Commissioner Watkins made the motion to sign and support the 3 respective weed grants that were awarded to the Montana Noxious Weed Trust Fund. Each were fully funded. Commissioner Rosencranz seconded the motion. There was no public comment and the motion carried.

The Weed Board signed the corrected Weed Board By-laws.

It was moved by Lee and seconded by Gabe to accept all chemical bids.

Fallon/Carter Extension Agent Amanda Williams reported the upcoming schedule of events.

The next Weed Board meeting is scheduled for June 7, 2022 at 5 p.m.

There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 3:10 p.m.

Board of County Commissioners

Carter County, Montana

/s/ Steve Rosencranz, Chairman

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

05-02-2022

The Board of Carter County Commissioners met in regular session on Monday, May 02, 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 Mike Watkins, Member. Vice Chair; Rod Tauck, joined by video for the morning portion of the meeting.

The meeting was called to order by commissioner Rosencranz.

There was no public comment

DES Coordinator Georgia Bruski and Clark O’Donnell joined the meeting to invite the commission to the special Local Emergency Planning Committee (LEPC) meeting on May 16, 2022 at 3 p.m. The meeting will be held in the Conference room. They discussed the need to coordinate efforts with all the entities involved in the event of an emergency. The commissioners and guests discussed road closure decisions and coordination with other counties and states.

County Attorney Corbit Harrington joined the meeting.

Gary Habitzel of the Joint Powers Trust - Group Health Insurance renewal for 2023. Gary outlined 3 options. Commissioner Watkins made the motion to stay with the $500.00 deductible, 80/20 co-pay and $1,500.00 out of pocket costs. The new rate of $1,262.87 that will go into effect July 1, 2022. Commissioner Rosencranz seconded the motion. There was no public comment and the motion carried.

Dahl Memorial CEO joined the meeting to present the Dahl Memorial quarterly report. This included telemedicine, facility wide polices, lab test updates, patient safety and care equipment, employee health insurance, discharge plan, human resources processes, CT training, infection control and housekeeping, as well as a brief financial review. Dahl is in the process of a survey and will have a final review in 2 weeks. Ryan left the meeting.

Commissioner Watkins made the motion to approve the meeting minutes for April 19, 2022 with corrections. Commissioner Rosencranz seconded the motion. There was no public comment and the motion carried.

Road and Bridge Supervisor Carl Knapp joined the meeting. He filled the commission in on the snow removal during the last two snow storms. The tandem Ford plow truck is broken and would not be a viable plow truck. The department would like to replace the truck with a used 6x6. Commissioner Watkins made the motion to approve the purchase of the used 6 x 6 truck for $79,900.00, with Carl flying to Georgia for the purchase if the truck is in acceptable condition. Commissioner Rosencranz seconded the motion. There was no public comment and the motion carried.

The meeting broke for lunch at 12 p.m. and reconvened at 1 p.m.

The Board called Isaac Wald of BLM to discuss the fire restriction plan that was sent to the County several months ago. The commission and Sheriff Kittelmann have not signed the agreement because they do not agree to the terms of the agreement. Isaac requested the commission review the document and let him know what changes could be made to garner their signatures.

There being no further business the meeting adjourned at 2 p.m.

Board of County Commissioners

Carter County, Montana

/s/ Steve Rosencranz, Chairman

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