MINUTES OF COMBINED COMMISSION WORKING & REGULAR SESSION MEETING HELD APRIL 13, 2015 BEGINNING AT 9:05 A.M. IN CONFERENCE ROOM #1, IN DUCHESNE, UTAH
Present
Commission Chairman Ron Winterton, Commissioner Greg Todd, Commissioner Ken Burdick, Deputy County Attorney Tyler Allred, Public Works Director Glen Murphy, Emergency Management Director Mike Lefler, Michele Miller, Kirk Christensen, John Crofts, Bret Stewart, and Clerk-Auditor JoAnn Evans taking minutes of the meeting.
Absent
None
Public Works/Landfill Update
Director Murphy reported that some of his crew has been working in the Altamont area. They have also been working on the Justice Center and the Event Center. They need to do a little work on CR 328 which is the Winkler road in Bluebell. Back in the 1940’s and 1950’s the county did not have a lot of money to put into road repair so they made some of the lanes that dead end from people’s property into county roads so the state would help fund the repairs for the roads. We have a lot of them throughout our county at this time.
Discussion With Kirk Christensen Pertaining To Upper Country Water Road Crossings
Mr. Christensen stated that about a year ago the county road department raised their permit fees. The Upper Country Water Special Service District cannot afford to pay the price of the raised permit fees. We would be willing to pay some of the fee. We always repair the road when we put a hookup in and attach it to the main line. If there is ever a problem, Mr. Murphy could just call me and I would come out a fix it. He has a good working relationship with Mr. Murphy and Mr. Murphy knows that he is true to his word. Director Murphy stated that he does have a good working relationship with Mr. Christensen and he has a good bond in place if ever he needed to use it. After some discussion the commissioners decided that Director Murphy could handle this situation without them being involved.
Discussion With Michele Miller State Of Utah Emergency Management Liaison & Mike Lefler Duchesne County Emergency Management Director Concerning LEPC
Mr. Crofts stated that he would like to discuss with the commissioners the opportunity to buy flood insurance for the county. There are twenty two thousand counties across the nation participating in the flood insurance program. It is a program that is being directed under the FEMA guidelines. It helps volunteers who give of their time during a crisis situation. Duchesne County is unique in the fact that they do not have a flood study in place. Director Lefler stated that is because we have been waiting for six or seven years to have FEMA approve it. We cannot move forward until they do. Mr. Crofts stated that he knew of this situation and there is a way around it until FEMA approves the flood study. There are grants available that would waive the flood study requirements; however he would need to look at the floods maps and see where the flood plains are. There also is a flood insurance policy available from National Insurance that the county could purchase. Rich County carries this policy and they do not have a flood study either. Commissioner Todd stated that he would like to see the information and then have our attorneys look at it to make sure it fits our needs. Chairman Winterton stated that he is very skeptical that this will work for our county, but he is willing to take a look at it. It seems to have strings attached to it. Mr. Crofts stated that an ordinance would need to be put in place if the commissioners were to decide to move forward with this. It was agreed that Deputy Attorney Allred will look into it.
Discussion And Consideration Of Tax Deferrals
Celia Sullivan joined the meeting at 9:14 A.M…Chelsie Snyder Wall joined the meeting at 9:25 A.M… Treasurer Stephen Potter joined the meeting at9:32 A.M… Chief Deputy Assessor Traci Herrera joined the meeting at 9:35 A.M…
Treasurer Potter stated that we had Ms. Sullivan come in before the commission to ask for a deferral. At this time there is a mix up with her mortgage company and the way they were paying her taxes. They were paying on the wrong piece of property and no one caught onto it until recently. Commissioner Todd stated that Treasurer Potter could work out the details. Commissioner Todd motioned to approve a one year deferral and set up a monthly payment plan. Commissioner Burdick seconded the motion. All commissioners voted aye and the motion passed.
Mrs. Wall stated that when they signed papers on their house they only had a physical address and because of that she did not receive her tax notice. She has since corrected the problem but was wondering if the commissioner could exempt her from paying the taxes for the year she did not receive the notices for. There was also the problem of the house being described as a secondary residence instead of a primary residence. Deputy Herrera stated that they could help her with the primary status for this year moving forward, but they cannot back date anything. Chairman Winterton stated that they would need to just set up monthly payments with the treasurer to get caught up.
Discussion With Terry Carlson Concerning Break-ins, Stolen Property, 4-Wheelers, Etc. In the Koch Fields Area Terry Carlson joined the meeting at 9:13 A.M…Chief Deputy Sheriff Travis Tucker joined the meeting at 9:37 A.M…Ron Legg, Gary Long, Treven Grant, joined the meeting at 9:43 A.M…Planning and Community Development Director Mike Hyde & Building Official Karl Mott joined the meeting at 9:45 A.M…
Mr. Carlson stated that he came with a few people who live out around Rabbit Gulch in the Koch Fields area. They are concerned with what is happening around there properties. They have people who leave their trash everywhere and are shooting at things they have no business shooting at. They have 4-wheelers driving crazy and people are putting up sheds and living in them without getting a building permit or zoning clearance. Mr. Legg stated that he quite often brings veterans from WWII out to look at the wildlife and the area around his place. Things have gotten so bad with the 4-wheelers and people shooting randomly that he is afraid that people are going to get hurt and so he has decided to leave the area. There are people who are creating roads that have no business doing so. They also just keep piling junk on the property out around there so that it no longer looks like a nice place. Mr. Carlson stated that they are not there to point fingers, but the Grants who own Mountain West Ranches are a part of the problem. They just want this to be a friendly visit so they can all work together to fix the problem. Building Official Mott stated that he will go out there to check and see if there is any building going on that should have a building permit. Chief Deputy Tucker stated that he will start having more patrols go out that way to check on the random shootings that are going on. Mr. Grant stated that they do have some equipment out there on their own property and they are trying to follow the rules that Duchesne County has in place. If they need to do something different they just need the information so they can do it. The commission committed to go out t and have a look to see what is happening in the area.
Discussion With The PEW Foundation
Mr. Anders Reynolds from the PEW Foundation joined the meeting at 10:06 A.M…
Mr. Reynolds stated that he is here to listen to the commissioners and build a good working relationship with them so the process of the public lands initiative can move forward with success. He has had contact with Congressman Rob Bishop’s office and knows what they would like to achieve. The PEW Foundation is a conservation group but they are not like radical conservation groups. Their beliefs are more of trying to help all who are involved in the process. There was discussion on many of the areas that pertain to the public lands initiative and what could be accomplished in different areas. What should remain or added to public lands, the wilderness areas, to the energy zone areas, etc. were also discussed. Director Hyde stated that the public lands committee for Duchesne County will be meeting in the next couple of weeks and will be able to help with some of the decisions. Mr. Reynolds stated that having local support means a lot to the PEW Foundation and they will work towards doing what is best for the county.
Consideration Of A Contract With OnBase
Chief Deputy Sheriff Travis Tucker re-joined the meeting at 10:39 A.M…Building Official Karl Mott re-joined the meeting at 10:43 A.M….IS Director Kent Ogletree & IS employee Cristina Nielsen joined the meeting at10:44 A.M…Personnel Director Lisa Henrie & Personnel employee Becky Caton joined the meeting at 10:47 A.M… Recorder Shelley Brennan, Treasurer Stephen Potter & Chief Deputy Assessor Traci Herrera joined the meeting at 10:50 A.M…
Director Ogletree reported the IS Department is ready to move forward with the conversion from Fortis to OnBase. Fortis is an old system that can no longer be maintained. It will cost a great deal of money to try and maintain it. With the OnBase program there will be many things that it can do to help each office besides records retention. It will be able to work with Pelorus and the timekeeping area of the program. It will be able to help with the building permit system, the business license system and many others. The Recorders Office will be able to charge for electronic records with this program as well. The OnBase program will cost ninety two thousand seven hundred forty dollars ($92,740.00) up front for the conversion and training, it will then cost ten thousand dollars ($10,000.00) annually. Recorder Brennan asked if the conversion process included putting the plat maps on. Director Ogletree stated that it did. Chief Deputy Assessor Herrera stated that anything was better than how Fortis was working at this point and she felt that her office could benefit from using the OnBase program.
Commissioner Burdick motioned to approve the contract for OnBase. Commissioner Todd seconded the motion. All commissioners voted aye and the motion passed.
Victim Advocate Update With Alisha Sabin
UBAOG Director Laurie Brummond joined the meeting at10:55 A.M… Alisha Sabin joined the meeting at 10:57 A.M… Duchesne County Attorney Stephen Foote joined the meeting at 10:58 A.M…
Attorney Foote stated that the Victim Advocate program had to report to the commission twice a year as required by the stipulation under the grants that fund the program. The grants that help with this program are VAWA (Violence Against Women Act) and VOCA (Victims Of Crime Act). This program covers a lot of things for men, women, and children including domestic violence, child abuse, and sexual abuse. That is just to name a few. Alisha Sabin and Susanne Keel take care of all the service for victims of most crimes. Most people do not see them as part of the attorney’s office, but they are. They stay very busy. This is a program that now helps men as well as women and children. It used to be that people were scared to call the victims advocate, but now that is changing. More people are aware of the services that are available through the victim advocate program. Mrs. Sabin stated that the state and federal requirements are different as well. They do more follow up on the people they help. Director Brummond reported that each grant has to have a match to it. That is the only part that Duchesne County funds for this program. She has suggested to Mrs. Sabin that they get a policy in place that tells them how they can spend their money so there is no discrimination issues involved with the grant. Mrs. Sabin stated that she and Chief Deputy Attorney Grant Charles have been working on it and it is almost done. Attorney Foote stated that the Victim Advocate office does need a new computer. The one they have does not work very well and they need one for their clients to work on when filling out paper work.
Consideration Of A Contract Between Doctor Kennon Tubbs And The Duchesne County Correction Office
Commissioner Todd motioned to approve the contract presented by the Sheriff/Corrections Office. Commissioner Burdick seconded the motion. All commissioners voted aye and the motion passed.
Consideration Of Vouchers
Deputy Clerk-Auditor Connie Sweat joined the meeting at 11:54 A.M…
The commission reviewed vouchers # 131302 through #131401 dated April 13, 2015, in the amount of one hundred sixty three thousand seventy one dollars and seventy eight cents ($163,071.78) as presented by the Clerk Auditor’s Office. Commissioner Burdick motioned to approve the vouchers as presented by the Clerk Auditor’s Office. Commissioner seconded Todd the motion. All commissioners voted aye and the motion passed.
Consideration Of Minutes For Combined Commission Meeting Held April 6, 2015
Commissioner Burdick motioned to approve the minutes with the necessary corrections. Commissioner Todd seconded the motion. All commissioners voted aye and the motion passed
Other Business
Mayor RoJean Rowley & Duchesne City Council women Carol Thomas joined the meeting at 11:28 A.M.
Mrs. Thomas stated that they would like the county’s help in cleaning up what everyone calls the gun range. It looks like people have been dumping their trash there. The green team for Duchesne City usually cleans it up every year. They plan on doing that again but would like some services from the county since it is in the unincorporated area.
Closed Meeting
Commissioner Todd moved to go into and out of closed session for the purpose of discussing personnel issues at 12:17 P.M. Commissioner Burdick seconded the motion. All commissioners voted aye and the motion passed.