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Commissioner Minutes April 2, 2018

April 11, 2018

April 2, 2018

The meeting was called to order at 9:00 by Commissioner Goffena. Commissioner Berry was present.  Commissioner Borner was absent due to illness.

There was a personnel issue.

Road and Bridge Supervisor Stockert and Secretary Kenner gave their weekly report to the Commissioners. They have been assessing culvert installation for roads that had run off but can’t do a lot with the mud. Accounting is going to be working on compensation for working Holidays. April 5 they will be having their Basic Wildland refresher course.  Residents are requesting the Road Department repair fences damaged by snow being pushed off the road. They are not responsible for weather related damage.  The commissioners are going to meet with the Road Department on April 16, 2018 at 3:45.

Sheriff Thomas and Under Sheriff Lesnik gave their weekly report to the Commissioners. Mr. Lesnik has been looking at the numbers for a 110 bed facility, keeping 10 for themselves and leasing out all the others. It will be a jail and not a prison.  They are going to talk to other Counties that have recently built a jail to ask what their process was and if they have noticed any problems with the community.  They are going to be looking at different avenues for funding e.g.: Inter- Cap and the Old Farmers Home Administration.

Accounting Supervisor Angel gave her weekly report to the Commissioners. Ms. Angel told the Commissioners that they need to come up with Memorandum of Understanding with any entity that will be using the Musselshell County Central Commons. This will include utilities, cleaning and snow removal and such. There should be a meeting with the Board of Directors and possibly the County Attorney by the end of April.  There also should be a Fee system for public use. Ms. Angel told the Commissioners that we are $275,405.10 into the Counties portion of the Senior Service Grant. There will be a conference call at 2:00 with FEMA and Flood Plain people.

DES Coordinators Fisher and Russell gave their weekly report to the Commissioners. They are still waiting on one appraisal for the PDM (pre disaster mitigation) Program. They clarified that the 10 business days to make and offer for the properties was incorrect. They are obtaining permits for the demo for the FMA (flood mitigation assistance) and HMPG (hazard mitigation grant program) properties. There will be a conference call with DES and Flood Plain Management at 2:00 P.M.

Mark Qualman with Quest Service Corp. gave his weekly report to the Commissioners. They will not be able to do the roof at the Musselshell County Central Commons this week due to the weather. This will push project completion back approximately 1 week.  Mr. Qualman think there should be a structural engineer inspection of the jail. Mr. Qualman reviewed the Statements of Qualifications for engineering at the Roundup Municipal Airport and gave the Commissioners his recommendation.  The high energy bill for the Commons was discussed. Mr. Qualman thinks that the high bill is due to the electric heater that were needed for the dry wall tape and in the contract it says that utilities will be paid by the owner.

 

There was a phone conference with Nadene Wadsworth State Hazard Mitigation Officer for DES, Tiffany Lyden and Traci Sears with the DNRC Flood Plain Management Program and Kyle Spurgill-Simon Assistant State Hazard Mitigation Officer for DES. DES Officers Fisher and Russell, Amy Angel, Charles and Irene Carson were also present. Ms. Sears said one of the reasons they were calling is because of the recent change in Flood Plain Administrators.  As of now Commissioner Goffena is the acting Administrator because he is Chairman of the Board. Commissioner Berry suggested using WWC Engineering if needed. Ms. Wadsworth cautioned that then WWC could not work with Federal grants later.  Mr. Russel has been trying to reach out to Fergus County but has not had a call back yet. In preparing for the controlled burn on April 22, 2018 there needs to be a notice in the paper 15 days prior and the surrounding property owners need made aware.    Mr. Russell is sending the applications in today.  The template for the notice will be sent to the Clerk & Recorder. (County Attorney Peterson entered the meeting)  Ms. Lyden had sent the new preliminary Flood Plain maps to the Commissioners to keep the project moving forward.  There will need to be a public review period and 90 day comment and appeal period from mid-September to mid-December, all comments will be sent to DNRC and FEMA.  FEMA will be doing the final maps to be in effect December of 2019.  Ms. Wadsworth wanted to talk about the salvaging from the Stagestop & Eiseleins.  There will be no litigation for the salvage because it is not illegal. Mr. Russell has a calculator that is a great tool.  Mr. Russell and the County Attorney will get together and form a plan on how much to take off of what was salvaged.  Anything that is salvaged before purchase will be taken off of the appraisal amount and Ms. Wadsworth said to defiantly let the sellers know that up front.  Any salvage after purchase they will have to follow the Annotated Laws.  Ms. Sears told the Commissioners that there are 3 Flood Plain violations.  The first one was for the Boot Shop, someone ran into the building and the owner put some walls back up without getting a permit, since this was not the owners fault the County can waive the fee.  Mr. Fisher and Mr. Russel will help the owner do what is needed. County Attorney Peterson told them that the damage was a result of criminal activity and is part of a criminal case.  The owner put the walls up so the evidence didn’t deteriorate. It does not appear to be a substantial damage or improvement situation.  Ms. Sears said they will still need to fill out the permit but it is justifiable. The second violation was the Lekse property. They need to get the cement and rebar off of the river bank that was just dropped in the river during the 2011 flood land not engineered or keyed-in and get a permit for the activity. The third violation is where an owner moved a structure out of the Flood Plain and moved another structure on the property.  This is an active violation. County Attorney Peterson asked what enforcement? Mr. Peterson said that State Laws for public nuisance are at odds and unconstitutional and really effect the program. The Statutes need to be redone. Ms. Sears said that they have to have enforcement and she would like to know more about this. Ms. Sears suggested talking to MACo and look into the 1316 Federal Process.  It is not easy to get and is a lot of work.  (KJ Kuzara, Ronnie Burns, Troy Evans, Dave Liggett and Danny McCaffree entered the meeting)   If we do not move forward with working on these violations it will jeopardize everyone else. There may possibly be a 4th violation for someone who lives next to the previous violation property.  The County has to move forward and do the process of enforcement.  Ms. Angel asked when they need the intent letter to get the money for a purchase up front. Ms. Wadsworth said at the very beginning of a quarter for the match.  Ms. Wadsworth stressed that we need to do the purchase and demo in the same quarter.  Mr. Carson said he is wanting to build a new home on property he owns that is in the flood plain.  Mr. Carson asked what is the elevation needed to be out of the flood plain? Ms. Lyden said that he can use the new maps to try to figure it out.  Mr. Russell suggested getting in touch with Susan Lamphier with Central Montana Health District for septic system requirements.

Public comment:

  1. K. Kuzara, Ronnie Burns, Dave Liggett, Danny McCaffree, Gary Van Dyke, Troy Evans and Tana Pinkerton-Cates were present.

There was no public comment.

Item #1 to discuss and approve that agenda items should be approved following the close

of the current Monday business for the following week was removed from the table by

Commissioner Berry and seconded by Commissioner Goffena.  Item #2 to discuss and approve the notice regarding regulation of public comments during Commissioner meeting was removed from the table by Commissioner Berry and second by Commissioner Goffena. These items will be replaced by a Resolution from the County Attorney. Item #7 to decide on making a commitment to the Sheriff’s Office to back them on a Federal grant for an Extra officer was tabled by Commissioner Goffena until there is more information.  Commissioner Berry seconded the motion.

 

Commissioner Berry made the motion to accept the July 2018 Final Renewal Rates from MACo. Commissioner Goffena second the motion.  Motion carried.

 

Commissioner Berry made the motion to accept and sign Resolution 2018-10 Resolving the Interest of the County of Musselshell to Acknowledge and Support the “Snowy Mountain Development Corporation” EDA Application for Revolving Loan Funds. Commissioner Goffena second the motion.  Motion carried.

 

The Commissioner reviewed the Musselshell County Treasurer Quarterly Report ending December 31, 2017.

 

Commissioner Berry made the motion to include an extra $1,500.00 to the Commons budget to allow Brian Johnson of Collaborative Design to start coming up every week to check on the progress of the Musselshell County Central Commons. Commissioner Goffena second the motion.  Motion carried.

 

Commissioner Berry made the motion to sign the Service Provider Designation Form for Earmarked Alcohol Tax Money submitted by the Department of Public Health and Human Services. Commissioner Goffena second the motion.  Motion carried.

 

The business meeting is adjourned.

 

March payroll = $107,456.48                                                   Check # = 23182 – 23212

March Claims = $478,147.59                                                   Check # = 62977 – 63159

Last modified: March 4, 2019

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