July 14, 2023
The meeting was called to order by Commissioner Turley, Commissioner Pancratz and Commissioner Goffena were present.
Pledge of Allegiance.
Commissioner Goffena made the motion to approve the agenda as is. Commissioner Pancratz seconded the motion. Motion carried.
Commissioner Pancratz made the motion to approve the July7th meeting minutes as written. Commissioner Goffena seconded the motion. Motion carried.
Board meetings.
Commissioner Goffena attended a “Homes on the Range” meeting with Snowy Mountain Development Corp. on Monday July 10, 2023 they went over the SMDC fee schedule.
Commissioner Goffena attended the Bair Collins Advisory Board meeting on Monday July 10, 2023 to discuss the options for utilization. Kansas State University is doing a feasibility study. They need to remember there will be an operational cost for some of the ideas mentioned. Vern Lang is going to be clipping the area.
Commissioner Goffena attended the Central Montana Health Board meeting Thursday July 13m 2023 in Harlowton. They will be charging a per person, per County fee to run the board next fiscal year. They signed a new contract with OneHealth. Todd Harwell and Karry Pride from DPHHS were in attendance also.
Commissioner Pancratz, Commissioner Goffena and Commissioner Turley attended the Department of Revenue meeting where they showed how assessed values are calculated. The State has not reduced their mill levy but the legislature reduced the Rural County mill levies.
Commissioner Turley attend the Refuse Board meeting. The new Contract with Republic was reviewed and remains under negotiation.
Commissioner Turley attended a National Association of Counties (NACO) Opioid Settlement Zoom meeting on July 11, 2023. It was noted that Fentanyl mixed with prescription drugs is a major driver in record fatal overdoses in 2022. Drug overdoses in 1999 were 25,000; in 2022 they were 130,000. Drug use has not notably increased. However, Drug marketing for pain killers has increased substantially, and being noted by Mexican/Central American Cartels who are taking advantage of mixing unapproved addictive drugs with approved drugs. Of major concern are that even if death is prevented with immediate treatment of overdose, permanent organ and brain damage occurs.
Opioid settlement money is being monitored to ensure it is not misspent for purposes unrelated to Opioid mitigation as was the Tabacco Settlement in 1998.
Justice of the Peace Marking met with the Commissioners regarding his meeting with Jon Tester about Veterans and behavior management/mental health. There is a Supreme Court seminar in September. The Memorandum of Understanding with the City for Court Services is still being worked on.
County Agent Solf gave her weekly report to the Commissioners. The 4H Youth Fair is next week July 17 through July 22, 2023. They will have open riding again after the 4H Fair and until the end of September. The fairground ARPA water project will probably begin in the spring of 2024.
Sheriff Lesnik gave his weekly report to the Commissioners. A spreadsheet of wages for the State was given to the Commissioners. Musselshell county is the lowest paid. Longevity was talked about.
CFO Kirk did the DES SIT-REP. Questions were submitted to FEMA regarding the Roundup Land Project but they have not received a reply. There may be a floodplain training panel in November. They put in a reimbursement request for the fire chief stipend with DNRC. There were 3 new addresses this week. They will be submitting final reimbursement for the EMPG FY 2022 grant next week.
Treasurer Hetrick met with the Commissioners to give the Quarterly report and the Cash Reconciliation report.
Victim Witness Advocate Allen met with the Commissioners for signature on the Acceptance Letter and Special Condition Form for the Victim Witness Assistance Program through the Montana Board of Crime Control. Ms. Allen received $131,000.00 this year.
Lynn Lipps, John Karns, Jack Foster and J.P Wegmuller from the Delphia Pines area met with the Commissioners regarding the condition of Delphia Road. Dallas Teini had been in earlier with a list of road issues. Commissioner Turley and Commissioner Goffena are going to meet Mr. Teini Monday, July 17, 2023 to tour the road.
Angie Tatman met with the Commissioners about the fire hydrant at the arena being broken and the ridge around the arena is causing water to sit. They would like to get more sand for the arena.
Public comment:
Theresa Doumitt met with the Commissioners to give an update on the “Welcome Center Kiosk”.
Commissioner Pancratz made the motion to sign the letter to the Coal Board for an extension on the contract MT-CB-CG-23-0922 for the Generator Project that was funded through the Coal Board. Commissioner Goffena seconded the motion. Motion carried.
Commissioner Goffena made the motion to table signing Certificate of Survey 2023-8RB until they got more information. Commissioner Pancratz seconded the motion. Motion carried.
There being no further business Commissioner Pancratz made the motion to adjourn. Commissioner Goffena seconded the motion. Motion carried.
Last modified: July 25, 2023
