County Commissioner’s Meeting Minutes

July 16, 2021

The meeting was called to order at 8:30 a.m. by Commissioner Goffena. Commissioner Turley and Commissioner Pancratz were present. Minutes were taken by Clerk & Recorder Tomassi.

Pledge of Allegiance.

Commissioner Turley made the motion to approve the agenda as is. Commissioner Pancratz seconded the motion. Motion carried.

Commissioner Pancratz made the motion to approve the July 9, 2021 minutes as corrected. Commissioner Turley seconded the motion to approve minutes as corrected. Motion carried.

Commissioner Goffena discussed that he finished writing a new chapter in the policy and procedure manual that he has been working on for the Victim Witness grant.

Maintenance Supervisor Jett gave her weekly report to the Commissioners. Ms. Jett looked at the new mower that is for sale at Musselshell Valley Equipment and she decided that the mower is way too large for the amount of grass that she cuts at the county buildings. Ms. Jett spoke about the handicap cement slab and a piece of the sidewalk at the Courthouse that needs fixed. The cement slab has divots in it and an employee fell on it so she wants to get it fixed before another accident happens. The Commissioners gave Ms. Jett approval to get estimates regarding the cement repairs. The Courthouse boiler is all put back together except a piece of the exhaust pipe which should be coming in soon. Ms. Jett reported that she will be going on vacation soon and William will be taking over during her absence.

Ruth Mayo joined the commissioners meeting at 9:38 a.m. Ms. Mayo talked about subdividing her property and wanted to know who is on the planning board and when do they meet. Ms. Mayo was informed by an individual that she would not be able to divide her property. The commissioners will check for her regarding the split of her property and what she will need to do. Ms. Mayo also discussed about the decay problem that is in the county and that there needs to be some kind of decay ordinance made within the county. The Commissioners will look into a county decay ordinance.

CFO Kirk and Claims Clerk Schultz discussed the county credit cards and payment process and what changes they have made to make the process run smoother.

Sheriff Lesnik gave his weekly report to the Commissioners. There will be a meeting on Thursday with the forensic auditor. Sheriff Lesnik reported that there was a homicide in Petroleum County and that his officers were called to Petroleum County to help. The suspect is currently in Musselshell County’s jail awaiting psych evaluations. Sheriff Lesnik spoke about the meeting that is going on tonight between the Sheriff’s office, RIDE, Chamber of Commerce and Roundup Rodeo. They will be discussing what worked over the 4th of July festivities and what improvements need to be done for next year.

Fire Warden Russell gave his weekly report to the Commissioners. Mr. Russell spoke about how the incident management teams last day on the fires will be today and then they will transition everything back to the local resources. Once everything is transitioned back to local resources, the incident management team will start moving out of the fairgrounds. Mr. Russell discussed the $899,000 that the county will be receiving from the Coronavirus State & Local Fiscal Recovery Funds, otherwise known as SLT-8487. Most of the funds will be used for updating radios so that all emergency providers within the county will be able to communicate more efficiently.

Mr. Russell had a meeting with Vanessa Hoene yesterday and he forwarded all the current and past floodplain permits to her. Vanessa is now set to assume the floodplain permitting for Musselshell County. The open DES position was discussed and at this point the Commissioners are staying with accepting internal job applications and not going external as of yet.

Treasurer Hetrick gave her quarterly reports to the Commissioners.

County Attorney Peterson stopped in and informed them that he received the disclosures regarding the water rights.

12:00 p.m. was a Department Head meeting at the senior center. Present at said meeting was Commissioner Goffena, Commissioner Turley, Commissioner Pancratz, Treasurer Hetrick, Sheriff Lesnik, CFO Kirk, Clerk & Recorder Tomassi, Fire Warden Russell, Assistant DES Rook, Maintenance Supervisor Jett, County Attorney Peterson and Clerk of Court Halverson.

Not present was Justice of the Peace Marking, Ambulance Supervisor Solberg, County Agent Solf, Road Supervisor Stockert and Weed Controller Beck.

All department heads that were present gave an update on what was currently going on within their departments and what will be coming up in the near future.

2:30 p.m. was public comment on Cameron Road. (The Public meeting requirements were discussed with the affected parties prior to today’s meeting and the public meeting was noticed on the County website) Present at said meeting was Deb Adolph, Virginia Carlson, Morgan Atkins, Karen Merfeld, Vir Merfeld, and Scott Atkins. Commissioner Goffena opened meeting for public comments. The culvert on Cameron Road was discussed regarding when it will be fixed because currently it is not safe to drive on. Ms. Atkins spoke with Superintendent Sealey regarding the possibility of Cameron Road being a school bus route. The question was asked if there will be a public apology to prior Commissioner Borner for the allegations against her regarding Cameron Road. The Commissioner have spoken to Ms. Borner at a previous meeting regarding the issue. There being no other comments Commissioner Goffena closed the public comment meeting regarding Cameron Road.

Commissioner Goffena opened the 3:00 business meeting. The public raised the question that the County Attorney’s $20,000 raise should be in doubt.

Commissioner Pancratz made a motion to sign the 2021-26 resolution establishing Cameron Road a County Road as is, running North and South between Sections 13, 14, 23 & 24, Township 8 North, Range 23 East. Commissioner Turley seconded the motion. Motion carried.

There being no further business, Commissioner Turley made the motion to adjourn. Commissioner Pancratz seconded the motion. Motion carried.