MINUTES OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS MEETING |
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| STATE OF WYOMING | ) | OFFICE OF THE BOARD OF |
| ) | COUNTY COMMISSIONERS | |
| COUNTY OF HOT SPRINGS | ) | THERMOPOLIS WYOMING |
| May 17, 2011 | ||
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The Hot Springs Board of County Commissioners met in regular session on Tuesday, May 17,
2011 at 3:00 p.m. in the Commissioners Room at the Government Annex.
Present were Commissioners John P. Lumley, Brad Basse and Mike Baker. Also present were
County Attorney Jerry Williams, County Clerk Hans Odde and Administrative Assistant to the
Commissioners Penny Herdt.
Chairman Lumley led those present in the Pledge of Allegiance. Approval of Agenda Mike Baker moved to approve the agenda as presented. Brad Basse seconded the motion. Motion carried unanimously. Executive Session After a brief discussion in open session regarding progress on the new airport, Brad Basse moved to enter Executive Session to discuss land acquisition at 3:15 p.m. Mike Baker seconded the motion. Motion carried unanimously. Those present during the Executive Session were Commissioners Lumley, Basse and Baker, Clerk Odde, Admin Herdt, and GDA representatives Dusty Spomer, Jeremy Gilb, Rick Patton and Joel Peckham with Worldwide Consultants. Brad Basse moved to leave Executive Session at 4:20 p.m. Mike Baker seconded the motion. Motion carried unanimously. No action was taken during the Executive Session. Airport Update Jeremy Gilb reported that GDA received a phone call yesterday from the FAA requesting that the County amend its current grant application to include amounts originally budgeted for 2011 as well as amounts originally planned to be requested in 2012. Mike Baker moved to approve the modified grant application for the chairman’s signature. Brad Basse seconded the motion. Discussion: The amount requested in the FAA grant application is being changed from $1.7 million to $4 million, with an anticipated award amount of $3.6-$3.8 million. This would not be an increase in requested funding, just an acceleration in receipt of the funding. The expectation would then be that no further money would be received in 2012. The amount of this year’s State WYDOT grant and the County’s share would remain unchanged. Motion carried unanimously. At this time, GDA would like to schedule a 50% Design Review Meeting to be attended by the Commissioners and GDA, with a teleconference to include FAA and WYDOT representatives. The Commissioners agreed to schedule the meeting from 2:00-4:00 p.m. on May 24th. Mr. Gilb notified the Commissioners that he will be submitting the agreement for the up-front fee for the primary power provider at the June 7th meeting. Commissioner Basse reported that he felt his attendance at the regional FAA conference was well worth the time and money spent in terms of information gained and contacts made. Consider County Health Insurance Administrator Brad Johnson, the County’s insurance consultant, appeared before the Commissioners to present options for the third party administrator (TPA) contract which comes up for renewal on July 1, 2011. A change in ownership has resulted in ongoing problems with the administration of the County’s insurance claims by MBA, the current TPA. Mr. Johnson has obtained proposals 1 from two other TPA’s and recommended that the County consider switching to Allegiance when the current contract with MBA expires. After consideration of the options presented by Mr. Johnson, Brad Basse moved to change the Third Party Administrator of record from MBA to Allegiance Benefit Plan Management, Inc. effective July 1, 2011, per the proposal presented by Covenant Insurance Group. Mike Baker seconded the motion. Motion carried unanimously. On a separate note, the Commissioners asked Mr. Johnson for his recommendation regarding the High-Deductible HSA match amount. Mr. Johnson indicated that HSA plans that included an employer-match component generally were much more successful than those that did not include one, but was reluctant to recommend a specific dollar figure in light of the inadequate reports being received from the current TPA. After further discussion, Mr. Johnson recommended continuing the match program at last year’s levels — a $500.00 Incentive payment for those currently enrolled in the HSA plan and all new enrollees in the HSA plan as well as an on-going match of up to $500.00 annually for participants. The Commissioners will take this recommendation under consideration as they work on next year’s budget. Community Wildfire Protection Plan Rural Fire District representatives Jay Duvall and Jim Cowger presented the Commissioners with the Hot Springs County Community Wildfire Protection Plan. This plan was developed over the last year with Homeland Security funds in response to emerging requirements for federal and state grants. The plan is not a binding, financial agreement, but rather an outline identifying communities-at-risk within the county and a guide to prioritizing and managing those risks and how fires will be addressed if they occur. The data is also available in a digital format to allow for easy updating as required. After a review of the document by Mr. Duvall and Mr. Cowger, Brad Basse moved authorization of the Chairman’s signature on the Declaration of Agreement & Concurrence for the HSC Community Wildfire Protection Plan. Mike Baker seconded the motion. Motion carried unanimously. Public Health Nurse Documents Public Health Nurse Bree Gerber reported that Tom Forslund has been appointed as the new director of the State Department of Health. Ms. Gerber presented two documents for the Commissioners’ review and signature. As the County Attorney has not yet reviewed the documents, they were tabled to the June 7, 2011 Commissioners meeting for approval. Tax Rebates Assessor Shelley Deromedi presented the following rebates for the Commissioners’ approval. Rebate #8-11— DOR NOVC 2011-0266 — Wyo-Ben Inc - 2007 Parcel #0438— Bentonite mined in Hot Springs County during 2006 — DOR issued a final determination notice to Wyo-Ben as the result of an audit conducted by the Dept of Audit on discrepancies discovered in the reporting of bentonite production resulting in overall taxable value credit for tax year 2007 in the amount of 5. Taxes in the amount of only $0.35 need to be rebated. Rebate #9-11— DOR NOVC 2011-0266 — Wyo-Ben Inc - 2008 Parcel #0438— Bentonite mined in Hot Springs County during 2007 — DOR issued a final determination notice to Wyo-Ben as the result of an audit conducted by the Dept of Audit on discrepancies discovered in the reporting of bentonite production resulting in overall taxable value credit for tax year 2008 in the amount of 144. Taxes in the amount of $10.25 need to be rebated. Rebate #10-11— DOR NOVC 2011-0266 — Wyo-Ben Inc - 2009 Parcel #0438— Bentonite mined in Hot Springs County during 2008 — DOR issued a final determination notice to Wyo-Ben as the result of an audit conducted by the Dept of Audit on discrepancies discovered in the reporting of bentonite production resulting in overall taxable value credit for tax year 2009 in the amount of 1105. Taxes in the amount of $74.07 need to be rebated. Rebate #11-11— DOR NOVC 2011-0266 — Wyo-Ben Inc - 2010 Parcel #0438— Bentonite mined in Hot Springs County during 2009 — DOR issued a final determination notice to Wyo-Ben as the 2 result of an audit conducted by the Dept of Audit on discrepancies discovered in the reporting of bentonite production resulting in overall taxable value credit for tax year 2010 in the amount of 65,032. Taxes in the amount of $4,204.64 need to be rebated. Brad Basse moved approval of rebates #8-11, 9-11, 10-11 and 11-11 to Wyo-Ben, Inc. in the amounts of $0.35, $10.25, $74.07 and $4,204.64, respectively. Mike Baker seconded the motion. Discussion: Commissioner Baker expressed his feeling that the legislature ought to act to eliminate the necessity of processing rebates for less than $50.00 in view of the time and effort involved in processing rebates for less than that amount. Motion carried unanimously. County Abstract Assessor Deromedi presented the Commissioners with the completed Annual Abstract showing the assessed value of taxable property within each district in the County. BLM RMP Review Period Extension The Commissioners received a memo from the Natural Resource Planning Committee recommending that they take action to formally request the BLM to extend the public review and comment period for the Draft Bighorn Basin Resource Management Plan from 90 to 180 days (90 day extension). Chairman Lumley indicated that the consensus among the four counties and the consultant hired by the counties was that a ninety-day extension was unlikely to be granted and a thirty-day extension request had more chance of being considered. Mike Baker moved to request an additional 30 days after the initial 90 days allowed for public review and comment from the BLM for the Draft Bighorn Basin Resource Management Plan. Brad Basse seconded the motion. Discussion: Chairman Lumley supported the request for an additional 30 days in view of the size of the document and the importance of developing meaningful and valid comments. Motion carried unanimously. Other Business WYDOT Phase I & II Cooperative Agreement — Amendment 1 — Lane 3 Project — Clerk Odde reviewed the Amendment, which adds Phase III to the Lane 3 project. All the easements for the Phase III section have been signed, so the County Attorney is comfortable with signing and submitting the amendment at this time. Mike Baker moved to approve Amendment #1 to the Industrial Roads Cooperative Agreement for State Project IRP 0.00 CN15020 between Hot Springs County and WYDOT. Brad Basse seconded the motion. Motion carried unanimously. HSC Conservation District Election Costs Relief Request — Clerk Odde presented a letter from the Hot Springs County Conservation District requesting relief from election costs billed to them by the County Clerk as allowed in state statutes. The amount of the bill in question is $640.00. Election cost relief has been granted to the Conservation District on occasion in the past. Mike Baker moved to approve election cost relief for the Conservation District in the amount of $640.00. John Lumley seconded the motion for purposes of discussion. Motion carried with Baker and Lumley voting aye and Basse voting nay. Approval of Bid Specifications for Courthouse Cabling Project — Clerk Odde presented the bid specification documents for the Courthouse Cabling project for the Commissioners’ approval. Clerk Odde indicated that he has been contacted by different contractors interested in bidding on the project asking that they be notified when the project is ready for bids. Mike Baker moved to approve the bid package as presented, with bids due to the Clerk’s Office by 4:00 p.m. on June 21, 2011, to be opened and the contract awarded at 4:10 p.m. at the Commissioners meeting held on June 21, 2011. Brad Basse recused himself from voting as he prepared the documents. John Lumley seconded the motion. Motion carried unanimously. Clerk Odde was directed to place ads in the Independent Record and to contact the firms who have asked to be notified when the project was ready for bidding. Correspondence 3 Governor’s Office — Federal Natural Resource Policy Account Request Approval Fair Board Minutes Library Board Minutes Wyoming Game & Fish — AIS Meeting Dates Lovell Economic Development — Asset Based Community Development Workshop Dates Thermopolis FFA — FFA Banquet Invitation HSC Assessor — 2011 Valuation Estimate State Liquor Division — Sales Tax Delinquency Notification — Flying Dutchman - The County Attorney will write a letter to the owner requesting them to come into compliance, and will report back at the June 7, 2011 Commissioners meeting. Airport Activity Report — April, 2011 The Commissioners reviewed the foregoing correspondence and action was taken as noted. Adjournment There being no further business to come before the Board of County Commissioners at this time, Mike Baker moved to adjourn. Chairman Lumley declared the meeting adjourned at 5:55 | ||
| Attest: | ||
| John P. Lumley, Chairman | Hans Odde, Clerk to the Board | |
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