RECORD OF THE PROCEEDINGS

OKANOGAN COUNTY

OCTOBER 6, 2020

The Okanogan County Board of Commissioners met for a Regular session at 123 5th Avenue North, Okanogan, Washington on October 6, 2020, with Chairman, Commissioner Jim DeTro; Vice Chairman, Commissioner Chris Branch; and Clerk of the Board, Laleña Johns, present.

Member, Commissioner Andy Hover was absent today for personal reasons.

The full detail of the commissioners’ proceedings was captured via AV Capture video and is available to the public on the county’s website.

Commissioners’ Staff Meeting
Joe Poulin, Naomie Peasley, Pete Palmer

The Clerk of the Board stated the Clerk cancelled her time at 10:0 a.m. today. She stated the Short-Term Recovery group inquired about meeting today at 2:00 p.m.

Joe Poulin provided quotes for the replacement of both floor heat boilers at the Agriplex. Divco $32,221 and Salcido $48,630. Others contacted said they did not wish to provide a quote. Commissioner DeTro thought Commissioner Hover should consider the quotes before a decision is made and he is to return tomorrow. The Big Fan company suggested two fans that are 12-foot fans with variable direct drive for quiet operation and are $5,800 each with the discount and includes installation with about a 4-year or 10-year warranty if they install. We would rent the needed lift. Louvers will be installed in the exhaust vent.

New custodian for the courts and courthouse complex was hired and starts today. Ms. Peasley asked if she could clean her office because no one is doing that. Mr. Poulin said yes, he could work that into her schedule.

Ms. Peasley provided her update. Emergency Management has scheduled a relief meeting like a job fair to discuss individual needs and resources. The tribe was invited to attend, and various other agencies involved with recovery needs and resources. The barns are being emptied and resources disbursed. Commissioner Branch has invited whoever it is to come and tell the board who is involved with the relief after the county is done. If they are seeking an agreement for use of the Fairgrounds in the longer term it will depend on what is involved. A board of directors would be expected to be involved.

Arena is still being requested for use even though there is no water on. There is a monthly fee involved. Winter storage reservations are being processed and one slot is filled. She is looking into better security for the grounds still. All gates are locked, with no more overnight camping allowed. Although three horses will be removed today.

The surplus auction was discussed as well as moving towards an electronic type online auction and designating who would take the photos and put together the item descriptions. The Clerk of the Board stated there is a process through the commissioners for online auction. There are some that deal specifically with government type auctions and that would likely need to be a fair selection process. A lot of the stuff is in the goat barn which could be used for winter storage.

Ms. Peasley discussed the success of the online fair livestock auction. The fair committee conducted their online auction differently than how other counties did there’s.

Commissioners took a short recess at 10:05 a.m.

CANCELLED Update-Superior Court Clerk -Charleen Groomes
The Clerk cancelled her update due to court responsibilities she had to attend to.

Update-Communications-Mike Worden
Central Services Director Karen Beattie

Communications Chief Mike Worden provided his update.

Mr. Worden updated the board on what happened in dispatch and how the fires affected dispatch. There were impacts to our communications infrastructure. Jackass Butte suffered the most damage. He explained no damage happened to the Pitcher Mt site. The NCI datacom building was lost which effected hospital communications. The AT&T building was also lost. The concrete buildings were an excellent option for those. Upgrades will be needed on Pitcher Mt as those agencies will move into our building at around $20,000 shared cost for those entities. Share sites such as Tunk Mt is a log cabin that has been curing for the last 50 years and is a very vulnerable site. Another 20x20 concrete building is being researched on the west side for around $50,000. A crane will be needed for the improvement at Tunk Mt. The cabin there even coated with fire retardant is not ideal. Managing the Forest Service’s permit process may be the most challenging.

Mr. Worden explained when power goes out and phones go down. We only have 9 minutes’ worth of battery power for Central Services. Bids were obtained over the years for a generator and upgrades to Central Services, but were never done after that. $40,000 to $50,000 was quoted but that was just for Central Services. Other critical offices should be considered like Auditor and Treasurer’s office. He would like to proceed with obtaining the quotes for the upgrades. Last week the power went down again in Okanogan. Mr. Worden is talking with Hazard Mitigation program to help fund the Tunk improvements and generator at the courthouse to provide back up power on our critical systems. Next summer before fire season was proposed timeframe. Commissioner Branch suggested through Emergency Management that the All-Hazards Mitigation Plan be updated.

Ms. Beattie stated several old servers went down during the fires and were damaged, we are lucky more critical systems were not damaged. A generator would prevent this.

Mr. Worden explained the discussions with others to use the DOT microwave for third circuit for 911 calls so that it is on a different mechanism. That circuit would run through Tunk Mt. and serves Ferry County. Tunk is a critical site for that. Ms. Beattie explained the cooling system serving Central Services that need to be upgraded. If the water were to be turned off in the City of Okanogan there would be a problem. We are intentionally pumping water into our critical server room to keep it cool, it doesn’t make sense, we need another way to cool it. Mr. Worden is also communicating with USDA for grant/loan funds for a certain amount of the project to be funded by a grant and some by a loan. The Capital Improvement plan should have these improvements listed. Opportunities will continue to be examined keeping in mind our other critical infrastructures of the Auditor. Commissioner Branch stated the prioritization process is underway for Infrastructure funding through Economic Alliance for ranking for SBSA. Mr. Worden stated he has some ball-park preliminary mapping of a project for communication needs. A conceptual design might be helpful as we pursue these efforts. Commissioners felt the efforts discussed today were very worthwhile and made suggestions for obtaining additional funding and make these projects high priority.

Update Public Works-Engineer Josh Thomson
Engineer Thomson provided his agenda and discussed the items listed there.

Solid Waste
Engineer Thomson stated there is a meeting tonight at the fairgrounds to discuss the fire recovery efforts, and he and Solid Waste manager will attend.

Maintenance and Road Conditions
Focusing on grading roads right now and starting dead tree removal in the fire areas.

Bridge deck preservation
Both West Buttermilk bridges were done so now there are five completed. Very happy with the product used.

Bridge B-4 Replacement
Park City loop road consultant agreement will move forward for the design so that agreement will be submitted for commissioners’ signature next week.

The CARES act bars lines are being worked through the Auditor. The MOU will be drafted as well for the CARES ACT funds to Public Works.

Commissioner DeTro discussed Shumway Road because it is half county and half city and there are trees overhanging the road that he was made aware of.

Commissioners asked the Clerk of the Board to continue the two public hearings to later in the afternoon.

The commissioners discussed land use processes.

Public Hearing-Budget Supplemental – Various Juvenile Law Library & BECA Funds
The Clerk of the Board continued the public hearing for budget supplemental to 1:55 p.m.

Public Hearing Budget Supplemental – Coronavirus Relief Funds
The Clerk of the Board continued the public hearing for budget supplemental 2:00 p.m.

Public Comment Period
Isabelle Spohn did not wish to provide comment.

Motion
Commissioner Branch moved to authorize the clerk of the board to pay the maintenance late fee on the maintenance visa bill for September from the maintenance budget. Motion was seconded, all were in favor, motion carried.

Continued Public Hearing-Budget Supplemental – Various Juvenile Law Library & BECA Funds
Commissioner DeTro opened up the public hearing for public to staff and opened up to the public. The Clerk of the Board stated this supplemental was for Juvenile, Law Library, and BECCA and was additional revenue from Administration of the courts.

Motion Resolution 131-2020 Supplemental Appropriation Various Juvenile Law Library & BECA Funds
Commissioner Branch moved to approve resolution 131-2020 a supplemental appropriation to the Juvenile budget, Law library and BECCA budgets with use of Administration of the Courts funds and Contingency Reserve funds in the amount of $20,793. Motion was seconded, all were in favor, motion carried.

Continued Public Hearing Budget Supplemental – Coronavirus Relief Funds
Commissioner DeTro opened up the hearing to staff. The Clerk of the Board stated these are from the county’s first A19 to reimburse for COVID-19 public health measures not previously budgeted for and included funds going to small businesses affected by COVID-19 through Economic Alliance as the subrecipient.

Motion Resolution 132-2020 Coronavirus Relief Funds
Commissioner Branch moved to approve resolution 132-2020 a budget supplemental appropriation within in the amount of $705,129.37to reimburse for COVID-19 public health measures not previously budgeted for and includes funds going to small businesses affected by COVID-19 through Economic Alliance. Motion was seconded, all were in favor, motion carried.

Discussion Cold Springs Fire Long Term Recovery and Short-Term Recovery Groups Fire Relief
Maurice Goodall, Kathy Powers, Kory Heindselman, Naomie Peasley, and Carlene Andrews

Mr. Goodall stated this meeting was to go over the transition of the county’s Fire short-term relief to the long-term disaster relief groups and discuss what is needed for that. The County’s response portion the fairgrounds is tapering down and it is no longer accepting items at the grounds but referring them to the short-term disaster relief groups and anything remaining will be turned over to the relief groups attending here today. Ms. Peasley said Home Depot has obtained T-posts which was a major need and best use of funds. They will need to be picked up and delivered.

Carlene Andrews explained she would like to secure two buildings at the fairgrounds when they start the disaster relief intakes in November 1 for appliances and lumber donations storage through June of 2021 so the group has a chance to collect those things and have a place to put them. Ms. Peasley stated there are events already scheduled in the spring in some of the buildings. A separate group, Okanogan Fire Watch Group is apparently working to provide relief for those affected by the Palmer Fire.

EPA is not doing anything, Ecology will evaluate on the reservation, said Mr. Goodall. Concrete disposal and the need for Public Health to okay onsite burial was discussed by Ms. Powers. Mr. Goodall stated many homes were not insured. Mr. Heindselman stated items will be disbursed directly to those in need. Ms. Andrews said if there is a big load the group of donations the group will figure it out from there.

Ms. Powers explained her disaster relief group will have an official name, will be insured, have an official board and they will apply for the 501c3 nonprofit status. They will keep it going rather than deactivate and then reactivate when a disaster happens. Ms. Andrews wanted to ensure help was in place for clean up within the declaration as she really feels there is a need beyond use of volunteers. Concerned we won’t have things cleaned up by spring when the rebuild needs to be done then waiting till the declaration is done. Ms. Powers stated the resolution allows verified landowners to bring debris to the land fill too.

Ms. Powers stated if roll off bins were strategically placed in the burn area then landowners would be more inclined to clean up their land and put the trash in them. Commissioner DeTro stated the county only has so many bins for the county’s regular needs.


Motion Resolution 134-2020 Sole Source Whole Body Scanner Purchase
Commissioner Branch moved to approve resolution 134-2020 approving the sole source vendor Tek84 for purchase of the whole-body scanner that allows the county to comply with public health COVID-19 compliance measures. Motion was seconded, all were in favor, motion carried.

Approve Commissioners Proceedings September 28, 29 and 30 2020
Commissioner Branch moved to approve commissioners’ proceedings of September 28, 29, and 30, 2020. Motion was seconded, all were in favor, motion carried.

Approve Consent Agenda
Commissioner Branch moved to approve the consent agenda item 1. Motion was seconded, all were in favor, motion carried.
1. Joint Resolution CE20-60 NCR Library District Appointment-Ms. Deborah Moore Douglas Co


The board adjourned at 3:00 p.m.