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1991-12337-Minutes for Meeting April 24,1991 Recorded 5/7/199191-1233' 0106 1087 MINUTES` DESCHUTES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS,, > April 24, 1991 AY Chairman Maudlin opened the meeting at 10 a.m. Boac} rs in attendance were Dick Maudlin, Tom Throop and Nancy Pope i`gen. Also present were: Rick Isham, County Counsel; Ka en Green, Community Development Director; Brad Chalfant, Property Manager; George Read, Planning Director; and Mike Maier, County Administrator. 1. LAND TRADE WITH LEONARD DOWNS GROUP Before the Board was a request from the Leonard Downs group that the County consider exchanging some property with them. They had already exchanged some property with the County but were unhappy with the exchange. Brad Chalfant said the original exchange was conducted in December of 1990. The County acquired approximately 10 acres of wet lands in the LaPine area and, in exchange, the County transferred two lots (one substantive and the other a strip of land adjacent to it) in the City of Redmond to the Leonard Downs group. The exchange was completed, however the Downs group had some problems bringing a water line to the property, and therefore wanted to make another exchange with the County. Given the current work load in County Counsel's office, and the amount of work another exchange would create, he could not recommend going ahead with another exchange. Commissioner Throop asked who had requested the original exchange of properties? Rick Isham said the Downs group made the request for the land exchange. Dick Maudlin asked if the wet lands which the County received was buildable property. Brad Chalfant said that after meeting with the planners and the appraiser, he understood the property was unbuildable. Leonard Downs, 1462 S 12th Street, Redmond, testified that he had requested the exchange a couple of years ago. They had some wet lands in the LaPine area which was a "burden" to them. Their LaPine property was free and clear, and they assumed they had traded for the same thing. However, after the trade, they found out that it would cost $14,000 to have the city water connected to this property. The property was assessed at $9,000+. After Brad Chalfant contacted the City of Redmond, they reduced the cost of water hookup to $7,500. They didn't feel even that amount was fair because the land they had traded to the County was "free and clear," and they had assumed the property they were getting in Redmond was also "free and clear." KE UNCHED PAGE 1 MINUTES: 4/24/91 0,106 1088 A Commissioner Schlangen asked if the property the County had received in the exchange had been developed with water or sewer? Leonard Downs said the land the County received in the exchange was right on the river, was swamp land, and couldn't be developed, which was why they didn't want the property. Commissioner Throop said that since Mr. Downs proposed the trade, and the County took the time and energy to complete the exchange, he felt that "a deal was a deal." Leonard Downs felt the County should have told them there was a water assessment on the property in Redmond. Commissioner Schlangen pointed out that there was no assessment on the lot. She said there was a cost to bring water to the lot which was true of any lot being developed in the City. Leonard Downs said the cost of hooking up to the water and sewer in downtown Redmond was only $2,600. Commissioner Throop pointed out that the cost of a lot in downtown Redmond was probably $15,000 also. Leonard Downs said they thought the water was right near the property and would take only the normal hook up fee. Chairman Maudlin said there was water at the back of the lot, but the City maintained that it couldn't be used. He pointed out that hooking up the water would increase the value of the lot in Redmond, while the value of the wet lands property "was nil." He did not want to have the County staff spend time on another trade, however, he would not have an objection if the Downs group want to call off the original exchange. Commissioner Throop asked if Mr. Downs wanted to cancel the exchange and get the LaPine property back. Leonard Downs said he'd discuss it with the rest of the group. Commissioner Schlangen said that if they brought water to the Redmond lot, it would have a greater value should they want to sell it. Mr. Downs said yes, but it would be $7,500 less than what they thought they would have. Commissioner Schlangen said that the LaPine property would bring them no revenue. Mr. Downs said that didn't have anything to do with it, and they felt they had been misled by the City of Redmond because they weren't told about the increased water hook up fees. PAGE 2 MINUTES: 4/24/91 0106 1089 Rick Isham said in order to reverse the exchange, the Board would have to make a finding that the marsh land on the river was not needed for public use, and the County's own ordinance said it was needed, and that the County should retain it. He felt the property would not be available to "undo" the exchange unless there was some legal basis not dependent on the County's exchange statutes, and he was not aware of any such legal basis. He could only think of two possible options: (1) leave the exchange as is and leave it up to the Downs partnership to show a basis which would allow the exchange to be set aside, or (2) to look at another exchange. Chairman Maudlin said it was a decision that the Downs group would have to make. 2. PUBLIC HEARING: ORDER 91-054 TRANSFERRING TWO PROPERTIES TO ADMINISTRATIVE SCHOOL DISTRICT #1 Before the Board was a public hearing on Order 91-054 transferring two pieces of property to the Administrative School District #1 for public purposes. Brad Chalfant said that this was part of the exchange involving the County's transfer of two properties on 27th Street and property on Cooley Road to the School District. In exchange, the County would receive the parking lot behind the Bend Library; the LaPine Park and Recreation District would receive the White School; and the Bend Metro Park and Recreation District would receive a 40-acre parcel on Cooley Road. Chairman Maudlin opened the public hearing. There being no one who wished to testify, the public hearing was closed. THROOP: I'll move approval of the exchange. SCHLANGEN: Second. VOTE: THROOP: YES SCHLANGEN: YES MAUDLIN: YES 3. PUBLIC HEARING: RESOLUTION 91-012 ADOPTING COUNTY FEES Before the Board was a public hearing on Resolution 91-012 adopting and continuing fees and charges for County services. Rick Isham said there would be an additional Health Department fee for out-of-County participants in the County's HealthyStart Program for prenatal care. Since number of these Counties received payment from the State for prenatal services, he recommended that the County not enter into a PAGE 3 MINUTES: 4/24/91 0106 1090 contract with other counties but charge a referral fee for the service up to a maximum of $1,400 but on average $700. Chairman Maudlin opened the public hearing. There was no one who wished to testify. Chairman Maudlin questioned whether there were fee increases in the Resolution for solid waste. Since a representative from Public Works was not at this public hearing, the public hearing was continued one week to May 1, 1991. 4. NI-LAH-SHA MOBILE HOME DEVELOPMENT Commissioner Throop said that the parties had reached an agreement which was satisfactory to the applicant, the attorney, and the County which was to phase in the road improvement costs. 5. AMENDMENT #26 TO 19889-91 MENTAL HEALTH AGREEMENT Before the Board was approval of Amendment #26 to the 1989-91 Mental Health Intergovernmental Agreement. SCHLANGEN: I move approval of Amendment #26. THROOP: I'll second the motion. VOTE: THROOP: YES SCHLANGEN: YES MAUDLIN: YES 6. APPROVAL OF TERMS FOR CYSC ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEMBERS AND ONE CYSC MEMBER Before the Board was a request from the Deschutes County Children and Youth Services Commission for Board approval of the terms for one CYSC member and all members of the advisory committees (attached). SCHLANGEN: I move approval of the terms of the Children & Youth Services Commission Advisory Committee members. THROOP: I'll second the motion. VOTE: THROOP: YES SCHLANGEN: YES MAUDLIN: YES PAGE 4 MINUTES: 4/24/91 0106 1091 7. GOLF COURSE ON EFU LANDS Karen Green came before the Board to discuss a request from the Department of Land Conservation and Development that a representative from Deschutes County participate in a working group to study the issue of Golf Courses on EFU lands, which had become very controversial. Because of Deschutes County's abundant golf courses and golf course applications, DLCD felt it would be helpful to have someone from Deschutes County participating in the working group. She felt the time commitment would be minimal, and that it was an important project for the County. The purpose of the working group was to develop alternatives and recommendations for the Legislature. Golf courses were currently permitted as conditional uses in EFU lands, which was being questions as an appropriate use for primary farm lands. Commissioner Throop said he had chaired the LCDC subcommittee on the golf course issue. The subcommittee directed the staff to form a working group to put together recommendations that would go to the LCDC and the Legislature. They identified Deschutes and Washington as the most important counties to participate in this working group. The golf course industry and the agriculture community would also be represented on this working committee. The Board approved the County's participation in this working group. 8. ACCEPTANCE OF DEDICATION FOR COOLEY ROAD Before the Board was the dedication on the property which the County was transferring to the school district. Brad Chalfant said that Cooley Road had not been dedicated along that section, which needed to be done before the transfer. MAUDLIN: I would entertain a motion for approval of the dedication. THROOP: So moved. SCHLANGEN: Second. VOTE: THROOP: YES SCHLANGEN: YES MAUDLIN: YES PAGE 5 MINUTES: 4/24/91 0106 1092 9. 10. 11. EXCHANGE OF PROPERTY WITH CITY OF REDMOND AND DESCHUTES FAIR ASSOCIATION Before the Board was a letter of understanding between the City of Redmond, Deschutes County Fair Association, the Fair Board and Deschutes County. Brad Chalfant said that in the agreement, the County would provide land south of the Redmond airport for the Fair Association to relocate the Deschutes County Fairgrounds. The land use application and site planning which this would require were fairly extensive. The Fair Board had a surveyor who was starting to work on that aspect, and this agreement would outline how much each party would pay for the work. The County's share would be picked up by the City of Redmond in exchange for the transfer of a small portion of the involved property to the City. THROOP: I'll move signature of the Letter of Understanding. SCHLANGEN: And I will second it. VOTE: THROOP: YES SCHLANGEN: YES MAUDLIN: YES RESOLUTION 91-032 DECLARING SURPLUS PERSONAL PROPERTY Before the Board was signature of Resolution 91-032 declaring personal property surplus and directing disposition. Rick Isham said the Mental Health Department wanted to transfer some personal property from their department to the County Children's Foundation, an Oregon non-profit corporation which operated children and youth programs. THROOP: I'll move signature of Resolution 91-032. SCHLANGEN: Second. VOTE: THROOP: YES SCHLANGEN: YES MAUDLIN: YES RESOLUTIONS 91-030 AND 91-031 APPROPRIATING GRANT FUNDS Before the Board was signature of Resolution 91-030 appropriating new grant funds received from the State Mental Health Division, and Resolution 91-031 transferring the appropriations within the Mental Health Services Fund. SCHLANGEN: I'd move signature of Resolutions 91-030 and 91-031. THROOP: Second the motion. PAGE 6 MINUTES: 4/24/91 VOTE: THROOP: YES 0106 1093 SCHLANGEN: YES MAUDLIN: YES 12. APPOINTMENT TO MUNICIPAL GOLF COURSE STEERING COMMITTEE Before the Board was appointment of Glenn Reed to the Municipal Golf Course Steering Committee. THROOP: I'll move the Glenn Reed appointment. SCHLANGEN: Second. VOTE: THROOP: YES SCHLANGEN: YES MAUDLIN: YES 13. LIQUOR APPLICATION FOR FRED'S DINER Before the Board was chair signature of Liquor License Application for Fred's Diner at Fred Meyer in Bend. THROOP: I'll move chair signature of the liquor license application for Fredy's. SCHLANGEN: Second. VOTE: THROOP: YES SCHLANGEN: YES MAUDLIN: YES 14. WEEKLY WARRANT VOUCHERS Before the Board were weekly bills in the amount of $195,286.33. THROOP: Move signature subject to review. SCHLANGEN: Second. VOTE: THROOP: YES SCHLANGEN: YES MAUDLIN: YES 15. CENKOR LOAN Bruce White said an arrangement had been worked out so that Deschutes County's loan to CENKOR would be repaid. CENKOR had gone out of business, and instead of filing bankruptcy, they worked out an agreement whereby some unsecured creditors would be assigned all of CENKOR's interest in all of its assets, which was called an Assignment for the Benefit of the PAGE 7 MINUTES: 4/24/91 0106 1094 Creditors. These creditors were acting as trustees for all creditors and an arrangement had been worked out that the County's loan (of $41,000+) would be repaid. The drill bit inventory was being sold, and the purchaser's down payment would be sufficient to pay off the County's loan. As part of the agreement, the County needed to release its security interest in the tooling. That release would not be filed until the County had a certified check in hand which should be available by the end of the week. THROOP: I'll move chair signature of the closing agreements to finalize the CENKOR loan payoff and all the legal attachments required. SCHLANGEN: Second. VOTE: THROOP: YES SCHLANGEN: YES MAUDLIN: YES 16. COUNTY EMPLOYEE WORK SCHEDULE Before the Board was consideration of a work schedule for County employees whose employment impacted the General Fund. Commissioner Throop stated that the majority opinion from the management team meeting was that a flexible scheduling approach would be the appropriate model to use in adjusting to a 36-hour workweek. A standard system throughout the County probably would not meet the needs of the departments, the public, or individual employees, and therefore, the County should move toward flexible scheduling to balance these needs. County employees were being required to take a 10% cut in wages and hours in order to recover the 10% in the personnel services budget necessary to balance the budget for the next fiscal year. The County wanted to strive to provide the highest quality of service to the public even with the significant cut backs on the amount of hours that employees would work for the County. Flexible scheduling would also be the best method for meeting the individual needs of both the departments and employees, and would avoid layoffs and help preserve the employee base in Oregon's fastest growing County. THROOP: I would like to move that the County Commission adopt a flexible scheduling approach to implementing a 36-hour workweek, if in fact that's what's finally adopted, and that during the first couple of weeks of May, we work with individual department heads to define those individual schedules for individual departments and buildings, and then eventually to have a schedule County-wide that we'll operate on next fiscal year. PAGE 8 MINUTES: 4/24/91 0106 1095 MAUDLIN: I'll second the motion for discussion. Chairman Maudlin recommended that it be made clear to everybody what "flexible scheduling" meant. He questioned whether what was being considered was really a flexible schedule or just different departments being on different schedules. For an example, he said that the Courthouse held the Treasurer, Data Processing, District Attorney, and eventually the Sheriff. He felt the District Attorney could operate on a flexible schedule and be closed to the public on Friday, the Treasurer could be closed on Friday and Data Processing, while it would have to be staffed if other County operations were open, could be closed to the public on Friday. Therefore, the Courthouse building could be closed on Friday. Whereas, since the Community Development Department would be open in the Administration Building, the remainder of the building would probably be open too. However, the building which would house the Veterans Office, OSU Extension and the Assessor, could be closed on Fridays or work a flexible schedule, whichever way they wanted to handle it. The Library was unique and would have to come up with their own plan. The Health and Mental Health Department had expressed their desire to work a flexible schedule because of their funding problems. Commissioner Throop said that different departments would have different needs in terms of their schedules in order to meet the service requirements to the public while balancing the employee's needs. He felt that part of the schedule should be an attempt to keep services available to the public five days a week, as many hours as possible, while allowing flexibility in how departments organized their staff to make that service available. He felt this would give the County the "best of both worlds" by trying to deliver services to the public five days a week while taking into consideration the individual needs of the employees as well. Chairman Maudlin said there were some departments which were not capable of operating five days with a reduced staff on Monday and Friday, i.e. the Veterans service office with only one staff person. The Treasurer and the Clerk both worked on tight budgets and were not overstaffed, so whether they could operate on a flexible schedule and be open five days a week was mute. He said these were the kinds of things that had to be considered when the Board made a decision. Commissioner Throop said that many County Departments were open to the public nine hours a day. He thought that by closing during the noon hour or by closing an hour in the morning or afternoon it might allow them to concentrate the staff available during the hours when they would be open. He PAGE 9 MINUTES: 4/24/91 0106 1096 felt the Board should come up with a model to be used by the Departments to develop a work schedule to be negotiated with the Board during the first couple of weeks in May. This would give the employees and the public six weeks to make whatever adjustments were necessary. Commissioner Schlangen said the Board had to balance the public needs, since the County was there to serve the public, but they also needed to consider the employees and the increased costs to employees if they had to come to work five days a week while taking a 10% pay cut. She felt each department would have to decide what they could do. She felt small departments of one to four employees would find it almost impossible to be short too many hours. Chairman Maudlin said his main concern was that there needed to be a flexible schedule, but he didn't want the Board to dictate to the Departments what that flexible schedule would be. Commissioner Throop said he totally agreed. District Attorney Michael Dugan asked if it was County policy that all departments with more than two or three employees remain open during the lunch hour. The Board answered "no." He asked if it was the Board's intention that County offices be open to the public 40 hours per week. Commissioner Throop said that was what flexible scheduling was all about. He said the Board could not make a standard decision for all departments. He wanted the Board to sit down and look at the mission and services of each individual department, look at the needs of the public in relation to that department, and then look at the needs of the employees within that department. Those kinds of judgments should be made on a department-by-department, building-by-building basis. He was hoping to have as much consistency County-wide as possible but recognized that there were already work schedule inconsistencies among departments (i.e. library, juvenile detention, sheriff's department). Rick Isham said the Board would have to be consistent with regular business hours for mandated services (i.e. Clerk). Any nonmandated service could operate under their own schedule (i.e. library). If the Clerk's office was operating under a certain schedule, there would be other County services which would be required to have the same schedule. Community Corrections Director Dennis Maloney said he would appreciate a charge from the Commissioners that would state that the departments had to absorb a 10% pay cut. While absorbing that cut, the Department would do what they could PAGE 10 MINUTES: 4/24/91 0106 1097 to provide optimal access and quality services to the public, while at the same time being sensitive to the needs of the employees who were taking the 10% pay cut. If it looked as if those two areas would clash, the departments would develop a happy medium and bring it to the Board. Mental Health Director Frank Moore said there had to be flexibility in terms of hours and scheduling. He said it had been very difficult to understand whether the Board had been talking about hours of operation or hours of work, and there were key differences between them. He said the Mental Health Department and the Health Department did not have the same hours of operation, and he did not want to be locked into trying to provide services on the same schedule as the Health Department. He encouraged flexibility in hours of operation and hours of work. He felt one way to serve the public was to have good staff morale. If the management team came out with a unilateral charge that said that everybody had to do the same thing, the County would "be shooting ourselves in the foot." THROOP: Maybe I could just summarize the motion and the proposal and that is that we do go to 36 hours to balance our budget, that we negotiate schedules department by department and building by building, and then departments and services that are connected with one another for other reasons as Rick described, and specifically within the establishment of those schedules, the hours that each department would be open to the public and the internal method for implementing those hours of service open the public will be what's subject to negotiation, and we'll ask the department heads and the management teams of each of the individual departments to optimize their service to the public and provide for the needs of employees to the best degree possible in arriving at their recommended schedules, and we as a Board will try to ensure as much consistency as possible department by department Countywide, and then we'll hope to initiate the process the first of May and conclude it by the middle of May so that we give six week's notice to the public and to our employees. Chairman Maudlin said that Librarian Ralph DeLamarter had asked about having flexibility in the budget instead of just flexibility in the hours of work (i.e. library stops buying books, some employees taking sabbatical). These kinds of things could also reduce the General Fund budget by 10%. Commissioner Throop said this would create a lack of uniformity and something to battle about for the next 15 PAGE 11 MINUTES: 4/24/91 0106 1098 months. One reason for the reduction to 36 hours was so there would be a level of uniformity on how individual departments were treated and how the staff was treated. He felt it would be opening Pandora's Box, and he would not be enthusiastic about trying to administer that kind of approach. He gave examples of the problems it could create: some employees working 32 hours so that others could work 40 hours, deferring maintenance, deferring the purchase of new books, pressure on less senior employees to take a couple of years off so everybody else could work 40 hours. Frank Moore said only 10% of their budget was County General Fund money and the other 90% consisted of state and federal funds. Under a flexible budget scenario, he could layoff the employees funded by the County General Fund and continue to operate 40 hours per week with the state and federal funds, but he did not want to do that. Chairman Maudlin felt it was just a matter of flexibility. He said the Board would not tell the Departments they had to consider flexibility in their budgets, but just that it might be another option. Commissioner Throop said "then maybe what we ought to call the proposal that's currently under motion here is a limited flexible schedule." Dennis Maloney said he felt the County had adopted one of the leading goal and objective setting processes in the state. They were developed to meet the needs of the County, and every dollar had been scrutinized to determine whether they were needed to meet those goals and objectives. If all of the items in the proposed budgets were essential, he did not see how department's could determine that they could go without some items in their proposal, i.e. photocopier, books, instead of cutting personnel hours. Commissioner Throop said the flexibility did not include how many hours individual employees in property tax supported department worked, but how that 36 hours would be implemented. Commissioner Throop said there were a couple of other alternatives supported by some members of the management team and asked whether they should be discussed further before there was a vote on the motion. Commissioner Schlangen said she felt it was important to hear from the Employee Council on their feelings on how the 36-hour schedule should be implemented. Emery Grantier, President of the Employee Council, said that a few week ago Commissioner Throop and Mike Maier had made a presentation to the Employee Council about their PAGE 12 MINUTES: 4/24/91 0106 1099 recommendations for a 36-hour work schedule. After the presentation, approximately 85 employees (20% of affected employees) met and discussed the options presented. It was a short discussion and it was unanimous that they wanted the County to uniformly adopt a four-day week. This would demonstrate to the public that the County had cut back due to the budget shortfall while a five-day week would dilute the effect. However the major reason the four-day week was preferred was it allowed the employees to take advantage of the extra day off for several reasons, i.e. cutting transportation and child care costs and ability to find a second job. The Employee Council was adamant that they would like to see a four-day, nine-hour schedule. Commissioner Throop said that at the time of the presentation to the Employee Council, the County was looking at a uniform approach to the reduction in work schedule. He asked how the Employee Council would react to the flexible scheduling concept now being discussed given the conflict between the public wanting five days of service and the employees wanting a four-day workweek. Emery Grantier said he had only spoken to a few employees after the new flexible scheduling concept had been circulated, and therefore, his perceptions were really limited. The Employee Council had not had an opportunity to meet to discuss it. He felt the employee's perception of the flexible scheduling concept would be dependent on how each of the departments decided to implement it. If the department head elected to require a five day schedule at the expense of the employee, the employee would be very upset. However, if the manager had the flexibility to select a schedule that was more humane to the employees, they would be quite happy about it. Therefore it could vary tremendously depending upon what schedule was actually set up, and how it was communicated to the employees. Commissioner Throop said that flexible scheduling would defer the decision on individual work schedules to individual negotiations with each department. Chairman Maudlin said there had also been some discussion about trying for an individual tax levy. Sheriff Darrell Davidson said he was looking at two or three different options and wasn't prepared to discuss them at this meeting. He said he would like to make a presentation to the budget committee on Tuesday, April 30, 1991. Karen Green, Community Development Director, asked if the motion before the Board would apply only to tax-supported departments. PAGE 13 MINUTES: 4/24/91 0106 1100 Commissioner Throop said it applied to "departments where if we made the reduction from 40 to 36 hours, there would be a financial benefit to the General Fund." Those departments whose reduction would provide no financial benefit to the General Fund would be exempted. VOTE: THROOP: YES SCHLANGEN: YES MAUDLIN: YES Chairman Maudlin left the meeting at this time and Commissioner Throop took over as Chair of the meeting. In attendance were acting Chair Throop, Commissioner Schlangen, Counsel Rick Isham, District Attorney Michael Dugan and Chief Deputy District Attorney Joshua Marquis. 17. HOUSER REQUEST FOR SPECIAL PROSECUTOR FOR GUZEK CASE Chair Throop said the reason for the meeting was a letter from Doug Houser requesting that the County consider hiring a special prosecutor (Ron Brown) for the Randy Guzek trial and suggested some kind of a cost-sharing arrangement between the County and the Houser family. There was extensive discussion on the advantages and disadvantages of using a special prosecutor, however it was the District Attorney's responsibility to make the final decision. The District Attorney had confidence that Joshua Marquis, Chief Deputy District Attorney, had the necessary expertise and the District Attorney's Office would allocate the necessary support and time necessary to successfully handle this trial. DESCHU ES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS _ To?Thro , Nancy BOCC:alb ommissio er ch angen, Commiss lin, PAGE 14 MINUTES: 4/24/91