Loading...
2004-716-Minutes for Meeting April 19,2004 Recorded 4/21/2004COUNTY OFFICIAL TES NANCYUBLANKENSHIP, COUNTY CLERKDS IBJ LOO -1i6 COMMISSIONERS' JOURNAL 1111111104/21/1004 04;51;06 PM 11�111111�1 �� �i m Mu 2004-718 DESCHUTES COUNTY CLERK CERTIFICATE PAGE This page must be included if document is re-recorded. Do Not remove from original document. Deschutes County Board of Commissioners 1130 NW Harriman St., Bend, OR 97701-1947 (541) 388-6570 - Fax (541) 388-4752 - www.deschutes.org MINUTES OF ADMINISTRATIVE LIAISON DESCHUTES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS MONDAY, APRIL 19, 2004 Commissioners' Meeting Room - Administration Building - 1130 NW Harriman St., Bend Present were Commissioners Michael M. Daly, Dennis R. Luke and Tom De Wolf. Also present were Mike Maier, County Administrator; Susan Ross and Anna Johnson, Commissioners' Office; and, for a portion of the meeting, Debbie Legg, Personnel; Tammy Credicott, Property Manager; Catherine Morrow, Community Development; and Jenny Scanlon of Juvenile Community Justice via conference call. No media representatives or other citizens were present. The meeting began at 2: 00 p.m. 1. Discussion of Personnel Issue. Mike Maier explained that when Dennis Maloney and Kelly Jacobs supervised the Juvenile Community Justice office, the office support personnel were reclassified as technicians, resulting in a higher level of pay. The main reason for doing so was that it was thought the technician positions would develop into more than standard office support functions. Debbie Legg added that Vance Jacobsen, the consultant who evaluated the positions, did not support this concept; however, the Board of Commissioners at the time agreed to make the change. Mike Maier further stated that other departments noticed this change, and felt that it was somewhat unfair. The job description was never finalized. He said that HR Answers has reviewed the work being done, and feels that the true classification should be office support and not technicians. He also expressed concern that leaving the situation as it is has a negative impact on other departments. Minutes of Administrative Liaison Monday, April 19, 2004 Page 1 of 7 Pages Jenny Scanlon then joined the meeting via conference call. She explained that because of recent adjustments in her department in regard to the Resource Center, changes in scheduling, and the reclassification of exempt and non- exempt personnel because of federal law, there is a morale problem in her department at this time. She stressed that another change would affect morale even more. She asked if the Board would consider leaving the four positions in their current classification and as new people are hired for the positions, the positions would be filled as office support. Two of the four employees will likely retire in a few years. Commissioner DeWolf asked what the impact of the difference in pay would be. Mike Maier said that there would be little dollar impact, just a change in classification; but two of the employees would be close to topping out in the new classification. The employees also feel that this would limit their career path. Commissioner Luke stated that it would not seem fair to hire new people at the lower classification. Ms. Scanlon replied that new hires would know this up front. Mike Maier expressed concern that this would still cause a problem with other departments. Commissioner DeWolf observed that this situation is not the fault of the employees and he can understand why they feel it is unfair. The Commissioners instructed Mike Maier and Debbie Legg to have HR Answers analyze similar positions, such as those in Adult Parole and Probation. They also said that Mike Maier should work with Personnel to implement as appropriate what Ms. Scanlon has requested. 2. Discussion of Upper Deschutes Management Plan — Letter to Bureau of Land Management. Catherine Morrow gave a brief overview of the letter from the Board regarding the Upper Deschutes Management Plan and Environmental Impact Statement. The Commissioners recommended a few changes. LUKE: Move approval. DEWOLF: Second. VOTE: DEWOLF: Yes. LUKE: Yes. DALY: Chair votes yes. Minutes of Administrative Liaison Monday, April 19, 2004 Page 2 of 7 Pages 3. Discussion regarding Appeal — Hearings Officer Assignment. Mike Daly said that he was contacted by the Cyrus family, who some time ago had asked that the Board hear an appeal of a decision regarding the relocation of Central Electric Cooperative power lines. The Board had declined to hear the appeal and it went to LUBA. It has been upheld on three of the four conditions, and has now been sent back to the Hearings Officer. However, the Cyrus' object to this issue being sent to the original Hearings Officer, Karen Green. They would like to see it handled by a different Hearings Officer. Commissioners Luke and DeWolf stated that they feel it is inappropriate for the Board to be involved in this situation. This item will be addressed next week when Laurie Craghead is available. 4. Update on Habitat for Humanity Lot Donation. Tammy Credicott reminded the Commissioners that the La Pine lot the County was originally going to provide to Habitat for Humanity may not have been appropriate for housing. The group would like to sell the lot and purchase another that would work better for a residence. She said that the County owns a lot on Cedar Lane that would work much better for them. It was a tax foreclosure; the lot was cleaned up in 2000, but has several abandoned vehicles on it now. The original lot may have been affected by the relocation of a major road in the general area. Commissioner Luke suggested that the County donate the Cedar Lane lot to the group, and offer the original lot to Pahlisch Homes for them to develop as appropriate, perhaps into multi -family dwellings for Habitat. Ms. Credicott and Catherine Morrow will do further research. LUKE: Move that the County donate the lot on Cedar Lane to Habitat for Humanity. DEWOLF: Second. VOTE: DEWOLF: Yes. LUKE: Yes. DALY: Chair votes yes. Minutes of Administrative Liaison Monday, April 19, 2004 Page 3 of 7 Pages 5. Discussion of Possible Sale of County -owned Land to Adjacent Property Owner. Ms. Credicott explained that there is a narrow strip of land off Butler Market Road owned by the County that has been offered to the owners of adjacent land. It is unbuildable, and has had an arbitrary value of $500 placed on it by the Assessor. DEWOLF: Move approval of the sale of this property to the adjacent property owners for $250. LUKE: Second. VOTE: DEWOLF: Yes. LUKE: Yes. DALY: Chair votes yes. 6. Update of South County Wetlands Property Posting — "No Motorized Vehicles". Tammy Credicott presented photographs of the County -owned properties located near the Deschutes River and Little Deschutes River that have been negatively affected by riders of all -terrain vehicles. Local residents had complained of the damage done by ATV users on County property as well as their own properties. The photographs made the level of damage very clear; the Commissioners noted that it was worse than expected. Posting the lots will enable legal action to be taken against those who abuse the properties through the use of motorized vehicles. The Commissioners instructed Ms. Credicott to work with the Road Department to develop and post the signs. The Commissioners briefly discussed whether the land, which is officially County park land, should be dedicated to the Land Trust or another group. This issue will be addressed again later. LUKE: Move that the County's lots be posted for "No Motorized Vehicles" DEWOLF: Second. VOTE: DEWOLF: Yes. LUKE: Yes. DALY: Chair votes yes. Minutes of Administrative Liaison Monday, April 19, 2004 Page 4 of 7 Pages 7. Update on County Projects. Susan Ross asked that the Board approve a change directive in the amount of $1,375 to make adjustments to the customer counter in the Assessor's Office in the new building, to make it more user-friendly. LUKE: Move approval. DEWOLF: Second. VOTE: DEWOLF: Yes. LUKE: Yes. DALY: Chair votes yes. Regarding street signage at the new building, Ms. Ross stated that the Fire Marshal has indicated the sign facing Lafayette Avenue needs to have the street number and street name (of 1300 NW Wall Street) removed, to eliminate any confusion to emergency responders. The name of the building will remain, but the address will be removed, as required. The committee addressing the child care center has issued a request for proposals, giving until June 1 for organizations to respond. Letters were sent to all local providers and a notice was placed in the Bulletin. The Commissioners stated that the same advertisement should be placed in the Redmond Spokesman and Sisters Nugget in case there are child care providers in those areas who may wish to expand into Bend. In regard to employee parking, Building Services will be moving into the warehouse building next week so that the old warehouse can be leveled and the area paved. The Norton Avenue improvements will also be made at that time. Because parking will be limited while this is taking place, it has been suggested that employees who drive into work and the use a County vehicle during the day be allowed to take a County vehicle home at night. They are to use the vehicle for work and driving to and from home only, and not for other trips. The consensus of the Board was that this would be appropriate for that brief period of time. Minutes of Administrative Liaison Monday, April 19, 2004 Page 5 of 7 Pages Regarding the proposed new State services building, the owners of the Plaza Motel have indicated they are not interested in selling. The State would still like to have the new building in the downtown area, and near the just -completed County/State building would be ideal for them. They have asked for proposals, which are due by May 3. Ms. Ross said that the architect has advised that for the same cost as purchasing the motel, subsurface parking with a two-story building could be built. A brief discussion followed. Commissioner Luke suggested that the County focus on the building to house the Oregon State Police instead. Ms. Ross stated that she could put together a proposal for the State by May 3 if the Commissioners wanted her to do so. Ms. Ross advised that the building currently housing the Oregon State Police and another business may be for sale, as one of the partners has passed away. The County's real estate broker of record, Steve Scott, is in touch with the parties and will keep the Commissioners advised. The RFP for the building has not yet been released by the State. However, the County could purchase the property and build to suit, with the costs covered through the lease payments. Commissioner Luke suggested that the existing building could be used by the Sheriff's Office for a number of functions. 8. Review of Public Records Request Policy. This item was already addressed and required no further discussion at this meeting. 9. Other Business. Commissioner DeWolf suggested that outside agency funding requests be handled in a different manner in the future; in particular, the smaller requests for human services types of needs. These could be handled through the Commission on Children & Families, which specializes in this work. They would typically do site visits and review the documentation. Commissioner DeWolf stressed that this would take the politics out of the competition, and representatives of the various agencies would not feel compelled to contact the Commissioners to make their case to receive funding. Minutes of Administrative Liaison Monday, April 19, 2004 Page 6 of 7 Pages He suggested that the requests be handled as usual for the upcoming budget year, but after Fiscal Year 2004-05 could be managed through the Commission on Children & Families. In regard to the Watershed Council and other agencies that are not involved in human services, they could perhaps be handled through specific County departments as appropriate. Commissioner Luke added that the Chambers of Commerce could work through the Central Oregon Visitors' Association. Being no further items discussed, the meeting adjourned at 3:35 p.m. DATED this 19th Day of April 2004 for the Deschutes County Board of Commissioners. ATTEST: Recording Secretary Z ich el .Daly, Cha' Dennis R. Luke, Commissioner i Tom DeWolf, Commissioner Minutes of Administrative Liaison Monday, April 19, 2004 Page 7 of 7 Pages