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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2013-08-28 Work Session Minutes Minutes of Board of Commissioners’ Work Session Wednesday, August 28, 2013 Page 1 of 6 Deschutes County Board of Commissioners 1300 NW Wall St., Suite 200, Bend, OR 97701-1960 (541) 388-6570 - Fax (541) 385-3202 - www.deschutes.org MINUTES OF WORK SESSION DESCHUTES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 28, 2013 ___________________________ Present were Commissioners Alan Unger, Tammy Baney and Anthony DeBone. Also present were Tom Anderson, County Administrator; Erik Kropp, Deputy County Administrator; Nancy Blankenship, Clerk; Bob Haas, I.T.; Scot Langton, Assessor; David Givans, Internal Auditor; Dan Despotopulos of the Fair & Expo; Cheryl Davidson and Mike Shiel, Fair Board members; and Bill Robie, Realtor. No representatives of the media were in attendance. Chair Unger opened the meeting at 1:30 p.m. ___________________________ 1. Update on Web-based Property Related Application Policy. Bob Haas said the policy was adopted and part of this was a six -month review. The policy in brief would have two versions of the application: standard and enhanced. Both would allow for searches and other activities. The enhanced version provides a direct link to recorded warranty deeds. In the future photos and drawings may be accessible. Everyone is eligible to sign up, and there is no cost. They implemented the new DIAL program and the policy seems to be working well. The departments have heard no concerns from citizens. Over 1,300 people have registered, half of which are real estate related. To register they need to show an e-mail address and put in a password. They have had a few people resist, those who don’t like change; most were satisfied with the old DIAL program and were familiar with it. The new one takes a few more clicks but contains a lot more information. Use of the old system has gone down but there are still those who use it because of the comfort level. The challenge now is when to retire the old program. Minutes of Board of Commissioners’ Work Session Wednesday, August 28, 2013 Page 2 of 6 They would like to be more aggressive in switching people over to the new system, preferably in September so they can have all taxing information put into the new program. Scot Langton added that notices have been in place for some time indicating the old site would retire in September. There will be contact information for anyone with questions or concerns. There are between 1,500 and 2,000 inquiries a day, most of it during the workweek. Commissioner Baney said that there is some pushback on the 9 -1-1 cell phone reverse call program. She wondered if there is a way to set up a new e-mail address in case someone does not want to put his or her address into the system. Mr. Haas said they presented to the local Realtor organization and are available to train others. The title companies helped to develop a training program and visited many of the real estate offices. They are working on an interactive mapping application as well. Once they know LAVA, CD maps and others are functioning well, they will blend these functions. The concept is one-stop visits. Mr. Anderson said that CD maps was one of the most used sites on the CDD webpage. The Commissioners agreed that they should move forward as planned. 2. Update on Status of Transient Room Tax Proposal. Mr. Despotopulos stated that they are putting together a campaign to support the tax proposal. He is limited on what he can do as a County employee. Mike Shiel will be the point person for the Fair Board, and is trying to find out how best to raise funds. Mr. Despotopulos will present general information on the Fair & Expo, and the Fair Board will be asking for support and votes. Mr. Despotopulos stated he was approached by Visit Bend, who is part of another measure on the ballot for the City of Bend. They are wondering if joining forces might be worthwhile. Mr. Despotopulos is concerned there might be some confusion. Chair Unger feels the message needs to be positive and not confusing. Minutes of Board of Commissioners’ Work Session Wednesday, August 28, 2013 Page 3 of 6 Tony would like to see the City of Bend work with the County and Fair & Expo. Commissioner Baney asked Commissioner DeBone if he would like to take this on. At this point, there is no campaign developed. They need to narrow the focus and come up with an exact plan. Mr. Despotopulos said the message needs to be the same for all. Commissioner DeBone started out lukewarm on the idea of a tax, and is not opposed to it. He is not sure if he wants to put himself out there, though. Commissioner Baney said she would help with meetings and more, but has at least another month of work with the Health Council program. Chair Unger feels it might get easier, but understand if he does not want to get that involved. Mr. Shiel stated that he thinks the Fair Board should do the work, and they need a strong advocate. When the Bend voter looks at the ballot, he or she needs to know the ramifications. They may not understa nd that there are not two taxes; just that one is for the City and the other for outlying areas. Chair Unger feels that they would be better off paying for a consultant. Mr. Despotopulos stated that COVA typically does not get out to back a campaign. Further discussion regarding who might be best to handle this campaign, which might be called ‘Friends of the Fair& Expo”. They will be meeting with City representatives and others as often as they can. 3. Consideration of Approval of a Water Easement to the City of Bend in Conjunction with the Jail Expansion Project. Ms. Ross gave a brief overview of the item. There is an existing easement but this adds a small area to it, so work can continue. BANEY: DEBONE: VOTE: BANEY: Yes. DEBONE: Yes. UNGER: Chair votes yes. Minutes of Board of Commissioners’ Work Session Wednesday, August 28, 2013 Page 4 of 6 4. Other Items.  Executive Session, under ORS 192.660(2)(e), real estate negotiations  Executive Session, under ORS 192.660(2)(h), pending or threatened litigation ___________________________ DEBONE: Move to accept the settlement on a tax foreclosure lien as discussed in executive session. BANEY: Second. VOTE: BANEY: Yes. DEBONE: Yes. UNGER: Chair votes yes. ___________________________ Mr. Anderson said the Board is meeting with the Redmond City Council in a couple of weeks, and he asked about agenda items. Chair Unger suggested they talk about the transient lodging tax increase, and Justice Court and whether it is a value to the City to continue it, since it is not paying for itself. Mr. Anderson said it is probably premature to talk about this, as an update is expected mid-year. It might be better to talk about the tax increase at a more public meeting and when they are closer to the election date. Since the City of Redmond has no agenda items for the meeting, the Board felt that it was not urgent to meet. ___________________________ Mr. Pilliod said he was invited by the City of Bend and the EMS there, with the Ambulance Service Area Committee, about a problem regarding interpretation of the Code regarding ASA. The County has had this program in place for about 15 years. It franchises emergency service providers and helped bring up standards and propped up the local agencies as well regarding emergency transport. The ordinance is awkward, with the code portion and the accompanying plan that defines the transport areas. The two should make sense together. Code actually states that providers cannot provide services unless they have a franchise. The plan says they can enter into mutual aid agreements, and almost all agencies have done this, but the people who are part of the agreements are not franchisees. Bend has an agreement with a local private provider. Minutes of Board of Commissioners’ Work Session Wednesday, August 28, 2013 Page 5 of 6 The EMS representative, who is Chair of the ASA Committee, asked about this. However, they have side agreements with others. This is very political and some are worried about their turf. There are differences in the capacity and personnel in each. Code dictates that if a local franchise can’t provide services, they have to contact another franchise operator. They are reacting to what has to be done. There are realities of timing and distance. He discussed this with Tom Kuhn of the Health Department who oversees this, and they feel the Committee needs to come forward with language to address this type of mutual aid. They should meet next week on this issue. There was a lot of pressure to give these agencies carte blanche but this violates Code. It seems to have been largely ignored. Commissioner Baney thinks with the changes in health care, this will have to adjust and there needs to be room for private enterprise. The ASA group has some self-interest and may not want to subcontract. Mr. Pilliod said it is a monopoly for emergency transports, not those that are non -emergency. There have been no complaints from those who might provide those services. It will become tighter as funds for health care become more limited, but that will affect everyone in the business, public or private. Most of the transport in this area is done through public agencies. Chair Unger said the Fire Districts are providing most of this and need to be whole and have some certainty. They should not be undercut. Commissioner Baney stated there does not seem to be a cap on the cost of this service, and perhaps a private company could do this for less. She hopes the market can adjust on its own. Mr. Pilliod said the Board has not weighed in on the pricing issue. The groups are supposed to have the right equipment and trained staffing, and the Board should not want to go into the pri cing piece. In terms of health care reform, there will only be so much money and the market will have to adjust. Unfortunately, the individual may end up bearing the additional cost, or the taxpayers will. It is not regulated by the County. Mr. Anderson said that bottom line, you can’t justify a 20-minute response when someone is dying. This is the argument that is above the others. Being no further discussion, the meeting adjourned at 4:40 p.m. DATED this tf~Day of iJr!fWJR.AJ 2013 for the Deschutes County Board of Commissioners. Alan Unger, Chair T~hair ATTEST: Anthony DeBone, Commissioner Recording Secretary Minutes of Board of Commissioners' Work Session Wednesday, August 28, 2013 Page 6 of6 Deschutes County Board of Commissioners 1300 NW Wall St., Suite 200, Bend, OR 97701-1960 (541) 388-6570 -Fax (541) 385-3202 -www.deschutes.org WORK SESSION AGENDA DESCHUTES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS 1:30 P.M., WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 28, 2013 1. Update on Web-based Property Related Application Policy -Bob Haas, Scot Langton and Nancy Blankenship 2. Update on Status of Transient Room Tax Proposal-Dan Despotopulos, Others 3. Consideration of Approval ofa Water Easement to the City of Bend in Conjunction with the Jail Expansion Project -Susan Ross 4. Other Items Executive Session, under ORS 192.660(2)( e), real estate negotiations -Erik Kropp Executive Session, under ORS 192.660(2)(h), pending or threatened litigation -John Laherty PLEASE NOTE: At any time during this meeting, an executive session could be called to address issues relating to ORS 192.660(2) (e), real property negotiations; ORS 192.660(2) (h), litigation; ORS 192.660(2Xd), labor negotiations; or ORS 192.660(2) (b), personnel issues. Meeting dates. times and discussion items are subject to change. All meetings are conducted in the Board o/Commissioners' meeting rooms at 1300 NW Wall St., Bend. unless otherwise indicated. Ifyou have questions regarding a meeting, please call 388-6572. Deschutes Cmmty meeting locations are wheelchair accessible. Deschutes County provides reasonable accommodations for persons with disabilities. For deaf, hearing impaired or speech disabled, dial 7-1-1 to access the state transfer relay service for TrY. 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