2017-02-14 BOCC PW Individual Update MinutesLewis County Board of County Commissioners Public Works Update
February 14, 2017 Present: Commissioner Gary Stamper, Commissioner Edna Fund, Commissioner Bobby Jackson, Public Works Director/County Engineer Erik Martin, Lara Seiler,
recorder, Jay Weber, Exec Director for CRAB, Walt Olsen, Deputy Director Engineering for CRAB, Linda Williams Start time 11:25 am
CRAB- Walt Olsen and Jay Weber from the County Road Administration Board were introduced
to the BOCC. Walt noted that he, Derek Pohle and Jeff Monsen had met yesterday with
key people from Public Works to conduct an internal audit. His report notes that Lewis County Public Works is doing exceptionally well with standards of good practice. They reviewed the department’s policies, budget, standards and programs and noted that the staff has great knowledge in these areas.
Walt noted a couple of items to review: 1. Outdated complaint handling policy: Walt noted that Public Works should update their complaint handling policy which was passed in 1994 to reflect current procedures.
2. The 6 year and annual construction program: Currently the 6 year TIP and the
annual construction program are adopted on the same resolution. CRAB noted that these are two separate processes and the 6 year TIP should be adopted before the annual construction program. They are developed separately but can be presented to the board together and adopted on separate resolutions. The 6
year TIP is a long term planning document and annual construction program is the
yearly piece. 3. Levy shift and Diversion: Jay noted that the diversion is a formal agreement and should be set up with Sheriff with a document in place to conform to the standards of good practice. The diversion can be a direct payment or budgetary transfer. If
funds are not spent correctly, then consequences will be on the roads dept. If the
property tax revenue is posted to the roads fund then it becomes restricted and you cannot remove the revenue without proper documentation and authorization by the County Engineer. A diversion is settled law. Jay noted that CRAB has no issue with a diversion but it needs to be accounted for correctly.
Becky Butler entered the meeting at 11:45 am Becky noted that the tax levy revenue does initially get posted to the roads fund but a
correction is done quarterly to move the money back into the general fund. Jay noted this
is not the correct way to account for a diversion. He believes this is an interfund billing and should be budgeted as such. Further discussion was held regarding the diversion. Discussion was held regarding doing a levy shift instead of a diversion.
Jay noted that the Levy shift does not affect RAP eligibility.
Jay discussed importance of the board meeting with PW frequently. He also noted that
Helen Price Johnson had recently been appointed to the CRAB board.
Walt said that CRAB will send a follow up letter to the BOCC detailing the finding of the audit.
Jay and Walt left the meeting at 12:15 pm Bobby left the meeting at 12:19 pm Gary left the meeting at 12:35 pm
Borst Ave- Erik noted that the RFQ is out and Public Works has budgeted $30k for the project but the City of Centralia has not matched this yet. Note: the published RFQ notes an approximate
budgetary scale of $60K.
Pictometry for DEM- Erik said that DEM did not have any budget to pay for Pictometry this year. The expense
was previously funded with a grant and the grant can no longer pay for this expense. The
board may have to increase DEM’s budget if that is their decision. Meeting ended 12:41 pm