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2017-10-30 Budget mtg - for 2018 -Budget meeting October 30, 2017 1:31 p.m. Present: Commissioner Stamper, Commissioner Fund, Commissioner Jackson, Dianne Dorey, Marci Miess, Becky Butler, Steve Walton, Sheila Gray, Danette York Guests: Justyna Tomtas, Linda Williams, Anthony Ahrens, Bill Marshall, Matt Brock, Jim Thompson, Vivian “Coy” Thompson, LeAnna Christiensen, Don Enstrom, Jim Kropt, Ron Averill (3:57 p.m.), John Panesko (3:57 p.m.) Recorder: Rieva Lester Assessor’s Office Dianne Dorey said she has five individuals who could retire within the next five years. She discussed the positions that have been replaced over the last few years. She said having her perform duties or having the Chief Appraiser perform duties qualifies as supplanting union work. Dianne discussed the costs associated with possibility promoting within. Dianne discussed the reval deadlines set by RCW. She discussed the toll vacations and sick time take on the office. Dianne discussed new construction. She said RCW mandates the revals but not new construction. She said anything the Assessor’s Office can pick up for new construction adds to the county’s coffers (and those of the 65 taxing districts in Lewis County). Dianne discussed Community Development’s projections. Commissioner Fund asked Dianne to address rumors that her staff doesn’t have enough to do. Dianne said the exception would be when staff is locked out for two weeks due to the tax rollover. She said staff then has to work on other duties until they no longer are locked out. Marci Miess said Dianne runs a tight ship. She said employees are not able to chit chat, play on their phones, surf the Web, etc. on company time. Dianne said her concern would be the length of time it would take to train someone for the position. Commissioner Stamper asked about changing the contract language regarding trainees and repayment for leaving early. Dianne said most of the Assessor’s Office training in on-the-job, one-on-one training. The commissioners asked the Assessor’s Office to revisit an amortization for repaying training costs regarding early departure. Dianne and Marci left at 2 p.m. WSU Extension Jim Kroft, Sheila Gray, Don Enstrom, Mary Jo Christiansen, LeAnna McMahon joined the meeting at 2 p.m. Sheila Gray said Centralia College has indicated it does not have room for WSU Extension. Steve Walton said WSU Extension has 2,800 square feet. Sheila said Weed takes up more than the 100 square feet in its budget. Steve Walton said Weed takes up roughly 1,200 square feet. Commissioner Jackson noted that Sheila had voiced displeasure with the idea of moving WSU. He asked if her thoughts had changed. Sheila said she had strong feelings about it at first. She said she has toured the senior center building at the fair. Don Enstrom discussed the space needs for WSU. He said all but demo gardens take place in the county’s conference room. Leann discussed volunteer work that has been used to offset any rental costs at the fairgrounds. Mrs. Thompson said the area would need to be heated 24-7. Steve Walton said the college indicated it has frequent turnover and possibly could have space open up. Sheila discussed the various groups that use the conference room. Commissioner Stamper said the county is looking at ways to try to save money. Becky said savings could be a move to a more affordable space. She said staff reductions are a possibility too. The group discussed the James Building. Commissioner Jackson asked Sheila what her proposals to save costs would be. Sheila said she submitted a zero budget without any additional requests. Becky asked what the county’s options are for the county’s interlocal agreement. Jim Kroft said WSU also is facing budget troubles. Commissioner Jackson asked about travel. Jim said most counties have a small county budget for in-county travel. Becky said Sheila has $2,900 in her budget for local travel. Sheila said, for example, WSU paid the bulk of a recent trip to Salt Lake City and the county was asked to pay for the mileage. Commissioner Stamper asked if WSU can pay for mileage instead of having that rest on Lewis County’s shoulders. He said Salt Lake City and New Mexico aren’t local. Jim Thompson asked if there is an estimate on the savings linked to moving WSU. Becky said the Facilities savings alone would be $15,000 to $18,000. Sheila discussed the staff reduction that took place in previous years and then reinstated. Becky said Facilities will be taking over the conference room and possibly instating a rental fee. The group discussed the equipment in the WSU conference room. Becky said the county would have to review the purchase history of the various equipment. Bill Marshall asked what the 501-c3s’ ties to WSU are and whether those could operate independent of WSU. Don said that 501-c3s could operate independently but that they too are fragile. Commissioner Stamper asked if there are shared directors or shared support elsewhere in the state. Jim said that does take place elsewhere in the state. Becky asked if Sheila has had any discussions about possible user fees. Danette York joined the meeting at 2:39 p.m. Jim discussed the struggles of finding places to save money when things already are stretched thin. LeAnna spoke to the struggles faced by 4-H. Don said no one is questioning the legitimacy or usefulness of the programs. People are just saying the programs aren’t free, he said. Sheila said she hadn’t been asked about cost savings or given a target amount. Becky asked if Sheila has looked at other locations. Jim said Lewis County’s WSU is more of an exception rather than a rule because most counties have their WSU offices off site. The commissioners asked Sheila to return in a week with some cost-saving ideas. Jim Kroft, Sheila Gray, Don Enstrom, Mary Jo Christiansen, left at 2:54 p.m. LeAnna McMahon, Jim Thompson and Coy Thompson left at 2:58 p.m. Public Health and Social Services Danette said her office reviewed a possible rate increase for food permit fees. She said nonprofit organizations receive a discount. Danette discussed the fees associated with state-supplied vaccines vs. those that are not state supplied. She said billing is a nightmare. She reminded the group that everything is done by hand. Commissioner Stamper, Commissioner Fund, and Commissioner Jackson instructed Danette to move forward with increasing food permit fees. Danette said she would suggest increasing septic permitting fees $25 across the board. Danette discussed the animal shelter and how monies are collected. Danette said a shared service agreement would be more beneficial than a fee increase. Commissioner Stamper, Commissioner Fund, and Commissioner Jackson instructed Danette to move forward with increasing septic fees and looking at creating a shared service agreement for the animal shelter. Danette discussed the potential Nurse Family Partnership (NFP) agreement. Eric Eisenberg joined the meeting at 3:29 p.m. Animal Control Officer Eric Eisenberg discussed the two sections of RCW title 16 that talk about animal control. He said Lewis County has sort of combined the two. He discussed RCWs 16.08 and 16.52. He said the takeaway is that the county could change the way that it’s handled and hand it to the Sheriff’s Office. He said the sheriff would have less control over regulations and ordinances than the BOCC would. Danette asked why it would be under Environmental Services instead of the Animal Shelter. Coy and Jim Thompson returned at 3:48 p.m. Eric left at 3:48 p.m. Senior Centers Steve said the rental amounts for the senior centers have not yet been solidified. Steve said the lease agreements would only discuss the monetary amounts for the buildings. Ron Averill and John Panesko joined the meeting at 3:57 p.m. John Panesko said the senior centers are operating in the red. He said the red ink can be cut by $100,000. He said the group wants to know how much the county can contribute. He said the $100,000 that has been offered is an insult. Becky said the rental rate is based on the Facilities costs but at a much reduced rate. Ron said their budget included $10,000 for capital expense to take care of contingencies. Becky asked about tuition costs for staff. Commissioner Fund left at 4:06 p.m. Ron said he has tried to pare the budget down to $500,000 in income and expenditures. Commissioner Fund returned at 4:07 p.m. Ron said he included janitorial services in the budget. Danette said the current site leaders are in charge of cleaning the kitchens. Danette said she had no idea staff asked for increased hours and salaries. Ron said one center, Toledo, is far and away performing better than any others and that Winlock continues to improve. He said Morton is struggling. Becky asked if the hours should be dictated by the use and whether the groups should focus solely on nutrition for now. Danette said she would propose attending the advisory board meetings to let the centers know what their outstanding balances are. Ron said he is concerned about utilities being transferred to the senior groups. He said the centers would need to have their utilities put on a separate line so the charges would be metered separately. Ron said the city of Winlock has historically paid for water and sewer for the Winlock site. Becky asked whether it’s been disclosed how much the senior groups have in their coffers. Ron said the groups were told they’re on their own for enrichment. John asked if it’s possible to extend support past Dec. 31, 2017. Commissioner Fund asked what would it look like to provide nutrition only and then build from there. Ron said the centers would not get any donations if the centers were running nutrition only and not enrichment. Becky said she and Danette can provide an estimate of what it costs to provide nutrition. Danette left at 4:35 p.m. Commissioner Stamper stressed the importance of including representatives from each of the centers. John Panesko and Ron Averill left at 4:40 p.m. Recap Becky discussed the request from the Assessor’s Office. The group discussed requesting documentation on what milestones and deadlines are reached thanks to the addition of the position. Bill Marshall left at 4:43 p.m. and returned at 4:44 p.m. Jim Thompson said there would be potential savings when the retiree leaves. Becky said she would follow up with Dianne about new construction projections. Becky asked the board how to proceed in regards to WSU. Commissioner Jackson said to look at travel, Facilities, and salaries to give a cost-saving targets. Commissioner Fund suggested asking Sheila to look at buildings that would allow the Master Gardeners, 4-H, etc. to continue working together out of one shared space. Commissioner Stamper said it’s possible Sheila may need to cover more of the office hours to help out. Ron Averill returned at 4:57 p.m. Bill Marshall asked why 4-H and Master Gardeners don’t try to get grants. Meeting adjourned at 5:05 p.m.