2012-10-15 Board Meeting Minutes 1
BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
LEWIS COUNTY, WASHINGTON
BOARD MEETING MINUTES
October 15, 2012
The Board of County Commissioners for Lewis County, Washington met in regular
session on Monday, October 15, 2012 at 10:00 a.m. Commissioners F. Lee Grose,
Bill Schulte, and Ron Averill were in attendance. Chairman Grose determined a
quorum, called the meeting to order and proceeded with the flag salute. Commissioner
Schulte moved to approve the minutes from the 10:00 a.m. meeting held on Monday,
October 8, 2012. Commissioner Averill seconded the motion.
Motion Carried 3-0
PUBLIC COMMENT
Chairman Grose asked for public comment and there was no comment.
Commissioner Averill stated the Governor lifted the Burn Ban for Western Washington
Counties. When we went into the extended period of dryness we had a burn ban that
was issued by the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) for all DNR property starting
July 1, 2012 and was supposed to end on October 1, 2012. Lewis County did not follow
that burn ban due to the rainy weather well into July and the moisture content in the soil
indicated no need for a burn ban. We have had almost 83 days with no rain and the soil
has become very dry. We are still fighting a fire south of Packwood. There is not intent
of the Lewis County Commissioner to lift Lewis County’s burn ban at this time. At such
time that the Fire Marshall provides us statistics of what the moisture content is then we
will consider lifting the burn ban.
Robert Johnson, Director of Community Development, stated Lewis County Fire
Marshall Fred Chapman will be checking today to see what the hazards are in Lewis
County. Providing the moisture content is high enough the Fire Marshall will lift the ban
and the BOCC will ratify.
EMPLOYEE RECOGNITION
Chairman Grose announced the awards and nomination for Employee “Above and
Beyond”.
Rod McAleny
In discussing the possibility of rearranging the front office of the BOCC, keeping costs to
a minimum was a priority. We needed a better flow and floorplan, but didn’t want to
have to buy all new furniture. One way to achieve the goal of minimizing costs was to
use the existing modular furniture already being used in the BOCC front office. Creating
possible floorplans that provided both an ability to visualize various arrangements and
could provide accurate spacing, measurement and utility was nearly impossible for us to
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sketch out by hand. Additionally, putting the puzzle pieces together regarding the
hardware and matching up pieces that could be built together was well beyond anything
we could do ourselves. Knowing that Rod McAleny had an Auto CAD program that
could be used to map out floorplans, we approached Rod about whether or not he’d be
willing to come up with something for us. We found him to be very open to helping us
and he offered to come map out the office and all the individual pieces of our inventory
of available furniture. Almost immediately, he made time to come measure and listen to
our ideas. Rod created a floorplan that incorporated ADA compliant walkways and
furniture placement in the room that was to scale. The design was innovative, made
sense and utilized all existing inventory. His efforts saved us tons of time in design and
trial and error in attempting to map out ourselves. He provided this to us surprisingly
fast considering our ideas were pretty general and not very specific. Rod’s Willingness
to help another department in designing a floorplan not only will save the County
substantial expense by enabling us to use existing furniture, but how quickly he
responded has enabled us to plan the move around the BOCC’s schedule.
Shane Hulstein
Shane Hulstein joined Lewis County in 2006 first working as a building inspector for
Community Development and later joining the Public Works, Road Maintenance
Division in November 2008. Shane is often the go-to man for Area 1; always eager to
take on a new challenge. Shane took on a particularly difficult and challenging aspect
of an emergency bank stabilization project this summer using water quality techniques
that were new to Lewis County. Shane is a natural leader whose initiative, creativity,
and resourcefulness were all very obvious to anyone who stopped by the Ceres Hill
Bridge worksite this summer. He undertook the challenge of diverting the Chehalis
River with Enthusiasm. His problem solving abilities coupled with his drive and focus
were invaluable in successfully deploying and relocating the water bladders and
turbidity curtain required to ensure that water quality parameters were not exceeded
during the installation of the three rock barbs and riprap revetment that now protect the
Ceres Hill Road Bridge.
Chairman Grose announced the nominations for Employee of the Quarter
Donna Muller
Donna consistently performs at an exceptional level. She is inspired in her
communications with the public regarding health promotion and disease prevention.
Additionally, Donna works well with the entire Communicable Disease investigation
team and the Public Health & Social Services Department staff. I work with her as the
Health Officer for the county and she is always willing to try to take on more work if I
need her to call a provider, contact another health department, or the State Department
of Health.
Susan Johnson
The Current Use Program is only successful if the employee who manages the program
has a wide variety of technical skills, customer service, and both broad and finite
understanding of every aspect of this complicated program. Susan does an
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outstanding job in the Assessor’s Office whether she is helping to educate each
individual that comes to the office who typically has very minimal understanding of the
program or when she works side by side with county employees and other community
stakeholders. She patiently and respectfully explains the complicated RCWs and
WACs in understandable terms and completes her work in the most ethical and
accurate way possible. She works well with title companies, mortgage companies, and
attorneys both in the Lewis County Community as well as state-wide. Any transfer of
property must be pre-approved by Susan, which is very often a rush-rush situation. She
handles each situation with ease, even when adding the pressure of the mortgage or
title companies, attorney demands, and frustrated and angry customers who want
immediate service, even when their paperwork might not be compete or correct. Susan
handles their crisis in a calm, direct and professional way, never altering the
expectations, always allowing fairness for all, and never compromising the integrity of
the program.
Commissioner Averill stated in working with Susan on the Open Space Determination
Board where they look at Open Space opportunities for forest, agriculture, and
conservation. It is a difficult job trying to bring people in from the outside who represent
the planning community. Susan is always well prepared and gives a great explanation
as the committee makes that very difficult decision.
Chairman Grose announced Susan Johnson as the 3rd Quarter Employee of the
Quarter.
Chairman Grose stated we have one more award to present. Each year the Lewis
County Road department has a Roadeo where they practice and use their skills running
various pieces of equipment. One of the participants in the local Roadeo, Matt
Mohney, went to the state competition and ended up winning the front loader
competition.
NOTICE
Commissioner Averill moved to approve Notice Agenda items one and two.
Commissioner Schulte seconded the motion. Candace Hallom, Administrative
Assistant, read the items into the record.
1. Request for Qualifications: For professional engineering, consulting and
project management services for the County Airports. RFQ’s will be opened
on or after 10:00 am, November 16, 2012 at the Community Development
Office. Resolution No. 12-317
Robert Johnson, Director of Community Development, stated the FAA provides
funding for airport related maintenance and operations projects at the two County
owned airports at Packwood and near Toledo. They require the County have
professional consultants to do the engineering, consulting, and project management
because the County does not have people qualified to do those kinds of airport projects.
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Periodically we are required to go out for requests for proposals so we are current with
the consulting firm that does the work for us. The contract with W&H Pacific expires
December 31, 2012. This RFQ will give us ample opportunity to publish this and get
statements of qualifications back. RFQ’s will be opened November 16, 2012 on or after
10:00 am at the Community Development Office. The committee will select the most
qualified firm and this will authorize us to contract with that firm for those services for
five years.
2. Notice: Accepting an offer to purchase surplus property on Hwy 603 near
Winlock, WA. Resolution No. 12-318
Larry Unzelman, Real Estate Services Manager, stated Lewis County owns a 2.61
acre tract on Highway 603 between Napavine and Winlock. The property is heavily
wooded vacant land. Resolution 12-085, passed by the Board of County
Commissioners on March 12, 2012, declared the property on Hwy 603 near Winlock,
WA surplus to the needs of the County and called for sealed bids. The minimum bid
amount was $54,900.00. No acceptable bids were received. After receiving no
acceptable bids for the land and timber, on August 13, 2012, the Board of County
Commissioners passed Resolution 12-258 offering sale of the timber only, minimum bid
for the timber was $30,000.00. No acceptable bids were received. LCC 3.30.400
specifies that where no acceptable bid is received, the County may withdraw the
property from sale, and thereafter negotiate the sale of the withdrawn property,
providing the public is given two weeks’ notice by advertisement and an opportunity to
compete for a more favorable price on terms negotiated. An offer of $45,000.00 for the
land and timber has now been received. This resolution accepts the offer and
authorizes sale of the property subject to LCC 3.30.400. The property has had sufficient
time for exposure to the market and has been considered by a sufficient number of
prospective purchasers. Advertisement required by LCC 3.30.400 will provide the
public an opportunity to compete for a more favorable price on terms negotiated.
Motion Carried 3-0
CONSENT
Commissioner Schulte moved to approve Consent Agenda items three through five.
Commissioner Averill seconded the motion. Candace Hallom, Administrative
Assistant, read the items into the record.
3. Resolution No. 12-319 Approval of warrants for payment.
Commissioner Averill stated this Resolution approves 3 Special Purpose warrants
(Vader Water System) for $1,109.33 and 209 warrants issued by the Auditor’s Office for
$1,201,439.44, totaling $1,202,548.77.
4. Resolution No. 12-320 Re-appointing Bob Guenther to the Pacific Mountain
Workforce Development Council.
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Commissioner Averill stated this Resolution approves the reappointment of Bob
Guenther (Chehalis) to the Pacific Mountain Workforce Development Council for a three
year term expiring December 31, 2015. Bob’s current term expires on December 31,
2012 and he has consented to serving an additional term. Bob is also a labor
representative on the Council and the Thurston-Lewis-Mason Central Labor Council has
recommended his reappointment. The Pacific Mountain Workforce Development
Council oversees training and development of employment opportunities for Grays
Harbor, Lewis, Mason, Pacific and Thurston Counties.
5. Resolution No. 12-321 Declare surplus and approve sale of a surplus water
truck.
Tim Elsea, Director of Public Works, stated the item listed in Exhibit “A” (1993 Ford
water truck) has reached its useful life, has been replaced, and is no longer useful to
Lewis County. Lewis County Fire District 4 (Morton) has expressed an interest in
purchasing the water truck listed in Exhibit “A”. Sales and auction results have been
researched and determined that $6,600 would be a fair price for the water truck.
Additionally, Lewis County Code 3.30.300 and RCW 36.34.130 allows for the transfer or
sale of surplus property to another Governmental Agency or qualifying non-profit
organization.
Motion Carried 3-0
There being no further business, the Commissioners’ public meeting adjourned at 10:31
am on October 15, 2012. The next public meeting will be held Monday, October 22,
2012, at 10:00 a.m.
Please note that minutes from the Board of County Commissioners’ meetings are not
verbatim. A recording of the meeting may be purchased at the Commissioners’ office.
BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
LEWIS COUNTY, WASHINGTON
ATTEST: F. Lee Grose, Chairman
Clerk of the Board P.W. Schulte, Commissioner
Lewis County Commissioners
Ron Averill, Commissioner