2019-01-28 Update with County ManagerUpdate with the County Manager
January 28, 2019
11:44 a.m.
Present: Commissioner Fund, County Manager Erik Martin, Wayne Whiton, Lara McRea, Becky Butler,
Commissioner Stamper (11:51 a.m.), Steve Mansfield (1:07 p.m.)
Guest: Alex Brown
Recorder: Rieva Lester
Steve Wohld discussed cybersecurity insurance. He said he would like to pursue a policy. He said IT is
doing a lot to mitigate but that it would be prudent to secure an insurance policy.
Wayne Whiton said the proposed secondary policy would give the county a guaranteed $4 million in
coverage. He said going through the Risk Pool would mean the county would have only one deductible.
He said the cost would be roughly $21,000 annually.
Commissioner Fund said she is in support of the additional policy. She and Erik Martin said they would
discuss it with all three commissioners present.
Steve and Wayne left at 11:50 a.m.
Commissioner Stamper joined at 11:51 a.m.
Becky Butler said the salary grid has a rounding issue. She said there is a desire to change to an hourly
approach instead of a monthly approach. She said it would result in a less than $2 a year raise for
employees and would fix the rounding problem.
Erik Martin and Becky discussed the county’s normalization of hours, which results in a standard
monthly salary total instead of an hourly approach. They said there is discussion about doing away with
the normalization approach. Erik said he will continue to have discussions about the topic.
The group discussed the postponement of the WSU MOA.
At 11:57 a.m., Commissioner Stamper announced that the meeting was being recessed until 1 p.m.
The meeting resumed at 1:07 p.m. with Commissioner Stamper, Commissioner Fund, Erik Martin, Lara
McRea, Wayne Whiton and Steve Mansfield in attendance.
Steve Mansfield discussed a proposal to create a citizens group to help work on the 911 interlocal
agreement.
Steve said the county has four options:
• Unified 911 within Lewis County, similar to what’s in existence.
• Regionalization of 911 to Pierce or Thurston County, which would require Lewis County to
continue maintaining infrastructure.
• Riverside and Centralia split off into their own PSAP.
• Straight privatization.
Steve discussed forming a citizens group, similar to the Blue Ribbon Task Force, to review the 911
options.
Erik suggested that if the idea moves forward, the commissioners enlist the group’s help for a year.
Steve stressed that public safety would have to be the group’s main focus.
Commissioner Fund said Dennis Dawes has indicated he is concerned that the county is standing in the
way of a proposed move to TCOMM. Erik said the city managers have been assured that that’s not the
case.
Erik suggested having a nine-member group. He said Commissioner Jackson is in support of moving
forward with the citizens group.
Erik said he has spoken to Sheriff Snaza about all of the options, save the straight privatization option.
Steve left at 1:24 a.m.
Wayne Whiton discussed Paulette Young’s previous work with Restorical Research to go after costs the
county paid toward environmental hazards prior to 1990. He said the county has been offered $300,000
for those claims, and that Restorical Research would take a 15 percent cut. He said the county would be
on the hook for that site from here on out if it moves forward with the proposal. He said one policy was
through Great American and another Lloyds of London is another.
The group discussed the potential risks versus rewards.
At 1:34 p.m., Commissioner Stamper announced that the meeting was being recessed until 2 p.m.
At 3:05 p.m., the meeting resumed with Commissioner Fund and Commissioner Stamper in attendance.
The commissioners discussed their calendars, including upcoming OPMA training opportunities.
Commissioner Fund left at 3:11 p.m. and returned at 3:12 p.m.
The commissioners continued discussing their calendars.
Meeting adjourned at 3:24 p.m.