HomeMy WebLinkAbout2016/04/11 - Briefing BOARD OF MASON COUNTY COMMISSIONERS'BRIEFING MINUTES
Mason County Commission Chambers,411 North 5th Street,Shelton,WA
Week of April 11,2016
Monday,April 11,2016
9:00 A.M. Support Services—Bill Kenny
Commissioners Jeffreys and Neatherlin were in attendance. Commissioner Sheldon was absent.
• Dawn Twiddy presented the iFiberone contract for job recruitment advertising. Cmmr.Jeffreys
asked that law enforcement positions be emphasized in a creative way to attract applicants. The
proposal is for a four-month trial run at$400 per month. If the contract is extended beyond the
four months,Human Resources budget would probably need additional funding.
• Reschedule public hearing to April 26 for sale of Anthony Road properties to allow time to
publish hearing notice.
• Cmmr.Jeffreys presented the Lodging Tax Advisory Commission recommendations for use of
lodging tax: Call for request for proposals(RFP)for Tourism Promotion/Small Festival
Marketing and Visitor Information Centers for 2017 and award the contract to Northwest Event
Organizers,Inc.for the recent RFP for recreational/tourism maps. These were approved to move
forward. The map award will be on the May 17 agenda to allow the 45 day timeline to pass before
the Board can take action,as requested by law. There was a brief discussion of the"tourism
director"idea that has been discussed at the EDC roundtables. In anticipation of this being a
recommendation from the roundtables,the LTAC is recommending the RFP's be for only 2017
because if the County were to contract for some type of"tourism director"service,it would have
to be funded and lodging tax money is an option.
• The Board agreed to sign the Skokomish Watershed Action Team(SWAT)thank you letters to
Congress(one from SWAT&one from Mason County Commission)and will be placed on
tomorrow's agenda.
• Also on tomorrow's agenda will be a response letter to the Sheriff regarding his 2016 budget.
• Staff has requested additional language for the CGI Video Production contract for ADA
compliance.
• Commissioners agreed to start briefings at 8:30 a.m. on Monday, May 9 and meet with Superior
Court.
9:30 A.M. Public Defense—Susan Sergojan
Commissioners Jeffreys and Neatherlin were in attendance. Commissioner Sheldon was absent.
• Susan Sergojan stated the-off contract case loads are three times higher than last year. Cn=.
Jeffreys asked for the number of Driving While License Suspended(DWLS)cases. The
dependency cases have also had a large increase. There was a brief discussion of how to count
cases.
Cmmr.Neatherlin stated that since he has been Commissioner,the Public Defense office has
grown exponentially and he asked how we can get a handle on this.He asked Susan to put efforts
into controlling this department.
Ron Sergei pointed out Public Defense is a reactive agency. Their office have no paralegals,
attorneys are doing work that support staff would be doing.
The Public Defense staff is working on a program for relicensing,coming up with model like
Spokane,to get driver's license while paying off fine.
Cmmr.Jeffreys believes the main issue is that Susan volunteered to take on dependency cases
rather than contract those out and some of Susan's supervisor duties were distributed. The
administrator(Susan)should not take on a case load. The case assignment/case review should be
part of the administrator's role. A bigger look needs to look at the organization of the office,not
just reclassifications.
Discussion of Superior Court's requirement to assign the public defender attorney in the
courtroom. Susan asked the Commissioners to talk to the judges about that.
Cmmr.Jeffreys intends to talk to the Prosecutor about the Public Defense office structure. If
Public Defense needs therapeutic courts funding,Cmmr.Jeffreys asked that be included in the 5-
year therapeutic court plan. The 5-year plan has been requested from the judges.
Ms. Sergojan acknowledged that the Public Defense office is not politically favored by the public;
they have tried to make do with less than they need.
Cmmr.Neatherlin agreed that a comprehensive review needs to be done for Public Defense.
Board of Mason County Commissioners' Briefing Meeting Minutes
April 11,2016
Therapeutic Courts have issued an RFP for social worker and when asked if Susan can use that
service,her response was only if doesn't violate attorney/client privilege.
Cmmr.Neatherlin asked Susan to provide what is mandated by Public Defense and what is
optional and a strategy on how to reduce caseloads.
Cmmr.Jeffreys will gather input from Prosecutor,the Judges and Susan on how to structure office
and she is not in favor of adding an employee at this time. She will support a contract attorney for
dependency cases.
The Board approved placing on the agenda one 3/4 contract attorney for dependency cases,
$36,000 for 60 cases. Susan will do all supervising and case assignments.
Susan will provide how she believes the department should be set up ideally and the required
mandates.
10:00 A.M. Public Health&Human Services—Lydia Buchheit
Commissioners Jeffreys and Neatherlin were in attendance. Commissioner Sheldon was absent.
• The Board approved moving forward the 2016 contract with CHOICE Regional Health Network
in the amount of$4,000.
10:15 A.M. BREAK
10:20 A.M. Public Works-Melissa McFadden
Utilities&Waste Management
Commissioners Jeffreys and Neatherlin were in attendance. Commissioner Sheldon was absent.
• Interlocal agreement to provide technical assistance site visits and educational material to small
and medium sized businesses in Mason County concerning best practices and property
management of hazardous waste and stormwater.This is a voluntary program,not enforcement
and is grant funded from Department of Ecology.
• CPG grant with Ecology for Solid Waste programs.
• Approval to surplus excess vehicles and equipment. Cyndi provided the results of the recent
heavy equipment sale at Ritchie Brothers that had excellent results. They collected about$20,000
more than anticipated and that will be credited against the departments next year's ER&R rates.
• Jennifer provided an update on Utilities collection efforts. Collections are up 15%over last year.
• Conley Watson resigned from SWAC and there is a locally appointed official position open.A
news release will be issued.
• Allyn sewer leak on private property
10:45 A.M. Department of Community Development—Barbara Adkins
Commissioners Jeffreys and Neatherlin were in attendance. Commissioner Sheldon was absent.
• Barbara provided the history of an open enforcement case at 31 N Hidden Cove Lane in Lilliwaup.
The County has received several complaints the house is being used to provide SCUBA training
and instruction in association with Hydrosports Dive and Travel. The owner did obtain a building
permit for the garage remodel.The property owner states he is not running a business. Fish
&Wildlife(F&W)sent a diver to examine cables and concrete blocks and F&W have ordered the
property owner to remove the cables and concrete blocks. If not removed,F&W will turn over to
the Prosecutor's office for possible criminal charges. Barbara sent a letter to the property owners
for possible violations of zoning and development code for unpermitted alterations of home
(building code violations)and unpermitted uses of property,(commercial use of residential
property). If no corrections,county would take to the Hearing Examiner. Debbie Riley provided
information on environmental health's role in making sure the septic system is adequate for the
approved use. Water adequacy was discussed. Cmmr.Jeffreys suggested water meters be
installed. Cmmr.Neatherlin suggested Barbara send a request to the property owner to inspect the
premises.
11:30 A.M. Joint Citizen Advisory Committee for the Allyn and Belfair Urban Growth Areas-Lary Coppola,
Chair;Jeff Carey,Vice Chair
Commissioners Jeffreys and Neatherlin were in attendance. Commissioner Sheldon was absent.
• Barbara stated the briefing is for the advisory committee to provide their activities to date
and to receive information from the Commissioners on their intent when the committee
was created.
Board of Mason County Commissioners' Briefing Meeting Minutes
April 11,2016
Cmmr.Neatherlin read from Resolution 28-15 "review their current plans and development
regulations and make recommendations that create consistency for more viable urban growth
areas"and said that sums up the Commissioners'intent of the advisory board.
Lary Coppola,Committee Chair,stated there is frustration as to what is the workplan.The
Committee has appointed a sub-committee to work on Allyn and will appoint a sub-committee for
the Belfair area and then bring it all together.
Cmmr.Jeffreys stated the problem for this Committee to solve is to make recommendations for
consistent regulations for the Allyn and Belfair UGA's. Subarea Plan updates are for the staff to
make.
Cmmr.Neatherlin stated the goal is to compare the UGA regulations and make recommendations
to change the regulations to what works best,based on knowledge of what the community knows,
and make the regulations consistent.
Discussion of the various regulations.
Cmmr.Jeffreys asked if moving to stating un-allowed uses in zoning rather than stating allowed
uses would make it easier to merge the zoning codes.
Mr. Coppola suggested that the committee provide what they can provide by the May 2016
deadline and ask if the Commission will extend the timeline for further work from the committee.
Cmmr.Neatherlin stated that after a finished product is submitted from the committee,the
Commission could consider extending the Committee's task/timeline to allow them to look for
unification of codes for subarea plans.
Cmmr.Neatherlin provided his answers to the questions posed from the committee.
Jeff Carey stated he doesn't want to down zone anything. He asked if the priority is zoning
regulations.
Ken VanBuskirk believes the subarea plans,especially the Belfair subarea plan,need to be
reviewed now.
Mr.Carey brought up the calendar proposed by Public Works for the transportation element of the
Comp Plan. Cmmr.Jeffreys stated a consultant has been hired for that task and it is a mandatory
element.
Commissioner Discussion
Commissioners Jeffreys and Neatherlin were in attendance. Commissioner Sheldon was absent.
• Cmmr.Neatherlin brought up courthouse security metal detector(s)and suggested the equipment
be purchased. There was discussion of the options to lease,purchase and how many to obtain.
Clerk Ginger Brooks has agreed to manage the security contract.
2:00 P.M. Closed Session—RCW 42.30.140(4)Labor Discussion
Commissioners Jeffreys and Neatherlin met in closed session with Bill Kenny and Frank Pinter
from 2:00 p.m.to 2:30 p.m. Frank Pinter left the closed session at 2:30 p.m.and the session
continued until 3:10 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Diane Zoren,Administrative Services Manager
BOARD OF MASON COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
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Terri Jeffs Tim Sheldon Ra dy Neather n
Chair Commissioner Commissioner