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STATE OF WYOMING ) LANDER, WYOMING ) ss. OFFICE OF THE FREMONT COUNTY COMMISSIONERS COUNTY OF FREMONT ) July 7, 2008
The Board of Fremont County Commissioners met in Special Session at 3:00 p.m. with the following members present: Chairman Douglas L. Thompson, Vice-Chairman Pat Hickerson, Jane Adamson, Keja Whiteman and Dennis Heckart. Also present was County Clerk and Clerk of the Board Julie A. Freese. The Board proceeded to discuss budget issues. County Clerk Julie Freese noted that a new assessed valuation from the Assessor has been received. As a result, the assessed valuation was changed to $848,481,111. Freese recapped the request from the Library to restore $10,631 to the Lander Custodial position, $11,041 to the substitute hours and to add $50,000 back to the Cash Reserve. These amounts were all approved. Mike Stalder discussed the status of the VOCA funding from the state. Stalder relayed a conversation he had earlier in the day with the State Director regarding funding, which should be coming within the month. An amount of $32,000, not requiring a local match, will be awarded and is to be shared between the Sheriff and Attorney. No changes were made at this time to either budget. All employee health insurance plans had been double checked by the Clerk’s payroll deputy and it was found that the Attorney’s Office had two employees listed as family and this should be reflected as a single plan and death benefit only. Therefore, $20,414 had been reduced out of the Attorney’s budget and the Office Manager had been notified of the change. The Dubois Museum employee line item for the front desk was discussed. This line had not been reduced nor had any of the increases been added to it. Museum Board Administrative Secretary Donna Booth was present to discuss whether this was a new employee and she noted this was a position where five employees take turns running the front desk. The salary amount was adjusted to receive the $1,000 and 3% increase. The Museum budget was therefore reduced by $1,897. The $200,000 taken out of the Transfer to Capital Revolving fund was returned. Commissioner Heckart requested that, since there were extra funds, that $250,000 be added into the health insurance fund. Discussion ensued of how to handle this concept at this late date and it was decided to leave the money in the Cash Reserve as the Board expects they may have to dip into the reserve due to fuel increases or health insurance. Commissioner Hickerson still wanted to find a way to fund a tax relief system for the taxpayers. He had no plans ready for this work session and therefore the idea was not acted on. Freese and Financial Assistant Mike Stalder mentioned that the Wyoming Risk Management Board had contacted them to ask if the County was ready to join their pool for property insurance. They had been given a temporary go ahead by Freese to place the county’s application on their agenda for their July meeting. If the County was ready to participate, they would also need a liaison from the board. Commissioner Heckart was appointed to serve as a liaison on that board. A Public Hearing was held at 5:30 p.m., as advertised. Chairman Thompson stated the purpose of the meeting was to hear comment on the proposed E-911 Fund and Fremont County’s FY 2008-09 Budgets. Five people were present in the audience. The first budget discussed was the E-911 Special Revenue Fund. County Clerk Julie Freese read a statement from ISS Supervisor Joni Miller, who was unable to attend, as follows: “I recommend that the $.50 surcharge remain unchanged for both the wire and wireless lines. Of that amount, $.32 is immediately used for networking, database and month line charge for Fremont County, City of Lander and Fort Washakie Police Department; this is Law, Fire and EMS. This provides the Automatic Number Identification (ANI) and Automatic Locator Identifier (ALI). The remaining $.18 is used to establish a fund for replacement, repair and maintenance of equipment. Some wireless carriers are not fully on board with the GPS and X Y coordinates. The next year we will be working on the WyoLink project.” Comments were then heard regarding Fremont County’s proposed budget. Fremont County Library Director Jill Rourke thanked the Board for reinstating funding into their operating budget. She also thanked them for recognizing the need for equitable wage increases across the county. She felt the flat wage increase of $2,000 and a 3% on top was a thoughtful and smart approach. She stated that if additional funding was found, she requested consideration of funding for the Riverton Library to help with security issues. She stated there are 15,000 individuals using the Library per month, and with that large traffic, they are experiencing loitering and small vandalism issues. They are requesting a part time custodial/security position to work 24 hours per week (4 evenings and Saturday). Roger Hicks, Chairman of the Fremont County Library Board, also echoed Ms. Rourke’s request for a part time custodian/security position for the Riverton Library. Numbers are up for usage at the facility and the position is greatly needed. He requested the Board fund the position to the fullest extent possible. Dubois Mayor Mark Harrison thanked the Board for their funding of capital projects through the Fremont County Association of Governments. He stated that Dubois had received $41,796 from that pool of money to fund a new sewer jetter system. He stated he would now like to amend that funding and put $31,500 of it towards the Dubois Airport, which was not funded by the County, and the remainder be used for the sewer jetter. He stated they could most likely find grant monies to help fund the reminder of the sewer jetter costs, and that grant monies are not available for the airport. He stated he wanted the Board’s approval of his request to change the funding received through FCAG. Matt Jacobson, Injury Prevention Resources, thanked the Board for their support of the program in the upcoming budget. He stated the program is still having a funding shortfall and stated the county’s funding is used for leverage on other grants. They are trying to tap into different funding sources (Daniels Fund, etc.). There being no further comments from the audience, the public hearing adjourned at 5:55 p.m. Chairman Thompson stated they would set the FY 08-09 budget the following day at 10:30 p.m.
/s/ DOUGLAS L. THOMPSON, CHAIRMAN FREMONT COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
/s/ JULIE A. FREESE, COUNTY CLERK AND CLERK OF THE BOARD
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