Dayton Chronicle - Your Hometown News Source

DAYTON–The Columbia County Commissioners (BOCC) accepted a letter of resignation from Superior Court Clerk Sue Marinella, budget proposals from Columbia County Maintenance, Parks and Recreation, Public Works and the Sheriff's Office.

Marinella introduced a letter stating she will leave her position to retire at the end of December, 2021, with one year left of her two-year term. A replacement will be appointed by the Commissioners for the remaining year. The appointed Clerk must run for election on the next ballot in 2022. Marinella's retirement announcement follows her husband, District Court Judge Scott Marinella's recent announcement to retire.

The Board of County Commissioners met for another preliminary budget review meeting and work session on October 26. Public Works Director Charles Eaton presented to the Commissioners proposed departmental goals for all eight divisions of the department. An overarching goal for all divisions is for each budget to be self-sufficient rather than pulling from the County current expense.

The goal Eaton proposed for solid waste, was putting the waste management contract out to bid next summer and drafting an ordinance for management of recycling in the County which would provide leverage to establish minimum level of services and expectations from the company.

For Parks and Recreation, Eaton said the base goal would be to establish level funding through fees and the current expense money allocated so to avoid regular budget fluctuations. This will help to standardize operations, particularly at the fairgrounds. There was some discussion about creating a fee schedule that is reasonable to users, but still provides the revenue needed for operations.

In the engineering division, the goal is to get caught up on projects and to develop "long range planning with accurate cost estimates and funding availability" for the transportation improvement program (TIP), Eaton said. Filling the vacant positions is essential in doing this. Overcoming obstacles for recruiting for these positions was addressed including re-instituting the internship program at the high school. "I do believe that is for the long-term sustainability of Columbia County. I believe that is the key."

Eaton also discussed goals for facilities to "reduce outsourcing and bring some of those services back into the shop" which would also bring savings. Eaton went on to address the need of repairing and replacing some of the facilities and doing regular maintenance through a long-range plan for funding for this purpose.

The goal for the operations division is to return to pre-flood maintenance. Eaton specified the need to increase surface preservation of roads and be more proactive rather than reactive. He said striping should be done every year instead of every other. He also said an update to the ordinances addressing weight limits, road closures and haul routes including the standardized requirements should be done. He mentioned the recent closing of the Baileysburg bridge down to one lane until it can be replaced in several years. He said the Eaton bridge will also need replacing. He stated that County roads and bridges "were built for agricultural use. They are not built for industrial, heavy traffic use."

The goal for flood control, is to secure reliable funding through intergovernmental agreements and for standardized maintenance on the levee. A grant was submitted to the Department of Ecology that would provide $154,000 for creating flood control related ordinances. Eaton recommended an interlocal agreement with the city for flood control which would increase county maintenance responsibilities, but also bring in funding. The County is still waiting on FEMA to permit the removal of granular debris but once removed, Eaton said it will be reasonable to maintain.

Public Works goals for the GIS mapping system will be to update it to current standards including to input flood control information. County Assessor Chris Mills was present and expressed concern about falling behind after losing both Senior GIS Specialist Jonathan Holler last month and the other GIS Specialist Jonathan Craig who also gave notice. Eaton shared her concern and will be trying to fill the position and, in the meantime, look at contracting out the most immediate need work.

Administration goals include implementing a risk management policy to address Labor and Industry claims and insurance issues. Suggested was forming a Human Resources Department. Presently the Public Works Business Manager Amber Phinney has been handling varying human resources needs without a policy to lay out expectations for her position or training. Mills said a dedicated department would be ideal so when faced with human resources issues, it can be handled with a system in place rather than defaulting to various departments where each have to figure out how to handle situations. County departments could pay into a human resources department much like the information technology department is funded. The Commissioners agreed to look at this need in the coming year.

Eaton asked the Commissioners to consider a vision statement for the County and the public works department with a five-year outlook. Commissioner Marty Hall responded by saying self-sufficient departments to which Commissioner Charles Amerein agreed but added the maintenance of all departments.

Sheriff Joe Helm met with the Commissioners and appealed for additional funding for the hiring of three additional road deputies to properly manage law enforcement allowing the sheriff's department to be proactive rather than reactive. "Deputies not only cover law enforcement duties, but also jail duties such as monitoring inmates, providing medications, transporting inmates to and from court hearings, transporting inmates kept in other facilities, preparing and serving meals, serving civil process papers, firearm registration and licensing duties, sex-offender database updates, and other routine functions in between their law enforcement duties," Helm said. Currently there are nine deputies including six road deputies and the sheriff, undersheriff and chief deputy.

Attorney April King from the County Prosecutor's office was present to advocate for the need. Without the proper staffing, it's a challenge to conduct adequate and accurate investigations which can affect a court case. Also, deputies can't get in needed training. Helm said to the Commissioners that historically the police or sheriff's department employed more deputies and had even more reserve deputies. He also provided data showing similar counties employing more deputies per capita. "I'm accountable not only to you. I'm accountable for the community, for my role as a sheriff...My number one concern is how it affects not only my office, how it affects the community, how it affects the prosecutor's office – it affects everybody."