Treasurer's request for additional deputy fails 1-2

Havre Daily News staff

Hill County Commissioners voted Thursday during their weekly business meeting to reject the Hill County treasurer’s request for a second deputy.

Commissioners Diane McLean and Mark Peterson said they are not aware of any need to approve a second deputy in the office.

The request failed in a 1-2 vote, with Commissioner Mike Wendland voting to approve the request and Peterson and McLean voting to deny it.

Treasurer Sandy Brown was not at the meeting.

The agenda for the meeting published last week in the commissioners’ weekly calendar did not list the request as something to be discussed or voted on.

For the second week in a row, the commissioners tabled a request by Hill County Justice of the Peace Audrey Barger to compare the duties and wages of her clerks to the duties and pay of the deputies in the Hill County Clerk of District Court’s Office.

Barger was not at the meeting.

The agenda for the meeting published last week did not list Barger’s request as an item for discussion or vote.

The commissioners also discussed a leak in the dam at Beaver Creek Reservoir.

A leak in a gate’s mounting system on the dam will be fixed next week, Peterson said. A contractor will shut the gate, he said, and the chamber will be depressurized and drain down. The contractor will then use two bonding materials to seal up the leak, Peterson said. He didn’t know if the patch would be put on from the inside or the outside, he added.

The commission also set a date for a hearing on the preliminary county budget.

Any Hill County resident can speak without needing an appointment to the commissioners about their concerns for the 2018-19 budget Tuesday, Sept. 4, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the commissioners office at the courthouse, Peterson said.  

The preliminary 2018-19 budget will be available for residents to read, he added, in a large binder on the table in the commissioners’ office.