County Commission approves storm damage repair at Beaver Creek Lodge

The Hill County Commission voted to approve a number of contracts at this week’s business meeting and provided updates on a number of issues they had to table or that were not on the agenda.

The commission discussed a few contracts including a $12,775 contract between the county and Maddox Roofing & Construction Inc. to repair storm damage done to the Beaver Creek Park Beaver Lodge, which they approved unanimously.

They also unanimously approved a professional services contract for a preliminary architectural report with Bear Paw Development Corp. for the Rudyard Senior Center, a report which will determine the structural stability of the facility so they can tell if the building is at all salvageable.

The commission also briefly discussed a contract with the Hill County Council on Aging and A Plus Health Care.

A few weeks ago Hill County Attorney Lacey Lincoln expressed concerns about the contract, pointing out a number of potential issues she hoped to address before it was approved.

Hill County Commissioner Jake Strissel said he hasn’t been able to speak with Council on Aging Director Don Kenny about these issues, so the matter was tabled.

Kenny has submitted his resignation effective this month, with his last day July 8.

The commission also approved the second half of the county’s share of funding for the participation in the Bear Paw Economic Development District in the amount of $10,625.

Strissel said because his wife Sara Strissel works for Bear Paw Development his household will directly benefit from this approval, so he abstained from voting to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest.

Hill County commissioners Diane McLean and Mark Peterson both voted to approve the payment and the latter praised Bear Paw Development for its work, especially in the past year.

“They’ve been extremely helpful and very professional, and I appreciate the opportunity to work with them,” he said.

He said Bear Paw Development does a tremendous amount of work for the county, which wouldn’t be able to keep up with all the available funding opportunities without their help.

The commission also tabled discussion of a county credit card policy.

Last week, Lincoln indicated to the commission that she needs more time to consider and synthesize the recommendations given to her by other county officials on the matter and this week McLean said Lincoln has not had the time to continue that process.

Department heads for several years had asked that their departments be issued cards they could use on expenses instead of paying out-of-pocket and asking for reimbursement, especially for out-of-town travel. The commissioners agreed in April to get one card for the county under the management of Hill County Auditor Kathy Olson, with the intention to eventually approve more.

Since then the commission has been discussing setting up policies for the credit card, but when they attempted to pass one earlier this month Lincoln objected, saying she wanted to see the policy before they voted on it and that other department heads should be given the opportunity to go over it as well.

When asked about a recent recommendation to raise elected official pay sent to them by the Hill County Compensation Board and whether they were going to vote on it McLean said she doesn’t know, but a decision will need to be made by the first week of September.

The recommendation to give elected officials a five percent cost of living pay increase with a one percent longevity raise on top of that was approved to be sent to the commission last week, with the stated intention that a similar cost of living increase would be voted on for unelected officials and other employees, something the compensation board doesn’t actually deal with.

McLean has said that while the board only makes recommendations regarding elected official pay, the commission wants to mirror any changes made to elected official pay for the rest of Hill County’s employees, for reasons of fairness and practicality.

The board had been discussing a potential change to the pay matrix of the county that would include yearly wages increases compressed into a shorter amount of time, which McLean said will help attract more people to the county.

Other members of the board, as well as county officials not on the board, criticized the plan, saying it didn’t really solve the problem they were facing, low pay.

The plan would change the one percent yearly raises employees get for their first 18 years of service to 2.5 percent raises they’d get over six years, which would be followed by longevity payments that would go up by 50 every few years.

At last week’s meeting, which drew many more attendees than the previous one, Lincoln presented an alternative plan much closer to what officials wanted, simplifying the matrix somewhat and raising starting wages.

The group agreed that a plan like this would require study regarding how it could be paid for, potentially through a tax increase that the community would need to approve in a vote.

However, the group did come to the conclusion that a cost of living increase was something they needed to do soon, and Lincoln said five percent should be doable without any new taxes.

However, at today’s commissioner meeting Peterson said more study needs to be conducted regarding paying for such an increase.