County officials discuss policy at Wednesday meeting

Editors’ note: This version corrects the location of the harmful algal bloom mentioned in the story.

Hill County elected officials and department heads met Wednesday morning and discussed some possible minor changes to county policy regarding sick time and meal reimbursement as well as updates on their department’s activities.

Hill County Attorney Lacey Lincoln said she thinks county policy should be shifted to providing advanced payment for meals during travel instead of asking employees to ask for reimbursement.

Hill County Commissioner Sheri Williams agreed and said having to constantly ask for reimbursement is needlessly cumbersome for employees when the county could just provide payment in advance for the meals they will need to eat while traveling on county business.

Lincoln said Hill County Auditor Kathy Olson has expressed some concern about people quitting in between receiving the advance payment and actually leaving on a given trip, but that can be mitigated by having employees receive the payment the day before they leave, or the Friday before the leave if they’re departing on the weekend.

Williams said the county might also consider providing standard meal payments for travel regardless of whether a meal is provided at any given event or training.

She said they’ve had instances where people have been unable to eat the food provided by an event or training and had to eat on their own money.

Lincoln said that would be an increased cost to the county and trainings and events typically provide a variety of choices for food.

Hill County Sheriff Jamie Ross said that seems like something that can be worked out between an employee and their supervisor, probably in advance if they know what kind of food is being served.

Ross said there are always going to be special cases like that, and that’s what supervisors are for.

The group also briefly discussed the wording of their sick leave policy, with Williams proposing the inclusion of language which would make clear that these days can be used for mental health care.

Lincoln said that should already be covered under the current language and adding that language may just complicate things, as the county is generally not allowed to ask individual employees about those kinds of things anyway.

Ross said this seems like an instance where supervisors should be trusted to make judgment calls.

He said if he has a deputy that comes back from a call where they witnessed something traumatic and they are clearly having a hard time functioning, he will tell them to go home and take care of themselves, and that situation has happened.

Ultimately, the only change in the language the group settled on was the inclusion of partners and grandchildren in the section defining immediate family.

Ross suggested the addition of partners, saying that the current language only covers spouses, but if something happens to someone’s fiance, or a person they’ve lived with for 10 years then it’s obvious they should be able to take sick time to take care of them.

The group also agreed having grandchildren included the definition of immediate family, which already includes grandparents, seems logical.

During the meeting officials also discussed recent news relevant to their departments.

Williams said the Great Northern Fair last month appears to have been a success by all accounts, despite one sewer line clog toward the end.

She said the county is advertising for the position of Council on Aging Director and they are hoping to get that position filled as quickly as possible.

Montana State University Hill County Extension couldn’t be at the meeting, Williams said, but she did have a report from them.

She said the agents are setting up a ServSafe class Aug. 31 at Rocky Boy’s Indian Reservation, and they did very well with 4-H at this year’s fair.

Hill County Public Health Director Kim Berg said her department has been running some back-to-school vaccine clinics at their office and are setting up flu shot clinics as well.

Berg said any department interested in having a clinic should contact her, and the health department will set something up.

She said they are also planning various testing events throughout the community, as well as Women, Infants and Children appointments, and they are hoping to use their mobile unit for some of these.

She said West Nile Virus has been found in mosquito pools in Hill, Blaine, and Phillips counties, but there haven’t been any human or equine cases reported as of the time of the meeting.

A harmful algal bloom at Beaver Creek Reservoir, also known as First Lake, is still growing at its northern edge, Berg said, and she advised people to stay away to avoid getting very ill.

She also said she is applying for a grant to cover improved lead poisoning prevention in the county and she’s hoping to get word on that next week.

Hill County Road Department Supervisor Shane Huston said most road closures that resulted from the flooding this spring have since been rescinded, but they are still doing cleanup and maintenance in the wake of the disaster and it remains challenging to keep up with.

Ross said his department has its new body scanner up and is working on some grants and budgets, but they are still looking to fill some vacant positions.

He said he still has one of his deputies assigned to the Hill County Detention Center because he doesn’t have enough people to staff it.

Hill County Building Manager Joe Smith said he is trying to get the courthouse parking lot repainted but he’s having trouble finding someone to do it, so it may be a while before that project gets done.

Hill County Human Resources Officer Brittany Stygles said the county was recently awarded a $2,000 safety grant and received a number of new safety items which she will get dispersed to the departments by the end of the week.

Stygles also said she is hoping to set up a parade float for the county at this year’s Festival Days and she hopes everyone can get involved in that.

In an email to the Havre Daily News later that morning, she said she will be setting up a committee to handle creating the float, and she hopes it will be a good way for the county to get involved in the community.

She said the county continues to advertise for its open positions and they have had some more people express an interest in being on the county’s various volunteer boards recently.

Lincoln said at the meeting that it’s been business as usual at her office this past month, so she has nothing in particular to report.