County of Inyo

Public Comment

The Chairperson announced the public comment period and there was no from the public wishing to speak.

BofS/Quad State Coalition Workshop

The Chairperson recessed open session at 9:17 a.m., to convene in a workshop with Mr. Gerry Hillier, Executive Director of the Quad State Coalition of Counties,  who presented a review and update on the Quad State Coalition of Counties and public issues relative to the organization.  The Chairperson recessed the workshop at 9:50 a.m., to reconvene in open session, with all Board Members present, except Supervisor Lent.

CAO-Purchasing/ Printing Purchases

Moved by Supervisor Bear and seconded by Supervisor Hambleton to award Bid No. 2002-01 for and approve the purchase of FY 2002/2003 printing requirements from Hart Printers as recommended by Staff.  Motion carried unanimously, with Supervisor Lent absent.

P.W./Plans & Specs for D.V. Road Resurfacing

Moved by Supervisor Bear and seconded by Supervisor Hambleton to approve the Plans, Special Provisions and Bid Documents for the Death Valley Road Resurfacing Project and authorize the Public Works Director to advertise the project.  Motion carried unanimously, with Supervisor Lent absent.

Rd. Dept./Lone Pine Road Yard Lease

Moved by Supervisor Bear and seconded by Supervisor Hambleton to approve the Lease Agreement between the County of Inyo and the City of Los Angeles, Department of Water and Power, for the Lone Pine Road Yard, for the period of July 1, 2002 through June 30, 2007, at the rate of $360 for the first year and $500 per year in each succeeding year, contingent upon the Board’s adoption of future budgets; and authorize the Chairperson to sign.  Motion carried unanimously, with Supervisor Lent absent.

H&H-CalWorks/ IMACA Contract for Client Services

Moved by Supervisor Dorame and seconded by Supervisor Hambleton to approve the Contract between the County of Inyo and Inyo Mono Associates for Community Action, Inc., for client services for the period of July 1, 2002 through June 30, 2003, in an amount not to exceed $36,000, contingent upon the Board’s adoption of a FY 2002/03 Budget; and authorize the Chairperson to sign.  Motion carried unanimously, with Supervisor Lent absent.

County Counsel/ Great Basin APCD Contract

Moved by Supervisor Dorame and seconded by Supervisor Bear to approve the Contract between the Great Basin Unified Air Pollution Control District and the County of Inyo for the Office of County Counsel to provide certain legal services to the District for the period of July 1, 2002, through June 30, 2003, in the amount of $10,000; and authorize the Chairperson to sign.  Motion carried unanimously, with Supervisor Lent absent.

County Counsel/ Price & Brumfield Contract Amendment

County Counsel provided additional information regarding the status of the Coso Litigation for which services are provided under the Contract with Price and Brumfield.  Mr. Bruce explained that the County’s ability to recover legal fees associated with the litigation was not feasible in that the law protects the taxpayers rights to legally challenge the County’s assessment of property without the risk of the taxpayer having to pay for the County’s defense of that challenge.  Moved by Supervisor Bear and seconded by Supervisor Dorame to approve Amendment No. 2 to the Contract between the County of Inyo and the Law Firm of Price & Brumfield for the provision of legal services increasing the Contract by $25,000 to an amount not to exceed $75,000; and authorize the Chairperson to sign.  Motion carried unanimously, with Supervisor Lent absent.

E. Health/Vector Control Services for Mono County

Moved by Supervisor Hambleton and seconded by Supervisor Dorame to approve the Agreement between the Counties of Inyo and Mono for the provision of Inyo County Environmental Health Department Staff to conduct vector control services in Mono County for the period of July 1, 2002, through June 30, 2003; and authorize the Chairperson to sign.  Motion carried unanimously, with Supervisor Lent absent.

H&H-Children’s Serv./Child Abuse Prevention

Moved by Supervisor Bear and seconded by Supervisor Dorame to ratify the Contract between the County of Inyo and IMACA for the provision of Child Abuse Prevention support services, for the period of July 1, 2002, through October 31, 2002, in an amount not to exceed $1,500, contingent upon the Board’s adoption of a FY 2002/03 Budget; and authorize the Chairperson to sign.  Motion carried unanimously, with Supervisor Lent absent.

H&H-WIC-IMAAA/Reg. Dietitian

Moved by Supervisor Dorame and seconded by Supervisor Hambleton to authorize the hiring of  the full-time Registered Dietitian at Range 74, step D ($4,013 per month).  Motion carried unanimously, with Supervisor Lent absent.

CAO-P.W./O.V. Railway Restoration Project

Mr. Bob Tomko, representing the Owens Valley Railway Company, presented and read into the record a prepared statement supporting the proposed Laws Railway Restoration Project.  The Board commended the Owens Valley Railway Company for their persistence, patience, creativity and continued support of the Laws Railway Restoration Project.  Mr. Jeff Jewett, Public Works Director, presented the Board with a itemized recap of the TEA-21 funding, proposed and approved projects.   The Board and Mr. Jewett discussed the obligatory requirements of TEA-21 funding.  In response to a question from the Board regarding the TEA-21 funding which was lost to the County as a result of a delay in the Interagency Visitor Center project, Mr. Jewett, explained that Staff is working on the return of the $109,000 to the County through legislation.   

The Board and Staff discussed project prioritization issues, with Mr. Jewett explaining that Staff is diligently working and juggling project requirements and deadlines to maximize and protect all project funding.  Supervisors Hambleton and Dorame explained, in an effort to make it perfectly clear to the representatives of the Owens Valley Railway Company, that while they support the Restoration Project, when it comes to priority and completion of projects, County projects (i.e., parks and campground improvements, promotion of the airport, road projects, the Big Pine Care property, etc.) in their districts will take top priority over any outside project, including the Railway Restoration Project.  The Board and Mr. Jewett went on to discuss the timelines for the Restoration Project with Mr. Jewett explaining that he did not feel County involvement would be required until after the environmental documentation phase has been completed.  The Board, Staff and members of the audience discussed the continued operation of the Railway once it is restored, with the members of the audience assuring the Board of their continued accountability and that of future generations involvement in the project well into the future. 

The Board, the County Administrator and the Public Works Director, discussed the increased demand on staff as projects are added to the already full list of projects being handled through the Public Works Department.  The County Administrator discussed the various personnel aspects, including increasing staffing resources through the continuous recruitments of critical, difficult to fill positions in order to maintain hiring lists, the need for project prioritization and the discussion of budgeting requirements for increasing staffing levels. 

Moved by Supervisor Bear and seconded by Supervisor Hambleton to approve the Owens Valley Railway Company’s Laws Railroad Restoration Project, contingent upon the approval of the final budget and direct staff to enter into discussions with the City of Bishop to confirm the City’s commitment to share 50/50 on the matching funds requirements and of the level of additional project assistance by the City of Bishop, to be reported back to the Board.  Motion carried unanimously, with Supervisor Lent absent.

Recess/

Reconvene

The Chairperson recessed the regular meeting at 11:20 a.m., reconvening at 11:35 a.m., with all Board Members present, except Supervisor Lent.

Coroner/Pay Increase

The County Administrator introduced the request to increase the Coroner’s salary over the next four years.  Mr. Mendez also reviewed the ordinance process which will need to be followed should the Board raise the salary of an elected official.  Mr. Leon Brune, Inyo County Coroner, provided a brief explanation of the request for a salary increase, explaining that in the past he has spent about 20% of his time on Coroner business and that it has gradually increased to 35% at the present time and that is why he is requesting the increase.  Supervisor Hambleton explained that in keeping with previous actions regarding personnel requests, he wanted to address this request during final budget discussions.  The remaining Board Members concurred, that they too would like to discuss the information in conjunction with the final budget adoption.  The County Administrator indicated that he would submit the Coroner’s request as a specific discussion and action item with the final budget. 

Sheriff’s/Radio System Upgrade Project

The County Administrator, the Undersheriff and a representative of Motorola, provided a brief synopsis of the Sheriff’s Radio System Network upgrade project, the proposed changes to the project including a brief description of the types of technology, new equipment and site upgrades which will be incorporated into the amended project, and a review of the project funding. Moved by Supervisor Bear and seconded by Supervisor Hambleton to:

A.    Reaffirm the existing Agreement with Motorola for the upgrade of the Sheriff’s Radio System Network and not invoke the “termination for convenience” clause; 

B.    Authorize the change order to the existing Agreement with Motorola that (a) reduces the original contract cost from $2,174,617.88 to $1,993,027.44, (b) changes the date of shipment of the equipment from August 16, 2002 to November 12, 2002 and (c) extends the completion date to July 30, 2003 and authorize the County Administrator to sign the change order;

C.    Authorize the continuation of the Sheriff’s Radio Network upgrade project for a not to exceed amount of $2,291,981.44, which includes the cost to Motorola ($1,993,027.44) and a 15% contingency ($298,954);

D.    Direct the County Administrator to bring back the necessary appropriation as part of the FY 2002/03 County Budget and the revenue to fund the project including (a) $750,000 awarded from the Federal Government, (b) $1,300,000 through the CaLease Public Funding Corporation and (c) $298,954 from the Economic Stabilization Fund or General Fund; 

E.    Direct staff to prepare the necessary documents to lease finance the Sheriff’s Radio Network through the CaLease Public Funding Corporation to be brought back for Board approval.

Motion carried unanimously, with Supervisor Lent absent.

Recess/

Reconvene

The Chairperson recessed the regular meeting at 12:20 p.m., reconvening at 1:45 p.m., with all Board Members present, except Supervisor Lent.

Resol. #2002-49/ So. Inyo Fire Protection Loan

On a motion by Supervisor Dorame and a second by Supervisor Hambleton, Resolution No. 2002-49, authorizing an interim loan from the County Treasury to the Southern Inyo Fire Protection District in the amount of $30,000 for FY 2002/03, was adopted:  motion unanimously passed and adopted, with Supervisor Lent absent.

BofS/Minute Approval

Moved by Supervisor Dorame and seconded by Supervisor Hambleton to approve the minutes of the August 6, 2002, Board of Supervisors Meeting.  Motion carried unanimously, with Supervisor Lent absent.

Solid Waste/ Program W/S

The Chairperson recessed open session at 2:05 p.m., to convene in a workshop with County Staff on the Inyo County’s Integrated Waste Management Program.  The Chairperson recessed the workshop at 4:45 p.m., to immediately convene in closed session.

Closed Session

The Board convened in closed session, with all Board Members present, except Supervisor Lent to discuss Agenda Items No. 19.  PENDING LITIGATION (Pursuant to Government Code Section 54957.6(a) - CONFERENCE WITH LEGAL COUNSEL EXISTING LITIGATION  - Claim filed by Southern Inyo Local Health Care District by Kenney Scruggs dated 7/26/02; No. 20.  CONFERENCE WITH LEGAL COUNSEL EXISTING/ANTICIPATED LITIGATION (Pursuant to Government Code Section 54956.9(a)(c) – Stell v. County of Inyo, SBR #0299444; No. 21.  CONFERENCE WITH LEGAL COUNSEL EXISTING/ANTICIPATED LITIGATION (Pursuant to Government Code Section 54956.9(a)(c) – Lane v. County of Inyo, SBR #0290055; No. 22.

CONFERENCE WITH LABOR NEGOTIATOR (Pursuant to Government Code Section 54957.6) - Instructions to Negotiators re: wages, salaries and benefits –  Employee Organization - ICEA - Negotiators - County Administrator and Personnel Analyst and No. 23.  CONFERENCE WITH LABOR NEGOTIATOR (Pursuant to Government Code Section 54957.6) - Instructions to Negotiators re: wages, salaries and benefits –  Employee Organization - Elective Officials Assistant Association (EOAA) - Negotiators - County Administrator and Personnel Analyst.

Report on Closed Session

The Chairperson recessed closed session at 5:20 p.m., to convene in open session to receive a report on closed session.  County Counsel reported there were no items discussed in closed session which were required by law to be reported on in open session. 

Adjournment