County of Inyo

Board of Supervisors

The Board of Supervisors of the County of Inyo, State of California, met in regular session at the hour of 9:00 a.m., on Tuesday, January 3, 2006, in the Board of Supervisors Room, County Administrative Center, Independence, with the following Supervisors present: Chairperson Ted Williams presiding, Linda Arcularius, Susan Cash, Jim Bilyeu, and Richard Cervantes. Supervisor Bilyeu provided the Invocation, and Supervisor Williams led the Pledge of Allegiance.

Planning/Alser Zone Variance Appeal

The Chairperson announced that Item No. 10. from the Planning Department requesting the Board A) conduct a public hearing to consider David Mason and Roy Harthorn’s appeal of the Planning Commission decision to approve Variance No. 2005-05/Alser, including comments submitted since the Planning Commission hearing of December 7, 2005; and B) approve a resolution denying the appeal and affirming the December 7, 2005 Planning Commission decision, had been pulled at the request of the Alsers, which had been agreed to by all parties and would be rescheduled.

Public Comment

The Chairperson announced the public comment period and there was no one from the public wishing to address the Board.

County Dept. Reports

The Chairperson announced the County Department Report Period.   Mr. Kevin Carunchio, Deputy County Administrator, updated the Board on weather related issues.   He explained that U.S. Highway 395 had been closed due to snow, that those who had been affected by the closure had difficulty finding shelter in Inyo County, that Inyo County did not open a shelter but that the Salvation Army did and that people had been directed as far south of Bishop, as Ridgecrest for lodging.   He reported that the Aspendell area had received four feet of snow, that avalanche warnings had been issued, that those in the affected avalanche zones seek shelter with neighbors, and that Inyo County had opened the roads in Aspendell without the assistance of Caltrans.   Mr. Ron Chegwidden, Acting Public Works Director, also provided a report on the storm, noting that Round Valley had received three feet of snow, that Aspendell had received four feet of snow, that the Airport was open and clear, that Bishop had received 12 inches of snow, that Big Pine had received 6-8 inches of snow, that there was flooding in the Panamint area, that there was snow and rock on some of the roads in the Bishop Creek area, that the County crews were concentrating on the residential areas of the County and that they were expected to be plowed and cleared by the end of the day.  

BofS/Election of Officers

The Chairperson, Supervisor Williams, thanked the Members of the Board for the opportunity to serve as the Chairperson last year.   At the conclusion of his remarks he turned the election of the officers over to the Assistant Clerk of the Board.  

The Clerk asked for nominations for Chairperson.   Supervisor Arcularius nominated Supervisor Susan Cash and Supervisor Cervantes nominated Supervisor Jim Bilyeu.   Moved by Supervisor Arcularius and seconded by Supervisor Williams to close the nominations.   Motion carried unanimously.   The Clerk called for a roll-call vote on those wishing to elect Supervisor Cash Chairperson, with Supervisors Arcularius, Cervantes, Bilyeu, Williams and Cash voting yes.  

The Clerk then called for nominations for Vice-Chairperson.   Supervisor Arcularius nominated Supervisor Jim Bilyeu, with Supervisor Cash seconding the nomination.   Moved by Supervisor Cash and seconded by Supervisor Williams to close the nominations.    Motion carried unanimously.   The Clerk called for a roll-call vote on those wishing to elect Supervisor Bilyeu Vice-Chairperson, with Supervisors Arcularius, Cervantes, Bilyeu, Williams and Cash voting yes.   At the conclusion of this item the Clerk turned the meeting back over to the Chairperson.

Planning/Parcel Merger 2005-15

Moved by Supervisor Bilyeu and seconded by Supervisor Arcularius to approve Parcel Merger No. 2005-15/Mason.   Motion carried unanimously.

Resol. #2006-01/ Juvenile Probation Funding Pgrm. Agreement

On a motion by Supervisor Bilyeu and a second by Supervisor Arcularius, Resolution No. 2006-01   entitled “Resolution of the Board of Supervisors, County of Inyo, State of California, Authorizing the Chief Probation Officer to sign and submit the County’s Juvenile Probation Funding Program Agreement” to the Corrections Standards Authority, as approved: motion unanimously passed and adopted.

P.W./Korve Contract for Bicycle Plan

Moved by Supervisor Bilyeu and seconded by Supervisor Arcularius to approve the Contract between the County of Inyo and Korve Engineering, for the provision of Bicycle Plan services, for the period of January 3, 2006 through June 30, 2006, in an amount not to exceed $30,818; and authorize the Chairperson to sign, contingent upon the appropriate signatures being obtained.   Motion carried unanimously.

Library/Holiday Closures

Moved by Supervisor Bilyeu and seconded by Supervisor Arcularius to authorize all library branches be closed on the following Saturdays because of 3-day holiday weekends:   February 11 th, February 18 th, May 27 th, September 2 nd, November 11 th, November 25 th, December 23 rd and December 30 th, 2006.   Motion carried unanimously.

Probation/Suprv. Group Counselor

Moved by Supervisor Bilyeu and seconded by Supervisor Arcularius to waive the hiring freeze and authorize the filling of a vacant budgeted Supervising Group Counselor position at Range 70 ($3,586 - $4,359).    Motion carried unanimously.

Sheriff/Identix Equipment P. O. Authorization

Moved by Supervisor Arcularius and seconded by Supervisor Williams to A) declare Identix as a sole-source provide of TouchPrintTM Live Scan Booking Stations; B) approve the purchase of TouchPrintTM 3800 Live Scan Booking Station with Integrated Full-Hand Scanning from Identix in an amount not to exceed $41,119; and C) amend the FY 2005-06 Veterans Service Office Budget Unit 056600 by increasing estimated revenue in Citizens Options Public Safety Revenue (Revenue Code #4488) by $6,000 and increasing appropriations in Other Equipment >$5,000 (Object Code #5670) by $6,000.   Motion carried unanimously.

Sheriff/Quest Router Systems

P. O.

Moved by Supervisor Williams and seconded by Supervisor Bilyeu to A) declare Quest as a sole-source provider of systems routers; B) approve the purchase of three replacement routers from Quest in an amount not to exceed $9,000; and C) amend the FY 2005-06 Veteran Service Office Budget 056600 by increasing appropriations in Office and Other Equipment <$5,000 (Object Code #5232) by $9,000 and decreasing appropriations in General Operating Expense (Object Code #5311) by $9,000.   Motion carried unanimously.

VSO/Budget Amendment

The Board and the Sheriff discussed the current travel methods for transporting veterans to the hospital in Reno.   Supervisor Arcularius requested that a workshop be scheduled with the VSO, Transit and the LTC to work on a long-term solution of transportation for veterans.   Moved by Supervisor Williams and seconded by Supervisor Bilyeu to amend the FY 2005-06 Veteran Service Office Budget 05660 by increasing estimated revenue in Donations (Revenue Code #4951) by $2,000 and increasing appropriations in Support & Care of Persons (Object Code #5501) by $2,000.   Motion carried unanimously.

Auditor/Add Acct. Clerk I to Authorized Strength

The Board and the Auditor discussed the recommendation to change a part-time Account Clerk position to a full-time position.   Ms. Chapman explained that the recommendation was a short-term solution and that she was working with the County Administrator to develop a long-term solution.   Moved by Supervisor Cervantes and seconded by Supervisor Bilyeu to A) change the authorized strength by deleting one BPAR (16-29.99 hrs/wk) Account Clerk I position at Range 43A ($10.10 per hour) and adding one full-time Account Clerk I position at Range 43 ($1,750 - $2,128); and B) waive the hiring freeze and authorize the filling of this position.   Motion carried unanimously.

Planning/G.P. Amendment

The Board asked that Agenda Item No. 16.   from the Planning Department requesting direction to Staff to process amendments to the General Plan RL and RVL Land Use Designations as recommended by Staff for Policy LU-2.4 and LU-2.5, be reagendized when   both the Planning Staff and Environmental Health Director are available.

Planning Dept./ Publicly Owned Land Inventory

The Board and Staff discussed the proposed resolution supporting a collaborative effort between the public agencies to inventory publicly owned land.   Supervisor Arcularius had great concern with many of the detailed items in the Resolution and indicated that she was only willing to approve a broad based resolution supporting the concept.   After further discussion the Board requested that the Planning Director make the substantive changes to the resolution and return later in the day for formal action on a revised resolution.

Ord. 1106/Firearm Discharge

On a motion by Supervisor Arcularius and a second by Supervisor Cervantes, Ordinance 1106   amending the language of Inyo County Code Section 9.28.040 relating to discharge of firearm within designated safety zones, was adopted:   motion unanimously passed and adopted.

CAO/2005-06

Leg. Platform

The Board and the County Administrator discussed the proposed 2005-06 Legislative Platform.   The Board requested that 3. Environmental Health be changed to oppose any language or amendments to AB 885 that would have a negative impact on rural counties; under Budget and Fiscal add an item No. 6. for the support of a reauthorization of HR 517 and/or S 267; under Transportation and Public Works, Item No. 1 add a bullet to include in the EIS analysis for State Route 127; under Resources and Environment add an item to support federal and state funding for managing watersheds; under Planning and Land use take out Item No. 1 and under the new No. 1, add continue to advocate for full funding of PILT; under Law and Justice add three Items which clarifies historical designation for County Court houses, legislations which funds and enhances County Drug Court operations and support revisions to Prop 36 which incorporate Drug Court principles into the programs.   The Board also clarified that with the adoption of the Legislative Platform, the Chairperson and the CAO are authorized to write letters, which are consistent with this platform.   Moved by Supervisor Arcularius and seconded by Supervisor Bilyeu to adopt the 2005-2006 Legislative Platform for the County of Inyo as amended.   Motion carried unanimously.

Resol. #2006-02/ Public Use Land Purchase

The Board and the Deputy County Administrator discussed the recommendation to have the County purchase a mining property north of Death Valley National Park, with the intent to swap the land for more desirable land in the future.   Supervisor Arcularius stated for the record that she was not interested in increasing the land owned by Inyo County.   She went on to say that she would support this recommendation because of the unique nature of the purchase in that this is a tax defaulted property, with the intended use to be to swap this property in the future.   On a motion by Supervisor Williams and a second by Supervisor Bilyeu, Resolution No. 2006-02 was adopted objecting to the scheduled sale of property (APN 017-070-01) at the Tax Collector’s tax-defaulted land auction and applying to purchase the property for public use: motion unanimously passed and adopted.

Moved by Supervisor Williams and seconded by Supervisor Bilyeu to amend the FY 2005/2006 County budget as follows:   increase appropriations in Acquisitions – ACO, Budget Unit #011301, Land, Object Code #5601 by $5,000 from unapproved reserves for the purpose of acquiring the property.   Motion carried unanimously.

BofS/Minute Approval

The Clerk requested that the minutes for the November 21, 2005 meeting be pulled.   Moved by Supervisor Bilyeu and seconded by Supervisor Williams to approve the minutes of the Board of Supervisors Meetings of A)   November 15, 2005; B) December 7, 2005; and C) December 13, 2005.   Motion carried unanimously.

Planning Dept./ Manufactured Home Sales Displays

The Chairperson opened the public hearing at 11:25 a.m. to consider a proposed ordinance amending zoning to add “manufactured home sales displays” as a conditional use in commercial zones C-1, C-2, and C-4.   Ms. Jan Larson, Senior Planner, reviewed the Staff Report and recommendations.   At the conclusion of her remarks, Ms. Larson requested that the Staff Report and all the attachments be included in the record and they were marked Exhibit A.   Mr. McClean, representing the Eastern Homes, Inc., addressed the Board to support the zoning amendment.   The Chairperson closed the public hearing at 11:40 a.m.   Moved by Supervisor Arcularius and seconded by Supervisor Bilyeu to waive the first reading of the Ordinance and schedule the enactment of the Ordinance for January 10, 2005 at 10:05 a.m., in the Board of Supervisors Room at the County Administrative Center in Independence.   Motion carried unanimously.

Resol. #2006-03/ CEQA on Mfg. Home Sales

On a motion by Supervisor Arcularius and a second by Supervisor Bilyeu, Resolution No. 2006-03, was adopted certifying that the requirements of the California Environmental Quality Act have been met; motion unanimously passed and adopted.

Resol. #2006-04/ Support for Inventory of Public Lands

The Planning Director, presented the Board with a revised resolution supporting the concept for public agencies to inventory publicly owned land.   On a motion by Supervisor Williams and a second by Supervisor Bilyeu, Resolution No. 2006-04 was adopted supporting a collaborative effort between public agencies to inventory publicly owned land available for disposal on one map for use by the Agencies, private land owners and the general public: motion unanimously passed and adopted.

CAO-Personnel/ Ord. Amending Elected Officials Salaries

The Board and Staff discussed the recommendation to change the salaries of the elected officials other than the Board of Supervisors.   The Auditor, Ms. Leslie Chapman, provided the Board with the analysis of those elected and appointed officials whose salaries will be affected by the Social Security cap.   Moved by Supervisor Williams and seconded by Supervisor Bilyeu to waive the first reading of an ordinance entitled “An Ordinance of the Board of Supervisors, County of Inyo, State of California, Amending Section 2.88.040 of the Inyo County Code to Increase the Salary for Certain Elected County Officials, Excluding Members of the Board of Supervisors” and set the enactment for January 10, 2006, at 10:00 a.m., in the Board of Supervisors Room, at the County Administrative Center, in Independence.   Motion carried unanimously.  

Resol. #2006-05/ Management Salaries Adjustment

On a motion by Supervisor Williams and a second by Supervisor Bilyeu, Resolution No. 2006-05,   entitled “A Resolution of the Board of Supervisors, County of Inyo, State of California, Rescinding Resolution #2003-49 and Setting Salary and/or Terms and Conditions of Employment for Management Employees Employed in the Several Offices or Institutions of the County of Inyo,” was adopted:   motion unanimously passed and adopted.

Resol. #2006-06/ Appointed Officials Salary Adjustment

On a motion by Supervisor Williams and a second by Supervisor Bilyeu, Resolution No. 2005-06,   entitled “A Resolution of the Board of Supervisors, County of Inyo, State of California, Rescinding Resolution #2005-08 and Setting Salary and/or Terms and Conditions of Employment for Appointed Officials Employed in the Several Offices or Institutions of the County of Inyo,” motion was adopted:    motion unanimously passed and adopted.

Resol. #2006-07/ Non-Represented Employees Salary Adjustment

On a motion by Supervisor Williams and a second by Supervisor Bilyeu, Resolution No. 2005-07, entitled “A Resolution of the Board of Supervisors, County of Inyo, State of California, Rescinding Resolution #2003-77 and Setting Salary, Terms and Conditions of Employment for Non-represented Employees Employed in the Several Offices or Institutions of the County of Inyo,” was adopted:   motion unanimously passed and adopted.

  Closed Session

The Chairperson recessed open session at 11:45 a.m., to convene in closed session, with all Board Members present to discuss Agenda Items No. 22.   PERSONNEL – [Pursuant to Government Code § 54957] Public Employee Performance Evaluation, Title:   County Administrative Officer; No. 23. CONFERENCE WITH LABOR NEGOTIATOR [Pursuant to Government Code §54957.6] Instructions to Negotiators re: wages, salaries and benefits, Title: County Administrator   - Negotiators:   Members of the Board of Supervisors as designated; No. 24. PERSONNEL – [Pursuant to Government Code § 54957] Public Employee Performance Evaluation, Title:   Chief Probation Office; No. 25.   CONFERENCE WITH LABOR NEGOTIATOR [Pursuant to Government Code §54957.6] Instructions to Negotiators re: wages, salaries and benefits, Title: Chief Probation Officer   - Negotiators:   Members of the Board of Supervisors as designated; and No. 26.   PERSONNEL – [Pursuant to Government Code § 54957] Public Employee Appointment, Title:   Director of Planning.

Report on Closed Session

The Chairperson recessed closed session at 5:47 p.m., to reconvene in open session to receive a report on closed session.   County Counsel reported: A) with regard to Agenda Item No. 24.   CONFERENCE WITH LABOR NEGOTIATOR [Pursuant to Government Code §54957.6] Instructions to Negotiators re: wages, salaries and benefits, Title: County Administrator - Negotiators:   Members of the Board of Supervisors as designated, the Board has approved a increase in salary for the County Administrator to $9,516 per month, effective February 1, 2006, with a contract amendment to be brought back for approval in open session; B) with regard to Agenda Item No. 25.   CONFERENCE WITH LABOR NEGOTIATOR [Pursuant to Government Code §54957.6] Instructions to Negotiators re: wages, salaries and benefits, Title: Chief Probation Officer   - Negotiators:   Members of the Board of Supervisors as designated, the Board has provided the Chief Probation Officer 10 years of service credit for the purposes of longevity pay, effective January 16, 2006, with an amendment to the Contract to be brought back for approval in open session; and C) with regard to Agenda Item No. 26.   PERSONNEL – [Pursuant to Government

Code § 54957] Public Employee Appointment, Title:   Director of Planning, the Board has appointed the County Administrative Officer, Mr. Ron Juliff, the Acting Planning Director, effective January 16, 2006.

Adjournment

The Chairperson adjourned the regular meeting at 5:50 p.m. to 9:00 a.m., January 10, 2006, in the Board of Supervisors Room, at the County Administrative Center, in Independence.