Commissioners discuss grants
SUPERIOR – In their weekly meeting Friday, the county commissioners reviewed the draft for a letter to support a possible application for the Prevention Partnership Grant and Alcohol Compliance Grant.
According to Juli Balenger, a representative from Buckle-Up Montana who presented the letter, the grants would help with the Responsible Alcohol Sales and Services training for local bartenders. The grants would also help pay someone to make sure bars are in compliance with the regulations.
“[The grant is] to help pay for office space and day to day office expenses,” said Balenger.
Roman Zylawy, commissioner for the county’s east end, was concerned if the sheriff’s office had the staff and resources to do the compliance checks. However, Balenger said she had already spoken to Mineral County Sheriff Ernie Ornelas and he was supportive of the idea.
There was also some confusion over who would administer the grant. The commissioners called Krista Standeford to get more information on how the grant would work. According to Standeford, the grant is given to the entire state and she would work with the regions of Mineral, Sanders, Lake and Lincoln Counties to take care of the funds.
Zylawy explained the letter of support requested Mineral County be included in the grant. He said the county would receive $56,000 over four years to help cover the costs of the RASS training and compliance checks.
The commissioners gave their support to the application and signed the letter. This was not the only possible change discussed in the meeting.
In the public comment period, Jim Green, a representative of Univision – a Missoula IT company, offered his company’s services to the county for a network contract. He said Univision would be the best for the job for a number of reasons.
“I think my company’s the best to support Mineral County because we’re here, there are 16 of us [and] we’re already supporting law enforcement agencies all over the state,” said Green.
The company has also helped some of the schools in Mineral County. Green said the networks for the St. Regis and Superior School Districts were both supported by Univision. Green’s goal was to put himself, and his company, before the commissioners as an option if they ever wanted to switch IT providers.
“I just wanted to make sure that the next time something comes up, we have the opportunity to participate,” said Green.
Zylawy explained there were no current plans to change companies. However, a big change in the network had recently been made and there were some bugs. He said they had worked with the company to get things fixed, but might look for someone new if the problems could not be solved.
“If things don’t work out, we’ll probably start looking for someone who can handle it,” said Zylawy.
The commissioners also approved a resolution (1-17-14) to put the option for a review of the local form of government on the 2014 ballot. If this passes, a group will be appointed to conduct the review and determine if the current government works or if a different system should be established. The option for the review needs to be offered every 10 years.
The appointment of someone to the cemetery board of District three was another item discussed. The commissioners received an application to reappoint Shirley Garr to the position and passed the motion unanimously. Garr’s term will go until December 31, 2016.
Next week’s meeting of the county commissioners, which would normally be on Friday, January 24, has been rescheduled to Thursday, January 23. This was done to accommodate a public comment meeting for hunting regulations with Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks.