Chair Parks called the meeting to order at 7 PM. All members were present, including the Administrative Manager; members of the public in attendance were Mary Strickroth and Jenny Golding.
Administrative Manager Bush presented the January meeting minutes. Secretary/Treasurer Stone moved to approve the January minutes. Director Gerdes seconded the motion. No discussion was needed; all voted in favor; none opposed. Motion passed.
Chair Parks brought to the Board, the Request for Funds made by th Electric Peaks Art Council involving their Youth Initiative 2017 Appropriation. Mary Strickroth and Jenny Golding explained their request to use their remaining funds from this appropriation to cover other costs of their project that were not specifically outlined in their original request. After all Board questions were answered, Vice-Chair Dalling moved to re-allocate $455.00 to cover other expenses incurred. Director Dawson seconded the motion. No further discussion was needed; all voted in favor; none opposed. Motion passed.
Administrative Manager Bush presented the current expenses for the month. Director Dawson moved to approve the current expenses, including check numbers 1175-1180. Secretary/Treasurer Stone seconded the motion. No discussion was needed; all voted in favor; none opposed. Motion passed. Administrative Manager Bush presented the 2018 Budget Report. After a brief discussion regarding various account lines, Vice-Chair Dalling moved to approve the 2018 Budget Report. Secretary/TreasurerStone seconded the motion. No further discussion was needed; all voted in favor; none opposed. Motion passed.
Chair Parks reminded the Board of the upcoming Special Election in May 2019 to permanently fill Rebecca Demaree spot on the Board. If interested, Director Gerdes will need to submit an application to Park County by February 11. Announcements will be placed in both the Livingston Enterprise and the Gardiner Newsletter to solicit other interested parties. If there is more than one candidate, an election will be held.
Chair Parks updated the Board on the proposed project with Futures West. A discussion was held concerning the legal opinion provided by legal counsel, Betsy Griffing. Betsy expressed direction as to how to move excess funds from the District Operating Fund back into “available accounts” for appropriation. She also expressed an opinion regarding “contracted services”, saying that the District did have authority to contract. Secretary/Treasurer Stone questioned whether the Futures West project would be something needed “to accomplish our governmental duties”. Chair Parks expressed his opinion that based on last month’s motion to obtain legal counsel, this issue has been resolved, but that he was opening it up for another discussion. Administrative Manager, after asking if it was okay to voice her opinion, cautioned the Board to consider “public perception” because this was originally brought to the Board as a 2018 Application for Appropriations. She suggested getting a “formal request” from the group working with Futures West, asking for the District’s assistance with this community project. Director Gerdes agreed that this needs to be kept separate from all appropriations. Director Dawson questioned whether this would occur within District boundaries. Director Gerdes moved to deny the Successful Gardiner appropriation application based on advice from legal counsel. Vice-Chair Dalling seconded the motion. In further discussion, all applications will be listed on the District’s website, along with the amounts of any appropriations made, including those that were denied any funding. All voted in favor; none opposed. Motion passed.
Secretary/Treasurer Stone presented the proposed 2019 District Expense Budget to the Board, explaining each line of the budget and answering any Board questions. Director Dawson moved to approve the 2019 Expense Budget. Director Gerdes seconded the motion; no discussion was needed; all voted in favor; none opposed. Motion passed.
In Old Business, Chair Parks opened a discussion regarding Seasonal Payments vs. Monthly Payments, as this has been a concerned voiced by some local businesses. Discussion items included, but were not limited to, a threshold amount for seasonal payments; how to handle late fees; a possible charge for “paper/check submissions”; and the steps involved with amending the existing collection ordinance. Chair Parks explained that amending the Ordinance would only be a Board process that would include public notification and having legal counsel draft the new Ordinance. It was decided not to act on this discussion and to revisit it next month. In New Business, the Administrative Manager gave a brief update on collections.
The next meeting will be held on February 12, 2019 at 7:00 PM. Vice-Chair Dalling moved to adjourn the meeting at 8:45 PM. Secretary/Treasurer Stone seconded the motion. No discussion was needed; all voted in favor; none opposed. Motion passed.
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