Description Gallatin County Board of Park Commissioners January 21, 2009
Date 01/21/2009 Location Board of Park Commission
Time Speaker Note
5:07:48 PM Acting Chair Carol Collins Called to Order. Present were Park Commissioners: Carol Collins, Rick Fink, Jack Clarkson, Deb Kane, Kelli Stanley and Jill Wilkinson. Staff present: Open Lands Coordinator Mike Harris, Deputy County Attorney Jecyn Bremer and Recording Secretary Crystal Turner.
5:07:57 PM Acting Chair Carol Collins I. Public Comment There was no public comment on items not on the agenda. (There was no public present in the room.)
5:08:01 PM Acting Chair Carol Collins II. Approval of Meeting minutes of November 19, 2008.
5:08:16 PM Ms. Collins asked if there were any corrections or changes to the minutes. No one had any. Ms. Collins asked for a motion to approve the minutes.
5:09:27 PM Deb Kane Sounds good.
5:09:40 PM Kelli Stanley Second
5:09:42 PM Motion passed unanimously.
5:09:49 PM Acting Chair Carol Collins III. Action Items: #1) Election of Officers
5:09:53 PM Carol explained regarding Patrick Finnegan being the previous chair; she is currently the Vice Chair. Explanation of the Chair's responsibilities: participation in the Executive Committee meetings, setting the agendas. Secretary/Treasurer position
5:10:54 PM Jack Clarkson I would like to make the motion that Rick Fink be maintained as the Secretary/Treasurer.
5:11:06 PM Kelli Stanley Second
5:11:24 PM Motion passed 5:0; Rick abstained.
5:11:31 PM Carol explained that the Vice Chair sits in for the Chair when they are absent from the meeting, and participates in the Executive Committee meetings. Mike commented that maybe the Board should be electing officers in the reverse order, starting with the Chairmanship.
5:12:04 PM Jack Clarkson Comments regarding his experience regarding Vice Chairs. I would nominate Carol Collins as our Chairperson.
5:12:39 PM Rick Fink Second
5:13:03 PM Motion passed 5:0; Carol abstained.
5:13:21 PM Discussion and clarification via conference call attendance. Deputy County Attorney Jecyn Bremer stated that generally you would have to be present to participate in a meeting. Information that is presented may not be available to you via a telephone. This is her understanding from statements in the County Attorney's office. Crystal will prepare a Request for Legal Service for Mike's signature and send it to the County Attorney's office for a legal determination. We will notify the Board once we have the determination.
5:16:18 PM Chair Carol Collins Vice Chair
5:16:34 PM Deb said she would be happy to be the Vice Chair in one year. She would like to wait at least that amount of time. Jill said she would do it.
5:17:08 PM Deb kane I make a motion that Jill be the Vice Chair.
5:17:14 PM Jack Clarkson Second
5:17:18 PM Motion passed 5:0; Jill abstained.
5:17:29 PM Chair Carol Collins Action Item #2) Public Hearing and Recommendation to the County Commission on a Resolution Amending Resolution #2004-130 "Creating a Board of Park Commissioners"
5:18:02 PM Open Lands Coordinator Mike Harris Comments regarding the changes.
5:18:39 PM Deputy County Attorney Jecyn Bremer Amendments to the bylaws and the resolution were suggested to be in compliance with State statute 7-1-201, MCA, regarding state boards. This would bring the resolution and bylaws into compliance.
5:19:18 PM Discussion regarding Resolution #2004-130 and the changes made. Discussion regarding presentation to County Commissioners.
5:23:47 PM Jack Clarkson I would make a motion that the Board (small "o") of Park Commissioners approve and forward to the County Commissioners this resolution amending County Resolution #2004-130.
5:24:27 PM Rick Fink Second
5:24:32 PM Motion passed unanimously.
5:24:39 PM Chair Carol Collins Action Item #3) Public Hearing and Recommendation to the County Commission to Adopt the Amended Bylaws for the Board of Park Commissioners
5:25:04 PM Deputy County Attorney Jecyn Bremer Same reasoning applies here, as did before for the resolution. Jack asked for clarification on BPC or BOPC. Crystal answered that the only time this board is referred to as the BPC is when this board passes a resolution, and then the resolution number has a BPC in front of it to keep differentiated from the County Commission's resolutions in the same. Jecyn Bremer clarified that, "...BOPC is referred to in the following bylaws," so it's just applicable here as that acronym. Deb Kane questioned regarding the resolution just passed, item #2 on first page regarding board members' terms being two years and then later some serve for 3 years and some serve for 4 years. Mike clarified this is a staggered term at the creation of the board so that all members do not expire at the same time.
5:28:28 PM There was no public comment.
5:29:09 PM Rick Fink I make a motion to recommend to the County Commission to adopt the amended bylaws for the Board of Park Commissioners.
5:29:18 PM Deb Kane Second
5:29:32 PM Motion passed unanimously.
5:29:41 PM Chair Carol Collins IV. Discussion Item #1) Discussion and Clarification to Board Members regarding ex parte communication
5:30:40 PM Deputy County Attorney Jecyn Bremer Distributed handout titled "Ex Parte Contacts and Quasi-Judicial Decisions" to Board members. Defined ex parte and quasi-judicial, or acting as a judge, discussions.
5:38:17 PM Open Lands Coordinator Mike Harris Used Jecyn's explanation of ex parte communication in an example for decisions the Board of Park Commissioners could make, as well as the reason for this topic being on our agenda today.
5:40:14 PM Deputy County Attorney Jecyn Bremer Continued explanation, using a contract as example.
5:41:44 PM Board questions and discussion with Jecyn Bremer and Mike Harris. Discussion regarding examples regarding contracts or bids with contractors.
5:46:11 PM Chair Carol Collins Discussion Item #2) Discussion Regarding "Naming Policy" for County Parks
5:46:37 PM Open Lands Coordinator Mike Harris Explanation as to why this topic came up, such as naming an area like the "Dinosaur Park." We should have some basis as to what gets named by donation amount or donated time to build something.
5:47:50 PM Board questions and discussion with Mike. Jack believes it is in the best interest of the Board to have a naming policy. Interestingly enough, when he received the call he thought it would be a good idea and told the caller who was "polling" us that he saw nothing wrong it. It would be nice to have a policy to fall back on, and bring the idea to the entire Board. Jack would recommend that we draft and review a naming policy for the parks and recreation sites for Gallatin County, which would mitigate concerns. Board directed staff to work on a draft to bring back to the Board. General discussion regarding if the policy should address naming an entire park, the beach area, and specific area inside a park, etc... Deb Kane will help with the draft Naming Policy.
6:02:57 PM Chair Carol Collins Discussion Item #3) Discussion on Park Reservation Applications and License Requirements
6:03:03 PM Open Lands Coordinator Mike Harris An astronomer group called Mike's office saying they needed a very dark location to get their telescopes out. They don't charge people, but would invite people to their club meeting and people can come out learn about astronomy. They wanted to use the amphitheatre in the middle of winter. We don't plow out there, the roads hadn't been cleared. Carol brought up that we also have park hours. Mike said the point was they would realistically be "sponsoring an event" and inviting people. That sparked a conversation with our insurance provider regarding liabilities. Discussion about a reservation/license agreement for a certain spot, where the group is given the rules and you have a responsible party. Kelli Stanley asked regarding the specifics for the license agreements. Discussion regarding
alcohol being allowed at the Regional Park; discussion regarding the current alcohol policy at the Fairgrounds. Discussion regarding the jurisdiction of the Regional Park being a County park vs. within the City limits.
6:17:46 PM Chair Carol Collins V. Other: General Park/Subdivision Updates
6:17:52 PM Open Lands Coordinator Mike Harris Homemade mutt-mitt dispenser has been up for a month and the public is re-filling it! Discussion regarding biodegradable trash can liners, which aren't good for long term in the can (especially with dog waste in them). Permits are in for the Dinosaur Playground. He did have to plow the parking lot this year due to the heavy snow the end of December. Traffic on the sledding hill has been huge. There are a few legislative items we're tracking regarding park land dedication and another bill that would limit the liability on recreational operations, but it excludes government entities. Cities and counties have jumped aboard trying to be included. Recreational insurance is becoming more costly.
6:24:55 PM Chair Carol Collins VI. Set Agenda, Meeting Time and Location
6:25:02 PM Explanation to Jill regarding the Executive Committee meeting.
6:26:43 PM Chair Carol Collins VII. Adjournment
6:26:44 PM Rick Fink Move to adjourn.
6:26:46 PM Meeting adjourned.
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