LEGISLATIVE AND NATURAL RESOURCES COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES OCTOBER 30, 2001 A regular meeting of the Chippewa County Board of Commissioners' legislative and Natural Resources Committee was held on Tuesday, October 30, 2001 at the Chippewa County Courthouse in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan. The meeting was called to order by Chairman Kay at 4:00 p.m. with a quorum present. MEMBERS PRESENT: Earl Kay, Chairman, Rita Dale, Aaron Hopper MEMBERS ABSENT: None OTHERS PRESENT: Tim Dolehanty, County Controller Additions / Deletions to the Agenda Chairman Kay proposed that the agenda be amended to include consideration of a resolution to proclaim November as Hospice Month. Hearing no other proposed changes, the agenda was declared approved as amended. Public Comments There were no public comments. Interpretation of Purchasing Policy At their regular meeting of October 9, the County Board asked that this Committee review and provide interpretation of the purchasing policy. Controller Dolehanty distributed copies of County Policy No. 320 which addresses purchasing, contracts and sales. Chairman Kay confirmed that Section J.2.g establishes the Board's authority to reject any or all bid proposals, to negotiate separately with any source whatsoever in any manner necessary to attend to the best interests of the County, to waive irregularities in any proposal and to accept a proposal which best meets the needs of the County, irrespective of the bid price. He also noted the policy requirement that this statement be included in any official request for proposals or quotations. The Committee also reviewed Subsection K which establishes how preference is given to business is located within Chippewa County. If all bids received are reasonably equivalent other than with respect to cost, local bidders are given preference if their bids do not exceed the lowest bid by more than 5.0% for items ranging from $250 to $2,500, and 3.0% for items that exceed $2,500. After further review, the Committee concurred with the directives and procedures of Policy 320. Resolution to Proclaim November as Hospice Month Commissioner Hopper reviewed the draft resolution. He noted the County passed similar proclamations in the past, and commended the accomplishments of the Chippewa County Hospice volunteers. It was moved by Commissioner Dale, supported by Commissioner Hopper, to recommend approval of Resolution Number 01-16 to proclaim November as Hospice month, as presented. On a voice vote, the motion was CARRIED. Draft Policies: Freedom of Information Act Controller Dolehanty reviewed the elements of the draft Freedom of Information Act policy, noting several requirements of State law that the County must follow. The draft policy also recognizes the responsibility of constitutional officers and the courts in filling requests filed under the Act. Commissioner Dale discussed the formula for establishing fees charged for information gathered in response to requests for information. She advised that it would be prudent to review fees for service and information currently charged by all County offices. It was moved by Commissioner Hopper, supported by Commissioner Dale, to recommend approval of the draft Freedom of Information Act policy, as presented. On a voice vote, the motion was CARRIED. Draft Policies: Operation of County Vehicles At the request of Chairman Kay, Controller Dolehanty presented a draft policy to address usage of County vehicles. Kay made special note of the need to keep County-owned vehicles in clean, working order. He also affirmed the need to apply no-smoking policies to the vehicles, as mandated by State law for all public facilities. Committee members discussed the draft policy and concurred with the need to include provisions to prohibit smoking. It was moved by Commissioner Hopper, supported by Commissioner Dale, to recommend approval of the draft Vehicle Usage policy, as amended. On a voice vote, the motion was CARRIED. Draft Policies: Web Link Policy Chairman Kay noted that the draft Web Link Policy supplements the Internet and On-Line Usage Policy recently approved by the Board. The Committee discussed their concerns about allowing others to link their personal web pages to the official County web page. For consistency, the Board of Commissioners should retain exclusive authority to grant or deny web page link requests. The Committee also discussed procedures followed to establish E-mail addresses for County officials. It was the consensus of the Committee to rework various portions of the draft policy to assure compliance with existing policies. The Controller was direct to submit a revised draft for consideration at the next Committee meeting. County Ordinance Review Controller Dolehanty presented a compilation of codified ordinances of Chippewa County. These ordinances were gathered with the assistance of the County Clerk and Prosecuting Attorney. Although there were some initial staff-level concerns of procedural errors in the procedure to adopt some of the ordinances, none could be confirmed. The newly formatted document will be distributed as needed. Public Comments There were no public comments. Committee Comments Commissioner Hopper reported on a recent discussion with the Forest Service concerning a project at Raco Field. He also noted that a request to support a grant for the homeless shelter would be presented to the Finance, Claims and Accounts Committee on November 8. Chairman's Comments The Chairman had no additional comments. Adjourn Hearing no other comments, Chairman Kay declared the meeting adjourned at 4:45 p.m. __________________________________ __________________________________ Timothy J. Dolehanty, AICP, Recorder Earl Kay, Committee Chairman