Who’s guarding the Hen-ning house?
And other Mono County briefs
With the departure this week of Mono County Assessor Jody Henning and Assistant Assessor Chris Lyons, Mono County’s Board of Supervisors began discussions of how to fill the posts at its regular meeting Tuesday in Bridgeport.
The Board has authorized advertising for candidates for the assistant position, and later re-evaluating moving them up into a fulltime slot.
Henning and Lyons are both leaving independently for new job opportunities.
In the short term, County Administrative Officer Jim Arkens said he will oversee the department, and at this point, no decisions have been made on any candidates. Once a candidate or candidates for the positions are lined up, Mono County Supervisor Larry Johnston agreed to sit in on any interviews.
In addition, the Board is considering reallocating the Assessor’s Office mapping duties to the Information Technology department.
In one of her last statements to The Sheet, Henning said only that she wishes the County well, hopes the Board will “think outside the box” when looking for candidates, and consider other assessors to find “the very best qualified applicants, who will keep the progress we’ve made moving forward.”
Fees-Fi-Fo-Fum
Mono County Supervisors on Tuesday adopted a new fee schedule with $70,800 in new or increased fees for certain County permits and other services, most in emergency services.
Coming prior to development and adoption of the County’s Fiscal Year 2012-2013 budget, most fee schedules were set so that departments can use them in budgeting, according to County Finance Director Brian Muir.
Most of the Board seemed okay with the modest increases, but Supervisor Larry Johnston remained steadfastly opposed to any increases during what he indicated were lingering economic hard times in the county.
“Philosophically we’re in an economic downturn and have lots of people out there suffering, and we’re raising fees,” he charged. “Fees need to reflect what’s going on in the economy. We need to hunker down and reduce some of the fees. I’m not saying we should do away with them altogether, but we should find ways to make do with other revenue.”
Byng Hunt countered that discussing these types of fees “always comes down to fairness,” adding that the people who get the benefit from these services are the ones who should pay for them. “I’m not in favor of any across the board cuts,” he said. “Given the struggles we’re going to have to face in the coming 12 to 24 months, we’re going to have to cover our costs.”
Fees for the process of recording surveys were changed to hourly to make them more affordable, but Johnston held his ground against any fee increases, casting the lone dissenting vote.
GBUAPCD says yes to County
The Board was briefed on approval by the Governing Board of the Great Basin Unified Air Pollution Control District of a County Public Works – Road Division Clean Air Projects Program (CAPP) application for $300,000 to replace two 1958 snow blowers with two new MT Trackless blowers.
An additional $13,000 for wages and advertising necessary for bid development, equipment preparation, training, maintenance and grant administration, which is not part of the grant, will be covered by the Road Fund. CAO Jim Arkens said the County should have no problem finding the extra money. A second grant application for ventilation upgrades will come forward as a separate item with a separate match, according to Arkens.
4-Way Stop in June
Supervisors also approved a resolution designating the intersection of Knoll and Crawford Avenues in June Lake as a 4-way stop intersection and gave Public Works a go ahead to put up stop signs.
Right now, the stop is a two-way stop, at which one of the remaining signs has been hit and taken out, thus making it essentially a one-way stop. The sign is meant to be more of a controlling measure, and not necessarily patrolled, since traffic flow doesn’t warrant any major monitoring. CHP will still investigate traffic accidents at the intersection, and Bauer said she hopes the signs help during the winter when the roads are icy.
“I’ve been flying this flag and found no one who opposes it. It’s been my legacy … woo-hoo, a four-way stop,” enthused Bauer, whose term on the Board will come to an end this year. Bauer was recently defeated for re-election in District 3 by Tim Alpers.
