By Rich Wicks | Times Vedette
During the Oct. 7 meeting of the Guthrie County Board of Supervisors, County Attorney Dana Minteer addressed the supervisors regarding agenda item 4a: “Resistance to the Summit Carbon Solution Transport LLC Motion for Consolidation.”
Minteer explained the reason for discussing the issue at this time is because of recent legal action by Summit Carbon Solutions.
“They filed a petition to amend their original petition within the Phase 1 docket,” she said.
Minteer summarized that Summit is asking to consolidate the legal processes with the various counties involved.
“They’re requesting that everyone now be lumped together,” Minteer said.
Minteer and Supervisors Chair Maggie Armstrong concurred that each county has a unique perspective, so consolidation is not appropriate, in their view.
After discussion, the supervisors voted 4-1 to ask Minteer to send a letter of resistance. Brian Johnson voted nay.
County Human Resources department head Jamie Lindsay discussed with the supervisors regarding the effective date of health insurance for county employees. She explained that currently, coverage begins on the first day of the month following a hire date. She explained the challenges this creates for employees hired later in a given month, since their paychecks may essentially have double deductions for health insurance premiums due to the timing of premiums.
However, Lindsay also explained that if coverage were to be effective one month later, this could create situations in which employees would have no coverage for a month. She also shared that if department heads are instructed to only hire employees within a certain “window” each month, that creates a challenge as departments aim to fill vacancies.
“If we’re going to make a change to the policy, we have to communicate that 60 days prior to the change,” Lindsay said.
No formal action was taken at this time.
County Engineer Josh Sebern described his proposed departmental pay structure. The supervisors unanimously approved the plan as proposed.
The supervisors voted to call a special election for Diamondhead Lake and Lake Panorama Rural Improvement Zone for Tuesday, Dec. 9.
The supervisors meet regularly on Tuesdays at 9 a.m. The public is welcome to attend in person or via remote technology. To join remotely, call 323-792-6123, then use meeting code 547029216#