In a regular meeting Monday, the Blaine County Commissioners worked through some year-end items as well as standard agenda regulars.
One of the year end items was the awarding of safety incentives to employees. Outgoing commissioner Raymond Scheffler quipped he would sign off on the incentives if the elected officials got one as well. Even though the other commissioners thanked him for the effort, they were all excluded from the incentives, which are based on whether an employee is full or parttime and how many years of safe service they have rendered to the county.
The commission also signed off on a resolution calling for the continuation of a sales tax for the fire departments. This question going to the voters will not change the tax structure, only the wording of the resolution so that the departments don’t have to continue to bring the question to a vote every few years. It instead continues the collection indefinitely.
The commissioners also agreed to the sheriff’s office hiring Katy Edingfield as a full-time dispatcher and jailer. The assessor’s office will have two new employees next week and named Heather Spangler and Paul Edsall as receiving officers and Ronda Bizzell and Rian Parker as requisitioning officers. When newly elected assessor Misty Kitson is sworn into office Jan. 3, she will replace outgoing assessor Parker as a requisitioning officer. The move was necessary because of a change in personnel in the office, which could mean there was no officer on hand if the single remaining one were out in the field.
Longdale Fire Department asked for and received permission to have repairs made to trucks totaling close to $17,000. Likewise, Okeene asked for funds to pay for its reporting system at a cost of about $2,500.
The commission also approved three road crossing permits for oil companies in District # 1.
The Blaine County Commission meets at 9 a.m. each Monday save holidays at the courthouse.