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April 1 , 2021
Golden Valley News
Page 5
PUBLIC NOTICES
Billings County School
District
BILLINGS COUNTY SCHOOL
DISTRICT #1
Minutes of Regular Meeting
March 9, 2021
UNOFFICIAL MINUTES
(Subject to review and revision by
the board)
The regular meeting of the Billings
County School Board was called to
order by President Joey Kessel at 5:05
pm. MT, Tuesday, March 9, 2021, at
the DeMores School in Medora. Pres-
ent on site were board members Eric
Bock, Kwirt Johnson, Joey Kessel, and
Julie Reis. Also onsite were Superin-
tendent Shae Peplinski, Assistant Su-
perintendent Danielle O'Brien, Business
Manager Tammy Simnioniw, Mainte-
nance Supervisor Bob Huska, and
Jessie Berger. Present via teleconfer-
ence was board member Anita Adams.
M/S Bock/Reis to approve the con-
sent agenda with the addition of two
agenda items. All in favor.
Bob Hushka provided a written
maintenance report and discussed var-
ious maintenance issues. He also re-
ported that the metal cabinet from
surplus property was sold for $102.00.
The tiller is still available and it was the
consensus of the board to advertise on
Consolidated for best offer. Discussion
was held on when the best time to add
fuel oil for backup to heating system.
Kessel asked that this be placed on Oc-
tober agenda since contract for fuel oil
is set until November 30, so it may be
prudent to fill the tanks at that time.
Jessie Berger reported that the
Lutheran Bible Camp in Medora wants
to rent the floor stripper. Jessie said
she volunteered to operate it for them.
It was consensus of board to allow the
use without charging rental.
We have had the honor of
serving Billings County for
well over a quarter century.
Recently a letter was placed
in the Billings County Pioneer
and Golden Valley News, and
a postcard was mailed out,
concerning what has been
called a “Bridge to Nowhere”
across the Little Missouri
River.
We are :writing this letter to
set the record stiaight!
This bridge should really be
called “The Bridge to the Fu-
ture.” Commissioners as far
back as the 19703 had the fore—
sight and saw a need for the
bridge, for that we thank you.
The county had initiated a
study in conjunction with the
Federal Highway Administra-
tion and North Dakota DOT to
determine if there was a pur—
pose and need for a bridge
across the Little Missouri
River. After an extensive
study it was determined there
was a purpose and need, and a
record of decision was signed
in June 2019. The bridge fits
the true multiple use mission
for the county.
1. The bridge will greatly
enhance our emergency. re—
sponse times On the west side
of the river, i.e., ambulance,
fire and search and rescue.
2. The bridge will greatly
enhance our efficiencies with
our road and bridge depart-
ment, saving hundreds of
miles of unnecessary travel.
Travel around to serve both
sides of the river not only ex-
poses our drivers to unneces-
sary safety issues, but also
costs us a lot of valuable time
and money in the budget.
3.1 It will enhance our
tourism and hunting industry.
It will give access to thousands
of acres of public land, not to
mention better access to the
Maah Daah Hey Trail and
Theodore Roosevelt's cabin
site.
4. Commerce will be able to
be conducted in a more effi-
cient manner from moving
agricultural products, cattle,
hay, as well as serving the oil
and gas industry.
5. It would be better for the
environment by reducing the
Simnioniw stated that the Prairie
Roof project timeline was adjusted to
allow adequate time for advertising. It
will be offered on sealed bids since
HTG stated bids are coming in high and
we may hit the threshold where sealed
bids are required. Bid opening is
scheduled for April 13th meeting.
Peplinski submitted a quote from
Dave Netzer Painting & Decorating, Inc.
to repair, smooth, and texture walls in
several rooms and hallways of De-
Mores. M/S Johnson/Adams to ap-
prove moving fonrvard with the DeMores
wall repair project. All in favor.
The board conducted the Superin-
tendent evaluation for Shae Peplinski.
Action was taken on the various per—
formance indicators as follows:
1. Goal and 'Vision Setting. M/S
Reis/Bock to rate this performance as
satisfactory. All in favor.
2. Board Relations. M/S
Adams/Johnson to rate this perform-
ance as satisfactory. All in favor.
3. Human Resource Management.
M/S Bock/Reis to rate this performance
as satisfactory. All in favor. -
4. Curriculum Student Support
Services. M/S Johnson/Bock to rate
this performance as satisfactory. All in
favor.
5. Community Relations. M/S
Reis/Adams to rate this performance as
satisfactory. All in favor.
6. Operations & Resource Manage-
ment. M/S Bock/Johnson to rate this
performance as satisfactory. All in
favor.
The board conducted the Business
Manager evaluation for Tammy
Simnioniw. Action was taken on the
various performance indicators as fol-
lows:
1. Coordinate Board-Meetings. M/S
Reis/Johnson to rate this performance
as satisfactory. All in favor.
2. Oversee District Finances. M/S
Johnson/Adams to rate this perform-
ance as satisfactory. All in favor.
3. Perform Risk Management Du-
ties. M/S Adams/Bock to rate this as
satisfactory. All in favor.
‘4. ‘ Perform Personnel Management
Duties. M/S Bock/Adams to rate this
performance as satisfactory. All in
favor. r
5. Oversee District Elections. M/S
Reis/Adams to rate this performance as
satisfactory. All in favor.
6. Perform Other Assigned Duties.
M/S Johnson/Bock to rate this perform-
ance as satisfactory. All in favor.
7. Demonstrate Professional Com-
petencies. M/S Adams/Johnson to rate
this performance as satisfactory. All in
favor.
Peplinski and Simnioniw informed
the board of various legislative bills
being considered that would impact the
school district.
Peplinski and O’Brien reported on
upcoming events. Contracts were is-
sued March 1 through March 3 to certi-
fied staff and remaining outstanding
contracts are due back on March 15. It
is anticipated that all staff will be return-
Ing.
Peplinski reported on a meeting she
attended regarding the TR Presidential
Library and the anticipated timeline for
construction.
Peplinski submitted the following
open enrollment requests. Two stu-
dents entering Kindergarten and fifth
grade from the Dickinson Public School
District to attend Prairie Elementary.
M/S Reis/Adams to approve the open
enrollment request. All in favor. Three
students entering second, fifth, and
eighth grades from Beach Public
School District to attend DeMores Ele-
mentary. M/S Johnson/Bock to approve
the open enrollment request. All in
favor.
Simnioniw reported that ND Century
Code requires the Superintendent to be
bonded. She checked with bonding
agency and all staff employed by the
district are covered.
Simnioniw reported that she and
DeeAnn Bock had researched enrolling
in an E-Fund program whereby parents
and staff could pay hot lunch, registra-
tion fees, fundraising contributions, etc.
through electronic means such as credit
or debit cards or automatic bank trans-
fers. There is a fee charged to the con-
stituent for each transaction, but this
would be at no cost to the school dis-
trict unless they chose to cost-share on
the transaction fees. It was the con-
sensus of the board to move forward
.with setting this service up, but not to
cost share on the transaction fees.
Kessel reported that he and John-
son had met to discuss options for pro-
viding raises to classified staff. They
asked for suggestions from the board
members. No action taken at this time.
Kessel also reported that he and
Johnson will_ be meeting shortly with
Peplinski and O'Brien to negotiate their
contracts for the 2021—22 fiscal year.
No action taken at this time.
Policies were reviewed. M/S
Adams/Johnson to approve the second
reading of policies DAB Definitions for
Personnel Policies, DDAB Health
Restoration Leave, DDAC Chemical
Dependency Leave, DDAD Childcare
Leave, DDBC Bereavement Leave, and
DDC Unpaid Leave. All in favor.
M/S Adams/Bock to approve the first
reading to amend policies FAAB Early
Entrance Requirements, FAAC Enroll-
ment of Suspended or Expelled Stu-
dents, FC Student Safety and
Supervision, FCAA Accommodating
Students with Allergies and Special Di-
etary Needs, FCAD Student Accidents,
FCBA Student Dismissal Precautions,
and FCBB Student Transportation
Safety and Supervision. All in favor.
M/S Adams/Reis to approve the first
reading to adopt policy FCBD Student
Custody. All in favor.
The board reviewed FC—E Missing
Student Reporting Form, FCAA-AR
General Guidelines for Reducing Risk
of Exposure to Allergens, FCBA-AR
Procedure for Entering and Leaving the
Building, and FCBB-AR Student Trans-
portation Safety and Supervision Regu-
lations.
Peplinski reported on RESP activi-
ties discussed at the March 3 meeting
regarding the summer conference and
training sessions being planned.
BUILDING FUND
Check Number Entity Name Amount
227 HTG ARCHITECTS 3,290.00
GENERAL FUND
Check Number Entity Name Amount
EFT JP MORGAN 10,317.58
EFI' AFLAC 1,248.16
EFT FED WH TAXES 25,360.21
EFT NDPERS RETIREMENT5,539.12
EFT NDPERS HEALTH |NS.20,300.64
EFT STATE TAX
COMMISSIONER 839.00
20535 BCSD 1,140.82
20536 BC/BS‘ 521.04
20537 HORACE MANN 2,050.00
20538 MT DEPT.
OF REVENUE 335.00
20539 ND UNITED 695.24
20540 VOID ' 0.00
20541 JACKOLENE ANHELUK135.27
20542 ABM 473.26
20543 BC/BS 1,288.16
20544 CERBERUS SECURITY245.00
20545 DICKINSON
PUBLIC LIBRARY 4,938.23
20546 HORACE MANN 426.11
20547 KEMPS LLC 420.43
20548 THE LEUKEMIA
& LYMPHOMA SOCIETY 653.52
20549 MEDORA
CONVENIENCE 408.76
20550 MT DEPT.
OF REVENUE : 100.00
20551 ND SCIENCE
OLYMPIAD 170.00
20552 PETER ODERMANN 6,225.12
20553 JESSICA SHIREY 36.10
Patrons of Billings County:
number of miles traveled. It
will reduce the amount of dust
created. The bridge project
ranks up there with one of the
best Environmental SoCial
Governance (ESG) projects in
the western part of the state. It
will greatly reduce the carbon
footprint in our county.
6. The bridge has over-
whelming support from our
public safety and fire protec—
tion people, as well as our con-
gressional delegation and
governor.
7. The alleged cost of
$54,540 for each taxpayer, is
NOT correct. The fact re-
mains that the bridge was
planned to be paid for over
thirty years, with a low—inter-
est infrastructure loan from the
Bank of ND, with payments
being made from revenue from
oil and gas production. Grants
will also be applied for to pick
up as much as the cost as pos—
sible. Billings County has been
very successful in obtaining
millions in grant monies for
roads and bridges in the last 10
years and we believe it will
hold true for this bridge proj-
ect.
8. No property tax increase
was ever planned to pay for the
bridge and none should be nec—
essary. ' "
9. Building this bridge re-
quired approval by ‘the US.
government. Under federal law
this requires an Environmental
Impact Statement.
It is important to note —
Contrary to what the Short
family is claiming, the decision
to locate the bridge on federal
land or private land was made
by the .S . government
through the Federal Highway
Administration, not the Billings
County Commission. To quote
the Federal Highway decision
“The F HWA concludes that the
selected alternative is alterna-
tive k, option (The Short Lo-
cation). The selected
alternative is also the Environ-
mentally Preferable Option.
10. We both have gone on
record voicing our opinion that
federal land should have been
chosen first, but the Federal
Highway Administration’s de-
termination was the most fea-
sible alternative and the envi-
ronmentally preferable option
was (Kl).
Facts are facts. The years-
long studies show a need for
this bridge. The location se-
lected was based on these stud-
ies. The location, among the
many considered, is on private
property;
We are very proud of what
*theBil’lings County Team has
accomplished, they have
brought our county to where it
is today.
Road and Bridge
The Road and Bridge De-
partment has made great strides
over the last ten years. A
county—wide road superintend-
ent was hired. He had the vi-
sion. to see the county as a
whole by taking a team ap-
proach and collaborating with
all three districts as one for
the common goal of the county.
He implanted a county-wide
purchase program where all
equipment is the same make
and model. This has not only
helped With safety but also en-
ables the employees to be very
efficient and familiar with all of
the operations of the equip-
ment.
We have also made it a prac—
tice to use private operators
from our county to help out in
times of need to prevent excess
and under-utilized equipment.
The county has also built or re—
modeled all three district shops
to give our employees a func-
tional and safe place to work
on equipment.
Our sign safety division
under Jeff Baranko, was na—
tionally recognized with his in-
novations. County Road
Superintendent Jeff Iverson has
led efforts on many fronts, in-
cluding applying for and re-
ceiving over $20 million in
grants, allowing us to resurface
over 90 miles of roads, recon—
structions of 13 miles and
paving 10 miles of roads.
Many culverts and box culverts
have been replaced throughout
the process. The new bridge
will continue to allow them to
safely and effectively maintain
our county infrastructure.
Schools
Our commissioners have al-
ways been strong supporters of
our schools. The school
board's insight and vision has
set our students apart, while
providing a safe and comfort—
able learning environment for
our children and grandchil-
dren. Our teachers and admin-
istrators provide excellent
education to our suldents.
Public Safety
Our emergency service
providers are second to none.
Our county has taken our first
responders to a new level.
Starting with hiring our first
full-time paramedic, Keri
Rummel. She started the
ground work to get us to where
we are today. Mitch and Kyle
have continued to enhance our
services. They have incorpo—
rated full-time advanced
trained professionals with our
dedicated volunteers. Billings
County has teamed up with
Belfield and Medora to truly
provide a first-class, state-of
the-art regional first response
medical service. The fire
board's forward thinking along
with Kyle and many dedicated
volunteers have enabled the
fire department to build new
buildings, buy new trucks and
equipment and provide valu-
able training for our team.
Law Enforcement
Law enforcement has made
great advancements from the
days of one sheriff. The tran—
sition started with Dave Jur-
gens and continued on with Pat
Rummel. The Sheriff’s De—
partment's dedication to pro—
tecting the community is
unsurpassed. They have im-
plemented robust systems and
protocols that not only keeps
the public safe, but also com-
plements all entities in the
county.
Weed Control
Billings County’s weed cen—
trol program has become a na—
tionwide leader in care of
public arid private land, sup-
pressing weeds with the latest
in biological and traditional
control.
Senior Citizens
Our assistance to senior cit-
izens has been extensively
proactive. Billings County’s
reputation for efficient and fair
administrative service has re—
sulted in our county being cho-
sen by the five southwestern
counties' social services to be
the hub county for the newly
created social services zones.
Our county auditor was asked
to help draft the regulations
governing the whole state sys-
tem.
Comprehensive Land Plan
We' hate "ébtnpfeiiEn‘s‘tize
land use plan, which is ex—
tremer important to guarantee
that the federal government
follows the law which provides
the county millions of dollars
every year from oil production
on federal land. (This is the
main way, along with grants,
the bridge will be paid for with
no expected increase in taxes to
our residents.)
Most of you are probably
aware of the leadership role
Billings County has provided
in support of the Medora Graz-
ing Association. We are aware
that ranchers are the lifeblood
of our community. We have
helped them deal with the US.
Forest Service. We have led the
fight against the Forest Service
attempts to arbitrarily close
roads in our county to the pub—
lic. We had to go to court when
the Forest Service tried to
claim the county’s 6 1%: royalty
interest on federal land, a major
source for county financing.
We won that court battle.
In Conclusion
'The Short family, in their
ads and postcards, would like
you to believe that the bridge
project just “suddenly arose”
despite the fact that feasibility
studies have been going on for
years; that there have been nu—
merous public hearings; that
they were given notice of those
meetings and, in fact, attended
some of those meetings to op—
pose the bridge. As a matter of
fact, we have a documented
record of a meeting in OCTO-
BER 2017, requested by the
Short fainily at the offices of
KLJ in Bismarck, where a
member of the Short family in-
quired about the process of em—
inent domain!!! For them to
claim that they were “sur—
prised;" “dismayed” etc. to
learn just fairly recently that
20554 SMART COMPUTERS3,225.00
20555 SW WATER AUTHORITY63.17
20556 SYSCO
NORTH DAKOTA 4,008.08
20557 WALMART 380.83
20558 WR STUDENT
SERVICES 5,104.46
DD MARCH PAYROLL 84,733.59
DD TFFR 20,814.35
DD DENNIS OBRIEN 10,802.76
DD STEPHANIE KLYM 34.68
DD KATHLEEN MALKOWSKI5,574.42
DD GARY MEDUNA 6,911.64
DD LORETTE NOBLE 40.32
DD DANIELLE O'BRIEN 511.00
DD SHAE PEPLINSKI 409.60
DD JAMIE PRELLWITZ 130.00
DD TAMMY SIMNIONIW 191.72
DD KATHLEEN SOLGA 52.64
The next regular school board meet-
ing is scheduled for Tuesday, April 13,
2021, at 5:00 pm. at DeMores School
in Medora.
M/S Johnson/Bock to adjourn. All in
favor. The meeting adjourned ’at 6:58
pm.
Recorded by Tammy Simnioniw,
Business Manager
Put Your Money
Where Your House Is!
local Independent strengthen our
busmesses are community
your best value and our economy
new a
6 mm. when.“
Please
support your
local merchants!
This Ietter is an
advertisement
paid for by Jim
Arthaud and
Joe L. Kessel.
their property, (a matter of very
few acres) might be subject to
eminent demain is not Correct.
On, the subject of eminent
domain, it is important for you
to know that not one of the
commissioners ever said that
this was the preferred choice. It
is not accurate, nor fair to us, to
state that the» commission chose
the location of this bridge. It
was the federal agency whose
I approval is needed to even
build the bridge that ultimately
decided where it was to go. We
have also stated, publically and
at more than one meeting, that
OUR PREFERRED LOCA-
TION should be on Forest
Service land. The city of
Medora was faced with the
same problem: It couldn’t settle
with the landowners for a la-
goon, so it had to resort to em-
inent domain. You would not
be able to travel on I—94 or
Highway 85 without eminent
domain.
Years and years ofiplanning
and study and expense have
been invested in this project.
The county has fully complied
with every state and federal re-
quirement to build it. The fed-
eral highway department has
considered all the options for
the location of the bridge and
has made an independent as-
sessment based on engineering,
expenses, joining existing
roads and systems. It is neces-
sary for us to move forward.
It is easy for the Short family
to live in another state and sec—
ond guess what is best for our
residents and the public that
live and work in Billings
County.
Thank you for taking the
time to read this lengthy, but
very heartfelt response to what
we very strongly feel was not
accurate information you might
have previously received in the
mail or read in the newspaper.
Jim Arthaud
Joe L. Kessel