Meade County approves short-term disability, emergency IT supplement and sets hearings; multiple routine items passed

Meade County commissioners on Jan. 14 approved a MetLife short-term disability policy for county employees, authorized an emergency budget supplement to buy replacement network switches and set a supplemental-budget hearing to consider additional capital requests, among other routine actions.

The board voted 3–2 to enroll county employees in the MetLife short-term disability plan, which the summary presented at the meeting said would cover up to 11 weeks of disability after a 14-day waiting period. Commissioners debated the need for the policy given recent changes to the county’s sick-leave rules; opponents said the sick-leave adjustments reduce the need for a paid short-term plan. The motion carried by voice vote with a recorded count of three yes and two no votes.

Why this matters: the disability plan creates a county-paid short-term income replacement option for eligible employees, and the IT supplement moves forward a time-sensitive network replacement that county staff described as critical to keeping county services running.

Most important actions - Emergency IT supplement: Commissioners approved a $170,000 emergency budget supplement to purchase network switches needed for the county’s planned hardware refresh and firewall replacement; the motion passed on a voice vote. - Short-term disability: The board approved enrollment in a MetLife short-term disability plan for county employees (annual premium presented as $23,674). Vote 3–2. - Supplemental hearing set: The board set a supplemental-budget hearing for Jan. 28 to consider larger capital requests from facilities and public-safety departments, and instructed the auditor to post the notice to the county-designated bulletin board. Items listed for that hearing included: facilities cooling-tower work ($80,000), roof architecture/spec work ($72,000), sheriff’s office Toughbook replacements ($70,000), dispatching software ($72,000) and GEOcom mapping software ($13,000).

Other business and routine approvals - Planning: The board approved a three-month extension of a preliminary plat for a residential subdivision (extension to Jan. 12; the developer was told a separate variance would be needed for a longer extension). Planning staff said contractor availability and revised design work drove the request. - Bridge inspections: Troy Eastman, Meade County highway superintendent, recommended continuing with Burroughs Engineering (the consultant that has inspected county structures previously); the commissioners approved that selection by voice vote. - Liquor license hearing: The board set a public hearing for Feb. 11 at 10 a.m. on a retail (on-/off-sale) wine and cooler transfer request. - Veterans tax abatements: The board approved administrative and public motions to grant abatement/refund requests tied to veterans’ exemptions, and directed staff to include parcel numbers in minutes for easier tracking. - Bulletin-board posting: The board adopted a resolution (referenced in discussion as Resolution 2025‑3) designating the county’s bulletin board as a place to post certain hearings and notices when publication timelines make newspaper publishing impractical. Commissioners also directed the auditor to continue publishing required legal notices in the county’s legal paper and agreed to publish statutorily required notices in the Black Hills Pioneer in addition to the Faith Independent.

Statements from staff and highlights - Facilities: Ben Petraco, Meade County facilities director, said the facilities team closed 38 work orders in December and replaced 78 UPS batteries in the courthouse backup system. He reported work to specify a roof-replacement project and to install additional data drops and wireless access points for law center radio/Wi‑Fi support. - Treasurer: Robin Shrake, Meade County treasurer, told the board the county will take the state motor-vehicle system offline the night of Feb. 13; the treasurer’s office will not process motor-vehicle transactions on Feb. 14 and expects to resume transactions on Feb. 18 after the new 605 scribe software goes live. - IT and cybersecurity: Tony (Meade County IT) said new hardware arrived and staff will schedule weekend work to limit downtime for a switch and firewall replacement. He reported regular patching and third‑party cybersecurity monitoring, and that an RTI tech will be on site during the implementation.

Votes at a glance (motions recorded during the meeting) - Approve agenda with items K2 and K3 moved to after executive session: approved (voice vote). - Elect chair/vice chair for 2025 (chair nomination "Gary"; vice chair Doreen Creed): approved by voice vote on nominations. - Set public hearing Feb. 11 for retail wine/cooler transfer (transfer of Tamela Battista Grama dba to Garage Sports LLC): approved (motion and second; voice vote). - Approve veterans’ tax abatement/refund requests (E2 and E3 on the agenda): approved (voice votes); one E2 motion passed with a recorded result noted in the minutes as 4 yes, 0 no, 1 abstain (Commissioner Louis Zurich abstained). - Approve Burroughs Engineering for county bridge inspections: approved (voice vote). - Approve preliminary-plat extension (three months) for Sunrise Bridal subdivision and set expectation of return for a longer variance if needed: approved (motion and second; voice vote). - Emergency budget supplement $170,000 for network switches: approved (motion and second; voice vote). - Set supplemental budget hearing for Jan. 28 and require posting on county bulletin board: approved (motion and second; voice vote). - Resolution to designate county bulletin board and clarify posting requirements (Resolution 2025‑3 referenced): approved (voice vote). - Approve MetLife short-term disability plan for county employees (annual premium shown to board): approved 3–2 (recorded count provided by the clerk: three yeas, two nays). - Approve revised schedule and deadlines for employee sick‑leave retirement payout election: approved (motion and second; voice vote). - Consent calendar (includes rescission of burn ban as listed): approved (voice vote).

What the board directed staff to do - Post the supplemental-budget hearing notice on the designated county bulletin board and notify the public via the county’s usual outreach channels. - Include parcel numbers on future veterans’ exemption items for record clarity. - Proceed with scheduling the IT implementation windows and return to the commissioners for contract awards that require the supplemental budget if needed.

Context and next steps The board’s Jan. 28 supplemental hearing will be the next public opportunity to see specific contractor bids and dollar-amount awards tied to the larger facilities and communications projects. Staff said the IT switch and firewall procurement is time-sensitive and that implementation will require short planned downtimes, which is why the board treated the switches as an emergency supplement. The treasurer’s office warned residents of the motor-vehicle system outage tied to the February software cutover.

Ending The meeting concluded after an executive-session period; commissioners returned to open session for the HR items and adjourned the meeting at the conclusion of scheduled business.