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Park County commissioners approve sheriff's bargaining pact, infrastructure and grant requests; airport grants move forward
Summary
At its Feb. 24 meeting the Park County Commission approved a sheriff's office collective bargaining agreement, prioritized resiliency and congressionally directed spending requests, accepted multiple grant awards and authorized airport FAA grant applications and certifications.
The Park County Board of Commissioners on Feb. 24 approved a package of routine actions including ratification of a collective bargaining agreement for the Sheriff's Office employees unit, prioritization of disaster resiliency projects for a Montana DES funding application, acceptance of a DPHHS opioid-prevention training grant, authorization to submit two congressionally directed spending requests through Senator Sheehy's office, and several airport-related grant approvals and engineering contract actions.
Ratification of collective bargaining agreement: Commissioners voted to ratify the collective bargaining agreement between Park County and the Sheriff's Office Employees Unit covering July 1, 2025 through June 30, 2027. Sheriff Ted Dykstra thanked negotiators and said deputies are "excited to continue to work and collaborate with the commission." Commissioner Vermillion moved for ratification and the motion carried on a voice vote.
Infrastructure and resiliency priorities: Staff asked the commission to prioritize three Montana DES resiliency applications. The commission approved prioritization with the Main Boulder Bridge replacement as the top priority, followed by a generator project and the Trout Unlimited Cooke City culvert replacement.
Grants and county training: The commission accepted a $5,000 DPHHS OD2a award to train two local instructors in Prime for Life opioid-prevention programming and signed award documents. It also approved a FY2022 state and local cybersecurity grant and local consent agreement to employ KnowBe4 cybersecurity awareness training for county staff and elections personnel; Erica (IT) described vulnerabilities and supported acceptance.
Airport grants and engineering: Airport consultant Lance outlined two FAA AIP grant applications (including IIJA funds) that together would cover approximately 95% of an estimated $510,000 project to perform pavement maintenance and install a precision approach path indicator at LVM Airport, leaving an anticipated local share of under $3,000 after a $22,000 Montana Aeronautics grant. Commissioners approved the grant applications, signed sponsor certifications (drug-free workplace, lobbying disclosure, consultant selection, project plans and specs) and signed the engineering selection record and task orders 10, 11 and 12.
Other approvals: The board approved Task Order 57 for floodplain permitting on Main Boulder Road ($15,200) to address river erosion threatening the roadway; approved a family-conveyance subdivision exemption for Beau Kaufman and Andrea Peterson; adopted wage-adjustment and capital request procedures (deadline March 24; effective date target July 1); and adopted a resolution to participate in the State of Montana 457(b) retirement savings plan administered by MPERA.
All motions described above were moved, seconded and approved by voice vote during the meeting. Several commissioners praised staff and outside partners for negotiating agreements and finding grant funding opportunities that limit the county's fiscal exposure.
Next steps: Staff will file the signed collective bargaining agreement with the clerk and recorder's office, submit prioritized grant applications and CDS requests by the stated deadlines, and proceed with engineering task orders and grant administration requirements.
