Treasure County board confirms fire warden, approves local procurement and equipment purchases

The Treasure County Board of Commissioners appointed Bill Hutchins as fire warden after the previous warden resigned and the county fire board had voted to make Hutchins chief and warden. Speaker 6 described having handled warden duties for a year; Speaker 2 moved to appoint Bill Hutchins and Speaker 4 seconded. The board approved the appointment by voice vote.

The board also approved several procurement items. Commissioners agreed that staff should contact Billings Construction to add Treasure County to a regular porta-potty route so county sites will receive scheduled service; Speaker 2 made the motion and Speaker 4 seconded. For tires, staff presented multiple bids and recommended a Goodyear-equivalent 10-ply unit; the board accepted a $3.10-per-unit quote from West Gamble to keep the purchase local after Speaker 2 moved and Speaker 4 seconded the motion. Commissioners recorded the decision by voice vote.

Separately, staff requested authorization to purchase a laptop to enable remote access to county systems and cover staff absences. Speaker 8 presented a model priced at $1,099.99; Speaker 2 moved to buy the selected device, Speaker 3 seconded, and the board approved the purchase and instructed IT and county staff to handle setup in-house.

Where votes were recorded, outcomes were taken by voice and described in the meeting as unanimous (aye) without a roll-call tally recorded in the transcript. All motions approved were routine actions to implement contracts, replace equipment or confirm staff assignments. The board did not adopt new policies as part of these votes.

Next steps: staff will contact vendors and proceed with the purchases and contract routing; the appointment of Hutchins will be reflected in minutes and communicated to DNRC and local partners as appropriate.