Legislature(2009 - 2010)BELTZ 211
02/10/2009 03:30 PM Senate COMMUNITY & REGIONAL AFFAIRS
| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| SB48 | |
| SB93 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| *+ | SB 48 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| *+ | SB 93 | TELECONFERENCED | |
SB 48-MEETINGS OF ROAD SERVICE AREA BOARDS
CHAIR OLSON announced consideration of SB 48.
3:33:48 PM
GENE THERRIAULT, Senator, Alaska State Legislature, said he
became interested in the language in SB 48 after reading a News
Miner editorial on September 3, 2008, regarding service areas in
the Fairbanks North Star Borough. They were have difficulty
meeting requirements of the Open Meetings Act [in state
statutes] regarding simple decisions, like if the snow was deep
enough to call out the plows. Service areas have citizens within
their boundaries who volunteer their time to make decisions on
road maintenance.
SENATOR THERRIAULT originally told the bill drafters he'd like
to allow service areas to respond quickly to heavy snowfall and
such. After introducing his original bill, he talked to borough
attorneys to better understand the problem. Based on that, he
drafted a CS [committee substitute], version R. It basically
does the same thing but in a little different technical way.
SENATOR THOMAS moved to adopt the CS to SB 48, labeled 26-
LS0293\R, as a working document. There being no objection,
Version R was before the committee.
3:36:55 PM
SENATOR THERRIAULT directed attention to page 2, line 15, which
refers to the type of meeting that a road service area
commissioner can engage in without following the Open Meetings
Act. He said requirements for noticing a meeting for the borough
assembly were less restrictive than for the service areas. The
assembly sets the budget for road maintenance, but there is a
director who decides to call for plows or fix a pothole, and he
or she wouldn't have to notice a meeting but just do it within
the constraints of the budget. Senator Therriault is trying to
give the service areas that same authority. They will have to
publicly notice a yearly meeting to set policies, millage rates,
and budgets, but when the time comes to administer that policy,
a meeting won't be necessary.
SENATOR THERRIAULT said the end of page 2 of the CS deals with
the number of members at the meetings. He found that the
requirements for service areas are more restrictive - even
though they were just performing an administrative function -
than a body that was actually setting policy. The original
language required that if two service area workers were going to
talk about a billing or the replacement of a culvert, for
example, that was deemed to be a "prearranged" meeting. "It
seems like they should have no more restrictive language than
the policy-setting body, like the borough assembly. And so what
we did is just repeat the same language that the policy-making
body has and place the same restrictions on the administrative.
Before, it was more restrictive for the administrative function;
now, it's the same level of restriction."
3:40:50 PM
CHAIR OLSON asked about the title change in the CS and if it
broadens it to the point where edits can be made that might not
be favorable to the service areas.
SENATOR THERRIAULT said the original bill title spoke to just
harsh weather conditions, like heavy snowfall. The CS intends to
give [service areas] a little more latitude for administrative
functions. They have a budget that gets set in a publicly
noticed meeting, and they then "just go about spending the money
that was budgeted for snow removal, for road repairs."
CHAIR OLSON asked how one person would be aware of the budget to
be able to call out heavy equipment in the middle of the night.
He asked about budget overruns.
SENATOR THERRIAULT answered that if there were cost overruns or
funds shifted to different needs, it would probably require a
noticed meeting, because that would represent a policy change.
3:43:05 PM
SENATOR THOMAS asked what problems arose that caused this bill.
He assumes the road commissioner already has the authority to
make those decisions without calling a special meeting.
SENATOR THERRIAULT said these are all volunteers, and there are
fewer commissioners than originally intended. Many times the
chair of a commission doesn't want all of the responsibility of
the decisions, so decisions and responsibilities are shared.
They touch base with each other before they make the decisions.
A municipality may have a director of road maintenance that has
all of that authority, but service area members share that
responsibility and talk amongst themselves.
SENATOR THOMAS asked what is lacking in current language that
doesn't already allow it.
SENATOR THERRIAULT said that the Open Meetings Act requires any
"arranged" meeting to be noticed by 5 days and be public, even
if it was a series of phone calls. Consequently, they can't
respond quickly to a situation.
3:45:57 PM
SENATOR THOMAS asked if the language in (B), "to add more than
three members of a majority …" is to accommodate that phone
conversation.
SENATOR THERRIAULT said, "To make it no more restrictive than
the language that applies to policy-making bodies."
SENATOR MENARD said she was speaking to an assembly person from
Talkeetna, and he was grateful that this was being addressed
because it is a big concern to his area by Trapper Creek. They
have to get work done and they can't talk to each other because
of the open meeting laws.
3:47:09 PM
SENATOR THERRIAULT said the new language on Page 2, lines 30-31,
is copied from lines 25-26. The drafter suggested that.
CHAIR OLSON asked if there is opposition.
SENATOR THERRIAULT said he is not aware of any.
SENATOR THOMAS asked why municipal boards and committees are
added. Do they have the same concerns?
SENATOR THERRIAULT said yes, the bill adds the municipal boards,
commissions, and other similar bodies that are performing an
administrative or managerial function. On lines 25-26 and 28,
the bill speaks to the three members of a government body that
have the authority to establish policies, "so that's the
language that the borough assembly falls under," and (B) refers
to those entities that have no authority to establish policy.
"We're placing the same level of restriction on them - on the
administrative board - that the policy-making board had." It
didn't make sense that the administrative board was more
restrictive when all they are doing is performing an
administrative function. They are not establishing policy.
SENATOR THOMAS said the words "administrative" and "managerial"
are general, and no telling where it may end up. His concern is
if those entities will expend money properly and at the right
time, "so I guess we'll just have to live with whatever
decisions are made there."
3:50:15 PM
CHAIR OLSON asked for testimony.
3:50:31 PM
RENE BROKER, Attorney, Fairbanks North Star Borough, spoke in
favor of the CS because it fixes two unintended consequences of
the Open Meetings Act without affecting its important goals. "We
don't want to diminish, really, what that act tries to do for
the public." The Open Meetings Act already recognizes that day
to day administrative functions can be conducted and still
comply with the act. That is why it already exempts municipal
employees. The bill just extends that very narrow exception for
very narrow functions to volunteer boards and commissions, since
they are performing the same function that would ordinarily be
performed by a municipal employee. The second fix removes a
bazaar anomaly by clarifying that the same numerical standard
that applies to policy-making bodies also applies to advisory
boards. These two fixes will strengthen the act by making it
more practical and workable.
3:52:34 PM
SENATOR THOMAS asked for examples that brought attention to this
issue. He is aware of one.
3:53:04 PM
MS. BROKER said it has been a long festering issue with road and
fire service area commissioners. They are prevented from doing
their job effectively by the five-day notice. It is not just
snow removal, there are potholes and brush issues. Fire service
is dealing with similar issues in a different context. She has
been hearing complaints for years. They can't comply with the
law without meaningfully impacting the service they provide.
SENATOR THOMAS asked if there is any opposition.
3:54:29 PM
MS. BROKER said there is always discontent but not on this issue
that she has heard of. It has been through several public
processes because it started with a resolution, and the assembly
heard public comment and acted on that. There has been plenty of
opportunity to take issue with it, and she has heard none.
CHAIR OLSON asked why it wasn't changed before.
MS. BROKER said there is important policy in the public meetings
act, and she didn't want to do any violence to that. It has just
been an ongoing communication facilitated by the service area
committee. They came up with a means to preserve public notice
and input for important functions like policy decisions and
provide flexibility to run the service area.
3:56:36 PM
LUKE HOPKINS, Member, Fairbanks North Star Borough Assembly,
spoke in support of the CS. Some assembly members can meet to
discuss administrative actions but two members of an advisory
body can't. They have a standard. People just accepted the law,
but finally they decided that something needs to be done, so the
assembly decided to move it forward as a legislative priority.
He is a member of the board of the Alaska Municipal League, and
this issue has been discussed. He has spoken with other
municipalities and all agree that it would be a good thing to
clear this up without undoing the Open Meetings Act.
3:58:46 PM
TIM BECK, Chair, Road Service Area Committee, Fairbanks North
Star Borough Assembly, thanked Senator Therriault and Chair
Olson for bringing this forward. It came up because two
commissioners had a contract with road construction personnel
and they couldn't stop and meet with the contractor together
because it violated the act.
3:59:57 PM
SHAWN KITTLE, Alternate Commissioner, Chena Spur Road Service
Area, Fairbanks, said his service area has a chair, two
commissioners, and an alternate. The chair can't even
communicate with commissioners regarding a convenient date and
time for a meeting. So the meetings just get noticed and the
commissioners try to make their schedule work. If there is a lot
of snow, one person has the task of calling for road service,
"but none of us know what the other person is doing or if its
been done." He urges support of SB 48 because it would solve
some of the headaches they face. Also, if a member goes out of
town, he or she can't let others know what needs to be handled
while that person is out of town. It really hampers the day-to-
day operations. He urged the support of Senator Thomas.
4:02:46 PM
SENATOR THERRIAULT said he has worked with Ms. Broker on this
language. Other areas of the state face the same burden. He
reiterated the example of two commissioners not being able to
talk to a contractor on the road. "That certainly doesn't make
sense when you've got people volunteering their time." The snow
is packed down on Interior roads, and as the weather warms up,
"you want to have the plow out there at just the right time ...
[when] it's soft enough to actually loosen from the road." A
five-day notice for a meeting can't work. Service areas will
still need to notice meetings for setting policy. Ms. Broker
said it is not unlike a municipal employee who makes
administrative decisions and has an exemption.
4:05:40 PM
The committee took an at-ease.
4:05:57 PM
SENATOR THOMAS moved the CS to SB 48, labeled 26-LS0293\R, from
committee with individual recommendations and attached fiscal
note(s). There being no objection, CSSB 48(CRA) moved out of
committee.
4:06:24 PM
The committee took an at-ease.
4:07:18 PM
SENATOR FRENCH joined the meeting.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|---|---|
| CSSB48 Sectional Analysis.pdf |
SCRA 2/10/2009 3:30:00 PM |
SB 48 |
| CSSB48 Work Draft.pdf |
SCRA 2/10/2009 3:30:00 PM |
SB 48 |
| SB48 Sponsor Statement.pdf |
SCRA 2/10/2009 3:30:00 PM |
SB 48 |
| SB48 Fact Sheet.pdf |
SCRA 2/10/2009 3:30:00 PM |
SB 48 |
| SB48 FBks NSB Request for Legislation.pdf |
SCRA 2/10/2009 3:30:00 PM |
SB 48 |
| SB48 Fbks NSB Resolution 2008-34.pdf |
SCRA 2/10/2009 3:30:00 PM |
SB 48 |
| SB48 Expected Testimony List.pdf |
SCRA 2/10/2009 3:30:00 PM |
SB 48 |
| SB48 Fiscal Note DCCED.pdf |
SCRA 2/10/2009 3:30:00 PM |
SB 48 |
| SB93 FEDC Study.pdf |
SCRA 2/10/2009 3:30:00 PM |
SB 93 |
| SB93 Fbks NSB Letter.pdf |
SCRA 2/10/2009 3:30:00 PM |
SB 93 |
| SB93 AML Letter.pdf |
SCRA 2/10/2009 3:30:00 PM |
SB 93 |
| SB93 Fiscal Note DCCED.pdf |
SCRA 2/10/2009 3:30:00 PM |
SB 93 |
| SB93 Particulate Matter.pdf |
SCRA 2/10/2009 3:30:00 PM |
SB 93 |
| SB93 PM2.5.pdf |
SCRA 2/10/2009 3:30:00 PM |
SB 93 |
| SB93 Q&A.pdf |
SCRA 2/10/2009 3:30:00 PM |
SB 93 |
| SB93 Sponsor Statement.pdf |
SCRA 2/10/2009 3:30:00 PM |
SB 93 |