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.