Tuesday workshop to get county commissioners, staff up-to-speed with the Port

Lincoln County has scheduled a workshop to bring county commissioners and staff up-to-speed with the Lincoln County Port Authority’s operations as it seeks applicants for two openings on the Port’s new governing board.

The workshop will take place 10 a.m. to noon Tuesday, Feb. 6 in the Lincoln County Courthouse room where the County Commission meets.

The Commission on Jan. 24 created the new board when it approved Resolution 999, which dissolved the nine-member volunteer board that had governed the Port Authority since its inception in 2003.

As outlined in Resolution 999, the three county commissioners — Jerry Bennett, Mike Cole and Mark Peck — all sit on the board, and will be joined by two citizens.

At the Commission’s regular Wednesday meeting, County Administrator Darren Coldwell noted that notices about the two openings were placed in local papers earlier in the week and would run for two weeks.

Even though the three commissioners would represent a quorum of the board were it to meet, Coldwell said after the meeting that the commissioners would wait for the two other members to be chosen before dealing with any Port Authority business.

Tuesday’s meeting, Coldwell said, would help familiarize the county’s finance department with the Port’s books, and broaden Commissioner Cole’s understanding of the Port.

Cole, as Eureka’s representative on the Commission, has dealt less with Port Authority issues than Bennett, who had sat on the previous governing board, and Peck, who represents Libby, where the Port is located.

The commissioners asked Port Authority Executive Director Tina Oliphant and Operations Manager Brett McCully, the Port’s two employees, to apprise them at Tuesday’s meeting about current leasees, sources of revenue, outstanding issues and other items.