June 5, 2025, Camden County Commission meeting at 10:00 a.m.

I attended the June 5, 2025, Camden County Commission meeting at 10:00 a.m.

All commissioners were present.

The first agenda item was “Bid Award – Treasurer.”

Two bids were received from Oak Star and Central Bank. The Treasurer reviewed them and she recommended accepting the bid from Central Bank.

Commissioner Dougan wanted to discuss the bidding procedure. He questioned why the request for these bids was only placed in the newspaper. Why wasn’t it put on the county website like other bid requests?

The Treasurer explained that she only sends out a request for these banking bids once every four years. She pointed out that if the request for bids was supposed to be listed on the county website, the person who handles the bidding should have put it on the site. The bid requests went to the two largest local banks.

The County Auditor confirmed that Oak Star and Central Bank are the only two local banks that can easily handle the large amount of money that the county has to invest.

Commissioner Gohagan asked Commissioner Dougan if there was a particular bank he wanted to include in the bidding process?

Dougan responded that he didn’t necessarily feel that the bidding was unfair, but he wanted the process to be consistent. He said he would prefer to re-bid the banking bids.

The County Auditor added that the banks are required to review the newspaper every day to check the public listings for obituaries and other legal notices so listing in the newspaper might actually be the best way to advertise to the banks.

Commissioner Dougan reiterated that he wanted the bidding process to be done the same way every time.

The Commission accepted the bid from Central Bank.

The second agenda item was “BOA Board Reappointment – Chris Cisar.”

Cisar was unanimously re-appointed to the BOA Board.

The third agenda item was “Library Board Reappointment – Nancy Pope.”

Pope was also unanimously re-appointed to the Library Board.

The fourth agenda item was “2^nd Hearing – Business Park Road, Linn Creek – Speed Limit and Truck Traffic Restrictions.”

A handful of residents were present in support of the proposed traffic restrictions for Business Park Road in Linn Creek.

Nobody was opposed.

The fifth agenda item was “Amendment of contract amount for Willow Creek Road bridge construction Increase of $500 for additional signage.”

Commissioner Gohagan explained that the contractor wanted an additional $500 for a “Road Closed” sign and the contractor would keep the sign after the project was over. He preferred to buy the sign and have the county keep it for future use.

Presiding Commissioner Skelton said that the proposed sign was too big for E-911 to make.

The commissioners voted unanimously to table this matter so they could explore alternatives.

The sixth agenda item was “Denali Summit Road Agreement.”

Denali Summit LLC, the development company working around Lakeview Resorts Boulevard in Sunrise Beach, agreed to contribute $20,000 to the efforts of the Camden County Road and Bridge Department to repair the road.

This agreement was approved unanimously by the Commission.

The next three agenda items were budget amendments from the Sheriff’s Office.

The first amendment transferred $40,000 from Court Security Equipment into a Sheriff’s discretionary fund. The money previously in this discretionary fund was used to build an armory and a property room to meet the urgent need for better accountability of the department’s firearms, ammunition, and equipment.

Commissioner Skelton questioned why the county would transfer money back into a discretionary fund? If they needed the armory and property room built, perhaps they should have come to the Commission for approval?

The second budget amendment was $1,000 in new revenue from a fundraiser at Endurance Church for the K-9 Unit.

The third budget amendment was an additional $445.94 raised for the K-9 Unit.

All three budget amendments were approved by the Commission.

The final agenda item was a budget amendment for $22,000 in revenue from the sale of the Emergency Management Agency’s old bus.

During Public Comment, the EMA Director gave an update to the Commission. He showed the commissioners the plans for the county’s new Emergency Operations Center. Camden County EMA will also be accepting applications for FEMA disaster relief from March 14 wildfire victims.

Commissioner Gohagan then confirmed officially with the County Auditor that Camden County does not use deficit spending to pay its budget.

Auditor Laughlin assured him that the county does not deficit spend. He said that when the June sales tax numbers come in, if they are lower than expected, the county can re-open the budget and make adjustments to account for lower than expected revenue.

And that was that.