Commissioners Discuss Using Crisis System

After attending the National Association of Counties’ conference held in South Dakota, Roosevelt County Commissioner Gordon Oelkers feels the county should add a visual crisis program that allows law enforcement to connect people in crisis with mental health officials.

The system, already used in Montana by Custer County, gives individuals in crisis the chance to communicate through an iPad to obtain fast assistance.

“It’s a way to get immediate care to these individuals,” Oelkers said during the commissioners’ meeting on Tuesday, May 27.

He wants to work with Eastern Montana Mental Health and the Fort Peck Tribes to provide the system in Roosevelt County in the near future.

Also during the conference, the benefits of thermal energy and other energy sources were discussed. Oelkers feels that the country still needs to use coal and natural gas, and it can’t rely only on green energy.

Commissioner Robert Toavs reported that Phoenix Oil has supplied scoria to use on County Road 1009 located near Bainville. Providing the scoria was part of an agreement between the county and Phoenix Oil.

“The traffic was just unbelievable there,” Toavs said of a recent trip to the location.

During the meeting, Charlie Page was hired as a temporary full-time employee for the road department, effective July 1.

Summer maintenance employees hired for the Roosevelt County Fair were Kendal Poland, Aubry Salvevold, Charity Wilbanks, Harper Struna, Arlie Purvis and Chelsie Flinn.