Regulatory board to go on through 2015

The Truck Regulatory Board, a four-county board formed in 2011 to provide truck regulatory duties in Stutsman, Barnes, Dickey and LaMoure counties, will continue to function through the end of the year.
At a special meeting Wednesday, the board approved staying together through the end of 2015. The Stutsman County Commission on June 2 unanimously approved terminating Stutsman County’s involvement in the Truck Regulatory Board by year’s end or sooner.
Dave Schwartz, Stutsman County commissioner and Truck Regulatory Board chairman, said he called the special meeting to discuss whether the other board members wanted to dissolve the board at the end of this month, or wait until the end of the year.
At the end of the meeting, Schwartz resigned as chair of the Truck Regulatory Board. He said the position was taking up too much of his time.
The Truck Regulatory Board was formed in 2011 by Stutsman, Barnes, Dickey and LaMoure counties to pay for a truck regulation enforcement officer. Each county has contributed $25,000 a year for the salary and other employment expenses of the trucking enforcement officer, a patrol vehicle and a set of portable scales. The board supervised the truck regulatory program, but the legal authority for the program’s enforcement officer came from Barnes County.
Barnes County had hired Tim Gillespie as the truck enforcement officer and he had been cross-deputized in Stutsman, Dickey and LaMoure counties. On May 22, Stutsman County Sheriff Chad Kaiser revoked Gillespie’s deputy status in Stutsman County due to what Kaiser described as a difference of opinion in how Gillespie allegedly conducted himself during a felony traffic stop on May 20 on U.S. Highway 281 south of Jamestown.
Schwartz said Barnes County Sheriff Randy McClaflin has also revoked Gillespie’s authority as a deputy, which means there is no truck regulatory officer on duty currently in the four counties. McClaflin is on vacation this week and could not be reached for comment about Gillespie’s employment status.
While Stutsman County will no longer be involved in the truck regulatory board after 2015, Barnes County officials appear to want to keep the board going. John Froelich, Barnes County commissioner, said the program has done what it was intended to do: provide overweight truck enforcement to protect state, county and township roads.
“It (truck regulatory program) has done what we’ve wanted it to and it has done it well,” he said,
Keith Heidinger, LaMoure County Commission chairman, agreed with Froelich and said he viewed the program work as a “pilot program” for the rest of the state. Heidinger said he also agreed with Schwartz’s assertion that if the board is to continue, the sheriffs for the participating counties would need to agree to continue the program and hire a new enforcement officer.
LaMoure County Sheriff Robert Fernandes said he had supported the program, but he thought the Truck Regulatory Board was coming to an end with Stutsman County leaving the board.
Fernandes and Dickey County Sheriff Chris Estes said given the physical area Gillespie had to cover, having one officer try and cover that area is an almost impossible task.
“We need more time on the road (more enforcement in each county) if we’re going to do this,” Estes said. “He (Gillespie) was spread too thin.”
If Barnes, Dickey and LaMoure counties were to continue the Truck Regulatory Board after 2015, Heidinger and Estes said the LaMoure and Dickey county commissions do not want to administer the truck regulatory program.
Rodger Bernston, a Barnes County commissioner, said if the board does continue, the costs would be split three ways, versus four, and the costs for each county would go up.
“We need to look at this long term,” he said.
Froelich said Barnes County has been providing the administrative duty at no cost to the Truck Regulatory Board.
Bernston said he didn’t think it was the intention of the Barnes County Commission that Barnes County would do the program’s administration indefinitely.
“I think we thought it would rotate (amongst the participating counties).”
Froelich said he will place this issue on the agenda for the next Barnes County Commission meeting.
Sun reporter Chris Olson can be reached at 701-952-8454 or by email at colson @jamestownsun.com