Commissioners OK new software for DA's office

ALBANY — Tuesday morning Linn County Commissioners Roger Nyquist, Sherrie Sprenger and Will Tucker approved a contract with Matrix Pointe Software for a new Case Management System for the Linn County District Attorney’s Office for $535,000 spread over five years.

District Attorney Doug Marteeny said a committee has researched the project for several months. The county received seven proposals and committee members evaluated each proposal. The committee was composed of representatives from the county’s IT Department, the County Attorney’s Office, three end user attorneys, two support staff members and an independent contractor who has assisted other District Attorney’s offices with case management software replacement projects.

Marteeny said in a written report that “Matrix Pointe was one of the leading-edge systems we explored” and it was also was one of the “most modestly priced” options. He believes the product will have the most “bang for the taxpayer’s dollar.”

In other business, the commissioners:

• After considerable discussion approved an 8 percent rate of return for the three waste management companies that do business in Linn County — Republic Services, Pacific Sanitation and Sweet Home Sanitation. The commissioners agreed to discuss approval of a new franchise agreement soon.
• Approved accepting rural schools safety net payments in lieu of a share of income from trees harvested on national Forest Service lands. Commissioner Sprenger said she would prefer that the county get a share of the federal timber funds, but knows that is less than the rural schools payments, because so little timber is being harvested on Forest Service lands.
• Were told by Veterans Services Director Dee Baley-Hyder that her staff has helped local veterans recover almost $2 million over the last Fiscal Year and more than $240,000 from April 1 to June 28, 2023.  Her office received $2,000 from the Oregon Department of Veterans Affairs to help provide transportation for veterans. She and her staff have been speaking at several area outreach events and they have had success assisting new male and female veterans alike.
• Renewed a contract with the Department of Consumer and Business Services to continue processing manufactured home transactions, not to exceed $115,000 in reimbursements to the county. The total revenue from manufactured home transactions in FY 2022-23 was $21,420 for nearly 400 transactions.
• Planning and Building Director Steve Wills told the commissioners there were 80 land use permits and 294 total permits issued in June. He said for the second month in a row, the number of new code enforcement cases was less than the total number of cases closed, 16 new cases compared to 20 closed cases.
• Announced that a management staff meeting will be held at 11:30 a.m. Wednesday in the Courthouse basement meeting room. Also announced that the Linn County Fair will run Thursday through Saturday and there likely will be several times all three commissioners will be at the Fair & Expo Center at the same time.
• Approved an amendment to a lease agree with National Carbon Technologies for property at the Mid-Valley Industrial Park in Millersburg, which is owned by the county.

Media contact: Alex Paul, Linn County Communications Officer, 541-967-3825 or email apaul@co.linn.or.us.