COMMISSIONERS PROCEEDINGS
APRIL 13, 2020
Agenda: 8:30 – Bills
9:00 – Karen Vines – HUB
9:30 – Airport – Memorandum of Understanding
10:00 – Ted Heaton – Bids
The Board of County Commissioners met in regular session with all members present. Also present were Paul Kitzke, County Attorney, Amy Jo Tharp, County Clerk and RoGlenda with the Hugoton Hermes. Tron called the meeting to order. Joe moved to approve the minutes of the last meeting. Pat seconded. Motion carried. Joe moved to approve the county vouchers. Pat seconded. Motion carried. The Clerk was instructed to draw warrants on the Treasurer chargeable to the various funds of the county for the following amounts:
| General | $ 80,487.99 |
| Road & Bridge | $ 64,392.92 |
| Airport | $ 1,707.71 |
| County Building | $ 950.00 |
| Noxious Weed | $ 3,622.29 |
| EMS | $ 8,786.21 |
| Fire | $ 7,187.01 |
| Library Fund | $ 86,198.50 |
| Alcohol Treatment | $ 250.00 |
| Diversion | $ 1,500.00 |
| EMS Bequest | $ 44.00 |
| Community Health | $ 10,046.77 |
| Community Health Grant | $ 4,150.00 |
| Sheriff | $ 42,136.84 |
| Emp P/R Misc W/H | $ 1,141.88 |
| Reg Deeds Tech Fund | $ 163.49 |
| TOTAL: | $ 312,765.61 |
Also present in the meeting via conference was: Paula Rowden, Kelsee Burnett, Tony Martin, Rodney Kelling, Stacey Strickland, Vanessa Willis, Linda Stalcup and Karen Vines.
Tron inquired if Gilmore Solutions was able to help out at the Wellness Center with their computers and software. Amy Jo Tharp stated she felt they were able to get it taken care of.
Pat asked about the AK Roofing bill for the fire and ambulance building Rodney had sent in. Rodney said there was a leak where the two buildings were joined together and needed repaired.
Joe asked Rodney if the PPE meeting went well and if anything was needed. Rodney said nothing is out of date and the EMS has enough supplies to last a little while.
Rodney said the state is requiring weekly invoice amounts in order to receive reimbursements on the COVID-19 pandemic. He would like to have the numbers by each Monday afternoon so he can get them sent over to the state.
Joe said the cost of elevator maintenance is high and suggested if the county has to build anymore buildings, they should only be one (1) story.
The commissioners discussed having a drop box put in so people can put their payments in the box or whatever they want to drop off to the courthouse since it is closed to the public. The commissioners agreed and to have Ross find something under $1,000.00 to be installed as a drop box.
Paula Rowden confirmed the second (2nd) positive case in Stevens County and said regarding the first (1st) case, the person recovered without any incidence and she feels this new positive will recover fine as well. She stated the two (2) cases were not related. Paula said limiting travel to essential needs, following safety protocols such as social distancing, wearing masks and gloves have helped our community immensely.
Tron asked if a County could open more buildings such as hair salons which the governor deems non-essential. Paul said the county can enforce more restrictions but not less. Paula said it will change once the government determines we have hit our peak and is hopeful it will decline within the next two (2) weeks.
Joe asked Paula to clarify the COVID-19 testing process due to the high number of tests being run in our county. Paula said due to the similarity in symptoms of strep, flu and COVID-19 they are testing for COVID-19 due to the shortage of equipment to make sure the patient can get the help they need if they were to test positive for COVID-19. Pat asked if there is a new test where the results are within the same day and Paula said the accuracy is still being worked out at this time.
Tony Martin said business in the road and bridge department is going as usual. If the weather is bad this week, he will be sending some employees home but will be splitting up the days and hours. Tony asked for some suggestions from the commissioners if he should go to the four (4) ten (10) hour days beginning April 27th as usual or postpone it for a bit. After discussion with commissioners, Tony said he will postpone it for a bit and see what happens.
Vanessa Willis asked the commissioners if it was possible to open the treasurer’s office back up to appointments only because some residents are frustrated with not being able to come into the courthouse and conduct their business. Joe asked her to elaborate on what type of business is so urgent it couldn’t be handled via mail or phone, noting the government has extended tags and driver license renewals. She said mainly renewing vehicle tags and paying property taxes. Joe said he feels it is doable for them to mail in payments, drop the payments in the drop box that will be installed or wait until the stay at home order is lifted. Paul said the reason the government has suspended some things is to help with social distancing and essential issues in order to prevent the spread. He said he would not like to see the courthouse staff put at unnecessary risk by allowing public in the building at this time, pointing out that if an employee contracts the virus, everyone working could potentially be quarantined. After more discussion, the commissioners made the decision to leave the courthouse closed to the public and said they had already decided earlier in the meeting to have a drop box installed on the property for those who don’t want to send items in the mail. They also deemed the courthouse employees can meet someone at one of the outside doors to collect any paperwork / payments.
Vanessa said she is fine with the decision and will do what she can to make this work and agreed the drop box would be helpful.
Karen Vines with HUB, who oversees the county group benefits, joined the Zoom meeting to present the commissioners details of a membership employers may offer employees for a medical emergency transportation service through MASA-Medical Transport Solutions. She said MASA is an intermediary for air and ground medical transportation providers that covers a member’s out of pocket expenses for ambulance and air transportation. She said they cover all locations within the United States and Canada and under an employer group plan, the cost to employees is $14.00 per month which covers the entire family. The commissioners agreed to allow full time employees to enroll in a MASA membership through a monthly payroll deduction. Karen thanked the commissioners for inviting her to make this presentation and said she will contact Amy Jo or Amy in the clerk’s office to finalize details.
Erick Nordling was next on the agenda regarding the memorandum of understanding between the commissioners and the airport. He said it looked to be in good order, just waiting on the commissioners to approve and sign. He said he would need an original to have an airport board member sign.
Pat made a motion to accept the Memorandum of Understanding between the Hugoton Airport and Stevens County. Joe seconded, motion carried.
Tron instructed Amy to put prior year revenue for each entity on the budget worksheets.
Joe asked Amy if she was able to get the information from KPLG and she stated she called and e-mailed but didn’t have any success. Joe said he will call Doug Smith and see if he can get the information he is needing.
Joe talked about the handful of small businesses in Stevens County that may need help. He would like to find a way the county can help them out so they won’t have to close their doors permanently. Joe inquired about abating their taxes as a way of assistance. Pat said the small businesses should ask for assistance if they need it and the state is offering a loan with no interest. Joe said the expenses for the restaurants to re-open after being closed could be costly purchasing all the food and feels most businesses are necessary.
Tony Martin discussed some information he received from the extension district. He said at this time they are not allowing face-to-face/in person meetings of any kind until July 4, which is bad for the fair. The extension and 4-H is a big part of the community but he understands they are trying to keep the public safe.
Sheriff Ted Heaton brought in a bid for a 2020 Ford F150 pickup with a trade of a 2016 Ford F150 with just under 100,000 miles.
- Ghumm’s – 2020 Ford F150 with 350 miles on odometer for $51,800.00 with trade-in value of $20,500.00 on the 2016 Ford F150 for a total of $31,300.00
Pat made a motion to accept the Ghumm’s bid on the 2020 Ford pickup with a trade-in leaving the amount to be paid of $31,300.00. Joe seconded. Motion carried.
Ted said he ordered a restraint chair out of his special law fund because of an issue he had with an inmate over the weekend. He said in all his years he has never had that type of an incident happen with an inmate.
Tron asked Ted if there were any issues with too many people gathering and Ted said he has not seen any issues.
Amy said she stated in the budget letter she sent that she prefers budgets be in by April 22. They can extend it until May 25th if needed, but the sooner the better.
Joe asked Amy if there were any changes with elections and she said at this time there were no changes and hopes the elections run as usual since it is not until August. She said as it gets closer, the structure of the elections coming up will be determined by the state. Joe suggested she continue to try and get younger people involved with elections. Amy said she has gone through a couple different avenues recruiting the youth, reminding that some of the high schoolers helped at the last election. She hopes more will be interested in helping this year, but one issue in November for the general election are other school activities going on that could prevent some teens from being able to assist.
The commissioners discussed the way the bids are to be handled and how it is stated in the policy manual. All departments need to inform the commissioners beforehand they are going to request sealed bids so there will be notice in the newspaper that bids will be opened at a certain time and date in case someone wants to bring in a bid or has questions about such bid. Spec sheets need to be given to more than one (1) company to obtain a sealed bid even if only one (1) company responds.
Abatement Orders for tax year 2019, number 212-255, was reviewed and approved by commissioners and given to the County Treasurer; total valuation abated -84,683 and tax assessed -$12,763.28.
By motion, the Board adjourned.
Attest: Amy Jo Tharp, County Clerk
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Tron Stegman, Chairman