COMMISSIONER’S PROCEEDINGS
MAY 24, 2021
Agenda: 8:30 – Bills
9:00 – Paula Rowden
9:30 – Tony Martin
10:00 – Backhoe Bid Opening
10:15 – Marty Long – SB13
10:30 – Rachel Crane – Soil Conservation
The Board of Stevens County Commissioners met in regular session with all members present. Paul Kitzke, County Attorney; Amy Jo Tharp, County Clerk and RoGlenda Coulter, Hugoton Hermes were also present. Tron called the meeting to order. Pat moved to approve the minutes of the last meeting. Joe 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 | $ 42,438.59 |
| Road & Bridge | $ 44,589.36 |
| Airport | $ 9,480.98 |
| Noxious Weed | $ 1,569.35 |
| EMS | $ 8,889.90 |
| Fire | $ 1,911.82 |
| County Building | $ 11,973.88 |
| Community Health | $ 9,711.15 |
| Community Health Grants | $ 3,050.00 |
| 911 Wireless | $ 115.84 |
| Sheriff | $ 33,571.48 |
| Emp P/R Misc W/H | $ 627.24 |
| TOTAL: | $ 167,929.59 |
Camille Peterson was in attendance to observe.
Rodney Kelling came in and said he needed the commissioner’s approval to reapply for the Incident Management Team. The commissioners approved and Tron signed the approval.
Joe asked Rodney if he was at the scene of the wreck this past Thursday on Highway 56 and Road Y. Rodney said he was out of town, so he was not there but heard about it. Pat suggested rumble strips be installed.
Ted Heaton came in and said he was at the wreck and it was due to a blind spot. The person traveling did stop at the stop sign and proceeded, not seeing the person traveling on the highway until it was too late.
Ted said Trina Young has been with the Sheriff’s Department for over twenty-five (25) years and would like to get her a gift for her service. The commissioners agreed and told Ted to find out if she would like a watch or something else.
Amy Jo said the Moscow Senior Center sent a letter stating they are having AK Roofing do some work and would be sending a paid invoice for work done.
Amy Jo told the commissioners she filed for the ARPA and Tron Stegman signed paperwork so the county will be receiving $1,065,397.00 by 2024 as part of an extended CARES Act. There was discussion about having a CARES committee and how money should be spent. This was tabled until later.
Paula Rowden came in and said she is formulating a plan for retirement at the end of 2022 and will discuss with the commissioners more about the details. She said Gilmore Solutions is charging to have the controls set to wireless settings on the HVAC system so she can remotely run the system.
There is an alarm system on the vaccine refrigeration NexTech put in and is currently no longer in use. The State has given her some information and software to put into place free of charge for the alarm system.
The crown molding in the atrium area of the Community Health building has fallen and she has an estimate of $400.00 for repairs.
Paula said there is a grant for Public Health in the amount of $127,300.00 she applied for and was awarded, which is specifically targeted for staffing and personnel. She stated the health department could use another nurse and she could use half the funding for the nurse. She would like to use the other half for another full-time employee in the middle of the year or beginning of fall.
Paula feels it is important for the Community Health Director to at least have a bachelor’s degree. Cammie Heaton, the current nurse, is currently working on a bachelor’s degree and Yesica, the front desk clerk, is currently planning to go to school for a nursing degree.
The State of Kansas is pushing the health departments to be testers for COVID. Paula stated she did not want to compete with the hospital on testing. The health department will have free COVID testing and is looking at doing the tests one (1) day a week, mainly for those wanting to travel that need to prove they are COVID negative. The state has organized couriers to take the tests one (1) day a week to the labs for results.
Commissioners tabled the new hire decision until a later date.
Tony Martin came in and said the dozer was diagnosed and is needing a long block which will cost about $26,000.00 for repair.
Tony reminded the commissioners there is a road safety plan meeting on this Thursday, May 27th at 9:00 AM at the fair office.
Tony presented the commissioners with the budgets for Noxious Weed, Solid Waste, Road and Bridge and Planning and Zoning. He stated he took the salary out of Noxious Weed and added it to Road and Bridge and moved Brent Shelman’s salary into Noxious Weed. More funding was added to Solid Waste for repairs.
Currently the Road and Bridge department is mowing and trying to get caught up on the dirt roads to get a few miles of overlay done. They will be doing chip seal from the Oklahoma state line on Highway 51 and will be putting new rumble strips.
Joe asked Tony about the City of Moscow using the Moscow runway to shoot off fireworks for July 4th. Tony said he will check into it but believes it would be fine as the county owns the runway.
Backhoe bids were opened at 10:00 AM:
- Rob Crane $2,150.00
- Jake $3,500.00
- Roy Stoddard $2,000.00
- Darroll Munson $1,200.00
- D. Littrell $3,205.00
- Larry Clark $2,510.00
- Koda Rich $3,000.00
- Warren Willis $10,079.99
Pat made a motion to accept the bid from Warren Willis in the amount of $10,079.99. Joe seconded. Motion carried.
Marty Long, Kansas State Representative, District 124, came in and discussed the new Senate Bill 13 (SB13). He said the bill was going to pass whether anyone wanted it to or not, so the Southwest Kansas Representatives tried to amend it to make it more universal for Kansas. The SB13 is to maintain the Revenue Neutral Rate (RNR) and make entities more transparent on why property taxes are being raised, by whom and how much. If the RNR is exceeded, there will need to be a public hearing and the County Clerk must inform the taxpayers of such hearing. All taxing entities are required to follow this bill. Marty said there is a sister bill, House Bill 2104 (HB2104) which changes a few dates on the matter.
Luke Grubbs and Rachel Crane with Soil Conservation came in to discuss the 2022 budget with the commissioners. Rachel said they are requesting $32,020.00 for the 2022 year. Due to COVID in 2020 they were unable to do several activities, but the state did give the soil conservation $22,000.00 for the 2021 year which has helped tremendously.
Angela Eichman came in and requested a twenty (20) minute executive session over legal matters concerning a taxpayer.
Pat moved to go into executive session for twenty (20) minutes over a legal matter concerning a taxpayer. Joe seconded; motion carried. Executive session began at 10:44 AM and concluded at 10:55 AM. Joe seconded. No action taken.
By motion, the Board adjourned.
Attest: Amy Jo Tharp, County Clerk
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Tron Stegman, Chairman