COMMISSIONERS’ PROCEEDINGS
JUNE 27, 2022
Agenda: 8:30 – Bills
8:45 – Misty Peitz – Treasurer’s office regarding computers
9:00 – Shelby Martin – Wellness Center
9:30 – Tony Martin
9:45 – Angela Eichman – Contract for McCully and Associates
10:00 – Sean Tarwater – Housing developers
The Board of Stevens County Commissioners met in regular session. Paul Kitzke, County Attorney and Amy Jo Tharp, County Clerk 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 County Clerk was instructed to draw warrants on the Treasurer chargeable to the various funds of the county for the following amounts:
| General | $ 108,175.92 |
| Judicial District | $ 492.35 |
| Road & Bridge | $ 44,140.87 |
| Fair | $ 36,084.50 |
| Airport | $ 1,934.11 |
| Svc For the Elderly | $ 70,796.50 |
| County Building | $ 5,400.00 |
| Noxious Weed | $ 10,646.63 |
| EMS | $ 7,866.99 |
| Fire | $ 4,014.95 |
| Hospital | $ 500,000.00 |
| Community Health | $ 25,718.02 |
| 911 Wireless | $ 1,793.00 |
| Library Employee Benefits | $ 31,519.00 |
| Sheriff | $ 35,359.51 |
| ARPA | $ 4,057.38 |
| Emp Misc W/H | $ 235.16 |
| TOTAL: | $ 888,234.89 |
Misty Peitz from the Treasurer’s office was first on the agenda to relay to the commissioners the Treasurer’s department is not happy with the current IT business. She informed them her computer is running too slow, as have others in the office, and was told by IT to purchase new even though the equipment is only three (3) years old. She stated Jayme wanted to know if it would be possible to have another IT person look at their equipment for a second opinion before purchasing new computers. The commissioners agreed to have a second opinion and to let them know which way the Treasurer’s office will proceed.
Appraiser, Angela Eichman brought in the McCully and Associates contract for the commissioners to sign.
Sheriff Ted Heaton and Duane Topliss came in and had nothing to report.
Shelby Martin was asked to come in to go over issues that have been relayed about the Wellness Center. The first matter was regarding how old equipment is handled when new is purchased to replace it. She stated the old equipment was traded in. Amy Jo informed her she needs to submit paperwork from the vendor to show the trade-in credits. Shelby said she will work on getting those. Another matter is the selling of merchandise, which was not discussed previously, therefore the process for this needed clarification (e.g., submitting receipts for the merchandise, properly charging sales tax, and submitting the tax amounts to the Treasurer’s office to pay the state). She said the sales of merchandise has gone very well and she has now found a way to separate the sales tax from the sales. Amy Jo had spoken to her on the phone the prior week and instructed her to speak with Jayme Rich to make sure she was collecting the correct amount for sales tax, so Shelby reported she spoke with Jayme and found out the correct amount and will put it into the general fund for Wellness Sales Tax under the account number Amy Jo assigned. When asked how the merchandise was purchased, she said she had paid for it and will be submitting the invoices for reimbursement.
Shelby stated she is currently working on the inventory and to be more detailed, as instructed, will be putting in the quantity and model numbers for items. She told the commissioners Hancock Electric had done some work and the cost went up some due to them removing old electrical work which was not expected. The commissioners and Paul reminded Shelby she needs to check in with the commissioners at a meeting if any work needs to be done at the Wellness Center, anything new is being implemented, or old equipment is being rid of. If old equipment is not used as a trade-in, then she will need to notify the commissioners, it will need to be published, and sealed bids will need to be obtained. Amy Jo reminded if a department is going to receive grants or donations, they still need to inform the commissioners at a meeting what the grant or donation is for and how much they plan to receive.
Shelby asked if she needed to clock out to run work related errands. Tony Martin said his men do not clock out for work related errands, but they are normally not at the department and are usually in the county vehicles. Amy Jo explained that it is understandable because some types of jobs require employees to be off site the majority of the time and relayed the policy states they need to clock out, if possible, but will still get paid according to the employee handbook.
Joe made a motion to allow department heads to decide whether employees need to clock out for work/job related errands. Pat seconded. Motion carried.
Tony was up next with Public Works’ business. He said there is a workshop July 19 – 20 for landfill personnel to get certified. KDHE wants to have them certified to drill four (4) monitoring wells before digging the new pits. Tony requested to give Matt Taylor a seventy-five cent ($0.75) per hour merit raise and Jeff Cox a fifty cent ($0.50) per hour merit raise. The commissioners approved the merit raises. Discussion of the $3,500.00 increase for the oil distributor caused concern for the commissioners. Joe stated to make sure the bids in the future will have a clause or statement stating the amount is final and there will not be an increase.
Lisa LeNeve, Dan Tarwater and Sean Tarwater, Sr. were present.
Sean told the commissioners he and his brother, Dan, were interested in the Pioneer Lots and would like to build on them. They said they have one hundred (100) acres south of the middle school and would eventually build upper scale homes on their land and would like to build moderate homes on the Pioneer Lots. Dan said the state is giving incentives to developers to help increase populations in the smaller communities.
Amy Jo informed the commissioners Donna Norton will be retiring as the Accounts Payable Clerk. Donna did state she is willing to stay on to help train the new part-time clerk, so Amy Jo said she will have Donna and whoever is hired working the same days until the new person is trained.
The commissioners stated they are wanting to get the Community Health Department to sell their vehicles, as no one uses them to go to schools outside of town much and would pay mileage rates to employees for the use of their own vehicles for travel.
Pat and Tron said they would like to have a sunset tax vote on the General Election in November and wanted to know if it would be able to state no taxes on groceries. Joe opposed having the question on the General Election ballot.
By motion, the Board adjourned.
Attest: Amy Jo Tharp, County Clerk
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Tron Stegman, Chairman