COMMISSIONERS PROCEEDINGS
MARCH 19, 2018
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 Coulter with the Hugoton Hermes. Joe called the meeting to order. Tron moved to approve the minutes of the last meeting. Pat seconded. Motion carried. Pat moved to approve the county vouchers. Tron 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 | $ 21,019.94 |
| Road & Bridge | $ 126,493.84 |
| Building | $ 8,375.00 |
| Noxious Weed | $ 43.10 |
| EMS | $ 1,630.32 |
| Fire | $ 12,752.92 |
| Highway Improvement | $ 13,612.45 |
| Alcoholic Treatment Fund | $ 237.50 |
| Community Health | $ 13,570.11 |
| 911 E Wireless | $ 405.88 |
| Sheriff | $ 1,901.16 |
| County Clerk Tech Fund | $ 805.27 |
| Employee P/R Misc W/H | $ 38.40 |
| $ 200,885.89 | |
Elaine Rowden with the Wellness Center brought in two (2) bids for the LED lights for the building except the storage room. Frankie Thomas LED light bid was for $13,264 and Hancock Electric bid $9,076. Pat said he would like to make sure they have some form of motion activation for at least thirty (30) minutes.
Pat made a motion to accept Hancock Electric’s bid at $9,076 to replace lighting at the Wellness Center with LED lights all except the storage room. Tron seconded, motion carried.
Pat said he will be out at the Wellness Center sometime this week to take pictures and have measurements of the sheds and carport. He will be placing them on Facebook to announce the commissioners will be accepting bids for the buildings.
The commissioners received a check from John Riddlesperger for ground rent by the Pioneer Manor south of town.
Susan Schulte informed the commissioners that sewer water is still backing up in the boiler room. She told the commissioners that there is a sump pump in the room but Jorge rarely has it plugged in because the water runs down the east wall near the electric outlet. Jorge has patched several leaks on that wall but the water reroutes. Pat said to leave the sump pump plugged in at all times to keep the basement from getting mold and other issues. Susan also reminded the commissioners that the one toilet in the bathroom downstairs still has a leak that has yet to be fixed because the marble has to be removed in order for it to be repaired.
Paul brought up the opioid litigation concerning the lawsuit against drug manufacturers with the thought that it could possibly put hospitals and doctors in trouble. Pat agreed that more information needs to be found out about the lawsuit before the county makes a decision.
Paul also discussed the Abengoa bankruptcy hearing that will be conducted Monday the 26th of March, 2018 in Wichita, Kansas. He feels that making an appearance at the hearing will let the judge know that the residents of Stevens County need the funds promised in order to get rid of the bales and lessen the safety issues and expenses with fires.
Vernon said that no permit would be needed to grind or remove the hay bales.
Jorge Camacho appeared requesting a ten (10) minute executive session over non-elected personnel. Pat made a motion to go into executive session for ten (10) minutes over non-elected personnel. Tron seconded. Executive session began at 9:06am and ended at 9:16am. No action taken.
Jorge asked the commissioners if there was a specific date when his position with the county would end and Paul told him at least two (2) weeks.
Tony Martin with Road and Bridge came in to give the commissioners a crossing permit from Pioneer Communications to sign. He also brought in the bridge inspection from Kirkham and Michael stating it was completed and the bridges were up to code at least for the next two (2) years when the state will require inspections again.
Tony informed the commissioners that the road Robb Heger is wanting has been measured and was offset but is now ready to go. Tony is just waiting on two (2) more property owners to approve of the road before they begin. Pat asked if building the road and costs would be worth the trouble, Tony told him that another property owner liked the idea because it would help with harvest.
An old grader at road and bridge went in for repairs and Murphy Tractor is making the repairs and should be free of charge due to faulty injectors that were put in not too long ago. Tony also told them that a pickup went down and it was just a bad o-ring so should be up and running today.
Tony was at the Moscow lagoons preconstruction meeting knowing the county was going to help by hauling dirt but found out that the contractor wants 3,700 cubic yards of dirt hauled within four (4) days beginning April 18. Tony said that his trucks can’t haul that much in four (4) days and would like to stock pile the dirt.
Tony requested an executive session for ten (10) minutes on non-elected personnel. Tron made the motion to go into executive session for ten (10) minutes on non-elected personnel. Pat seconded. Executive session began at 9:37 and ended at 9:47 with a motion by Tron to extend the executive session for ten (10) minutes beginning at 9:51 and concluded at 10:00. Joe made a motion to extend the executive session for another ten (10) minutes beginning at 10:03 and ending at 10:13. Joe made a motion to allow $20,800 in merit pay adjustments at Tony’s discretion. Pat seconded. Motion carried.
Phillip Willis with the Stevens County Landfill made an appearance to receive approval for the Solid Waste Management Planning Committee members: Phillip Willis, Landfill Supervisor; Jim Miller, Landfill Employee; Pat Hall, City of Hugoton & Unincorporated Areas of Stevens County; Josh Grubbs, City of Hugoton; Joe D Thompson, City of Moscow & Unincorporated Areas of Stevens County. Tron made a motion to accept the Solid Waste Management Planning Committee members: Phillip Willis, Jim Miller, Josh Grubbs, Pat Hall and Joe D Thompson. Pat seconded.
Vernon Anderson with Planning and Zoning was in attendance to listen to issues.
Billy Bell was present along with Rodney Kelling to discuss the issues of the hay bales near Moscow and the bankruptcy court against Abengoa on Monday. Billy Bell said that Gregg Morris and Warren Spikes had a removal allowance then assets were frozen and they have yet to receive the funds to remove hay bales. Paul said he knew Pacific Ag was supposed to receive a removal allowance as well. Billy said there were at least thirteen (13) sets of bales near Moscow and two (2) at UPA that will be removed. Joe wanted to know the percentage of bales and the total of bales that are north of Moscow, Billy said he knew there were fifteen (15) bales.
Joe said that thirteen (13) of the stacks need to be handled first which would take out a majority of the problem for Moscow and would like to see that addressed at the bankruptcy hearing. He also feels that Paul Kitzke and at least one (1) commissioner needs to attend the hearing on Monday to be a voice for Stevens County. He justified it by stating that the travel expenses will be less compared to the cost of another fire and it is worth pursuing for the safety of the county.
Rodney was told to get the costs of all the fires that have to do with the Abengoa hay bales.
Joe discussed the second issue with these hay bales regarding grinding. He said that the wind and extreme dry conditions pose a fire danger when grinding and wanted to know if the burn ban pertained to that aspect. Paul said the burn ban states burning and can’t stop landowners from grinding or doing legal work on their own property even if the proximity to a city could be possible hazard for fire.
Rodney said the weeds between the hay bales are too high and responsible parties need to get them cut down. The weeds help spread the fire from hay bale to hay bale.
Joe said there needs to be a nuisance ordinance for the County and the City of Moscow needs zoning rights outside of the city limits. The fire in 2012 that caused the City of Moscow to be evacuated brings even more cause for there to be ordinances in place. If the hay bales fall into a public nuisance ordinance then they can be condemned and taken care of. Vernon said the City of Moscow would have to go through the planning and zoning commission and bring their proposal to the commissioners. Vernon also reminded the commissioners that the City of Hugoton has a three (3) mile radius outside of the city limits that allows for them to zone. Joe said Moscow needs to pursue the zoning issue.
Billy spoke with several people and it was determined that the hay has become a health hazard because of the mold within it. He noted that especially near the cotton gin, the moldy hay was not healthy being near it let alone the fire fighters having to breathe in the toxins.
Paul Kitzke said he would get more details on this issue an try to get more people to attend the hearing. Billy said he will start the zoning ordinance for the City of Moscow and then get with the commissioners on the zoning issues.
Pat would like a time frame for when the funds will be released so the county can know when to expect the bales to be disposed. Joe said if the funds get awarded the commissioners will set a deadline for the hay bales to be disposed of and if no funds, then they will discuss the need to condemn the hay bales.
Billy Bell gave his thanks to all the volunteer fire fighters from the City of Moscow and a thank you to the community for stepping in and helping out where it is needed.
Pat made a motion to accept JoLynn Harrison and Jonathan Pearcy for the Foundation Board. Tron seconded. Motion carried.
Rodney Kelling informed the commissioners that there are only five (5) people on the Moscow fire department and only two (2) attend the majority of the fires and meetings. He needs more volunteer fire fighters and would like to see at least ten (10) people attend a fire. Joe said that any Stevens County resident can work for the Moscow Fire station. Joe said that if not enough people are willing to help or volunteer the Moscow station might have to be closed down, that could have bad repercussions for the City of Moscow residents, businesses and school as far as increase in insurance and safety for the people. Rodney said the training will be conducted at the Hugoton station and those who are interested just need to come in to the EMS building in Hugoton and get some paperwork. Rodney and the commissioners would like to see more people volunteer and hope that their employers will find ways of working with their employees if they choose to be a volunteer fire fighter when it comes to needing to leave work to attend fires.
Billy Bell informed the commissioners that the State of Kansas had informed the City of Moscow that water well SV CO #9 is only to be allowed to pump water for fires or if another well went down. He also informed the commissioners that it only pumps approximately seventy (70) gallons per minute.
The commissioners then conducted interviews with at least three (3) potential candidates for the Maintenance and Janitorial Supervisor positions that was posted with the Hugoton Hermes. After much deliberation, they chose Robert Lucero for the position and he will begin work April 2, 2018.
By motion, the Board adjourned.
Attest: Amy Jo Tharp, County Clerk ________________________________
Joe Thompson, Chairman