COMMISSIONERS PROCEEDINGS
APRIL 27, 2020
Agenda: 8:30 – Bills
9:00 – Tony Martin – Road & Bridge
9:30 – Eunice Schroeder – Library
10:00 – Jonathan Herald – WKCAC 2021 support
The Board of Stevens County Commissioners met in regular session with Pat Hall and Tron Stegman present. Joe Thompson and Paul Kitzke, County Attorney joined the meeting via Zoom.
Also present were Amy Jo Tharp, County Clerk. 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 | $ 108,249.63 |
| Road & Bridge | $ 61,676.88 |
| Airport | $ 1,796.82 |
| County Building | $ 281.00 |
| Noxious Weed | $ 3,599.69 |
| EMS | $ 5,573.15 |
| Fire | $ 1,747.50 |
| 911 Wireless | $ 18,117.83 |
| Special Law Enforcement | $ 678.94 |
| Community Health | $ 11,368.24 |
| Sheriff | $ 69,302.72 |
| TOTAL: | $ 282,392.40 |
Also present in the meeting via conference were: RoGlenda Coulter with the Hugoton Hermes, Stacey Strickland, Kelsee Burnett, Tony Martin, Rodney Kelling, Vanessa Willis and Susan Schulte.
Joe enquired about the wellness equipment that was just purchased and Amy Jo informed him it was the encumbered funds from the prior year which was already approved.
Tron said he would like to have a special meeting before Monday, May 3, 2020 with Paula Rowden to discuss opening more of Stevens County. He said Paula contacted him and would like to get a meeting set up. Joe said the Governor is supposed to have a three (3) stage plan of opening businesses and venues she will address sometime in the middle of the week. He also stated that she had expressed the counties will have local control on what they open or allow. They may enforce stricter regulations than the state, but they cannot be more lenient.
Ross said he installed a drop box for customers, but some offices have expressed their concern and do not want people to utilize that for business in their office. Vanessa said she would like the box to be more secure and would like it to be able to receive items such as tags. After discussing the issues with the commissioners, they voted to take down the box since not everyone wants to use it.
Ross said he cleaned out the coils for the HVAC system and everything seems to be in good working order. Joe told Ross to purchase a push mower to care for the library lawn.
Tony Martin joined in and said the Road and Bridge department has started their ten (10) hour, four (4) days a week, this week. He said they have started up the asphalt plant and will hopefully begin patching by the end of the week. Tony said he texts the employees their orders for the next day on the night before and stresses about social distancing. Tony said everything with the Clearinghouse and CDL random drug testing has been going well and everyone is complying.
Tony told the commissioners if no other department wants the drop box, he will take it when it comes down and use it for the permits and other papers people drop off.
Tron asked Amy Jo if anything has changed with elections. She stated nothing has changed that she is aware of and the August Primary will run as usual. The state is issuing some funds and sanitizing kits for the election stations to help with expenditures and she will hear more about that on the phone conference with the Secretary of State’s office on Wednesday afternoon.
Joe instructed Amy Jo to look into getting some PPE equipment for the wellness center, courthouse and other department staff so employees will be more protected when things begin to open completely. Rodney said he could help get some PPE items as well and get departments started until more can come in.
Ted Heaton was in attendance and stated he had nothing to report.
Eunice Schroeder with the library chimed in through Zoom and said the cost for bandwidth on internet will go up but is reflected in the budget. She stated the library still has interest coming in on CD’s, so they have a cushion and have been paying staff. She said the ordering is minimal now with the COVID-19 pandemic. The staff has been and will continue to sanitize items being returned and is using the ozone machine. Eunice said the library could use masks and disinfectant wipes. The library will remain closed for now.
Pat made a motion to accept Jana Harris to replace Ashley Pearcy on the library board. Joe seconded. Motion carried.
Amy Jo informed the commissioners most of the budgets have been turned in and are only missing a few. She will be contacting the entities this week to get them in.
Joe asked Paul if he has an estimate on the extra costs of some of the cases. Paul said there will be more expenses. The doctor alone was $5,000.00 to testify and that does not include any extra witnesses testifying. More of the cases where a person is found guilty go to appeals. Amy Jo said the auditors told her it was up to the commissioners to put money into the special prosecution fund out of the attorney account for these cases and if it goes over it would come out of the general. This would more accurately track the money going to these cases.
Paul said if a case is subject to the death penalty the Attorney General would then handle that case, but it is still the responsibility of the county. Paul stated his salary does not change no matter how much he works but if the Attorney General takes the case the bills aren’t any cheaper. After paying the jury and jurors there isn’t much money left and it’s not budgeted for. Amy Jo clarified the jury and jurors come out of the District Court fund.
Paul reported he heard back from the attorney in Wichita who is looking into the tax sale and said they are ready to move forward.
Joe asked Vanessa if she had a number on how short the tax receipt amounts are compared to last year. Vanessa said she has not looked into that recently but will. She said the bills have been paid without any issues, so money is available. Joe said he is concerned with people being able to pay taxes due to the COVID-19 layoffs or people not getting paid wages. Amy Jo said the appropriations have been able to be paid because the funds are there at this time.
Jonathan Herald with the Western Kansas Child Advocacy Center (WKCAC) was next on the agenda and joined the meeting via Zoom. He informed the commissioners they have six (6) mobile units now and service thirty-four (34) counties in Kansas. They are one of the few in the USA which have mobile units and now medical personnel who travel to assist. There have been 613 cases recorded this year alone with thirty-three (33) cases in the last four (4) weeks. He is requesting Stevens County support for the 2021 year. The commissioners stated they appreciate what WKCAC does and will consider at the budget workshop giving them some appropriation for 2021.
The commissioners asked Rodney if he has any word on the new ambulance. Rodney replied it was in the building stage.
By motion, the Board adjourned.
Attest: Amy Jo Tharp, County Clerk
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Tron Stegman, Chairman