COMMISSIONERS’ PROCEEDINGS
APRIL 28, 2025
Agenda: 8:30 – Bills
8:45 –
9:00 – Angela Eichman – Reappointment & Seaboard
9:15 – Jayme Rich – Sealed Bids
9:30 – Tony Martin
10:00 –
10:30 –
11:00 –
The Board of Stevens County Commissioners met in a regular session. County Clerk Amy Jo Tharp was also present. Tron called the meeting to order. Joe moved to approve minutes from the last meeting. Shannon seconded. Motion carried. Joe moved to approve the county vouchers. Shannon 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 | $ 107,177.82 |
| Judicial District | $ – |
| Road & Bridge | $ 38,800.70 |
| Airport | $ 10,122.18 |
| Co Building | $ – |
| 911 Wireless | $ – |
| Noxious Weed | $ 11,520.16 |
| EMS | $ 8,522.48 |
| Fire | $ 1,745.55 |
| Community Health | $ 14,389.45 |
| Community Health Grants | $ – |
| Airport Grants | $ – |
| Employee P/R Misc W/H | $ – |
| Sheriff | $ 37,182.66 |
| TOTAL: | $ 229,461.00 |
The commissioners reviewed the Neighborhood Revitalization Plan B and made a few changes for the next meeting in preparation to send to the Kansas Attorney General for approval. The commissioners agreed to leave the application fee at $100.00 and increase the project cost from $10,000.00 to $50,000.00 from the prior neighborhood revitalization plan and stated they do not see why this should not be eligible for all of Stevens County.
Rodney Kelling checked in and told the commissioners he was hoping to get an EMT class started in the fall that will last six (6) months. There are grants available with the stipulation of completing and passing the class then signing a contract to work for the Stevens County EMS for a minimum of one (1) year. There was discussion over EMT staff pay for their on-call hours and runs.
Angela Eichman was present.
Joe made a motion to appoint Angela Eichman as the Stevens County Appraiser for the July 2025 through June 2029 term. Shannon seconded. Motion carried.
Angela handed the commissioners the McCulley and Associates contract to review and sign if approved. The commissioners reviewed, approved and signed the contract.
Angela talked about the Seaboard exemption, explaining she is trying to conduct an informal hearing to come up with an agreement on the exemption. Angela is waiting for Seaboard’s attorney to schedule a walk-through of the plant with all three (3) commissioners. If there is no informal hearing by May 15th, there will be no change, and the county will have to wait for an appeal from Seaboard.
Angela said Seward County looked at Stevens County windfarm regulations and is interested in the same agreement but unsure as to why only twenty (20) windmills are projected to be put up in Seward County.
Jayme Rich came in and presented the commissioners with two (2) sealed bids received for the scanning of files:
Vital ECM $ 89,230.00
Business Tech $172,796.00
Joe made a motion to accept the Vital ECM bid in the amount of $89,230.00 with the understanding it will not exceed that amount for 1,500,000 pages of scans. Shannon seconded. Motion carried.
Joe amended the motion on the scans bid to add that the timeline for completion will not exceed twelve (12) months. Shannon seconded. Motion added.
Tony Martin informed the commissioners the work on the landfill pit is beginning. Stoppel will have ninety-one (91) working days, the inspection for Kirkham Michael is $35,000.00 for fifteen (15) consecutive days, and Tony Melini is trying to get the inspection to not exceed $20,000.00.
Last year, there was an agreement with KDHE on the asphalt plant retaining wall where Stevens County would have it repaired and completed by April 1, 2025. Tony said he put in a call to KDHE and requested an extension as the wall repair is not completed. Joe asked how much the county makes on asphalt sales and who purchases it. Tony stated Morton County usually purchases $40,000.00, the City of Hugoton purchases around $5,000.00, and the City of Moscow purchases about $1,000.00. The asphalt is sold by the ton and is $82.00 per ton. There will be three to five (3-5) miles of asphalt laid in Stevens County this year according to Tony. Several counties have asked for the wind and solar regulations which Stevens County has implemented.
Angela came back in and explained to the commissioners that Seaboard is attempting to get the taxes abated on most of the property as they are claiming it is personal property and not real estate. Angela explained personal property is defined as property that is movable and operational once moved. The question is, if the property is moved and is no longer able to operate, is it still considered real property. She feels Seaboard is waiting on the Conestoga case to be resolved before they continue with their litigation.
The commissioners discussed the wellness center department and agreed to have the administrator attend the next meeting. There are some issues and updates they would like to go over.
Amy discussed with the commissioners the importance of having a pay plan in place to maintain consistency and fairness to employees and accountability of taxpayer dollars. She stated other counties comparable in size to Stevens County have shared their pay plans and she can draw up a table for the commissioners to view with ideas for starting wages, longevity increases, and salary caps in each department.
Attest: Amy Jo Tharp, County Clerk
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Tron Stegman, Chairman