COMMISSIONERS PROCEEDINGS
DECEMBER 03, 2018
The Board of County Commissioners met in regular session with Joe D. Thompson, Pat Hall and Tron Stegman. 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. The minutes from the previous meeting were approved. Pat moved to approve the county vouchers. Tron 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 | $ 126,279.76 |
| Road & Bridge | $ 57,384.13 |
| Noxious Weed | $ 3,688.74 |
| EMS | $ 4,476.24 |
| Fire | $ 2,784.65 |
| Community Health | $ 13,895.27 |
| Sheriff | $ 36,615.73 |
| Airport | $ 1,615.39 |
| Emp P/R Misc W/H | $ 40.72 |
| County Building | $ 424.40 |
| $ 247,205.03 |
Rex Evans came in to inform the commissioners mold has been found behind a court room wall panel. He pulled off the panel and found it had been an old issue but the mold had ran through the panel causing it to look bad. He didn’t notice any new issues or continuing problem to cause mold to reoccur. Rex told the commissioners that he has Richard Rome doing an estimate on the repair to get rid of the mold spot.
Rodney Kelling came in and reminded the commissioners of the LEPC meeting on Wednesday. He told them he had taken the firetruck to Liberal for repairs which will roughly cost around $5,300.00, for labor and parts. He did not leave the truck in Liberal because the parts will take a while to come in.
Rodney said he would like the commissioners to consider lease to purchase options for some fire and EMS vehicles. He said he would like to look at getting two (2) fire trucks and an ambulance. Pat inquired about the interest and Joe asked if there was a need for three (3) ambulance vehicles. Rodney said he would check into the interest rate but he believes it would be low. He stated three (3) ambulances are needed because the one in Moscow is twenty-six (26) years old and they do need one for runs in that area and Hugoton needs two (2). He said one (1) ambulance in Hugoton is for transfers and the other is for regular runs. Rodney said the lease to purchase deal could be beneficial for the county in the long run. He will check into it more thoroughly and get some definite answers.
Tom Fuhrman, Terry Lawhon and Cynthia Wellbrock from Landmark Appraisal came in to visit with the commissioners more on their status with their decision to help Stevens County acquire an appraiser for when Landmark retires out. Joe asked if Haskell, Grant and Stanton have already agreed to their plan. Tom said no inter-local agreement has been drawn up yet and nothing is in writing but those counties are entertaining the idea, and they are wanting to get together and discuss details that need to be done in the inter-local agreement. The commissioners expressed their concern about the idea of paying the education for a perspective employee and them leaving the area after they get certified. The county would be back to square one. Discussion had been brought up that there could be a contract that commits the perspective employee to a term of five (5) years and if they do not stay they would have to reimburse the counties for breaching the contract. Terry and Tom did say most of the courses will be in Topeka but some are in Hays, Dodge City and Garden City.
Pat discussed the idea of having an employee that already works for one of the counties to go through the courses and become the appraiser. Tom said that would be up to an employee if they felt like they would like that type of opportunity or not. Tom said one (1) county would run the costs of payroll and all for the appraisers hired and the other counties would reimburse.
Joe asked Paul if it would be possible to get someone to sign a four (4) year agreement and add penalties to those who choose to breach the contract. Paul said the contract could go both ways. If the county is not happy with the person hired, the county would be out money for schooling and if the person left before four (4) years would it cost more to go after the person and take them to court for breach of contract or just cut losses.
Tom said that Haskell County has managed to collect funds on broken contracts and feels like they could help in this situation.
Pat said with each county having different parcels the pay would have to be figured. Tom agreed and said the cost would be broken down due to parcels and a person does not have to be certified for oil and gas but does for real estate and the County Appraiser does have to be certified as well. All those factors would be discussed on payments and how each county would be billed.
Terry said that as people get trained to take over certain phases, Landmark would drop those fees that would pertain to the same area. Joe said basically Landmark is starting from scratch to get people to apply for the position and see what happens. Tom said a person would have to have 6,000 hours of on the job training which estimates about three (3) years to be completely certified.
Tron inquired as to who all would be appraisers if Tom and Terry retired. Tom said that Cindy and the two (2) new employees would be the appraisers and run from a county instead of a company like Landmark. Terry said that Landmark will possibly phase out within the next three (3) to five (5) years and Cindy will still be working.
Terry said he appreciates all that Stevens County has done for Landmark and using their services for the past thirty (30) plus years.
Joe said the commissioners are trying to use due diligence to the county and make a good decision because of the changes. Tom said Landmark is trying to help the counties prepare for when Landmark retires so the counties that have been with them will have appraisers.
Terry said the real estate contract runs from June 1 thru May 31 and the oil and gas contract runs from January 1 thru December 31. The 2019 appraisal billing from January to June is the heaviest and goes down from there.
Joe told them they will have an answer as timely as possible and hopes to make a decision today.
Tony Martin with Road and Bridge was present said the State has a Road Safety Plan and while it does cost, it would save the county money in the long run. He said this plan helps get grants and state aid for roads. There is no guarantee. Pat noticed an engineer cost and Tony said it is the only cost the county can’t get back.
Joe asked Tony if he spoke with the State about the intersection of Highway 56 and Road 20 having the speeds adjusted. He said the intersection going east into Moscow on Highway 56 is very dangerous and feels the speed needs to be slowed down. Tony said the north and south bound traffic is at thirty (30) miles per hour at this time and has yet to speak with the State on the matter.
Tony told the commissioners he did receive a grant of $20,000.00 from KWORCC to help keep costs down on expenses with safety. He also informed them the rumble strips out by the radio tower on the Hooker/Moscow road have been installed.
Sheriff Ted Heaton and Undersheriff TJ Steers reported nothing new is going on at this time.
William McCully with McCully and Associates came in to visit with the commissioners because Angela Eichman was unable to attend. He said he has been working with counties in Kansas since 1984. He started with three (3) counties, Seward being one of them, and now they handle sixteen (16) counties in Kansas. Some of those counties are Seward, Meade, Finney, Hodgeman, Cherokee, Edwards, Elk and several others. He said they have two (2) RMA’s in their Kansas office.
William assured the commissioners the County Appraiser is the appraiser and runs the office and field staff. McCully and Associates work for the County Appraiser, Angela, and is there when she needs their help if there is a pressing issue with appraisals. Pat informed William that Stevens County does not have anyone to do field work. William said that would be something to inform Angela of, and see if she would be able to add Stevens County and do the field work.
William said that seventeen percent (17%) of properties in the county get thoroughly appraised every year for file review and a quick review every year for all properties within the county. He also told the commissioners if the county needs someone to do field work, his company will provide training and supervision.
Joe inquired how the other counties work and how McCully factors into things. William said the appraiser runs the day to day and manages the staff. McCully helps with final reviews and keeps the appraiser in compliance with state laws. They also make sure the appraiser gives accurate values and everything is correct. If the values are inconsistent then McCully and Associates help in that area to make sure the appraiser can meet deadlines and stay in compliance. McCully and Associates will also step in and help if the appraiser has any problem or issues and needs assistance.
Pat asked William if they contract different time frames for oil and gas and real estate. William said no, all contracts are from July 1 thru June 31. William said he will get with Angela and get a cost estimate to the commissioners on the next meeting of December 17.
Pat asked if William had any idea why Synata has not had to pay any property tax, William said it could be something to do with a type of exemption but would check into that.
The commissioners then discussed the county land that is owned by Stevens County Board of Commissioners and have decided to bid out the land on a five (5) year cash rent. There are three (3) parcels the county is looking at:
- Parcel 1: 3 farming acres
- Parcel 2: 3 farming acres
- Parcel 3: 01 pasture land
The commissioners decided the bidding would be done either February 4th or 18th, 2019, at a commissioner meeting. Tron will call the current lessees of the parcels and inform them. A formal certified letter will be sent out shortly to inform them in writing.
Paul Kitzke excused himself from the rest of the commissioner meeting due to court.
Amy Rich and Amy Jo came in to get further clarification on the comp time as discussed in the employee policy manual. The policy was revised back in May to allow department heads to use comp time if unusual circumstances require them to come in to work or if they are traveling for anything work related outside of Stevens County if it is not within their normal operating hours. The commissioners confirmed that comp time can be accrued outside of normal work hours if it is at least an hour or more before and after normal work times.
Paula Rowden told the commissioners the Community Health Department has gained $42,000.00 more in revenue compared to 2017. She said from January 1 through the end of November there are 1900 clients that use their services.
Paula said she had written for a new government grant for opioid addiction and asked for $75,000.00 and received $69.000.00, which she feels is a great help. She said that a survey was done at the Hugoton schools to see how many kids take medication on prescribed for them and the survey concluded stating roughly 151% of children answered yes.
She said there is a new drug and alcohol counselor that has moved into the area and some of the grant funds could help that person do some more research in the drug and alcohol addiction and abuse field of work.
Paula said that Knipp is supposed to be working on the system at the Community Health Department building because two (2) of the units are not functioning at this time. She said the systems computers are antiquated and will cost to replace the panel but not sure of the amount.
Pat made a motion to go into a five (5) minute executive session to discuss a non-elected personnel’s wages. Joe seconded. An executive session for five (5) minutes to discuss a non-elected personnel’s wages began at 11:23 AM with all three commissioners and ended at 11:27 AM. No action taken.
Tron made a motion that every full-time employee will receive a $1,200.00 pay raise for the year and every part-time employee will receive a three percent (3%) raise. The county commissioner excused themselves from a raise. Pat seconded. Motion carried.
Abatement Orders for taxes year 2016 number 159, year 2017 number 105 and 2018 number 5 thru 39 were reviewed and approved by commissioners and given to the County Treasurer; total value removed is 77,155 and relief assessment is $15,998.05.
By motion, the Board adjourned.
Attest: Amy Jo Tharp, County Clerk
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Joe Thompson, Chairman