COMMISSIONERS’ PROCEEDINGS
FEBRUARY 24, 2025
Agenda: 8:30 – Shelby Martin – Wellness Center
8:45 – Bills
9:00 – Jayme Rich – Treasurer
9:15 –
9:30 – Tony Martin
10:00 – Cammie Heaton – Community Health
10:15 – Jan Leonard (via phone) – Eco Devo
10:30 – Fabrice Stock – Flora Foods
The Board of Stevens County Commissioners met in a regular session with all members present. County Attorney Paul Kitzke and County Clerk Amy Jo Tharp were 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 less the one for floral arrangements. 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 | $ 56,250.85 |
| Insurance Agency | $ 333,236.00 |
| Judicial District | $ 756.10 |
| Road & Bridge | $ 83,207.31 |
| Airport | $ 4,354.62 |
| Co Building | $ 460.75 |
| 911 Wireless | $ 116.69 |
| Noxious Weed | $ 5,037.54 |
| EMS | $ 7,165.15 |
| Fire | $ 2,881.38 |
| Community Health | $ 15,442.93 |
| Airport Grants | $ 19,420.56 |
| Clerk Tech Fund | $ 4,470.32 |
| Sheriff | $ 34,911.72 |
| TOTAL: | $ 567,711.92 |
The commissioners asked Amy about some floral arrangement costs on the bills. Amy explained the arrangements were made for the courthouse and the cost came to more than was expected. The commissioners told Amy to have Rex contact the seller and see if the costs can be worked out or if the seller wants to pick up the arrangements.
Rodney Kelling was in and informed the commissioners the decontamination trailer is valued at $8,000.00 by KCAMP. Paul said the question is whether the county should trade the trailer with Seaboard Energy for a $7,000.00 trailer or put it up for bid. He asked how the commissioners wanted to handle the situation, reminding them the county needs to stay transparent. A decision was made to list the trailer in the paper for sealed bid with a reserve of either $7,000.00 or $8,000.00.
Tony Martin was in attendance.
Shelby Martin with the wellness center was asked to come in and she reported she is all caught up now on deposits and other areas where she has been behind. Tron asked her to state when her sales tax, payroll time sheets, deposits and bills are due. She responded that sales tax is due every month, signed time sheets every payroll week no later than Tuesday morning, bills signed and turned in by Thursday before commissioner meetings and deposits are due once a month. She stated she would like another idea for TimeIPS (county clock-in-out system) as it slows down the computer when clocking in and out. Tony Martin suggested getting a small laptop for TimeIPS like road and bridge uses for its employees. Joe asked Shelby if there is anything the commissioners can do to help streamline these administrative functions and if she was able to scan and email. Shelby replied she can scan and email with the new desktop installed and asked if the City of Hugoton utility and Pioneer Communications bills can be sent directly to her. Amy told Shelby it is not a problem and to contact the city and Pioneer about having the bills sent directly to the wellness center. Amy mentioned that Jayme had relayed there are some funds short from past wellness center deposits. Shelby said she would speak with Jayme about it.
Paul was asked about the neighborhood revitalization plan (NRP). He said he reached out to Gilmore Bell, left a message and was waiting for a follow-up.
Thea Schnittker was in attendance.
Jayme Rich came in and handed Paul the new list of properties not sold at the tax sale. Jayme told the commissioners the treasurer’s office is running out of storage to put the permanent records. She asked if they would like to view the basement at the sheriff’s office and the vaults in the courthouse to see what she is up against. The problem with holding records that are permanent is they must be housed in a vault/safe room from extreme weather/disaster and be temperature controlled. She would like to get these records digitized and then destroy the hard copies to free up space. She has spoken to several scanning companies to get quotes which varied in price and scale. The quotes ranged from $44,000.00 to $133,000.00. She asked the commissioners for permission for Pro-Scan to come out and do specs on what needs scanned to get comparative bids. The cost of getting specs is $200.00. Joe asked about the wing at the community health department, which is not being used, and Jayme will check if it meets protection requirements. Thea stated it is not required to be underground but in a secure place from weather, fire, water, etc. After discussion, the commissioners told Jayme to have Pro-Scan come out and give two (2) separate specs. They would like specs for just the old files in the sheriff’s vault and specs for all files, then they will proceed with sealed bids. Depending on the costs, they may allow an outside source to scan and handle the oldest documents (sheriff’s vault) and purchase scanning equipment to have the remainder of files scanned in the courthouse.
Tony Martin presented the commissioners with a contract to sign from Terracon on the monitoring well inspection. The costs range from $4,700.00 per event to $9,400.00 per year and are required by the state.
Joe made a motion to accept the service agreement – change order number one (1), between Stevens County and Terracon Consultants. Shannon seconded; motion carried.
Tony said the monitoring well will have to monitor for at least thirty (30) continuous years. There is a weed conference next week, Jeff Cox and Jessie Eckert will be attending. The road and bridge department will start blading roads today now that the weather is reasonable. The Dozer 850C has a radiator leak and Tony is only able to find used parts costing around $2,750.00. Tony gave the commissioners the agreement for engineering services between Stevens County and Kirkham, Michael & Associates, Inc. to review and sign pertaining to road use.
Joe made a motion to approve the agreement for engineering services between Stevens County and Kirkham, Michael & Associates, Inc. Shannon seconded. Motion carried.
The commissioners asked Tony about the mobile home issue. Tony said the owners came in some time ago and picked up a permit but has yet to begin building a home. The commissioners discussed what the next course of action is and tabled the discussion for another meeting.
Cammie Heaton was next on the agenda. She told the commissioners there had been no heat in the lab during the very cold days. Chris with Trane came in and looked at the heating and air and said the ceiling valve and actuator are not good and will need replaced, costing $2,985.00. Getting a wall unit for the lab room will run $2,655.00. She expressed her concerns with Trane and Amy will look at the contract between Trane and the health department to see if another company can come out and give a second opinion. Cammie asked if Rex is who she needs to call if she has other issues, and the commissioners agreed to have Rex investigate other issues at the health department. The laptops are old, and need replaced, which will cost around $2,142.33. Cammie plans to use WIC grants to make the purchase.
Cammie will be holding a hearing/vision screening at Rolla’s school and will receive money per student. USD210 has Cammie scheduled to do a wellness check for students in April. The 2026 grant applications are due March 19th, 2025, and Cammie plans to request some of those grants. Cammie informed the commissioners Lisa Steers is the current health officer and Lisa has concerns about liability and is unsure if she wants to continue being the health officer. The commissioners told Cammie to find out if Lisa wants to continue and if not have Cammie be the health officer. The health department still has $105,000.00 left of grant funding to pay for new hires, raises, and bonuses but she is going to find out if the money can be used for something else.
Joe called Jan Leonard for the phone conference. Jan told the commissioners the map next to Paul was constructed by Susan Schulte and the purple lots are the lots within the City of Hugoton which are vacant. Jan would like those lots to be listed in the NRP. Paul told Jan he reached out to Gilmore Bell and was waiting for Kevin Koehn to get back with him. Jan said the only thing left for the NRP to be put into place is the paperwork.
Fabrice Stock with Flora Foods came in to give the commissioners an update on the plant. He stated Flora Foods would not be in Stevens County if it were not for Jan’s hard work and noted he has accomplished everything needed for Flora Foods to be here. Flora will be building and adding on so more milk may be received and to manufacture plant-based creams (cream cheese, etc.). The plant started manufacturing butters last Monday. Flora Foods plans to have eight (8) lines, more silos, new filtration, processing equipment and another water well. The expected completion month and year is January of 2026. Paul suggested someone from Flora Foods present time frames and ideas to the commissioners on an “as needed basis” and stated the commissioners can hold a special meeting if the current dates and times of regular commissioner meetings do not work. Fabrice said within five (5) years, the plant will be at full power and production. Joe asked about housing and if there were any challenges. Fabrice replied, the housing for this area is costly as well as rentals for the state they are in. He said they are also having issues finding highly educated engineers in the area and it is probably due to the fact they are already employed. They have thirty (30) employees now and are looking for twenty (20) more.
Rodney came back in and received approval for the ad he will have published in the paper for the trailer bid. He confirmed the bidding will be held on Monday, March 10th at 10:00 AM. Rodney also stated Chandler completed the LED office lights installation.
Shannon made a motion to approve the potential trade of decontamination trailer due to no needed use. Joe seconded; motion carried.
Thea shared with the commissioners that Rex has repainted the letters of the wall memorial in the foyer of Memorial Hall and the old ticket booth needs to be cleaned out. She asked if the curtains in front of the ticket booth could be replaced with some nice blinds and the old coat racks removed to freshen up the area. The commissioners agreed to purchase blinds for the ticket window and have Rex remove the coat rack. Thea also suggested getting rid of the piano in Memorial Hall as it is out of tune and not used very much. Amy mentioned some people around the holidays use the piano but, not sure how often.
Amy presented the commissioners with the proof of loss statement for the lightning strike at the Pioneer Manor for signatures.
Amy asked Paul if it is a conflict of interest for a city mayor to be on the economic development board. Paul did not see where there would be a conflict of interest.
Joe made a motion to re-appoint Matt Rome to the economic development board. Shannon seconded. Motion carried.
Joe asked if there is a program where the commissioners can log in and view budgets. He said at a Kansas County Commissioner Conference he attended there were some commissioners who have read-only access and wanted to know if it can be done through Stevens County. Amy will ask about it.
Amy stated to the commissioners she would like to discuss how to gain a better understanding of why there are so many issues receiving things in a timely manner and to establish exactly where the issues lie regarding communication, etc. Amy reiterated this has been an ongoing issue and would like to find a remedy to help all parties involved.
Abatement Orders for tax years 1998 to 2023 were reviewed and approved by commissioners and given to the County Treasurer; total valuation removed 613,421 with a relief assessment of $89,889.67. Added Orders for tax year 2023 were reviewed and approved by commissioners and given to the County Treasurer; total valuation added was 473,362 with an assessment of $61,714.09. Total valuation removed 140,059 and total assessed removed $28,175.58.
Attest: Amy Jo Tharp, County Clerk
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Tron Stegman, Chairman