COMMISSIONER’S PROCEEDINGS
MARCH 28, 2022
Agenda: 8:30 – Bills
8:45 – Cimarron Basin – Tiffany Bowen & Kayla Janko
9:00 – Tony Martin
9:15 – Christian Bros. Construction – Zac Carlton
The Board of Stevens County Commissioners met in regular session with all members present. Paul Kitzke, County Attorney; Amy Jo Tharp, County Clerk and RoGlenda Coulter with the Hugoton Hermes were also present. Tron called the meeting to order. Joe moved to approve the minutes of the last meeting. Tron seconded. Motion carried. Pat moved to approve the county vouchers. Joe 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 | $ 42,467.73 |
| Road & Bridge | $ 35,876.73 |
| Airport | $ 2,403.26 |
| Noxious Weed | $ 6,205.51 |
| EMS | $ 5,318.09 |
| Fire | $ 4,490.23 |
| Building Fund | $ 9,838.58 |
| Community Health | $ 13,267.06 |
| Judicial District | $ 2,368.72 |
| EMS Bequest | $ 315.00 |
| Fire Bequest | $ 298.63 |
| Employee Benefit | $ 1,222.00 |
| Sheriff | $ 32,553.69 |
| Emp P/R Misc W/H | $ 133.77 |
| ARPA – COVID | $ 1,077.70 |
| TOTAL: | $ 157,836.70 |
Rodney Kelling came in and Joe asked him if Theresa with Lewis, Hooper and Dick have contacted him about his encumbrance letter. Amy and Rodney both told Joe they have not heard from her for that matter as of yet.
Rodney said the tower lights need replaced and he has been trying to find more bids but there is not very many companies that do those lights in Kansas. He said if the county replaces the light on top with a white light then the tower will not have to be painted. The white light would be on during the day and a red light at night. Rodney said he would like to also invest in LED lights as the warranty covers more years. Joe said there are several contractors from Topeka in the area and maybe getting a bid from them will be cheaper since they are already here. Discussion ensued on the bids and lights for the towers.
Joe made a motion to bypass the bid process and accept Randy’s Tower Service bid for $13,998.00 to install LED lights. Pat seconded. Motion carried.
Kayla Janko and Tiffany Bowen with Cimarron Basin were in and discussed their 2023 budget with the commissioners. Kayla said the State is changing some things and they might be receiving more funds so they will give an update in May if anything has changed.
Tron told the commissioners the property Jim Kriasinger bid on and won has an old fence and wanted to know who was responsible for the removal. The commissioners stated whoever wins the bid and takes over the property has control of the current fence whether they need to remove it or repair it. The contract states the Leasee can install a new fence and remove when they see fit.
Tony Martin informed the commissioners that Gary Baughman has been mowing along the lines of the property he is leasing for the county. The commissioners stated he is looking at putting a sprinkler system on that portion of the property.
Pat said he had questions about the FFA land and who is responsible for the land and buildings. Tony said the Fair Board owns the property and buildings. He said the Fair Board and several community members discussed the land and what needs to be done and the Fair Board agreed as long as no money comes from the Fair Board for payment on any of it. Joe asked if the Fair Board will shut it down if the Fair Board ends up with the bills. Tony said they will lock up the property and possibly sold if it needs to be.
Tony said he received a contract from Benesch regarding the mono train wells for $3,100.00 per year to analyze water.
Tony informed the commissioners that Invenergy has filed a Conditional Use Permit for MET towers and a public hearing is currently scheduled for April 19, 2022.
Tony said he is waiting on someone to come out and repair the oil heater in hopes of getting it running by next week to get overlaying done by May 1. He is trying for May 1st as his plant operator is retiring by then. He hopes to get three (3) miles of overlay and twenty-two (22) miles of chip seal done this summer.
Tony requested a ten (10) minute executive session over non-elected personnel to discuss employees with the commissioners.
Pat made a motion for a ten (10) minute executive session over non-elected personnel. Joe seconded. The executive meeting began at 9:20 AM and convened at 9:27 AM. No action taken.
The commissioners reviewed the bills to be paid. Joe and Pat asked questions about the Community Health Departments HVAC bill being over $6,000.00 and asked Amy if she sent out the Purchase Policy to all department heads. Amy said she did send out the Purchase Policy to all departments to inform them of the rules of payments for the departments. Tron said he spoke with Paula and said it would OK to take the payment for the HVAC system out of the Building fund. He stated he didn’t know the cost was going to be so much or he would have had Paula come in and visit with the commissioners.
Lisa LeNeve, Eileen Gregg, Jim Ghumm and Ross Sullivan were in attendance.
Zac Carlton with Christian Bros Construction was present at the commissioners request. Tron said they requested him to attend to find out what is going on with the properties and stated only a portion has been deeded over but not all the Christian Bros came in and claimed. Paul suggested Zac speak with Jeremiah Johnson about getting the rest of the properties deeded into their name. Zac said he has truss’s coming in and are going to start working on some more houses. He said there are currently two (2) set up and is hoping to get a study done to see the amounts houses are going for as well as the sizes.
Zac said he is hoping Lisa LeNeve will be a good representative for the sale of the houses they are building. However, he stated the prices on building materials seem to change on a daily basis and it is hard to get locked in on the supplies. He said they are making some affordable and economical along with some in the more expensive price range. They are trying to determine what types of homes the community wants.
Pat asked if Zac thought all twenty-four (24) lots will have homes and if enough people are showing interest in those homes or if they had thought about letting some of the lots go. Zac said they are working on some other ideas such as assisted living. Pat said there are some community members that have called and are interested in some of the lots to build their own homes if the deal still stands to allow some of the community residents to purchase the lots from the Christian Bros Construction company. Tron said since the commissioners had already made a deal with the Christian Bros they have to uphold their end unless the Christian Bros have changed their mind about all of the lots.
Jim Ghumm asked if all the lots have been deeded into the Christian Bros company and if so, if the building project stalls out would they entertain allocating a few of the lots at a time. He expressed interest in purchasing three (3) lots and starting work on building a house.
Zac said it all depends on finding stabilization with building materials.
Tron suggested setting a deadline for the lots to be deeded and what ever lots aren’t deeded to let them go back to the county.
Paul Kitzke said the commissioners have to honor their agreement but also remembers Zac stating if a person from the community expresses interest in a lot that has not been under construction the Christian Bros would discuss letting such member purchasing the property. Zac said he will discuss the idea with his partners and see what can be done. Paul suggested to Zac to discuss with Jeremiah about the deeds.
The commissioners gave the Christian Bros until Friday, April 1, 2022 to make a decision on how many lots they will use and get permits and public notices started. Paul said there will need to be a proposed resolution in place by Friday.
Paul presented the commissioners with Resolution 22-05 which would replace Resolution 21-09 about opioid claims
Pat made a motion to approve Resolution 22-05, A resolution of the County of Stevens, in the state of Kansas, approving the execution and delivery of an agreement to release and assign the County’s opioid claims to the Kansas Attorney General and certifying costs attributable to substance abuse and addiction mitigation in excess of $500. This resolution specifically replaces resolution 2021-09 as previously adopted by the Board of Commissioners. Joe seconded. Motion carried.
Amy asked the commissioners and Paul if any of them knew if any townships have been dissolved. To their knowledge, no townships have been dissolved. Amy said the process as she understands it will be a resolution and public hearing to dissolve the townships. She said this will need to be done for election purposes to help save the county funds as no one has ran for township offices since 1994 other than Moscow. By dissolving the townships it would eliminate some of the multiple ballots that go out since the only difference is Commissioner Districts, Schools, City and Moscow Township.
Paul said Mr. Verner is needing to find out some information from the Treasurer as far as people not paying Gas-Royalty taxes and producers violating laws since not subtracting the taxes from the royalty checks to reimburse Stevens County. He is concerned as there seems to be no penalization for such actions. The commissioners stated they can only do what the statute says which is up to the County Treasurer and possibly the State Board of Appeals on what needs to be done. Pat asked if the money was worth chasing.
Sheriff Ted Heaton and undersheriff TJ Steers were present. Nothing new to comment on.
By motion, the Board adjourned.
Attest: Amy Jo Tharp, County Clerk
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Tron Stegman, Chairman