Commission Meeting Minutes 4/16/2018

COMMISSIONERS PROCEEDINGS
APRIL 16, 2018

The Board of County Commissioners met in regular session with all members present.  Also present were Paul Kitzke, County Attorney and Amy Jo Tharp, County Clerk.  Joe called the meeting to order.  Tron moved to approve the minutes of the last meeting.  Joe seconded.  Motion carried.  Pat moved to approve the county vouchers.  Tron 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  $           47,897.97
Road & Bridge  $           15,931.94
Airport  $             4,590.89
Noxious Weed  $           28,940.01
EMS  $             1,074.36
Fire  $             4,433.37
Alcoholic Treatment Fund  $                237.50
Community Health  $             7,781.57
Sheriff  $             9,120.70
County Clerk Tech Fund  $             1,177.10
Employee P/R Misc W/H  $                  38.40
 $         121,223.81

Robert Lucero came in to give the commissioners an update and to inform the commissioners he will be buffing the Sheriff’s office and walkway floors every quarter.  The commissioners agreed to allow the flags to be taken down on extremely windy days to keep the flags from getting damaged.  Robert told the commissioners he needs to purchase a new weed eater for the grounds as the one that the county has is no longer working.  It will not cost more than $200 for the equipment.  Robert told the commissioners that there are eight (8) “Exit” signs that need batteries and he will call Alert Alarm to see if they can get those batteries to repair the signs.  Joe told Robert he needs to go talk to Eunice at the Library and find out what grounds keeping she needs to have done and if she has a schedule for mowing and trimming.

Rodney Kelling came in to see if the commissioners have decided to ban fireworks for this year even though the weather station is calling for rain this weekend.  With the wind it just keeps drying back out and July is still several months away.  Joe said he was comfortable banning the fireworks if there is a possibility of a ban if the weather changes.  Pat suggested tabling the discussion until the first meeting of May to see if the weather will change, hopefully allowing fireworks so the vendors will know if they should purchase or not.  Rodney said he could wait until May 7th, with the thought that it could be possible to ban the fireworks outside of the city limits if they have to be banned or if it looks like it needs to be a county-wide ban.  The discussion is tabled until the next meeting on May 7th.

Ron Martin came in to discuss Lake Russell (the ponds) to see if there would be a way the County Road and Bridge department as well as the City could work together to dig out some of the pond and go to the east to allow water to come into the ponds.  Hopefully it will stop flooding when Hugoton gets rain.  He stated that the ponds are so low of water now that it would be a good time to start making a plan to make it a nice place for the community.  Joe said it would have to probably be done in the winter because the Road and Bridge department is starting to chip seal and probably won’t have the time to work on the ponds.  Tony Martin spoke up and mentioned that he would have to check to see if any permits will be needed to do that kind of work.  The commissioners agreed that it is a good idea and hopefully if time allows something can be done to help alleviate flooding.

Tony Martin came in and gave the commissioners a copy of the 2016 Summary of Engineer’s Annual Reports from the Kansas Department of Transportation.  This report compares Stevens County Road and Bridge Department with other Kansas County road departments.

Tony informed the commissioners that the check that was received from a Caterpillar lawsuit due to a faulty engine has been stopped.  Caterpillar said it was the wrong amount and should have been less.  Caterpillar will be sending a new check with the revised amount.

Tony said he has managed to drop his budget by a little over three percent (3.4%).  He will start using some of the funds that have been saved in the special highway fund account if needed in 2019.  Tony told the commissioners that the cost of gravel went up due to the Cullison contract but other costs have gone down to make the budget work.

Joe asked Tony about the possibility of taking up some asphalt roads that are not being used or beneficial in order to help cut costs in the future.  Tony said taking paved roads out will make some citizens unhappy and could be costly.  He said renting a recycler is a thirty (30) day minimum rental starting at about $20,000, plus figuring in the cost of the teeth and the fuel; and that’s if the weather is cooperative.  Tony further explained that it roughly costs $20,000 to seal a road which will last approximately eight (8) to nine (9) years or overlay which is $80,000 and lasts roughly five (5) to six (6) years.

Hugoton Senior Citizens Board will be choosing members for the board and the commissioners have given them permission to choose their board as they see fit.

Pat made a motion to give the City of Hugoton the drainage easement as described.  Tron seconded, motion carried.  Amy Jo was given instruction to have the easement recorded with the Register of Deeds office.

Susan Schulte came in to make sure all the commissioners were aware of the cost for the push bars on the Memorial Hall kitchen doors.  She also wanted to define her position concerning the building maintenance going forward.  Commissioners confirmed that she would not be doing building maintenance as they plan on the new maintenance employee handling all building maintenance and reporting directly to commissioners.

Joe discussed the restructuring of regulations that planning and zoning has reported and inquired about.  Pat said at this time he didn’t see any issue as to why there would need to be restructuring.  Joe said it would keep people from stacking hay bales.  He agreed that it didn’t need to be so comprehensive.  The commissioners have decided to table the discussion until Vernon could come in to visit with them about this topic.

By motion the Board adjourned.

 

Attest: Amy Jo Tharp, County Clerk                                ________________________________

Joe D Thompson, Chairman