COMMISSIONERS’ PROCEEDINGS
MARCH 13, 2023
Agenda: 8:30 – Bills
9:00 – Cammie Heaton – Grant information
9:30 – Tony Martin
10:30 – Airport Board w/ Caleb Coltrane (Garver Co)
The Board of Stevens County Commissioners met in regular session. Paul Kitzke, County Attorney and Amy Tharp, County Clerk were also present. Pat called the meeting to order. Tron moved to approve the minutes of the last meeting. Joe seconded. Motion carried. Tron moved to approve the county vouchers. Joe 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 | $ 67,504.90 |
| Judicial District | $ 314.47 |
| Road & Bridge | $ 63,356.17 |
| Airport | $ 3,477.58 |
| County Building | $ 109.80 |
| Noxious Weed | $ 1,539.05 |
| EMS | $ 9,483.84 |
| Fire | $ 3,125.32 |
| Community Health | $ 17,984.24 |
| Diversion | $ 1,219.78 |
| Sheriff | $ 77,068.67 |
| Fire Bequest | |
| Emp Misc W/H | $ 35.16 |
| TOTAL: | $ 245,218.98 |
Ross Sullivan came in and said he repaired the back door to the Community Health Department, and it is working fine. He also told the commissioners the county clerk’s office will need to be closed this coming Friday at noon through Monday at noon so the new carpet can be installed. He said the treasurer’s office will be closed all-day Friday, March 24th and all-day Monday, March 27th for new carpet.
Rodney said he is looking at getting the Hugoton jaws of life tool repaired and if it cannot be repaired, he will need to purchase a new one which is around $30,000.00. The wreck that happened Thursday needed the jaws of life and they did not work correctly so they grabbed Moscow’s jaws of life tool. Unfortunately, the jaws of life were not able to do much at the accident scene due to the state of the vehicle. Joe stated Road 18 is a very busy road and people seem to run the yield and stop signs on that road, causing many wrecks.
Cammie Heaton came in and presented the commissioners with a grant application to sign. She said there are some grant funds left from several different grants received, and Cammie is working with Insight Global on the grant spending for what is available and where the grant funds can be allocated. Cammie also told the commissioners she is looking at getting a new keypad for the back door, stating the door does work but not all the time. She is waiting on several quotes for the vaccine monitoring system to see if there are any out there that do not have monthly fees.
Amy told the commissioners the budget workshop is planned for July 11th at 8:30 AM. She also informed the commissioners there is a KNRC zoom meeting and she will forward the email.
Tony came in and said he sent two (2) employees to take the Noxious Weed test and they are just waiting on the results. Tony said he had a phone conversation with the landfill consulting engineer at Benesch to begin starting on cell 11 which is east of the chemical shed. The crawler is almost complete and will hopefully be back at the landfill next week. Tony told the commissioners he has a new hire for road and bridge beginning today.
Pat said he would like to have “Stevens County” on all the county vehicles so if there is any issue, the public would be aware who the vehicle belongs to. Tony said it will cost around $1,200.00 for the twelve (12) vehicles he has. The commissioners discussed having the vehicles identified as Stevens County and tabled any decision for now.
Discussion was had about Road 18 and the recent accidents. Tony said it does not matter what sign is posted, people run them anyway. He said there is too much traffic on that road between hay haulers and bull haulers.
Joe called Cammie to ask about the BT Coordinator Stevens County pays for. Cammie said the BT Coordinator does work plans, preparedness activities, quarterly meetings, compliance and gives information to the counties from KDHE. She said he oversees all health care coalitions across the state and brings back useful information to the health departments. Cammie also informed the commissioners the monies paid to the BT Coordinator is reimbursed by Grant, Morton and Seward Counties so no costs actually come from Stevens County. The current BT Coordinator plans to retire in June of 2024 and the health department is trying to locate a replacement coordinator.
Shelby Martin came in and told the commissioners she is working on retail sales tax through the Kansas State website and needs an account to get in to report the sales tax for the wellness center. She said she has until April 18th to get the sales tax reported, as she is to report quarterly since her sales tax does not amount to more than $500.00. Amy told Shelby that Jayme Rich should be able to get her assigned to the county’s Kansas site to enter her sales tax. Joe asked Amy if she could just give Shelby her password so Shelby can get the tax sales submitted. Shelby said she needs to apply for grants, work on getting specs for the roof and several other items that need tending to and has been busy. She stated she feels she is being reprimanded every time she comes into the commissioner meeting over things which are out of her control. The commissioners agreed that having to discuss reporting $500.00 worth of sales tax is not enough to keep getting complaints over when they have bigger issues at hand. They commended Shelby on her work.
Tron left the meeting due to an emergency call.
Caleb Coltrane with Garver Consulting came in with Matt Rome and Robert Davis from the airport board. Matt stated the airport board recently voted to hire Garver Consulting and no longer use Kirkham Michael. They said the previous consultants did not explain FAA or airport grants thoroughly enough.
Caleb said the consulting group is based out of Wichita and they deal with many FAA fundings including grants, timelines, bids, etc. Caleb said there are grants given to airports every year and they have a timeline and purpose for the use and the airport is close to losing some of the funding due to not having the funds allocated. Caleb told the commissioners the FAA representative for Stevens County is Todd Raster and Caleb has been in touch with him to make sure the airport is still in compliance. Caleb and Matt explained to the commissioners they plan on using the grant funding for new LED lights along the sides of the runways, runway end identifier lights and precision approach identifier signal lights. Matt said the crosswind runway will not need lights as it is used only during the daytime hours. The airport will make plans this summer, bid in the following spring, and begin construction by summer of 2024. Caleb stated it is imperative to use the grant funding the FAA gives, or the airport will no longer be able to receive grants and it is difficult to get back into the FAA grant program. The FAA grants pay ninety percent (90%) of the cost and the county is responsible for the remaining ten percent (10%). Joe asked about future projects and Matt said the airport puts future plans on a list with the amounts and the FAA determines what is approved. KDOT Aviation gave Stevens County some funding, which was used to replace the AWOS system and for fueling upgrades.
Pat asked Matt and Robert about the $75,000.00 at the bank in the airport account and Matt said it is money brought in over the years by fuel sales and has not been transferred to the county account yet. Matt said the bank statements are given to the county clerk and they do not take any funds out of that account and will seek approval from the commissioners before they do. Amy told Matt they need the bond insurance from the individual the airport is using to clean the office, for audit purposes, as they are not a county employee. Matt said the individual is working on getting their bond license.
Amy read Susan Schulte’s encumbrance letter to the commissioners stating Susan would like to encumber $1,000.00 to put into postage for passport purposes. The commissioners approved.
Tony Martin came in and introduced Haden Daharsh as the newest employee at the Road and Bridge Department.
Ted Heaton and TJ Steers were in attendance. Ted told the commissioners he has a boiler going out and leaking from the bottom and is getting bids from Tatro Plumbing and Goodes. He said it is not cheap and he is looking to get the camera system at the sheriff’s department upgraded which includes new wiring and fifty-eight (58) cameras. He has one (1) quote so far and it is roughly $120,000.00.
Abatement orders in 2022 for taxes numbered 206 through 208 were reviewed and approved by commissioners and given to the County Treasurer; total valuation removed 13,355 with a relief assessment of $1,974.70.
By motion, the Board adjourned.
Attest: Amy Jo Tharp, County Clerk
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Pat Hall, Chairman