COMMISSIONERS’ PROCEEDINGS
APRIL 22, 2024
Agenda: 8:30 – Bills
9:00 – City on a Hill
9:30 – Tony Martin
10:00 – EMS door bids
10:15 – Denise Spence
10:30 – Cammie Heaton
The Board of Stevens County Commissioners met in a regular session. Amy Tharp, County Clerk, was also present. Tron called the meeting to order. Joe moved to approve the minutes from the previous special commissioner meeting. Pat seconded. Motion carried. Pat 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 | $ 80,118.04 |
| Judicial District | $ 411.23 |
| Road & Bridge | $ 37,395.50 |
| Airport | $ 12,200.12 |
| County Building | $ 5,400.00 |
| Airport Grants | $ 28,384.00 |
| Noxious Weed | $ 4,402.42 |
| EMS | $ 9,595.54 |
| Fire | $ 2,532.48 |
| Community Health | $ 11,399.56 |
| Community Health Grants | $ 422.00 |
| Sheriff | $ 38,313.76 |
| Insurance Agency Damages | $ 39,755.58 |
| Employee’s P/R Misc W/H | $ 50.00 |
| County Clerk Tech Fund | $ 3,307.50 |
| 911 Wireless | $ 116.59 |
| Reg of Deeds Tech Fund | $ 197.60 |
| TOTAL: | $ 274,001.92 |
Rodney Kelling came in and gave the commissioners the cost of a propane powered, 12kw, generator which is $8,900.00. Rodney said he is waiting for Fronk Oil to give him an estimate on a propane tank lease and purchase. If the generator runs on propane a 500-gallon tank it can last ten (10) days as opposed to one to two (1-2) days on diesel. The current generator is set to auto-start but if it fails, there is no way to manually start it due to the panel.
Joe made a motion to purchase the propane generator for $8,900.00. Pat seconded. Motion carried.
Ross Sullivan came in and stated he has not received any bids for the EMS doors yet, but they still have an hour to get them in. Ross told the commissioners the wellness center roof is fixed and passed the water test. Ross also said he is having Marquez Company put the downspouts in at the wellness center since they did a good job of redoing the roof and insulation. Ross and Shelby have completed the installation of the new ceiling tiles at the wellness center office and foyer.
Bob Brunson from Invenergy is in attendance.
Erica Ortega with City on a Hill came in and said they are requesting $1,500.00 from the county for 2025. Erica told the commissioners they do receive state funding, however, there has been an increase in clients and decrease in state funding. The commissioners said they will take their request into consideration during the 2025 budget process.
Tony Martin came in and reminded the commissioners of the planning and zoning public hearing being held on Wednesday, April 24th at 10:00 AM in the Memorial Hall. Tony also told the commissioners he is trying to get the road and bridge department started early on roads since the weather has been ideal. Road and bridge will begin their four (4) day work week on May 6th. Tony told the commissioners the engineer from KDHE (Joseph Packer) stated there have not been any complaints/remarks about the landfill since the beginning of March, Terracon said not to begin any work, bids, or anything related to a new pit as it could cause the KDHE approval to have to be started over. Tony plans on getting the costs of a ten, fifteen and twenty (10, 15 & 20) year pit.
Amy asked the commissioners if the memorial hall rental charges could be discounted for funeral meals and such. They said the memorial hall is for the public and taxpayer dollars cover the upkeep of the hall and feel making exceptions would cause issues. Amy told the commissioners she will be closing her office on April 30th, from 9:00 AM until 12:00 PM for the memorial services for Jilian Kelly.
Ross came in and handed the commissioners the bid(s) he received for the EMS doors:
- Finishing Touches $3,623.08
Joe made a motion to accept the Finishing Touches bid on the EMS doors for $3,623.08. Pat seconded. Motion carried.
Ross told the commissioners someone used an electric knife on the butcher block in the memorial hall kitchen over the weekend. The commissioners told Ross it is up to him if he wants to withhold the deposit from the prior renters. Ross said he will redo the butcher block and let the commissioners know if there was any major damage. He stated he would like the renters to read the signs stating to rinse off the dishes and pans they use in the memorial hall kitchen as well as making sure they are using items needed to help keep the facilities nice.
Denise Spence came in and stated she has tried to reach Jon Peterson for the new draft of their building plans and has not heard back so she went to G&G Cad works from Liberal. She said she will have plans no later than May 13th. Denise set a time of 10:00 to come into the commissioner meeting on May 28th.
Cammie Heaton came in and stated she had some issues with the guest Wi-Fi for the community health department which runs the temperature monitors for the vaccine refrigerators as well as the iPads. There was some issue trying to figure out if it was an internet issue or firewall issue. NexTech sent their IT tech out and he was there for a whole day working on the issue before it was fixed. He told Cammie they will need to look for new computer equipment. Cammie said the ECDC preschool enrollment health assessment had a good turnout for the two (2) hours her and Brittany were there. Cammie also stated she spoke with Gene’s Heartland Foods, and they are working on getting completely certified for WIC. She also stated she will not be pursuing the drug endangered child grant as there are too many issues with travel. Cammie said she does have a workforce development grant for $124,000.00 which has until 2027 to be spent and would like to hold a diabetes self-management class with the grant funds. She said to hold these classes on diabetes, she and possibly Brittany will be taking courses through KDHE to become trained lifestyle coaches.
Abatement Orders for 2023 taxes numbered 64 through 65 were reviewed and approved by commissioners and given to the County Treasurer; total valuation removed 407,857 with a relief assessment of $53,343.62.
By motion, the Board adjourned.
Attest: Amy Jo Tharp, County Clerk
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Tron Stegman, Chairman