COMMISSIONERS’ PROCEEDINGS
JUNE 12, 2023
Agenda:
8:30 – Bills
8:45 – Cammie Heaton – Comm Health
9:30 – Tony Martin – Public Works
10:00 – Hugoton Senior Center
10:30 – Stevens County Hospital
The Board of Stevens County Commissioners, with the exception of Joe D. Thompson, met in a 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. Pat seconded. Motion carried. Tron moved to approve the county vouchers. Pat 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 | $ 106,667.83 |
| ARPA | $ – |
| Judicial District | $ 1,068.35 |
| Road & Bridge | $ 118,807.23 |
| Airport | $ 5,432.98 |
| County Building | $ 5,430.50 |
| Noxious Weed | $ 8,147.63 |
| EMS | $ 13,603.35 |
| Fire | $ 4,808.79 |
| Community Health | $ 26,276.50 |
| Special Law Enforcement | $ 3,870.00 |
| Reg of Deeds Tech Fund | $ 173.68 |
| EMS Equipment | $ 5,654.32 |
| Fire Equipment | $ 5,654.32 |
| Sheriff | $ 78,056.38 |
| 911 Wireless | $ 1,434.00 |
| TOTAL: | $ 385,085.86 |
Rodney Kelling came in and said he has an opportunity to get a grant and would like to pursue new SCBA gear. This grant is a 90/10 grant and new SCBA gear will cost roughly $250,000.00, which would leave county paying ten percent (10%) of that amount. Rodney said the last time any SCBA gear was purchased was six (6) years ago with refurbished gear which is beginning to have issues. Pat and Tron told Rodney to try to get the grant and get SCBA gear with it. Rodney said there are two (2) doors in the EMS/Fire building in Hugoton which need to be replaced. The commissioners told Rodney to go ahead and get several estimates and use the best one.
Cammie Heaton came in and stated she found a bill from Trane about a leak which was repaired and noticed the unit was leaking in the same place. She said Ross replaced most of the filters, but the coils need to be cleaned and it’s a two (2) person job due to having to remove fans. Cammie spoke with the auditors and said there is a 17.399% budget cushion for the Community Health Department. COVID is dwindling and COVID funding might roll through into 2024 and the state could take some of the funding back. Cammie is planning on some grant money in 2024 due to this. Cammie said she appreciates Ross working on the HVAC system and Pat stated it is Ross’s new job title of all Stevens County buildings with repairs and maintenance. Cammie told the commissioners that Brittney is at a vaccine conference this week and is really impressed with Brittney’s work.
Paul Nordyke with the City of Hugoton, Tony Martin and Thea Schnittker were in attendance.
Paul Nordyke and the commissioners discussed putting in a water dock and possibly using ARPA funds the county has left over. Paul Nordyke said the systems setup will be around $43,000.00 which includes the keypad to for use of a credit card or personal code for a city charge account, along with a building for the water pump. Pat said ARPA can help pay for the concrete pad and the asphalt the county will bring in to prepare the road leading up to the water dock. They discussed having the water dock on the east side of Washington Street on the south end near the landfill entrance.
Thea said the City of Moscow requested more funds for their water project, but the ARPA committee decided to keep both cities at the same amount or comparable. If ARPA gives $43,000.00 to the City of Hugoton for the water dock, then $43,000.00 would need to go to the City of Moscow to help with their water project to ease the burden on the citizens from paying more on their water cost. Going above $43,000.00 up to $100,000.00 for the water dock would overspend on ARPA with having to pay the City of Moscow a comparable amount and paying for the special audit due to the total amount of expenditures in 2023. Paul Nordyke said he would get a figure of the concrete cost and building (with freight) to Thea or Amy Jo and when Tony gets the footage of the asphalt, he can send the cost along too so it can be figured and see what the ARPA fund can assist with payment for the water dock project.
Amy Jo presented the drainage easements on the east side of town, the south side of 11th street near the Best Western Hotel, for Pat and herself to sign. Thea notarized the documents, and they were then given to Paul Nordyke for the City of Hugoton to sign and record. Pat said the black top by the Best Western needs to be extended at least to Mostrom’s house and possibly on over to Morris’s property.
Jayme Rich came in and stated she is working on opening a CD with Dream First Bank. She said she would like approval from the commissioners to move forward. Pat said to make sure the CDs are insured with FDIC and what the interest is. Jayme said the interest is a little higher than Citizens State Bank and will be 100% insured through FDIC. The commissioners approve opening a CD with Dream First Bank.
Karen Rich with the Hugoton Senior Center presented pictures to the commissioners of the sign on the building showing it needed replaced and the job was completed. The commissioners agreed the sign on the building needed to be repaired and looks much better. Karen told the commissioners they bid on a 2015 Ford shuttle bus and was able to get it for $11,100.00. Karen said it seats fourteen (14) people comfortably and there is a wheelchair lift which is great for those who want to go on day trips because it is accommodating and low enough to the ground to allow easier entrance onto the bus. She said the Senior Center is looking at trading in two (2) of their vans to purchase a $32,000.00 van to use for Meals on Wheels and transport seniors when needed around town and is accommodating also. The commissioners told Karen to bring in the amount for the trade-in’s before making a deal with Ghumm’s so the commissioners can determine if the vehicles should go out for bid or be used as a trade-in. Karen stated the senior center would probably need help funding the new vehicle from the county. The commissioners stated they would not worry about bidding out for the van as it must have certain specs to accommodate.
Dave Piper, Linda Stalcup, Seth Gillespie, Keith Rome, Shannon Crawford, Andy Moser, Johnny Denton and Benny Cabrerra, with the Hospital Board were in attendance. Dave presented the commissioners with the hospital’s budget request and letter on how the hospital works with funds. Dave said the hospital might have to begin to cut costs or services which would lose funds for the hospital. Dave said having the holistic pain med clinic has worked well and helps bring in revenue. Linda said one (1) of the biggest issues is some of the medication the hospital is required to keep in stock, such as anti-venom, is expensive and never used but has an expiration date which causes a loss for the hospital. Another loss for the hospital is when insurance companies pay by credit card instead of check, the hospital must pay for the credit card fee which can be expensive with the larger bills, along with renting of the vaccine dispensers which cost roughly $31,000.00 per year. Pat asked if purchasing a vaccine dispenser would be cheaper in the long run. Both Dave and Linda did not think it would but will check on the purchase prices.
Pat stated what is hurting the hospital is years ago there was an election question which put the hospital at six (6) mils when the value was in the 200 million range and the values are now in the mid 100 million range. Pat asked what the hospital needs from the county to keep it running and Dave said 1.7 million dollars will break even for the hospital. Pat said the county can possibly help for 2024 but believes the value will drop for 2025 due to oil and gas. The hospital board discussed possibly having a question on a ballot to raise the mil for the hospital to help with costs and give the hospital some more funding.
Johnny said the loss of a hospital is the death of a town and Linda agreed stating rural health is in trouble. Benny said he heard the commissioners were going to sell the Pioneer Manor and he feels it would be a bad decision as people would be getting laid off and the hospital board is trying to keep people from losing their jobs. Pat said the county is not going to sell the hospital or Pioneer Manor. Linda said the phone system is going out of date due to the changes with Pioneer Communications and the cost is around $26,000.00. Pat said those costs could possibly come out of the building fund. Dave said the hospital board will try to be more active with the commissioners and would like to appear every six (6) months to a commissioner meeting.
Amy discussed with the commissioners about ARPA funding and asked if there will be any administrative funding being paid this year. Pat and Tron agreed to pay some administrative funds for outside of the normal scope of job duties.
By motion, the Board adjourned.
Attest: Amy Jo Tharp, County Clerk
________________________________
Pat Hall, Chairman