Kiowa County Commissioners Meeting

February 19, 2019

Bert Lowery, John Bertram, Ronald Freeman, Kristi Cooper, Chay Howard, Kerri Ulrich, Richard McVey, Tony Factor and Jay Schmidt attended the meeting.

Consent agenda included: Agenda, Payroll reports, AP reports and Commissioner minutes of 2/04.

After the prayer was given by Tony Factor, Bert opened the meeting. Ron moved to approve the consent agenda as presented and John seconded, motion carried 3-0.

Kerri Ulrich came to discuss purchasing 2 reclining medical chairs for footcare in the amount of $1447 each for their new location. Health fair PSA will be covered by No One Fights Alone and asks the Commissioners to pay for County employee only this year. Bert moved to pay for all County employees and Ron seconded, motion carried 3-0. Ron moved to purchase 2 chairs and John seconded, motion carried 3-0. Bert adjourned the meeting and called the BOH meeting to order. Kerri gave updates which include; service totals, training, KDHE audit, cross training on job duties, health fair preparations, and project for foster kids in Kiowa County. Regular session began at 9:27.

Jay Schmidt came to give updates for Public Works departments which included; payment from Blattner Energy on damages on the road in the amount of $6,206.55, mining safety class coming up with Heft & Sons, plows and spreaders on trucks for the upcoming weather and final Mac truck quote. After some discussion on purchasing the new truck quotes from Mac ($145,733), Kenworth ($144,450) and Peterbilt ($149,622), Bert moved to purchase the Mac truck in the amount of $145,733 and Ron seconded, motion carried 3-0. Kristi presented a payroll change for J Schmidt (6-month merit increase) for approval. Bert moved to approve the payroll change as presented and John seconded, motion carried 3-0.

Break was called for 10 minutes at 9:43.

Kristi Cooper presented corrected payroll changes for S McCann and J Wilkerson-Rodriquez. She explained there was an error on the hourly rates for them. Bert moved to approve the changes as presented and John seconded, motion carried 3-0. They discussed the rental fees at the Fair grounds and after some discussion it was by consensus to set the fees to $50 a day per building with a onetime deposit of $50 for all non-alcohol events and $300 deposit for events with alcohol. Also, the only events that would need the event liability insurance policy are ones with alcohol. Chay will draw up a new Resolution for the next meeting. Last she presented Resolution 2019-4 for consumption of liquor or cereal malt beverage at the fairgrounds for 11/4/19 to 11/10/19 and Ron moved to adopt Resolution 2019-4 and John seconded, 2-1(lowery opposed)

During Commissioner discussion they discussed the pay plan and possible changes to the evaluation form to simplify the form. Also, they discussed not using the evaluation form for the 3 supervisors (Matt, Jay and Kerri) due to them not observing them daily in their jobs and handle them the same as the elected officials (Clerk, Treasurer, Sheriff, Register of Deeds, Commissioners, and County Attorney). There was no action was taken at this time but, Kristi will talk with the department supervisors on the evaluation form and report back.

Meeting was adjourned at 12:14.

Kiowa County Commissioners Meeting

February 4, 2019

Bert Lowery, John Bertram, Ronald Freeman, Kristi Cooper, Chay Howard, DJ McMurry, Jeff Blackburn, Matt Christenson and Jay Schmidt attended the meeting.

Consent agenda included: Agenda, Payroll reports, AP reports and Commissioner minutes of 1/22.

After the prayer was given by Jeff Blackburn, Bert opened the meeting. Ron moved to approve the consent agenda as presented and Bert seconded, motion carried 3-0.

Bert Lowery, John Bertram, Ronald Freeman, Kristi Cooper, Chay Howard, Kerri Ulrich, DJ McMurry, Chris Tedder, Richard McVey, Stacey Barnes, Jeff Blackburn, Matt Christenson and Jay Schmidt attended the meeting.

Consent agenda included: Agenda and Commissioner minutes of 1/31.

After the prayer was given by Jeff Blackburn, Bert opened the meeting. Ron moved to approve the consent agenda as presented and Bert seconded, motion carried 3-0.

Jay Schmidt came to give updates for Public Works departments which included; payroll change J Williams (merit increase), cliché rock and Mac truck quotes. Ron moved to approve the payroll change as presented and Bert seconded, motion carried 3-0.

Stacey Barnes came to introduce herself as she took on a new position as the Administrator for the City of Greensburg and expressed looking forward to working with them in the future.

Chay Howard presented Resolution 2019-3 requiring event liability insurance for usage of County buildings for private events. After some discussion, John moved to adopt the resolution 2019-3 and Ron seconded, motion carried 3-0.

Chris Tedder came to present a payroll change for S McCann (merit increase) for approval. After review Ron moved to approve the payroll change as presented and Bert seconded, motion carried 3-0.

Break was called for 10 minutes at 9:48.

Matt Christenson came to present quotes on the renovations to the recently purchased building. They reviewed the options that were discussed at the beginning of the purchase of the building. He did advise them that they have funds in the oil and gas depletion fund that they could transfer to help with the costs like they did on the purchase of the building. Ron moved to move the Health department to the new location at 116 S Pine St in Greensburg and John seconded, motion carried 3-0. Next, they reviewed the quotes that Matt presented on the renovations from Brain Gumpenberger $62,750, AH Contracting $65,334, Sluss Construction $65,697.65 and Richard Hassiepen Construction $85,600. After review of the bids presented Bert moved to accept Brian Gumpenberger bid for $62,750 to be paid out of the building fund and funds will be transferred from the Oil and Gas depletion fund to cover the costs and Ron seconded, motion carried 3-0. Next, they continued the discussion of the fiber connection contract for the new Health Department building from Haviland Telephone Company in the amount of $14,500 and there would be a $100 per month service fee for the new line. John moved to approve the contract with Haviland Telephone Company and Bert seconded, motion carried 3-0.

During Commissioner discussion Kristi informed them of the appointment they made at the last meeting for the hospital board that the recipient declined due to taking a position at the hospital and gave them a few names who would like to serve on the board. After some discussion, Ron moved to appoint Mitzi Hesser to the board and Bert seconded, motion carried 3-0. Kristi will contact Mary Sweet on the appointment and send out a letter to Mitzi to inform her of the appointment. Chay Howard and Richard McVey came to discuss possibly using the part time position coming up for his office and the Community Service officer as one person for a full-time position and it was by consensus by the Commissioners to let them work the details out and they would report back later.

Meeting was adjourned at 10:56.

Kiowa County Commissioners Meeting

January 31, 2019

Bert Lowery, John Bertram, Ronald Freeman, Kristi Cooper, Chay Howard, DJ McMurry, Jeff Blackburn, Matt Christenson and Jay Schmidt attended the meeting.

Consent agenda included: Agenda, Payroll reports, AP reports and Commissioner minutes of 1/22.

After the prayer was given by Jeff Blackburn, Bert opened the meeting. Ron moved to approve the consent agenda as presented and Bert seconded, motion carried 3-0.

Jay Schmidt came to give updates for Public Works departments which included; County Tepe study completed, dump truck quotes and payroll change S Peters (reclassification of hours). After review of the payroll change Bert moved to approve the payroll change and John seconded, motion carried 3-0.

Matt Christenson came to discuss the fiber connection contract for the new Health Department building from Haviland Telephone Company in the amount of $14,500 and there would be a $100 per month service fee for the new line. After some discussion they tabled the quote till next meeting after bids are opened on the renovation costs of the building. Kristi presented a quote from D.A Tech, LLC to provide the web hosting for the county website and the services which would include; daily backups, premium support and full SSL support which is required by Google and other search engines. The quote would be for $200 annually/$20 monthly and $75 hourly rate. After some discussion Bert moved to have D.A Tech host the county website and John seconded, motion carried 3-0. 

Jay Schmidt came back with the lease for the bob cat with First National Bank for signatures.

Break was called for 10 minutes at 9:48.

DJ McMurry came to discuss hiring a part-time employee for the summer to help in the Appraiser’s office that would assist in making changes to all the records with soil types from the NRCS. It was by consensus to allow him to hire someone and he reported he would come back with a payroll change before summer.

Kristi Cooper presented payroll changes for C Howard, T Butler, J Wilkerson-Rodriguez for approval. After review of the payroll changes Bert moved to approve them as presented and Ron seconded, motion carried 3-0. Next, she presented a quote from Inclusion Solutions for 4 election booths and booth equipment in the amount of $4373.55. She explained she would like to buy 4 additional round booths to replace the single booths we currently use. This would be paid out of the Election Special Equipment fund. After review of the quote Ron moved to approve the quote and Bert seconded, motion carried 3-0. Lastly, she presented tax corrections for approval. After review of the corrections Ron moved to approve them and Bert seconded, motion carried 3-0.

Meeting was adjourned at 10:50.

Kiowa County Commissioners Meeting

January 22, 2019

Bert Lowery, John Bertram, Ronald Freeman, Kristi Cooper, Chay Howard, Jeff Blackburn, Jay Schmidt and Rhonda Fernandez attended the meeting.

Consent agenda included: Agenda and Commissioner minutes of 12/17.

After the prayer was given by Jeff Blackburn, Bert opened the meeting. Ron moved to approve the consent agenda as presented and John seconded, motion carried 3-0.

Jay Schmidt came to give updates for Public Works departments which included; road maintenance, landfill holiday schedule, end dump trailers and vehicle quotes. Ron moved to purchase 2 Ford trucks in the amount of $64,212 from Lanterman Motors in Pratt and Bert seconded, motion carried 3-0. 

Kristi Cooper presented tax corrections for approval. Ron moved to approve the corrections as presented, Bert seconded, motion carried 3-0. Kristi presented a contribution letter from Southwest Kansas Area Agency on Aging with request for 2019. Bert moved to give the same amount as last year in the amount of $700 and John seconded, motion carried 3-0. Safe Kids and After prom contribution letters were presented. After review John moved to give $100 to both and Bert seconded, motion carried 3-0. Last she presented payroll changes J Unruh (resignation), M Murski (resignation), S Butler (position change), A Taylor (merit increase), S Beltz (new hire), N Hacker (new hire), M Hesser (resignation). After review of the payroll changes, Bert moved to approve them as presented and John seconded, motion carried 3-0.

Break at 10:00 till 10:05

Rhonda Fernandez with PIC came to give mid-year report on claims and funding.

During Commissioner discussion they continued the discussion of Elected Official salaries. After some discussion Bert moved to give $3000 increase to the Sheriffs salary and $1000 increase to the Clerk, Treasurer and Register of Deeds salary and John seconded, motion carried 3-0. Chay Howard talked about having insurance for any private events at any of our facilities, he will work on that information and have it at the meeting on the 4^th.

Meeting was adjourned at 11:43.

Kiowa County Commissioners Meeting

January 16, 2019

Bert Lowery, John Bertram, Ronald Freeman, Kristi Cooper, Scott Brown, Matt Christenson, Jay Schmidt, Rick Sherer, DJ McMurry and John Unruh attended the meeting.

Consent agenda included: Agenda.

Bert opened the special meeting. Ron moved to approve the consent agenda as presented and John seconded, motion carried 3-0.

Spencer Jenkins with NextEra came per Ron’s request to talk about building potential windfarm for Kiowa County. He explained that they have just finished up in Pratt County and they are looking at new locations. He explained what they did in Pratt and would be in contact.

Meeting was adjourned at 1:00.

Kiowa County Commissioners Meeting

January 7, 2019

Ronald Freeman, Bert Lowery, John Unruh, Kristi Cooper, Chay Howard, John Bertram, Jeff Blackburn, Kerri Ulrich, Karen Butler, Matt Christenson, Jay Schmidt, Richard McVey, DJ McMurry, Ray Stegman and Chris Tedder attended the meeting.

Consent agenda included: Agenda and Commissioner minutes of 12/17.

After the prayer was given by Jeff Blackburn, Ron opened the meeting. Bert moved to approve the consent agenda as presented and John seconded, motion carried 3-0.

Jay Schmidt came to give updates for Public Works departments which included; crushed concrete placement, grading, facility operational plan, landfill, vehicle replacements and delivery of the new Bob Cat. He will get some quotes on vehicles and report back at the next meeting.

Ron adjourned the regular meeting and called the Board of Health (BOH) meeting to order. Kerri came to give updates which included; monthly service totals, SKCPH annual in-service dates, foot care, new employee and health fair. Ron adjourned the BOH meeting and called the regular meeting to order. Kerri presented a payroll change for N Zadina (new hire) for approval. Bert moved to approve the payroll change as presented and John seconded, motion carried 3-0. Kristi requested a 5-minute executive session for non-elected personnel to discuss employee relations with Kerri. Bert moved for an executive session for 5 minutes at 9:34 and John seconded, motion carried 3-0. Regular session began at 9:39 with no action taken. Kristi presented a payroll change for K Ulrich (6-month evaluation) for approval. Bert moved to approve the payroll change as presented and John seconded, motion carried 3-0. Kerri asked them for an appointment for a Commissioner position on the Kiowa County Executive Board. After some discussion, Ron moved to nominated John Bertram and Bert seconded, motion carried 3-0. Next, she presented the form for signatures for the appointment of the local Health officer.

Ray Stegman and Matt Christenson came to request to transfer funds to the special equipment fund for radio equipment and a new badge machine in the amount of $30,000. After some discussion Bert moved to approve the transfer and John seconded, motion carried 3-0.

Matt came to request to donate old computer equipment to local non-profit programs such as the Circles program, Art center and Media center. It was by consensus to allow Matt to donate them.

Regular session began after a short break.

Chris Tedder came to give updates for the SO. He presented a payroll change for J Scarbrough (merit increase) for approval. Bert moved to approve the payroll change as presented and John seconded, motion carried 3-0. Other items discussed was vehicles and building quotes. He asked to transfer $200,00 to the Special Equipment fund to go towards purchasing a steel building to house vehicles. After some discussion Bert moved to approve the transfer and Ron seconded motion carried 3-0.

Karen Butler came to request to transfer $10,000 to the Special Equipment fund for office equipment and to encumber $5000 to her capitol outlay fund for office supplies. Bert moved to approve the encumber and transfer and Ron seconded, motion carried 3-0.

Richard McVey came to give updates with the court systems.

Chay Howard reported that he has received the information from Great Plains regarding their open records requests and that he will review the documents and bring it to the next meeting.

Kristi Cooper presented resolution 2019-1 and 2019-2 for approval. After she read the resolutions Bert moved to approve them as presented and John seconded, motion carried 3-0. Kristi read aloud a letter for appointment for the Library board. John moved to appoint June Hickey per the letter and Bert seconded, motion carried 3-0. She presented Tax corrections for approval. Bert moved to approve them as presented and John seconded, motion carried 3-0. Next, she presented a resignation letter from G McFall for the Hospital Board and read aloud the names that were suggested. After some discussion Bert moved to nominate Felicia Minyard to the Hospital Board and Ron seconded, motion carried 2- 1(John opposed) Lastly, she requested to transfer $20,000 to the Special Equipment fund to be used for equipment. Ron moved to approve the transfer of $20,000 to the Special Equipment fund and Bert seconded, motion carried 3-0.

During Commissioner discussion they discussed Elected Official salaries and was decided to table the topic till the next meeting.

Meeting was adjourned at 12:01

Kiowa County Commissioners Meeting

December 17, 2018

Ronald Freeman, Bert Lowery, John Unruh, Kristi Cooper, Chay Howard, Jeff Blackburn, Kerri Ulrich, Karen Butler, Jay Koehn, Matt Christenson, Jay Schmidt, Rosa Spainhour, Tina Thronesbery, Roger Stotts, Bob Schmisseur, Debbie Price, and Chris Tedder attended the meeting.

Consent agenda included: Agenda and Commissioner minutes of 12/03.

After the prayer was given by Jeff Blackburn, Ron opened the meeting. Bert moved to approve the consent agenda and John seconded, motion carried 3-0.

Kerri Ulrich came forward for the Board of Health (BOH) meeting. Ron adjourned the meeting and called the BOH meeting to order. Kerri gave updates which included client and service totals, flu shots, shingle vaccine doses, RN interviews, appointment of 2 new members to the board of Health, appointment for herself as Health Officer and phone allowance. Ron adjourned the BOH and called regular meeting back to order. Bert moved to approve the nomination of Mitzi Hesser and Morgan Allison to the Board of Health and John seconded, motion carried 3-0. Bert moved to appoint Kerri as the new Health Officer and John seconded, motion carried 3-0. Bert moved to give a $50 allowance for cellphone use as the Health Officer and John seconded, motion carried 3-0.

Jay Schmidt came forward to give updates for the Public Works departments. He presented quotes for lease options on a new skid loader for 5 annually yearly payments with warranty options from John Deere $8241, Bob Cat $8000 and Caterpillar $10,175. After some more discussion on leasing John moved to give Jay authority to go ahead with a lease of a new one if they don’t offer a lease for our current one and Ron seconded, motion carried 3-0. Next, they discussed purchasing grader tires in bulk from Allied tire out of Wichita for 10 tires for $8860 Bert moved to purchase the tires through Allied and Ron seconded, motion carried 3-0. Other items discussed were shoulder work being done north of Mullinville, new signage application being drawn up from Kirkham and Michael, Landfill facility operational plan meeting with Wayne Scritchfield and finishing up mowing. Last he presented a payroll change for B Schmidt (merit payout) for approval. After review of the payroll change John moved to approve it and Bert seconded, motion carried 3-0.

Rosa Spainhour and Tina Thronesbery came to request the amount of $26,799 to be taken out of the Special Equipment fund for the second payment for the new Zoll X-Series Cardiac monitors/defibrillators and will make the last payment of $12,645.53 next year per previous discussions.

Break called for 5 minutes 9:52

Ron opened the public hearing of the Keller subdivision regarding vacating roads. Roger Stotts and Bob Schmisseur were present for the hearing. Bert suggested that Oak Street and Mockingbird remain open and close all the other roads in the subdivision Bert asked if Roger if he had any objection on, he suggestion and Roger had no objection. Bert moved to keep Mockingbird and Oak street open and close all the rest of the roads in the Keller’s subdivision and John seconded, motion carried 2-1. Chay will work on drawing up the Resolution to be filed in the Register of Deeds.

Jay Koehn came to show the new fire truck that was purchased and discussed selling a old truck and it was by consensus to give Jay permission to sell it. They took a short break to look at the truck with Jay.

Debbie Price came to discuss the community building and fairgrounds. Wanted clarification on the maintenance of the generator at the fairgrounds and voucher process.

Karen Butler came forward to inform them she will be buying a new book and jacket sleeves for some of her books which will be around $1500.

Kristi Cooper presented tax corrections for approval. After review of the corrections, John moved to approve them and Ron seconded, motion carried 3-0.

Matt Christenson came to present quotes for computer equipment for several departments within the County from SHI $24,737.95, NMGI $26,710, Connection $26,223.58 and SCW $25,883.79. He explained that he would take this out of County General and individual departments will be invoiced to pay back the fund. John moved to approve the quote from SHI in the amount of $24,737.95 and Ron seconded, motion carried 3-0.

Chris Tedder came to give updates for this office which included, looking into building a garage and installing video visitation program.

During Commissioner discussion Kristi presented Resolution 2018-11 for vacating all roads in the Keller subdivision except Mockingbird and Oak Street. After review of the resolution. John moved to adopt Resolution 2018-11 and Bert seconded, motion carried 3-0.

Meeting was adjourned at 11:53.