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Kiowa County Commissioners Meeting

Courthouse Lower Level Conference Room

February 3, 2020

Bert Lowery, John Bertram, Ronald Freeman, Kristi Cooper, Chay Howard and Cody Sherer attended the meeting.

Consent agenda included: Agenda and Commissioner minutes of 01/31/20.
After the pledge of allegiance, Ron opened the meeting. Bert moved to approve the consent agenda as presented and John seconded, motion carried 3-0.

Cody Sherer came to discuss purchasing a new Ford F550 for the Haviland department. He received 3 quotes; Lanterman motors $47,259, Lewis Automotive $47,913 and Rusty Eck $44,968 for the cab and chassis. Next, he presented 2 quotes of the bed for the new truck; Emergency Fire equipment $45,355 and Blanchat mfg. $47,418. Cody explained he would like to purchase the bed and chassis from Lanterman due to that is where he will do repairs. After some discussion, Bert moved to purchase the truck from Lanterman Motors in the amount of $47,259 and to get the truck bed from Emergency Fire Equipment Inc. for $45,355 and Ron seconded, motion carried. Next, he asked to purchase 14 Kenwood TK-3170 UHF handheld radios from Bucklin Communications for $4970. Bert moved to approve the purchase of the radios and John seconded, motion carried 3-0. Last he reported that the Belvidere truck will be getting repairs to the platform on the bumper for around $2500.

During commissioner discussion they discussed the Belvidere school and Ron expressed concerns on moving employees to a new pay grade for pay increases. Also, Kristi reminded them that there is a special meeting Friday, February 7th at 1:00 for the Neighborhood Revitalization Program (NRP) public hearing.

Meeting adjourned at 11:14

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Kiowa County Commissioners Meeting

Courthouse Lower Level Conference Room

January 31, 2020

Bert Lowery, John Bertram, Ronald Freeman, Kristi Cooper, Chay Howard, Jay Schmidt, Chris Tedder, Hank Halley, Jeanine Thomas and Tony Factor attended the meeting.

Consent agenda included: Agenda, Payroll reports, AP reports and Commissioner minutes of 01/21/20.

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

Ron opened the public hearing at 9:00 for 30 minutes to discuss the selling of the Belvidere School. Jeanine Thomas and Hank Halley attended the public hearing. They both expressed their concerns to the Commissioners about the school. After a lengthy discussion of what they should do with the school, Ron tabled the public hearing till February 28th. Bert moved to set a new public hearing date for February 28th at 9:05 to determine what will happen with the school and John seconded, motion carried 3-0.

Jay Schmidt came to give updates for the public works departments which included; road maintenance updates, quote on diesel fuel and payroll change for J Williams (merit), R Lothman (new hire). After review of the payroll changes, Bert moved to approve the changes as presented and John seconded, motion carried 3-0.Break called 10 minutes 10:53

Chay Howard presented a proposed job reclassification for positions in his office. He explained the new job description and presented a payroll change for S McVey (wage increase) for approval. The new position will be combined as the office manager/Community Service Director and will be scheduled as a 9-hour position. After some discussion on the changes to the job descriptions and hours, John moved to approve the new job description as a 9-hour position and Ron seconded, motion carried 3-0. Next, he presented a payroll change for S McVey (wage increase) and John seconded, motion carried 3-0.

Chris Tedder came and presented a payroll change for S McCann (merit) for approval. Ron moved to approve the payroll change as presented and John seconded, carried 3-0. Next, he reported there would will be an additional charge of $500 on shipping for the equipment they discussed at the last meeting and he asked them to approve the extra expense since the funds are coming out of the Special Equipment fund. Bert moved to approve him to spend $500 out of the Special Equipment fund and John seconded, motion carried 3-0. He also reported he had to get a new voice recorder system and still looking at replacement options for his vehicle this year.

During commissioner discussion they discussed the Belvidere school and Ron asked about the operational hours for the health department. Kristi explained the reason for the hours for the health department, but they could visit with Kerri at the next meeting she attends.

Meeting adjourned at 11:48.

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Kiowa County Commissioners Meeting

Courthouse Lower Level Conference Room

January 21, 2020

Bert Lowery, John Bertram, Ronald Freeman, Kristi Cooper, Cassie Stokes, Jay Schmidt, Matt Christenson, Chris Tedder and Royce Frasier attended the meeting.

Consent agenda included: Agenda and Commissioner minutes of 01/06/20.
After the pledge of allegiance, Ron opened the meeting. Bert moved to approve the consent agenda as presented and John seconded, motion carried 3-0.

Ron adjourned the regular meeting and the called the Board of Health (BOH) meeting to order. Cassie Stokes came to give updates which included; December service totals, upcoming WIC & FP in service, grant work-end of quarter grant/fiscal reporting, daycare discussion with outside entities and health fair costs for employees. Ron adjourned the BOH meeting and called the regular meeting to order. Kristi presented a payroll change for N Zadina (merit). After review of the payroll change, Bert moved to approve payroll change as presented and Ron seconded, motion carried 3-0.

Jay Schmidt came to give updates for the public works departments which included; road maintenance updates, available positions at R&B and payroll change for R Young (6-month probation). After review of the payroll change Bert moved to approve the change and John seconded, motion carried 3-0.
Matt Christenson came to discuss moving forward with the phone service switch from AT&T to Haviland Broadband. They discussed purchasing or leasing phones. After some discussion on what would be the best way John moved to approve the lease option for $2425.75 monthly for phones and internet and Ron seconded, motion carried 3-0.

Royce Frasier came to discuss the nursing program for Barclay College and what measures they are taking to add this program to their curriculum. He asks them to consider a contribution of $40,000 per year for the next 3 years to help with operating expenses until they receive accreditation for the nursing program. They are hoping to get other donors to help with this program as well. Bert informed him that they would look at this during the budget workshop and go from there.

Chris Tedder came do discuss K9 cage and coolant system for #104 car which would cost approximately $4000. Bert moved to approve the purchase and John seconded, motion carried 3-0.

Chay Howard via phone called to discuss renewing the Neighborhood revitalization program.

Break called from 10:40 to 10:50.  Chay arrived at the meeting.

Kristi Cooper presented Policy 301 with the suggested revisions of setting a cap on how much time you can donate to other employees that have EIB, accruing leave will receiving donated hours and removing sections regarding buy back and payouts. Chay was present for the discussion. Chay explained the changes and why the needed to be corrected. After some discussion on the changes to the policy Ron moved to approve the changes to Policy 301 and John seconded, motion carried. Chay left the meeting. Next, she presented resolution 2020-3 for the KS Homeland Security Region E Hazard Mitigation Plan. After review, Ron moved to adopt the resolution as presented and John seconded, motion carried 3-0.

Also presented was resolution 2020-4 for the operations hours at Noxious Weed. Kristi explained that hours for operation was changed to budget concerns from 7:30 am to 4:30 back in 2018 and that they have been working 7:30 to 5:00 since Jay came back and that they just needed to make it official by adopting a new resolution with the operational hour’s changes. Ron moved to adopt resolutions 2020-4 and Bert seconded, motion carried 3-0. Last she presented tax corrections for approval. After review of the changes Ron moved to approve the tax corrections as presented and Bert seconded, motion carried 3-0.

During Commissioner discussion Ron brought up the topic of paying for county employees health fair test like they have done in the past and wondered if the County insurance covers any of the charges. Kristi informed him that they would have to ask Kerri because she doesn’t do any of the billing towards insurance.

Meeting adjourned at 11:45

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Kiowa County Commissioners Meeting

Courthouse Lower Level Conference Room

January 6, 2020

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

Consent agenda included: Agenda and Commissioner minutes of 12/30/19.
After the prayer 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 the public works departments which included; road maintenance, tree trimming and bridge cleanout on 19th Ave.

Kristi Cooper presented a tax correction for approval. After review of the correction Bert moved to approve and John seconded, motion carried 3-0. Resolution 2020-1 for Chairman and Vice-chairman, official County depositories, official County newspaper and County holidays and 2020-2 GAAP requirement were presented. Bert moved to approve the resolutions as presented and John seconded, motion carried 3-0. Next, she presented payroll changes for S Beltz and J Scarbrough for merit increases. After payroll changes were reviewed, Bert moved to approve the payroll changes as presented and Ron seconded, motion carried 3-0.

During Commissioner Discussion they discussed proceeding on with the sale of the Belvidere school house. Chay will put the notice in the paper for 2 weeks and they will have a public hearing on January 31st from 9:00 am to 9:15 am.

Meeting adjourned at 10:20

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Kiowa County Commissioners Meeting

Courthouse Lower Level Conference Room

December 30, 2019

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

Consent agenda included: Agenda, Payroll reports, AP reports and Commissioner minutes of 12/2.

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

DJ McMurry came to discuss year end balances in the GIS fund. He requests to transfer $90,000 to the special equipment fund for GIS for software and aerial photography. After some discussion Bert moved to approve the transfer and John seconded, motion carried 3-0.

Jay Schmidt came to give updates for the public works departments which included; payroll change M Harrell(separation), Mullinville blacktop project completed will get bids for a sand seal and chip seal for next year, bids for chip seal on Belvidere blacktop due to its been 5 years and blacktop overlay on City service road or Brenham/Fellsburg next year, bid for fuel from Alliance Ag. John moved to approve the payroll change for M Harrell (separation) and Bert seconded, motion carried 3-0

Chay Howard came to inform them of some information that he had received from an attorney representing Don Edmondson for negligence of road maintenance on 19th Ave between the section of R St. and S St. Chay presented pictures that he received and gave a summary of the letter. Jay Schmidt explained that the road is minimal maintenance and that the banks are high and that there is a bridge on that road and had asked the landowner if they could trench out a little on some property and the landowner was against them trenching on his land. Jay reported he would go out and clear under the bridge, but they can’t really do anything about the other issues due to road being in that condition for 20 plus years and would have to move fences, phone lines, etc. Chay will contact the attorney and let them know where the county would like to go.

They discussed the mowing bid for Belvidere area while they waited for the next agenda item. Kristi explained that whoever places a bid will have to have liability insurance in the amount of $1 million coverage to be eligible to bid on the properties. John was unaware of this and will inform the people who are interested in the area. Next, they discussed selling the old school house and it was by consensus to move forward with selling the property and Chay will work on this and report back.

Rosa Spainhour and Kaylan Jones came to discuss transferring year end balances to the Ambulance special equipment fund in the amount of $15,382.74. Ron moved to approve the transfer and John seconded, motion carried 3-0. Also informed them they received an award for the Safe Kids program.

Break called till 10:00.

Matt Christenson came to discuss Emergency Management transfer to Equipment fund in the amount of $20,000 for a purchase of a new response vehicle. Ron moved approve the transfer and Bert seconded, motion carried 3-0. He presented a payroll change for A Taylor(merit) next. Bert moved to approve the payroll change as presented and Ron seconded, motion carried 3-0.

Chris Tedder came to present payroll changes for P. Capansky and T. Finch (salary increase). After review Ron moved to approve them and Bert seconded, motion carried 3-0. Next, he requested to transfer $180,000 to go into his special equipment fund to go towards upgrading the shooting range at the old landfill. After some discussion Ron moved to approve the transfer and Bert seconded, motion carried 3-0.

Kristi Cooper came present a letter from Cody Sherer regarding year-end balance for the fire department fund. Bert moved to approve the transfer of $148,000 to the special equipment fund to go towards building a new truck and John seconded, motion carried 3-0. Next, she requested to discuss year-end transfers from Election and Fairground funds. She would like to request $20,000 for Election and $5000 for Fairgrounds to go into the special equipment fund. She explained she would use the funds for equipment. Ron moved to approve the transfers for Election and Fairgrounds and John seconded, motion carried 3-0. Tax corrections were presented for approval. Ron moved to approve the corrections as presented and Bert seconded, motion carried 3-0. Last she asked if they would allow the County offices to close at noon on December 31st for New Years Eve. Bert moved to approve to close at noon on December 31st and Ron seconded, motion carried 3-0.

Matt and Kristi came to discuss cost of living adjust (COLA) for all county employees. He explained that he looked at year end totals and the 2020 budgets would allow for the COLA increases to all employees. He also added that they hadn’t given a COLA increase for 2 years and that hourly employees had only received merit increases based off job performances. He suggests giving a 4.3% COLA increase to catch up for 2018 and 2019. Bert requested a 10-minute executive session at 10:58 to discuss employee relations and Ron seconded, motion carried 3-0. Regular session began with no action taken. They discussed the COLA a little more and Bert asked for another 5-minute executive session for non-elected personal to discuss employee relations at 11:03 and Ron seconded, motion carried 3-0. Regular session began at 11:08. Bert stated they would not be giving a COLA raise to any of the employees. He then stated that they would still give the supervisors their annual raises that they approved at the last meeting. Bert moved to keep the supervisors annual pay increases the same which were discussed at the last meeting and John seconded, motion carried 3-0.

Meeting adjourned at 11:50.

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Kiowa County Commissioners Meeting

Courthouse Lower Level Conference Room

December 16, 2019

Bert Lowery, John Bertram, Ronald Freeman, Kristi Cooper, Chay Howard, Kerri Ulrich, Jay Schmidt, Jay Koehn, Cody Sherer, DJ McMurry, Chris Tedder, Scott McMann and Richard McVey attended the meeting.
Consent agenda included: Agenda, Payroll reports, AP reports and Commissioner minutes of 12/2.

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

Bert adjourned the regular meeting and called the Board of health (BOH) meeting to order. Kerri came to give updates which included, October service totals, new employee hired, health fair and foot care dates for 2020, WIC and Family planning in-service for the coalition, grant work and countywide daycare continued discussion. Bert adjourned the BOH and called the regular meeting to order. Kerri presented a payroll change for P Fuller (new hire). After review of the payroll change Bert moved to approve the payroll change as presented and John seconded, motion carried 3-0.
Jay Schmidt came to give updates for the public works departments which included; shoulder work completed on the Mullinville blacktop, blading, one calls in for weight limit signs and looking to replace 2 employees hopefully with CDL.

DJ McMurry came to present 3 quotes on a new laptop. He explained that the current one is having issues and needs to replace it. After review of the quotes Bert moved to approve the Dell notepad in the amount of $1296.10 and John seconded, motion carried 3-0.

Break called from 9:22 till 9:30.

Jay Koehn and Cody Sherer came to give reports for the fire departments. Jay announced that he will resign at the end of 2019. He requested to appoint Cody Sherer to replace him. Bert moved to appoint Cody as the new fire chief for Kiowa county and John seconded, motion carried 3-0.
Chris Tedder came to request an executive session to discuss employee relations for non-elected personnel for 5 minutes. Bert moved to go into executive session at 10:00 with Chris and Scott, and John seconded, motion carried 3-0. Regular session began at 10:05 with action taken. He presented a payroll change for T Neill (merit) for approval. After review of the payroll change John moved to approve the payroll change and Bert seconded, motion carried 3-0.

Kristi Cooper presented tax corrections for approval. Bert move to approve the tax corrections as presented and John seconded, motion carried 3-0. Next, they discussed raises for the Elected Officials and the hourly supervisors. After some discussion, Bert moved to give 1.7% to Matt, Jay, Kerri and DJ, 3% to County Attorney, Register of Deeds, Treasurer and Clerk and 5% to County Sheriff and John seconded, motion carried 3-0.

There were no topics discussed during Commissioner Discussion.

Meeting adjourned at 11:20

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Kiowa County Commissioners Meeting

Courthouse Lower Level Conference Room

December 2, 2019

Bert Lowery, John Bertram, Ronald Freeman, Kristi Cooper, Chay Howard, Chris Tedder and Richard McVey attended the meeting.

Consent agenda included: Agenda and Commissioner minutes of 11/27.
After the pledge of allegiance Bert opened the meeting. John moved to approve the consent agenda as presented and Bert seconded, motion carried 3-0.

Kristi Cooper came to discuss the Christmas incentive they give the employees each year. She reported last year they gave $200 to full-time and $100 to part-time employees. After some discussion John moved and Bert seconded to incentives, motion carried 3-0. Kristi presented a payroll change for S Peters (separation). After review, Ron moved to approve the payroll change as presented and John seconded, motion carried 3-0. Next, she gave updates for Jay for the Public Works departments which included; Christmas lights in the city of Mullinville and blacktop updates for the Mullinville project.

Break called for 10 minutes.

Chris Tedder came to present payroll changes for R Tedder (part-time new hire) C McElroy (new hire). After review of the payroll changes John moved to approve them as presented and Bert seconded, motion carried 3-0.
During Commissioner Discussion they continued the discussion on the mowing at the Belvidere old school house and county shop. They will open this to bids for the next mowing year. John will let the interested parties know. Chay will work on getting an ad run in the paper when it gets closer to the season for mowing.

Meeting adjourned at 10:09

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Kiowa County Commissioners Meeting

Courthouse Lower Level Conference Room

November 27, 2019

Bert Lowery (absent), John Bertram, Ronald Freeman, Kristi Cooper, Chay Howard, Jay Schmidt, Scott McCann, Krista Amaro and DJ McMurry attended the meeting.

Consent agenda included: Agenda, Payroll and Accounts Payable reports and Commissioner minutes of 11/18.

After the pledge of allegiance John 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; payroll change for M Allsbury(merit), Mullinville blacktop project, grass fire at the county shop, incident with vehicle at the project in Mullinville. John moved to approve the payroll change as presented and Ron seconded, motion carried 3-0.

Scott McCann and Krista Amaro came to give updates for the Sheriff’s office which included; payroll changes for S Butler and K Charlton (merit), C Erickson (new hire), new vehicle updates and still looking to hire an additional part-time employee in detention. Ron moved to approve the payroll changes as presented for approval and John seconded, motion carried 3-0.

Kristi Cooper presented tax corrections for approval. Ron moved to approve the corrections as presented and John seconded, motion carried 3-0.
During Commissioner Discussion they discussed the mowing at the Belvidere old school house and county shop. John explained he had someone approach him about the mowing down there and that they would like to bid the mowing. Chay suggests John talking with the current person mowing it and they will go from there about opening it up for bids with the insurance specifications that are required now.

Meeting adjourned at 10:19

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Kiowa County Commissioners Meeting

Courthouse Lower Level Conference Room

November 18, 2019

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

Consent agenda included: Agenda, Payroll reports, Accounts Payable reports and Commissioner minutes of 11/04 & 11/11.

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 give updates for the Health department for the Board of Health (BOH) meeting. Bert adjourned the meeting and called the BOH meeting to order. Updates included; service totals for October, finished hearing/vision testing for schools, upcoming training for students with epi pens, Emergency Preparedness State-Wide drill coming up in April, Health Fair date March 28, 2020, an appreciation award received from the Kiowa County Extension office, advertising for health technician and countywide daycare discussion continued. Bert adjourned the BOH meeting and called the regular meeting to order.

Jay Schmidt, came to give updates for the Public Works departments which included; payroll change D Liggett (department change), selling old trucks, hauled asphalt for Heft and Sons will be adjusted on the invoice for their help of hauling material. Recycling bins being picked up at the end of the month. Ron moved to approve the payroll change that was presented and Bert seconded, motion carried 3-0.

Chay Howard and Brenda Osborne came to request an executive session to discuss matters affecting financial affairs of a private business. Bert moved to go into executive session at 9:45 for 5 minutes and John seconded, motion carried 3-0. Regular session began at 9:50. John moved to agree to pay half of the outstanding lien in the amount of $723.30 owed to Centera Bank against a vehicle whose title was impaired by the issuance of an incorrect title, in exchange for Centera Banks release of any claim of liability against the County and Bert seconded, motion carried 3-0.

Chris Tedder came to discuss hiring part time help for the jail, payroll changes for jailer’s wage increases, working holiday pay for next years approved holidays and purchasing 4 radios. Payroll changes for T Neill, M Tedder, B Parkin and J Scarbrough were presented for approval. After review, Bert moved to approve them as presented and John seconded, motion carried 3-0. Next, he wanted to discuss the July 3rd holiday for next year. He explained that since the actual holiday falls on a Saturday and that he has employees that are working on the 4th so he asked if they could receive the working holiday pay. Clerk explained that in the past the Commissioners has approved this addition to holidays for his employees. John moved to approve July 4th as a working holiday for the employees at the Sheriff office and Ron seconded, motion carried 3-0. Last he discussed purchasing 4 radios which would be around $6250 each. Ron moved to approve him to purchase 4 radios and Bert seconded, motion carried 3-0.

Break was called till 10:10.

Matt Christenson came to discuss phone systems for all the county facilities. He explained our contract with AT&T will be expiring soon and so he went ahead and got quotes from AT&T and Haviland Telephone. He went over the quotes with the different options. His recommendation would be to move to Haviland Telephone and to purchase the VOIP System and move to the analog lines, but he is waiting to hear back from them on a few details regarding secured faxes and if the new system would work with the logging recorder phone line at the Sheriff’s office. He will report back later. He did inform them that he wouldn’t start installing the new phone system till February, so they have plenty of time. Also, he mentioned the permanent records at the storage pods are on hold for moving over here until he can find someone to come inspect the records for any mold and that the costs would be low and will report back.

Kristi Cooper presented payroll changes for M Christenson, K Ulrich and J Schmidt (merit increases) for approval. After review, Bert moved to approve the payroll changes as presented and John seconded, motion carried 3-0. Tax Corrections were presented next for approval. After review, John moved to approve them as presented and Bert seconded, motion carried 3-0.

There were no topics for discussion during Commissioner Discussion.

Meeting adjourned at 11:15

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Kiowa County Election Canvassing Meeting

Courthouse Lower Level Conference Room

November 11, 2019

Bert Lowery, Ronald Freeman, John Bertram, Shelly Tuttle and Kristi Cooper attended the election canvas meeting.

Bert called the meeting to order for the canvas of the November General at 9:00 am with the County Clerk, Kristi Cooper presented the unofficial results in an abstract form. She explained that she had no advance ballots to present and 9 provisional ballots for the canvass. She explained that 4 of the 9 provisional ballots would count and gave the K.S.A for those provisional ballots. She opened the 4 provisionals and read the races aloud for each ballot. Next, she read aloud each race and gave the total votes per candidate. Once the election receipts were read, Kristi then read the totals for advance, early and write in votes per the tally sheet. After checking that all totals agreed with the canvassers, John moved to approve the abstract as presented and verified and Ron seconded, motion carried 3-0 to certify the results by the Kiowa County Board of Canvassers.

Meeting adjourned at 10:40

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