July 20, 2020 Monday 1:30 pm
The Bourbon County Commission met in open session with all three Commissioners, the County Counselor and the County Clerk present.
Also present were the following… Jason Silvers with the Fort Scott Tribune, Angel Wilson and Lora Holdridge.
Lynne made a motion to go into a 10 minute executive session for personnel matters of individual non-elected personnel, Jeff seconded and all approved, (the session included the Commissioners and Appraiser Clint Anderson). After the session, Jeff made a motion to approve hiring a field appraiser due to future vacancy that will occur over the next few weeks, Nick seconded and all approved.
Jeff Fischer questioned a service charge that the Consolidated Rural Water District is charging; the Commissioners told him they had a board that should be contacted regarding their charges.
Lynne discussed a resolution for possible approval requiring that any grant applied for or accepted must be approved by the Commissioners; he thought it would be a good resolution for the County. Lynne made a motion to approve Resolution 24-20, there was not a second for his motion. Jeff asked if they were trying to solve a problem with the current granting process, Lynne said yes, Justin said it was a procedural issue which caused problems that the resolution could resolve for future grants. Jeff said that the wellness grants didn’t have the Commissioners approval for the application and said that last year they considered (but didn’t follow through with) a cost share grant from the Department of Transportation for an iron bridge in Garland. Jeff questioned if the resolution would be another barrier for obtaining grants. Justin said it would be putting a layer of protection in the grant process. Jeff questioned if the resolution would be reacting to a situation and said he didn’t think that was the right thing to do. Jeff made a motion to go into a 5 minute executive session for consultation with an attorney for the body or agency which would be deemed privileged in the attorney-client relationship, Nick seconded and all approved, (the session included the Commissioners and Justin Meeks). After the session Lynne made a motion to table the resolution until a later date and Nick seconded.
Jeff made a motion to go into a 3 minute executive session for personnel matters of individual non-elected personnel, Nick seconded and all approved, (the session included the Commissioners, Bobby Reed and Kendell Mason). Lynne made a motion to go into a 3 minute executive session for personnel matters of individual non-elected personnel, Jeff seconded and all approved, (the session included the Commissioners, Bobby Reed and Kendell Mason). After the session Jeff made a motion authorizing an employee in the Correctional Center to use donated vacation time in the community pool for sick leave (an employee can donate vacation time to an employee to use for sick leave), Nick seconded and all approved.
Jeff said the deadline is in August for submitting an application for KDOT funding for off system bridges, he asked it was the intent of the Commissioners to explore funding for the Jefferson bridge, Lynne said they still need to determine if they want to repair or replace the bridge. Jeff questioned if he should get the authority to write a proposal to fix the bridge, Lynne said they could direct public works to get a proposal. Jeff questioned if the bridge north of Fort Scott could have an at-grade crossing installed to eliminate the need for a bridge. Jeff made a motion to direct public works to complete an application for the two fracture critical bridges (Jefferson bridge and the bridge north of Fort Scott on old 69 Highway), Nick seconded and all approved.
Lynne said they should be more involved in the application process so they weren’t blindsided.
The Commissioners reviewed the 1st draft of the 2021 budget. Jeff said the draft didn’t include a budget for the medical mall or the PILOT money. The current mill levy for Bourbon County is 66.613, the estimated mill levy on the 1st draft of the budget is 67.131. Lynne said in 2019 Road & Bridge had spent more than they thought they had due to deposits not being correct. Lora Holdridge questioned if the draft of the budget included raises for non-elected employees, Lynne said Terry was instructed to enter the amount the department head requested, Jeff questioned if it was possible to encourage all of the departments to save money for a carryover to help fund a raise.
The Commissioners will have a budget work session on July 28th at 9:00 am. Lynne said the Commissioners will work with the department heads regarding the budgets.
Jeff made a motion to adjourn at 3:12, Nick seconded and all approved.
THE BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
OF BOURBON COUNTY, KANSAS
(ss) Lynne Oharah, Chairman
(ss) Jeff Fischer, Commissioner
(ss) Nick Ruhl, Commissioner
ATTEST:
Kendell Mason, Bourbon County Clerk
July 24, 2020, Approved Date