March 9, 2023, Thursday 9:00 am
The Bourbon County Commission met in open session with all three Commissioners and the Deputy County Clerk present.
Michael Hoyt, Tiana McElroy, CJ Robinson, Patty Ropp, Deb McCoy, Jason Silvers, Lora Holdridge, and Clint Walker were present for some or all of the meeting.
Jim Harris opened the meeting with the flag salute, followed by a prayer by Mark McCoy.
Clifton Beth made a motion to approve the minutes from last week’s meeting. Nelson Blythe seconded, and all approved.
Clifton made a motion to approve accounts payable totaling $160,243.72 and payroll totaling $208,645.33. Nelson seconded, and all approved.
Eric Bailey, Public Works Director, presented the monthly fuel report. Jim asked if the Sheriff’s department was still getting fuel from the county barn. Eric stated they quit around January 1st or the 4th, but that EMS is still getting fuel as well as all other departments. There was a delay getting the card system installed, but Eric made some phone calls last week and they are moving forward. The sidewalk and concrete have been completed, but there is some painting that still needs to be finished up. There are four or five more stalls than before, we had 15-16 open previously and now there are 20 parking spaces available. Eric spoke about citizens having problems with nails or metal pieces in the roads and he has done some research and visited with other counties. He said Crawford County uses magnets that are attached to the back of their graders. Eric said they ordered 6 magnets to be installed on the back of our graders and will see how that works out for the issue. He also stated that he knows there has been a lot of flat tires from picking up nails and other things in our dump trucks, so we will see about the outcome and if the magnets will work for us as well. The cost for all 6 magnets was $3,000. Jim said this was a great idea and thanked Eric. The soybean paperwork was finalized with ADM, and they will be transporting 100% of the bean dumpsters to our landfill to make compost along with their pod dumpsters, which will be coming to Bourbon County twice a week. Jim asked if Eric if they had found a good used compost machine and Eric replied they have possibly found a compost turning machine because you have to add different mixtures, then you have to turn it so often, and sometimes add moisture. They have found a used one that they are keeping an eye on, and they are going to look at it in about a week. Jim said the compost could be sold, given away, or use it as C and D cover. Eric responded with absolutely, as well as fill in some holes and other things as needed. Jim thanked Eric and said he appreciated all the work he has done. Eric said they have had a few road projects this week with one at 230th and Hackberry where there were multiple potholes that have been milled and leveled out. East of the intersection of 250th & Fern there was a really soft spot, the road is getting a lot of traffic from gravel trucks hauling to Missouri. The area has been torn up, filled in, compacted, and the road is up and going again. 40 MPH speed limit signs are installed on Eagle Road from 69 Highway to 250th street. Eric said he had a meeting with Troy Howard from KDOT yesterday and that the meeting went very well. They met for about an hour and a half and went over various topics such as asphalt, chip and seal, rights-of-way, and equipment. They also talked about grants coming up and Eric said Troy is going to have an individual get back in touch with us that is more familiar with grants. Jim asked if he was our area engineer, and Eric said yes, he is our area engineer, and he is out of Iola. Last week Eric received his yearly order of culverts, and now they will be working on getting crossroad tubes put in and replacing some entry tubes as well. A total of $53,000 was order and they also received some larger culverts; and that they have bigger projects they need to address. Eric said they have the demolition permit in hand for the house at 201 Crawford and have made contact with the utility companies and as soon as the utilities are removed, they will proceed with tearing the house down. Eric reminded everyone that March 20th at 9:00 a.m. there is a work session for hard surface roads. Nelson asked Jim what was the name of the gentleman that was at the commission meeting last week who spoke about Maple Road, and Jim replied with Mr. Arnold. Nelson asked Eric where we were on that situation. Eric stated he looked it up in the MUTCD, the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices, and that Jim was correct with his statement you shall have striping anything over 6,000 vehicles. Anything less is dependent on whether the Commissioners would like to make a policy or not. Eric looked at the average flow through KDOT, and the average daily traffic count was approximately 768. Nelson stated that Mr. Arnold said it was west of town, but where does he live exactly and what hill is he talking about? Nelson stated that 185th is the cell tower, and asked where would it be in relation to that. Eric stated it would be a mile back East. Nelson then stated what would it look like following rules to put some striping to make Mr. Arnold happy and make it a little safer. Eric said if you’re setting a policy, there you are going to have other requests, it’s completely up to you, the Commissioners, whether you want to start. Nelson said we could deal with the request as they come. Jim stated his thought is if we do one hill we should consider doing all hills, because there’s no difference. He said he sees the attorney standing there who will say well you striped that hill and my client got hurt on this hill why didn’t you stripe it, and we will have no excuse. Jim doesn’t have a problem if they want to go that direction, but he thinks that it is all or none. Nelson stated on Eric’s point, he thinks it’s the one that people complain about the most often would take priority. Jim said he would think it should, but it shouldn’t tell us what the law says as far as us setting policy. Nelson asked what’s all the hills on pavement? Eric said you’re talking about a lot, it’s going to be very expensive, because we do not have the material or the equipment to be able to paint that. So, we would have to either buy equipment, or contract out with someone. Jim said he certainly didn’t want to sound negative on safety, because he does support it 100%, but he thinks before anything gets passed, they need more information from Eric on what it might cost us to do all the hills. Then it is just a domino effect from other things, such as the white passing lines, or no passing zones. Jim would like all the information on how the project would be performed, he told Eric he knows it may take a month or two, but he wants all information before he can make a decision. Nelson said if he is really concerned about that hill then an easier and cheaper solution would for that section to be decreased from 45 to 30. Eric said we can decrease the speed limit all we want, but it doesn’t control people. Clifton said as far as he is concerned, it is all or none. Eric said he will work on getting pricing for the Commission.
Clifton made a motion to amend the agenda to add Teri Hulsey, EMS Director, to demonstrate the LUCAS 3 equipment. Nelson seconded, and all approved.
Clifton said he saw the LUCAS a few days ago, and asked Teri to come and explain and demonstrate this phenomenal piece of equipment that will save lives in Bourbon County. Teri Hulsey, along with Chris Rosenblad and Taylor Morrison spoke and gave a demonstration of the new device. The LUCAS device is an automated CPR device that delivers non-stop, completely perfect, CPR every time. Without this device it takes two people to perform CPR, one to do compressions and one for ventilation. A board is placed behind the patient’s back, the device is strapped over their chest, you attach their hands to the device, you press a few buttons, and the machine does perfect CPR every time. Chris said these are a huge benefit and you are very lucky if you work in a truck that has one because he has seen ER’s that don’t even have them. Teri said the great thing about the device is it is connected to the patient, so they can move the patient, carry them downstairs even all the while it is performing CPR. Without this device when you are trying to move someone, especially in older Victorian homes with the winding staircases where you are having to try to turn and maneuver a backboard down the stairs, you are not giving good quality CPR. Clifton said this is an unbelievable piece of equipment, and it is his goal to get at least two more to put one in each ambulance and one in the ambulance housed at the fire station and he has received commitment from Legacy Health to help purchase one device. Clifton said he is going to reach out to other entities, organizations, and foundations in our community to help purchase the devices, which are $18,500 each. Clifton said they also are needing to get new Hamilton ventilators in each of the ambulances which are $16,500 each. Teri said the first time they used the LUCAS device it saved the life of a Bourbon County resident. Clifton commended Teri, Chris, and Taylor; stating that Teri is now fully staffed and has a paramedic on each ambulance in her service. Clifton said the quality of service is unbelievable and Teri said they are probably the only ones in a 200-mile radius that is staffed that way. Teri said she spoke with Jon, who came from Mercy, and he said it has probably been six years since they were fully staffed. Jim said thank you to Teri and to Clifton for going out and trying to get funding for these devices. Teri handed out a form showing manual CPR vs CPR with the LUCAS device. Chris stated that they work in 2-to-3-minute shifts performing CPR and you can visibly see the difference on the monitors when a new person starts CPR as their compressions are stronger: but with the LUCAS device the compressions are always consistent. Clifton made a motion to allow Teri to go out to bid for a new ambulance. The Commission approved a re-mount two years ago, before Teri was EMS Director, but it didn’t get ordered. Nelson seconded the motion, and all approved. The Commissioners thanked Teri, Chris, and Taylor for coming and demonstrating the new device.
Clifton presented Resolution 09-23 which creates an ambulance equipment reserve fund to move additional funds from the end of the year to a separate fund that will be used to cover the cost of ambulance replacement. Clifton made a motion to approve Resolution 09-23, Nelson seconded, and all approved.
Clifton said people should realize how lucky we are to have what we have in regard to EMS. Jim said he was very impressed with what he just saw.
Clifton made a motion to adjourn the meeting at 9:34. Nelson seconded the motion, and all approved.
THE BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
OF BOURBON COUNTY, KANSAS
___________________, Chairman
___________________, Commissioner
___________________, Commissioner
ATTEST:
Jennifer Hawkins, Bourbon County Clerk
_______________, Approved Date