May 19, 2020 Tuesday 9:00 am

The Bourbon County Commission met in open session on the front East steps of the Courthouse, the Commissioners, Kendell Mason and Justin Meeks were all present.

Tammy Helm with the Fort Scott Tribune, Nancy Van Etten, Jeremiah Hill, Mary Pemberton and Mark McCoy were all present for a portion of the meeting.

Jerad Heckman with Road & Bridge met with the Commissioners; he said they are ditching at 215th & Hackberry, crushing rock, pouring concrete at the Landfill at the crossing area, he said they have been mowing the grass near the blacktop areas and are almost done, they are fixing an entrance at a cemetery located at 65th & Yale, patching at 250th & Eagle (going South), side trimming and dragging roads around the County, patching on Yale and in Marco Estates. He said they had run out of rock, but now has a stockpile built up and are making more. They have chips produced and are ready to make asphalt.

Lynne reported a culvert plugged at 1651 165th and reported that an area near the top of a hill at 115th & Range needed gravel.

Jeff asked Jerad if they were working additional hours at the rock quarry to crush rock when the weather cooperated; Jerad said they were told not to have any overtime, so they hadn’t, but would if the Commissioners wanted them to; Lynne suggested waiting to decide this until we received the 2019 audit.

Jeff Fischer discussed a Fort Scott Lake advisory board meeting he had attended; a relief road was discussed (should the airport expand), a sewer board, a drainage issue near Hackberry on the East side of the Lake (Jerad Heckman said they would review this), at the meeting they also discussed reduced homeowners insurance rates for residents near the Lake if an additional fire station was built in the area (Lynne said fire district boundaries might have to be considered if a fire station was built there), they also discussed issues with the road near the park area. The board wants more transparency and wants a sewer district board re-established.

Justin Meeks asked the Commissioners for permission to allow him to write a draft document to allow a vacant lot at the Fort Scott Lake to be connected to the sewer district there; Justin said there is a $4,000 fee to connect. Jeff made a motion to allow Justin to write the memo of understanding and that Lynne be allowed to sign the memo of understanding allowing any connection of only lake property (that do not have a grinder pump) to the sewer district, Nick seconded and all approved.

Jim Harris requested that Justin write a waiver of liability to allow for the County to go on someone’s property on Range Road with a beaver issue; Nick made a motion that Justin write this and that Lynne has permission to sign the document, Jeff seconded and all approved.

Justin said he had met with Susan at the City of Fort Scott to discuss an interlocal agreement between the City and the County for paving, rock and the EMS services. He said they should have an Interlocal agreement soon.

Kendell Mason previously requested that Justin Meeks review a HAVA COVID-19 grant document; the grant could reimburse the County up to $13,746.36 for election related expenses due to COVID-19. Justin said he reviewed the document.

Justin briefly discussed the Mercy Hospital building; he said he had a meeting with Mercy about them turning the building over to the County, he said he thought CHC had gotten the initial approval to do the needed upgrades to the building. Justin said the hospital mall budget looked good, but said there is a subsidy there for financial help. He said the 2020 EMS revenues were down from what was budgeted.

Jess with KWORCC briefly met with the Commissioners, due to the COVID-19 situation, he brought hand sanitizer and masks. He said he would be offering a defensive driving class as well as fork lift training.

The Courthouse is currently closed due to COVID-19, the Commissioners briefly discussed the plans for when to possibly reopen; Lynne said they will follow the Governors guidelines for reopening, it is difficult to follow the social distancing guidelines for some of the offices, especially District Court.

The Commissioners agreed that if an employee was showing symptoms of COVID-19 they should contact the Public Health Department and follow their recommended guidelines regarding self quarantining or returning to work.

Bourbon County Appraiser Clint Anderson met with the Commissioners; he said Value Merchandiser had appealed their valuation and it had passed the first level of the appeal process, he asked permission to seek a reappraisal of their property (to have as a basis for the next level), all of the Commissioners recommending pursuing a reappraisal, (Clint estimated the reappraisal to cost $5,000).

Clint said he was working on the certification process to certify values to the County Clerk; once he certifies the values, the Clerk will complete an abstract to provide estimated valuations to the taxing entities.

Jeff questioned Clint if he did surveys on rent and expenses; Clint said he would be starting to do the surveys.

Emergency Manager William Wallis met with the Commissioners; Lynne made a motion to adopt Resolution 18-20, a COVID 19 public health emergency resolution, (declaring a local public health emergency in Bourbon County resulting in potential or occurring pandemic known as Covid 19) this declaration will last 60 days unless terminated earlier, Jeff seconded and all approved and signed the resolution.

Jeff made a motion to go into a 7 minute executive session for personnel matters of individual non-elected personnel, Nick seconded and all approved, (the session included the Commissioners, Justin Meeks and Treasurer Patty Love). After the session, the Commissioners said they gave Patty permission to rehire for a vacancy in her office with the understanding that there could be an across the board budget cut of 15%.

Nick made a motion to go into a 5 minute executive session for personnel matters of individual non-elected personnel, Lynne seconded and all approved, (the session included the Commissioners, Justin Meeks and Kendell Mason). No action was taken.

Nick made a motion to go into a 5 minute executive session for matters relating to the security of a public body or agency, public building or facility or the information system of a public body or agency, if the discussion of such matters at an open meeting would jeopardize the security of such public body, agency, building, facility or information system, Jeff seconded and all approved, (the session included the Commissioners and Justin Meeks). No action was taken.

Lynne made a motion that he be able to work with William Wallis regarding a COVID-19 grant, Nick seconded and all approved.

The May 26, 2020 Commission meeting will be held on the East porch from 9-12.

At 10:51, Nick made a motion to adjourn, Jeff 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
May 26, 2020, Approved Date

May 14, 2020 Thursday 3:00 pm (Special Meeting)

The Bourbon County Commission met in open session on the front east steps of the Courthouse. Present for the meeting were all three Commissioners, the County Clerk, Justin Meeks and Jody Hoener.

Tammy Helm with the Fort Scott Tribune was also present.

The Commissioners met to approve the CDBG grant documents and to discuss the KAC COVID-19 funding for possible reimbursement of expenses.

Lynne made a motion to approve Resolution 17-20; A RESOLUTION CERTIFYING LEGAL AUTHORITY AND AUTHORIZATION TO APPLY FOR THE CDBG-CV
FROM THE KANSAS DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE, Nick seconded and all approved and Lynne signed the resolution.

Lynne made a motion to approve and sign the Residential anti-displacement and relocation assistance plan under section 104(D) of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974, Jeff seconded and all approved and Lynne signed the document.

Lynne made a motion to sign the Statement of Assurances and Certifications, Nick seconded and all approved and Lynne signed the document.

Lynne made a motion to sign the Agreement for Administrative Consulting Services, Jeff seconded and all approved and Lynne signed the following document.

Lynne made a motion to sign the disclosure/update report, Nick seconded and all approved, and Lynne signed the document.

Jeff made a motion to approve submitting to KAC a report showing COVID-19 expenses for possible reimbursement, Nick seconded and all approved and Kendell submitted the report to KAC.

At 3:25, Lynne made a motion to adjourn, Jeff 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
May 19, 2020, Approved Date

May 12, 2020 Tuesday 9:00 am

The Bourbon County Commissioners met in open session in the EOC room in the basement (the meeting was posted on Facebook), present for the meeting were all three Commissioners, Justin Meeks and Kendell Mason (via telephone).

Lynne made a motion to go into a 15 minute executive session for personnel matters of individual non-elected personnel, Jeff seconded and all approved, (the session included the Commissioners and Justin Meeks). No action was taken.

Jeff made a motion to go into a 10 minute executive session for personnel matters of individual non-elected personnel, Nick seconded and all approved, (the session included the Commissioners, Jim Harris, Jerad Heckman, Kendell Mason and Justin Meeks). No action was taken.

Jim Harris met with the Commissioners; the City of Fort Scott wants the County to help lay one block of asphalt (approximately 400’) on Andrick Street between 5th & 6th. Lynne said they are putting the cost to do this together for the Interlocal agreement. Jim said if the County does this, he would want Ag Engineering or another company to do the compaction tests there.

When the asphalt season ended in 2019, the Landfill Road and Indian Road were on that list to be completed, but they weren’t done. They want to do those roads first this year. Work still needs to be done with the drainage on Indian Road before asphalting there. The Commissioners asked that they do the Landfill Road first and said to use the right mix of asphalt to accommodate the heavy traffic. Jim said while overlaying they will not be doing other jobs.

Lynne reported that 125th is falling apart and needs work done to it. Nick said they need to patch on 215th where the French drains were put in. Lynne said due to the sales tax revenue being down; they will have to be considerate of the projects they do.

Jim said they plan to blast at the Blake Quarry and then at the Thomas Quarry. He said the asphalt plant is ready for the asphalt season.

Lynne made a motion to approve Resolution 16-20, a resolution increasing the Assistant County Attorney wages to $65,000 annually, Jeff seconded and all approved, the Commissioners said they weren’t adding additional money to the Attorney’s budget to cover this raise.

Lynne said that Justin Meeks was working with the City of Fort Scott Finance Director regarding the feasibility of having an Interlocal agreement with shared services, products (chips, salt).

Lora Holdridge said she had abstractors, surveyors as well as KDOT (KDOT is planning to do work on 69 Highway (at 3rd, 6th, 12th and 25th Street in Fort Scott) and APEX needing to come to her office to review records. Due to COVID-19, she felt she could safely schedule appointments for them to come to her office to do the work they need to do. The Commissioners were all ok with allowing them in by appointment. Jeff discussed Allen County E-filing surveys; Lora said her office can distribute surveys electronically, but they don’t accept them that way. She said the software Allen County uses is Fiddler and it isn’t feasible for Bourbon County to have since we already have CIC software.

Economic Development Director Jody Hoener met with the Commissioners to discuss the CDBG CV grant; a brief description of the grant is as follows from SEKRPC… “ALL REGULAR CDBG PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS APPLY UNLESS OTHERWISE STATED IN THESE GUIDELINES.
The State of Kansas, Community Development Block Grant – CV (CDBG-CV) program has been awarded $9,029,815 from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. Awards will be made for issues triggered by the COVID-19 virus and when no other funds are available.
ELIGIBLE APPLICANTS
The CARES Act funds will be available for a City or County in the State of Kansas, which are defined as “general purpose units of government.” The entitlement Cities and Counties ineligible include Kansas City, Wichita, Topeka, Lawrence, Leavenworth, Manhattan, Overland Park and all of Johnson County.
APPLICATION SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS
Applications will be submitted online on a first come, first served basis until money is exhausted.
FUNDING AMOUNT
Maximum funding per county or city is $300,000 for Economic Development grants and $100,000 for meal programs.
REIMBURSABLES
Cost can be reimbursed from March 1, 2020 or used for future expenses.
PROCEDURAL CHANGES
Procedural changes with CARES Act funds include, the processing of the grantee’s Grant Agreements, Request for Release of Funds and Certification (HUD-7015.15), and Grant Close-out agreements. Based on HUD guidance from April 13, 2020, the grantee can use electronic signatures, scans or fax. These amendments would only be applied to awarded CARES Act funds. All other CDBG requirements apply.
OTHER REQUIREMENTS
The other requirements of the CDBG-CV are not fully described in this application. However, they still apply and include: National Objective Requirements, Pre-selection of Professional Services, Administrative Requirements for the Program, Citizen Participation Requirements (Public Hearings), Applicable Laws and Regulations – Federal Laws and Regulations, State Law Requirements, State Laws which may be available or applicable, Grant Definition, and Environmental Review Process. Details of these requirements can be found in the 2019 CDBG General Application Guidelines.
APPLICATION RATING CRITERIA
Applications will be awarded on a first come-first serve basis until funds are all distributed. Should any document be missing, incorrect or otherwise have deficiencies we will contact the applicant for corrections.
Due to the first come-first serve nature of these grants the date received will start once all items are submitted correct-y.
THRESHOLD REQUIREMENTS
There are no threshold requirements.
ACTIVITIES FOR CDBG-CV ELIGIBLE
1. Micro-Grant funds to Cities or Counties
a. The use of funds is for businesses to purchase needed inventory to reopen. This is considered working capital making the environmental level of review as Categorically Excluded not Subject to (CENST).
b. All awards are distributed as grants
c. The National Objective is Job Retention and over 51 percent of employees must meet LMI
d. Inventory purchases for 60 days after allowed to reopen to regular services
e. $25,000 maximum per job retained for businesses under 5 FTE employees, including owner, for a maximum grant of $30,000 per company
f. For profit businesses only
2. Economic Development
a. For businesses to purchase needed inventory to reopen. This is considered working capital making the environmental level of review as CENST.
b. All awards are distributed as grants
c. The National Objective is Job Retention and over 51 percent of employees must meet LMI
d. Inventory purchases for 60 days after allowed to reopen to regular services
e. $35,000 maximum per job retained for businesses with 6-50 FTE employees for a maximum grant of $50,000 per company
f. For profit businesses only
NOTE: Larger companies should look at CDBG Economic Development funds
3. Support for Meals on Wheels, replenishment of Food Banks and Food Pantries, or aid to lunch programs for kids to provide extra support through this stay home order. This is a Public Service activity and the City must meet LMI.” Jody said that the County could help businesses located outside of Fort Scott apply for the grant, she said the businesses in the City could also apply and said there is potential that the City of Fort Scott and Bourbon County businesses could each get a combined total of $600,000. She said right now she has 26 businesses for the application of the $300,000 County portion. She said the County will eventually have to pass a resolution for the CDBG grant and will have to hold a public hearing (Lynne said the Commissioners could call a special meeting if needed for the public hearing). She said she wants the grant process to be as transparent as possible.

Due to COVID-19, the revenue for the County is down and the County could see results from this for some time; Justin said due to the dramatic changes in revenue the County may have to help cover the gaps in revenue for the EMS (he said they had a good budget for the EMS, but revenue as well as calls for service are down) as well as public health. He said the Commissioners may have to use the Wind Farm money to help cover the gaps. Lynne said they are looking at downsizing some operations; he said they are working towards making things easier for the public, more viable for the County and costing the taxpayers less. Justin said the Commissioners may have to initially help subsidize the healthcare mall. He said that elected officials and department heads would have to prepare for changes. An electronic KIOSK was briefly discussed; due to COVID-19 some business operations have changed at the Courthouse.

Randy Cason with Ascension Via Christi met with the Commissioners to discuss their lease agreement for the hospital building. When they moved into the old Mercy Hospital building, they planned to be there two years, he said that time will be up in 10-11 months, he said they were looking to acquire land to build when they were approached by the County (to save the current building) about being an anchor tenant and leasing space from the County at the former Mercy Hospital building. He said that was a quicker and easier option and said they were on board with the idea; they plan to move forward with the long term lease to be a tenant. He said they need to move forward with operations and improvements and replace the existing radiology equipment (which is older equipment). He said they will be asking for approval from the landlord (Mercy is the current landlord) to change out the equipment and do renovations; they plan to purchase and install a new CT Scanner, a new digital X-ray room, as well as a portable X-ray machine. He said it will be an approximate equipment upgrade of $700,000 and approximately $300,000 worth of renovations to accommodate the changes. He said long term they would like to have Dr. Katrina Burke on campus. Justin said the Commissioners planned to move forward with the leases for the space at the hospital. Justin said he planned to have draft leases ready in the next few weeks and said the finalized leases in 30-45 days. Jeff Fischer questioned Randy Cason what impact COVID-19 had on the hospital; he said they were tremendously impacted by the pandemic, they haven’t had a lot of cases and currently have zero cases, but elective procedures had been shut down as well as standard healthcare had been cut down.

The Commissioners plan to meet on May 19th on the front steps (weather permitting) from 9:00 am – noon. They plan to allow public comment from 11:30-12:00 pm.

Lynne said they are looking at help for Shane Walker (IT department); he said Shane has taken on a lot of work over the last few years.

At 11:55, Nick made a motion to adjourn, Lynne seconded and all approved.

THE BOARD OF COMMISSIONER
OF BOURBON COUNTY, KANSAS
(ss) Lynne Oharah, Chairman
(ss) Jeff Fischer, Commissioner
(ss) Nick Ruhl, Commissioner
ATTEST:
Kendell Mason, Bourbon County Clerk
May 19, 2020, Approved Date

May 5, 2020 Tuesday 9:00 am

The Bourbon County Commission met in open session on the front East steps of the Courthouse (due to COVID-19), present for the meeting were the Commissioners, Justin Meeks and Kendell Mason.

Tammy Helm with the Fort Scott Tribune and Anne Dare were present for the morning meeting.

Jim Harris reported that Road & Bridge is hauling gravel and installing culverts around the County and is patching (near 232nd & Jewell and then south of Garland). Jim estimated that they had approximately 75% of the patching done on the asphalt roads. Jim said they need to do ditching on Hackberry and on Indian Road. He said they are crushing at the Thomas Quarry and will be doing a blast at the Blake Quarry within 30 days. Jim said they are still watching the funds before deciding on the chip/seal and asphalt plan for 2020.

Jeff discussed the FEMA grant money that Bourbon County has been working to receive regarding flood damage that occurred in 2019. The County could be eligible for funding for the reimbursement of repair cost and labor from flooding repairs. He said that KDEM needs equipment information and supporting documentation from Road & Bridge for the grant application process. Jeff said he reviewed data for materials used from May – June, but said there wasn’t a lot of data from July – September, (which could be due to the crew doing paving work during this time and not doing flood repairs). Jeff said he didn’t think all of the flood blocked structures had been cleaned out or that all of the repair work had been done. Jeff said he had sent Jim a list of grant items needed. Jeff said the grant had been stalled since we hadn’t provided the documentation requested. Jeff said they also needed information on the equipment used to produce gravel. Jim said his department is willing to provide the needed information for the grant.

There is brush that needs cut at on Xavier; Jim said if it isn’t already done, they will get it done.

Lynne briefly discussed the 2020 budgets; he said 15-20% would need to be cut from budgets due to a revenue shortfall. Jim said they have already purchased the salt for the upcoming winter

Lynne asked Jim Harris where the chips for the rock are tested; Jim said Allied in Wichita does this. Lynne asked if Ag Engineering could do this; Jim said they didn’t have the lab to do this.

Jeff said he had heard that a portion of Indian Road was closed; Jim said the County hadn’t closed it. Jim said they notify the radio and dispatch when they close a road.

Ed Murrow reported to the Commissioners a culvert plugged at the Stevenson Cemetery at 65th & Yale at the side entrance. He said he had reported this twice to Jim Harris, but it still wasn’t fixed. Lynne said he would report this to Jim Harris.

Lynne made a motion to adopt Resolution 15-20; a resolution for the financing of the two 2021 Mack dump trucks through City State Bank, for a lease amount of $223,538.00, interest rate of 2.28% and semi-annual payments of $23,567.63 for five years, Nick seconded and all approved. Lynne and Kendell signed the financing documents and the Commissioners signed the resolution.

Bourbon County Attorney Jacqie Spradling met with the Commissioners; Lynne said they previously discussed a wage increase for the Assistant County Attorney, but didn’t finalize this raise. Jeff made a motion to approve a wage increase from $55,000 – $65,000 for the Assistant County Attorney, Lynne seconded and all approved. On 5/12/2020, the Commissioners will be presented with a salary resolution with this increase on it. Lynne said they will be asking department heads to closely monitor their budgets and said they were looking at a 15-20% across the board budget cut.

Lynne said the County has purchased a disinfecting spray system that kills surface germs that is being used in the County buildings.

Bourbon County Appraiser met with the Commissioners regarding his employees and COVID-19. He said they need to get back to field work to do measurements and to do day to day operations; all of the Commissioners were ok with this. He said they need to do residential and commercial work he said his employees will be using masks, gloves and keeping a distance. His employees will be driving marked vehicles. Clint said they have been having property hearings over the phone.

Due to COVID-19 the Courthouse has been closed to the public since March 17, 2020. Lynne said he talked with Judge Harth who said the court had two options regarding re-opening; option one open the court system when the Courthouse opens and option two with only the courts open. Justin said there are access issues regarding space for the court to comply with the COVID-19 safety guidelines. They are working with the courts to address the court’s needs. Justin said they are looking into using the Annex building for court use. The Deeds office is doing business by appointment only, some offices now have drop boxes for business use and some offices are meeting outside the Courthouse doors for business. The Commissioners said the Courthouse will be closed at least through May 17th and will consider reopening of the Courthouse based on the Governors decision then.

COVID-19 has caused a decrease in revenue; Justin said there is a high possibility that we will need additional subsidies for funding the EMS, Kendell questioned if there were grants available to help fund EMS. The Commissioners said an alternative option is to use an ambulance service company such as AMS or EMR.

Justin said there was a jail issue that would be taken care of by the end of the day.

Justin and Lynne had meet with the City of Fort Scott regarding combining services between the City and County; they are waiting on May month end budget reports before discussing again.

The Commission meeting on May 12th will be held outside on the front East steps of the Courthouse. If it’s raining it will be held in the first floor lobby.

At 11:00 Lynne made a motion to break for lunch and reconvene at 1:30, Nick seconded and the motion passed.

After lunch the following were at the meeting; Jason Silvers with the Fort Scott Tribune, Mary Pemberton, Anne Dare, Kim Simons and Nancy Van Etten.

Mary Pemberton met with the Commissioners to discuss the PILOT agreement from Jayhawk Wind Farm; she said in October the Commissioners had set the goal to reduce the property tax mill levy rate by 13% by 2030. She said it had been mentioned that the PILOT money could be a contributor to reach this goal. She asked that the Commissioners adopt the following resolution… “A RESOLUTION ESTABLISHING THE USE OF PILOT PROCEEDS RECEIVED FROM THE JAYHAWK WIND ENERGY PROJECT WHEREAS, the Board of County Commissioners of Bourbon County, Kansas has entered into a Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILOT) agreement with Jayhawk Wind, LLC dated March 13, 2020 and anticipated receiving $365,625 per year beginning on or about December 1, 2021 and continuing for 9 years followed by $182,813.00 for 1 year until the wind energy project becomes taxable under Kansas Law; and WHEREAS, the members of the Board of County Commissioners have set a goal of reducing the property tax mill levy rate by 13% by 2030 and have indicated this project will assist in achieving this goal; NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS OF BOURBON COUNTY, KANSAS that proceeds from the PILOT agreement referred to above be and hereby shall be allocated by the Board of County Commissioners, from year to year for each year in which PILOT proceeds are received, in the same manner and proportion as all other ad valorem tax revenue, to help achieve this goal of lowering the property tax mill levy. ADOPTED AND APPROVED at their regular meeting on the 5th day of May, 2020.” The Commissioners did not adopt the resolution; Lynne said they would take it under advisement when discussing the 2021 budget in June of 2020. She asked where the initial upfront payment of $407,812.50 had been allocated; Lynne said this will be discussed when doing the 2021 budget. Mrs. Pemberton asked the Commissioners if Bourbon County deserved a lower than average financial compensation from Jayhawk Wind Farm because of the limited roads they said they would be using, then why did the County sign an agreement giving them access to all of the County roads without restrictions; neither the Commissioners or Justin wanted to comment on this.

Nancy Johnson met with the Commissioners regarding an article in the Fort Scott Tribune about MRI Global COVID-19 testing; MRI Global was scheduled to be discussed during the April 28th Commission meeting, but after an executive session, Lynne made a motion to remove the presentation regarding MRI Global from the agenda, Nick seconded and the motion passed and Nick made a motion to stop everything with the MRI Global and not to support it moving forward, Lynne seconded and the motion passed. Mrs. Johnson questioned if they voted to not move forward with MRI Global why the lengthy article in the May 2nd, 2020 Fort Scott Tribune. She discussed the article in the Tribune which covered many items including “testing with same day results”, “the training and verification for a particular lab testing platform”, “the testing offers the ability to trace contacts and support communications between clinicians and patients, providing an indicator of the spread and control of COVID-19”. Jeff Fischer told the Tribune that “this is tracking the disease, not the people. The surveillance would be reporting of numbers and disease progression. The tracking, or contact tracing, would be people exposed to a positive case.” The article also discussed the pricing for testing. Mrs. Johnson questioned the HIPPA laws with regards to testing, the return to work orders and suggested they re-think forcing people into testing for COVID-19. Lynne said they took MRI Global off of the table; they had brought this up to look at the feasibility, but they are not supporting the idea. Lynne said they are following the orders of the Governor and the Public Health regarding re-opening.

At 1:49, Jeff made a motion to adjourn, 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
May 12, 2020, Approved Date

April 28, 2020 Tuesday 9:00 am

The Bourbon County Commission met in open session in the EOC room, the Commissioners and Justin Meeks were all present, and Kendell was present via telephone. The meeting was posted on Facebook.

Lynne made a motion to go into a 5 minute executive session for personnel matters of individual non-elected personnel, Nick seconded and all approved, (the session included the Commissioners and Justin Meeks). Lynne made a motion to remove the 11:00 presentation regarding MRI Global from the agenda for today, Nick seconded and the motion passed. Nick made a motion to stop everything with the MRI Global and not to support it moving forward, Lynne seconded and the motion passed.

Jim Harris reported they have been mowing, hauling gravel and installing culverts. They have done patching on Yale, near Hubert Thomas’s residence as well as Soldier Road. He said they will be pulling shoulders on 215th and will be pulling shoulders at Fort Scott Lake, they will wedge at the Lake when done, Jim said even if they don’t overlay there they could still ditch. Jim said they are waiting on the Sales Tax Revenue report before deciding the asphalt plan for the year. Lynne said he and Terry Sercer discussed the Sales Tax fund; he said they weren’t able to transfer as much as needed due to the amount collected being down and they did more overlay work in 2019 than anticipated. At the last Commission meeting the Commissioners nominated Josh Jones to chair the renewal process of the Sales Tax fund; the program is very important since the County uses the money for the hard surface road program. In the past 2 years, the County did 31 miles of asphalt. Jim said that asphalt is currently approximately $50/ton cheaper.

Jim said it was likely that a piece of equipment had hit a deck on a bridge on Unity just west of 95th.

Jim said they are waiting on a report from Ag Engineering to see what to do with a crossing at 60th & Grand Road.

Jim said they are short one person for mowing and one person for asphalt work. He said his staff is staying safe regarding COVID-19; his employees are keeping their distance, using sanitizers, masks and gloves. Lynne said the County has a sanitizer spray that can be made at a cost of .25 cents a gallon.

Jim said the City of Fort Scott wanted to meet with him; Jeff and Nick thought it was a good idea to meet.

Nick said Road & Bridge could use the pickup truck that the Appraiser wants to trade in; Jim said they don’t have the funds to buy the truck but suggested trading bulk fuel for the truck. No decision was made on the truck.

Jeff questioned the Road & Bridge department pushing a windrow of dirt against a fence; Jim said they will do this if it’s too wet and then will come back and move the dirt once it’s dry enough.

The Commissioners received bids to finance two 2021 Mack Dump trucks; City State Bank quoted a lease amount of $223,538 with 2.28% financing and no fees with semi annual payments of $23,567.63 with the first payment due 6/5/2020. U.S. Bank quoted financing $223,538 with 1.98% interest and a factor of 0.10466 for 5 years with two payments a year of $23,396.25. Jim Harris recommended financing through City State since they are a local bank. Nick made a motion to finance the trucks through City State Bank, Jeff seconded and all approved.

The Commissioners received one bid for fish food for Elm Creek Lake; Big Sugar bid $19.35 for a 50lb bag or $774/ton for Purina Catfish food. Nick made a motion to accept the bid, Jeff seconded and all approved. The County receives some funding from KDWP for the fish food.

The Commissioners briefly discussed the City asking for a portion of Indian Road being closed for the airport runway expansion; Jeff said there is a 12 month window for grievance claims if the road were closed. There are 3 possible detour routes; Jim Harris said he preferred the route that goes south to Hackberry and then west to the blacktop curve. Lynne said the closure could be considered once the new road is asphalted and open.

The Commissioners requested bids for tax sale work; Security 1st was the only bidder, but the Commissioners did not reveal their bid. Justin Meeks and the Commissioners discussed having a tax sale; Justin said he believed with people’s budget a tax sale could be more difficult due to the current economic times. He said in the past they tried to help people save their homes, Justin said there is a lot of cost with a tax sale especially since Hidden Valley properties are now included in the tax sales. Justin said he had met with Hidden Valley representatives, he said there is a high turnover of those properties on the tax sales. Justin said he is an advocate of the Land Bank. He said he hopes some landowners would sign over their properties to the Land Bank. He said if a tax sale was held it could cost $48-$50,000 for the tax sale and said the sale probably wouldn’t collect ½ of that back. He said it is difficult to get a clear title on tax sale properties. The Commissioners discussed delaying a tax sale; Jeff made a motion to postpone the title work required for a tax sale, Nick seconded and all approved.

The Commissioners discussed the current location of the Commission meetings; Justin said he had calls from a concerned citizen regarding KOMA. Justin said the current meetings meet the required standards. Currently the Courthouse building is closed to the public due to COVID-19; the Commissioners discussed how operations would work once the building opens up to the public. Currently the Commission meetings are streamed on Facebook, Jeff suggested having citizen’s schedule a time on the agenda with their subject and questions submitted prior to the meeting and the Commissioners could call them during a scheduled time. Justin said some Counties are doing Zoom meetings and some are doing their meetings the same as Bourbon County. Currently it is safer and easier to do a virtual meeting. Once the courts open up, there will be a large amount of people entering the building; visitors will be using the elevators, stairs and the entryway by the Commission room. The County will be spraying disinfectant to help prevent the spread of COVID-19. Justin said the current building could be updated or we have a facility that could meet our needs. Jeff questioned if there was any potential of adapting the hospital space as the court space; Lynne said there are no easy answers.

Rachel Pruitt the Economic Development Director from the City of Fort Scott met with the Commissioners over the phone regarding the airport runway expansion. She said in June 2018 she met with the Commissioners regarding the partial closure of Indian Road should the airport runway be extended. She said she needed our current Commissioners to agree to a partial closing should the runway be extended, she said she needed Commission minutes stating if the runway was extended the Commissioners would go through the procedure to close the road. Lynne said the road closure procedure would have to be followed. Before the traffic would be impacted on Indian Road a road would be built. Nick made a motion if the runway expansion goes in they would close Indian Road after another road is built and they have gone through the road closure process, Jeff seconded and all approved. Rachel said their next step is to hold a public hearing after a 30 day notice.

Lynne made a motion to go into a 30 minute executive session for personnel matters of individual non-elected personnel, Nick seconded and all approved, (the session included the Commissioners and Justin Meeks). No action was taken.

Lynne made a motion to go into a 10 minute executive session for personnel matters of individual non-elected personnel, Nick seconded and all approved, (the session included the Commissioners and Justin Meeks). No action was taken.

At 11:41, the Commissioners went to lunch and reconvened at 1:30.

Emergency Manager William Wallis met with the Commissioners; Jeff made a motion to allow Lynne to sign an application for the Emergency Management Performance Grant Funds, Nick seconded and all approved and Lynne signed the document.

Will discussed the disaster declaration; he said they filed for 16 different mitigation projects. He submitted areas that Road & Bridge identified as areas that are always a problem. He filed for reimbursement of additional loads of gravel. Areas that were damaged during the flooding and the estimated cost to bring the area back to pre-flood damage state was submitted; if approved this cost could be reimbursed. Will estimated that more than $130,000 could be reimbursed to the County from KDEM for the flooding that occurred in the summer of 2019.

Lynne discussed the Bourbon County budgeted revenue; he said he felt that the shortfall in the budgeted revenue (both from sales tax revenue and property tax revenue) would be a problem. He felt they would have a better idea of the shortfall amount after April 2020. He felt the Commission should address this sooner rather than later. He said he was looking at an initial 15% across the board budget cut, but said it could be 20% by the end of the year. Lynne said it would be up to each department to see where to make that cut. Bourbon County needs to have sufficient funds to finish the year. Lynne will write a draft letter to the department heads to notify them of the initial 15% cut to their budget.

Lynne asked Terry Sercer to present the 2019 audit on May 5th, 2020.

Since COVID-19 and the closing of the Courthouse to the public, there have been drop boxes installed on the outside of the building. People are using the drop boxes, mail and the internet to conduct business which would have previously been done in person.

The Commissioners discussed how to hold future commission meetings once the Courthouse opens up to the public (due to COVID-19). They discussed using other larger facilities to hold the meetings in. The May 5th commission meeting will be held outside (weather permitting) on the front east steps, or if the weather doesn’t permit this, the meeting will be held in the lobby of the 1st floor. Public comment/questions will be allowed to be scheduled from 1:30-2:30, people wishing to comment or question the Commissioners will have 5 minutes each, the time needs to be scheduled and the subject/question needs to be submitted prior to the meeting. If the meeting is held outside, it will not be posted on Facebook live.

At 2:50, Nick made a motion to adjourn, Jeff 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
May 5, 2020, Approved Date