All posts by Loretta George

Business, COVID-19, Fort Scott

Peerless Products Combats COVID-19

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Peerless Products Inc. received a SPARK Grant to help with the costs of keeping the manufacturer producing during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

“We applied for $50,247 of reimbursement for items purchased to battle the coronavirus within the Peerless community, but also to do our part in mitigating the spread of the virus in the surrounding communities as we have employees who work here, but live generally within a 45-mile radius of Fort Scott,” said Cindy Davis, the company’s wellness and benefits manager.  “We received our grant money about a month ago.”

 

The Strengthing People and Revitalizing Kansas (SPARK) taskforce is responsible for the statewide distribution of the U.S. Coronavirus Relief Fund.

 

But the largest Bourbon County employer did not wait for help to begin combating the virus.

 

“In the initial weeks of the pandemic, we had a number of employees volunteer to hand-make face masks for every employee to have five, and then we were able to donate masks out around the local community,” she said.  “For a solid month, after purchasing seven sewing machines, our small sewing taskforce churned out over 4,000 cloth reusable face masks!”

 

” We also implemented contact tracing,” Davis said.  ” Supplies for all these methods of mitigating virus contamination were submitted on our SPARK grant application.  The Peerless family collectively has viewed this pandemic as a very serious threat to personal health and welfare, but also to the financial welfare of each family supported by the work we do here, AND the economic health of Bourbon county.”

 

“As the reality of the COVID-19 virus became quickly apparent back in early March, we realized that, as the largest employer in Bourbon County (350-400 employees), we had to jump into action immediately,” she said. ” We kept close watch on the Center for Disease Control and state government guidelines and protocol recommendations, and continue to do so.”

 

They worked in the plant to reduce the virus.

 

“If certain steps were recommended, we put things into action here at Peerless as requirements,” she said.  “As a business, Peerless has kept in close communication with state and local authorities, as well as with all of our employees regarding actions and protocols.”

 

“Peerless Products manufactures high-end custom windows and doors for buildings all over the country, high-rise business and apartment buildings, schools, hotels, hospitals, military installations, and more,” Davis said.

 

” However, when the pandemic accelerated, we pulled our field service personnel off the road, curtailed any travel by our sales force, and began daily temperature taking of every employee or vendor entering our facilities, she said. “Within our plant, our safety and environmental staff, employee wellness, human resources, Peerless culture, top-level management, as well as purchasing staff, sought out tools and supplies and methods to mitigate virus contamination.”

 

“Signage all around the plant on proper hygiene, procuring large numbers of face masks, extra handwash stations, great quantities of hand sanitizer, gloves, special air purifiers, enrollment of employees in telemedicine as a healthcare option (at no cost to the employee), the arrangement of employee break room seating (indoors and out) and office desks to implement the six feet distancing recommendation, and more were implemented.”

 

 

Bourbon County, Business, COVID-19

TFI Receives SPARK Grant For Foster Care Service in Bourbon County

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TFI, a foster care and child welfare service,  received $50,000 in SPARK funds in Bourbon County for more technology and personal protective equipment in the pandemic.

The Strengthening People and Revitalizing Kansas (SPARK) Taskforce is charged with leading Kansas forward in recovery from the far-reaching effects of COVID-19, with the statewide distribution of the U.S. Coronavirus Relief Fund.

TFI Submitted photo.
Employees of TFI, Fort Scott in February 2020.

 

TFI serves approximately 80 children in Bourbon County, according to information provided by Taylor Forest, marketing specialist.

“The SPARK funding TFI received will help serve children in foster care in Bourbon County who have been impacted by COVID-19,” Forest said. “This funding has been used to purchase technology to allow for more remote work, and more telehealth visits when possible, minimizing face-to-face contact. Another way we are using the funds is to purchase PPE for children, families and staff. ”

They received the funding on Oct. 15, 2020.

“Children in foster care experience difficulties on a daily basis, and COVID-19 has added even more challenges” she said. “We’re incredibly grateful for the program and are thrilled that Kansas’ most vulnerable population can have some of their needs met through these unprecedented times!”

The TFI Fort Scott office is located at 710 W. 8th Street, Suite 203, FORT SCOTT KS 66701

 

 

To learn more:

https://tfifamily.org/

 

See more about SPARK at:

https://covid.ks.gov/spark-recovery-office/

 

Fort Scott, Government

FS Commission Minutes of Nov. 17

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CITY OF FORT SCOTT

CITY COMMISSION MEETING

Minutes of November 17th, 2020 Regular Meeting #21

The regular meeting of the Fort Scott City Commission was held November 17th, 2020 at 4:30 p.m. in the Corey Larson Gymnasium at Buck Run Community Center, 735 S. Scott Avenue, Fort Scott, Kansas.

ROLL CALL:

Commissioners K. Allen, P. Allen, R. Nichols, and L. Watts were present with Mayor J. Mitchell presiding.

EXECUTIVE SESSION:

Mayor Mitchell said that they need to recess into Executive Session to discuss the search for a City Manager with Osenbaugh Associates for 1 and ½ hours.

Discussion was held regarding why this discussion needed to be in Executive Session.

Jeff Deane, City Attorney, informed them that they will be discussing the qualities of a City Manager and what you found enjoyable and what you did not care for in a City Manager, and you could discuss issues about previous City Managers, which would apply to the exception. You are protecting the privacy and rights of individuals.

L. Watts moved that the City Commission recess into Executive Session for the purpose of discussing non-elected personnel exception in K.S.A. 75-4319(b)(1). The open meeting will resume in the Corey Larson Gymnasium at Buck Run Community Center at 6:00 p.m. R. Nichols seconded. K. Allen, R. Nichols, L. Watts, and J. Mitchell voted aye. P. Allen voted no. Motion carried 4-1. This included the City Commission, City Attorney, Don Osenbaugh and John Deardoff of Osenbaugh Consulting.

L. Watts moved that the City Commission come out of Executive Session at 6:00 p.m. J. Mitchell seconded. All voted aye.

INVOCATION: Pastor Paul Rooks, Grace Baptist Tabernacle, said a prayer asking God for guidance for the City, our Government and City officials.

AUDIENCE IN ATTENDANCE: Travis Shelton, Russell Lingerfelt, Nate Stansberry, Dave Bruner, Megan Felt, Norm Conard, Donna Bowman, Beth Nuss, Janice Allen, Michael Hoyt, Don Osenbaugh, John Deardoff, Jeff Hancock, Rachel Pruitt, Ally Turvey, Heather Ethridge, Jason Pickert, Clayton Miller, Deb Needleman, Deb McCoy, Diana Morriss, Craig Campbell, Paul Rooks, Max Fanning, Anne Rawlins, Lindsay Madison, Chad Brown, Michael Mix, and representing the press, Tammy Helm, Fort Scott Tribune.

IV. PROCLAMATIONS/RECOGNITIONS: None

V. CONSENT AGENDA:

  1. Approval of minutes of the regular meeting of November 3rd, 2020 and special meeting of November 9th, 2020.

  1. Approval of Appropriation Ordinance 1275-A totaling $249,568.42.

  1. Request to Pay – Insco Industries – $9,527.65 – Water Plant Clarified project

  1. Request to Pay – Olsson Associates – $2,255.00 – Airport Runway Extension Engineering project

  1. Request to Pay – Lauber Municipal Law Firm – $24,132.50

  1. Request to Pay – 3RK – $26,984.07 – Housing Grant

  1. Request to Pay – HDR Engineering – $1,477.50 – River Intake Project

  1. Christmas Parade Permit Form – December 1st, 2020 – 6:00 p.m.

  1. October financials

R. Nichols moved to approve the Consent Agenda. L. Watts seconded. R. Nichols, L. Watts, and J. Mitchell voted aye. K. Allen and P. Allen voted no. Motion carried 3-2.

APPROVED CONSENT AGENDA.

Public Comment:

(Sign up required. Comments on any topic not on the agenda and limited to 5 minutes per person, at Commission discretion)

Diana Morriss – She said she has become quite discouraged with addressing this body. She asked herself why she should bother, but it’s because she cares about democracy, she cares about justice, and she cares about this city that has been her home for most of her adult life. If the Commission won’t hear her, at least the citizens that are here tonight or watching will hear. She is here tonight with a recurrent concern. That concern is a lack of transparency. If each of you Commissioners were well enough versed on the Kansas Open Meetings Act, this might not be a recurrent issue. Transparency requires the legal conduct of open meetings. In the interest of transparency, it would be beneficial if you would ensure that open discussion took place in changes in our city government and especially with high dollar budget items. Granted, democratic process is messy and it takes time, that we’d all prefer to be at home with our feet up, but you chose to govern in this system. It is her belief that transparent governance of the city would allow the public to observe your discussions and observe your thinking processes as you weigh actions that you are considering. The special meeting that took place on November 9th left her feeling quite disturbed. It was stated at the Commission meeting on October 29th, that discussion of hiring an Interim City Manager would take place following the outcome of the vote on the sales tax. The Thursday following that meeting was the day that the provisional ballots were counted, so that would have given us the true outcome of that tax proposal, which by the way only passed by 400 votes. That made your special meeting a bit premature and avoided the public sharing of your thought processes regarding filling this position. You chose to have a discussion completely behind closed doors in an executive session on November 9th. It was stated during that short public portion of the meeting that hours and hours of research had gone into the decision. Why then would those findings of the research not be shared publicly? Would that not be a really good method for transparency? At the foundation of the issue regarding City management and budget concerns, she assured them that they would be most interested in hearing about the budget cuts that will afford a salary for an Interim or a replacement manager as we continue to generously fund the retirement of the past person filling that position. It is difficult for her to believe that this position can be funded without major cuts elsewhere in the City budget, she is eager to hear your plans. Those plans must recognize the poor condition of the infrastructure and the desperate need for more City employees to accomplish the work that will be required. Fort Scottians, if you have not watched the special meeting from November 9th, she strongly encouraged them to do that. Most of the time is executive session, so just skip to the last five to seven minutes for the public portion. Your Commission voted 3-2 to offer an Interim position to Jeff Hancock without a firm contract and without budgetary allowances being explained. She is seriously concerned about an offer being made that did not include a job description. During the public portion of the meeting, she felt the conversation and motion surrounding the contract extremely unclear. She congratulated Ms. Clay for her ability to sort it out and make the motion in some sort of accurate form. From those special meeting minutes, she quoted, “R. Nichols moved that we engage Osenbaugh Consulting Firm and begin the process with them as soon as possible.” She assumes that the process is the development of a contract. “L. Watts seconded and recommended adding that since we have a draft of a contract that the H.R. Director and the Mayor finalize this contract. R. Nichols moved to add that to his motion and L. Watts seconded the motion”. If you observe the meeting, you will hear Ms. Watts stating, “there’s no contract”, and a few moments later she states, “we actually have the contract in front of us or a draft of the contract.” Transparent? Commissioners, I think not. Having more stress placed on our already stressed budget and this before we even have an opportunity to weigh in as a community. Should you find this transparency lacking as I have, it’s my hope that the citizens will make their voices heard and that you three Commissioners who voted in favor of this will be able to adequately explain your decision.

Lindsey Watts said that she apologized to her. She said that she has apologized to others for not explaining her position to the public. She said that she will be happy to provide information on research that was done. There were multiple options on the table, and she researched them for the Commission. These options included looking at our current City staff. She said that they did have a draft contract in front of them for the Osenbaugh firm which is who was hired to fill the City Manager position and search. She apologized if this was not explained perfectly.

Kevin Allen asked the City Attorney to explain why the Commission had to go into Executive Session to talk to the firm that is finding us a City Manager.

Jeff Deane said that the exemptions used in this case was K.S.A. 75-4319(b)(1), which is personnel matters of non-elected personnel. This protects the privacy of the persons discussed, whether current employees or fired or dismissed, retired or resigned employees. This protects their privacy of all those involved.

Deb McCoy – At the November 3rd City Commission meeting, and the same day as the national election, a motion was made to table the discussion on a search for City Manager. Commissioner Watts made a motion to table discussion until a special meeting can be held after we understand the sales tax issue and the budget. She said she had a few questions. She asked who made the decision to get together after the election to begin the process of finding a new City Manager or has there been persons working behind the scenes since or before the October 31st newspaper article in the Fort Scott Tribune. Who decided that an employee who had qualifications to be an Interim City Manager would not be considered? You recommended Jeff Hancock who recommended Osenbaugh Consulting Firm for the process of the City Manager, and who was included in the process of decisions to go with Jeff Hancock and Osenbaugh Consulting Firm. How many City Commissioners have actually met or had the opportunity to speak with the recommended candidate Jeff Hancock before tonight? How many City Commissioners were included in the decision to use Osenbaugh? At the last Commission meeting, it appeared you were going to seek assistance from the Kansas League of Municipalities as stated by Commissioner Randy Nichols. They, the League, would kind of hold our hand through the whole process. How is it that there was already a draft contract ready for a special meeting held on November 9th just three working days after the election. Being present in the audience on the November 9th meeting, it was very apparent there were present Commissioners that were working behind the scenes that did not include all the Commissioners as stated by Pete Allen at the meeting. He said you are asking us to vote on something that we know nothing about and keeping part of the Commission in the dark until it is time to spring it on. Commissioner Watts apologized and said that prior to the meeting each Commissioner was gathering information beforehand. She had spent 16 hours on Wednesday gathering information for Thursday’s meeting. What happened to work sessions and involving all of the Commissioners in the process? It is apparent there has been major decisions made behind the scenes by only a chosen few Commissioners. Why were the other two Commissioners not invited to participate in this very important decision and why behind closed doors? She said she would remind them in the 2020 Governing Body Handbook from the League of Kansas Municipalities on page 42, and she quoted, “When the Council or Commission is not in session, individual members have no more legal authority than a private citizen”. The phrase, Governing Body, is defined in K.S.A. 12-104 as follows, “In Commission and Commission-Manager cities, the Mayor shall be considered part of the city governing body in all matters. Mayor Mitchell, were you involved in the above research and decision making process? She said she wanted to continue the quote. “action outside of a meeting is not binding. An action of a City governing body cannot be taken by individual members acting independently. The Governing Body must act as a body or unit. Members of the Governing Body must assemble at a properly convened meeting in order for action to become an action of the City. Any powers that the Governing Body attempt to exercise outside of an official meeting of the Governing Body, as in the case of council committees, must be power that has been specifically delegated by the Governing Body. The final authority is the duly constituted Governing Body of the city as it meets”. Her question to Commissioner Watts is, was the power to spend so many hours on an investigation delegated to you by the Governing Body? She said she was again going to remind them that actions are not within the statutory requirements to the contrary, but the general legal rule is that the majority of the Governing Body in a Commission city constitutes a quorum. All constituents should have been in contact and given the opportunity to participate in your search and decisions that were made. In review today of our City expenditures, our City Attorney’s billing statement on 10/26/2020, documented that there were interactions with Lindsey Watts and Randy Nichols regarding “options for Interim City Manager vacancy and research for options on manager vacancy and a telephone call to Mr. Hancock to discuss a proposal made to the Commission”. This was done before Dave Martin’s final day of 10/30/2020 as City Manager. How can this be? We are being led down a rabbit hole and it is getting deeper and deeper. We are being misled by the statements that were made and this is the epitome of corruption.

Lindsey Watts asked the City Attorney about the discussions that were discussed in Executive Session that would answer a lot of these questions. She asked if the Commission could lay out a consolidated timeline that does not cover personnel.

Jeff said that what goes on inside Executive Session is not to be revealed, but the Commission can release a statement and you can vote whether to release it or not.

Discussion was held on what information could be released to the public and whether to release any information or not.

Michael Hoyt – He said he was going to break out in song. He said it’s a little too late to do the right thing. He addressed Jeff Deane and said that he cannot add words to a statute. Nowhere in the statute does it say that you can have an executive session for fired or previous employees. It does not say that. It says personnel matters of a personal nature of non-elected personnel – current employees. We can talk all we want to about Abraham Lincoln today, but he’s not an employee of the City of Fort Scott. He wanted to read an article from the Marion County Record. The headline reads, “Plan to hire an administrator discussed illegally in secret. Although no one has approved a plan to hire the long discussed county administrator, commissioners revealed a plan on Monday to recruit one, even without a job description. Commissioners discussed the proposal presented by the Commission Chairman behind closed doors using the personnel matters exception for open meetings law. There is no language in that law for a prior employee, a dead employee, a retired employee, it says current employee”. He said that he has already discussed this with Mr. Deane. His reply to him in an email was berating that he wanted to know what’s going on here. He said he had a right to know what’s going on here as well. He expects all five of them to answer how they can violate the law when you’re having these executive sessions. Madam Mayor, your time is up. He is going to recall you right along with the other two. Keep in mind he can only recall two at a time.

K. Allen said that they go on the advice of the City Attorney. If they go down, he will go down with them.

Old Business:

  1. Discussion of skating rink – Allyson Turvey, Community Development Director, and Craig Campbell, informed the Commission that after the last meeting, she was given direction to look at Memorial Hall for a skating rink. When they started researching this, they found out some other community members had started this process. They decided to join forces with them so Craig Campbell is here also. Craig pointed out that the old gym at Buck Run doesn’t get a lot of use. You will see a comparison on Buck Run gym versus Memorial Hall. There were pros and cons to consider and some items make Buck Run more feasible. There is staffing available here as well as a point of sales system in place. The heat and air is already running and the building is being cleaned. The two biggest items were the actual floor for the rink and the skates. They had a man who refinishes flooring look at both facilities. The floor at Memorial Hall is not in good shape and it would cost a minimum of $10,000 to sand the floor down and get it in shape. Buck Run gym floor is already in good condition but just needs a good cleaning. They looked about getting 200 roller skates and it looks like they cost about $30.00 each. That is a major investment. Craig mentioned about renting roller skates. There are companies that offer that service, but they like to work with school districts. Buck Run already has that in place as they work with USD 234. She asked for direction to move forward with the Buck Run option rather than Memorial Hall.

Craig said that there is nostalgia going with Memorial Hall rather than Buck Run. Using Buck Run would get this project going quicker than Memorial Hall and would also be inexpensive. They received some information from Angie Kemmerer, who is an educator at USD 234. She polled some students and the feedback was very good from the students. If this idea goes over well, Memorial Hall could be resurfaced and could be used eventually. They would like to have this up and running by the end of December.

Craig and Ally thanked Leah Bowman for her assistance in this project.

The Commission all agreed with the idea of starting with Buck Run and moving forward.

  1. Consideration of roof replacement at Wastewater Treatment Plant – Nate Stansberry, City Engineer, informed the Commission that he is appearing again on the roof replacement. His recommendation as well as the engineering firm that did the specifications recommended the low bid from Joplin Roofing Co., Inc. in the amount of $29,368.00.

P. Allen moved to approve the low bid from Joplin Roofing Co., Inc. in the amount of $29,368 for the roof replacement at the Wastewater Treatment Plant. L. Watts seconded. All voted aye.

APPROVED THE LOW BID FROM JOPLIN ROOFING COMPANY, INC. IN THE AMOUNT OF $29,368.00 FOR THE ROOF REPLACEMENT AT THE WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANT.

Appearances:

Norm Conard – Unsung Heroes Park – Norm Conard, Lowell Milken Center Director, informed the Commission that they desire for the City to deed the Unsung Heroes Park to the Lowell Milken Center. Mr. Lowell Milken has donated thousands of dollars to this park.

Beth Nuss, who is the coordinator for the park, said that she remarked that Mr. Milken needs to be recognized for all his efforts and money donated to this community. They have a beautiful center at the corner of Wall and Main. This is a huge tourist attraction now. Beth said that her committee is made up of Carolyn Sinn, Elaine Buerge, Bernita Hill and herself. They have been working on this for a lot of years. They got a grant from Timken and used this for improvements. Mr. Milken came through with funding for the waterfall attraction at the park and she thanked him.

Norm asked that the City deed the property over to the non-profit Lowell Milken Center. Mr. Milken’s donation has been over $100,000 and will be close to $200,000 towards this park. They look to begin to finish the park in the spring of 2021. They would like to have it completed by the All School Reunion in June of 2021. The Center will be responsible for maintenance, upkeep, and insurance for the Unsung Heroes Park.

K. Allen moved to approve the City deed the Unsung Heroes Park to the non-profit Lowell Milken Center. J. Mitchell seconded. All voted aye.

APPROVED FOR THE CITY TO DEED THE UNSUNG HEROES PARK TO THE NON-PROFIT LOWELL MILKEN CENTER.

New Business:

  1. City Employee Christmas Bonus – Deb Needleman, Human Resource Director, informed the Commission that during the budget session, that money for raises were not included. Money for the Christmas bonus was included as well as the turkey certificate. The turkey certificate is from Butcher Block. The Christmas bonus is for $100/full time employees, $50 for ¾ time employees, and $25/part-time employees. This amounts to $10,325.00.

R. Nichols moved to approve the Christmas bonus for City employees. L. Watts. All voted aye.

APPROVED CHRISTMAS BONUS FOR CITY EMPLOYEES.

 

  1. Interim City Manager Contract Approval – Deb Needleman, Human Resource Director, said after the last executive session she was asked to secure a contract for the Interim City Manager. She introduced Jeff Hancock to the City Commission. Mr. Hancock works for Management Partners, Inc. and this contract is between the City and Management Partners, Inc. His rate of pay will be $5,500 per month. This is a four-month contract and includes a 15 day period for termination. He would be in Fort Scott three days a week.

Mr. Hancock introduced himself to the Commission and gave some background information on himself. He has been in City government for 47 years in 10 different cities.

Discussion was held regarding the amount of monthly pay, his role of City Manager, and what his daily activities would be.

R. Nichols moved to approve the contract with Management Partners, Inc. and approve the hiring of Jeff Hancock as Interim City Manager on a four month basis. L. Watts seconded. R. Nichols, L. Watts and J. Mitchell voted aye. K. Allen and P. Allen voted no. Motion carried 3-2.

APPROVED THE CONTRACT WITH MANAGEMENT PARTNERS, INC. AND APPROVE THE HIRING OF JEFF HANCOCK AS INTERIM CITY MANAGER ON A FOUR MONTH BASIS.

Kevin Allen left the room at 7:25 p.m.

  1. Skitch’s Hauling & Excavation Invoice – $1,377.00 – J. Mitchell said the invoice for Skitch’s Hauling & Excavation is before them for approval.

 

R. Nichols moved to approve the Skitch’s Hauling & Excavation invoice in the amount of $1,377.00. L. Watts seconded. All voted aye.

 

APPROVED SKITCH’S HAULING & EXCAVATION INVOICE IN THE AMOUNT OF $1,377.00.

Kevin Allen returned at 7:27 p.m.

 

  1. Consideration to purchase a used vehicle from Kansas Highway Patrol to replace the K-9 vehicle – Travis Shelton, Chief of Police, informed the Commission that he is requesting to purchase a used vehicle through the Kansas Highway Patrol Fleet Sales Program. Kansas Highway Patrol provides used vehicles to law enforcement agencies with some equipment provided and installed. They sell Dodge, Ford, and Chevrolet and vehicles that are under 50,000 miles with the exception of K-9 vehicles which are taken offline at 70,000 miles. He asked approval to purchase a vehicle at a cost of $25,000 or under through K.H.P. The current vehicle has over 134,000 miles and is starting to have equipment issues. Chief Shelton also asked to waive the bidding process this time as they will be using the K.H.P. program.

Discussion was held regarding if the officer takes this vehicle to his personal home and Chief Shelton said that he does as he is called out all hours of the day and night. This vehicle is equipped for the transfer of a K-9 dog.

P. Allen asked if the police officer and the dog could appear at a future meeting and give statistics regarding call outs and the dog and his drug finds.

L. Watts moved to approve to waive the bidding process and purchase a used K-9 vehicle through Kansas Highway Patrol at a cost up to $25,000. R. Nichols seconded. All voted aye.

APPROVED TO WAIVE THE BIDDING PROCESS AND PURCHASE A USED K-9 VEHICLE THROUGH KANSAS HIGHWAY PATROL USED FLEET SALES AT A COST UP TO $25,000.

  1. Police and Fire SPARKS grant funding (Exception to bidding process) – Dave Bruner, Fire Chief, informed the Commission that in late September the City was notified that our grant application for SPARKS funding was approved. The first round of reporting was due on November 5th for purchases made through October. The next round of reporting is due by December 5th. In order to meet the guidelines set forth by the State of Kansas, we must have all funds expended by December 5th. There will not be extensions granted if funds are not spent by this date. This time frame does not allow for the City to complete the competitive bidding process as set forth by the purchasing policy. We have also been told by several vendors that they are overwhelmed with purchases from other cities that are utilizing SPARKS funding like the City of Fort Scott and may not be able to meet the deadline. We are asking the Commission to provide an exception and allow us to use quotes received in lieu of the bidding process. There are quotes attached in the packet that the Commission received. These items are all over the $5,000 threshold but are sole source purchases to integrate with our current systems in Public Safety. The Fire Department is requesting purchase of four (4) Self Contained Breathing Apparatus (SCBA) units in the amount of $23,532.00. Casco Industries, Inc. of Shreveport, LA was the low bidder in the amount of $23,532.00. He asked for approval for the SCBA units. K. Allen moved to approve to waive the bidding process for the (4) SCBA units and approve the purchase from Casco Industries, Inc. in the amount of $23,532.00 to be paid for with SPARK funding. L. Watts seconded. All voted aye.

approved to waive the bidding process for the (4) SCBA units and approve the purchase from Casco Industries, Inc. in the amount of $23,532.00 to be paid for with SPARK funding.

Jason Pickert, Captain, Fort Scott Police Department, informed the Commission that they also secured bids with SPARK funding for items that are needed. One of the biggest items is the electronic citation system. This will replace the current paper citation system and save time. The City uses Tyler Technologies and this would integrate with the City’s system. The cost is $28,727.02 and the licensing is $9,720.00 Also looking to purchase is five (5) MDT computers for their in-car use. The low bid was from Turn-Key Mobile, Inc. in the amount of $30,833. Also looking to purchase is five (5) computers for telework at a cost of $14,161.56 from Connection.gov which was the low quote. He asked for approval to waive the bidding process due to the time constraints and purchase these items with SPARK funding.

K. Allen moved to approve the Police Department purchases with SPARK funding and to waive the bidding process. L. Watts seconded. All voted aye.

APPROVED TO PURCHASE THE ELECTRONIC CITATATION SYSTEM THROUGH TYLER TECHNOLOGIES AT A COST OF $28,727.02 AND LICENSING FOR $9,720.00; FIVE COMPUTERS FOR IN-CAR VEHICLES AT A COST OF $30,833; AND FIVE COMPUTERS FOR $14,161.56 AND TO WAIVE THE BIDDING PROCESS AS THESE ITEMS ARE BEING FUNDED THROUGH SPARKS FUNDING.

  1. Consideration of Parks Board Members -5 members – Diane Clay, City Clerk, informed the Commission that letters of interest were received for the Parks Board. There were seven (7) letters of interest received which included the following individuals: Josh Jones, Frank Halsey, Alison Leach, Seth Needham, Jana Walker, David Harrison, and Madison Jones. Votes were taken and tallied for the following board members to be appointed: Frank Halsey, Alison Leach, Seth Needham, Jana Walker, and a tie between Josh Jones and Madison Jones. A vote was taken between Josh Jones and Madison Jones with Madison Jones being declared the winner.

L. Watts asked that a list of all the City parks and ball parks be given them and who is responsible for which park.

City Clerk will get that information for them.

P. Allen moved to approve Frank Halsey, Alison Leach, Seth Needham, Jana Walker and Madison Jones. The Board will decide on the terms. K. Allen seconded. All voted aye.

approved Frank Halsey, Alison Leach, Seth Needham, Jana Walker and Madison Jones. The Board will decide on the terms.

 

  1. Approval of ballot verbiage for Charter Ordinance No. 31 – Jeff Deane, City Attorney, informed the Commission that he has talked to the County Clerk about the verbiage for the ballot vote. The ballot shall read as follows: Shall Charter Ordinance No. 31, entitled A Charter Ordinance Exempting the City of Fort Scott, Kansas from the provisions of K.S.A. 12-631p relating to the disposition of sewer and storm sewer reserve funds take effect? Yes or No.

L. Watts moved to approve the verbiage for the ballot vote for Charter Ordinance No. 31. J. Mitchell seconded. All voted aye.

APPROVED THE VERBIAGE FOR THE BALLOT VOTE FOR CHARTER ORDINANCE NO. 31. THE BALLOT SHALL READ AS FOLLOWS: Shall Charter Ordinance No. 31, entitled A Charter Ordinance Exempting the City of Fort Scott, Kansas from the provisions of K.S.A. 12-631p relating to the disposition of sewer and storm sewer reserve funds take effect? Yes or No.

 

  1. Consideration to change meeting time for the December 1st, 2020 meeting to 4:00 p.m. to allow for attendance at the Christmas parade – Diane Clay, City Clerk, informed the Commission that the next meeting is scheduled to begin at 6:00 p.m. on December 1st, which is the same night as the Christmas parade which also begins at 6:00 p.m. The Mayor is scheduled to light the tree. She recommended moving the meeting to 4:00 p.m. that evening.

L. Watts moved to change the meeting time for the December 1st, 2020 meeting to 4:00 p.m. to allow for attendance at the Christmas parade. J. Mitchell seconded. All voted aye.

approved to change the meeting time for the December 1st, 2020 meeting to 4:00 p.m. to allow for attendance at the Christmas parade.

Reports and Comments:

  1. Director Reports:

Susan Bancroft (written report in packet)

Michael Mix – Michael brought the Commission an update on the lining of sanitary sewers. He gave an update on open cut work that the City workers completed. He shared comparisons on hiring more City workers and bidding the work out.

  1. Commissioner Reports and Comments:

L. Watts – Remarked that there have been a lot of changes these last few months and that the information has not been put out as much as it should have been. She is working diligently to do research on various issues. She is happy to discuss any issues with anyone.

She asked if there was a Planning Commission date set.

City Clerk said it is November 30th.

L. Watts asked if the location could be moved.

Diane said that we need to check with the City Attorney as it is published.

R. Nichols – Remarked that he is sorry that the perception of corruption is going on. The retirement of Dave Martin and moving forward and the explanation has been difficult. We all don’t agree on issues but we are communicating with various people in the community. As Dave worked through his retirement, we had multiple closed sessions on that, which needed to be done due to the nature of it. There was a consensus and approval, but Lindsey was working hard on issues independently. He recognized that we would be moving quickly through the process and not have a designated leader. This included calling the League of Kansas Municipalities and getting their opinion. He gathered information to avoid a K.O.MA. violation. The information he had was brought back to the meetings and everyone had a copy of it. There was nothing hidden, no preconceived agenda, no agreements made outside of those meetings. They did collect information in order to make appropriate decisions. To say otherwise, bothers him. They all had the ability to talk to Jeff Hancock and Jeff Deane on any issues. We were elected to make decisions and were at a point where we were winding up leaderless and took the initiative to find information. That is how they got to where they are. We are moving forward. He appreciates both Jeff’s and looks forward to working with both of them. He said anyone is welcome to call him at any time. The Commissioners were all engaged and that’s how we got here.

P. Allen – He said he would like to comment on Randy’s comments. He thinks the process we went through to get here stinks. He thinks that the public has found out that it stinks. We need to do it up front.

K. Allen – He remarked that his feelings are that he would have liked to have had a special meeting after the City Manager resigned. He congratulated Jeff Hancock and welcomed him to the show. He also thanked Ally and Craig Campbell on the skating at Buck Run. The kids will love that. He thanked the City crews for replacing the Lake Fort Scott valve. The valve was repaired and fixed. He asked Michael if they were going to put a secondary valve on it.

Michael Mix said yes. They were going to order a new valve. A refurbished valve is not an option.

J. Mitchell – Nothing to report.

City Attorney Report and Comments: Nothing to report.

Interim City Manager Report and Comments: Jeff said that he looks forward to meeting individually with each of them. He found out he has a staff meeting in the morning at 9:00 a.m. with the Directors and will get to know them.

Adjournment:

R. Nichols moved to adjourn the meeting at 8:38 p.m. L. Watts seconded. All voted aye.

ADJOURNED MEETING AT 8:38 P.M.

Respectfully submitted,

Diane K. Clay, MMC

City Clerk

Fort Scott, Health Care, Schools

Missy Reynolds: New FSHS Nurse

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Missy Reynolds. Submitted photo.

Missy Reynolds is a new school nurse at Fort Scott High School, since the end of August 2020.

She has been a district nurse substitute over the past several years and prior to that worked at Nevada Medical Clinic.

Reynolds graduated from FSHS in 1989, then graduated from Fort Scott Community College in 2008 with an associate of applied science degree in nursing.

She was born and raised in Fort Scott.

She has been married to Mike Reynolds for 26 years and has three children. Garrett, Kennede, and Kerigan. Kerigan is currently a sophomore at FSHS.

Reynold became a nurse to help people.

“I wanted to be a nurse to be able to help people,” she said. “I was busy raising my children but the opportunity came up for me to go back to college later in life so I was a non-traditional student.”

“The high school has not had a full-time nurse in the past so this has been a great addition for them. I see students for all basic medical needs, keep health records up to date and communicate with parents as needed. Every day is something new.”

Bourbon County, Government

Bourbon County Commission Minutes of Nov. 17. 2020

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November 17, 2020                                         Tuesday 9:00 am

 

The Bourbon County Commissioners met in open session with Jeff Fischer present and Clifton and Lynne by telephone, Also present were the County Counselor and the County Clerk.

 

Also present were the following; (some were present for a portion of the meeting, some were present for the entire meeting), Jason Silvers with the Fort Scott Tribune, Clint and Rachel Walker, Anne Dare, Nancy Van Etten and Michael Hoyt.

 

Eric Bailey by phone reported that a recent windstorm knocked a few trees down near 245th & Hackberry.  He said they have hauled 50 loads of gravel to the Southeast portion of the County and will be hauling to the Northwest portion next week.  He said they are crushing rock at the Shepherd quarry and the culvert crew is installing culverts.  They are patching at 125th & Tomahawk and working towards 54 Highway and then will be working in the Northwest part of the County.  They are doing roadside mowing South and North of 54 Highway.  He said all of the dump trucks are currently back in service.  He said there have been some hydraulic issues with some of the trucks, but those issues are under warranty.  Eric said they had a tractor that sold on Purple Wave, but the buyer backed out.  He said that two road graders have a power by the hour contract that is due to be renewed; he suggested renewing.  Jeff made a motion to renew the power by the hour contract for the two road graders, Clifton seconded and all approved.

 

Jeff moved to amend the agenda to talk about longevity pay for the County employees, Clifton seconded and all approved.  When the Commissioners did the 2020 budget they included $51,000 total for longevity pay.  They would like to pay this out to eligible employees before Christmas of 2020.  Jeff said the wage scale is behind and suggested that the onetime longevity pay might help narrow the gap.  Jeff said loosing an employee is a significant cost, he said the longevity pay idea was to build loyalty and provide compensation to employees.  The longevity pay will be a onetime payment based on years of service.  Lynne made a motion to start identifying all eligible employees (non elected) and pay the longevity pay on December 4th, Jeff seconded, Justin Meeks questioned if the pay would be based on years of service or a flat rate to all eligible employees, Lynne said he would look at his previous notes about how the longevity pay was calculated.  Kendell will provide each of the Commissioners with an employee listing with years of service for their consideration when distributing the longevity pay.  Jeff made a motion to table the motion pending additional information and discuss again on November 24th, Clifton 2nd and all approved.

 

Jody Hoener gave a SPARK update; she said that Greenbush is working on the December 4th reporting and said that some entities are marked as complete.  Jody discussed the BWERC grant; she said BWERC was awarded $170,800 in grant money and said they have awarded approximately $100,000 to 20 business for website development, she said they have implemented a child care incentive to help facilities keep up with licensing requirements.  She said Kwowks is offering job seeking opportunities to individuals needing help.  She said Kansas small business development is offering business support and can also help businesses get LLC licenses.   Jeff made a motion to authorize Kendell Mason to sign a disbursement of $17,261.99 worth of CDBG funds, Clifton seconded and all approved.

 

Jody Hoener said she didn’t want to purchase furniture for the BWERC location where she will spend most of her time until the end of the year and asked permission to move some of her furniture from the Courthouse to that location; Lynne said they would discuss this later today.  They briefly discussed later and Lynne questioned who would use the furniture, Jody said she would use the furniture, she said she has been working there for the past 15 days and her office will be over there, she said she would still have her desk here and said her phone calls roll over to her cell phone.  Lynne made a motion to amend the agenda to have an executive session at 11:45 with the Commissioners and Jody for non-elected personnel, Clifton seconded and all approved.

 

Lynne asked Jeff Fischer to sign the Stryker bill and the Omni bill; Jeff signed the vouchers to be paid.

 

Register of Deeds Lora Holdridge met with the Commissioners regarding the holiday dinner; Covid was discussed and the concern of having employees gathered together.  The Commissioners will discuss this again next week, (possible meal, gift card or a meal at a later date).  Lora said her office is having a $10 ornament exchange for all employees that want to participate.

 

Jody Hoener discussed the OMNI lockbox option; she said there has been a lag in time that items are being posted regarding the EMS billing.  She said a lockbox could increase customer service, she said the County is responsible for items being posted in a timely manner, she said Patty Love, the County Treasurer feels a lockbox is needed.  Jody said there is a cost associated with the Lockbox, Lynne asked that this be tabled until he can do research; this will be discussed again on November 24th.  Jody said she will be working to enroll the EMS service as a Missouri Medicaid provider, she said we are currently a Kansas Medicaid provider.

 

Jeff made a motion to amend the agenda to allow Kirk Sharp with FSCC to speak about the Gordon Parks Museum, Clifton seconded and all approved.  Kirk Sharp discussed a project they are doing regarding the 1968 film the Learning Tree; they are placing signs at locations that were part of the Learning Tree, they are creating a virtual tour of the locations that were part of the filming of the Learning Tree.  He said the City of Fort Scott is supportive of the placement of signs on their easements and said they are asking the County for a letter of support and asking for permission to approve signs being placed on the County easements; he said they were not asking for the County to fund the project.  Eric Bailey will contact KDOT regarding sign placement on easements.  Jeff made a motion to support the Gordon Parks signage project and to give Eric Bailey permission to facilitate the endeavor, Clifton seconded and all approved.

 

Justin Meeks met with the Commissioners regarding the sewer service agreement for the sewer district; he said when the district was set up, residents on Indian road were asked if they wanted to join the district then, but didn’t.  He said someone needs to find out the capacity load of the current system, he said if it was at or near limited capacity they would need to limit who connects to the district.  Justin said the City is responsible for maintaining the district.  Nancy Van Etten said that Michael Mix reported to her that the system was designed for 60 single homes; she said the boundaries of the district are well defined.  Justin said the Commissioners had decisions to make regarding if they wanted to limit connections and said they needed to set parameters.  Jeff Fischer said he would review the capacity of the system.  Lynne made a motion to give Jeff permission to talk to Michael Mix to determine the capacity of the sewer system and then Justin will work with Susan at the City of Fort Scott regarding the sewer service agreement, Clifton seconded and all approved.

 

On November 10th, Gregg Motley met with the Commissioners regarding BEDCO and requested $130,000 for 2021 for economic development shared services; there was a discussion over Allen County economic development and Thrive.  Lynne said that BEDCO is a 501(3) (c) and because of this they had access to more grant opportunities.  Lynne said once they approve funding, they would look for an economic development person and then the County would eliminate our economic development position.  Lynne said all cities would be represented on this dynamic board to make sure this works.  Lynne made a motion to approve the 2021 budget request of $130,000, Clifton seconded and the motion passed, Jeff didn’t vote for or against the motion.  Lynne made a motion to give Clifton permission to speak to Gregg Motley regarding BEDCO, Jeff seconded and all approved.

 

Jayhawk Wind representatives Alan Anderson and Julianna Planelli met with the Commissioners; Justin Meeks said they want to move the district from the east to the west.  He said they have the ability to use any road in the county, but have to have permission to use the roads to move their heavy equipment and supplies.  Justin said they want to expand in an area where there is an oil field and on land in the Southwest corner of the County.  Lynne said they are not expanding the number of turbines nor are they expanding the megawatts, he said they are just moving locations from somewhere else to the west and said this is a request to move from the east to the west.  Clifton questioned if they were asking to use a few extra miles of roads to get to the property; Julianna said they want to utilize an additional 3 miles of roads.  Clifton questioned if they were improving the roads; Julianna said they would upgrade the roads to support the heavy equipment and said once construction is finalized they would leave the roads in a condition as they are now or better that they currently are and said an engineer would be involved with this.  Julianna said a pre-inventory (between Jayhawk Wind and the County) of the roads would be done. Clifton Beth asked Justin if what Julianna was stating was true; Justin said what she stated is in the parameters of the signed contract.  Jeff said with the current condition of the roads a significant amount of base will need to be on the roads to support their equipment.  Justin said there will be no cost to the County to maintain these roads while they are using them. Lynne asked for a legal description of what they want to expand; Justin said maps had been provided.  Lynne made a motion to allow Jayhawk Wind to expand to the west as indicated on the map and asked that the map be included in the contract, Clifton seconded, Clifton said as a person that wasn’t involved in the negotiations, he believed as a non-zoned County people could do what they wanted with their land, Jeff questioned if they would stay 3 miles from Elm Creek and Bourbon Allen lake; Julianna said there are participating landowners that have signed up near the lakes, but said no turbines will be located within 3 miles of the lakes.  Jeff didn’t vote for or against the motion.

 

Justin Meeks discussed the tax sale; he said they sent the majority of the demand letters to the property owners that have delinquent taxes (some delinquent back to 2016), he said there is $1.4 million in delinquent taxes.  Justin said some are starting to pay the delinquent taxes.  He said demand letters had not been sent to properties with special assessments on them, he said the City of Fort Scott will need to decide what they want to do with properties with specials attached to them.  He said they will sell properties with specials on them at the next tax sale.  There are 75 parcels at Hidden Valley Lake to be sold.  He said eventually he would like to talk to legislature about setting a minimum bid on tax sale properties and about mandating that any payments on delinquent taxes be applied to the oldest taxes due.  Patty Love presented the contract for Security 1st to do the title work on the tax sale properties for $115/parcel, Jeff made a motion to approve the agreement with Security 1st to do the tax sale title work, Clifton seconded and all approved and Jeff signed the contract.   Justin said they do not guarantee title insurance with tax sale properties.

 

Lynne made a motion to allow Anne Dare to speak before an executive session, Jeff seconded and all approved.  Anne discussed the changed agenda and said she wasn’t aware of Jayhawk Wind coming to the meeting today; Justin added Jayhawk Wind to the agenda on Monday afternoon, Anne suggested the Commissioners decide if they wanted the agenda sent on Friday or Monday.  Anne reported that she had met with Jeff Spangler with Apex/Jayhawk Wind to get an update; she said there are currently 118 planned turbine sites and said it won’t be any larger than 185 megawatts.  She said there are two transmission lines in the area, Anne questioned if the County had received $50,000 payment for outside employment of an outside engineer, Lynne said yes, that it was in a line item by itself and said other revenue from Jayhawk Wind will be placed in a revenue account; Anne asked if they could see foresee hiring an outside engineer, Lynne said if they need an engineer they will contact Frank Young with Ag Engineering.

 

Jeff Fischer made a motion to go into a 10 minute executive session for personnel matters of individual non-elected personnel in Jody’s office, Clifton seconded and all approved, (the session included the Commissioners and Jody Hoener).  No action was taken.

 

Lynne made a motion to go into a 20 minute executive session for personnel matters of individual non-elected personnel in the office next to the Commission room, Jeff seconded and all approved, (the session included the Commissioners and Justin Meeks).  After the session, Jeff made a motion to authorize software training for point of service at the Landfill, Clifton seconded and all approved.

 

Jeff made a motion to hire temporary contracted help for $20/hour to catch up the process of the ambulance claims until the process is up to date, Clifton seconded and all approved.

 

Jeff made a motion for Eric Bailey to handle a non-elected personnel issue at his discretion, Clifton seconded and all approved.

 

Lynne made a motion to amend the agenda to approve claim vouchers, Clifton seconded and all approved.  Lynne gave Jeff permission to sign claim vouchers for the following; FSCC $20,956.22 (SPARK funds), Moes Bread $3,000 (SPARK funds), Forensic Medical $9,250, Kansas Employment fund $29.00, Jeff signed the vouchers to be paid.  Lynne gave Jeff permission to sign a voucher to pay the credit card payment as soon as possible.

 

Lynne made a motion to amend the agenda to adopt a resolution regarding the 2020 General Election results, to discuss the medical mall and to discuss COVID, Clifton seconded and all approved.

 

Jeff made a motion to adopt resolution 29-20, a resolution with the 2020 General Election results, Clifton seconded and all approved.

 

Lynne reported there would be a healthcare mall meeting on November 23rd; he made a motion to give Clifton permission to participate in the discussions and appoint him as a successor on the healthcare board, Jeff seconded and all approved.

 

Clifton discussed COVID, he said COVID is spreading and he had received communication from people asking about mask mandates, he asked for permission to contact the health board, Justin Meeks said that Jeff Fischer is on the health board.  Jeff said the health board has supported the recommended State mandates, he said enforcement is an issue, Jeff said there is an increase in cases and said that some have no symptoms, Jeff said the positivity rate is over 50% for the tests taken which suggests that COVID is less controlled than it was in the past, Jeff said a good health practice is to wear a mask when you can’t socially distance at least 6’ apart.

 

At 12:55, Jeff made a motion to adjourn, Clifton seconded and all approved.

 

THE BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS

OF BOURBON COUNTY, KANSAS

(ss) Lynne Oharah, Chairman

(ss) Jeff Fischer, Commissioner

(ss) Clifton Beth, Commissioner

ATTEST:

Kendell Mason, Bourbon County Clerk

November 24, 2020, Approved Date

 

 

Bourbon County, Government

Bourbon County Commission Minutes of Nov. 10, 2020

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November 10, 2020                                                             Tuesday 9:00 AM

 

The Bourbon County Commission met in open session with Commissioner Oharah, Commissioner Fisher, the County Counselor and the County Clerk present. Also present where the following, (some were present for the entire meeting some were present for a portion of the meeting) Jason Silver’s with the Fort Scott Tribune, Jim Harris, Nancy Van Etten, Mr. and Mrs. Clint Walker, Shane Wood, Deb McKinney, Anne Dare and Nancy Mayes.

 

Lynn made a motion to go into a 10 minute executive session for non-elected personnel, Jeff second the motion and the motion passed, (present for the session were the Commissioners, Justin Meeks and Eric Bailey (by telephone). No action was taken.

 

Eric Bailey (by phone) discussed Elm Creek Lake; he said they have identified an area on the northeast corner of the dam that is causing problems; they are waiting on Frank Young to get back to discuss if it’s solid rock or shale and then get information on a cost of drilling in that area.

 

Eric Bailey said the pothole patcher is working in the northwest area of the County and will be heading to the southeast area. They are also still installing culverts.

 

Lynne reported that the Uniontown School asked that Maple and 75th be closed on November 11th, for the Veterans Day parade, Eric said he would take care of this.

 

Eric reported that they had blasted at the Blake quarry and now will move to the Shepherd quarry to prepare to do a blast there.

 

Jeff question if the bridge load rating signs we’re all posted around the county, especially in the southwest portion of the county.  He said with the wind development starting, we need to make sure the signs are posted.  Eric said he would check for the signs. Jeff said that we needed to make sure they were following the counties right of way standards.

 

Jeff Fisher read a letter of support for CHC SEK (the primary care provider occupying Mercy Hospital building); the letter was to support for them to apply to be a public transportation provider. Jeff made a motion to give the chairman permission to sign the letter of support, Lynn seconded and the motion passed and Lynn signed the letter of support.

 

Monica Murnan with Greenbush discussed the Spark grant funds; she said they were at the point of the grant process where the Commissioners may need to make some adjustments. She said a lot of the community businesses understand the gift that this is regarding mitigating COVID-19. Monica said we may have about $10,000 not assigned and will need to delegate that money elsewhere in December. Monica will meet with the Commissioners again on December 1 and December 8. Monica said they are following up with grant recipients gathering the needed data. She said if a recipient wants to spend money where it was not allocated she will bring those issues to the Commissioners to see if they want to allow them to spend it out of a different category. She said they were going to pull the MOU for Little Tigers Daycare since they hadn’t heard from them.

 

Jody Hoener met with the Commissioners; she said the City of Chanute’s IT department had been awarded a $1.6 million grant for connectivity. Jody contacted them to learn to see if there was anything for our community. She got contacts at the State level for any possible future connectivity grants.  Monica suggested that Jody contact the City of Pittsburg and the Pittsburg schools regarding the grants as well.

 

Jody Hoener gave a BWERC update; she said the BWERC location is open at 17 S. Main Street. She said they are seeing a need for businesses to get assistance. Jody asked if she could move the furniture from her office at the Courthouse to the BWERC location (she said the furniture was purchased with Healthy Bourbon County Action team money), Lynn asked that they discuss this next week when Clifton was going to be there.

 

The Commissioners discussed the sewer district hookup; Justin has been working with Susan Bancroft at the City of Fort Scott regarding the sewer district.  Justin gave the Commissioners an updated service agreement for them to review.  They will discuss this again next week. There was concern over locations on Indian road wanting to connect to the sewer district and whether or not the sewer could handle all of the additional connections. Shane Wood said he had bought a lot at the Fort Scott Lake and was initially told it had sewer on the lot, he said he had worked with Michael Mix at the City of Fort Scott who told him he had sewer on the lot but he couldn’t find it, it didn’t have sewer but was told to find the line of where it connects, he didn’t have a line and said it would be about $20,000 for him to get on the sewer district, when he initially was told he had sewer. His property is on the East side of the Lake. It was stated that there is a need for sewer policies but the policies needed to be upfront so people knew what they we’re getting into. Jeff Fisher said he was OK with waiving the fees for Saint Martin’s and the Woods property, but with the proposed condominium development at the Lake they realized the sewer board needed to be organized with an inter-local agreement. Jeff Fisher said there might eventually be a fire station near the lake which could help with the insurance ratings there. Nancy Van Etten spoke as the lake advisory chairperson; she also wanted to review the document from Justin Meeks. Nancy presented a letter asking to move land from the Bourbon County fire District #3 to Scott Township fire district #5. Justin responded to her letter with a letter that said he felt the Bourbon County Commissioners had no authority over these fire districts. He said the petition is not substantial and is not in the required form and thus is not valid as presented.

 

Bill Martin, Bobby Reed, Ben Cole and Rachel Thompson (videotaping) met with the Commissioners regarding the COVID-19 leave time; Bobby discussed the COVID-19 pandemic he said he is pro employee and thinks the County handbook needs to revised to define what the County can do for employees who have contracted Covid at work. He said he had an employee that went into the hospital due to COVID-19, he said this employee had no sick or vacation time and used all of the 80 hours of COVID-19 leave time given to them. Bobby felt we needed to do something for all employees, he said he thought the County needed to take better care of our employees. Lynne said he talked to KCAMP regarding the 80 hours of Covid leave time, emergency personnel could be excluded from this 80 hour policy and that it would be up to the elected officials to allow them to use this leave time.  Bobby wants something beyond the 80 hours for the employees. Bill said the outdated policy needs to be addressed. Bill said this could affect all of the employees, Bobby said he contacted KCAMP and Kworcc and that Covid is not covered under work comp. Bobby said the Covid leave time runs out on December 31 and asked what we were going to do after that. Jeff Fisher said he saw everyone in the room except Bill and Bobby wearing their masks right, (Bill and Bobby did not have their masks covering their nose) Bobby said everyone has their own opinion on wearing masks. Lynne said they would have a discussion over this.

 

Greg Motley with BEDCO met with the Commissioners with a BEDCO budget request. He discussed economic development and suggested the most advantageous structure for economic development is a 501(c) (3), which could qualify them for a range of grants and programs that municipalities cannot. He discuss Thrive Allen County which has a seven-figure budget and eight employees, he said they help municipalities write grants and provide other services which helps keep the expenses incurred local. He asked for the Bourbon County Commission to fund the initial effort in the amount of $130,000. Greg said their focus would be to bring outside money to us. The Commissioners did not make a decision on this but will discuss this again next week.

 

Patty West, Lynette Westhoff and Brad Hartman met with the Commissioners regarding the Counties property and work comp. insurance. Patty and Lynette had been gathering data to quote the counties 2021 insurance, but were recently told that the Commissioners had decided to stay with KCAMP and Kworcc for the 2021 year. Patty said they were very disappointed that they were shut down in the quoting process.  Lynne said the County had not put the insurance up for bid for 2021, but said they would put it up for bid for the 2022 year.  Jeff said our current insurance companies also provides a lot of risk management services, Patty said their companies can also offer this.  Bill Martin said he had sent a mass email to different Sheriff’s departments, he said he believed in buying and living local.  He said KCAMP is located in Topeka and their board is made up of all County officials, he said EMC is located in Iowa and the directors are not local.  Bill said some of the counties were in support of KCAMP and some were in support of EMC; Bill said he recommended KCAMP, he said the biggest liability for the County is the Sheriff’s department and the jail.  Lynnette asked Bill for the copies of the emails he received so that she could research the statements made regarding claims for EMC.  If the County selected Travelers Insurance Patty West would be the local contact and if the County selected EMC Insurance Lynnette Westhoff would be the local contact, but both would be available to assist the County.

Justin Meeks said there was an issue brought up by Michael Hoyt; he said a protest petition was filed regarding the City of Fort Scott purchasing a fire truck, Justin said general obligation bonds were not being used to purchase the truck and said grant money is being used to purchase the truck.  Justin said Mr. Hoyt was submitting a question to the AG’s office regarding this issue.  Justin said he would issue a formal letter to Mr. Hoyt.

Jeff made a motion to go into a 20 minute executive session for confidential data relating to financial affairs or trade secrets of corporations, partnerships, trusts and individual proprietorships, Lynne seconded and the motion passed, (the session included the Commissioners, Jody Hoener, Justin Meeks and Bill Brittain).  No action was taken.

Jeff made a motion to go into a 10 minute executive session for personnel matters of individual non-elected personnel, Lynne seconded and the motion passed, (the session included the Commissioners and Jody Hoener).  No action was taken.

 

The 2020 General Election canvass is scheduled for 10:00 am, November 12th; the Commissioners are the canvassing board (Lynne and Jeff plan to attend).

 

Jeff made a motion to allow Lynne to sign a non-disclosure agreement; Lynne seconded and signed the agreement.

 

Eddie Harrison asked the Commissioners what the status was regarding the leak at Elm Creek Lake; the Commissioners said Eric Bailey reported that Ag Engineering said the problem is located at the northeast corner of the lake and said they were going to drill samples there.

 

Don George with KDWP met with the Commissioners regarding Elm Creek Lake; he said Elm Creek is a WPA project with quality workmanship.  Don said they want to be involved with the project and said when they were looking for grant money for the Lake he might be their source.  He said their grant money would need to be applied for by the 2nd week of May and said the grants max out at $40,000.  He asked that the Commissioners call him and said together they would look at other projects in the County that are part of KDWP.  Jeff asked Don George to contact Frank Young regarding Elm Creek Lake.

 

Deb McCoy and Nancy Van Etten met with the Commissioners regarding Fire District #3 and #5 and the possibility of transferring land from one to the other.  Justin said they needed to learn how the Scott Fire District was formed.  Jeff said that Scott (FD #5) wants to build a fire station near the west side of the Lake.

 

Lynne made a motion to amend the agenda to allow for executive sessions, Jeff seconded and the motion passed.

 

Lynne made a motion to go into a 30 minute executive session for personnel matters of individual non-elected personnel, Jeff seconded and the motion passed, (the session included the Commissioners, Justin Meeks, Eric Bailey (by phone) and Kendell Mason).  No action was taken.

 

Jeff made a motion to go into a 15 minute executive session for personnel matters of individual non-elected personnel and to move the session to a different location on County property due to confidentiality, Lynne seconded and the motion passed, (the session included the Commissioners, Eric Bailey (by phone) 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 and to move the session to a different location on County property due to confidentiality, Jeff seconded and the motion passed, (the session included the Commissioners, Clifton Beth and Eric Bailey (by phone), and Justin Meeks.  After the session, Jeff made a motion to give Lynne the authority at his discretion to handle a non-elected personnel issue, Lynne seconded the motion and the motion passed.  Justin Meeks said he would be doing some HR functions with Lynne in the next 48 hours and said KAC had been contacted this morning regarding an issue.

 

At 1:20, Jeff made a motion to adjourn, Lynne seconded and all approved.

 

THE BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS

OF BOURBON COUNTY, KANSAS

(ss) Lynne Oharah, Chairman

(ss) Jeff Fischer, Commissioner

(ss) Clifton Beth, Commissioner

ATTEST:

Kendell Mason, Bourbon County Clerk

November 24, 2020, Approved Date

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bourbon County, Entertainment, Exercise, Fort Scott

New Skating Rink on the Horizon For Fort Scott

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Buck Run Community Center is the site chosen for the skating rink. It is located at 735 S. Scott, just east of the aquatic center.

A new skating rink is on the horizon for Fort Scott.

“This project came from community discussion about a need for more kid-friendly activities,” said Allyson Turvey, Fort Scott Tourism and Community Development Manager.  “Memorial Hall was used as a roller rink back in the ’80s, so the initial idea was really just to give that another go. It will benefit the community’s youth, and will hopefully draw families from the larger region as well. ”

“Originally we had hoped to use Memorial Hall, but the cost to resurface the floor is simply too high,” she said.  “So for now we are focusing our attention on the old gym at Buck Run. Ideally if this goes well we could eventually look to investing in the floor of Memorial Hall since it is a larger venue.”

Allyson Turvey. Submitted photo.

 

Turvey is the project leader.

 

“Leah Bowman has helped a lot with research,” she said. “But this project simply wouldn’t be possible without the tremendous amount of community support we’ve received”

“Craig Campbell and Angie Rhodes Kemmerer along with her class have been heavily involved in the planning, and have also thrown out many ideas we had not considered. It’s also fantastic to have a project with not just community involvement, but student involvement. Students are excited and working really hard to make this thing a success.”

Logistics such as staffing, insurance needs, and safety requirements are being considered.

“But we really have two priorities at this point, the rink itself, and the skates,” Turvey said. ” Without these pieces locked down, we won’t be able to move forward. We’ve now decided on the ideal location, so we need to find the skates. The cost to purchase enough skates to run this type of facility isn’t really feasible, so Angie and Craig have put us in touch with roller skate rental companies. We’re hopeful to have a solution for skates soon.”

 

The skating rink project is for the area youth.

 

“The target population for the rink is of course local youth,” she said.  “It’s been a widely held opinion that Fort Scott needs more activities for kids. This will certainly meet that objective. The students that have been helping with the project are really excited about the possibilities and have lots of ideas of how we can make it successful.”

 

“Our goal is to make this happen by the beginning of the year,” Turvey said. ” We do have logistics that will need to be worked out very quickly. And as I mentioned the whole project currently hinges on securing roller skates”.

 

 

What is the cost to the city?

“At this point, I don’t have an exact cost estimate to offer, but the use of Buck Run will allow for fairly low startup costs,” she said. ” Use of Memorial Hall for this project would have required a significant initial investment. We don’t feel this is a feasible solution at this time, and are working to make this project as cost effective as possible.”

 

 

Area News

Carbon Monoxide Safety Tips

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Keep Your Family Safe With These Carbon Monoxide Tips

OVERLAND PARK, Kan. – Nov. 24, 2020 – November is Carbon Monoxide Awareness Month and Kansas Gas Service is sharing information to help avoid carbon monoxide exposure.

What is Carbon Monoxide?

Carbon monoxide, sometimes called “CO,” is an odorless, colorless and tasteless gas created by the incomplete or improper burning of fuel and can occur any time of year. Overexposure can lead to carbon monoxide poisoning, which can result in illness or even death

How can you reduce the probability of carbon monoxide exposure?

  • Install and maintain a carbon monoxide detector, available at most retail and hardware stores.
  • Pay attention to the color of the flame on your natural gas appliances – a yellow flame instead of a blue flame is a potential warning sign that the appliance is not operating or venting properly. If you see a yellow flame, turn off your burner and call Kansas Gas Service.
  • Never use a natural gas range or outdoor space heater to heat your home.
  • Check for proper ventilation of your appliances and chimney flues.
  • Maintenance is key! Clean or replace your furnace filters regularly and have a qualified contractor inspect your heating equipment and natural gas appliances annually.

What are the symptoms of carbon monoxide exposure?

  • Flu-like symptoms
  • Headache
  • Dizziness
  • Ringing in the ears
  • Fatigue
  • Vomiting

If you experience the symptoms mentioned above or suspect the presence of carbon monoxide, immediately leave the house or building, then call 911 to request medical assistance.

Visit KansasGasService.com/carbonmonoxide or connect with Kansas Gas Service on Facebook or Twitter for more resources, information and tips.

About Kansas Gas Service

Kansas Gas Service delivers safe, clean and reliable natural gas to more than 639,000 customers in 360 communities in Kansas. We are the largest natural gas distributor in the state, in terms of customers.

We are a division of ONE Gas, Inc. (NYSE: OGS), a stand-alone, 100 percent regulated, publicly traded natural gas utility that trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “OGS.” ONE Gas is included in the S&P MidCap 400 Index, and is one of the largest natural gas utilities in the United States.

Business, Fort Scott

Scooter’s Coffee Drive-Thru Opens Nov. 30

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Fort Scott’s Scooter’s Coffee Drive-Thru opens this week.

A coffee franchise, Scooter’s Coffee Drive-Thru, is opening on  Nov. 30 at 5:30 a.m. according to Ashley Copple-Dunn, the Fort Scott Scooter’s manager.

Scooter’s is located at 2402 S. Main in front of the Hibbett’s Store.

Hours will be 5:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. seven days a week.

“Our goal is to offer amazing service, with amazing people, amazingly fast,” said Shawn Bouwen, one of the owners.  “We want to provide people the highest quality experience each and every time they come to visit our store.”

In addition to coffees, teas, hot chocolate, smoothies, and blenders the shop offers breakfast burritos, cinnamon rolls, cookies, “a little bit of everything,” Demi Bouwen, another owner, said.

One can see the menu, prices, and nutritional values of the products on the Scooter’s Coffee app, she said.

The website is http://scooter’scoffee.com

They currently have 15 employees, she said, and are still taking applications.

The owners of the franchise areDemi along with her dad, Shawn Bouwen, and his wife, Tracy.

“We have been involved with Scooter’s Coffee since 2004,” Shawn said.  “The three of us currently own and operate seven locations and are growing.  My wife and I also have another group of partners that own and operate an additional 40+ Scooter’s Coffee locations in a four-state region.  Scooter’s Coffee has been around since 1998.  Don and Linda Eckles are the original Founders of the Company.”

 

“We really love the demographics here in Fort Scott,” Demi said. “We love to be in a small town where you can be involved with the customer.”

Owner Shawn Bouwens and manager Ashley Copple-Dunn stand in front of the new Scooter’s Coffee Drive-Thru, Nov. 2020.

 

Fort Scott, Government

Hancock’s Proposal To The City of Fort Scott

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Jeff Hancock. Taken from Linkedin.com

The community may wonder why the Fort Scott City Commission selected Managment Partner’s Jeff Hancock as the new interim city manager.

The city provided fortscott.biz with the contract made with Hancock. See the prior story https://fortscott.biz/news/city-signs-on-interim-city-manager

Under the scope of services section in the contract with Management Partners mention was made of a letter of proposal to the city on Nov. 10, 2020.

Fort Scott Human Resource Director Deb Needleman provided the proposal letter, below.

November 10, 2020

Deb Needleman, SPHR, IPMA-SCP

Director of Human Resources

City of Fort Scott

123 S. Main Street

Fort Scott, KS 66701

Dear Ms. Needleman:

Thank you for the opportunity to submit a proposal to provide interim city manager services to the City of Fort Scott. Management Partners has the expertise and skills necessary to provide this interim assistance and we would be pleased to do so. Before we tell you about our approach and the consultant we propose for this effort, we would like to share some brief information about our firm.

About Management Partners

Management Partners was founded in 1994 with a specific mission to help local government leaders improve their service to the public. We are a national consulting firm headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio. Management Partners has a well-established track record of helping public sector organizations throughout the United States, including all of the services provided by cities, counties, towns and special districts at the local level.

During our 26 years of service, we have earned a national reputation by delivering quality, actionable work products to our clients. We bring extensive experience to this project, along with first-hand knowledge of local government operations. We are distinguished by the fact that each team we assign is led and staffed by associates who have actual experience in direct public service and experience working together as a team. The work we do is not an academic exercise; it is grounded in the real world of customer service and accomplishment in the public sector. As a result, we have a bias for producing value-added work for each client that will be actionable and will be implemented.

The firm is staffed with about 100 professionals who are experienced public service managers as well as qualified management consultants. This group includes generalists as well as subject-matter experts. Our consultants have years of experience working in all aspects of local government management and have built a track record of extraordinary quality service for our clients.

The firm has extensive experience helping improve both the efficiency and effectiveness of local government services. We have completed organizational staffing and improvement projects in virtually every type of local government service, including reviews of entire governments as well as selected studies of individual departments and functional activities.

Management Partners’ services include everything required to support a local government leader, elected or appointed. Our full range of services includes the following:

  • Organizational Analysis and Performance Audits – Also called efficiency studies and organizational reviews, identifies improvements to an operation’s efficiency and effectiveness.
  • Performance Management – Encompasses a wide range of management tools that can be and often are developed independently of one another, including performance management and measurement, process management, performance budgeting, employee performance evaluation and strategic and process benchmarking.
  • Process Improvement – Examines the processes by which customers are served, an important technique for developing a program for operations improvement, including process mapping.
  • Strategic and Business Planning – Can be an important tool for focusing the efforts of an organization and fostering communication between leaders, staff and important stakeholder groups.
  • Financial Planning, Budgeting and Analysis – Assists clients in analyzing their finances and planning for the effective and efficient use of taxpayer or customer dollars.
  • Organizational Development and Training – Helps clients develop organizational capacity, a key to developing high performance organizations. Services include executive coaching, customer service training, employee and customer surveys and conflict management workshops.
  • Sharing and Consolidation of Services – Offers a more efficient way to provide services, particularly on a regional basis. Options range from the complete integration of previously separate jurisdictions to sharing or consolidating the management of individually delivered services and operations.
  • Interim Management – Assists government leaders by providing executive staff during transitional periods. Rather than just “treading water,” our approach to interim management combines continuation services along with organizational effectiveness analysis to provide a solid foundation for a new permanent employee.
  • Executive Recruitment – Identifies top candidates for chief executive officer positions and department director level jobs in local governments.

We offer a balance of perspectives with a practitioner’s bias and a proven track record of successful consulting engagements. This experience gives us a sensitivity that produces positive outcomes. Each of our projects is individually tailored to the unique needs of the client. We have a deep understanding of the service environment of local government and we are proud to say that as a result of our quality work, many of our clients ask us to complete subsequent assignments.

Understanding of the Engagement

We understand you have need for interim city manager services, and possible help recruiting a new permanent city manager. One of our consultants, J. Jeff Hancock, is based in Missouri. He has many years of experience as a city manager/administrator in Missouri, Oklahoma, and Nebraska. We are proposing that Jeff would provide the interim services and assist with recruitment, if desired. He could begin providing interim services to the City in November on a date to be mutually determined. He is available to serve in this capacity for approximately four months. His brief qualifications are attached.

Jeff would work for and at the direction of Management Partners, while providing the full city manager service you need on an interim basis. Management Partners will provide all insurance, training, and administrative support (including company equipment) as necessary during the assignment. Our commitment is to provide continuous and seamless management services to you during this transition period.

Management Partners will provide interim management consulting services on a monthly basis at a cost of $6,000 per month inclusive of all expenses In addition to Jeff Hancock, Management Partners has other consultants available to provide assistance to Fort Scott, as needed and requested.

We are enclosing a draft contract for your review, and await further direction from you.

We appreciate the opportunity to be of assistance to Fort Scott. Please feel free to contact either myself at 805-320-1702 if you have any questions about this proposal.

Sincerely,

 

Andrew S. Belknap

Senior Vice President

Attachment

J. Jeff Hancock, Special Advisor

  • Professional manager with 45-year local government career that includes serving as city manager/administrator in seven different cities.
  • Has also served as interim city administrator, assistant city manager, budget officer and manager of economic development; cities served range from 7,700 to 495,000, mostly in Missouri
  • Functions supervised include financial management, human resources, marketing, strategic planning, economic development, airport construction and management, capital improvements, fire, parks and recreation, community services to meet the delivery goals of efficient and effective service.
  • Active leadership in community and regional economic development efforts.
  • Life member of ICMA and Missouri City Management Association; former president of MCMA and Central Missouri Development Corporation and board member of the Missouri Municipal League; active in Lake of the Ozarks Council of Governments, Lake of the Ozarks Regional Economic Development Council, Johnson County Economic Development Corporation.
  • Recognized with the 2009 Missouri Municipal League’s Innovation Award and the 2005 Missouri City Manager Award.
Fort Scott, Government

City Signs On Interim City Manager

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J. Jeff Hancock

On November 17, 2020 the City of Fort Scott agreed to hire Jeff Hancock, Camdenton, MO with Management Partners, Inc. as interim city manager, according to the contract shown below.

Management Partners, Inc. is an organization that provides interim managers, Fort Scott  Human Resource Director Deb Needleman said in an email interview. The commissioners were the ones who contacted Management Partners, she said.

The hiring follows the retirement of former city manager Dave Martin in October, 2020.

Hancock’s employment will be for four months (120 days) and may be extended by the city with 15 days written notice prior to the expiration of the initial 4-month term, according to the contract.

Hancock will assist in providing personnel to handle responsibilities as interim city manager.

He will be allowed to establish an appropriate work schedule to meet the needs of the City of Fort Scott.

That work schedule will include, in general, 24 hours worked by Hancock on a weekly basis, with three days on-site in the city.

The compensation is $5,500.00 a month.

 

 

To view the entire contract see below:

THIS AGREEMENT, made this 17th day of November, 2020, by and between the City of Fort Scott, Kansas, (hereinafter referred to as the “City”), and Management Partners, Inc., (hereinafter referred to as “Partners”).

RECITALS

WHEREAS, the City wants to obtain interim city manager services, and

WHEREAS, Partners has the ability to provide such services to the City; and

WHEREAS, City desires to engage Partners to assist in providing personnel appropriate to handle responsibilities as interim City Manager for the City. Such interim personnel shall be given all authority to act as the City Manager under state law, or applicable city policies, in addition to any power specifically granted by the Mayor or City Commission to the City Manager. The parties agree that J. Jeff Hancock (“contractor”) shall handle these duties during the term of this Agreement. and Partners is willing to provide such services.

NOW THEREFORE, in consideration of the premises and mutual obligations herein, the parties hereto do mutually agree as follows:

  1. Scope of services. Partners shall assist the City by executing the project described in the proposal submitted dated November 10, 2020 , which is hereby incorporated herein by reference as Exhibit A, in a satisfactory and proper manner in accordance with direction provided by the City Commission or their designee.
    1. Time of Performance. Services of Partners shall be available upon receipt of an approved copy of this Agreement and shall commence on or around November 17, 2020. Services rendered to City by Partners shall be for four months (120 days) and may be extended by the City with 15 days written notice prior to the expiration of the initial 4-month term.

1.2 Compensation and Method of Payment.

Contractor shall be compensated for services rendered to the City of Fort Scott, Kansas pursuant to this agreement in the following manner:

A. The City of Fort Scott understands that the contractor shall be allowed to establish an appropriate work schedule and that the schedule shall be appropriate to the needs of the City of Fort Scott provided that such work schedule shall include, in general, 24 hours worked by the contractor on a weekly basis, with three days on site in the City. The City of Fort Scott shall allow the contractor to faithfully perform his or her assigned duties and responsibilities.

B. In consideration of above Section A, City shall compensate Partners a fee of $5,500.00 a month.

  1. City Responsibilities. City agrees to furnish the assigned contractor all information required to perform services under this Agreement including access to all records of the City. J Jeff Hancock, the assigned contractor, acknowledges that as Interim City Manager, he is subject to all confidentiality requirements of applicable law.
  1. Independent Partners. Neither Partners nor its employees are considered to be employees of the City of Fort Scott, Kansas, for any purpose whatsoever. Partners is an independent contractor in the performance of the services herein described.
  2. Personnel. Partners represents that it has, or will secure at its own expense, all personnel required in performing all of the services required under this Agreement. Such personnel shall not be employees of or have any contractual relationships with the City. All the services required hereunder will be performed by Partners or under its supervision and all personnel engaged in the work shall be fully qualified and shall be authorized or permitted under state and local law to perform such services.
  3. Discrimination Prohibited. In performing the services required hereunder, the Partners shall not discriminate against any person on the basis or race, color, religion, sex, national origin or ancestry, sexual orientation, age, physical handicap, or disability as defined in the Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990, as now enacted or hereafter emended.
  4. Reports and Information. At such times and in such forms as the City may require, there shall be furnished to the City such statements, records, reports, data, and information, as the City may request pertaining to matters covered by this Agreement. Unless authorized by the City, the Partners will not release any information concerning the work product including any reports or other documents prepared pursuant to this Agreement until the final product is submitted to the City.
  5. Establishment and Maintenance of Records. Records shall be maintained by the Partners in accordance with applicable law and requirements prescribed by the City with respect to all matters covered by this Agreement. Except as otherwise authorized by the City, such records shall be maintained for a period of three (3) years after receipt of final payment under this Agreement.
  6. Assignability. Partners shall not assign any interest in this Agreement and shall not transfer any interest in this Agreement (whether by assignment or novation), without the prior written consent of the City thereto.
  7. Termination for Convenience of City. The City may terminate this Agreement at any time by giving at least fifteen (15) days’ notice in writing to Partners. If Partners is terminated by the City as provided herein, Partners will be paid for the services actually performed to the time of termination.
  8. Insurance and Indemnity.

10.1 The parties agree that the assigned contractor(s) will be serving in the capacity of a public official for the City, and shall be entitled to all the immunities, privileges and protections of that status as set forth by applicable law. City agrees, to the extent allowed by law, to hold Partners and its assigned contractor harmless from any and all claims, actions and damages, including a reasonable attorney fee, resulting from performance of Partners’ services under this Agreement, except for (i) any dishonest, fraudulent, criminal, willful, wanton, intentional or malicious act or course of conduct of the assigned contractor; (ii) any act or course of conduct of the assigned contractor which is not performed on behalf of the City; (iii) any act or course of conduct which is outside the scope of contractor’s service with the City; (iv) any lawsuit brought against assigned contractor or against Partners by the City; (v) any act or omission contrary to or not in furtherance of any adopted city ordinance or policy; or (vi) workers compensation claims, which are covered in a different manner and subject to the provisions of the Kansas Workers’ Compensation Act, K.S.A. 44-501 et seq..

10.2 City recognizes and agrees that all persons assigned by Partners are independent contractors, and not the personnel of Partners. City agrees to hold Partners harmless from all claims it may hereafter have by virtue of any action of the contractor assigned by Partners to City unless Partners, through its own actions or omissions, is wholly or in part at fault.

  1. Construction and Severability. If any part of this Agreement is held to be invalid or unenforceable, such holding will not affect the validity or enforceability of any other part of this Agreement so long as the remainder of the Agreement is reasonably capable of completion.
  2. Entire Agreement. This Agreement contains the entire agreement of the parties and supersedes any and all other agreements or understandings, oral or written, whether previous to the execution hereof or contemporaneous herewith.
  3. Applicable Law. This Agreement shall be governed by and construed and enforced in accordance with the laws of the State of Kansas, and the laws, rules, and regulations of the City of Fort Scott.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the City and Partners have executed this Agreement as of the date first above written.

City of Fort Scott, Kansas

Jolynne Mitchell, Mayor

Date

Attest:

Diane K. Clay, City Clerk

 Management Partners, Inc.

Gerald E. Newfarmer, President and CEO