August 7, 2023 Monday, 5:30 p.m.
The Bourbon County Commission met in open session with all three Commissioners and the County Clerk present.
Clint Walker, Rachel Walker, Patty Ropp, Michael Hoyt, and Patty Ann Sanborn were present for some or all of the meeting.
Jim Harris opened the meeting with the flag salute followed by a prayer led by Nelson Blythe.
Clifton Beth made a motion to approve the consent agenda which includes approval of minutes from 7/31/23. Nelson Blythe seconded the motion and all approved.
Michael Hoyt said he ordered 50 copies of the KORA and KOMA handbook for us and the City of Fort Scott. Clifton told him that copies of the documents were printed off for a previous meeting and have been available. Michael asked when budget discussion would take place and asked for a schedule.
Patty Ann Sanborn with SEK, Inc. informed the Commissioners of the SEK Housing Conference that will be held November 14th and 15th in Independence and invited them to join other city and county commissioners as well as economic development personnel. Rural Housing Champions Darcy Wilson will speak during the conference. SEK, Inc. was founded in 1957 and works on CTE, workforce development, and childcare as well. Jim thanked Patty Ann for coming and said he would try to attend because the conference sounds interesting.
Motor grader finance bids were presented to the Commissioners to open. Bids from two lenders were received, two from Murphy Tractor for John Deere Financial and one from City State Bank. Both bids were based upon the proposed financing amount of $604,000. City State Bank bid annual payments of $112,493.18 for seven years with a fixed interest rate of 7.10%. The total amount of the interest would be $183,452.26 making the grand total of payments $787,452.26. John Deere Financial bid annual payments of $108,345.15 for seven years with a fixed interest rate of 5.75%. The total amount of interest would be $154,417.05 making the grand total of payments $758,417.05. John Deere Financial also bid monthly payments of $8751.35 for seven years with a fixed interest rate of 5.75%. The total amount of interest would be $131,114.40 making the grand total of payments $735,114.40. The Commissioners discussed each bid and Eric said he would analyze the bids and come back with a recommendation during his time later in the meeting.
Jennifer Hawkins, County Clerk, informed the Commissioners of two meetings that will be held within the next few months. The first meeting is the Southeast Kansas 17 County Officials District Meeting which will be held on September 14th in Columbus. Clifton and Nelson are unable to attend but Jim plans on attending. The Kansas Association of Counties Annual Conference will be held December 5-7 in Wichita and all three Commissioners plan on attending.
Justin Meeks, County Counselor, said there have been some internal struggles with policy we have in place. Mr. Meeks stated the handbook was created on liability and there is a substance abuse testing prescreen and random quarterly drug testing no matter the department. Justin said we need a centralized person to handle the drug testing and he handed out a copy of best practices from our insurance provider. Mr. Meeks stated elected officials can go outside of certain policy, for example hiring and firing, but not when it comes to insurance and stated the insurance company can raise our rates or even drop our coverage. Jim asked if HR currently handles the drug testing and Justin confirmed that. Nelson asked what the issue is and Justin stated an elected official wants to be added to the list to be able to do drug screens. Jim said we currently have a centralized person and questioned why we would change that when they have been doing a great job. Clifton stated in his opinion it was petty to not follow the policy we have in place. Jim said he sees no reason to make changes to a policy that is working and stated if elected officials don’t like it, they can come to the Commissioners about it. Jim asked Justin if there were any updates on our handbook. Justin said it can be difficult at times to get everybody on the same page when there are difference of opinions. Jim asked if the Commission would review and approve the handbook once it is complete and Justin said yes that is the procedure. Jim asked when it was last updated and Justin said some 5 years ago and some 8-9 months ago but they hit some roadblocks. Jim said he could meet with elected officials regarding the handbook if it is ok with Clifton and Nelson. Justin presented an agreement for our elevator for the Commission to approve. Mr. Meeks stated this is the same agreement as last time and asked if the Commission would like to table the discussion until they had an opportunity to review. Clifton made a motion to allow Chairman Harris to sign the elevator agreement with KONE as presented by Justin Meeks. Nelson seconded the motion, and all approved.
Susan Bancroft requested a 10-minute executive session to discuss nonelected personnel. Clifton made a motion to go into a 10-minute executive session under KSA 75-4319(b)(1) to discuss personnel matters of individual nonelected personnel to protect their privacy. The executive session will include all three Commissioners, Susan Bancroft, and Justin Meeks and will return at 6:05. Nelson seconded the motion and all approved. Clifton made a motion to resume normal session at 6:05 with no action. Nelson seconded the motion and all approved.
Jim Harris requested a 15-minute executive session to discuss nonelected personnel. Clifton made a motion to go into a 15-minute executive session under KSA 75-4319(b)(1) to discuss personnel matters of individual nonelected personnel to protect their privacy. The executive session will include all three Commissioners and Justin Meeks and will return at 6:21. Nelson seconded the motion and all approved. Clifton made a motion to resume normal session at 6:21 with no action. Nelson seconded the motion and all approved.
A short break was taken and normal session was resumed at 6:24.
Eric Bailey, Public Works Director, presented the monthly culvert list for the Commissioner’s approval. Eric said the culvert list and the fuel spreadsheet have been emailed to the Commissioners and they will continue to do that in the future to save paper. Eric said they completed asphalting Williams Street last week. Jim said he drove the road a few times and they did a great job. Eric said they are taking out a rutted section next to the National Cemetery to redo the asphalt before school starts. The crew is still clearing overburden at Thomas Quarry to prepare for another blast. Eric stated they now have four mowers out mowing throughout the county. Clifton suggested there is a place to save money, and Nelson said they would still need to mow intersections. Eric said they picked up the belly dump trailer last week and the new truck will be here this week so they will be able to have two belly dump trailers hauling gravel. Eric discussed the bids stating that there is a savings of $52,337 with the monthly payments option with John Deere Financial versus the annual payment option that City State Bank bid. Eric said he would like to stay local but that is a significant savings. Jim agreed and said it is hard to stay local when they could save the county $53,000. Nelson made a motion to go with John Deere Financial’s monthly payment bid. Clifton seconded the motion and all approved. Eric said they received one Request for Qualifications for the feasibility study for an overpass south of town and that was from Schwab Eaton. Jim explained this was the first step in the process because you can’t apply for grants without a feasibility study. Eric said it is just their qualifications and if we choose them, they will give us a dollar amount to perform the study. Jim asked the other Commissioners if they were ok with Eric contacting Schwab Eaton to get a price to bring back to the meeting next week and they both agreed. Nelson asked Eric if he could get them a price if the county only mowed intersections versus mowing all roads.
Nelson questioned where we were with the money on CD’s. Clifton said he as been told the Treasurer hasn’t done it yet and that we are losing money. Nelson agreed stating we need to get the extra money from the interest. The subject of CD’s will be placed on the agenda for next week so the Treasurer can be present to update the Commissioners. Clifton said there have been a lot of rumors going around that the Via Christi ER is leaving. Clifton said he has been fully aware that another healthcare facility has been talking about buying Via Christi. Clifton said that Legacy and Bourbon County REDI have been working for a long time and have been working with a strategic partner for healthcare in our county and that an announcement will be made in the next couple of weeks that will be a big deal for our community. Clifton stated the rumors about the ER closing is not true and if Via Christi is purchased there is a plan for healthcare in Bourbon County.
Jim thanked Clifton for the days he has spend working on our healthcare. Clifton said Legacy Health and Bourbon County REDI deserve a lot of credit because they have done a lot of work that will pay off in the near future.
Clifton made a motion to adjourn the meeting at 6:38. Nelson seconded the motion and all approved.
Approved 8-14-2023
THE BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
OF BOURBON COUNTY, KANSAS
___________________, Chairman
___________________, Commissioner
ATTEST: ___________________, Commissioner
Jennifer Hawkins, Bourbon County Clerk
, Approved Date