BOURBON COUNTY COMMISSION MEETING AGENDA
Public Comments
Clint Walker: Walker said he has been attending county commission meetings for decades and is distressed by the condition of the flags at the courthouse. They are in shreds.
“You all set the standards. You all let me down,” he told the commission.
County Clerk Susan Walker: Walker addressed the commisison about personnel records. Citing Attorney General Opinion 94121 on whether an individual commissioner has statutory authority to look at “otherwise discretionally-closed personnel records,” she said that the authority to do so is given to the board as a whole, but not to individual members. The opinion continued by saying that elected officials in the state of Kansas have the right to keep their own personnel files, which are “often exempt from public disclosure requirements.”
In addition, Attorney General Opinion 2003-15 talks about the authority of county commissioners to adopt budgets, but says that they should not be allowed to micromanage the employees of other elected officials, which would render those officials’ authority meaningless. If the commissioners target the pay of an individual employee in elected office, intending to improperly affect the employment status of the particular employee, it would exceed the county commissioners’ authority, per the Attorney General’s opinion.
Walker then requested that all past and present personnel records be forwarded to her office. She will send any payroll changes to the payroll clerk.
Sheriff Bill Martin: Asked for permission to speak to Payentry directly about issues with his employees.
Department Updates
EMS Update: Teri Hulsey, EMS Director
KRI has removed what they want from the building that EMS is supposed to have access to. It still has a lot of stuff that needs to be moved out to make it usable. Commissioner David Beerbower said there are plans for an auction forthcoming.
Cintas
A representative from Cintas came to discuss providing the hygiene products in the courthouse bathrooms. He said he can save the county 10 percent over the current provider, Osborn. This would be in addition to the mat service Cintas already provides for the courthouse.
Commissioner Mika Milburn said she would be in favor of letting the building maintenance crew make the decision.
Vending Machine
Bernard Streeter, operator of SNS Vending in Fort Scott, manages vending machines on the second floor of the courthouse near the county attorney’s office. He said he is loosing more products on them than he is making money. He wants to pull them and suggested putting a combination machine on the first floor instead.
The commission decided to collect information and work on the issue in the next meeting.
Old Business
Sewer issue
Kaety Bowers spoke with the commission about the communication she has received for the state of Kansas regarding sewage seeping into and in some cases being drained directly into the lake. She represents an HOA spanning two counties, Bourbon and Lynn, at the lake.
Bowers said there is only one septic pumping service on the lake. There are 30-40 homes in the neighborhood that are not getting pumped. At least one is draining directly into the lake. KDHE is pushing the HOA to do something about it, but they have no authority to assess code violations. Because of their bylaws, the soonest they can make any changes is 2033.
KDHE is adamant that Bourbon County needs to prosecute, she said.
Based on the $200/day fine currently in place, there is potentially $7,000 per day in fineable sewer violations in Bowers’ neighborhood alone. She said that adds up to $2.5 million over the course of one year.
Commissioner Gregg Motley said that the solution is for the commission to ask the county attorney to enforce the state statute.
Bower ssaid she recognizes the challenge of enforcing codes in the county.
Tran confirmed Bowers’ information regarding the unpumped homes.
“As county officials, we need to make sure that we are doing what we are supposed to be doing to safeguard the lives of people in this county,” he said.
“Sounds like we need to work on our resources, quickly,” said Beerbower.
“We will try to do something about it,” said Tran to Bowers.
Audit RFP
Tran passed around a draft of an RFP (Request for Proposal).
Motley and Beerbower each requested to table it for a week to evaluate it and make the decisions about details of the RFP. The point of contact is the commission’s administrative assistant.
They voted to table it until next Monday.
Salary Resolution – Gregg Motley
There was a transposed number on one of the salaries. The correction was made.
CIC Hardware Support
Computer Information Concepts provides the accounting software for the county. The commission approved paying the cost of $2,500 annually to cover the installation and maintenance on all machines at the county that need it.
Auction update
Commissioner Joe Allen said he is planning to come through the county building and confirm with everyone that they have marked the items currently stored in the basement that they want to keep for their departments. Then he will look at ways to auction the remaining items.
“I’m assuming that by doing this auction, we’re going to open up space,” said Allen.
“I need to identify how much stuff we have to do an auction,” Allen said.
New Business
ADM Agreement
Public Works Director Kenny Allen said the transfer station doesn’t have the equipment to turn the beans and cover the trash. The tractor has been at the repair shop since last June, and they have been making do with a backhoe.
Allen suspects that they are being given more beans then they need. Allen said they loose money when transferring tires.
The commission discussed changes that need to be made to the county’s contract with ADM and updates the landfill needs.
Allen will come back next Monday with information for the commission about the suggested changes and updates.
Property Tax Relief – 1111 Beech
Voted to approve 100% of the value of the structure for abatement.
Title IV-E County Reimbursement Opportunity
Commission moved to have Motley look into it and report back at the next meeting.
Commissioner Comments
Mika Milburn thanked the board for their willingness to work together.
Joe Allen said he thought communication went well this week within the county.
Samuel Tran thanked everyone for working together to get the county’s business done.