August 13, 2019 Tuesday 9:00 am
The Bourbon County Commission met in open session with all three Commissioners, the County Counselor and the Clerk present.
Tammy Helm with the Fort Scott Tribune and Nancy Van Etten were also present.
Jim Harris was previously asked to get bids on a new dump truck with a trade in of a 2013 Freightliner; Summit quoted $101,082 for a 2020 International, Westfalls & O’dell Truck Sales quoted $126,631 for a 2020 Mack Granite GR64F9, Tri State Truck Center quoted $119,951 for a 2020 Mack Granite GR64F9. No decision was made on purchasing a truck.
Jeff Fischer suggested doing a 4” overlay at the intersections versus doing the concrete (the overlay will be less expensive than concrete) at the Industrial Park. All of the Commissioners decided the overlay would be the best option.
Jim Harris said they would be working on Indian Road today.
Lynne asked Jim to view the road at 125th west of 95th on Range Road.
Nancy Van Etten gave Jim Harris a road report regarding the road on the east side of Fort Scott Lake; she discussed the safety and condition of the road. She said the road conditions deteriorate the further south you go on the road. She discussed the lack of the speed limit signs and the culvert conditions on the lake road. Jeff Fischer said he felt a lot of the issues on the lake road are due to drainage issues. Nancy asked that Jim view Indian Road and give his recommendations on the issues there.
Harold Martin suggested that the fire department could blow out the blocked culverts with high pressure water. Mr. Martin and the Commissioners discussed road maintenance and getting the most for the money, both in the City and the County. He discussed the high tax rates in Bourbon County and the people leaving the area.
Lynne discussed a KDOT grant program to rebuild bridges; Jim said he would review the program.
Jim said due to the wet weather we have had, they are not able to make asphalt chips and are running out of chips. They plan to do a blast at the Blake Quarry.
Jeff discussed using the Paser Road Condition manual when deciding what roads to pave. Jeff said they are trying to get ahead of the deferred maintenance on the roadways. Lynne said the paving program might not exist in the future without the 1 cent sales tax, which will be voted on in 2020.
Larry Howard and Jeremiah Hill met with the Commissioners and Jim Harris; Larry questioned when the 1 ½ mile portion of 245th would get done, Jeff Fischer said this was still in the plans, Jim said they plan to do this after the road at the Industrial Park is completed.
Justin Meeks discussed the cost to maintain paved roads verses gravel roads, he discussed the safety of a deteriorated hard surface road verses a gravel road that could be in a better condition; he suggested that in the future the Commissioners may have to decide what roads to keep as a paved road verses gravel.
Robert Childers met with the Commissioners. He questioned if Ironwood off of 240th is on the schedule for asphalt; Jim said this is not on the schedule. Mr. Childers requested a grader and gravel on this portion of the road. Jim said this is a County road and said he would take care of the road. Mr. Childers reported a crushed culvert in the area; Jim said he would review the culvert. Mr. Childers questioned the 30mph speed limit signs on 240th; the Commissioners said they recommended this speed to slow the traffic down in this area.
Brian Comstock had planned on meeting with the Commissioners (but was unable to meet with them) regarding a fence viewing on Condensory Road between him and the Railroad. Justin said he would review the fence laws regarding railroads.
Robert Uhler with the City of Fort Scott met with the Commissioners; he presented a signed contract between the City and the County for asphalt. Robert discussed the Lake Association meeting that was recently held; he said that public safety on the Lake was a concern. The City plans to enforce water rules, ordered new buoys and signs, Lake patrol will spend more time patrolling the water. He said he would ask Bill Martin to patrol the area more. There is a Lake advisory group forming, Robert asked that one Commissioner set on the board; Lynne made a motion that Jeff Fischer be on this board, Nick seconded and all were in favor. Robert said that some of the Lake residents would like spot zoning at the Lake and asked for shared services for spot zoning and coding; Lynne said there are no codes in the County and said the County couldn’t afford to enforce zoning. Harold Martin suggested that the Lake residents are looking for assistance in protecting the Lake. It was said that initially Lake was to be for single family dwellings. Robert reported that the County had sprayed chemicals in the Lake waterway; he said this can’t happen.
Nick made a motion to go into a 30 minute executive session for confidential data relating to financial affairs or trade secrets of corporations, partnerships, trusts and individual proprietorships, Jeff seconded and all approved, (the session included the Commissioners, Justin Meeks and Randy Cason with Ascension Via Christi). No action was taken.
Nick made a motion to go into a 10 minute executive session for confidential data relating to financial affairs or trade secrets of corporations, partnerships, trusts and individual proprietorships, Jeff seconded and all approved, (the session included the Commissioners, Justin Meeks and Randy Cason with Ascension Via Christi). No action was taken.
Lynne made a motion to go into a 5 minute executive session for personnel matters of individual non-elected personnel, Jeff seconded and all approved, (the session included the Commissioners and Kendell Mason). After the session, Nick made a motion to give Kendell permission to hire a part time employee to fill a vacancy, Jeff seconded and all approved.
Lora Holdridge asked if the Commissioners planned to have a budget meeting including the department heads; the Commissioners said they are still working on the 2020 budget, but are getting closer to finalizing the budget.
At 12:00, Lynne made a motion to break for lunch and reconvene at 1:30, Nick seconded and all approved.
Jason Silvers with the Fort Scott Tribune was present at the meeting.
Nancy Van Etten, Geoffrey Clark, Dean and Diane Striler, Tom Graham, Harold Martin, Gary Palmer, Byron and Nancy Maze, Robert Uhler, Billy Webster, Pete Allen, Deb McCoy, Dian Morriss, Jason Gorman and Kevin Allen – Lake Fort Scott residents met with the Commissioners; Nancy Van Etten discussed a recent Lake meeting. She said at that meeting the following issues were discussed; the safety and the condition of the road at 195th Street from Indian Road to the end of where the City of Fort Scott maintains, the speed limit signs, safety and condition of the roads and drainage issues at 195th from the beginning of the County maintenance to the boat ramp at the south end of 195th, they also felt the need for additional sheriff’s presence on the Lake Roads. There was discussion over the lack of building codes and the enforcement of covenants and deed restrictions at the Lake. They requested cooperation between the County and City to study the history of the Lake covenants and what could be done to provide structure and guidance for future Lake growth. A majority of the people attending the Lake meeting were opposed to the proposed condo development at 706 195th Street and Nancy read letters from landowners that were against the condo development. Gary Palmer asked where the jurisdiction lies in regards to the City and County at the Lake; Jeff said the City owns some lots and owns the water and the waterfront and the County owns certain sections of the road there. Some of the Lake residents wanted spot zoning at the Lake; Jeff said the cost of enforcing zoning could be overwhelming expense to the County. Geoffrey Clark said currently someone could build what they wanted at the Lake, but the local residents want to keep the Lake as it is which is single residences and asked that the County think about zoning there. Tom Graham presented a document from 1962 showing that the City’s intention was to have private cabins. Byron Maze said in 2008 Mel Cummins was told by the County that he couldn’t subdivide his property into lots to build 4/5 homes. Nancy Maze said she understood that the County has to consider tax money, but said the County needed to consider the tax money that is already collected from the single family landowners there. Nancy Van Etten said they wanted guidance from the County. It was said that there are deed restrictions on the deeds for the Lake properties. Tom Graham thanked the County for the paving that had been done in the area.
Sunflower Development Group representative Chris Vukas met with the Commissioners and Jody Hoener to discuss the NMTC (New Market Tax Credit) program. He said it is a partnership working to bring the Federal tax credit program locally. The goal of the program is to create jobs, provide business expansion and to add equity to projects. This is an underutilized tax credit program in Kansas. He went over various projects that have used the NMTC program. He discussed projects that could utilize the program and discussed funding for projects. They are looking for projects to put in applications to prove that Kansas is in need of the program. Lynne made a motion to go into a 10 minute executive session for confidential data relating to financial affairs or trade secrets of corporations, partnerships, trusts and individual proprietorships, Jeff seconded and all approved, (the session included the Commissioners, Chris Vukas, Jody Hoener and Justin Meeks). No action was taken. Lynne made a motion to go into a 10 minute executive session for confidential data relating to financial affairs or trade secrets of corporations, partnerships, trusts and individual proprietorships, Jeff seconded and all approved, (the session included the Commissioners, Chris Vukas, Jody Hoener and Justin Meeks). No action was taken.
Lynne made a motion to go into a 7 minute executive session for consultation with an attorney for the body or agency which would be deemed privileged in the attorney-client relationship, Jeff seconded and all approved, (the session included the Commissioners and Justin Meeks). No action was taken.
At 4:05, Nick made a motion to adjourn, Jeff seconded and all were in favor.
THE BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
OF BOURBON COUNTY, KANSAS
(ss) Lynne Oharah, Chairman
(ss) Jeff Fischer, Commissioner
(ss) Nick Ruhl, Commissioner
ATTEST:
Kendell Mason, Bourbon County Clerk
08/20/2019, Approved Date