June 1, 2021 Tuesday 9:00 am
The Bourbon County Commission met in open session with all three Commissioners, the County Counselor and the County Clerk present.
Also present were the following, (some were present for a portion of the meeting and some were present for the entire meeting), Susan Bancroft, Bill Martin, Ben Cole, Mr. & Mrs. Clint Walker and Mark McCoy.
Clifton made a motion to approve the minutes from the May 25th & May 27th Commission meeting, Jim seconded and all approved and signed the minutes.
Road & Bridge supervisor Eric Bailey met with the Commissioners, he reported they did some ditching and opened the tubes at 195th & Hackberry.
Eric reminded the Commissioners of the MSHAW training from Wednesday – Friday this week.
Eric said they pulled the shoulders near 250th & Arrowhead.
Eric said the F750 truck they are purchasing is ready and they will be picking it up next week.
Eric said the a/c is out of the Mack truck, but is still under warranty. The Freightliner is at Inland for repairs for the bushings. Eric said all the tractors are operating and mowing the sides of the roads.
Eric said he and Susan Bancroft had met with Don George and the paperwork had been sent off regarding the CFAP grant for possible dam repairs at Elm Creek Lake. Lynne said they can use the Federal money for the matching portion of the grant to fix the dam.
Jayhawk Wind update: Eric said they are battling moisture due the recent rains. They ditched an area at 60th & Birch where water had been standing. Weather permitting, Jayhawk Wind will be trenching this week on private property. Jim Harris said it might be possible for Jayhawk Wind to put excess dirt north of the Laroche Ballpark.
Rebecca Johnson with SEK Multi County Health Department met with the Commissioners to present the 2022 budget; she requested $90,750 (the same amount as was granted for the 2021 budget). Along with their normal duties, they have been dealing with COVID-19 issues, such as case investigations, contact tracing, COVID phone calls, quarantine letters, provided COVID public guidance, provided COVID recovery, mask education & distribution, distributed hand sanitizer, assisted with long term care and school reopening, provided COVID vaccines, as well as much more.
Bourbon County Clerk & Election Officer, Kendell Mason met with the Commissioners to present her 2022 budget requests; $111,917 was requested for the Clerk’s office and $86,900 for the Election office, both are the same as was granted for the 2021 budget.
Lynne made a motion to amend the agenda to hold an executive session for non-elected personnel, Clifton seconded and all approved.
Lynne made a motion to have a 7-minute executive session for KSA 75-4319(b) (1) to discuss personnel matters of individual non-elected personnel to protect their privacy regarding three specific employees, their titles and their job functions, the Commissioners will hold the session in the Commission room and will return to open session in the Commission room at 9:24, Clifton seconded and all approved, (the session included the Commissioners, Justin Meeks and Susan Bancroft). At 9:26, Lynne made a motion to come out of executive session, Jim seconded and all approved.
Elected official Comments: Bill Martin and Ben Cole met with the Commissioners, Bill said last week the US Marshalls, KBI, Homeland Security, the Sheriff’s department, Police department and the Correctional Center did a sweep of registered sexual offenders. The US Marshall will be paying for the overtime for the Sheriff and Police department, they will offset expenses for supplies and the Sheriffs office was able to buy a computer, scanner, printer and camera and the US Marshall will reimburse the County for these items. Bill said this was a successful event. The met with 58 sex offenders to make sure they were in compliance. Ben said they needed approval from the Commissioners to pay the overtime rate which will be reimbursed, Lynne said that payroll needed the information from the Sheriffs office for the hours.
Justin Meeks discussed the tax sale; he said anything received back by the end of this week will be part of the 1st tax sale which might be in August and there will be a second sale in December. Justin said he had a couple of meetings regarding Windfarm issues and will bring those issues to the Commissioners at a later date. Justin briefly discussed the KDOT road (near the Laroche Ballpark), Justin said he assumed that if the County takes over this road, then the County would take care of this road (maintenance) in the future. Justin said he and Susan Bancroft would be working on EMS issues.
Susan Bancroft had nothing to report to the Commissioners.
Public Comment: Mark McCoy (regarding the Highway 69 Corridor Plan) said he believed eventually there would be four lanes from KC to I44. Mark said he had read Facebook comments regarding the BEDCO funds and the grant process for these funds; he said when Rob Herrington met with the Commissioners, he said those funds would be used throughout the County. The applications for requested funds will be turned into Rob and said the Commissioners discussed doing a 50/50 grant. He said there was a comment about the Marmaton Massacre event at Gunn Park being moved to a later date, Mark said this was moved to September due to the heat. Mark said what is on the radio and in the newspaper may not be 100% accurate and said Facebook and Twitter is opinion. Mark suggested anyone with questions or concerns or wanting clarification on what the funds could be used for regarding the BEDCO grant listen to the Commission meeting when Rob Herrington met with the Commissioners. Mark said he felt that sharing services with all the cities and BEDCO is the right thing to do. Mark discussed the new activities/businesses in or coming to this area, such as roller skating, ax throwing and the new barbershop. Lynne said Uniontown had two new businesses and said the Bronson Meat Locker was talking about expanding.
Clint Walker asked if the PILOT money from the Windfarm had been received and asked how much the County is scheduled to receive; Lynne said the County has received $405,000 for this year and will receive $365,000 for the next 9 years.
At 9:45, Clifton made a motion to adjourn, Jim seconded and all approved.
THE BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
OF BOURBON COUNTY, KANSAS
(ss) Lynne Oharah, Chairman
(ss) Jim Harris, Commissioner
(ss) Clifton Beth, Commissioner
ATTEST:
Kendell Mason, Bourbon County Clerk
June 8, 2021, Approved Date