January 26, 2021 Tuesday 9:00 am
The Bourbon County Commission met in open session with all three Commissioners, the County Counselor and the deputy County Clerk-Doretta Neville present.
Also present were the following, (some were present for a portion of the meeting and some were present for the entire meeting): Mark McCoy, Michael Hoyt, Nancy Van Etten, Anne Dare, Susan Bancroft and Mr. & Mrs. Clint Walker.
Jim Harris made a motion to approve a utility construction permit for Heartland Rural Electric for work to be done at 242 Terrace & Xavier for 975’ on the North side of the road, Clifton seconded and all approved and signed the permit.
Jim made a motion to approve a culvert permit for Brad Wright at 1175 275th, Clifton seconded and all approved and signed the permit.
The Commissions plan to set a 2021 asphalt work session at a later date.
Eric Bailey reported that heavy rain had caused road issues near Uniontown. He said they are putting brine on the road today for forecasted bad weather.
Eric reported that the guardrail is back up at 215th & Range Road. He said the work is being finished on the shelter at Elm Creek on the rock at the North end.
Eric said he has been working with Chad at the City of Fort Scott regarding the potholes behind the Courthouse; he said they are working on a cost estimate for patching and for curb and gutter.
He said the side arm mower is ready to mow at the Fort Scott Lake.
They are waiting on the turbo for the crusher and hope to have it fixed later this week. Eric said they sold $3,080 worth of scrap metal at the Landfill. Eric asked what the plans were for the beams at the Landfill; they planned to build compost with them. Eric asked if they wanted to sell them, the Commissioners said yes and told him to set a price for them. Eric said the air compressor may be out of dump truck #146, he said it is at Foley for repairs. Eric said they are waiting on two estimates on the truck and trailer that were involved in an accident. Jim questioned Eric on what he wanted to do regarding the Sterling truck that needs $18,000 repairs, Eric said he would review this.
Alan Drake requested rock and a grader for Evergreen Cemetery; all of the Commissioners were in agreement to this. Eric reported that Lath Branch is also needing rock and grading work done.
Eric and the Commissioners briefly discussed the 2020 bridge inspection manual; Eric said they have a crew of two employees and they plan to start working on bridges that need immediate attention. He said they repaired a bridge at 85th & Xavier for $3,700.
Lynne made a motion to go into a 15 minute executive session for KSA 75-4319(b)(1) to discuss personnel matters of individual non-elected personnel to protect their privacy to discuss a job description and job duties, the Commissioners will meet in another location and reconvene in the Commission room at 9:36, Jim seconded and all approved, (the session included the Commissioners, Eric Bailey and Susan Bancroft). At 9:36, Clifton made a motion to come out of executive session and said no action, Jim seconded and all approved. Lynne asked that an executive session be placed on the agenda next week for personnel matters.
Lynne made a motion to amend the agenda to remove the executive session that Jim Harris had scheduled, Clifton seconded and all approved.
Lynne made a motion to adopt Resolution 07-21 for the refinancing of the jail bonds, Jim seconded and all approved.
Jim Harris said when he was campaigning, it was suggested to have different times and dates of the Commission meetings so the public could attend, it was discussed to possibly have Wednesday afternoon meetings once a month, the Commissioners will discuss this again next week.
Emergency Manager Will Wallis met with the Commissioners to discuss the new Covid strain; he said it is more contagious and just as deadly if not more, he said people may need double mask for protection, (he said he has plenty of masks and gloves). He said he and Bill Martin sought after a State grant of approximately $100,000 – he said the County purchases supplies and provides a receipt to the State for reimbursement. Will recommended a department head meeting to have a refresher course on protection from the virus, to discuss double masks, to suggest department heads create a plan for employee vacations (travel restrictions), to discuss if employees can work from home, (if they have equipment/internet). He said the Commissioners may have to consider another closure or partial closure of the Courthouse and said employees may need to work from home if so. The Commissioners were in favor of a department head meeting for a refresher course. Will said they are having an exercise Thursday on administering the Covid vaccine, he invited Clifton to attend the exercise, but Clifton said he wasn’t sure if he could attend. Clifton said his opinion was that the new variant of the Covid virus is more contagious, he said if people are wearing the right mask there should be no reason to double mask, he said the department heads should be following the CDC, State and Federal guidelines regarding travel restrictions. Clifton suggested that Will talk with CHC and the Health Department to offer assistance regarding the distribution of the vaccine.
Clifton made a motion for Lynne to attend a SEK Works meeting on Thursday, Jim seconded and all approved. The Commissioners plan to discuss renewing the Chief Elected official for SEK Works again on February 2nd.
The Commissioners were in agreement to pay the $1,100 annual dues for the League of Municipalities.
Lynne said the Assistant County Attorney had resigned and said the County Attorney has been trying to fill the position, they have found someone, but that person can’t start until March 1st, so the County Attorney wants to hire a 1099 Assistant County Attorney from now until March 1st @ $100/hour and said the new employee hired March 1st will make $80,000 annually, which is $15,000 more than they were paying. Clifton made a motion to allow them to hire a 1099 person between now and March 1st, Jim seconded the motion, Jim questioned how the County Attorney working only part time affected other employees; Justin said the County Attorney couldn’t do both the County Attorney and the Assistant County Attorney duties. Lynne said the Attorney has the money in their budget to make these changes. All approved the motion.
Clifton made a motion to go into a 10 minute executive session for KSA 75-4319(b)(1) to discuss personnel matters of individual non-elected personnel to protect their privacy to discuss the job performance for a specific employee, the Commissioners will meet in another location and reconvene in the Commission room at 10:37, (the session included the Commissioners and Susan Bancroft), Jim seconded and all approved. At 10:37, Clifton made a motion to come out of executive session and back into open session, no action, Jim seconded and all approved.
Clifton made a motion to go into a 20 minute executive session for KSA 75-4319(b)(1) to discuss personnel matters of individual non-elected personnel to protect their privacy to discuss applications for a new hire, the Commissioners will meet in another location and reconvene in the Commission room at 11:02, Jim seconded and all approved, (the session included the Commissioners, Justin Meeks, Shane Walker and Susan Bancroft). At 11:02, Clifton made a motion to come out of executive session and back into open session and to add this to the agenda again next week, Jim seconded and all approved.
Justin Meeks said he had met with the Hidden Valley Lake board regarding the 74 parcels there and the tax sale; he discussed the cost/benefit analysis of selling those properties at a tax sale and setting a minimum bid amount on tax sale properties. Jim made a motion to have Justin and Lynne reach out to legislatures to find a solution regarding a tax sale for Hidden Valley Lake properties, Clifton seconded and all approved.
Lynne made a motion to give Appraiser Clint Anderson permission to hire a 3rd party consultant for the appraisal of commercial property, Clifton seconded and all approved.
Justin suggested scheduling KOMA training on a Tuesday afternoon; the Commissioners were ok with this. Lynne made a motion to approve a consent order for KOMA training, Jim seconded and all approved.
Justin briefly discussed the ongoing Opioid lawsuit; he said some businesses involved in the lawsuit had filed for bankruptcy.
Lynne made a motion to go into a 10 minute executive session for KSA 75-4319(b)(2) for consultation with an attorney for the body or agency which would be deemed privileged in the attorney-client relationship to discuss potential litigation, the Commissioners will meet in another location and reconvene in the Commission room at 11:25, Clifton seconded and all approved, (the session included the Commissioners and Justin Meeks). At 11:25, Lynne made a motion to come out of executive session and back into open session and said no action, Clifton seconded and all approved.
Lynne opened the meeting up for public comment; Anne Dare told the Commissioners that changing the meeting day and time is a good start, she questioned if Wednesday interfered with church activities, she questioned if the Commissioners would continue to conduct business first and then allow public comment, she also said the Commissioners should consider the location for the meetings and questioned if YouTube would still be available for broadcasting meetings. Anne suggested that Justin should have scheduled Hidden Valley Lakes on the agenda in case anyone from that area would have wanted to be a part of the conversation. Nancy Van Etten asked about Resolution 07-21; Lynne said this was to refinance the jail bonds and said they needed to attach a resolution to the refinancing documents, Nancy asked if resolutions were published prior to adoption; Lynne said no, but they are kept on file. Nancy said she felt it was good that Will Wallis was having an exercise; she said she would like to see the public health office give a public update more often.
Frank Miller met with the Commissioners regarding his dump bill; he said he would like to pay every two weeks until he gets caught up, Lynne told him to talk to Susan Bancroft and Jennifer in public works about this.
Jim Harris commended Lynne, Clifton and Jeff Fischer for the work they did to refinance the jail bonds and save over $300,000.
Lynne said he would attend a meeting tonight for juvenile detention, but said Clifton will attend future meetings.
Lynne made a motion to appoint Jim Harris to the Landbank, Clifton seconded and all approved.
At 11:37, 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
February 2, 2021, Approved Date