Governor Updates Declaration of Drought Emergency, Warnings and Watches for Kansas Counties

The Governor’s Drought Response Team examines conditions; and recommends updates to the Governor

 

Governor Laura Kelly has approved updated drought declarations for Kansas counties with Executive Order #23-04.

“Kansans have been resilient in the face of drought this past year,” said Governor Kelly. “Even with some regions receiving significant rainfall, I strongly encourage all Kansans to continue to be mindful of ways we can conserve water and minimize fire hazards.”

The drought declaration placed 55 counties into an emergency status, 18 counties in a warning status and 32 into a watch status. This action was recommended by Connie Owen, Director of the Kansas Water Office and Chair of the Governor’s Drought Response Team. While most of western Kansas have seen relief from drought in the last two months, central and southeast Kansas have continued to be dry, with nearly 30 percent of Kansas currently in extreme or exceptional drought.

“We are still seeing the effects of the drought conditions from the past year. With drought conditions persisting throughout parts of the state, we are continuing to see stressed surface and ground water supplies, negative effects on crop production and elevated wildfire risk,” said Owen. “The Governor’s Drought Response Team will continue to monitor the drought conditions across Kansas and make recommendations to Governor Kelly as conditions change.”

Through an interagency agreement between the Kansas Water Office, Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks and Kansas Division of Emergency Management, counties in emergency stage are eligible for emergency use of water from certain state fishing lakes. These counties also become eligible for water in some federal reservoirs.

Individuals and communities need to contact the Kansas Water Office for a water supply request prior to any withdrawals from lakes. These requests will in turn be referred to the appropriate office to obtain necessary permits to withdraw requested water.

 

This Executive Order shall remain in effect for those counties identified until rescinded by Executive Order ending the declaration or revising the drought stage status of the affected counties.

 

Effective immediately, Executive Order #23-04:

 

• Declares a Drought Emergency, Warning or Watch for the counties as identified below;
• Authorizes and directs all agencies under the jurisdiction of the Governor to implement the appropriate watch, warning or emergency level drought response actions assigned in the Operations Plan of the Governor’s Drought Response Team.

 

The Governor’s Drought Response Team will continue to watch the situation closely and work to minimize the negative drought-induced effects on Kansans.

For more detailed information about current conditions, visit the Climate and Drought webpage on the Kansas Water Office website at kwo.ks.gov.

County Drought Stage Declarations:

Drought Emergency: Allen, Anderson, Barton, Bourbon, Butler, Chase, Chautauqua, Cloud, Coffey, Cowley, Crawford, Dickinson, Edwards, Elk, Ellis, Ellsworth, Finney, Ford, Gove, Graham, Greenwood, Harvey, Hodgeman, Jewell, Kiowa, Lane, Lincoln, Lyon, Marion, McPherson, Mitchell, Montgomery, Morris, Neosho, Ness, Norton, Osborne, Ottawa, Pawnee, Phillips, Pratt, Reno, Republic, Rice, Rooks, Rush, Russell, Saline, Sedgwick, Smith, Stafford, Sumner, Trego, Wilson, Woodson.

 

Drought Warning: Cherokee, Clay, Decatur, Douglas, Franklin, Geary, Johnson, Kingman, Labette, Linn, Miami, Osage, Pottawatomie, Riley, Shawnee, Sheridan, Wabaunsee, Washington.

 

Drought Watch: Atchison, Barber, Brown, Cheyenne, Clark, Comanche, Doniphan, Grant, Gray, Greeley, Hamilton, Harper, Haskell, Jackson, Jefferson, Kearny, Leavenworth, Logan, Marshall, Meade, Morton, Nemaha, Rawlins, Scott, Seward, Sherman, Stanton, Stevens, Thomas, Wallace, Wichita, Wyandotte.

 

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Bourbon County Courthouse

210 S. National Ave Fort Scott, KS 66701 Phone: 620-223-3800

Fax: 620-223-5832

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bourbon County, Kansas

Nelson Blythe

1st District Commissioner

Jim Harris, Chairman

2nd District Commissioner

Clifton Beth

3rd District Commissioner

 

 

Bourbon County Commission Agenda 210 S. National Ave.

Fort Scott, KS 66701

 

August 24, 2023 5:30 p.m.

 

 

 

A budget work session will be held at 5:30 p.m.

 

 

 

Executive Session Justifications:

 

KSA 75-4319 (b)(1) to discuss personnel matters of individual nonelected personnel to protect their privacy.

KSA 75-4319 (b)(2) for consultation with an attorney for the public body or agency which would be deemed privileged in the

attorney-client relationship.

KSA 75-4319 (b)(3) to discuss matters relating to employer/employee negotiations whether or not in consultation with the

representative(s) of               the body or agency.

KSA 75-4319 (b)(4) to discuss data relating to financial affairs or trade secrets of corporations, partnerships, trust and individual     proprietorships

KSA 75-4319 (b)(6) for the preliminary discussion of the acquisition of real property.

KSA 75-4319 (b)(12) to discuss matters relating to the security measures, if the discussion of such matters at an open meeting

would jeopardize such security measures.

 

August 14, 2023                                                                                                                   Monday, 5:30 p.m.

 

The Bourbon County Commission met in open session with all three Commissioners and the County Clerk present.

 

Jason Silvers, Patty Ropp, Michael Hoyt, Clint Walker, and Rachel Walker 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 8/7/23, approval of payroll totaling $214,430.95, and approval of accounts payable totaling $394,953.25. Nelson Blythe seconded the motion and all approved.

 

There were no public comments.

 

Susan Walker requested a 10-minute executive session for non-elected 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 Walker, Eric Bailey, and Justin Meeks and will return at 5:41. Nelson seconded the motion and all approved. Clifton made a motion to resume normal session at 5:41 with no action. Nelson seconded the motion and all approved.

 

Justin Meeks, County Counselor, explained changes to the drug and alcohol testing program. Justin stated he followed up on last week’s discussion and reached out to Kansas Association of Counties, KWORCC, and KCAMP to find best practices on the process of drug and alcohol testing. Justin said he found out from KAC that elected officials don’t have to follow the policy and felt we needed to update our policy to follow the state and DOT guidelines for CDL drivers versus non-CDL drivers. Our handbook covers non-elected personnel’s personnel and should be followed by Road & Bridge and the Appraiser’s office and those employed by a non-elected official. Clifton questioned why we would have a handbook if they don’t have to follow it. Jim clarified that any county employee who has an accident must be tested. Jim asked if we update our handbook would elected officials have to tell us what pages they opt in and out of? Justin stated there are EOC and federal guidelines that would have to be followed by elected officials. Jim questioned if the commission set vacation for elected official’s employees. Justin stated if the elected officials choose not to follow our handbook and policies, they can hire their own payroll and HR personnel and stated the commissioners handle the budgets. Jim asked for Justin’s recommendation. Justin said to get best practices and update the handbook. Clifton asked for clarification on if elected officials choose to not follow the handbook, they have to hire their own payroll and HR department. Justin stated the ultimate winner and loser is the taxpayer and he hopes the department heads, Commissioners, and elected officials will work to save the taxpayer’s money. Nelson asked why we would care if they don’t follow our handbook policy. Justin replied there are consequence for not following the handbook if there are any federal violations. Nelson replied that’s on the elected official. Jim asked what the liability is if an elected official doesn’t follow our handbook and something goes wrong. Justin said we have the same insurance so hypothetically rates could go up or the company could choose to drop coverage. Clifton said his opinion on drug and alcohol testing is we should test CDL employees. Clifton made a motion to random test those with CDL’s that work for Bourbon County. Justin said the motion should include post-accident testing. Clifton made a motion to random test employees with CDL’s and all employees post-accident. Jim asked about pre-employment testing for those with CDL’s. Justin said you could make that policy for Public Works. Jim stated Clifton’s motion died for lack of a second. Jim made a motion to change the drug and alcohol testing policy to test random CDL employees, pre-employment testing if they have a CDL, and post-accident testing for all employees. Nelson seconded the motion and asked for discussion. Nelson stated it seems hasty to make a decision now and said now everybody will know if they don’t have a CDL they won’t have to get tested and wanted to check with other counties.  Jim said we still have to have a drug and alcohol testing policy for our insurance. Justin stated under Jim’s motion nobody under elected officials would be tested even if they wanted to follow policy. Justin said that testing CDL is a DOT guideline and that insurance wants all post-accident tested. Clifton questioned if the insurance wanted random testing. Justin said the insurance states random testing as a should and post-accident and CDL testing for DOT as shall. Nelson asked what the recourse would be if an employee is suspected of being under the influence. Justin said we can ask for a random test if we believe an employee is under the influence. The motion passed will all Commissioners approval. Justin asked if a director could handle an issue with an employee with the new policy and it was decided to go into executive session to discuss non-elected employees.

 

Clifton made a motion to amend the agenda to allow an executive session before the department updates section. Nelson seconded the motion and all approved.

 

Clifton made a motion to go into a 7-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 Walker, Eric Bailey, and Justin Meeks and will return at 6:12. Nelson seconded the motion and all approved. Clifton made a motion to resume normal session at 6:12 with no action. Nelson seconded the motion and all approved.

 

Eric Bailey, Public Works Director, stated they are working on asphalting on Kansas Road and hope to have it open by Friday. The crew will be asphalting Jayhawk Road from 69 Highway to the railroad tracks on Sunday, August 27 to avoid the traffic with schools and businesses. Eric said they plan to start on chip and seal at 215^th and Zinc Road and head south. Last week Eric and a few members of the asphalt crew went to Joplin’s Special Road Department and they showed them how they do chip and seal and demonstrated the machine and distributor. Eric said they have three mowers out and are waiting for a gear box to come in from Canada to fix the fourth mower. Eric reported the area Nelson called him about has been mowed. Eric said if anybody has an area with an issue to please call or text him with an actual location not an anonymous picture online. Nelson had previously asked for dollar amounts for mowing intersections and Eric explained they used FEMA rates for the tractor and mower and labor and benefits rates for the employee operating to get to a total of $90.91 per hour to mow. It takes approximately 15-20 minutes to mow 150 yards in each direction at the intersection so that would be a total cost of $30,182 to mow the 664 intersections in Bourbon County. Nelson asked for the amount of savings from mowing all the road to just mowing intersections. Eric said the total to mow all roads would be $58,409.68 so the savings to just mow intersections would be $28,227.68. Nelson stated he thought it would be a bigger difference.

 

The Request for Qualifications for an overpass south of town was discussed. Jim explained that the RFQ is the first step before a grant could be applied for. Eric stated $40,000 is the max that the feasibility study could be per the RFQ. Nelson questioned what the company would do to complete the study. Eric stated they will log traffic counts, determine how to tie into roads, intersections, and businesses, and look at placement among other things. Jim said this will be a broad-spectrum study. Eric said he looks for community forums to happen as part of the study as well. Clifton questioned if an underpass was discussed as an option. Jim said it is a good idea that would save millions and suggested asking Schwab Eaton about it, but questioned what you would do with the trains while the underpass was built. Jim made a motion to let Eric Bailey work with Schwab Eaton to do a feasibility study for an overpass or underpass south of Fort Scott and for the study to not exceed $40,000. Clifton said he wouldn’t second because he wanted further discussion. The motion died due to a lack of a second. Clifton said he feels we need to do it and that it has a lot to with more than just safety and economic development and questioned if there was grant money out there for the study. Clifton stated it is budget time and we’re trying to make cuts and he doesn’t like to see this come from a mill levy fund. Jim said the study could be paid for from the sales tax fund. Nelson questioned if they could find someone to do the study for less than $40,000. Clifton stated a dollar amount should not have been put on the RFQ because in his opinion a company will charge as much as they can and feels if they can use money from economic development to do so just not from a mill levy fund. Jim suggested tabling the discussion and it was agreed to table the discussion.

 

Jennifer Hawkins, County Clerk, presented a renewal for a cereal malt beverage for KC Mart at 2191   Soldier Road for approval and the Chairman’s signature. Clifton made a motion to approve the permit and allow Chairman Harris to sign permit #208. Nelson seconded the motion and all approved.

 

Susan Walker, Patty Love, and Jennifer Hawkins met last week to go over a form the auditors had sent asking about the county’s financial policies and procedures. Susan said there were a few items that needed addressed and changed as an organization moving forward. There have already been some changes that have taken place since Jennifer took office, and after the meeting others will be implemented in both the Clerk’s office and Treasurer’s office. Susan said the policies and procedures should be made as an organization and will help when people move out of office to serve as a guideline for new personnel coming in. Riley County’s financial policy was obtained so we are not starting from scratch creating a new policy and changes will be made to fit our organization. They asked for the Commissioners blessing to work together to create a financial policy. Nelson asked if it was to put a policy together and then have the Commissioners review and approve and Susan confirmed that is their intention. Jim said that was a great idea. One item the auditor’s asked for was a list of those authorized on our certificate on incumbency and those listed were: Clifton Beth, James Harris, Patty Love, Nelson Blythe, and Jennifer Hawkins. If anybody else was to do anything outside of agreements or handling of money they would have to be listed on the certificate. Susan said she feels there are other accounts and individuals that need to be added to the certificate. Susan said she can have Justin review the certificate. Another item that was brought up was the printing of names on the accounts payable checks and it was suggested to always have a live signature on the check whether that be the Chairman’s or the Clerk’s. Jim said the Treasurer and Clerk should be the live signatures.

 

Patty Love and Susan Walker discussed the CD’s the county currently has in local banks. The Commissioners have previously suggest moving CD’s to other institutions that offer the best interest rate. Patty said she had talked to Susan about putting $1,000,000 in a short-term, such as 90-day, CD and asked for bids. Patty handed out the bids received from local institutions. Patty said we have two $100,000 CD’s that are at a low interest rate and she is going to cash them in with the three-month penalty because the new interest rate will be worth it. Clifton said there was money that was soon to be rolled over about six months ago and asked at what rate were they rolled over. Nelson asked how much we currently have in CD’s now and Patty said we have $1,640,000. Nelson asked how much we have available to put into short term CD’s. Susan said it is hard to figure out cash-flow over the next three months and that they will have to figure all officials spending their full amount. After discussion it was determined to put $1,000,000 into short term CD’s not to exceed three months.

 

A short break was taken and normal session resumed at 6:46.

 

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 Walker, and Justin Meeks and will return at 6:57. Nelson seconded the motion and all approved. Clifton made a motion to resume normal session at 6:57 with no action. Nelson seconded the motion and all approved.

 

Clifton made a motion to go into a 10-minute executive session under KSA 75-4319(b)(4) to discuss data relating to financial affairs or trade secrets of corporations, partnerships, trust and individual proprietorships. The executive session will include all three Commissioners, and Justin Meeks and will return at 7:08. Nelson seconded the motion and all approved. Clifton made a motion to resume normal session at 7:08 with no action. Nelson seconded the motion and all approved.

 

Jim said he went to the poverty session last Saturday at the middle school and that it was a very good program and he is interested and exited to see how the program helps folks in Bourbon County. Nelson made a motion to adjourn the meeting at 7:10. Clifton seconded the motion and all approved.

 

 

THE BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS

OF BOURBON COUNTY, KANSAS

___________________, Chairman

___________________, Commissioner

ATTEST:                                                                                                    ___________________, Commissioner

                                                         

Selena Alvarado, Bourbon County Deputy Clerk

8/21/2023          , Approved Date