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 275^th, 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 215^th & 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 85^th & 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 2^nd.

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 1^st, so the County Attorney wants to hire a 1099 Assistant County Attorney from now until March 1^st @ $100/hour and said the new employee hired March 1^st 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 1^st, 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 3^rd 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

January 19, 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), Jason Silvers with the Fort Scott Tribune, Anne Dare, Mark McCoy and Nancy Van Etten.

The Commissioners signed the prior meeting minutes.

Road & Bridge Director Eric Bailey said they treated the roads in the N.E. part of the County on Friday due to inclement weather.

Eric Bailey discussed a bridge at 85^Th & Xavier; he said it had prior damage, they cleaned out the channel, filled in the damage and capped the concrete and the bridge is now open.

Eric reported there a several telephone poles at the Landfill; he said some have treated ends and asked the Commissioners to consider selling them.  Jim Harris said to sell them for $15/each, first come-first serve.

Eric said any new road cut permits or culvert permits will be given to the Road & Bridge secretary.

Eric suggested having a work session to discuss the 2021 asphalt program; Jim received permission from the other Commissioners to meet with Eric to review what work had been done over the past 10 years, Lynne suggested scheduling a work session after Jim met with Eric.

Eric said he is gearing up for the bridge and culvert crew and asked the Commissioners about advertising for a supervisor position since he had internal candidates interested in the position.  Jim said to ask the County Counselors opinion, but said the handbook said positions will be advertised in the newspaper; Justin suggested advertising the position.

Eric said they are replacing a guardrail (from a hit and run accident) on 215th, North of Range Road,   he said this road is shut down today for the repairs.

Eric said there was an issue with parts ordered for the crusher, but said the crusher should be running in two weeks.

Eric said they have hired someone to repair the rock that fell off of a header at Elm Creek.

Jim asked the other Commissioners opinion on the County using the side arm mower at the park at the Fort Scott Lake; all of the Commissioners were in agreement to this.

Jody Hoener met with the Commissioners; she suggested that the County use Kansas Works to help fill vacant job positions.

Jody said the County received $132,000 in CDBG grant funds to disperse, she said they have granted out $102,000, she said the County had one year to disperse all of the funds, she said at some point the Commissioners may want to increase the $14,000 parameters previously set.  Clifton made a motion to allow Lynne to sign the request for payments of the CDBG funds, Jim asked if there was any accountability on how the funds were spent, and Jody said yes they have to provide receipts for the grant funds, Jim seconded and all approved.

Jody discussed the NRP program; she said the NRP program includes all of the cities and said the program is an incentive to increase the overall value to help lower property taxes. She said the goal in 2020 was to get 20 new applications, but said they received 29.

Jody said they had a feasibility study done for a multi-use facility; she said there is a possible interested developer which could have a $2 million impact on our community.

Jody said they are working on grants for Bwerc; she said they received a $5,500 anonymous donation to remain in the space.

Lynne made a motion to approve paying the 2021 Chamber of Commerce dues, Clifton seconded and all approved.

Lynne made a motion to approve paying the 2021 NACO dues, Jim seconded and all approved.

Lynne made a motion to approve paying the 2021 Kansas League of Municipalities dues, Clifton seconded and all approved.

Lynne made a motion to approve paying the 2021 KAC dues, Jim seconded and all approved.

Lynne made a motion to approve Resolution 08-21; a resolution approving wage increases for the County Counselor (now a 1099 contract laborer), the Appraiser and the Elm Creek caretaker, Clifton seconded and all approved and signed the resolution.  Jim questioned how much time the caretaker would spend doing windfarm work since he also operates a mower.

Lynne made a motion to approve Resolution 09-21; a resolution certifying the January 5, 2021 election results, Clifton seconded and all approved and signed resolution.

Clifton made a motion to appoint County Commissioner Jim Harris to the Lake Advisory board, Lynne seconded and all approved.

Clifton made a motion to go into a 20 minute executive session for KSA 75-4319(b)(4) to discuss data relating to financial affairs or trade secrets of corporations, partnerships, trusts and individual proprietorships, the subject will be healthcare in Bourbon County, the Commissioners will meet in another location and reconvene in the Commission room at 9:57 am, Jim seconded and all approved, (the session included the Commissioners).  At 9:57, Clifton made a motion to go back into open session and said that no action, Jim seconded and all approved.

Justin Meeks reported that the 2^nd part of the bond for Phoenix Coal Company would be released shortly; Justin said he believed the roads had been reclaimed as best as they could.

Justin said opened/closed roads are a 100 year old problem in Bourbon County; Lynne said Lora Holdridge had been working through road closing/opening documents.  Justin suggested having a work session with residents to help make decisions on opening or closing roads low maintenance roads.  Lynne said the County has a map designating low maintenance roads.

Justin said all of the demand letters had been sent regarding the tax sale for property from 2016 and back.  He said he would get the cases for the tax sale filed in the next few months.  Justin said he is still an advocate for the Landbank and said they were still working on this.

Justin said he is working on an issue from a taxpayer where their taxes went up due to a change in valuation.

The Commissioners and Justin discussed roads and bridges in the County; Justin said the bridge on old 69 Highway needs repairs and said it wouldn’t be around much longer.  He suggested getting citizens opinion when it comes to making a decision on what to do about the bridge.  Justin expressed a concern over the safety of some of the roads and bridges.

Justin said the City/County had a good meeting recently about shared services.

The Commissioners allowed public comment; Anne Dare asked that the Commissioners apply for KDOT and Federal funds for the roads and bridges in the County.  She questioned how much the KAC dues were and suggested that the Commissioners consider having something in writing on what the different organizations that the County belongs to does for the County.  She also suggested that the different departments and boards do reports to keep the community involve in what they have been doing/spending.  Nancy Van Etten questioned what Lynne was discussing at the City meeting about the sewer board; Lynne said they were going to discuss possibly refinancing the sewer district bond.  Mark McCoy discussed shared services between the County/City; he commended the County for working with the City to save money.  He said sharing a finance manager with the City is a start in the right direction.  Mark said he was the chairman of the shared services committee.  He said that Bourbon County economic development is working to hire an economic development director. Mark said he is on the BEDCO board; he said it is a board of 13 volunteer members.

Clifton made a motion to amend the agenda to allow for Commissioner comments, Jim seconded and all approved.  Clifton responded to the public comments; he said they needed to hire the right person for the economic development director, he told Anne Dare that they were heading in the direction of getting reports of what is spent.  Jim said when he was campaigning he heard the term transparency; he said he felt all of the Commissioners were going to be transparent.  Lynne said the Commissioners get a monthly detailed report of what is spent, but thought the finance director would provide easier to read reports. Lynne said the economic development director position would be a challenging job, but said it would be beneficial to the entire county.

Lora Holdridge met with the Commissioners regarding the west parking lot; she said several months ago it was discussed about the City fixing this, she said there is a water leak there and said cars bottom out when entering/exiting the parking lot due to damage there.  Jim Harris said the City was going to fix this last September, Lynne said there are also bricks missing out of the street on the northwest end of the block.  The Commissioners asked Lynne to call Eric Bailey and have him work with the City on getting the lot fixed.

Greg Vahrenberg with Raymond and James met over the phone with the Commissioners regarding refinancing the 2015 jail bonds; he said Gilmore and Bell had drafted the legal documents and said Standard and Poor’s gave the County an “A” rating, he said they considered giving better than an “A” rating, but didn’t due to the current pandemic.  They originally thought refinancing the bonds for the years of 2024-2035 would save $251,000, but a lower interest rate was locked in and the County should have an estimated savings of $367,699.  He said there is no penalty for paying the bonds off early.  Clifton made a motion to approve the refinancing documents, (Resolution 07-21), Jim seconded and all approved.  Jeff made a motion to allow Lynne to sign the documents, Clifton seconded and all approved and all signed the documents.  Greg said he would send an updated analysis for the sewer district bonds.

At 11:42, 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

January 26, 2021, Approved Date