November 17, 2020                                         Tuesday 9:00 am

 

The Bourbon County Commissioners met in open session with Jeff Fischer present and Clifton and Lynne by telephone, Also present were the County Counselor and the County Clerk.

 

Also present were the following; (some were present for a portion of the meeting, some were present for the entire meeting), Jason Silvers with the Fort Scott Tribune, Clint and Rachel Walker, Anne Dare, Nancy Van Etten and Michael Hoyt.

 

Eric Bailey by phone reported that a recent windstorm knocked a few trees down near 245^th & Hackberry.  He said they have hauled 50 loads of gravel to the Southeast portion of the County and will be hauling to the Northwest portion next week.  He said they are crushing rock at the Shepherd quarry and the culvert crew is installing culverts.  They are patching at 125^th & Tomahawk and working towards 54 Highway and then will be working in the Northwest part of the County.  They are doing roadside mowing South and North of 54 Highway.  He said all of the dump trucks are currently back in service.  He said there have been some hydraulic issues with some of the trucks, but those issues are under warranty.  Eric said they had a tractor that sold on Purple Wave, but the buyer backed out.  He said that two road graders have a power by the hour contract that is due to be renewed; he suggested renewing.  Jeff made a motion to renew the power by the hour contract for the two road graders, Clifton seconded and all approved.

 

Jeff moved to amend the agenda to talk about longevity pay for the County employees, Clifton seconded and all approved.  When the Commissioners did the 2020 budget they included $51,000 total for longevity pay.  They would like to pay this out to eligible employees before Christmas of 2020.  Jeff said the wage scale is behind and suggested that the onetime longevity pay might help narrow the gap.  Jeff said loosing an employee is a significant cost, he said the longevity pay idea was to build loyalty and provide compensation to employees.  The longevity pay will be a onetime payment based on years of service.  Lynne made a motion to start identifying all eligible employees (non elected) and pay the longevity pay on December 4^th, Jeff seconded, Justin Meeks questioned if the pay would be based on years of service or a flat rate to all eligible employees, Lynne said he would look at his previous notes about how the longevity pay was calculated.  Kendell will provide each of the Commissioners with an employee listing with years of service for their consideration when distributing the longevity pay.  Jeff made a motion to table the motion pending additional information and discuss again on November 24^th, Clifton 2^nd and all approved.

 

Jody Hoener gave a SPARK update; she said that Greenbush is working on the December 4^th reporting and said that some entities are marked as complete.  Jody discussed the BWERC grant; she said BWERC was awarded $170,800 in grant money and said they have awarded approximately $100,000 to 20 business for website development, she said they have implemented a child care incentive to help facilities keep up with licensing requirements.  She said Kwowks is offering job seeking opportunities to individuals needing help.  She said Kansas small business development is offering business support and can also help businesses get LLC licenses.   Jeff made a motion to authorize Kendell Mason to sign a disbursement of $17,261.99 worth of CDBG funds, Clifton seconded and all approved.

 

Jody Hoener said she didn’t want to purchase furniture for the BWERC location where she will spend most of her time until the end of the year and asked permission to move some of her furniture from the Courthouse to that location; Lynne said they would discuss this later today.  They briefly discussed later and Lynne questioned who would use the furniture, Jody said she would use the furniture, she said she has been working there for the past 15 days and her office will be over there, she said she would still have her desk here and said her phone calls roll over to her cell phone.  Lynne made a motion to amend the agenda to have an executive session at 11:45 with the Commissioners and Jody for non-elected personnel, Clifton seconded and all approved.

 

Lynne asked Jeff Fischer to sign the Stryker bill and the Omni bill; Jeff signed the vouchers to be paid.

 

Register of Deeds Lora Holdridge met with the Commissioners regarding the holiday dinner; Covid was discussed and the concern of having employees gathered together.  The Commissioners will discuss this again next week, (possible meal, gift card or a meal at a later date).  Lora said her office is having a $10 ornament exchange for all employees that want to participate.

 

Jody Hoener discussed the OMNI lockbox option; she said there has been a lag in time that items are being posted regarding the EMS billing.  She said a lockbox could increase customer service, she said the County is responsible for items being posted in a timely manner, she said Patty Love, the County Treasurer feels a lockbox is needed.  Jody said there is a cost associated with the Lockbox, Lynne asked that this be tabled until he can do research; this will be discussed again on November 24^th.  Jody said she will be working to enroll the EMS service as a Missouri Medicaid provider, she said we are currently a Kansas Medicaid provider.

 

Jeff made a motion to amend the agenda to allow Kirk Sharp with FSCC to speak about the Gordon Parks Museum, Clifton seconded and all approved.  Kirk Sharp discussed a project they are doing regarding the 1968 film the Learning Tree; they are placing signs at locations that were part of the Learning Tree, they are creating a virtual tour of the locations that were part of the filming of the Learning Tree.  He said the City of Fort Scott is supportive of the placement of signs on their easements and said they are asking the County for a letter of support and asking for permission to approve signs being placed on the County easements; he said they were not asking for the County to fund the project.  Eric Bailey will contact KDOT regarding sign placement on easements.  Jeff made a motion to support the Gordon Parks signage project and to give Eric Bailey permission to facilitate the endeavor, Clifton seconded and all approved.

 

Justin Meeks met with the Commissioners regarding the sewer service agreement for the sewer district; he said when the district was set up, residents on Indian road were asked if they wanted to join the district then, but didn’t.  He said someone needs to find out the capacity load of the current system, he said if it was at or near limited capacity they would need to limit who connects to the district.  Justin said the City is responsible for maintaining the district.  Nancy Van Etten said that Michael Mix reported to her that the system was designed for 60 single homes; she said the boundaries of the district are well defined.  Justin said the Commissioners had decisions to make regarding if they wanted to limit connections and said they needed to set parameters.  Jeff Fischer said he would review the capacity of the system.  Lynne made a motion to give Jeff permission to talk to Michael Mix to determine the capacity of the sewer system and then Justin will work with Susan at the City of Fort Scott regarding the sewer service agreement, Clifton seconded and all approved.

 

On November 10^th, Gregg Motley met with the Commissioners regarding BEDCO and requested $130,000 for 2021 for economic development shared services; there was a discussion over Allen County economic development and Thrive.  Lynne said that BEDCO is a 501(3) (c) and because of this they had access to more grant opportunities.  Lynne said once they approve funding, they would look for an economic development person and then the County would eliminate our economic development position.  Lynne said all cities would be represented on this dynamic board to make sure this works.  Lynne made a motion to approve the 2021 budget request of $130,000, Clifton seconded and the motion passed, Jeff didn’t vote for or against the motion.  Lynne made a motion to give Clifton permission to speak to Gregg Motley regarding BEDCO, Jeff seconded and all approved.

 

Jayhawk Wind representatives Alan Anderson and Julianna Planelli met with the Commissioners; Justin Meeks said they want to move the district from the east to the west.  He said they have the ability to use any road in the county, but have to have permission to use the roads to move their heavy equipment and supplies.  Justin said they want to expand in an area where there is an oil field and on land in the Southwest corner of the County.  Lynne said they are not expanding the number of turbines nor are they expanding the megawatts, he said they are just moving locations from somewhere else to the west and said this is a request to move from the east to the west.  Clifton questioned if they were asking to use a few extra miles of roads to get to the property; Julianna said they want to utilize an additional 3 miles of roads.  Clifton questioned if they were improving the roads; Julianna said they would upgrade the roads to support the heavy equipment and said once construction is finalized they would leave the roads in a condition as they are now or better that they currently are and said an engineer would be involved with this.  Julianna said a pre-inventory (between Jayhawk Wind and the County) of the roads would be done. Clifton Beth asked Justin if what Julianna was stating was true; Justin said what she stated is in the parameters of the signed contract.  Jeff said with the current condition of the roads a significant amount of base will need to be on the roads to support their equipment.  Justin said there will be no cost to the County to maintain these roads while they are using them. Lynne asked for a legal description of what they want to expand; Justin said maps had been provided.  Lynne made a motion to allow Jayhawk Wind to expand to the west as indicated on the map and asked that the map be included in the contract, Clifton seconded, Clifton said as a person that wasn’t involved in the negotiations, he believed as a non-zoned County people could do what they wanted with their land, Jeff questioned if they would stay 3 miles from Elm Creek and Bourbon Allen lake; Julianna said there are participating landowners that have signed up near the lakes, but said no turbines will be located within 3 miles of the lakes.  Jeff didn’t vote for or against the motion.

 

Justin Meeks discussed the tax sale; he said they sent the majority of the demand letters to the property owners that have delinquent taxes (some delinquent back to 2016), he said there is $1.4 million in delinquent taxes.  Justin said some are starting to pay the delinquent taxes.  He said demand letters had not been sent to properties with special assessments on them, he said the City of Fort Scott will need to decide what they want to do with properties with specials attached to them.  He said they will sell properties with specials on them at the next tax sale.  There are 75 parcels at Hidden Valley Lake to be sold.  He said eventually he would like to talk to legislature about setting a minimum bid on tax sale properties and about mandating that any payments on delinquent taxes be applied to the oldest taxes due.  Patty Love presented the contract for Security 1^st to do the title work on the tax sale properties for $115/parcel, Jeff made a motion to approve the agreement with Security 1^st to do the tax sale title work, Clifton seconded and all approved and Jeff signed the contract.   Justin said they do not guarantee title insurance with tax sale properties.

 

Lynne made a motion to allow Anne Dare to speak before an executive session, Jeff seconded and all approved.  Anne discussed the changed agenda and said she wasn’t aware of Jayhawk Wind coming to the meeting today; Justin added Jayhawk Wind to the agenda on Monday afternoon, Anne suggested the Commissioners decide if they wanted the agenda sent on Friday or Monday.  Anne reported that she had met with Jeff Spangler with Apex/Jayhawk Wind to get an update; she said there are currently 118 planned turbine sites and said it won’t be any larger than 185 megawatts.  She said there are two transmission lines in the area, Anne questioned if the County had received $50,000 payment for outside employment of an outside engineer, Lynne said yes, that it was in a line item by itself and said other revenue from Jayhawk Wind will be placed in a revenue account; Anne asked if they could see foresee hiring an outside engineer, Lynne said if they need an engineer they will contact Frank Young with Ag Engineering.

 

Jeff Fischer made a motion to go into a 10 minute executive session for personnel matters of individual non-elected personnel in Jody’s office, Clifton seconded and all approved, (the session included the Commissioners and Jody Hoener).  No action was taken.

 

Lynne made a motion to go into a 20 minute executive session for personnel matters of individual non-elected personnel in the office next to the Commission room, Jeff seconded and all approved, (the session included the Commissioners and Justin Meeks).  After the session, Jeff made a motion to authorize software training for point of service at the Landfill, Clifton seconded and all approved.

 

Jeff made a motion to hire temporary contracted help for $20/hour to catch up the process of the ambulance claims until the process is up to date, Clifton seconded and all approved.

 

Jeff made a motion for Eric Bailey to handle a non-elected personnel issue at his discretion, Clifton seconded and all approved.

 

Lynne made a motion to amend the agenda to approve claim vouchers, Clifton seconded and all approved.  Lynne gave Jeff permission to sign claim vouchers for the following; FSCC $20,956.22 (SPARK funds), Moes Bread $3,000 (SPARK funds), Forensic Medical $9,250, Kansas Employment fund $29.00, Jeff signed the vouchers to be paid.  Lynne gave Jeff permission to sign a voucher to pay the credit card payment as soon as possible.

 

Lynne made a motion to amend the agenda to adopt a resolution regarding the 2020 General Election results, to discuss the medical mall and to discuss COVID, Clifton seconded and all approved.

 

Jeff made a motion to adopt resolution 29-20, a resolution with the 2020 General Election results, Clifton seconded and all approved.

 

Lynne reported there would be a healthcare mall meeting on November 23^rd; he made a motion to give Clifton permission to participate in the discussions and appoint him as a successor on the healthcare board, Jeff seconded and all approved.

 

Clifton discussed COVID, he said COVID is spreading and he had received communication from people asking about mask mandates, he asked for permission to contact the health board, Justin Meeks said that Jeff Fischer is on the health board.  Jeff said the health board has supported the recommended State mandates, he said enforcement is an issue, Jeff said there is an increase in cases and said that some have no symptoms, Jeff said the positivity rate is over 50% for the tests taken which suggests that COVID is less controlled than it was in the past, Jeff said a good health practice is to wear a mask when you can’t socially distance at least 6’ apart.

 

At 12:55, Jeff made a motion to adjourn, Clifton seconded and all approved.

 

THE BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS

OF BOURBON COUNTY, KANSAS

(ss) Lynne Oharah, Chairman

(ss) Jeff Fischer, Commissioner

(ss) Clifton Beth, Commissioner

ATTEST:

Kendell Mason, Bourbon County Clerk

November 24, 2020, Approved Date

 

 

November 10, 2020                                                             Tuesday 9:00 AM

 

The Bourbon County Commission met in open session with Commissioner Oharah, Commissioner Fisher, the County Counselor and the County Clerk present. Also present where the following, (some were present for the entire meeting some were present for a portion of the meeting) Jason Silver’s with the Fort Scott Tribune, Jim Harris, Nancy Van Etten, Mr. and Mrs. Clint Walker, Shane Wood, Deb McKinney, Anne Dare and Nancy Mayes.

 

Lynn made a motion to go into a 10 minute executive session for non-elected personnel, Jeff second the motion and the motion passed, (present for the session were the Commissioners, Justin Meeks and Eric Bailey (by telephone). No action was taken.

 

Eric Bailey (by phone) discussed Elm Creek Lake; he said they have identified an area on the northeast corner of the dam that is causing problems; they are waiting on Frank Young to get back to discuss if it’s solid rock or shale and then get information on a cost of drilling in that area.

 

Eric Bailey said the pothole patcher is working in the northwest area of the County and will be heading to the southeast area. They are also still installing culverts.

 

Lynne reported that the Uniontown School asked that Maple and 75th be closed on November 11^th, for the Veterans Day parade, Eric said he would take care of this.

 

Eric reported that they had blasted at the Blake quarry and now will move to the Shepherd quarry to prepare to do a blast there.

 

Jeff question if the bridge load rating signs we’re all posted around the county, especially in the southwest portion of the county.  He said with the wind development starting, we need to make sure the signs are posted.  Eric said he would check for the signs. Jeff said that we needed to make sure they were following the counties right of way standards.

 

Jeff Fisher read a letter of support for CHC SEK (the primary care provider occupying Mercy Hospital building); the letter was to support for them to apply to be a public transportation provider. Jeff made a motion to give the chairman permission to sign the letter of support, Lynn seconded and the motion passed and Lynn signed the letter of support.

 

Monica Murnan with Greenbush discussed the Spark grant funds; she said they were at the point of the grant process where the Commissioners may need to make some adjustments. She said a lot of the community businesses understand the gift that this is regarding mitigating COVID-19. Monica said we may have about $10,000 not assigned and will need to delegate that money elsewhere in December. Monica will meet with the Commissioners again on December 1 and December 8. Monica said they are following up with grant recipients gathering the needed data. She said if a recipient wants to spend money where it was not allocated she will bring those issues to the Commissioners to see if they want to allow them to spend it out of a different category. She said they were going to pull the MOU for Little Tigers Daycare since they hadn’t heard from them.

 

Jody Hoener met with the Commissioners; she said the City of Chanute’s IT department had been awarded a $1.6 million grant for connectivity. Jody contacted them to learn to see if there was anything for our community. She got contacts at the State level for any possible future connectivity grants.  Monica suggested that Jody contact the City of Pittsburg and the Pittsburg schools regarding the grants as well.

 

Jody Hoener gave a BWERC update; she said the BWERC location is open at 17 S. Main Street. She said they are seeing a need for businesses to get assistance. Jody asked if she could move the furniture from her office at the Courthouse to the BWERC location (she said the furniture was purchased with Healthy Bourbon County Action team money), Lynn asked that they discuss this next week when Clifton was going to be there.

 

The Commissioners discussed the sewer district hookup; Justin has been working with Susan Bancroft at the City of Fort Scott regarding the sewer district.  Justin gave the Commissioners an updated service agreement for them to review.  They will discuss this again next week. There was concern over locations on Indian road wanting to connect to the sewer district and whether or not the sewer could handle all of the additional connections. Shane Wood said he had bought a lot at the Fort Scott Lake and was initially told it had sewer on the lot, he said he had worked with Michael Mix at the City of Fort Scott who told him he had sewer on the lot but he couldn’t find it, it didn’t have sewer but was told to find the line of where it connects, he didn’t have a line and said it would be about $20,000 for him to get on the sewer district, when he initially was told he had sewer. His property is on the East side of the Lake. It was stated that there is a need for sewer policies but the policies needed to be upfront so people knew what they we’re getting into. Jeff Fisher said he was OK with waiving the fees for Saint Martin’s and the Woods property, but with the proposed condominium development at the Lake they realized the sewer board needed to be organized with an inter-local agreement. Jeff Fisher said there might eventually be a fire station near the lake which could help with the insurance ratings there. Nancy Van Etten spoke as the lake advisory chairperson; she also wanted to review the document from Justin Meeks. Nancy presented a letter asking to move land from the Bourbon County fire District #3 to Scott Township fire district #5. Justin responded to her letter with a letter that said he felt the Bourbon County Commissioners had no authority over these fire districts. He said the petition is not substantial and is not in the required form and thus is not valid as presented.

 

Bill Martin, Bobby Reed, Ben Cole and Rachel Thompson (videotaping) met with the Commissioners regarding the COVID-19 leave time; Bobby discussed the COVID-19 pandemic he said he is pro employee and thinks the County handbook needs to revised to define what the County can do for employees who have contracted Covid at work. He said he had an employee that went into the hospital due to COVID-19, he said this employee had no sick or vacation time and used all of the 80 hours of COVID-19 leave time given to them. Bobby felt we needed to do something for all employees, he said he thought the County needed to take better care of our employees. Lynne said he talked to KCAMP regarding the 80 hours of Covid leave time, emergency personnel could be excluded from this 80 hour policy and that it would be up to the elected officials to allow them to use this leave time.  Bobby wants something beyond the 80 hours for the employees. Bill said the outdated policy needs to be addressed. Bill said this could affect all of the employees, Bobby said he contacted KCAMP and Kworcc and that Covid is not covered under work comp. Bobby said the Covid leave time runs out on December 31 and asked what we were going to do after that. Jeff Fisher said he saw everyone in the room except Bill and Bobby wearing their masks right, (Bill and Bobby did not have their masks covering their nose) Bobby said everyone has their own opinion on wearing masks. Lynne said they would have a discussion over this.

 

Greg Motley with BEDCO met with the Commissioners with a BEDCO budget request. He discussed economic development and suggested the most advantageous structure for economic development is a 501(c) (3), which could qualify them for a range of grants and programs that municipalities cannot. He discuss Thrive Allen County which has a seven-figure budget and eight employees, he said they help municipalities write grants and provide other services which helps keep the expenses incurred local. He asked for the Bourbon County Commission to fund the initial effort in the amount of $130,000. Greg said their focus would be to bring outside money to us. The Commissioners did not make a decision on this but will discuss this again next week.

 

Patty West, Lynette Westhoff and Brad Hartman met with the Commissioners regarding the Counties property and work comp. insurance. Patty and Lynette had been gathering data to quote the counties 2021 insurance, but were recently told that the Commissioners had decided to stay with KCAMP and Kworcc for the 2021 year. Patty said they were very disappointed that they were shut down in the quoting process.  Lynne said the County had not put the insurance up for bid for 2021, but said they would put it up for bid for the 2022 year.  Jeff said our current insurance companies also provides a lot of risk management services, Patty said their companies can also offer this.  Bill Martin said he had sent a mass email to different Sheriff’s departments, he said he believed in buying and living local.  He said KCAMP is located in Topeka and their board is made up of all County officials, he said EMC is located in Iowa and the directors are not local.  Bill said some of the counties were in support of KCAMP and some were in support of EMC; Bill said he recommended KCAMP, he said the biggest liability for the County is the Sheriff’s department and the jail.  Lynnette asked Bill for the copies of the emails he received so that she could research the statements made regarding claims for EMC.  If the County selected Travelers Insurance Patty West would be the local contact and if the County selected EMC Insurance Lynnette Westhoff would be the local contact, but both would be available to assist the County.

Justin Meeks said there was an issue brought up by Michael Hoyt; he said a protest petition was filed regarding the City of Fort Scott purchasing a fire truck, Justin said general obligation bonds were not being used to purchase the truck and said grant money is being used to purchase the truck.  Justin said Mr. Hoyt was submitting a question to the AG’s office regarding this issue.  Justin said he would issue a formal letter to Mr. Hoyt.

Jeff made a motion to go into a 20 minute executive session for confidential data relating to financial affairs or trade secrets of corporations, partnerships, trusts and individual proprietorships, Lynne seconded and the motion passed, (the session included the Commissioners, Jody Hoener, Justin Meeks and Bill Brittain).  No action was taken.

Jeff made a motion to go into a 10 minute executive session for personnel matters of individual non-elected personnel, Lynne seconded and the motion passed, (the session included the Commissioners and Jody Hoener).  No action was taken.

 

The 2020 General Election canvass is scheduled for 10:00 am, November 12^th; the Commissioners are the canvassing board (Lynne and Jeff plan to attend).

 

Jeff made a motion to allow Lynne to sign a non-disclosure agreement; Lynne seconded and signed the agreement.

 

Eddie Harrison asked the Commissioners what the status was regarding the leak at Elm Creek Lake; the Commissioners said Eric Bailey reported that Ag Engineering said the problem is located at the northeast corner of the lake and said they were going to drill samples there.

 

Don George with KDWP met with the Commissioners regarding Elm Creek Lake; he said Elm Creek is a WPA project with quality workmanship.  Don said they want to be involved with the project and said when they were looking for grant money for the Lake he might be their source.  He said their grant money would need to be applied for by the 2^nd week of May and said the grants max out at $40,000.  He asked that the Commissioners call him and said together they would look at other projects in the County that are part of KDWP.  Jeff asked Don George to contact Frank Young regarding Elm Creek Lake.

 

Deb McCoy and Nancy Van Etten met with the Commissioners regarding Fire District #3 and #5 and the possibility of transferring land from one to the other.  Justin said they needed to learn how the Scott Fire District was formed.  Jeff said that Scott (FD #5) wants to build a fire station near the west side of the Lake.

 

Lynne made a motion to amend the agenda to allow for executive sessions, Jeff seconded and the motion passed.

 

Lynne made a motion to go into a 30 minute executive session for personnel matters of individual non-elected personnel, Jeff seconded and the motion passed, (the session included the Commissioners, Justin Meeks, Eric Bailey (by phone) and Kendell Mason).  No action was taken.

 

Jeff made a motion to go into a 15 minute executive session for personnel matters of individual non-elected personnel and to move the session to a different location on County property due to confidentiality, Lynne seconded and the motion passed, (the session included the Commissioners, Eric Bailey (by phone) and Justin Meeks.  No action was taken.

 

Lynne made a motion to go into a 10 minute executive session for personnel matters of individual non-elected personnel and to move the session to a different location on County property due to confidentiality, Jeff seconded and the motion passed, (the session included the Commissioners, Clifton Beth and Eric Bailey (by phone), and Justin Meeks.  After the session, Jeff made a motion to give Lynne the authority at his discretion to handle a non-elected personnel issue, Lynne seconded the motion and the motion passed.  Justin Meeks said he would be doing some HR functions with Lynne in the next 48 hours and said KAC had been contacted this morning regarding an issue.

 

At 1:20, Jeff made a motion to adjourn, Lynne seconded and all approved.

 

THE BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS

OF BOURBON COUNTY, KANSAS

(ss) Lynne Oharah, Chairman

(ss) Jeff Fischer, Commissioner

(ss) Clifton Beth, Commissioner

ATTEST:

Kendell Mason, Bourbon County Clerk

November 24, 2020, Approved Date