The pool and expansion at Buck Run are making progress. Here are a bunch of pictures of the work being done.
Today several people told me that the Scottish Rite Temple had “For Sale” signs in the window. I assumed that the signs were in the old Western building that is currently owned by Harvest Ministries. But when I went by, the signs were on the part that is owned by the Scottish Rite Temple–where the Kiwanis Pancake Feed and Beacon Soup Feed are held.
I called Diann Tucker at Stewart Realty to ask about it. She had been out of town and was surprised, but after checking with another agent called me back to say that the building is indeed for sale. The asking price is $1,000,000 and some of the personal property is negotiable.
Diann said that if they are able to sell the building, the Scottish Rite will most likely build a smaller facility.
Commissioners discussed a budget report. There will be a budget hearing at the December 30th commission meeting.
The audit performed by Mr. Sercer cost Bourbon County $8,150. This was the audit that resulted in his report we published in October.
Ron Center came to talk to the commissioners about roll off containers at the dump. Someone came in with a roll off container and the whole thing was full of trash. He had put the load down as C&D which is a lower rate. He said people are dumping things at the lower rate knowing that it needs to be at the higher rate. He said that the county isn’t breaking even at the dump. He said March was the only month where they weren’t in the red.
He also talked about how they need some type of loader out at the dump. He is concerned that the land field money was used to buy a skid loader years ago and it was never used at the landfill.
The commissioners talked about the need to raise prices at the landfill, but were concerned that if the prices are too high, people will just dump trash in the ditches.
A citizen came in to point out that there aren’t many places in town where you can get rid of used oil.
Ron Grey and several members of the sheriff office came in. Sheriff asked to go into executive session for 10 minutes to discuss non-elected personel matters.
The Susan Quick (Bourbon County Treasurer) said the the court fees have been set for the sale at $250 per parcel. There isn’t a tax sale date yet. Mr. Meara said he can’t set a date yet.
A tax payer came in to pay his taxes on the second. He paid for 2006 and 2007 before the paperwork had been filed in court. The Treasurer was asking if he needed to pay all of the remaining taxes including the $250 court fee or if the individual can partially redeem their property by paying the 2006 and 2007 taxes.
Mr. Endicott said that all of the properties need to be treated the same. The Treasurer was fine with that, but wanted to make sure the decision came from the Commissioners.
She asked the Commissioners if Mr. Meara could give them a date for the sale so she can tell people when it will occur.
John Scott asked if it had been determined whether the grinder pumps had a 2 or 5 year warranty. Chairman Endicott said that it was 5 years even though the instruction manual states it is only a 2 year warranty.
The Commissioners left at 10:45 to do a fence viewing in Franklin TWP. The Commissioners will declare which part of the fence needs to be maintained by which land owner.
The Lyon’s Twin Mansions Month of Brunch Giveaway has a winner. Jerrod Handly’s name matched the random number generated from www.random.org. He is now in possession of gift certificates for weekly brunches for a month at the Lyon’s Restaurant.
A special thanks to Miss Pat and the Lyon’s Twin Mansions for sponsoring the giveaway. Don’t forget they are open for lunch 9 – 2 Tuesday through Sunday and they open an hour early (at 8am) on the weekends.
If you want to make sure your name is in the running for future giveaways, please sign up for our email list here.
Below are two lists of property owners from 2008 and 2009 who had unpaid taxes (at the time this report was run) but were not properly published in the paper. Since the bid off process was not started, the county has never begun the redemption period so the properties will not be able to go to auction until the redemption period has expired from the date that the properties are published in the paper. As Mr. Meara has pointed out, given the interest rate, there would be no economic benefit to delay payment on these taxes.
Since the point in time that this list was created from the computer system, several individuals have come in and paid their taxes. Others may do so before the list is actually published in the paper. Those properties will not be listed when the publication does occur, so it should be expected that whatever is eventually published would only be a subset of the names listed here.
These two lists are fro 2007 taxes that should have been published in 2008 and 2008 taxes that should have been published in 2009. Mr. Meara has a similar list of properties that were not published when they should have been in 2007 for 2006 taxes. In last weeks meeting he said there were 17 to 25 names on that list. The clerks office said that Mr. Meara has another list from 2007 taxes that should have been published in 2008, however he did not mention those numbers at the commissioner’s meeting unless they were included in the 17 to 25 count.
Community Christian Church held an open house Monday from 10 to 1. Soup and refreshments were served. Below are a few pictures from the event.
The county has compared the list of people who owe taxes from 2008 and 2009 who were not published in the paper and still have unpaid taxes. There were 35 names from 2008 and 50 from 2009. Some of the names have multiple properties. One has 8 properties with unpaid taxes. There are a total of 43 properties from 2008 and 75 from 2009 that were not published and still had unpaid taxes when the report was run. During the commission meeting several properties were identified where the taxes had been paid since the report had been run.
Since the publication in the newspaper is what triggers the bid off, the properties have yet to start the redemption period. For homestead property, this is three years from the date of publication. For non-homestead property the redemption period is two years.
The commissioners have not heard anything back from the Attorney General about the investigation into the allegations against the Bourbon County Treasurer. Their understanding was that the Attorney General’s office would get back to them and let them know if it was going to be pursued further or not. They expected to have heard something back by now, but pointed out that with all the other things the Attorney General deals with, this might not be the highest priority.
Are the overpaid taxes being refunded?
Currently the commissioners do not have a copy of the details that Terry Sercer compiled. They only have the report which we posted here. Typically the county refunds overpayments for other types of fees if it is more than $5.
The commissioners are hesitant to request the information from Mr. Sercer until they hear back from the Attorney General. If the Attorney General is pursuing an investigation, they don’t want to have information released to the public that could compromise his efforts.
Is there any effort to pursue recovering the taxes/interest that was not charged correctly? (Under KSA 79-1703).
Not at this point, but this couldn’t be done until the Attorney General is finished with his investigation.
Is it possible to get the details of the audit report?
The details showing which properties have over paid and which properties have underpaid their interest is not something that the Commissioners currently have. The Commissioners don’t want to request this information from Mr. Sercer until they hear back from the Attorney General.
Has there been any effort to ask the Attorney General about the status?
Chairman Endicott wasn’t sure of the date, but said that within the past few weeks Terri Johnson (County Attorney) called to ask the Attorney General’s office about the status and was told that they didn’t have any record of a request for an investigation on the matter. She sent them another copy of the letter and then followed up with them. Again they did not have any record of the request. She faxed it to them and immediately called them back and they then confirmed that they had received it.
There was some discussion about how to move the registration from the former rock quarry to the new quarry and also some discussion about the blasting at the new facility.
John Scott is going to use his house as a distribution point for the manuals and warranty information for the grinder pumps in the new sewer district. He was concerned because the paper work said it was a 2 year warranty, but when they were deciding which pumps to buy they selected the more expensive pumps because they had a longer warranty.
There is one home where the grinder pump is coming into a basement too high and there was some discussion about how to go about getting it fixed.
At least two commissioners are going to the Neosho County rock quarry to view their operation at 9am. They will also be at the Airport Advisory meeting at 12 noon on Tuesday.
An individual asked if they were going to pave 180th street. He said there were a lot of dump trucks coming through and tearing it up.
Twenty -four graduates and friends of Arcadia High School Our Gang gathered in Arcadia Community Center on Saturday evening, December 3, for an early winter meeting to enjoy the Potluck dinner and fellowship time. Anyone who attended the Arcadia Schools is welcome to join their friends at these gatherings.
Mary Hines Cattaneo, Mulberry and Charles Corporon, Pittsburg both former Arcadians met by chance at Sunset Manor recently to visit their friends who now reside in the Manor in Frontenac. They are Bill Dobbins, Betty Baima. Marie Rodich from Arcadia and Ray Cattaneo from Mulberry. His family at one time bought the Arcadia Journal and combind it with Mulberry News and re-named it THE NEWS JOURNAL.
Rose Campbell, a one time teacher in Arcadia Schools and Charles had just recently returned from each visiting their own sisters. Rose spent time with Mary Logan in Wichita, while Charles drove on to McPherson to spend time with Portie Hughes.
Special guests from Moran, Kansas, Margaret Jackman, Cheryl Wallis and Nancy Houk attended the Arcadia Christian Church on the first Sunday in December to hear their cousin Bob Cable deliver the Morning sermon. His son, Nate Cable, from Lamar joined the family group and all were guests at the first of the month Sunday dinner. Pastor Charles Cable unable to attend but he and Willa Cable furnished the Chicken Mary Chicken as a treat for their congregation. It was delivered this month by Patty Peterson and enjoyed by the twenty-eight present. It was announced that on Christms Morning, December 25, there will be no Sunday School Classes held and Morning Services will begin at 10:30 AM Christmas Morning.
Saturday Morning, December 3, a celebration was held for a Happy Birthday to honor Jesus. The hostess was Patty Peterson, this, one of many Christmas brunches that Patty has held through the years since she and Gary have lived in Arcadia. Several of the guests served as helpers including Cathy Allen who was the greeter at the door. An important helper was Stuart Semple who baked the cinnamon rolls as Patty was giving the Morning Devotions. The twenty-two guests were Ahris Sprague, Cheyenne Mellon,who assisted in serving tea at the table; Mary V. Shead, Courtney Allen, Carolyn Girard, Carol Bridgewater, Ava Mae Adams, Mary Lee Payne, Vera Parrish,Shirley Garrett, Willa Cable, Ashley & Elizabeth Semple, Linda Bridgewater, Evelyn Bryant, Judy Rawlings, Betty Dehn, Janet Van Leeuwen, Lilly Coonrod, Kelly Reves.
I am pleased to report that Ron Wolf did not have a Heart Attack as I reported and did not go to K.C. Hospital. He was able to call and excuse my error.
The Jack & Mary Lee Payne Family met on Friday after Thanksgiving in the home of Ron and Cindy Morton, Excelsior Springs, Missouri for a delicious dinner of Ham, turkey, trimmings and Desserts. Present were Jeff and Sherry Sisney; David, Amy, Drew and Lane Carpenter; Steve, Kelly Base, Ben, Faith and Elijah Base; James, Nikki, Lainey and Cooper O’Dell; Autuam, Kimberlee, Maddie, Isaiah and Malloree Peppers and Seth Morton. A great time of playing games and much visiting was enjoyed by all.
Enjoy Arcadia City Christmas Lights each evening as they go on at dark. Thanks to City employees who worked to decorate our town. A few years ago we had none until YOUNG MOMS ORGANIZATION furnished them for the city.
Walter Foulk spent three days during Thanksgiving week in St. Charles, MO. with his wife, Mary Foulk and family members including Lora and Scott Pratt, Diana Butler & sons Samuel and Emmett Butler, Sarah Butler and fiance Louie with their son Georgros
Lou and Betty Dehn visited in Versailles, MO. during Thanksgiving with her Mother, Ollie Hill and brother, Donald Hill where they had dinner. Ollie returned to Arcadia with the Dehns to spend a week. The two ladies had tea one afternoon with Mary V. Shead.
The Chamber Coffee on December 1st was held at Ruddicks at 117 S. National. Ruddicks was started in 1934. The current owner is Terry Davenport. He has been at Ruddicks for 40 years–first as an employee and now as owner.
In addition to furniture, Ruddicks also offers sound equipment and floor materials and installation. Mr. Davenport said that they can order nearly anything and encouraged people to ask if they need something that they don’t have in stock.
Community Christian Church will be holding an open house from 10 to 1 on Monday December 5th with soup being served from 11 to 1.
Everything Pets had a ribbon cutting Saturday morning at 9:30. The store is owned by Dawn Bryant and is located at 605 S. National. They have large selection of pets and supplies with everything from snakes to flying squirrels to puppies.
Please stop by and welcome this new business to Fort Scott.
Mr. Meara came through with a cart with all the tax foreclosure cases. He was taking them up to file in court. He wanted to show he commissioners what 193 foreclosure cases looked like.
Jennifer Miller-Connet works for Fort Scott broadcasting and lives in Vernon County. She says she was headed into Bourbon County at 4 am to open Radio Shack up for Black Friday. She hit potholes that caused $803 worth of damage near the state line. She feels like as a tax payer the road should have been taking care off. She said there was no way to drive around the holes.
Chairman Endicott asked how many miles were on her car. She said 125,000 miles and that the car is a low riding Mazda Protege. She felt that there should be some type of compensation from the county. The commissioners said that she should file an insurance claim and the insurance company would make a determination.
The commissioners decided to buy 50 culverts from Judy’s Iron and Metal. The rock crusher came in Monday. They are looking at getting a couple Ricoh G700 SE GPS cameras to give to the road crews to take photos of things that can be placed on the GPS maps. The cost of the two cameras will come to $2,901. The county has sold some data to a mapping company so the funds are available for the purchase.
They are also planning on buying a label gun to put labels on signs so if one is found in the ditch, the county will know where it came from.
The date for the lawsuit related to the sewer district has been bumped back. The County Attorney pointed out that this is an existing case–not a new lawsuit. They date has been bumped back as further discovery is done and it is expected that it won’t actually go to court until next year.
Mr. Meara came back at 10:30. Defendants of foreclosure lawsuits that live in KS will be notified by the sheriff. Defendants out of state will be notified by certified letter. Everything has been filed that Mr. Meara was given that was possible to file. He is going to give the commissioners a list of the properties that have not yet been published and that he was unable to file. Those will need to be published. There may be some from 2008 and 2009 that need to be published as well.
Mr. Meara said there were 17 to 25 properties that were not published in 2007. He said that it was probably just an oversight on the part of the Treasure’s office and that there didn’t appear to be any pattern. They did not appear to all be payment plan properties.
Terri Johnson (County Attorney) said it appears that the redemption period starts at the date of publication and that the publication must occur for the property to be property “bid off.” So properties that were not published for 2007 taxes will need to be published before the three year redemption period can begin. Commissioner Endicott said that it didn’t seem right that someone could have not paid their taxes for three years and then they get another three years if they were left out of the publication. The law does allow for there to be errors and omissions in the publication. However, this allowance seems to be more aimed at preventing people from saying their property was improperly foreclosed on due to a printing smudge or mistake and may offer less protection for the county if proper procedure wasn’t followed.
Partial redemption cannot be invoked once the county files the foreclosure. So once the county files the foreclosure paperwork, those properties must have their taxes, fees, and interest paid in full in order to avoid a tax sale.
There was some discussion as to whether or not a non-homestead property could be partially redeemed before the county files for foreclosure. The scenario would be a business that had unpaid taxes since 2007 that paid their 2007 taxes in order to remove it from foreclosure lawsuits that Mr. Meara filed this morning. The statutes appear to only mention partial redemption under the section that applies to homestead properties. The other sections seem to indicate that once a property is bid off to the county, the entire amounted owed on that property must be paid in order to avoid foreclosure. It appears that non-homestead properties have been allowed to partial redemption in the past and the attorneys were not clear if the statues indeed prohibit partial redemptions for non-homestead properties. They are going to look into it to see.
The lawsuit summons from last week was not a new lawsuit.