Minutes, July 31, 2006

ELLSWORTH COUNTY COMMISSION MEETING

MINUTES

JULY 31, 2006

The Board of Ellsworth County Commissioners convened this 31^st day of July 2006 at the Ellsworth County Courthouse.

Members Present:

Lavel Heitschmidt, 1^st District Commissioner

Kermit Rush, 2^nd District Commissioner

Terry L. Kueser, 3^rd District Commissioners

1. OPENING BUSINESS:

Chairman Kueser called the meeting to order at 9:00 a.m.

Commissioner Rush moved to approve the Agenda as printed. Commissioner Heitschmidt seconded the motion. Motion carried 3-0.

Commissioner Kueser moved to approve the Minutes of July 24, 2006. Commissioner Heitschmidt seconded the motion. Motion carried 3-0.

No one was present for the Public Forum.

2. APPOINTMENTS:

Teresa Shute, Noxious Weed-Landfill Supervisor, presented her 2007 Management Plan for approval. Commissioner Kueser moved to approve the Noxious Weed Control Plan for 2007. Commissioner Rush seconded the motion. Motion carried 3-0. Mrs. Shute reported the new spray truck was working well. Also, Eugene Diaz has completed his 90-day probation period and she requested that he be moved one step on the salary scale effective August 1, 2006. The Commissioners agreed.

Rick Nondorf, Road & Bridge Supervisor, reported Kirkham, Michael & Associates has completed the bridge inspection showing that most of the bridges were in good shape. However, 8 bridges on the FAS system are obsolete plus some of the bridges on the off roads need work. Kirkham, Michael & Associates will make an appointment with the Commissioners to go over the report in detail. A large truck broke a bridge in Noble Township. Mr. Nondorf has contacted the company and they will pay for the repair of the bridge. Since the bridge had efficiency rating of 50%, he is only asking that they pay for 50% of the repairs. Mr. Nondorf has received several estimates on a new excavator and they have tried both the Hyundai and Komatsu. Right now he is leaning toward the Komatsu and would like to have permission to work with the vendors on price and a decision. The Commissioners agreed to Mr. Nondorf working on the purchase of the Komatsu.

Upon the request of Carl Miller, Appraiser, Commissioner Kueser moved to go into executive session to discuss non-elected personnel from 10:25 a.m. to 10:45 a.m. Commissioner Rush seconded the motion. Motion carried 3-0. Jan Andrews, County Clerk, was included in the session. The Commissioners returned to open session at 10:45 a.m. No action was taken. The Commissioners discussed the imaging system being proposed in the Wireless 911 grant by the Sheriff’s department and wondered if it would be of value to him. Since the grant would include flying over the cities at a lower altitude, Mr. Miller felt that would be a definite enhancement to their GIS system.

Amy Boxberger, Director of Central Kansas Community Corrections, presented her 2007 State budget for approval. They will have an increase of $56,000 and they will use some of those funds to hire a full-time special enforcement officer. Commissioner Heitschmidt moved to approve the 2007 Central Kansas Community Corrections budget. Commissioner Rush seconded the motion. Motion carried 3-0.

Sheriff Tracy Ploutz had little to discuss; however, he has a problem with the building settling and has several doors that will not close. He has contacted Ralph Doubrava to see if anything can be done.

3. OLD BUSINESS:

There were no old business items.

4. NEW BUSINESS:

Commissioner Heitschmidt moved to approve the July payroll in the amount of $156,526.23. Commissioner Rush seconded the motion. Motion carried 3-0.

AT&T is discontinuing the maintenance of payphones in certain geographical locations and has schedule the removal of the one in the Courthouse. If the county would like to continue to have one, they will need to contract Pacific Telemanagement Services to see what arrangements could be make. With the explosion of wireless phones and other communication devices, the Commissioners decided it would be best just to have the phone removed as planned by AT&T.

5. ADJOURNMENT:

Chairman Kueser adjourned the meeting at 11:50 a.m.

 

 

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Janet L. Andrews, Ellsworth County Clerk