These are the minutes for July 2008, as approved by the Bourbon County Commission.
July 4, 2008 Holiday
July 7, 2008
July 11, 2008
July 14, 2008
July 18, 2008
July 21, 2008
July 25, 2008
July 28, 2008
To return to the main Commission Minutes page, click here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

July 7, 2008        Monday     9:00 am
 
The Bourbon County Commission met in open session with Terry Graham and Bill Brittain present.  Joanne Long was also present.  Gary Houston arrived at 9:25 am.  Minutes of the previous meeting were read and approved.
 
Clyde Killion gave a road report.  Terry Graham made a motion to go into executive session, for a period of five minutes, under the non-elected personnel exception to the Kansas Open Meetings Act.  Gary Houston seconded the motion and all voted in favor.  Those present for the session were the commissioners, Clyde Killion and Joanne Long.  The session began at 9:27 am and ended at 9:32 am with no action.
 
Harold Coleman informed commissioners that he found a deal on a Bur Oak tree to replace the tree we lost in the storm last week.  He paid $10.00 for it.  Each of the commissioners personally paid him $2.50 for it.  Sheriff Coleman said he’d get the prisoners to plant it.
 
Terry Sercer presented the audit report for the year ending December 31, 2007.  There were no budget or cash violations.
 
Commissioners received a draft of the 2008 City of Fort Scott Comprehensive Plan.
 
Bill Keith met with commissioners to discuss his work at the landfill.  He has been doing more things that are supervisory in nature and the commissioners want to give him a trial period as the Landfill Supervisor.  Terry Graham made a motion to pay an additional $50/pay period to Bill Keith, beginning July 1, 2008, for a period of six months, for Landfill Supervisor.  Gary Houston seconded the motion and all voted in favor.
 
Joanne Long asked that board worker pay be increased, to reflect the increase in federal minimum wage, which occurs later this month.  She also asked that it be kept at full dollar amounts to be easier to calculate pay for the workers.  Terry Graham made a motion to increase Election Supervising Judge and Board Worker pay to $8.00 and $7.00/hour respectively.  Bill Brittain seconded the motion and all voted in favor.  Ms. Long thanked commissioners.
 
Bill Brittain made a motion to transfer ownership of the following lots to the Fort Scott/Bourbon County Riverfront Authority.  Terry Graham seconded and all voted in favor:
 
        Lot 4 and the vacated street of Block 26, Fort Scott Subdivision, of the City of Fort Scott, Kansas and
 
        Lots 10 and 12 and ½ the vacated alley of Block 28, Fort Scott Subdivision, of the City of Fort Scott, Kansas.
 
There are some publication requirements that will need to be fulfilled.
 
Bill Brittain made a motion to extend the contract with Stewart Realty for sale of the remaining two lots to October 10, 2008.  Gary Houston seconded the motion and all voted in favor.
 
Bill Brittain left the meeting at 11:17am.
 
Tom McNeil discussed sanitation issues.
 
David Neville reported problems with the elevator.  It’s been losing hydraulic fluid.  He said the repairman is coming to look into it tomorrow and that it may be costly to fix, but he hopes it’s not.
 
After routine business, the meeting adjourned at 12:05 pm.
 
                                                               THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
                                                                OF BOURBON COUNTY, KANSAS
 
                                                                (ss) Bill Brittain, Chairman 
                                                                (ss) Terry Graham, Commissioner 
                                                                (ss) Gary Houston, Commissioner
ATTEST:
(ss) Joanne Long, County Clerk

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July 11, 2008      Friday        9:00 am
 
The Bourbon County Commission met in open session with all commissioners and the county clerk present. 
 
Clyde Killion gave a road report. It was mentioned that the 4-day week starts Monday for Public Works.
 
Bill Danley asked commissioners about Johnson grass out of control at 115th and 65 Hwy.  Terry Graham will look into it.
 
John Schwartz thanked commissioners for the road work at the lake.
 
Joanne Long informed commissioners that the state mileage rate increased on July 1, 2008, to .505 (fifty and one half cents) per mile.  Terry Graham made a motion to adopt resolution 16-08, raising the County mileage reimbursement effective July 1, 2008.  Bill Brittain seconded the motion and all voted in favor.
 
Lee Davis called with phone quotes for 180 gallons of generic 41% equivalent Glyphosate.  There were three:
 
VMS
$32.44/gallon
Pueblo
$32.00/gallon
Van Diest
$33.66/gallon
 
Bill Brittain made a motion accept the quote from Pueblo, as it was the lowest.  Terry Graham seconded the motion and all voted in favor.
 
Doylene Kennedy informed commissioners that she hasn’t gotten a deposit from Elm Creek in nearly a month.  Commissioners asked her to call the Yakel’s about it.
 
Lynn Smith presented the budget request for the computer fund.  She asked that Shane get an increase because he’s doing a lot more with district court and with the sheriff’s/jail.  She also said that the web fees won’t be able to pay as much as we hoped on the upgraded internet.
 
Mrs. Smith also asked commissioners if the courthouse parking lot could be used for a “Junk in your trunk” sale.  Commissioners think it’s a good idea to coordinate with the City-wide garage sale and asked her to speak with the Chamber of Commerce.
 
Shane Walker presented the GIS budget.  He asked to be calculated on a 40 hour week in 2009.   He also discussed GPS mapping.
 
Harvalee and Janice Waltmire asked for financial assistance to pay bills for the Fulton Community Bldg.  They said that it’s getting harder and harder to keep it open because of insurance and utility costs.  Gary Houston made a motion to give $500 now to Fulton Comm Building out of the Special Parks and Recreation Fund.  Bill Brittain seconded the motion and all voted in favor.  Bill Brittain added that they may be able to apply for a grant like Drywood is working towards.
 
Mr. Waltmire asked commissioners about a blocked tube at his entranceway.  Gary Houston will go look at it.
 
Mark Pressly asked about patching at the lake.
 
Richard Johnson, Martin Tractor, spoke with commissioners about road graders.  No action.
 
Bill Brittain made a motion to extend the contract with Mercy for ambulance service for the period of 2009-2010.  Gary Houston seconded the motion and all voted in favor.
 
David Neville gave the commissioners a report on the sewer pit.  He said we had our first suction after one month.  He said he will have them come every two weeks to check on it.  It costs $70 a trip to dump it.
 
Terry Graham left the meeting at 11:48 am.
 
After routine business, the meeting adjourned at 11:53 am.
 
                                                                                   THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
                                                                                    OF BOURBON COUNTY, KANSAS
 
                                                                                   (ss) Bill Brittain, Chairman 
                                                                                   (ss) Terry Graham, Commissioner 
                                                                                   (ss) Gary Houston, Commissioner
ATTEST:
(ss) Joanne Long, County Clerk

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July 14, 2008             Monday         9:00 am
 
The Bourbon County Commission met in open session with all commissioners and the county clerk present.  Minutes of the previous meetings were read and approved.
 
David Neville spoke with commissioners about the sewer dumping.  The City of Fort Scott doesn’t want to let us dump at the City sewer plant because of the garbage that’s also included from what is flushed by the prisoners.  Bill Brittain said he will speak with the City Manager about it, as that’s where the waste needs to go.
 
Clyde Killion gave a road report.  He and the commissioners reviewed applications for part-time truck driver and full time equipment operator positions.
 
Allen Warren presented the 2009 Bourbon County Fair budget request.  He also highlighted some of the recent activities at the fairgrounds and proposed improvements.
 
Bills and payroll for the period were reviewed and approved.
 
Doylene Kennedy spoke with commissioners about Elm Creek Lake.  Nina turned in a deposit Friday afternoon and also presented a bill for the forfeited deposits from those who didn’t clean up after themselves.
 
Doylene also spoke about Fair Week activities.  She would like the commissioners to draw for the $50.00 prize on July 28th during their meeting.  She also plans to have candy at the County booth.
 
Keith Jeffers reported on emergency preparedness issues.
 
Doylene Kennedy informed commissioners that her office will need to be closed for a while today, as Tom is out, she has an appointment and Lois will be attending the FEMA meeting.
 
Delta George presented the monthly progress reports for the Extension Office.
 
Terry Graham left the meeting at 10:41 am.
 
After routine business, the meeting adjourned at 11:41 am.
 
                                                                             THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
                                                                             OF BOURBON COUNTY, KANSAS
 
                                                                             (ss) Bill Brittain, Chairman 
                                                                             (ss) Gary Houston, Commissioner 
                                                                             (ss) Terry Graham, Commissioner
ATTEST:
(ss) Joanne Long, County Clerk

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July 18, 2008      Friday        9:00 am
 
The Bourbon County Commission met in open session with all commissioners and county clerk present.  Minutes of the previous meeting were read and approved.
 
Doylene Kennedy gave the road report as Clyde is on 4 10-hour days and is off on Fridays.  She said they hired an equipment operator who starts July 28th.  She also has paperwork to apply for assistance from FEMA from recent storms, but that Bill Brittain, as Chairman, will be designee and needs to sign it.  Doylene also informed commissioners that the Public Works office will be closed part of the day Monday, as Lois and Doylene will be at the fair decorating the county’s booth.
 
The commissioners signed the ambulance contract for 2009 and 2010.
 
Cliff Patterson spoke with commissioners about county roads and grading.
 
Dan Laughlin asked about a business truck damaging his road.  He believes it is Towne Oil from Somerset, Kansas.
 
At 9:30 am, a public hearing was held to hear comments regarding the intention to dispose of county property.  After hearing no objections, Bill Brittain made a motion to close the hearing at 10:00 am.  Terry Graham seconded the motion and all voted in favor.  Bill Brittain then made a motion to dispose of the property as published.  Terry Graham seconded the motion and all voted in favor.
 
Doylene Kennedy asked commissioners to budget for a GPS camera to help with photographing damages like flooded roads for FEMA.  The camera marks the location on the picture image so it will help when assessing damages.  They cost approximately $1,100.
 
There was discussion of sending a letter to City Hall asking that the Commissioners consider revising the Comprehensive Plan by changing the minimum acreage for building from 3 acres to 1 acre to match the County’s septic tank regulations.  However, there was concern that some one acre lots aren’t acceptable for the septic tanks.  Our regulations also don’t apply to subdivisions.  Tom McNeil joined the discussion.  The commissioners asked Mr. McNeil to poll the neighboring counties to see what their minimums are.  Mr. McNeil said that Linn County requires 3 acres and Crawford requires 2 “useable” acres for septic tanks and 3 acres for lagoons.
Jimmy Nichols updated commissioners on the catastrophic insurance for prisoners.  It costs approximately .70 per day per prisoner and has a $10-15,000 deductible.  No action.
 
Commissioners also spoke with Mr. Nichols about the prisoners flushing garbage and security cameras in the correctional center.  Jimmy thinks we need 5 additional cameras to cover the pods.
 
Terry Sercer presented commissioners with the first draft of the 2009 county budget.  He said it reflects requests only and that some departments had yet to present their budget requests.  He will come back Monday at 10:00 am to work further on it after the commissioners have time to review it this weekend.
 
Judy Orton presented a revised request for her budget.  She lowered the fuel and mileage required as she now has a second county truck.
 
Mark Pressley discussed needed repairs to the lake road and the proposed sewer system for the lake.
 
After routine business, the meeting adjourned 11:40 am.
 
                                                                                         THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
                                                                                         OF BOURBON COUNTY, KANSAS
 
                                                                                        (ss) Bill Brittain, Chairman 
                                                                                        (ss) Terry Graham, Commissioner 
                                                                                        (ss) Gary Houston, Commissioner
ATTEST:
(ss) Joanne Long, County Clerk

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July 21, 2008      Monday      9:00 am
 
The Bourbon County Commission met in open session with all commissioners and the county clerk present.  Minutes of the previous meeting were read and corrected.
 
Cindy Clements was present for the meeting.
 
Clyde Killion gave a road report.
 
Terry Graham made a motion to approve the application for a Cereal Malt Beverage license for Monique Danley, the new owner of the Mapleton C-Store –N- Café in Mapleton.  Bill Brittain seconded the motion and all voted in favor.
 
Terry Sercer met with commissioners for a 2009 budget work session.  He will come back again Friday morning at 9:30 am.
 
David Neville asked commissioners look at the sewer trap out back.  The City may be able to dump it for us if we work out an arrangement.
 
After routine business, the meeting adjourned at noon.
 
                                                                             THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
                                                                             OF BOURBON COUNTY, KANSAS
 
                                                                              (ss) Bill Brittain, Chairman 
                                                                              (ss) Gary Houston, Commissioner 
                                                                              (ss) Terry Graham, Commissioner
 
ATTEST:
(ss) Joanne Long, County Clerk

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July 25, 2008  Friday  9:00 am
 
The Bourbon County Commission met in open session with all commissioners and the county clerk present.  Minutes of the previous meeting were read and approved.
 
Cindy Clements was present for the meeting.
 
Doylene Kennedy introduced commissioners to the FEMA representative working with the County on storm damages.
 
Lee Davis called with phone quotes for 180 gallons of generic Glyphosate.  They were:
 
VMS
$31.64/gal
$5,695.20
UAP
$31.50/gal
$5,670.00
Van Diest
$33.66/gal
$6,058.80
 
Bill Brittain made a motion to accept the quote from UAP, as it was the lowest.  Terry Graham seconded the motion and all voted in favor.
 
James Tucker spoke with commissioners about overgrown grass in the 3-mile zone.  The commissioners said it may be considered a public nuisance and that they would speak to the County Attorney to see if there is anything the County can do about it.
 
Susan Quick gave a report to commissioners on the Tax Sale from last December.  Though the sale itself did not pay for the expenses to hold it, we redeemed $176,613.86, of which $39,751.14 was penalties and interest.  We’re working to have another sale this year and subsequently a sale each year.
 
David Neville spoke with commissioners about the sewer pit.  The City will empty the pit and dispose of the waste, including the trash.  In return, we’ll allow them to dump the trash from the waste truck for free at the Landfill. 
 
David Neville asked if the commissioners are going to pave the west parking lot.  They asked him to check back this fall after the asphalt season for the County is over.
 
Doylene Kennedy reported that she has finished the paperwork for FEMA.  We should get around $104,000 for the manpower and equipment usage during the storms in June.
 
Keith Jeffers, Laura Moore, Darrell Bloomfield, Kevin Howard and Jeff Locke met with commissioners for Drywood Township’s FEMA grant application for a Storm Shelter/Community Building.  After discussion, it was determined to apply for an All Hazard Shelter.  It is considerably more expensive, but will be more useful to the community.  Ms. Moore can have the figures ready for that on Monday.  She reminded commissioners that the township is also applying for assistance from CDBG funds.  Keith Jeffers will help get numbers together too.
 
Darrell Bloomfield spoke with commissioners about Howard Cemetery.  It’s abandoned and overgrown and a neighbor’s cows get in and destroy stones.  He asked if the County has a way to help fix a fence for it.  Terry Graham said that Kansas statute says abandoned cemeteries are the responsibility of the Township.  He’s familiar with it from another instance.  However, maybe the prisoner work crew can help do the work on the fence if the township provides the materials for the fencing.  Mr. Bloomfield will coordinate with Jimmy Nichols.
 
Keith Jeffers reported on a letter he’s sending out today regarding a levee breach near Fort Scott. 
 
The Police Receiver from one of the voter sites was stolen last week.  Mr. Jeffers is working on securing the locations with fences. 
 
Terry Sercer met with commissioners to further work on the 2009 budget.  Several changes were made but commissioners asked Mr. Sercer to come back Monday morning at 9:30 am.
 
Alan Stewart, Geraldine Reeder, Elvis Reeder and Tom Groff met with commissioners to discuss the condition of the roads going into Bronson.  The commissioners assured the group that they are on the list and should be getting the work done as early as next week.
 
Commissioners left to view the crack sealant work on Jayhawk Road.  Therefore, the meeting adjourned at 11:35 am.
 
                                                                            THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
                                                                            OF BOURBON COUNTY, KANSAS
 
                                                                            (ss) Bill Brittain, Chairman 
                                                                            (ss) Gary Houston, Commissioner 
                                                                            (ss) Terry Graham, Commissioner
ATTEST:
(ss) Joanne Long, County Clerk

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July 28, 2008            Monday         9:00 am
 
The Bourbon County Commission met in open session with all commissioners and the county clerk present.  Minutes of the previous meeting were read and approved.
 
Bills and payroll for the period were reviewed and approved.
 
Rhonda Fernandez, Professional Insurance Consultants, provided commissioners with the 2nd quarter health insurance experience.  She asked commissioners again to please consider a short-term disability plan for the employees.  She highly recommends is for supplemental income for employees who are off of work due to illness.
 
Terry Sercer met with commissioners to work on the budget.  Commissioners made several adjustments and asked Mr. Sercer to return Friday to finalize things.
 
Brent Smith has asked for an extension to remove Elm Creek hay due to weather.  The commissioners agreed to give him extension to August 20th.
 
Keith Jeffers met with commissioners to discuss emergency management issues. The commissioners signed a letter supporting Keith to a position in the SEK Incident Management Team.  Mr. Jeffers also discussed severe weather over the weekend and the Bourbon County Flood Plain.
 
Bill Brittain left the meeting at 10:50 am to have a conference call with Congresswoman Boyda’s office.  He returned at 11:30 am.
 
Doylene Kennedy asked commissioners to draw the winner of $50.00 from the Bourbon County booth at the County Fair.  Jeanette Danley was the winner.
 
Tom McNeil updated commissioners on Sanitation issues.
 
After routine business, the meeting adjourned at noon.
 
                                                                                   THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
                                                                                   OF BOURBON COUNTY, KANSAS
 
                                                                                   (ss) Bill Brittain, Chairman 
                                                                                   (ss) Gary Houston, Commissioner 
                                                                                   (ss) Terry Graham, Commissioner
 
ATTEST:
(ss) Joanne Long, County Clerk

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