April 12, 2022 Tuesday 9:00 am
The Bourbon County Commission met in open session with all three Commissioners and the County Clerk present.
Also present for the meeting were, (some were present for a portion of the meeting, some were present for the entire meeting) Matt Quick, Susan Bancroft, Justin, Meeks, Lora Holdridge, Bill Martin, Roger Harris, Clint Walker, Anne Dare, Cynthia Stine, Dale Bollinger, Randy Ruby, Marti Tuchscherer, Patty LaRoche, Nancy Maze, Mark Bolton, Donald Coffman, Tim Mckenney, Deb Mckenney, Linda Noll, Matt Noll, and Dale Arnold.
Clifton made a motion to approve the previous meeting minutes, Lynne seconded. All approved.
Eric Bailey presented 2 permits: The first permit was Craw-Kan for a utility permit for fiber installation on Locust Rd and Limestone Rd. Clifton made a motion to approve the permit for Craw-Kan as stated by Eric Bailey. Lynne seconded. All approved. The second permit was for Don Garrett/Brad Bradley for a culvert permit for new installation at 35th & Yellowstone Rd. Clifton made a motion to approve the permit at 35th and Yellowstone as stated by Eric Bailey. Lynne seconded. All approved.
Eric informed that there is decking loose on a bridge between Birch and Calvary and 120th and 130th. He said it is closed today for repair should be done today and back open. Eric said that KDOT is in the area and are doing traffic counts in the county in case anyone sees them. He said that the composting permit for landfill is still in process and has not been approved yet. There is another review process that needs to be completed before it can be approved. Eric said that before he gets a bunch of calls on Arrowhead there had been dust control done years ago and they are tearing it up to fix potholes and turn it back to gravel they, are not paving that road. Eric informed the commission that there are a few from his department as well as himself that are going to be attending a training on Thursday in Chanute and has to do with signs as well as other things. Eric is finalizing the punch list on the windmill project and working with Justin to get the roads turned back over to county.
Hard surface roads were discussed as to what needed to be completed this year. Jim explained that there is a sales tax for that purpose and each district get one third of it. Jim said that for his district he would like to see 195th on the East side of Fort Scott Lake as well as 215th from Indian to 39 Hwy. Lynne said he would like to see Maple between Uniontown and Bronson, Yale road and Yellowstone that was tore up and left gravel repaved at Hidden Valley Lake. He also said that if there was any money left, he would like to see 125th between 54 Hwy and Maple Road. Eric presented some information on a company called Onyx that is a turnkey operation that would replace chip and seal and extend the life of the road and hopefully that will help give more time to resurface the road on a schedule to keep them maintained better. Clifton said that he would like to see a plan that looked at what roads are the worst and heaviest traveled and have a plan based on that and not worry about each district getting the exact same amount of money. He said that all of the road mentioned need fixed and they need a plan to do it even if it isn’t divided evenly. He said that the roads he would like to look at in his district would be Old 69 Hey between Fort Scott and Fulton and Soldier Road east of Hammond. He said he didn’t get any money for his district last year because another district needed it more and that is how it should be done and he would like to see a plan based like that. The commissioners asked Eric to bring a plan for review but Jim and Lynne both agreed they would like to keep their portion in their own district unless Clifton needs some since he gave up his last year. The commissioners, Eric Bailey, and Dustin Hall discussed ways that they could possibly make the money go further and make the roads last longer with the money that they have available.
Multiple community members were in attendance that expressed concerns for roads in their areas of the county.
Lynne said he was approached by a patron in Uniontown about tires. I would like permission to go talk with Ol’ Boy Tires. Clifton made a motion to allow Lynne to go visit with a local business in Uniontown. Jim seconded. All approved.
Jim asked Eric about putting up the signs previously discussed. Eric said with this being a short week they would get them up next week.
Lora Holdridge requested an executive session. Clifton made a motion for an executive session KSA 75-4319(b)(1) to discuss personnel matters of individual nonelected personnel to protect their privacy including 3 commissioners, Susan Bancroft, Justin Meeks, Lora Holdridge and Shane Walker for 10 minutes returning at 10:18am to this room. Lynne seconded. All approved. Clifton made a motion to return to normal session at 10:18am with no action. Lynne seconded. All approved.
Lynne made a motion to amend agenda moving County Counselor to the end of the session. Clifton seconded. All approved.
Ashley presented an agreement from Tri-Valley for appropriations of $55,000.00 which is what was budgeted. This agreement is a renewal from previous year. Clifton made a motion to approve the agreement. Lynne seconded. All approved.
Susan received notice that we did not receive the base grant which was for the Spyder parking lot. We’ll have to figure out other ways to do that. That’s the 1st federal grant that you didn’t receive. She did some checking and no one in Bourbon County or the City received any grant funding. Susan said she would make some phone calls and find out why. Susan requested an executive session regarding nonelected personnel for 15 minutes. Clifton made a motion for an executive session KSA 75-4319(b)(1) to discuss personnel matters of individual nonelected personnel to protect their privacy including 3 commissioners, Susan Bancroft, Justin Meeks, and Dave Bruner for 15 minutes returning to this room at 10:37am. Lynne seconded. All approved. Clifton made a motion to return to normal session at 10:37am with no action. Lynne seconded. All approved.
Clifton made a motion to allow Mr. Judy for public comment. Lynne seconded. All approved. Mr. Judy asked if the handicapped ramps could be fixed. Lynne stated that we are in the process of fixing those.
Clifton made a motion for an executive session KSA 75-4319(b)(1) to discuss personnel matters of individual nonelected personnel to protect their privacy including 3 commissioners, Justin Meeks, Susan Bancroft, and Shane Walker for 20 minutes returning to this room at 11:01am. Lynne seconded. All approved. Clifton made a motion to return to normal session at 11:01am with no action. Lynne seconded. All approved.
Susan stated that we took quotes for mowing at 401 Woodland Hills Blvd. They were due today at 10am. Phillips Lawn Care had the lowest per occurrence quote at $500. With the unknowns of the property we would do at on a month-to-month basis until we figure some things out. Clifton made a motion to accept the quote from Phillips to mow on a per time as needed basis. Lynne seconded. All approved. Susan stated that we are looking at possible funding we need from ARPA funds for EMS. Dave Bruner left some information with me and each commissioner received a copy. I would like a week to look through and see if it meets all the obligations and then come back with a proposal on potential ARPA funding. We had a couple hundred thousand left over from last year’s funds that could possibly help us with some urgent need items for EMS. They are looking at needing to possibly replace one of the ambulances in the near future, but we are two years out on a brand new. If we did a remount, it would be 13 months. If we book this year, we have to pay the entire thing or we could go with a lease purchase which I would recommend with the unknowns today. Rob Harrington mentioned that there might be a USDA grant that we are going to look into that and bring information to you next week. Jim asked how things were coming on the north sidewalk and parking. Susan stated that they looked at it last week and they are getting ready to give us the engineering report and then we’ll put it out to bid.
Public Comment: Clint Walker talked about an $89 million dollar transmission line project. The Kansas Corporation Commission has made the decision and no local government has any say in it whether being a zoned or non-zoned county. Michael Hoyt restated his request that he made a Uniontown that the commission provide in advance documents that would allow the public to participate in the budgeting process. There is a public hearing portion of the budget process and there’s not much we can do if we don’t have the information ahead of time. It is imperative that this happens.
Susan asked the commissioners to give her authority to go talk to the city manager regarding EMS.
Elected Official Comment: Who does the grants for the County? Is it internal or outside? Susan stated it is internal. Bill stated that grants are starting to be available. He would like information as to why grants are turned down and that information can be passed on to their grant writers for future.
Commission Comment: Clifton made a motion for Susan to be able to talk to the city manager concerning EMS. Lynne seconded. All approved. Jim stated that KDOT will be hosting a region 4 commission road supervisor meeting in Chanute on April 21 at 9am. I am planning to attend and hope the other two commissioners will consider attending. Eric is planning to attend. Susan is going as well. Jim made a motion that all commissioners be allowed to attend the meeting. Clifton seconded. All approved.
Anne dare asked about evening meetings. Garland will be contacted to schedule for April 26th. May 17th is scheduled at the courthouse at 6pm.
County Counsel Comments: Justin requested an executive session. Clifton made a motion for an executive session KSA 75-4319(b)(4) to discuss data relating to financial affairs or trade secrets or corporations, partnerships, trust, and individual proprietorships including 3 commissioners, Susan Bancroft, Rob Harrington, and Justin Meeks for 15
minutes returning to this room at 11:28am. Lynne seconded. All approved. Clifton made a motion to return to normal session at 11:28am with action. Lynne seconded. All approved. Clifton made a motion to allow Susan to visit with CEO of Via Christi Hospital concerning contracts. Lynne seconded. All approved.
Clifton made a motion for an executive session KSA 75-4319(b)(4) to discuss data relating to financial affairs or trade secrets of corporations, partnerships, trust, and individual proprietorships including 3 commissioners, Rob Harrington, Susan Bancroft, and Justin Meeks for 10 minutes returning to this room at 11:41am. Lynne seconded. All approved. Clifton made a motion to return to normal session at 11:41am with no action. Lynne seconded. All approved.
At 11:42pm, Lynne made a motion to adjourn. Clifton seconded. All approved.
THE BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
OF BOURBON COUNTY, KANSAS
(ss) Jim Harris, Chairman
(ss) Lynne Oharah, Commissioner
___________________, Commissioner
ATTEST:
Ashley Shelton, Bourbon County Clerk
April 19, 2022, Approved Date