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C20080219                                                                                                           February 19, 2008

 

            The Board of County Commissioners met in regular session at 9:30 a.m. with all members and the County Clerk present.

 

            Carl Higgs made the motion to approve the minutes of the February 5, 2008 meeting and the claims against the various funds of the county. Madison Traster seconded the motion and following clarification of several vouchers, motion passed.

 

            During the public forum portion of the meeting, Greg Soelter, local citizen, expressed his concerns with his mother’s care at the nursing home.

 

            Chuck Oldaker, Kansas Department of Transportation, presented information on State fiscal year 2008 and 2009 road projects in Grant County. All roads coming into Ulysses will be updated in the next 2 years.

 

            Randy McCauley, Road Department Administrator, presented several road crossing permits, which were reviewed and approved by the commissioners. General discussion was held. Mr. McCauley informed the commissioners that they would probably be ready to publish for bids for the proposed noxious weed chemical storage around the first of March.

 

            Carl Higgs made the motion to purchase a Polycom SoundStation2W (conference phone) from Pioneer Communications at a cost of $700.00. Madison Traster seconded the motion and it passed unanimously.

 

            Carl Eyman, KWORCC Loss Control Specialist, presented Grant County’s premium and loss information.

 

            Todd Hampton, City/County Building Official, presented a utility easement for a sewer line. The property is at the hospital so the commissioners need to approve it as owners of the property. Carl Higgs made the motion to approve granting the utility easement for the city. Madison Traster seconded the motion and it passed unanimously.

 

            Discussion was held on Randy McCauley, Road Department Administrator’s probationary employment period being completed. It was the consensus of the commissioners that Mr. McCauley was doing a good job. Based on successful completion of a six-month probationary period, Madison Traster made the motion to increase Mr. McCauley’s rate of pay by $1.00 per hour. Carl Higgs seconded the motion and it passed unanimously.

 

            Madison Traster made the motion to adopt Resolution 08-04 Approving an Interlocal Cooperation Agreement for the Establishment of a Joint Port Authority under K.S.A. 12-2901 et seq., and amendments thereto, by and between the Board of County Commissioners of Grant County, Stanton County, Morton County and Stevens County to Create a joint port authority in accordance with the provisions of K.S.A. 12-3401 et seq., and amendments thereto. Carl Higgs seconded the motion and it passed unanimously.

 

            Bill Turman and Mark St. Peter, Nex-Tech, presented information on the TAAS program that is being offered to counties. They propose to assess the computer needs of the various departments as directed by the county and provide IT and hardware to the departments at an agreed upon price. Under the agreement, computers would be updated every 3 years. The agreements are for a minimum 3 year period. The commissioners agreed to look at a proposal for the departments in the courthouse. Mr. St. Peter informed the commissioners that the AS400 will be 3 years old in March. At that time there will be an annual maintenance fee of $7,500.00. It was further explained that the AS400 will have to be replaced next year because it will be obsolete and there will be no IBM support available. Later in the day, Madison Traster made the motion to purchase a new IBM iSeries 515 Application Server with Operating System Version 5.4 at a cost of $35,770; a Treasurer tax roll search and delinquent tax roll publication report software at a cost of $560.00; and additional software licenses for Register of Deeds PC Indexing/Imaging software at a cost of $1,240.00 which will be paid from the Register of Deeds Technology Fund. Carl Higgs seconded the motion and it passed unanimously.

 

            The commissioners recessed for lunch with the City of Ulysses at Park View Assisted Living. Those attending from the city were: Council Members, Ann Papay, John Battin, Mike Henderson, John Duran and Scott Malone. General discussion was held.

 

            J.D. Neufeld, Civic Center Building and Grounds Manager, presented construction estimates for work on the bathrooms at the civic center. Commissioner Traster expressed his opinion that the bathrooms need to be totally remodeled. The commissioners asked Mr. Neufeld to wait on this project until they had a chance to look at the bathrooms and determine what needs to be done. They will look at the bathrooms before their next regular meeting. Carl Higgs made the motion to approve the purchase of 8 chairs for the Golden Room at a cost of $69.99 each with a $20.00 per chair rebate. The chairs will be purchased from the special equipment fund.

 

            LaVonne Michael, Senior Citizens Director, and Board Members, Jim Anderson, Mary Cott and Betty Warner, and Architect Kent Carmichael met with the commissioners. Mr. Carmichael explained the remodeling plans. Discussion was held. Commissioner Long stated the comments he has received regarding the proposal are all negative because of the cost. Commissioner Higgs said he has been asked why we would put so much money in it when it was not good enough to use for a care home and we had said we were going to bulldoze it. Jim Anderson said he thought they could move into the building without spending too much money right now and gradually make improvements. The commissioners will make a final decision regarding the building at their next regular meeting.

 

            Ron Craft and Dr. Plumlee met with the commissioners. Madison Traster made the motion to recess into executive session for 20 minutes to discuss non-elected personnel.  Carl Higgs seconded the motion and it passed unanimously. After 20 minutes the meeting continued in open session.

           

            Madison Traster made the motion to recess into executive session for 30 minutes to discuss possible land acquisition. Carl Higgs seconded the motion and it passed unanimously. After 30 minutes the meeting continued in open session.

 

            The commissioners adjourned to meet again in regular session on March 4, 2008.

 

 

 

 

____________________________                                        ____________________________

Linda McHenry, County Clerk                                      Marty Long, Chairman