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 July 2 and July 9, 2002 meetings
and the claims against the various funds of the county. Gene Schwein seconded the motion. Following clarification of several bills,
the motion passed unanimously.
Henry
Helmke, Southwest Kansas Alcoholism and Drug Addiction Foundation, Inc.,
presented a request of $5,000 in financial aid so they will be able to continue
providing quality residential services to the 26th Judicial
District. The commissioners will
consider his request.
Scott
Nichols, Chamber of Commerce Manager, and Mark Skiles, Economic Development
Coordinator, met with the board. Mr.
Nichols presented a request for a 2% increase in the transient guest tax. The commissioners asked them to get with the
Historical Society and work together to develop a budget utilizing the money
that would be received through the tax.
LaVonne Michael,
Senior Center Director, and Jim Anderson and Mollie Beard, Board on Aging
Members, presented their budget request for 2003. They requested $283,732, which is a decrease of $900 from their
request last year.
Brad Welch,
Appraiser, reported that he is combining the reappraisal and appraisal funds
for the 2003 budget. He hopes to
replace two old PC’s next year.
Sherry
Thompson, Health Department Administrator, reported that there might be a 6 –
10 % decrease in state funding for the health department later in the
year. Discussion was held on the
bioterrorism preparedness and response contract. The county attorney will review the contract before it is
approved.
Frank
Goldsby, Public Works Administrator, and Tom Kramer, Road Foreman, requested
approval to solicit bids for two motor graders. The commissioners approved this request. Discussion was held on replacing the truck
that was wrecked with a one-ton truck.
Mr. Kramer said he has been in contact with the architect regarding the
carport for the assisted living unit.
He will try to have more information by the next meeting. Mr. Goldsby reported that Nancy Ramski has
been hired as the building and grounds manager at the civic center. Since there is a large amount of concrete
that has been received at the transfer station, approval was given to solicit
bids for getting it crushed.
Lance
Babcock, Sheriff, presented information on film and development costs for his
department. Approval was given to
purchase 11 new digital cameras. With
the county attorney’s approval, diversion funds will be used for some of the
cameras. Drug funds will be used for
the remaining cameras. The cameras will
be used by both county and city officers.
Carl Higgs
made the motion to approve the budget plan for Cimarron Basin Community
Corrections for FY 2003. Gene Schwein
seconded the motion and it passed unanimously.
Gene
Schwein made the motion to request our vendors to stock blended ethanol and
have county vehicles use this fuel exclusively when possible as acknowledgement
of the plight of American agriculture.
Carl Higgs seconded the motion.
Following discussion, the motion passed unanimously.
Harold
DuPree, Airport Board Member, presented the engineers recommendation for the
contractor on the airport project. Gene
Schwein made the motion to approve recommending Dobson Construction and Kayton
Electric as the contractors for the airport project. Carl Higgs seconded the motion and it passed unanimously.
Based on
recommendations from the Department Head Committee, Carl Higgs made the motion
to approve the following changes to the county policy manual: (1) Page 8, Section G – Pay for Unused Sick
Leave Upon Termination be changed to read:
Any employee who has accumulated the maximum allotment who terminates
employment in good standing shall receive payment for twenty (20) of the unused
sick leave days; (2) Page 9, Section 3.16 Funeral Leave. The second sentence be changed to read,
Additional time off with pay may be arranged through the department head; (3)
Page 10, Section 3.20 Leave Without Pay.
The first sentence be changed to, the department head must approve time
off without pay. (The commissioners must approve a long-term leave of
absence.); (4) Page 11, Section 3.23 Travel Leave. Fair Labor Standards policy should be added; (5) Page 12, Section
4.2. The dates in the last sentence
will both be changed to July 1; (6) Page 15, Section 6.5 Exit Interview. The first sentence will be changed to read,
Upon termination, all terminating employees will be requested to have an exit
interview with the department head and another department head, commissioner or
another county employee; (7) Page 22, Section 11.2 Health Insurance. The waiting period for a new employee to begin
health insurance coverage will be the first day of the month following 30 days
of full time employment with the county; (8) if an employee gives a two week
notice to end employment, the department head can tell that person to go home
and he/she will be paid for the two weeks; and (9) that it be left up to
department heads to make sure their employees work the required number of hours
per week with no adjustments made by the payroll department. This will be reviewed at the end of the
year. Gene Schwein seconded the motion
and it passed unanimously.
The Board
of Commissioners adjourned to meet again in regular session on August 6, 2002.
Linda McHenry, County Clerk Madison Traster, Chairman