MONDAY FEB 23 MITCHELL COUNTY COMMISSIONERS MEETING

Mitchell County Commissioners

Monday, February 23, 2015

By Terry Bailey

The Mitchell County Commissioners conducted their weekly business meeting on Monday, February twenty-third two thousand fifteen. All Commissioners were present along with the County Clerk.

Chairperson Tom Claussen started the meeting with good news. The yearly K-Worcc (Kay-Work) audit resulted in a Worker’s Comp refund of four thousand six hundred fifty-eight dollars.

A Neighborhood Revitalization Grant application from Blaine Engelbert and Mike Blaas was approved. They are constructing a forty foot by eighty foot metal building with a value of forty-six thousand five hundred dollars.

The Commissioners unanimously voted to continue membership in the North Central Kansas Environmental Protection Group. This cooperative group is composed of Jewell, Republic, Smith, Osborne, Rooks, Phillips, and Mitchell counties. Each county contributes one thousand five hundred dollars per year to hire a sanitation engineer to inspect wells, sanitary sewers and other similar projects.

Commissioner Mike Cooper reported on the Legislative Coffee held last Saturday morning at the Guaranty Bank with Senator Elaine Bowers and Representative Susan Concannon. Concannon has introduced a bill in the House that deals with people getting dropped by their insurance companies when they have large claims due to natural disasters similar to our Labor Day hailstorm. House Bill zero-two-four-one would restrict insurance companies from dropping policy holders for claims due to natural disasters.

Senator Bowers reported that Senate Bill one-seventy-eight does not appear to have much chance of passing the Senate. This bill would increase the taxation rate for Agricultural land by four to six hundred percent.

Both of the local politicians expressed disappointment with the Governor and the current state of affairs with school finance. He assured member of his party during the election that he would not touch school finance or highway funding. He seems to have re-nigged on his promises.

Mitchell County Appraiser, Melinda Latham, made a brief appearance. She wanted to forewarn the Commissioners that tax value notices have been mailed out and that, in general, most people will experience some increase in their taxes.

Public Works Superintendent, Larry Emerson, provided the Commissioners with the proposed bid specifications for a new mower tractor. The specs are similar to the ones used when the last mower tractor was purchased. Carrico Implement said they could deliver a machine within sixty to ninety days if they earned the bid.

Emerson said he has talked with Doug Grinder about possibly quarrying gravel on his property north of Hunter. Emerson said the gravel looked “fair” but they would have to do some testing to know for sure.

Commissioner Jim Marshall said he had spent about an hour talking with Ron Heller about how they might continue quarrying gravel at the current location. “It looks like there is a lot of gravel still on his property,” said Marshall. “But, what do I know about gravel? It seems the price we have offered to pay him is the main issue. In the past we have paid a dollar and a half per yard of gravel. Currently, Osborne County pays five dollars a yard and Quartzite goes for seven dollars a yard. I think Ron would be happy with four and a quarter dollars per yard.”

The consensus of the Commissioners was that if they could work something out with Ron Heller, that would be the best course of action. The noted the County has lots of miles of gravel road and these roads need good gravel.

Commissioner Marshall said, “Ninety percent of the calls I get are about roads.”

When asked how much gravel is usually quarried at the Heller location he said, “Somewhere between twenty and twenty-vive thousand yards per year.” Emerson noted that is the rate paid for gravel is raised from a dollar fifty a yard to four and a quarter a yard there will be a significant impact on the road budget.

Having dispensed with all the items on the agenda, the Commissioners adjourned the meeting.

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