KVSV

Monday March 9th Mitchell County Commisioners Meeting

 

Mitchell County Commissioners

Monday, March 9, 2015

By Terry Bailey

 

The Mitchell County Commissioners faced a full agenda at their regular weekly meeting on Monday, March ninth, two thousand fifteen. All Commissioners were present to take care of business as was the County Clerk.

First on the agenda was Kelly Hawk, Emergency Medical Services Director. Hawk presented his monthly ambulance report. The information he provided to the Commissioners was not totally complete. With the recent signing of a billing contract with Delissa Medical Building they are in the process of passing on information to the billing agency and the information will be current and up to date once all that information has been shifted from the Mitchell County EMS files to Delissa’s files.

As of February fifteenth, two thousand fifteen, the EMS has billed forty-four thousand twenty-two dollars for services rendered. The EMS has collected thirty-one thousand one hundred twenty-eight dollars. Ninety runs have been conducted by the Ambulance Service in the first six weeks of the year.

Hawk and the Commissioners discussed the correct course of action to be taken on Ambulance number two which was damaged in the Labor Day hail storm. The two thousand fourteen Chevy was damaged to the amount of one thousand nine hundred seventy-one dollars according to the insurance adjusters. Hawk said, “It is your vehicle. Do you want to fix the damage or to just keep the money for other uses?” Hawk continued, “The damage is all cosmetic. There were quite a few dents to the hood but some of them are popping out with the warmer weather.” The Commissioner directed him to monitor the damage to the hood area and at some point a decision will have to be made depending on how much the warm weather helps the hail dents.

A ten minute executive session was held to discuss non-elected personnel. When the regular meeting resumed it was reported that no actions had been taken.

Up next was Larry Emerson, Public Works Superintendent. Emerson brought with him sealed bids from two local vendors for a new mower tractor.

W-T Repair submitted a bid for a two thousand fifteen Case-IH model One Thirty-A tractor. This two-wheel drive, one hundred thirty horsepower tractor had a bid price of sixty-six thousand dollars. The trade in price for the County’s IH One Eighty Six tractor and the John Deere Forty Twenty was fifty-nine thousand dollars.

Carrico Implement submitted three bids. The first bid was for a model Six Thirteen – D, one hundred five horsepower tractor with a mechanical front wheel drive assist. The list price for this model was fifty-eight thousand nine hundred fourteen dollars. Carrico’s allowed a trade in value of eight thousand dollars on the County’s older tractors for trade price of fifty thousand nine hundred fourteen dollars.

The second bid was for a model Sixty One Twenty-Five, one hundred-two horsepower John Deere two wheel drive tractor. The list price was sixty-nine thousand thirty nine dollars. Once again, allowing eight thousand dollars for the trade in, the final cost was sixty-one thousand thirty-nine dollars.

The final bid was for their premium model, a Sixty One Forty model M, one hundred fourteen horsepower tractor. This model had a list price of seventy-six thousand four hundred ninety-four dollars. Allowing the same trade in the trade value was sixty-eight four hundred ninety-four dollars.

After a brief discussions of the virtues of each of the bids, the Commissioners directed Emerson to review the bids and return next week with a recommendation about which tractor would best suit the needs of his department.

The Commissioners had received a request from Dennis Lutgen to do horizontal boring under the blacktop south of Asherville for water lines. The Commissioners voted unanimously to allow this work to be done.

The Commissioners also approved a four thousand dollar contract with Schwab-Eaton for engineering work on a bridge project over Walnut Creek on K Road. The current stone bridge is deteriorating and will be replaced by a one hundred foot steel frame bridge. Emerson said the road would be closed two or three months while the project was underway.

Emerson has been doing gravel testing in order locate a suitable source of road material for the county. It was reported that Ron Heller would sell gravel for three dollars and thirty cents a ton or four dollars and sixty two cents a cubic yard. While this price is higher than hoped, it was noted the quality of the gravel from the Heller pit was of a superior quality. Emerson was directed to have a standard three-year contract drawn up and have it signed by Heller. The Commissioners also encouraged Emerson to continue testing and sampling to identify and locate a secondary location for road material.

Courtney Murrow, Mitchell County Health Nurse presented the Commissioners with a contract between her department and Doctors Cheney and Kimple to conduct Family Planning Clinics between March first, two thousand fifteen and February twenty-eighth two thousand sixteen. The Commissioners gave their approval and signed the documents.

Murrow also informed the Commissioners that she was applying for grants from the Kansas Department of Health and Environment. The grants would total ninety-eight thousand seven dollars if she got everything she asked for. They approved her efforts in finding ways to help the financial standing of the department.

Doug Daugherty, Mitchell County Sheriff, and Tony Perez, Undersheriff, discussed vehicle purchases with the Commissioners. In a previous meeting a plan of action had been agreed upon for purchasing three new vehicles for the Sheriff’s Department. Since that time some unexpected and unknown expenses have reduced the money available for vehicle purchases. Eventually it was decided to use the remaining insurance money to pay off the current lease-purchase contracts and to finance the three new vehicles at a much more attractive interest rate.

Chad and Laura Lorence and Brian Dilner provided an educational Power Point presentation about bicycle and pedestrian safety. The topic of bicycle safety had surfaced at last week’s Commissioners meeting but little interest had been exhibited due to a lack of knowledge.

They told the Commissioners their goal was to educate and inform everyone about the importance of healthy lifestyles which include diet and exercise. Local surveys indicate eighty-two percent of Mitchell County residents agree that adopting a healthy lifestyle was important. Biking and walking are two popular sources of out of doors healthy pursuits.

Brian Dilner told the Commissioners that early this spring he was planning on participating in the Bike-Across-Kansas activity. This undertaking calls for people to bike seventy to eighty miles per day. As part of his training, one day he rode west on the Tipton Blacktop, then north to Glen Elder with a stop at the Lakeside Convenience store. When he resumed his ride back to Beloit, he was struck by a pickup. Dilner received serious injuries but he said, “I am very lucky to be alive.” He had heard of other people being hit by vehicles on the roads of Mitchell County.

The trio asked the Commissioners to find a way to post signage on the roads of Mitchell County alerting drivers to the possibility of bicyclists being on the road and to be prepared to give them ample room when they pass. According to state law, vehicles must allow a minimum of three feet between their vehicle and a bicyclist when they pass them. Laura Lorence told the Commissioners they had checked with the Kansas Department of Transportation and that KDOT would put up signs alerting the public to bicyclists but the request would have to come from and be supported by the County Commissioners.

KDOT would install these signs at no charge to the County on State Hiways Twenty Four, Fourteen, Nine, One Ninety Three, and One Ninety Four.

Currently there are no signs in Mitchell County warning motorists about the possibility of cyclists on the road. There are signs alerting motorists to the possibility of deer on the road. There are signs warning motorists about a railroad track along the road, but of course, it does not move. The presenters believed that without signs, the thought of coming upon a person riding a bicycle never crosses the mind of drivers. They passed along a paraphrase of the old adage, “To be forewarned is to be alert to the possibility.”

The Commissioners expressed interest in working with local bicyclists to improve the safety of those cycling on the roads of Mitchell County.

 

Having taken care of business, the meeting was adjourned.

 

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