Click Here to Listen LIVE to

MITCHELL COUNTY COMMISSIONERS – Monday, April 28, 2025

By Terry Bailey

The Mitchell Commissioners conducted their regular weekly meeting at the Courthouse on Monday morning, April 28. All Commissioners and the County Clerk were present.
The Commissioners revisited the topic of drug testing for County employees. Currently, employees of the Road and Bridge crews participate in mandatory random testing. County Clerk Heather Weston said, "We are currently in violation of state statutes. By law, members of the Sheriff's department and the EMS service are required to participate in random drug testing and they are not doing so."
The Commissioners have listened to presentations regarding drug testing from two companies, Anytime Lab and Compliance One. These presentations were done on two separate occasions. It appears that since hearing these presentations regarding two different drug testing programs no action has been taken to move forward.
Commissioner Mike Riemann said, "We need to decide what we want to do, how to do it, and what direction to go."
The Commissioners directed the County Clerk to obtain quotes from both companies in such a way that side by side comparisons can be made to allow the Commissioners to compare "apples to apples."
David Dohe and Jessy Bliss requested a 20 minute executive session to discuss Courthouse security. At the end of the 20 minutes, an additional five minutes was requested. No decisions were made as a result of that closed session.
Jessy Bliss, Missy McGuinness and Clint Offutt reported to the Commissioners regarding the affairs of their offices.
Lydia Housh and Heather Monty made a presentation regarding the possible sale of the former Becker Car and Trailer property to the County. Housh described the details of the property and said, "It is ready to move in to and ready to go." The asking price for the property is a reasonable $724,000. The Commissioners will take a close look at the property and consider how and if the County could utilize it.
Barbara Wise and Kathy Webster representing Pawnee Mental Health were on hand to request the Commissioners to sign a Proclamation declaring the month of May to be Mental Health Awareness Week in Mitchell County. Everyone agreed that mental health is as important as physical health but often there is a reluctance of people to seek assistance for mental health issues.
Commissioner Riemann said that in his recent trip to Australia, he noticed that they painted the streets and trees blue to call attention to the need for quality mental health counseling services.
Sheriff Tony Perez and Deputy Steve Martin introduced Paige Ashley. She is a representative of KP&F which is under the umbrella of the KPERS organization. Martin and Perez discussed the KP&F organization at the last Commissioners meeting. Ashley was present to make an enhanced presentation regarding KP&F. It was obvious that the program had many positive qualities. However, Commissioner Riemann summed up the feelings of the other Commissioners when he said, "I love this program. It is a very good program. But the cost almost makes it out of reach at this time. That is a considerable amount of money."
Commission Chair Tom Claussen said, "We have to answer to the taxpayers. Taxes are already a little high."
A Neighborhood Revitalization grant was approved for Cole and Lesli Thomas in the amount of $358,000. Their goal is to purchase the house built by the students at the Technical College and move it south of Beloit.
It was reported the final cost of the sewer project completed by Great Plains Trenching was $67,856. The cost of the work is underwritten by the Local Assistance Tribal Consistency Fund.
Claussen announced that the new director of the North Central Regional Planning Commission was Deb Ohlde. Ohlde has been on the Regional Planning Commission staff for over 20 years.
Having addressed all the items on the printed agenda, the meeting was adjourned.

Other News

Beloit, KS 67420, USA