Larry Emerson, Public Works, presented the County Commissioners with a bill from the City of Beloit showing the utility charges for the Recycling Center, located on the Mitchell County Fairgrounds in the past and the lower current charges. The Commissioners and a number of others have been trying to figure out what has been causing the high number of kilowatts recorded on the electricity and water meters. With the amount of use the building has they knew there had to be a problem but just couldn't find it.
After the excessive utility fees the county during the months of December through February, commissioners decided something had to be done. They had Ray Winkel check out the electricity in the building and he found everything was drawing about the amount of power that it should be. Most of the problem seemed to be coming from bathroom usage so new locks and keys were purchased and the heaters checked. New stools were also installed to use less water but the meter still seemed to be registering too many kilowatts.
Just this past month the problem was solved and the meter bills corrected. The charges on last months bill was $3,431.27 and the charges for this month are $330.64 which is quite a difference in cost. The problem was an electronic meter error that caused the meter reading part not to work right. The outside restroom doors will be sealed and a lock box put in over the thermostats on the bathroom baseboard heaters to keep the temperature at 50 degrees. Keys to the bathrooms will also be more carefully monitored.
Emerson said the board and bridge crew is still working on the bridge in Bloomfield Township. He reported to commissioners that due to the rise in the cost of asphalt they have not put asphalt to the roads south of Asherville and Simpson for seven years now and they usually do this every five years. They usually apply 500 yards of asphalt to a mile but have cut down to 300 yards because of the high cost. They are only putting a one-inch skim coat on with a 1/ 4 inch seal on top. Even then they are not going to be able to stay within their budget of $611,000 for asphalt this year so they will have to use some money out of their special use fund, Emerson said.
Commissioner Virgil Palen reported an abrupt drop off on a road on Lorry Lane Road. Emerson said in order to fix it they would have to buy shoulder rock, which is very expensive at 10 to 12 dollars a ton and they have to haul it themselves.
After discuss it was decided Commissioner Cooper will get someone out to remove the top layers of asphalt which will lower the roads and they can use cold milling to reclaim the asphalt. Then the county can go in and lay this product lay back down. They will save rebuilding the shoulders and take care of the steep drop-off at the same time. Emerson said the public works crews are screening sand and making more asphalt.
Emerson also discussed the way the Bureau of Reclamation has been opening and closing the road south of Glen Elder that they are doing repair work on and he has been getting complaints from residents in the area who never know when the road is open and when it is closed. This has caused a lot of confusion and extra mileage for people in the area. It was originally going to be closed for two weeks straight through; but this way people have to drive clear down there to find out if it is open or closed. Right now they tell him they are going to have the road open Monday and Tuesday, May 7 and 8, closed on Wednesday, but have it finished and open for good on Thursday, May 10.
Mitchell County Sheriff, Doug Daugherty, met with Commissioners and County Clerk Chris Treaster in executive session to discuss non-elected personnel. Chairman Tom Claussen announced no decisions were made. Claussen asked how things are going up at the Law Enforcement Center. Daugherty said everything is real smooth now. The City is working on a parking lot south of the Port Library. There will be eight handicap-parking places in the lot. Commissioner Cooper asked if they are working on a parking place off the frontage road and Daugherty said they are. It is such a narrow short turn that it is hard for fire trucks to turn in.
Daugherty said they have 10 or 11 prisoners from out of county right now and about 10 locals. They have 8 more coming in this week. Quite a few of the present prisoners are women and that wing is about full. They are checking on different food services that are available because it is putting quite a load on the hospital to furnish all of the extra meals. They have been ordering things from Tiger Commissary because they sell about everything, they get the products fast and the county gets a cut on what is sold. They have been having some telephone trouble but are working that out.
Jennifer Warkentin, of Big Brothers-Big Sisters Organization, working in Cloud, Mitchell & Republic Counties, visited with commissioners to see if this county has funds available for them. Warkentin said they are required to request funds from the Commissioners in the three counties they serve before they are eligible to apply for a grant to help fund their program. This is a Juvenile Justice (JJA) backed non-profit organization whose mission is to help children reach their potential through professionally supported, one-to-one relationships with mentors that try to have a measurable impact on youth.
Commissioners were sympathic to Walkentin's cause and said they wished they had extra money to to help fund this cause but unfortunately they don't. Commissioners signed a grant letter in support of the organization receiving a grant.
Laura Heagy, representing the Numana Inc. of North Central Kansas Project, visited with commissioners about their upcoming food drive. Their slogan is "Feeding The Hungry One Box at a Time. One box costs a $65 donation. Heagy asked about putting up a sign on the courthouse lawn with a thermometer to gage how close they are to their goal of $75,400 and a total of 216,300 boxes of food to be sent to hungry people overseas.
Heagy explained this is an exclusive area project and not a state wide project. The area covers most of Mitchell County and all of the food that goes in the boxes is grown in Kansas except the rice. The boxes of food raised in Mitchell County will go directly to Kenya. This is an Eldorado based project. She explained that a person is hired through the Salvation Army to follow the boxes from here to their destination and they haven't lost a box of food yet, she said. They will be placing jars around town for donations. The commissioners were supportive of the project and told Heagy to contact Brian Streit to oversee the putting up of their sign on the courthouse lawn.
Kathy Webster and Sharon Treaster, of the Pawnee Mental Health Board, brought in a Proculation for the the commissioners to sign to proclaim May as Mental health Month. The organization celebrated their 55th Anniversary last Novemer. The commissioners approved this action and signed the Proclamation designating May as Mental Health Month in Mitchell County.
The Commissioner's and County Clerk Treaster praised the work Pestinger Heating & Air Conditioning did on installing the ACHD units in the courthouse in record time. Everything is finished and ready to use in the upcoming summer season.
A Neighborhood Revitalization Application was approved for Ron Greif and Nathalie on 1219 P. Road for an addition to their farmhouse in the amount of $115,000.