Doug McKinney, Executive Director of the North Central Regional Planning Commission (NCRPC), told the Mitchell County Commissioners at their meeting this morning all the energy grant improvements are finished at the new Mitchell County Museum building. These grants were facilitated through the county government.
The HVAC work was finished about a year ago and they recently finished all the electric work on the lighting that they can afford to do at this time. This includes the panel lighting as well as the added track lighting which greatly improves the efficiency of electrical system in the building, McKinney said.
McKinney brought in a bill request to send to the Kansas Corporation Commission in the amount of $3,603.08 to finish up the project. The commissioner's signed the request. The Museum's Advertising and Publicity Committee and the Mitchell County Tourism Committee are working together to set up events to take place over Memorial Day/School Alumni Weekend, he said.
Commission Chairman, Tom Claussen, thanked McKinney for the grant work the NCRPC staff did to help the county get the grants for the courthouse and the museum during the past few years. He said McKinney was the "go to guy" to get this work done and the county wouldn't have been able to get the grants without him. Claussen said this project was money well spent and it took a lot of team effort to get it done.
McKinney said all of the work on the courthouse should be finished in June and then there will be a small retention rebate that can be applied for which won't be huge amount but should be several thousand dollars. He said the new outside doors on the main floor and basement entrances are finished and really look nice. Some of the old doors are being stored in the courthouse attic as per the Kansas Historical Society rules and they are trying to get the museum to find a place to use the set from the main entrance north entrance.
Public Works Report
Larry Emerson, Public Works, reported the State Bridge Inspectors would be here this week checking to be sure Federal Bridge Regulations are being followed. He said, this is something new and the inspectors will be checking on all the counties in the state this year. He feels this may be just a one-time thing. They will pull 10 percent of the county's bridge files, go out and check the condition of those bridges and write up a report on what they find. The county will be notified if they find any problems. He doesn't look for any problems in this county since John Cashatt, County Engineer, is always overly cautious of any problems when he does these inspections.
The road and bridge crew has the Bloomfield Township Bridge poured but it will need to cure for two weeks before it can be used. They are starting to take out the old bridge today. A company out of Salina came out and tested the wells at the Landfill. The well by the burn-pit is on a one-year rotation due to the high arsenic count found in it. This is the only well that is giving trouble and if it doesn't clear up they may have to dig a new well.
Emerson said he hasn't heard anymore from the Bureau of Reclamation about the status of the road south of Glen Elder that they have been working on. It has been open some days and then closed again the last few weeks. They said they would call him when the project is finished so the county can take down the barricades.
The pending dates for the bridge overlay are sometime between July and September. They plan to let the bids on May 20 and be ready to start on the bridge in September. It will take them three to six months to complete, Emerson said.
Emergency Management Department
Scott Davies, Emergency Management Director, met with commissioners in a 15 minute executive session to discuss non-elected personnel, that was extended another ten minutes. Chairman Claussen announced no decisions were made during the meeting.
Emergency Medical Services
Ed Debesis, Emergency Medical Director, shared the results of their State Inspection Survey that takes place in May every year. The inspector sited them for not having a No Smoking Sign on the dash of one of the ambulances. It had fallen off and someone put it in the glove compartment. Debesis said this was easily remedied. Everything else checked out all right on the trucks. Debesis said they did get a few corrective actions to do with their paperwork. Chairman Claussen said, "That's all right because the county didn't hire you to be a bean counter they hired you to save peoples' lives."
In his April report Debesis said his department charged out $24,708 for the month and $125,606.46 for the year. They had 45 ambulance runs for the month which was about average. Number of runs for the year so far is 178. Debesis had a ten-minute executive meeting with commissioners to discuss non-elected personnel. No decisions were made.
Communications/ Dispatch Department
Becky Schaefer, Communications and Dispatch Department, discussed problems they are having with their server console that has all of their services hooked into it. The unit is 3 1/ 2 years old and had a 2-year maintenance agreement on it. There are no parts available to repair it. Computer Solutions can replace the unit with a new one for a cost of $1,099 and switch the server over to cover all four units that need to be hooked into it with minimum labor. The commissions approved the purchase of the new console. She said most of the new camera system is done except the ones at the LEC. FileSafe will be here Wednesday to finish that work up.
Commissioner Cooper Concerned about Senate Bill No. 59
Commissioner Mike Cooper expressed concern to the other Commissioners and also the listening audience about Kansas Senate Bill Number 59. He said the passage of this bill would greatly affect the amount of funds the county receives from taxes. Cooper said this bill passed the Kansas House of Representatives in about two days and is now in the Senate for their consideration. He is encouraging everyone to get in touch with any Senators they know and let them how they feel about what the passage of this bill will do.
The Bill deals with how the classification of certain commercial and industrial property are going to be re-evaluated for the purpose of taxation in the State of Kansas. Cooper said it would be especially harmful to small commercial and small residential properties. He stressed that if this bill goes through it will not only affect the funds the counties gets but also all the cities and the school districts in the State and any other taxing entity who gets a tax base.
Cooper said, Representative Brooks of Johnson County, did get a provision added on to the House version of the bill to delay it being put into effect for two years, or until 2014. He called and visited with Brooks about the status of the bill.
Cooper also met with Mitchell County Appraiser, David Thornton, last week to see what impact passage if this bill would have on Mitchell County. He said the county could loose as much as 30 percent in exempt evaluation.
According to Cooper the bill was pushed through by a group of large corporations in the state that are putting excessive pressure on the legislators to pass this bill. While Cooper said he is hopeful the Senate will not have time to pass this bill before they close their Legislative Session next week there is no assurance this will delay it after that happened in the House of Representatives recently. He again urged everyone to contact legislators about voting to stop the passage of Senate Bill Number 59.