By Terry Bailey
The Mitchell County Commissioners conducted their regular weekly business meeting at the Courthouse Monday morning, August 26. All Commissioners and the County Clerk were present.
Tom Claussen, President of the Commission, announced that the Commissioners will be contact with the State Board of Tax Appeals asking for an exemption for the parcel of land recently purchased between the Ambulance Barn and the Pizza Hut. They will be asking for a tax exemption on that property.
Claussen also read from a letter from David N. Harper, Property Evaluation Division. It read, in part, "The annual statistical and procedural compliance review for 2024 has been completed. Your County has met the criteria and is determined to be in substantial compliance. A minimum of 75 points is required for successful completion. I sincerely appreciate you support as we continue our efforts to achieve and maintain the objective of taxpayer fairness."
The Commissioners gave praise to Melinda Latham for her diligence in the evaluation process. They believed the credit was well deserved.
Marty Hernandez, Superintendent of Public Works, was present to discuss bids he has received for the work on the Causeway guardrail project. Hernandez said he had received two bids on the project. The low bid of $1,1446,260 was from L&B Construction of Great Bend. In a 90-10 sharing agreement Mitchell County will be responsible for $145,260. At this time, a start on date had not yet been established but will most likely be in 2025. The purpose of the job will to be to replace the cable guard rail at the Causeway and replace it with steel guardrail.
County Clerk Heather Weston introduced a new employee in her office, Hannah Snyder. Snyder is a graduate of Beloit High School and has been living and working in San Diego, California, for several years. She reported she was happy to return home to Mitchell County.
Missy McGinnis, Emergency Medical Services Director, gave the Commissioners an update on her vehicles. She said the motor for MC #1 has arrived and the mechanics will be installing it soon.
Both MC #2 and MC #3 have air conditioner problems. The are in the shop to be repaired.
She told the Commissioners she is considering hiring a bookkeeper to assist with the billing process. She said if she could hire the right person, they could pay for theirself in improved health insurance billing.
The Commissioners gave her permission to seek out a suitable person to hire and report back to them.
A Neighborhood Revitalization Grant was approved for Krier Auto Parts to build a 50' x 70' commercial building in the amount of $100,000.
Having addressed all the items on the printed agenda, the meeting was adjourned.