By Terry Bailey
The Mitchell County Commissioners conducted their regular weekly meeting at the Courthouse Monday morning, December 2. All Commissioners were present as well as the County Clerk. Also in attendance was Mike Reimann, Commissioner-elect. Reimann will take office in January and is working on getting himself up to speed on how the Commission meetings function.
Lisa Blad was present to confer with the Commissioners regarding Christmas gratuities for County Employees. In past years the Commissioners have awarded $150 in Chamber bucks to each full-time employee and $75 for each part-time employee. Chamber bucks are money that must be spent with local merchants.
The Commissioners voted to continue this Christmas award to the employees. Each employee with be awarded three checks, each for one-third of the total gift so that they can spend some here and some there. Full-time employees will receive three $75 checks and part-time employees will receive three $25 checks.
Commissioner Tom Claussen commented, "Good employees need rewarded."
Certificates were approved for years of service. Jason Vetter was recognized for five years of service and Brian Streit for 15 years of service.
Renewal in the National Association of Counties was discussed. NACO is an association of counties across the United States that lobbies the National Government on behalf of their members. The Commissioner decided this was an appropriate expenditure of County funds and voted to renew their membership in the amount of $450.
In a noteworthy action, the Commissioners voted to award one-time cash bonuses to all County employees. As the deliberations regarding the 2025-year budget began months ago, the Commissioners reserved enough money to cover a ten percent increase in County employees' health insurance. This was commensurate with raises in health insurance over the past few years.
When the final numbers were presented to the Commissioners a month or two ago by Blue Cross, they were informed that the increase for the upcoming year would be 1.5%. Having budgeted an amount to cover a ten percent increase and only having the cost go up one point five percent, the Commissioners found themselves with a considerable amount of non-encumbered money. Because the final 2025 budget had been finalized, the Commissioners were very limited on how they could spend the money. The Commissioners decided to extended a one-time cash bonus to all County employees. This will amount to a cash reward of $1,000 to each full-time employee. The Commissioners will decide on the amount for part-time employees next week.
The Commissioners took time to discuss the closing of the Dollar Store at West Wind Plaza. It seems as if the business has fallen victim to many small-town businesses in the post Covid World - a lack of employees.
Mike Rezkalla, Executive Director of Pawnee Mental Health, and Barb Wise and Kathy Webster, Pawnee Mental Health Board members, were on hand to present their annual report with the Commissioners. Pawnee covers a ten-county area in North Central Kansas and is tasked with the responsibility for providing mental health services to residents in these counties. Pawnee has two locations in Beloit, one on Mill Street and another on Independence Avenue.
Pawnee is different from other operations in that they will offer services on anyone regardless of their ability to pay and regardless of their status as a patient. They offered services to 6,681 clients in 2020 and 7,071 in 2024. Pawnee's Crisis Hotline is 1-800-609-2000.
Mitchell County Sheriff Tony Perez was on hand to gain approval for expenses for new patrol vehicles. The cost of installing the complicated light and siren system amounts to $13,000 for each vehicle. This is just one of two new County vehicles.
Perez also requested an expenditure of $111,533 to purchase nine new body cameras and eight new vehicle dash cams. The Commissioners approved this request.
Having addressed all the items on the published agenda, the meeting was adjourned.