COMMISSION MINUTES – MONDAY,
MARCH 28, 2005
At
8:30 A.M., all members of the Pottawatomie County Commission met for a regular
session in the County Commission Room.
Present were Tom Doperalski, chairman; Barbara Kolde, vice chairman; and
Stan Hartwich, member.
The
Chairman signed Firefighters Relief Fund forms for Fire District No. 2, No. 5,
No. 6, No. 7, and No. 10.
Stan
Hartwich moved and Barbara Kolde seconded to appoint board members to the
following fire districts:
Fire District No. 6: Don
Cassel, Don Dowell, Dale Force, and Dustin Cassel.
Fire District No. 8: Lee W. Abitz, James B. Mulligan, Gary D.
Robbins, Robert L. Blair, and Marvin J. Clark.
Motion
carried 3 to 0.
Lisa
Overkamp, treasurer, met with the Commissioners with an update on that department. Individuals have 6 months from March 3 to
file for a refund of monies paid due to the sales tax bill. The treasurer’s office has had a good
response from the delinquent tax notices mailed out on the 11th. Lisa stated on April 6th, an
individual from the State will be in her office for driver’s license
training. The Treasurer’s Office may be
able to issue permits for driver’s education students. They will also be able to do some ID
cards. Lisa stated her department will
have the ability to check driving records.
The State would like to have all counties charge the same amount for
their driver’s license fees. While some
counties charge between $3.00 and $5.00, Pottawatomie County charges
$1.00. Commissioner Kolde stated she
would rather charge user fees than raise property taxes. Lisa will be attending a meeting in Topeka
on April 20 through 22. She will
receive more hours towards the 105 required for certification.
The
Board considered and acted on property statements. (Attachment #1)
Betty
Abitz, register of deeds, updated the Commission on activities in her
department. The copy machine in her
office has over 300,000 copies and has required a lot of maintenance. She leases the machine currently being used
and would like to do the same with the new machine. The company has offered her an early trade-out on the current
lease. Commission approved the lease
agreement for a new copier. The CIC
digitizing software is now ready for information in the deed’s office to be
open to the public. Realtors, title
companies, banks, and other interested entities will have the opportunity to
purchase this service for availability in their own offices. If there is information on a document that
is not public information, the software can block it out. Betty would like to host an open meeting
with the Commissioners and any interested parties allowing the software company
to explain how the service works, what they will need to use it, and the costs. A tentative date of April 11 at 1:30 in the
Commission Room was agreed upon. Betty
stated some of the microfilm currently stored at the salt mines in Hutchinson
may be deteriorating. This would be the
film done prior to 1995. She asked to
use some of the money in her tech fund to investigate the condition of
microfilm for her department. She
stated if the deed’s microfilm is starting to deteriorate, we will know
information stored by the other departments is also losing its quality. Commissioner Doperalski stated he would like
to have information from Betty as to the cost to check the condition of the
microfilm.
Brett
Howard, Wamego resident, and Gregg Webster, zoning administrator, met with the
Commissioners to discuss reducing a building setback on property she has
purchased in Heritage Heights. The plat
was done in 1978. Ms. Howard would like
to clear the issue so there will be no questions if the area is annexed into
the City of Wamego. Barbara Kolde moved
and Stan Hartwich seconded to allow Brett Howard to schedule a public hearing
to address a building setback for her property in Heritage Heights
Subdivision. Motion carried 3 to 0.
Commissioners
approved minutes for March 21, 2005.
Rodney
Biesenthal, noxious weed director, met with the Commissioners to discuss
concerns of the condition and upkeep of one of the township cemeteries.
Leu
Lowrey, public works director, met with the Commissioners to discuss bids
opened on March 21 for the Timber Creek East Water District Project. Bids were submitted with only partial cost
for the 2 submergible pumps required for the project. Leu recommended the Commission accept the bid submitted by Jim
Miller Construction of Wathena for $318, 635.
Leu will check with the contractor for the lowest cost to install the
pumps according to specs. Barbara Kolde
moved and Stan Hartwich seconded to accept the bid from Jim Miller Construction
of Wathena for $318,635 for the Timber Creek East Water District Project. Motion carried 3 to 0.
Barbara
Kolde moved and Stan Hartwich seconded to sign the agreement with Schwab-Eaton
for engineering plans and specs for improvements in Eagles Landing Subdivision,
Unit Six in Blue Township. Engineering
fees will be $65,940. Motion carried 3
to 0. (Attachment #2)
Robert
Reece, administrator, and Gary Conklin, county counselor, discussed the
ambulance contract with the Commissioners.
The Commission informed counselor of changes or additions they wanted made
to the contract. Gary will draft and
fax a copy to Mercy Regional Health Center for their review. The Commissioners stated they wanted Gary
and Robert to negotiate contract terms with Mercy.
The
Commissioners adjourned at 12:15.
______________________ ___________________________
County
Clerk Chairman
___________________________
Vice
Chairman
___________________________
Member