COMMISSION
MINUTES – MONDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2006
At 8:30
A.M., all members of the Pottawatomie County Commission met for a regular
session in the County Commission Room.
Present were Stan Hartwich,
chairman; Tom Doperalski, vice chairman; and Barbara Kolde, member.
Corwin Seamans, 1st District
Commissioner elect was present for the meeting.
Barbara Kolde moved and Tom Doperalski seconded
to adopt the agenda for today’s meeting.
Motion carried 3 to 0.
Gary Conklin, county counselor, met with the
Commissioners to update them on his department.
After discussion of the O’Roke/Stumpff fence
viewing, the Commission advised counselor to draft an order of recommendation
stating they see no need to alter previous arrangements for responsibility of
the upkeep of the fence. The portion
needing repair should be done by May 1st, which is the beginning of
pasture season. After approval of the
order by the Commission, both parties will be sent a copy.
The
Chairman signed 2007 cereal malt beverage licenses for Dara’s
Fast Lane in Blue Township and Blaine Store in Clear Creek
Township. 2007 Occupation licenses were signed for
Black Jack Legion and Black Jack Hills
in St. George
Township and Ramblers in Blue Township.
Brenda Krause, GIS director, met with the Commissioners
to update them on activities in that department.
Board
considered and acted on tax roll corrections.
(Attachment #1)
John Boyd, emergency management director,
met with the Commissioners to update them on his department. Boyd presented the Commission with copies of NACo’s National Incident Management System (NIMS) Guide for
County Officials
and of a National Survey for Emergency Management in County Government. Topics discussed in his update were:
1.
Current threat condition & FAD (National, State, Local)
2. Web
Based County Emergency Operations Plans
3.
2005/06 Grant awards received for Emergency Management
4.
Siren/Generator test results
5.
Current EMGT priorities
6. Child
Care Inspections
7.
Ambulance Midpoint Inspection
8. Trench
Burner (Air Curtain)
9. County Training
activity
Barbara Kolde moved and Tom Doperalski seconded
to approve emergency management personnel on a voluntary basis, doing fire
inspections of child care facilities in the County. Motion carried 3 to 0.
The
Commission will schedule a work session with Boyd and representatives of rural
water districts to discuss fill stations and hydrants in rural areas. The corner of Hartwich Road
and Onaga
Road is an area of concern.
Greg Riat, sheriff and Shane Jager,
under sheriff met with the Commissioners to update them on members willing to
serve on the committee for a jail facility study. So far Russ Roe, Jim Moore, Carl Meyer, Tippi Flerlage, and Steve Bundy
have agreed to serve on the Committee.
Greg will check with another individual as an alternate within the next
couple of days.
Riat
stated he has verbal approval from the City to place some type of construction
trailer in the parking lot near the Sheriff’s Office. The trailer is to help with the problem of
lack of storage space. The Commission
will meet with Riat in a work session on January 22
at 1:00 to discuss the issue further.
The
Commission received a letter from the Wamego City Manager notifying the County
that as of July 31, 2007 the City will occupy the facility at 514 Plum St
currently housing Pottawatomie
County EMS. The County will need to make alternate
arrangements for housing the EMS unit. Commissioner Kolde
stated it should be located on Hwy 24 for faster response time. She stated it will not work to house the
trailer in the landfill building because of cleanliness and controlled
substances. She suggested checking with Belvue to see if they have room in their facility.
Jack
Turner, Judge Roth, Jane Shehi, and Gary Conklin met with the Commissioners to discuss a
proposed contract for indigent services for the County. Roth stated he was comfortable with the
contract document presented. He stated
he felt the Commission had three options.
One is to go with the contract. Second
would be to increase the rates to $80.
The other option would be a gradual increase with ultimately reaching
the $80 in the future. Commissioner Kolde stated they needed to first estimate the entire
cost. She expressed concern of attorneys
in the County not being included. Roth
stated he had contacted attorneys to see if they were interested in providing
this service. A few were not interested
at any price, while some were for the $80 rate.
Turner stated $50 is too low and that $80 is the going rate. Roth stated Jackson,
Jefferson, and Wabaunsee Counties
are using a graduated fee option. They
will start at $65 and increase to $80 by next year. He added those counties have a larger pool of
attorneys to draw from. Commissioner
Doperalski asked about liability insurance.
Robert Reece, administrator, stated he would check with KCAMP, the
county’s insurance company. Commissioner
Kolde stated she still has concerns of entering the
agreement and having other attorneys upset.
Roth stated if they do nothing, he will be down to 2 attorneys to handle
the cases. He has 4 attorneys he is
working with. One won’t come back at
all. One will for $80, but not the
graduated rate. Commissioner Kolde stated she was in favor of increasing the fee to $80
temporarily, giving time for an RFP to go to all attorneys in the County. Barbara Kolde moved
to raise the attorney fee for indigent services to $80 per hour and put out an
RFP (request for proposal) using the contract to see what attorneys would do at
this price temporarily. Tom Doperalski
stated he would not second the motion.
He added the Commission is here to guard the taxpayers. Kolde stated we
can’t guard them if we don’t know the cost or impact. The motion died for lack of a second. Tom Doperalski moved to direct Gary Conklin,
county counselor, draft a contract for indigent services to be signed next
week. Conklin stated he would like for
Jack Turner to submit the revised contract to him to work with. Stan Hartwich
seconded the motion which carried 2 to 1.
Commissioner Kolde voted against the motion
because she felt there should be an RFP for all attorneys to be given the
opportunity to provide the service at $80/hour for indigent services.
Robert
presented the Commission with a request to fill a vacancy in the Health Department. The Commission approved filling an LPN
position at the Health Department.
Tom
Doperalski moved and Stan Hartwich seconded to
approve the minutes of December 11, 2006.
Motion carried 2 to 0. Barbara Kolde abstained stating she had not finished reading the
minutes.
Tom
Doperalski moved to increase the County’s contribution portion to ING, the County’s 457 provider, $5.00 per pay period. Stan Hartwich
seconded the motion which carried 3 to 0.
Robert
Reece, administrator, reported on a meeting with the school board.
Robert
requested numbers from the Commissioners to submit 2007 wages for their
approval at the December 28th meeting. He stated the CPI is between 2.4% and
2.7%. Robert recommended 3%. Commissioner Doperalski directed Robert to
make a recommendation and give the impact of it.
Barbara Kolde moved to adjourn at 12:20. Tom Doperalski seconded the motion which
carried 3 to 0. The Commission will meet
in work session at 1:00.
At 1:00,
the Commissioners met with Leu Lowrey,
public works director; Robert Reece, administrator; and Corwin Seamans, 1st District Commissioner elect. The group continued a discussion of the interlocal agreement with Manhattan City
for sewer services for Heritage
Square North and South. They discussed location options for a pump
station. Increase of commercial rates as
well as tap fees was discussed.
Robert
informed the Commissioners of improvements to the Commission Room to be started
after the Holidays. The hallway in the
office building is currently being painted.
Robert
stated he has asked Austin-Peters to review the job classification schedule.
_______________________ _________________________
County
Clerk Chairman
_________________________
Vice
Chairman
_________________________
Member