The Board of Marshall County Commissioners met in regular session with Barbara Kickhaefer, chairman, Keith Bramhall member, Tom Holle member and County Clerk Sandra Wilson present. Paul Kessinger with the Advocate joined the meeting at 9:27 a.m.
The Board of Commissioners called the meeting to order at 8:30 a.m.
The Board opened the meeting with the flag salute.
Tom Holle moved, seconded by Barbara Kickhaefer to approve the minutes of the 5/2/2020 Special Board Meeting, the minutes of the 5/4/2020 regular Board Meeting and the Agenda for today’s meeting. Unanimous.
Agency on Aging Director Ashley Lyhane met with the Board. She reported that they will be distributing another round of Disaster Health Distributions (DHD) on Friday, May 22nd. They have requested more food to hopefully be able to assist more families this time. The distributions will take place in the a.m. and will be handed out until all boxes are distributed.
Agency on Aging Director Ashley Lyhane said she received guidance from the State that they are recommending the dining room not open until at least June 1, 2020.
Barbara Kickhaefer moved, seconded by Keith Bramhall to approve the following purchase orders. Unanimous.
Steven A. Kraushaar, Marysville, KS
For Contract Attorney Fee (April 2020)
$3,000.00-District Court Fund-P.O. #6214
Washington County Sheriff, Washington, KS
For Inmate Housing
$1,380.00-General (Sheriff) Fund-P.O. #6205
Keith Bramhall moved, seconded by Tom Holle to approve the following Home Sewer Distrct #1 voucher to be paid out of the appropriate funds. Unanimous.
Evergy – 200 Benjamin, Home $ 67.32
Evergy – 408E 3rd St, Home $ 79.65
TOTAL $146.97
James Neeld, special counsel representing Marshall County with the Irish Creek Windfarm negotiations joined the meeting at 8:50 a.m.
Public Works Administrator Mike Craig met with the Board.
Tom Holle moved, seconded by Keith Bramhall to approve the following purchase orders. Unanimous.
M & M Tires, LLC, Washington, KS
For tires, O-ring and service call
$2,655.50-Road & Bridge Fund-P.O. #109065
M & R Auto Parts, Frankfort, KS
For Brake kits & drums, break cleaners, torque & plug
$1,085.57-Road & Bridge Fund-P.O. #109066
Blue Valley Trailers, Inc., Waterville, KS
For Labor & materials 24 ft trailer floor & lights
$1,981.00-Road & Bridge Fund-P.O. #109064
Public Works Administrator Mike Craig reported that the Landfill is open. Roche Fencing is installing the fence for the CD pit, digging should begin soon.
Public Works Administrator Mike Craig asked the Board’s permission to purchase a riding lawn mower for use at the courthouse. The Board gave verbal approval for said purchase.
Public Works Administrator Mike Craig reported that the main entrance doors are needing adjustments. He will contact Manko Windows of Manhattan to get them here to make that adjustment prior to opening back up to the public on the 18th of May.
Public Works Administrator Mike Craig said the bridge deck was poured on Friday for the bridge in Cleveland township. The bridge crew will be finishing this construction and then move onto the other Cleveland township bridge for repairs. After these are done, they would be moving to the Bison Road bridges.
Commissioner Bramhall said he received a call regarding a bridge South of Hwy 36 on 30th Rd. The bridge looks good but there is a lot of erosion up to the road. Public Works Administrator Mike Craig said he would go take a look and see what needs to be done.
Public Works Administrator Mike Craig requested step raises for the following employees:
Jacob Friedrichs from Operator I at $17.55/hr to Operator II at $18.05/hr
Skyler Ballman from Laborer at $17.05/hr to Operator I at $17.55/hr
Tom Holle moved, seconded by Keith Bramhall to approve the above step raises effective June 1, 2020. Unanimous.
County Counselor Jason Brinegar joined the meeting at 9:30 a.m.
James Neeld met with the Board to meet the members in person and update the Board of the status of the Irish Creek Windfarm project. He reported they recently had a kick off phone call with the developer, Allen Anderson. He has worked extensively with Mr. Anderson and has found him to be very open and reasonable. Mr. Neeld has requested the following 3 things to begin with:
1. Projected area.
2. General idea of location including participating and non-participating landowners along with turbine location.
3. Preliminary calculations of appropriate amounts for Payment in Lieu of Taxes.
Mr. Neeld will also assist with the road use agreement negotiations.
Keith Bramhall moved, seconded by Barbara Kickhaefer to go into executive session for 30 minutes to engage in attorney-client privileged discussions with the county counselor and Mr. Neeld at 9:32 a.m. Unanimous.
No action taken as a result of the executive session.
Emergency Management Director Bill Schwindamann Jr. met with the Board.
Keith Bramhall moved, seconded by Barbara Kickhaefer to Extend Disaster Resolution 20-20-03-16-1 for an additional 60 days. The local disaster extension was declared on the 13th day of May, 2020 shall continue and remain in effect for 60 days for COVID-19. Unanimous.
The Board opened discussions with Emergency Management Director Bill Schwindamann, Jr. and County Counselor Jason Brinegar regarding plans to reopen the courthouse on the 18th day of May. The Board feels it is safely time to open the building back up to the public with some criteria in place for the safety of the public and the employees. Undersheriff Tim Ackerman joined the meeting at 10:20 a.m. Commissioner Kickhaefer asked if the Sheriff’s department could provide an employee to monitor the door upon opening the courthouse back up. Undersheriff Tim Ackerman stated that the jailers are currently temperature monitoring the inmates and asking the appropriate questions for all new detainees. He felt that he could rotate the jailers to perform this duty for a couple of weeks. Commissioner Kickhaefer said she feels that it will only be needed from May 18th through June 1st. Re-evaluation will be done weekly.
Barbara Kickhaefer moved, seconded by Keith Bramhall to Rescind County Resolution 20-20-05-02-1. Unanimous.
County Counselor Jason Brinegar will draw up a new Resolution to present to the Board today to address the reopening of the courthouse on May 18th, 2020.
Undersheriff Tim Ackerman informed the Board that the recent purchase of Krai the drug dog did not work out. There was a disconnect between the dog and the handler and it just did not work out. He said this occasionally happens. The Sheriff’s office has returned the dog and has secured a different dog. The new dog will be an additional $4,000 but will come fully trained. The new dog is a 2 year old.
Commissioner Holle was questioned on a Resolution that is apparently in place wherein a Marshall County Surveyor must have a peer review and signature from another Marshall County Surveyor before said survey will be accepted. County Clerk Sandra Wilson was asked about this Resolution previously and has been unable to locate any such document in the files.
Tom Holle moved, seconded by Keith Bramhall that if Marshall County previously had a Resolution in place requiring a Marshall County survey be reviewed and signed by another Marshall County surveyor, that said Resolution be rescinded and is subject to statutory authority. Unanimous.
County Health Nurse Sue Rhodes and Medical Records Deputy Mary Weeks met with the Board. During the Facebook live there was a question concerning when the local areas will begin ballgames and sporting events. County Health Nurse Sue Rhodes directed us to tell them to contact her office. She has been talking with the area towns regarding this. According to the Governor’s Ad Astra plan, sporting events may resume on May 18th. The County is encouraging all communities to follow the Governor’s plans.
County Counselor Jason Brinegar confirmed with County Clerk Sandra Wilson that there were no sealed bids received for the tax sale properties. He will move on to the next steps and contact any patrons who have inquired about the tax sale properties.
County Health Nurse Sue Rhodes and Medical Records Deputy Mary Weeks met with the Board to voice some concerns regarding issues with their computers after Network Computer Solutions was in the office on Thursday of last week. Mary reported that their KIPS program was not working and the laptop computer was disconnected from the server. She was able to fix these issues but was concerned that these things seem to happen each time a technician is in the system. Mary informed the Board that the new computers came with an antivirus installed with Windows 10 and did not feel that she needed NCS to install one. The Board encouraged Mary to follow the recommendations of NCS as we have contracted with them to keep the Counties data secure. Medical Records Deputy Mary Weeks gave copies of the quotes she received from Dell and from NCS for a new server. The Master Service Contract with Network Computer Solutions includes a clause that all hardware and software needs to be purchased or approved by them or they will not be included in the service agreement. The Board will review the server quotes and Commissioner Kickhaefer will forward the quotes on to Network Computer Solutions for their review. The Board will adhere to the recommendation received back from Network Computer Solutions. The Board informed Medical Records Deputy Mary Weeks that she will need to provide Network Computer Solutions with the administrator log in credentials for the server so that their monitoring may begin.
Keith Bramhall moved, seconded by Tom Holle to go into executive session for 5 minutes to engage in attorney-client privileged discussions with county counselor Jason Brinegar and the Board present at 11:13 a.m. Unanimous. No action taken as a result of the executive session.
County Counselor Jason Brinegar reported that Invenergy (Grain Belt/Clean Line) should have a road use agreement available for review hopefully within the next couple of weeks. County Counselor Jason Brinegar did reiterate that the County has done all they can do to oppose the construction of the Grain Belt transmission line. The project has been approved by the KCC, therefore, the transmission line will be coming through Kansas.
Judge Patton stopped in the meeting at noon. He wanted to update the Board on the status of the District Court. He informed the Board that they would not be holding any in person court hearing until at least June 1st. There are several executive orders handed down from the Supreme Court that they must adhere to. The Court is in the process of setting up 5 live You Tube channels, one for each judge to conduct hearings via Zoom and then publish to the appropriate You Tube channel. The Clerk of the District Court will publish a docket weekly so that the public is aware and has access to court hearings. The Board advised Judge Patton that the courthouse will be open to the public starting on Monday, May 18, 2020 at 8:30 a.m. There will be one entrance unlocked and there will be an employee taking temperatures and signing the public in. Judge Patton asked the Board to keep himself and the Clerk of the District Court advised to any changes as they happen. He informed the Board that they would probably continue to rotate the staff in the Clerk of the District Court’s office to limit the exposure of the coronavirus to all employees at one time.
Keith Bramhall moved, seconded by Tom Holle to approve Resolution 20-20-05-11-1 with the following criteria. Unanimous.
Whereas, securing the health, safety, and economic well-being of residents and visitors in Marshall County, is a priority of this Board;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS OF MARSHALL COUNTY, KANSAS, as follows:
Section 1. The Marshall County Courthouse shall re-open to the general public under the following terms and conditions:
A. All access doors are locked from the outside except those located at the Northeast corner of the building.
B. A sheriff department employee (screener) will be located at said Northeast entrance to screen all patrons for temperature and to answer a questionnaire. Access to the building will be at the sole discretion of the screener based upon the temperature of the patron and the responses to the questionnaire.
C. All patrons must sign in to include: date and time in and time out, name, address and telephone number and county office to be visited.
D. All Patrons are encouraged to wear masks.
E. Only one person per household will be allowed in to conduct any business and no children under the age of 13 are allowed into the building.
F. Patrons are required to maintain a social distance of six feet and remain behind the barriers/windows provided unless excused by the individual office.
G. Only the screener and one patron shall be in the testing area at any one time. Patrons are required to wait outside until the screener indicates it is clear to enter.
Section 2. This resolution shall take effect on Monday, May 18, 2020 at 8:30 a.m.
Tom Holle moved, seconded by Barbara Kickhaefer to approve vouchers as presented and issue manual warrants from respective funds. Unanimous.
Keith Bramhall moved, seconded by Tom Holle to adjourn the meeting at 12:35 p.m. The next regularly scheduled meeting will be held on Monday, May 18, 2020 beginning at 8:30 a.m.