The Board of Marshall County Commissioners met in regular session with Keith Bramhall, chairman, Barbara Kickhaefer, member, Fritz Blaske, member and Sandra Wilson, county clerk present.
Keith Bramhall called the meeting to order at 8:30 a.m. The meeting was opened with the flag salute.
Fritz Blaske moved, seconded by Keith Bramhall to approve the 01/11/21 minutes and the agenda for today’s meeting. Unanimous.
Sheriff Tim Ackerman met with the Board.
Keith Bramhall moved, seconded by Barbara Kickhaefer to declare a 2011 Chev Tahoe and 2013 Dodge Ram pickup as surplus and designate the sheriff to sell these vehicles. Unanimous.
Keith Bramhall moved, seconded by Fritz Blaske to declare a storage unit from the 2013 Dodge Ram pickup as surplus and allow the sheriff to sell this if Public Works Administrator Mike Craig cannot use it. Unanimous.
Commissioner Bramhall reported that he watched 4 or 5 sessions from the recent KAC virtual conference.
Public Works Administrator Mike Craig met with the Board.
Keith Bramhall moved, seconded by Fritz Blaske to approve the following purchase orders. Unanimous.
National Sign Co, Ottawa, KS
For 50 24” and 50 36” 911 sign blanks
$1,265.00-Road & Bridge Fund-P.O. #109153
Farm and Home Publishers, Belmond, IA
For 100 platbooks (current issue 2020)
$2,500.00-County General Fund-P.O. #109154
Public Works Administrator Mike Craig reported that 3 employees from the Waterville shop have tested positive for COVID and are isolated.
Public Works Administrator Mike Craig said they recently had inspections at the landfill and the recycling building and there were no violations.
County Counselor Jason Brinegar & Public Works Administrator Mike Craig presented the Board with a Memorandum of Understanding between the Board of Marshall County Commissioners and Haug Trust regarding the proposed bridge structure in Lincoln Township.
County Counselors Jason Brinegar and Andy Lohmann met with the Board. Mr. Brinegar reminded the Board that the Governor’s mask mandate currently ends January 26 and previous action of the Board had Marshall County following the Governor’s plan. Mr. Brinegar recommended the Board opt out of the Governor’s mask mandate to retain more local control. The Board gave direction to Mr. Brinegar to prepare a memo to opt out of the Governor’s mask mandate to give local control.
Keith Bramhall moved, seconded by Barbara Kickhaefer to recess the meeting at 9:31 a.m. to reconvene in the basement meeting room for the department head meeting. Unanimous.
Keith Bramhall moved, seconded by Fritz Blaske to reconvene the meeting at 9:35 a.m. for the department head meeting. Sheriff Tim Ackerman, Register of Deeds Martha Roesch, Treasurer Jami Ellenbecker, Public Works Administrator Mike Craig, Agency on Aging Director Ashley Lyhane, Appraiser Francine Crome, County Counselor Jason Brinegar and County Clerk Sandra Wilson were present.
Register of Deeds Martha Roesch reported that she is down an employee. They are continuing to receive windfarm documents. In 2020, Martha reported she received $47,000 more in recording fees than 2019. The new Bookeye 4 scanner and computer will be installed this week. Register of Deeds Martha Roesch asked the Board what their thoughts are concerning trying to reschedule the NorthEast Kansas Officials meeting which was postponed from last Fall. The Board instructed Martha to send out some letters to the counties to get their opinion and pick a date and venue for now.
Appraiser Francine Crome reported that they are busy doing the end of year data entry to get values set for 2021. She reported she is also down an employee and has not received any applicants yet.
Agency on Aging Director Ashley Lyhane said she applied for money from the Helving Trust and Guise Weber Foundation and received $10,000. Home City and Beattie meals on wheels deliveries will begin today, she has 6 people signed up. Out of county medical transports will begin again on February 1, 2021. Ashley was asked to be part of the KDOT annual grant review team. Agency continues to hand out commodities every month.
Public Works Administrator Mike Craig reported they are busy working with the engineer on the haul route and road use agreements for the Irish Creek Wind Farm.
County Treasurer Jami Ellenbecker reported that tax collection went well. She is working with auditor on cleaning up and revising our internal controls documents for each department. Jami stated the state issued Real ID drivers license is set to go into effect 10/1/2021.
Sheriff Tim Ackerman reported he is still short one officer but has a female officer who will likely start between now and April 1. Her & her husband are in the process of moving to Marysville and he will be working for the Marysville PD.
County Counselor Jason Brinegar said they are working towards tax sale.
County Clerk Sandy Wilson reported that just coming off of a record election in November and staying busy getting caught up from that. Interviewing to hire an accounts payable clerk to fill the vacancy being created by a retirement in June. There have been a lot of great applicants.
Commissioner Bramhall stated that he wants the County to be a good place to work and feels that we are a team working together.
Commissioner Kickhaefer feels that the communication and atmosphere in the courthouse has come a long way in the past 2 years.
Commissioner Blaske would like to schedule times to visit with each department to learn more about their role in the county government process.
April 19, 2021 will be the next department head meeting during the regularly scheduled Board meeting with the time to be announced at a later time.
Public Works Administrator Mike Craig did report that the roof will be inspected to address the recent water issues and also to inspect the sprinkler system.
Keith Bramhall moved, seconded by Barbara Kickhaefer to recess the meeting at 10:27 a.m. to reconvene back in the Board meeting room. Unanimous.
Keith Bramhall moved, seconded by Fritz Blaske to reconvene the regularly scheduled meeting at 10:39 a.m. Unanimous.
Kenny Blair, Austin Cline and Alan Anderson joined the meeting.
Keith Bramhall moved, seconded by Barbara Kickhaefer to go into executive session for 30 minutes at 10:40 a.m. with Kenny Blair, Public Works Administrator Mike Craig, County Counselor Jason Brinegar and the Board present to discuss attorney-client privileged information. Unanimous.
Keith Bramhall moved, seconded by Barbara Kickhaefer to extend the executive session for 5 minutes at 11:10 a.m. with the same persons for the same reason. Unanimous.
No action was taken as a result of the executive session.
NextEra is seeking permits from the Public Works office to clear trees for the project. Once these permits are issued, they would be subject to KORA requests.
Ellen Barber with Marshall County Partnership for Growth met with the Board to update on 2020 activities. She reported that she worked with 16 different grants and was able to secure approximately $586,000. She reported that she has a business interested in the business park and has secured a $2,500 gran from Guise Weber for an economic study. She has been working with Frankfort for the construction of a new Verizon wireless cell tower. She has been working with Waterville to dredge lake Idlewild and possibly secure some funding for this project. Blue Rapids is seeking some housing grants to demolish some unlivable structures. Summerfield has started renting out the gymnasium to help pay utilities. Marysville has received a discovery center grant for some type of interactive garden spot but have not determined the best place to pursue this. Ellen is also working with Landoll Corp to increase the work force pool.
David Vermetten with VMT Engineering and County Health Nurse Sue Rhodes met with the Board to discuss the health building and try to devise a plan to move forward with fixing the floor joist instability issues. Mr. Vermetten said there are 2 main areas of concern, water issues on the North end likely from drainage issues and shoring up the floor and joists for stabilization. The walls and roof of the building are structurally sound. The Board has decided to try to schedule contractors to meet with Mr. Vermetten and Mrs. Rhodes to view the project and submit bids for new supports along the bearing walls and raising the floor. There is a lot of condensation issues around the windows on the main level as well. Manko windows out of Manhattan will be contacted to come assess the windows for repair or replacement. Public Works Administrator Mike Craig will provide County Health Nurse Sue Rhodes with the guttering company who worked on the courthouse to assess the drainage issues.
Public Works Administrator Mike Craig presented the Board with the Memorandum of Understanding between Marshall County and the Haug Trust regarding the Lincoln Township bridge project. Commissioner Bramhall, Haug’s, Public Works Administrator Mike Craig and Norfolk Steele engineer will meet at the bridge location today to discuss the memorandum.
Keith Bramhall moved, seconded by Fritz Blaske to approve the Memorandum of Understanding between the Board and Haug’s. Unanimous.
Keith Bramhall moved, seconded by Fritz Blaske to approve the following purchase orders. Unanimous.
KWORCC, Topeka, KS
For 2021 Work Comp premium
$52,821.00-Empl Benefits (Work Comp) Fund-P.O. #6385
Film at Eleven, Inc., Manhattan, KS
For Topper for 2016 RAM 1500 – Election
$2,085.65-Election Equip Fund-P.O. #6386
Salina Blueprint, Salina, KS
For 3 months of Bookeye4 lease payments
$2,789.30-Register of Deeds Fund-P.O. 36384
Stormont Vail, Topeka, KS
For Sexual Assault Exam
$1,386.89-General (Co. Attny) Fund-P.O. #6364
Elizabeth M. Olson, Hiawatha, KS
For Contract Attorney Fee
$2,100.00-District Court Fund-P.O. #6354
Huber & Associates, Jefferson City, MO
For Enterpol License & Maintenance
$12,106.00-General (Sheriff) Fund-P.O. #6388
Huber & Associates, Jefferson City, MO
For Enterpol Interface – Maintenance
$3,060.00-General (Sheriff) Fund-P.O. #6387
Barbara Kickhaefer moved, seconded by Fritz Blaske to approve vouchers as presented and issue manual warrants from respective funds. Unanimous.
Keith Bramhall moved, seconded by Fritz Blaske to approve the abatements as presented with a value of $426 and a tax amount of $57.50. Unanimous.
Keith Bramhall moved, seconded by Fritz Blaske to approve the Neighborhood Revitalization application from Loren Haug for a new implement shed to be constructed at 1423 31st Rd, Baileyville, KS. Unanimous.
Barbara Kickhaefer moved, seconded by Keith Bramhall to appoint Kurt Skalla as Blue Rapids Township Clerk to fill the vacancy of Fritz Blaske. Unanimous.
Keith Bramhall moved, seconded by Fritz Blaske to adjourn the meeting at 12:55 p.m. The next regularly scheduled meeting will be held on Monday, January 25, 2021 beginning at 8:30 a.m.