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. Bennett Frese with the Marysville Advocate was also present to observe the meeting.
Commissioner Bramhall called the meeting to order at 8:30 a.m. The meeting was opened with the flag salute.
Fritz Blaske moved, seconded by Barbara Kickhaefer to approve the minutes of the 05/17/21 meeting and the agenda for today’s meeting. Unanimous.
Barbara Kickhaefer moved, seconded by Fritz Blaske to approve the following purchase order. Unanimous.
Quadient Finance, Carol Stream, IL
For Postage
$3,500.00-General (Courthouse) Fund-P.O. #6442
Keith Bramhall moved, seconded by Fritz Blaske to remove 4 applicants from the Neighborhood Revitalization Program due to delinquent taxes. Unanimous.
Keith Bramhall moved, seconded by Barbara Kickhaefer to approve the following purchase order. Unanimous.
Foley Industries, Park City, KS
For Dozer repair
$10,862.52-Solid Waste Fund-P.O. #109194
Public Works Administrator Mike Craig met with the Board. The air quality report was received back. The reports were all satisfactory and no black mold was found. Mr. Craig will share this information with the Clerk of the District Court.
Public Works Administrator Mike Craig reported that the roof repair should be completed this week.
9:00 a.m. Public Hearing for Solid Waste 5-year Plan. There were no additional attendees to the hearing.
Keith Bramhall moved, seconded by Barbara Kickhaefer to approve Resolution #20-21-05-24-1 for the 5-year review of the Solid Waste plan. Unanimous.
Public Works Administrator Mike Craig received the bridge plan for the Oketo township state line bridge from Husker Steele and will present to Gage County for approval.
Public Works Administrator Mike Craig received an estimated cost of $400K/mile to do cement stabilization and 4” overlay on the approximate 4 ½ miles of Pheasant Road from the Landfill to Winifred. This information was at the request of the Board.
County Counselor Jason Brinegar met with the Board. He has contacted Tammy Parker for a broker’s opinion on the Frankfort Nutrition Site. He will present to the Board when this is available.
Keith Bramhall moved, seconded by Fritz Blaske to go into executive session for 15 minutes at 9:23 a.m. with the Board, County Counselor Jason Brinegar and County Clerk Sandra Wilson present to discuss matters of non-elected personnel. Unanimous.
The Board came out of executive session at 9:38 a.m., no action was taken as a result of this executive session.
The Board discussed the current pay scale calculations which are based upon the hours worked per year and then broken down to monthly wage and hourly wage. Therefore, pay checks are consistent month to month. The Board has made the decision to strictly adhere to an hourly calculation with actual worked hours per month turned in to HR. County Counselor Jason Brinegar will draft a memo to bring back for approval.
Barbara Kickhaefer moved, seconded by Fritz Blaske to approve vouchers as presented and issue manual warrants. Unanimous.
Emergency Management Director Bill Schwindamann, Jr., Leslie Jeter and County Treasurer Jami Ellenbecker met with the Board to discuss the Federal American Rescue Plan. The County needs to designate a contact person to apply for the funds and file the required documents. After the designated person is approved the county will receive one-half of the money this year and the remainder one-half will be sent next year. The program gives you 4 years to spend the money through 2024 with possible extensions to 2026 depending upon the projects being done. The focus of these dollars are public safety, health, housing and food.
Barbara Kickhaefer moved, seconded by Keith Bramhall to appoint Leslie Jeter as contact person to apply for American Rescue Plan and seek a bid from Swindoll, Janzen, Hawk & Loyd, LLC to assist with the administration of these federal funds. Unanimous.
Barbara Kickhaefer moved, seconded by Fritz Blaske to go into executive session for 10 minutes at 10:32 a.m. with the Board and County Counselor Jason Brinegar to discuss matters of non-elected personnel. Unanimous. No action taken as a result of this executive session.
Commissioner Kickhaefer asked to have County Appraiser Francine Crome join the meeting. In reviewing payroll for approval, it was noted that there was no time reported for Appraiser Francine Crome and the Board asked if this was an oversight or if there should be time off claimed. Appraiser Francine Crome said she does keep track of her sick/vacation days but was under the impression that since she was a salaried employee, she did not have to report these. The Board advised that every full-time employee has to follow the sick/vacation/time off guidelines in the personnel handbook except elected officials who are exempt per Statute. The Board asked County Appraiser Francine Crome to re-submit here payroll request with the appropriate hours noted for sick/vacation leave taken.
Keith Bramhall moved, seconded by Fritz Blaske to approve the Memorandum presented by County Counselor Jason Brinegar with new guidelines to follow for payroll submission. A copy of said Memo is available for review in the Clerk’s office. Unanimous.
Robbin Cole, Executive Director for Pawnee Mental Health met with the Board to submit her 2022 budget request. Mrs. Cole also presented the Board with a copy of the FY20 Annual Report. Marshall County is not presently represented on the Pawnee Mental Health Board and would encourage the Board to give recommendations to fill these positions. The Pawnee Mental Health Board meets the 4th Tuesday of each month in Clay Center at 4:00 p.m. During 2020, these meetings were held via ZOOM and that is a possibility for future attendance as well. The Pawnee Mental Health 2022 budget request is $117,954 which is no change from the previous 2 years.
Keith Bramhall moved, seconded by Barbara Kickhaefer to approve payroll as presented. Unanimous.
Keith Bramhall moved, seconded by Barbara Kickhaefer to adjourn the meeting at 12:11 p.m. Unanimous. The next regularly scheduled meeting will be held on Tuesday, June 1, 2021 beginning at 8:30 a.m.