The Board of Marshall County Commissioners met in regular session with Keith Bramhall, Chairman, Fritz Blaske, member, Jon Ungerer, member and County Clerk Sandra K. Wilson present. Chris Pannbacker with the Marysville Advocate was also present for 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 Jon Ungerer to approve the minutes of the 4/22/24 meeting with corrections and the agenda for today’s meeting. Unanimous.
Keith Bramhall moved, seconded by Jon Ungerer to approve payroll as presented. Unanimous.
Keith Bramhall moved, seconded by Fritz Blaske to approve the following purchase orders. Unanimous.
Schwab-Eaton, Manhattan, KS
For Construction engineering services
$3,245.95-Special Road & Bridge Fund-P.O. #109560
M & M Tire LLC, Washington, KS
For 6 advance grader tires 1400R24
$6,450.00-Road & Bridge Fund-P.O. #109562
Welborn Sales, Salina, KS
For grader blades
$11,714.70-Road & Bridge Fund-P.O. #109561
National Child Safety
For Safety pup program – donation
$1,500.00-Special Alcohol Fund-P.O. #7222
Marshall Co Fair Assn
For AED – Donation
$1,500.00-Special Parks & Rec Fund-P.O. #7223
Central Mechanical
For fixing and repairing AC Unit
$1,730.75-County General (Sheriff) Fund-P.O. #7160
Community Memorial Healthcare, Marysville, KS
For April 2024 Sales Tax
$96,267.63-Sales Tax Fund-P.O. #7224Fritz Blaske moved, seconded by Jon Ungerer to approve vouchers as presented and issued manual warrants. Unanimous.
Jon Ungerer moved, seconded by Fritz Blaske to approve Neighborhood Revitalization Application for Lynn & Jerri Mayer for the construction of a new garage at 1311 N 12th St, Marysville. Unanimous.
Marysville Chamber/Main Street – Blue River Rail Trail/Marshall Co Connection representatives Sarah Kessinger, Maureen Crist, Rob Peschel and Wayne Kruse met with the Board. There is a $100,000 Planning Grant available at this time which is 80/20 and these groups are asking if the Board would be interested in contributing funds to the match portion. The City of Marysville has applied for grants in the past but have not been awarded these dollars. The group feels that the missing piece is the Planning of the extension and thus this grant would help with that and hopefully open up opportunities for future grants for the construction phase of the project. The plan is to connect 3 blocks of the trail from Calhoun to Main St for easier access and continuation onto the already developed 7th street corridor. The Board is in favor of contributing dollars but would like to know what the City of Marysville is willing to contribute. This group will gather more information and return in a couple weeks to report back to the Board.
County Counselor Andy Lohmann met with the Board.
Keith Bramhall moved, seconded by Fritz Blaske to reimburse Waterville Fire Dept. the amount of $25,860.80 from ARPA funds for the equivalent of 8 new fire suits. Unanimous.
Keith Bramhall moved, seconded by Jon Ungerer to recess the meeting at 9:44 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 10:01 a.m. for the Department Head meeting. Those in attendance are County Counselor Andy Lohmann, Extension Agent Susie Latta, Clerk of the District Court Liberty Price-Obley, Emergency Management Director Bill Schwindamann, Agency on Aging Director Ashley Lyhane, Health Nurse Cheryl Skalla, Appraiser Francine Crome, Register of Deeds Ruth Martin, Treasurer Angie Price, Public Works Coordinating Supervisor Sondra Klover, Sheriff Tim Ackerman, Clerk Sandy Wilson and the Board of County Commissioners.
Sheriff Tim Ackerman reported that new computers will soon be installed in all patrol vehicles and new weapons with suppressors should be arriving soon.
Public Works Coordinating Supervisor Sondra Klover reported the crews are busy blading roads in preparation for dust control application. Looking into replacing the water fountains in the courthouse with new updated ones that will allow for bottle filling. Commissioner Bramhall said he would like John Koelzer to take a look at the bathrooms in the courthouse while they are in town putting epoxy throughout the Helvering Center and give a bid on what it would cost to apply this to our building as well.
Treasurer Angie Price reported that Motor Vehicle remains busy and the 2nd half of tax collection will pick up soon as is due May 10th.
Register of Deeds Ruth Martin reported they have received some oil & gas leases. They have also installed a 2nd public computer for research.
Appraiser Francine Crome stated they will be mailing out Personal Property valuation notices. Maintenance review will begin soon. Ag Questionnaires will be sent out this year, this is a requirement every other year.
Health Nurse Cheryl Skalla stated they are loving their new facility. They just finished up a couple of school vaccination clinics. Some of the staff will be attending an infectious disease in Kansas City and an Immunization conference in Wichita.
Agency on Aging Director Ashley Lyhane wanted to remind the public that the VA Rep does still meet at the Helvering Center on the 1st & 3rd Tuesday of each month. There is a local beautician who has been coming to the Center and doing hair and nails for free. The Hiawatha Aging has been presenting a Preventative Fall Class that has been very popular. Transportation will be free for the month of May. The Helvering Center will be closed from June 3-17 for in person dining for the epoxy to be installed thoughout the building, shelf stable meals will be offered during this time.
Emergency Management Director Bill Schwindamann said they have had some relief from the recent fires. They are still gathering data and so far have counted at least 4,300 man hours used and will definitely exceed 5,000. The County Mitigation Plan is being finalized and will soon be published on the County website for public review. The Emergency Operations Plan is due in June.
Clerk of the District Court Liberty Price-Obley said they are slowly getting back to normal following the security breach. There are 2 jury trials coming up in June. Those dates at this time are the 13th & 14th and 20th & 21st.
County Extension Agent Susie Latta said they will be interviewing for an Ag agent on May 8th and hopefully by the end of June will have someone hired. They just finished up tax season and said they served well over 400 people. 4-H season is ramping up.
County Attorney Andy Lohmann said their office is staying busy, the CINC cases are down a little bit for Marshall County.
County Clerk Sandy Wilson said filings are being received for offices that are up for election this year. The filing deadline is June 3 at noon.
Commissioners – Commissioner Bramhall reported that the Board will be working with HR Sandy Wilson to start gathering job descriptions for each position. Appointed department heads will be required to perform annual evaluations on their employees and these evaluations will be shared with the Board at the time of their budget requests. The elected officials will be encouraged to also perform annual evaluations on their employees. The goal is to get this process implemented for the 2026 budget process.
Fritz Blaske moved, seconded by Keith Bramhall to recess the meeting at 10:41 a.m. Unanimous.
Keith Bramhall moved, seconded by Jon Ungerer to reconvene the meeting in the Board meeting room at 10:51 a.m. Unanimous.
Fritz Blaske moved, seconded by Jon Ungerer to adjourn the meeting at 11:03 a.m. Unanimous. The next regularly scheduled meeting will be held on Monday, May 6, 2024 beginning at 8:30 a.m.
