Friday, August 27, 2010

Riley County Commission 8/26/10

observer Joan Strickler



All Commissioners present, Kearns presiding.

Bruce McMillan, architect for the Law Enforcement Center, reported the full cost of purchasing and installing a camera to cover the blind spot in the exercise area of the LEC would amount to $5,646. The Commissioners voted to approve the expenditure.

Commissioners discussed the lack of available parking options near the Courthouse for staff, courts and the general public. It was decided that the parking area in front of the Courthouse should be restricted to one hour.

Joe Knopp, an attorney representing a developer, made a request to purchase the County owned parking lot at 5th and Humboldt. County Counselor Clancy Holeman explained that Kansas law requires that counties give public notice of any intent to sell property worth $50,000 or more. Bidding must be open to the public. Commissioner McCulloh noted the limited availability of parking space currently available. In response to Mr. Knopp’s suggestion that the bid be limited in such a way as to restrict it for a special purpose, Commissioner Kearns said he would not be comfortable with any effort to restrict public input into such a matter.

Clancy Holeman introduced Marion County Commissioner, Dan Holub. Holub spoke of a multi-billion dollar oil pipeline now under construction in Kansas. The goal is to pipe oil from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico. There are six counties in Kansas affected by the project; Marion, Dickinson, Butler, Clay, Washington and Cowley. The counties did not find out until 2008 that they will be unable to collect property taxes on the Keystone pipeline project for 10 years due to a tax exemption voted by the Legislature in 2006. Marion County would receive $3,823,923 in tax revenue without that exemption. Holub said Kansas is the only state to grant such an exemption of the multiple states involved. He understands that Rep. Carl Holmes was responsible for granting the exemption. Rep. Holmes is chair of the energy and utilities committee, not the committee on taxation.

Commissioner Kearns noted Riley County is pushing for a review of all tax exemptions and agreed to talk to the local legislative delegation about the situation. Holub said Marion County will support the request for the review.

Monday, August 23, 2010

Riley County Commission August 23, 2010

Joan Strickler, observer


Commissioners Kearns and McCulloh present, Johnson absent.

Gary Grubbs, Riley County Police Department, and Bruce McMillan, architect, discussed concerns regarding security camera coverage in the newly constructed exercise area of the jail. During a safety check of the section they found a six to eight foot area where inmates could gather and not be seen. They see this as a serious security risk and would like to add additional camera coverage before that section of the jail is opened. Cost estimates were unclear and involved price of the camera, installation and wiring, plus travel for trained installers. McMillan will research the total cost figures.

Andrea Feldcamp described highlights of the 4-H program over the past year and plans for the coming year. Projects particularly popular are photography, horticulture, visual arts and robotics. The next big event scheduled is the State Fair to be held in Hutchinson, September 10-19.

Captain Tim Hegarty, who is in charge of RCPD patrol officers, reported many warnings have been given for use of cell phones while driving, and citations issued for seat belt violations. While crime tends to pick up when the students return, the most prolific offenders usually live in the Manhattan area full time. New housing inspection requirements will help in dealing with disorderly house complaints.

County Counselor Clancy Holeman reported the ATA program is requesting $250,000 in seed money to be able to access the $2M federal grant to expand transportation services. Seed money would allow construction to begin and would eventually be repaid by the Kansas Department of Transportation. Apparently the requirement for the up front investment is not unusual for accessing federal grants. The Commissioners asked the staff to discuss options and present alternatives. They expressed some reluctance to loan funds and be seen as setting a precedent.

Sunday, August 22, 2010

USD 383 Board of Education

Aug. 18, 2010
Kathy Dzewaltowski

Regular meeting:
The board received a preliminary report on state assessment results. Overall, the district achieved "Adequate Yearly Progress" (AYP). As individual buildings, Bergman Elementary did not achieve AYP in reading and math for students who qualify for free or reduced lunch and for students with disabilities. Anthony Middle School also did not achieve AYP in reading and math for students with disabilities, and students who qualify for free or reduced lunch did not achieve AYP in math. Both schools will develop intervention plans.

Board members were presented with the design development for Roosevelt Elementary. The plans include a new gym, kitchen, kindergarten classroom, and bus loading area along 14th Street. The board approved 7-0 the design development plans.

The board spent a considerable amount of time discussing the 2010-11 budget and, in particular, discussed the capital outlay mill levy. The three options the board considered for the capital outlay mill levy were 4.0 mills, 4.75 mills, and 5.5 mills (5.5 mills was the current mill levy). Board members were divided between keeping the mill levy at 5.5 or lowering it to 4.0. Board members Walt Pesaresi, Nancy Knopp, Susan Marshall, and Dave Colburn favored lowering the mill levy to 4.0 mills because they thought the district could accomplish what it needed to at that level and the funds generated by a higher mill levy would be saved for future needs, such as property acquisition, and they didn't like the idea of taxing the public for the purpose of creating savings. Pete Paukstelis and Doug Messer supported keeping the mill levy at 5.5 mills in order to take care of all of the district's projects rather than putting things off and getting behind with maintenance. Curt Herrman favored 4.75 mills as a compromise. The board approved 4-3 the budget and establishing the capital outlay mill levy at 4.0 mills, with Herrman, Messer, and Paukstelis dissenting.

Thursday, August 19, 2010

Riley County Commission mtg 8-19-10

Ms Mccullogh absent. After routine business, Clancy Holeman, Dir of Admin Services, conducted an administrative work session. FAA reported to Ft Riley, which mentioned to the County, that KSU has permission to install a wind turbine on KSU property near Rocky Ford. KSU has not notified the County. The turbine is to be installed on the west side of Tuttle Creek Blvd. Other matter included a rezoning matter to be presented to Com,missioners and an issue with road and jobs sales tax.This session was started before stated agenda time and completed about 3 minutes after agenda stated time.
Debbie Regester, Register of Deeds, reported that her office has received approx $100,000 less to date this year than last year. There is more refinancing, but those do not produce much County revenue. There was only one $1million mortgage this month. Regester said her department is pleased with the new software company, and the conversion continues.. They also are continuing to commit all back files to electronic storage. One realtor reported an up-tick in sales; Charleson-Wilson (Titles) is busy mostly with refinancings. Mr. Kearns remarked that a probable drought in realty activity begins about now because of Army deployments, but by March or April should abate, when 18,000 troops are expected to return.This report took about 5 minutes of the 15 allocated for it.
Brad Schoen, RCPD Director, said the population of the jail has dropped somewhat since the high point mid-July. It will still be a record year. He said they are expecting an increase in jail population with the arrival of approx 20,000 students. Legal and court processes will cause the impact to hit about January, when they expect to be able to deploy at least 6 new correctional officers. These officers will be recruited starting first week of September, and will be trained by January. They are able to train only 6 officers at a time, so the other 5 will be trained after the initial 6, at which time they can use the entire new pod. Schoen said they have 120 applications for the few police officers they will be hiring.
Gary Rosewicz, Asst Co Engineer, conducted a bid opening foe replacement of Pickering Road bridge. Seven bids ranged from $309,758. to $418,104.30. The seven bids were accepted for consideration (2-0) and sent to staff for study and recommendation. Adjourned. Submitted by Lyndal Nyberg.

Monday, August 16, 2010

County Commission August 16, 2010

All commissioners present.
Leon Hobson, Public Works Director/ County Engineer talked about a number of roads or parts of roads in Riley County that are adjacent to the city limits of Manhattan and should be annexed by the city. This discussion will continue using updated maps and will require more discussion by the Commission and then with the city of Manhattan to resolve the question of which entity should be responsible for maintenance.

During the press conference, Greg Eyestone announced the new Back to Gardening fall training programs. They will be held August 26 at Potdorf hall from 6-8 p.m. The Master Gardener sessions will start soon, also. More info at the extension office

Eileen King told the Commission that there will be no new automobile license plates issued the rest of this year because of increased demand and the inability of the manufacturer to meet the demand.

Cheryl Collins announced the dedication of the bell from the Bala Presbyterian Church The bell is being relocated to the grounds of the Riley County Historical Museum. The ceremony will be at the Museum on Sunday August 29 at 3:00 p.m.

Rod Meredith, Asst. Director of Public Works was happy to announce that Riley County, in partnership with KSU, GBA Architects + Engineers and GBA Builders, will receive a $3 million DOE grant for "Resourceful Kansas: A Sustainable energy and Economic Development Blueprint for Communities Across Kansas."
The program will be implemented over a 3 year period and is located at the Public Works facility at 6215 Tuttle Creek Blvd. This facility already has geothermal heating and cooling, abundant natural light, T-5 fluorescent lights and high R valud insulation. The new technologies will include four wind turbines (100 kw, 40kw, 20kw and 2.5kw), a thin-film PhotoVoltaic solar system, solar hot water under-floor heating, four PV solar powered street lights and a waste-oil heater. The energy produced will provide more than enough electricity to power the publics facilities. The effectiveness of the features will be evaluated by KSU. When completed there will be information available to the public with on-site displays and web displays. Seminars will be offered to cities, counties, state agencies, colleges and universities and agribusiness coordinated by K-State Engineering Extension and held at the RCPW facility.

Julie Merklin, observer

Friday, August 13, 2010

Riley County Commission August 12, 2010

All commissioners were present.
Paul Folz again asked the commissioners about buying the lot af 5th and Humboldt. It was the consensus of the commissioners that any sale of county property must be handled openly and be available to the public, not through an agreement with one entity or person. They are not planning at this time to sell this lot.

The last of the results of the primary election was decided when a coin was flipped to break the tie between Henry Otto and Kurt Muldrop for the Ward 1 Precinct 1 Republican Committeeman. Each had received five votes. Otto won the coin toss.

Lyle Butler from the Manhattan Area Chamber of Commerce quoted from the Kansas City Star article that said that while personal income for residents of the Kansas City metro area declined about the same pace as the national average last year, Manhattan Kan. as well as St. Joseph and Columbia Missouri had gains. Manhattan recorded a 4.8 percent gain to $40,345 while St. Joseph's increase was 1.5% and Columbia's 0.7% to $36,341

Butler also talked about the closing of the Alorica call center and the earler loss of the former Cellular One (Alltell, Verizon) center. This leaves two large buildings in the tech park which would be good for different call centers. The problem is that these call centers do not pay employees very well plus they want an incentive package to relocate. Butler said they would be welcome but no incentives would be offered. Butler said that the buildings could, of course, be reconfigured for other uses.

During Eileen Kings presentation there was a discussion of delinquent property tax and the fact that some of the same people show up again and again.

Katie Morris from the Office of Local Government K-State Research and Extension presented a Comparison of County Revenue and Expenditures, Riley County and Peers 2004-2008. This study compared 10 counties in Kansas including Riley County. The most populous was Shawnee and the least population was in Lyon county. Comparisons (dollar amounts adjusted for inflation) were made of Per Capita Personal income, Per Capita total county expenditures, Expenditure categories breakdowns. Revenues, Revenue sources and several other comparisons..
The Analysis showed that Riley County had the lowest per capita expenditures of the peer counties in 2008. It also had the lowest per capita revenues of the 10 counties as well as the lowest property tax revenues per capita in 2008.
The whole report is very interesting and can be found on-line at
http://www.ksu-olg.info/assets/docs/Comparative_Analysis_Riley_County.pdf

Julie Merklin, observer

Monday, August 9, 2010

Riley County Commission mtg 8-9-10

All Commissioners present.
Rich Vargo gave his YTD Budget and Expenses report. At 58.33% of the year, expenditures are all within acceptable bounds. Overtime expenses are somewhat high because of snowstorms last winter. Medical/hospital expenses at Law Enforcement Center are unusually high.
Chris Welchhans, GIS Director, gave his monthly report of department activities. They have done new maps for the wind power installation at the Shops, and for 3 ne subdivisions, 2 of which are in City. They wowrk on center line updates, and assist with ATA bus route information and rural water districts. They continue to have cooperative meetings with Geary County, City of Manhattan, and Pott. County.
Greg Wurst, Natural Resources Management Specialist (formerly "Park Manager"), said Tuttle Creek Reservoir is at 1095 1/2 feet, about 20 feet above desired level. Corps of Engineers determines when water may be released on basis of navigation needs and flood dangers downstream. In the second week of October, the tubes will be shut down for a 5-year periodic inspection. The inspectors actually walk into the tubes all the way back to the gates. The river channel is basically dried up. Fish and Game Department assists with fish salvage.
Ann Smith, ATA Bus, said they are working with the updating of the 2001 City Transportation plan. Their main concern at the moment is funding sources. KSU's safe-ride plan and City/University tax funds can be probably accessed. Revenue projections include a deficit in 5 years--considered unacceptable. Some grants are for capital funds only; operating costs are more difficult to cover. KDOT plans to contribute the "ridiculous" sum of $15,000. They are planning on their new building to be very "green."
Leon Hobson, Public Works Director, updated commission on road projects.
Rich Vargo, County Clerk, reported on Aug 3 Primary Election. Turnout, including 1,386 Advance voters, was 6,220 voters.
The Commission constituted itself the Riley County Election Canvassing Board and presided over the canvass of the election. Clerk's office workers presented numbers by voting place, and explained which provisional ballots were accepted wholly or partially, and reason for rejection for each rejected ballot (mostly non-registration). After all paper ballots and provisional ballots were counted, totals were presented to Commissioners. Board accepted 3-0. Certification will be signed on Thursday.
Vargo thanked Jolene Keck and the other Clerk's office election officers and the 180 poll workers for a successful election.
Leon Hobson was scheduled to present request to Extend SpectraLink Phones in LEC Expansion.
Submitted by Lyndal Nyberg.

Monday, August 2, 2010

Manhattan - Riley County Board of Health

Report on the Riley County-Manhattan
Board of Health Meeting
July 28, 2010


Since the June Board meeting was canceled because so many Board members were unable to attend the agenda for the meeting was a full one. Dan Unruh, K-State student body president, was introduced as substituting for Lauren Palmer, who represents the city staff on the board . Mr. Unruh explained that for a number of years the K-State student body president is offered a summer internship with the city.
Charles Murphy, Health Department Administrator, announced that the University of Kansas School of Medicine is starting a Preventive Medicine and Public Health Department and that, through the Kansas Association of Local Health Departments, the Manhattan-Riley County Health Department will be providing “hands on” experience for students. The Department welcomes this initiative and looks forward to working with the Medical School.
Mr. Murphy noted that the Department’s annual contracts are still down $256,563 and thus will necessitate a budget modification presentation at the August Board meeting. Funding continues to be a critical issue with some political overtones as to the amounts the County and the City provides to the Health Department and in what form. Because many of the grants received by the Health Department require matching funds which indicate support from the elected boards, Susanne Kufahl , Assistant Department Administrator, stressed that it is very important to have clarity on this issue. i.e. that the Health Department is supported by the elected officials.
The Health Department went to the trouble to bill insurance companies where appropriate for the HINI vaccinations and therefore still have HINI funds available.
Mr. Murphy would like to consider using this ”one time money” to replace very outdated and “energy using” HVAC equipment. Some of the equipment is leaking and the Health Department’s building North (the former nursing home) also has aging and inefficient furnaces. After some discussion the Board voted to have Mr. Murphy ask for bids and the Board will then consider funding at the next meeting. Dr. Benne asked about the number of vaccinations given which Mr. Murphy indicated was 20,000. Mr. Murphy noted that there has been reported in California a large outbreak of whooping cough which if widely spread could require action by the Health Department. Discussion followed and Dawn Searles, Clinical Nursing Supervisor. indicated plans for inclusion of education about adult vaccination and booster needs were being considered as part of the next Health Fair and to increase provision of such information to adults generally.
Mr. Murphy inquired as to the Board’s wishes concerning the Executive’s yearly evaluation since he is planning to retire December 31, 2010. After discussion the Board indicated it wished to do the evaluation as usual as it may be helpful in a transition year. The Board voted to do the evaluation “in house” and to include a request for comments from the staff but without a specific questionnaire.
Susanne Kufahl, Assistant Administrator, asked that the Board respond to a request from the Manhattan Community Foundation who are considering an endowment to ”sustain public health”. Ms. Kufahl is a member of the Foundation and feels this is an important issue but one that will require an immediate response before the next Board meeting. The Board agreed and a subcommittee of members will meet with the members of the Foundation.
The Board’s request to the city attorney as whether the no-smoking ordinance could include banning of electronic cigarettes was answered by Mr. Frost in the negative and the Board’s request for similar clarification of the state’s smoking ban from the State Attorney General’s office received an outright refusal to consider the question as not in their jurisdiction. The board still considers the electronic cigarette as a hazardous smoking device and feels that it should be included in the ordinance The Board packet contained an account of the FDA’s warning of the health risks posed by the electronic cigarette. Among these is the concern that the e-cigarette will increase nicotine addiction, especially among the young, and that the inhalants contain toxic and carcinogenic products. The electronic cigarette is sold on the internet and is marketed to the young. Dr. Paul Benne noted that several other states are looking at banning the device. The Board discussion left little doubt that the Department should pursue this issue further but did not decide on a path to follow. One suggestion was to contact the group “Clean Air Manhattan” and to possibly work with them.

Submitted by Sue Cohen, Observer